*Thank you very much to AP and Buffalo Trace for the samples! For a wee bit of background/historical info on the Eagle Rare brand, please check out my review of the 2011 release. Like many of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Eagle Rare 17 Year Old releases that came before it, the 2013 Eagle Rare … Continue reading Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon, 2013 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection – Review
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Russell’s Reserve Small Batch 10 Year Old, Review
Wild Turkey's Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell, is one of the legends of contemporary Bourbon. Along with the likes of Jim Beam's Booker Noe, Heaven Hill's Parker Beam, Maker's Mark's Bill Samuels, and Buffalo Trace's Elmer T. Lee, Russell helped shape Bourbon into the world-wide, world-class spirit that it is today. Russell grew up in Lawrenceburg, … Continue reading Russell’s Reserve Small Batch 10 Year Old, Review
The Exclusive Malts 1984 Tormore 29 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. To quote the late, great Michael Jackson (no, not the gloved one, this one), Tormore Distillery, "with a musical clock, belfry, and ornamental curling lake...looks like a spa offering a mountain-water cure."¹ Now, it may come as a great shock to everyone, perhaps … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1984 Tormore 29 Year Old – Review
Kilchoman Loch Gorm – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. For an island that's roughly just 25 miles long and 15 miles wide, Islay is home to quite a few inland, freshwater lakes...or, more appropriately, lochs. The largest of these is Loch Gorm which is located in the northeast corner of the … Continue reading Kilchoman Loch Gorm – Review
Stagg Jr., Kentucky Straight Bourbon – Review
If you're not new to the world of whisky, then the George T. Stagg release from Buffalo Trace's yearly antique collection needs no introduction. You already know you want a bottle and you already know that it will be damn hard to get one, especially these days when there is a segment of the whisky … Continue reading Stagg Jr., Kentucky Straight Bourbon – Review
The Exclusive Malts 1996 Auchroisk 17 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Like many Scottish distillery names, the somewhat unpronounceable Auchroisk, once translated from Gaelic to English ends up being a relatively simple descriptor of the physical place where it resides. Sure, this simplicity can occasionally seem a little obvious and uncreative on the … Continue reading The Exclusive Malts 1996 Auchroisk 17 Year Old – Review
Chieftains 1995 BenRiach 17 Year Old Rum Cask Finish – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. In the world of Scotch whisky, the Gaelic word and occasional prefix ben means, simply enough, "mountain" or "hill". There are several "bens" amongst Scottish distilleries: Ben Nevis, Benrinnes, and Benromach are all currently pumping out the sauce today, while Ben Wyvis … Continue reading Chieftains 1995 BenRiach 17 Year Old Rum Cask Finish – Review
Chieftains 1997 Glenrothes 15 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. As if trying to figure out which company owns which distillery wasn't hard enough, Glenrothes waltzes in and throws another curveball to muddle the issue even more. One thing seems fairly clear; in 1887, Glenrothes was owned by a company called Highland … Continue reading Chieftains 1997 Glenrothes 15 Year Old – Review
Chieftains 2000 Strathisla 12 Year Old – review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. Strathisla has been around for so long (its roots go back to 1786) there's bound to be a few dark moments in its past. As an appreciator of dark moments, one of my favorites is the brief period of 1940 to 1949 … Continue reading Chieftains 2000 Strathisla 12 Year Old – review
The Arran Malt 16 Year Old – Review
*Thanks to SF and the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample. I'm not sure I can definitively say that I have a favorite number, but if you pressed me for an answer, I'd probably have to say the number 16. I've liked 16 since I was a little kid and, as far as … Continue reading The Arran Malt 16 Year Old – Review
THE CASKS 