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
Scotch
Balblair 1991 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Review
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
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
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
A.D. Rattray 1991 Aberlour 18 Year Old, “K&L” Single Barrel – Review
*Thanks to Dave Driscoll and K&L Wines for the sample of this one. It's Tuesday...I wish I could regale you with some obscure history or made-up story about Aberlour's founder, James Fleming, and his childhood dream of becoming a world-famous harpist, but it's Tuesday and I'm already tired. So instead, a fairly perfunctory and dull … Continue reading A.D. Rattray 1991 Aberlour 18 Year Old, “K&L” Single Barrel – Review
The Arran Malt, Icons of Arran #2 – The Rowan Tree 12 Year Old – Review
Another huge thank you to Jason at Guid Scotch Drink for the sample. I grew up in Milwaukee, WI with a great Rowan Tree (Sorbus americana) in our front yard. In many ways, it was the ideal tree for a bunch of suburban boys, fantastic for climbing and each year come summer, fully stocked with … Continue reading The Arran Malt, Icons of Arran #2 – The Rowan Tree 12 Year Old – Review
The Arran Malt, Icons of Arran #1, Peacock 12 Year Old – Review
A huge thank you to Jason at Guid Scotch Drink for the sample. If you haven't given him a read...do so. Interesting facts about Peacocks (Pavo Cristatus): Part of the Pheasant family, Peacock's are actually Peafowl. The word "Peacock" refers, damn appropriately I might add, only to the male of the species. The female is … Continue reading The Arran Malt, Icons of Arran #1, Peacock 12 Year Old – Review
Isle of Skye 8 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky – Review
*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Woeful is the path of the poor Scotch whisky blend! Blends get all the sales...but single malts get all the attention. Blends account for 90% of total whisky production...but single malts get all the attention. Blends are labored over for hours, days, weeks even, … Continue reading Isle of Skye 8 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky – Review
The BenRiach Curiositas 10 Year Old Peated Malt – Review
"Rident stolidi verba Latina" - Ovid* Let us cast our minds back to the heady days of the Punic Wars. Love was in the air, The Romans were just figuring out how to make a truly spectacular pork sugo, and the Carthaginians, long dominant in sea battle and handball were getting their butts kicked for … Continue reading The BenRiach Curiositas 10 Year Old Peated Malt – Review
Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round III
Round III of quick notes from the recent Chieftain's tasting hosted by K&L Wines at Martin's West in Redwood city... Chieftain's 1991 Linkwood 16 Year Old Yet another rarely-seen-in-distillery-bottlings...bottling, Linkwood has been around since the early 1800's, going through the usual myriad ownership changes before ultimately landing in Diageo's prodigious lap. Like Allt'A Bhainne and Glencadam, Linkwood spends … Continue reading Chieftain’s Tasting Review Notes, Round III
THE CASKS 