Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
It seems we don't write blog posts about industry happenings, trends, or even the dumb controversies we are supposed to care about. Could we? Sure. We pretty much only do reviews. To strike a balance, we throw in our opinions, if relevant, in the write ups. The NAS controversy is one of those topics making the rounds... Continue Reading →
Concerning the Midleton Barry Crocket Legacy bottling released years ago, a promotional video on the various Midleton releases claimed that it “must be the ultimate expression of the art,” namely, the single pot still style of Ireland. Another marketing claim? I will say that I do not think it is. In fact, I think they are right. Midleton... Continue Reading →
As recently stated by Lew Bryson, Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey was once a “white whale” in the whiskey world, and not just the Irish one. But the pursuit for this rare pot still style was not quite at the vomit inducing level of Pappy hunting by the various Ahabs lurking among us.... Continue Reading →
It is not without a sense of delicious irony that our selection today was volunteered by the one member of SWC who enjoys Irish whiskey the least. But where this story becomes less amusing is when this said member found himself at the Irish Beer and Whiskey Festival in, of course, Ireland, and speaking one on... Continue Reading →
**This review was conducted by Ian Fallon, a founding member of SWC, and does not reflect the opinions of the entire club** Angel's Envy is a bourbon I have been wanting to experience for a while now. It's about time, pretty much every other blog on the planet wrote their review years ago. And what's... Continue Reading →
I suspect our frequent caterwauling on paying more for less and why that is, you know, bad, is falling on deaf ears. And maybe that’s okay. The whiskey category, especially American whiskey, is growing mainly because people are willing to shell out obscene amounts of money for whiskey that was cheaper five years ago, and... Continue Reading →
I think we have fallen in the ever widening, deepening, sickening pit of “selective bias.” This happens when all reviews never go above 89 or below 82. You start reviewing what you know you will like and forget about the whiskies you truly wouldn’t drink even under threat of violent death. Today’s selection is by... Continue Reading →
We have up until this time completely ignored High West Distillery. Not because the Park City, Utah based outfit is overtly boutiquey, or that they may be annoyingly riding the bull crap wagon that the craft whiskey industry keeps insisting upon us when they market their “artisanal” ways, nor because they have yet to sell... Continue Reading →
A good whiskey connoisseur is able to relate his/her hobby to most people. And this skill has little to do with writing a well phrased review, but rather it has more to do with telling good stories about a special pour you had in the past or sharing some unique memory closely associated with a... Continue Reading →
Kentucky’s weather has a particularly unrelenting way about it when it comes to aging distillate. With the temperature extremes in that searing, hot, humid, hell like state, a multi story rackhouse does not need much time to perfect a fine bourbon. When temperature goes up, whiskey expands, forcing itself in the oak to those wonderful... Continue Reading →
Bill Samuels Jr., president of Maker’s Mark, suddenly realizing that his distillery has only ever produced one product since the fifties, laughed uncontrollably that they managed to get away with it for so long. When finished, he called in his Master Distiller to his vast office and declared that they must make something new for... Continue Reading →
Bourbon brands do a great job, probably the best job, at tracing their lineage all the way back to the farmer-distillers of the late 18th/early 19th century. Way back then, farmers preferred to distill the grain they harvested and sell it for profit rather than travel the many miles to market hauling a few hundred... Continue Reading →
In our humble yet devastatingly accurate opinion, the single best way to grow your whiskey palate is to challenge it. If you have a smoky Islay in front of you, pour a sherried Speyside next, then followed by a bourbon cask refill. In order to sharpen your sensory perception of the differences, you have to... Continue Reading →
“There are times when I desire a sweet, hefty bourbon, or perhaps a lovely pot stilled Irish, maybe even a nicely sherried Speyside malt. But today, friends, today nothing less than the tar soaked, burning brine and wispy salty sea, the peat fueled fire cooking a kettle of kipper on top of the mountains of Islay overlooking... Continue Reading →
“Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called entheos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing.” This claim, made by one of the great writer/drinkers of recent times, Christopher Hitchens, may get a few things right when it comes to the value... Continue Reading →
We’re doing a review of Crown Royal today. Why? I have 17 million reasons why. As recently as 2013, 17 million cases of Canadian whisky sold in the United States, Canada’s biggest market. And the top selling Canadian whisky is, you guessed it ace, Crown Royal Canadian blended whisky. And by golly, we will offer... Continue Reading →
Okay, so here’s the deal. Instead of writing a yearly, tired, and obligatory "Holiday Whiskey Buying Guide" like every other blogger does, I would like to instead focus my considerably charming efforts in writing something like “The Top Ten Horrible, Despicable, Illegal Things I Would Do To A Man In Order To Get The Buffalo... Continue Reading →
You can thank Dave Broom for all of this. “This” being the Spokane Whiskey Club’s periodic focus on Canadian whisky. Canadian whisky as a category has responded well in terms of growth and style in recent years, but only after a century of existing somewhere at the bottom popularity wise. Consequently, most introductory whisky books... Continue Reading →
We arrive to yet another stop on the Ardbeg trail. It should be stated without winking or crossed fingers that Ardbeg has immense street cred among connoisseurs and commands childlike wonderment from the casual observers. You may be able to safely stamp a cult like following on this celebrated brand. This basically ensures that whatever... Continue Reading →
Spokane Whiskey Club 