Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
Just the other day I found myself curious about a particularly famous barely variety called Golden Promise and wondered which distilleries malted it, if at all. The timing was perfect as today we are looking at Glengoyne 10 Year Old Single Malt, whose distillery utilizes this interesting variety of Scottish barley. The reason why I... Continue Reading →
This may sound weird, but the day I realized that distillation is primarily a stripping operation, rather than some sort of magical, ethereal infusion of wonder and excitement with beer, that was the day my education really began. After all, the more you distill something, the closer you get to vodka, a spirit which is... Continue Reading →
Yes, I get it, blended whiskies are not inferior to their single malt counterparts. Looking back across time immemorial, I don’t think I ever jumped on that train. Johnnie Walker Black was one of the first whiskies I became acquainted with and I certainly enjoyed it then. Many blended whiskies later, my appreciation of the... Continue Reading →
Never fret when you are presented with a young, peated Scotch. Surely, if you’re a peat lover, you’re not drinking Ardbeg 10 for the lovely vanilla sweetness. You’re drinking it for smoky napalm. Don’t lie. But if you’re an aged Scotch lover, and seeing 8 or 10 years on the label isn’t exactly bagging your... Continue Reading →
Because I am so cutting edge and hip to the scene and woke and everything like that, we present yet another review for a bottle that is leaving the shelf, Jura 16 Diurach’s Own. Jura is revamping their core range with new whiskies and labels, and unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your taste, the 16... Continue Reading →
Dalwhinnie’s story is a common one. The majority of their malt production is reserved for a blend, namely Black & White, while a portion is bottled as a standalone single malt. The recently reviewed bottlings from Royal Lochnagar, Aberfeldy have similar arrangements. While sampling component malts of major Scotch blends isn’t exactly a favorite hobby... Continue Reading →
Vintage Reserve is our first saunter into the Glenrothes universe. There is very little we know of the brand/distillery and perhaps that's a good thing. We focused our sensory gaze upon it, generally enjoyed it, and happily moved on with our fine day. But apparently, after a quick screening of information available online, there was... Continue Reading →
Aberfeldy’s recent brand makeover seemed to me to be an attempt to remind the whisky world that their whisky still exists and is not just meant to be blended into Dewar’s. It is also promising that Aberfeldy didn’t just redesign the label, and if you’re into that sort thing, it was an improvement, but they... Continue Reading →
Continuing our treasured practice of reviewing bottles you will probably never find ever, we continue with an even more rare and hard to find specimen in Cadenhead’s Royal Lochnagar 18. Owned by J.A. Mitchell and Co., Cadenhead's is the oldest independent bottler in existence and specializes in single cask malt whiskies without chill-filtration or coloring.... Continue Reading →
It’s been some time since we cruelly reviewed a whisky you likely will not be able to find, and because those are so helpful, we submit to you a few pieces of info on Talisker Port Ruighe... It sure does come in handy that we as a whiskey club are able from time to time... Continue Reading →
It was Macallan night during one of our monthly SWC meetings. We had on the docket the 10, 12, and 15 year old expressions. I was excited. How could you not be with Macallan? Life was good. As we went through each whisky, nosing with patience, tasting with gusto, living life as God intended, our... Continue Reading →
Sherried Scotch whisky, at least in this author’s dumb, uninformed opinion, shouldn’t be the quintessential Scotch whisky expression. Just a few years finished in sherried oak can overwhelm a malt’s inherent flavor profile. Macallan’s Fine Oak Series, now called "Triple Cask Matured," offered a glimpse into the distilleries house character without a dominant sherry influence,... Continue Reading →
I felt like a gentlemen with a monocole and a top hat. And a kilt. All that was missing was a well oiled mustace. That’s what I felt like when I tried Macallan 12 for the first time. Back then, this was my first “luxury” malt, as that was what I thought Macallan was at... Continue Reading →
I wonder what Malt Rage looked like back in the day before whisky bloggers were around. Maybe it was just as annoying and self-important as it is today. I was not "malt aware" in 2004 when the owners of The Macallan released the Fine Oak series, but boy, I hear it was quite a thing... Continue Reading →
I suppose Macallan 12 Double Cask represents the Edrington Group’s attempt to jump in on the Americanized Scotch train that started a few years ago (Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Cask comes to mind). I cannot find the article for the life of me, but an editorial on ScotchWhisky.com explained the subtle attempts by some Scotch whisky makers... Continue Reading →
The phrase “Sherry Bomb” isn’t precisely a regulated one in the Scotch industry. A’Bunadh, Macallan, Dalmore, we can all agree on those. If a malt has a strong sherried presence but only was finished for a few years in a sherry cask, could it still be a sherry bomb? I think yes. And I think... Continue Reading →
If you woke up this morning with a still, small voice in your head seducing you with desires to find online whisky reviews for bottles not even available anymore, then you’ve arrived in a good spot, cause that’s what we’re going to do today. Buckle up, buttercup. Today’s review is for Ardbeg’s Dark Cove bottling... Continue Reading →
Call me Mr. Old Fashioned, I just subscribed to my local newspaper. I now have a bundle of paper news sitting on my front porch every morning. I simply grew tired of consuming news in the digital realm we find ourselves in. I noticed that I increasingly read more headlines than actual story content. After... Continue Reading →
GlenDronach Distillery possesses a long past. This fact is not in and of itself special. Lots of distilleries go back a ways. But there is something special about a malt that stands on tradition's shoulders. Founded in 1826, it wasn’t until 1968 that the distillery released a single malt under its own name. In recent... Continue Reading →
Spokane Whiskey Club 