Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
A few years back, while visiting one of my go to liquor joints, I spotted a curious set of bottles on the top shelf in the bourbon aisle. They all said Pappy van Winkle on the labels, some in bags, with age statements of 10, 12, 15, 20 and 23 years old. Some were in... Continue Reading →
There are three stages of whisky enjoyment: 1) Beginner 2) Snob 3) Connoisseur. The first stage is often the most fun. Everything is new. We are open to trying most anything and the mind is a sponge, soaking in knowledge and experience. The palate is constantly challenged, this being the most important aspect of moving... Continue Reading →
So there I was, at a local liquor store in Spokane, WA. The ever helpful clerk was happily showing me recommendations for a nice bourbon. I found it rather odd that the clerk never pointed me towards a name brand product but only the “Brand X” bottles scattered about the shelf. I’m a whiskey guy and fairly... Continue Reading →
You see folks, the world of Single Malt is a rather small one. The market’s insatiable appetite for blends devours roughly 90% of all whisky production for the numerous brands. The 10% remaining is bottled as the noble Single Malt. We don’t take a certain side one way or the other when it comes to Malt vs.... Continue Reading →
One of the many reasons why we love whisky is the care required to produce it. Not only are we impressed with the process but even more with how long it takes to make this stuff. From grain to barrel you are looking at most a week, depending on your process. Distillers would love to... Continue Reading →
A curious new Scotch drinker stumbles into a local liquor store. He isn't quite educated on all the different regions, flavor profiles or even brand names. A few of the bottles have this peculiar phrase on the label: Islay Single Malt. Sounds interesting, he thinks. He proudly slaps down the cash, the store clerk asks... Continue Reading →
Scotch blends tend to get less credit than they deserve. In fact, any zealous disciple in the Church of the Single Malt wouldn’t be caught dead with his lips to a glass of blended Scotch. One of the chief causes of this bias is the fact that blended Scotch uses a large amount of column... Continue Reading →
Canadian whisky can be innovative. Even better is when innovation can be purchased for $28. Collingwood Canadian Whisky from Brown & Forman is distilled at Canadian Mist Distillery in Ontario, Canada. The innovation mentioned comes from the fact that Collingwood is the only sugar maple mellowed whisky in Canada and at the time of this... Continue Reading →
If you are a whisky company as big as Crown Royal, you can pretty much do whatever you want. One of the biggest factors in this freedom is the 2 million barrels of whisky stock currently aging in their warehouses. Crown Royal Cask No. 16 is one such recent creation from Andrew Mackay, Master Blender... Continue Reading →
Greetings. We continue on with our first venture into the whisky of Canada with Crown Royal Reserve. Formerly “Special Reserve” but now the less special “Reserve” is the premium version of the ever popular Crown Royal Canadian whisky. The Spokane Whisky Club is now including Canada in our regular rotation of styles we review throughout... Continue Reading →
So here’s the deal with Canadian whisky, dear readers. Our close, personal friends living north of the border keep most of the good stuff to themselves. To the best of our vast and ever reaching knowledge, this has more to do with the legality and process of which goods pass between our nations than it... Continue Reading →
Whistle Pig Straight Rye Whiskey is quite the curious bottling. Specifically, this curiosity is because of the numerous hats Whistle Pig wears. This Dave Pickerell selected rye comes from Canada and is bottled at an impressive 50% ABV. Our expectations are certainly peaked for a whisky that has been categorized as “voluptuous” and “requiring its own... Continue Reading →
Lagavulin 16yr Old Single Malt Scotch is a bit of a milestone whisky for the club. We wouldn't even come near this bottle a year ago, but not just because it's a heavily peated malt whisky. Whiskies like Lagavulin need to be taken seriously in order to be understood due to the complexity behind the thick smokiness (whiskies like this... Continue Reading →
It’s always fun to see a craft distillery, relatively new on the scene, tackle something other than another vodka and go for that great old chestnut known as American Bourbon. Keep in mind that bourbon is a few hundred years old with generations of distilling history and tradition standing behind it. Arguably, to even get... Continue Reading →
The Isle of Jura is a very curious place. This Scottish island is but a mere 34x7 miles with a bustling population of 225 inhabitants. It is even said that the deer outnumber the humans on this lonely isle. There is only one road on Jura but also only one distillery which produces our whisky reviewed... Continue Reading →
We here at the Spokane Whiskey Club are starting to really love rye whiskey. The flavors are typically drier with spicy notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pepper and even fruity aromas to name a few. It simply makes a spirit a little bit more interesting to us. However, we still enjoy the sweetly familiar side... Continue Reading →
To a casual observer, Japanese whisky could be accused of being a simple copy of Scotch whisky. After all, an early pioneer of Japanese whisky, Masataka Takestsuru, studied chemistry and whisky making in Glasgow, apprenticed at two distilleries and brought his new skills back to Japan to co-found Suntory, one of the pillars of Japanese whisky still standing today.... Continue Reading →
Dry Fly Distillery has been releasing their 100% Washington Wheat whiskey for about four years now. Among other things, it is known for its trademark evocative aroma of buttery wheat grain and underlying fruity sweetness. All in all, it’s a flavorful spirit but on the lighter side of the spectrum. But, we have always been... Continue Reading →
Today, we come to our close, mutual friend, Jack Daniels. Specifically, our focus is on their premium offering, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey. Standard Old No.7 struck us as having some potential but really ended up just sooty, sugary and a bit bland to be honest. Everything about JD Single Barrel, however, promises... Continue Reading →
Spokane Whiskey Club 