Highland

Ardmore Traditional Cask Peated Highland Single Malt Whisky – Review

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Before I bought this one, I'd asked a salesman what he thought of it and he just shrugged his shoulders, grunted primally, and said only "I think you can do better for the money", which I found fairly surprising because one, I'd heard very good things about it, and two, it's a $38 bottle of … Continue reading Ardmore Traditional Cask Peated Highland Single Malt Whisky – Review

Notes from the 11/10/10 Signatory Tasting, Round II

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Signatory 1997 Cragganmore 13 Year Old A darling of Speyside, Cragganmore was long known as an indispensible malt for blends until becoming part of Diageo's Classic Malt series in 1988. It still seems to fly under the radar a bit, though the distillery's 12 Year Old is a highly regarded, complex dram. This independent edition … Continue reading Notes from the 11/10/10 Signatory Tasting, Round II

Notes from The 11/10/10 Signatory Tasting, Round I

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Notes from Round I of the recent Signatory tasting with Ed Kohl at San Francisco's City Club. This was a great evening with excellent malts, tasty appetizers, and good company. I owe a big thank you to Sam Filmus of Impex Beverages and JVS Imports for the invitation! ---------- Signatory 1991 Highland Park 18 Year … Continue reading Notes from The 11/10/10 Signatory Tasting, Round I

Balblair 1991 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Review

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Thanks to the good folks at International Beverage for the sample! So, there's this Pink Floyd song (and I do apologize, it's a post-Syd Barrett song, but just bear with me) on the album Ummagumma called "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict", which, despite its glaring … Continue reading Balblair 1991 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Review

Balblair 1997 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Review

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Thanks to the good folks at International Beverage for the sample! A locally grown, crisply sweet, juicy Honeycrisp apple is one of the surest signs of Fall here in San Francisco, where far too few leaves change color to give the full effect.  September and early October usually holds some of the best weather we … Continue reading Balblair 1997 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Review

Edradour Caledonia, Aged 12 Years – Review

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Around 140 AD, the Roman Emperor of the time, Antoninus Pius, decided to build the Antonine Wall to keep those alarmingly uncouth Picts sequestered as far North as possible. Ol' Tony was just trying to be like his mentor, Hadrian, and a fortified wall stretching from coast to coast to seal off what the Roman's called … Continue reading Edradour Caledonia, Aged 12 Years – Review

Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round II

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Round II of quick notes from the recent Chieftain's tasting hosted by K&L Wines at Martin's West in Redwood city... Chieftain's 1985 Glencadam 22 Year Old Glencadam is another distillery that's more well-known for not being that well-known. Having been around since the 1825, many ownership changes over the years have finally led this Highland malt to the … Continue reading Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round II

Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round I

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Part of Ian Macleod's family, the Chieftain's line-up of independent bottlings has recently found its way to the whisky shelves of the U.S. David Driscoll of K&L Wines hosted a recent tasting at Martin's West in Redwood city to introduce the new line-up. The big draw of the night for me was another taste of … Continue reading Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round I

Signatory 1992 Ben Nevis 17 Year Old – Review

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I have no idea what a Cloud Chamber is. I've read descriptions and explanations but after a sentence or two, I get glassy eyed and wonder what bike race is happening in Europe and what whisky I'm going to have a sip of next. According to Wikipedia, a cloud chamber is used to detect particles … Continue reading Signatory 1992 Ben Nevis 17 Year Old – Review

Tasting Group 4.3.10 – 5 Single Malts

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A group of us got together for the first of hopefully several whisky tastings this past weekend.  We all either walked, drove or took public transportation to our meeting place...none of us flew in on a private jet. We were not carried there upon jewel-encrusted sedan chairs.  There were no entourages. We kept things pretty … Continue reading Tasting Group 4.3.10 – 5 Single Malts