*Sincere thanks to RS and Purple Valley Imports for the sample. Canadian whisky has been the relative latecomer to the world-wide whisky boom of the last several years. Wider distribution is growing now, it seems, as is appreciation for its more "premium" expressions, but the craft distilling movement that's taken its lowly neighbor to the … Continue reading Still Waters Distillery Stalk & Barrel Single Malt Whisky, Cask #1 – Review
1792 Ridgemont Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Review
*A sincere thanks to AP & Sazerac for the sample. The year 1792 was a fairly notable one in French history. France declared war against Austria and the Prussians declared war against France. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote La Marseillaise in Strasbourg, while Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin advocated for a more humane form of capital punishment and ended up forever … Continue reading 1792 Ridgemont Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Review
Canadian Whisky, The Portable Expert – Book Review.
*Sincere thanks to Davin de Kergommeaux, Johanne McInnes, and McClelland & Stewart, Ltd. for the review copy of this book. A year or so ago, when whisky really started taking off - articles in major publications, a dozen new craft distilleries popping up every week, a dozen new whisky blogs popping up every week, previously undervalued … Continue reading Canadian Whisky, The Portable Expert – Book Review.
Jim Beam Black – Review
(I have to give acknowledge and give a proper word of thanks to the main source of info for this post, Chuck Cowdery's book Bourbon, Straight) Tracing the Beam family's influence on American whiskey-making is a bit like those sections of the bible that ramble on for pages telling you that so-and-so begat so-and-so, and so-and-so … Continue reading Jim Beam Black – Review
The Exclusive Malts 1997 Clynelish 15 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Clynelish is pronounced KLYNE-leesh or klein-LEESH depending on what sylLABle you'd like to put the emPHAsis on. The name means "slope of the garden" in Gaelic, though the garden in question might just be the metaphorical garden of the eastern coastal Highlands … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1997 Clynelish 15 Year Old – Review
The Exclusive Malts 1988 Littlemill 24 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Poor Littlemill. The last several years of its life were none to kind to one of the more interesting malt whisky distilleries in Scotland. Starting in the mid-80's, the Lowland distillery opened and closed in fits and starts until finally being closed … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1988 Littlemill 24 Year Old – Review
Robert Parker enters the Whisky World…
True to form, I missed the window on this by a day or so, but that's never stopped me before so what the hell. Last week, the news slowly seeped out that the wine world's high priest, Robert Parker had posted a bunch of bourbon reviews on his paid-members-only website. Earlier this week, the ruggedly … Continue reading Robert Parker enters the Whisky World…
The Exclusive Malts 1992 Glen Grant 20 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Why I am fascinated with the tangled stories of ownership in the whisky world is beyond me. Partly, I suppose I like the notion that throughout such upheaval and change, many distilleries just kept right on mashing, worting, washing, and distilling away. … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1992 Glen Grant 20 Year Old – Review
The Arran Malt 10 Year Old +/- 2011 – Redux Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. With The Arran Malt's 16 year old coming out soon in the U.S., I thought I'd take a look back at Arran's entry-level 10 year old expression. I reviewed this a few years ago at a tasting party and while I got … Continue reading The Arran Malt 10 Year Old +/- 2011 – Redux Review
The Exclusive Malts 1994 Braeval 18 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. There has never been an official bottling from the Braeval distillery, any expression you find out on the shelves is, like this one from The Exclusive Malts, an independently bottled release. Why? Well, as I've mentioned before, Braeval is a newish distillery, … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1994 Braeval 18 Year Old – Review
THE CASKS 