Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
While discontinuing several popular bottles in 2017, Highland Park has recast their image in Viking lore. The previously named Highland Park 12 Yr Old has been reborn as Viking Honour. The bottle has received a makeover, but this expression remains a core bottling for the company as it always was. With the effort to improve... Continue Reading →
Gather round, my friends, and give unto me your ears, for I shall tell you about the time-honored art of "dusty hunting." Before we go any further let me say that this whisky hobby phenomenon is less about art and more about science. Allow me to define terms: dusty hunting is the pursuit of rare... Continue Reading →
I have cried only 3 times in my life. Dad's funeral, the day the music died, and the day I found out that Balvenie Single Barrel 15 was discontinued. I have a special love affair with a decent Scotch whisky with no sherry finishing. There is something pure about that kind of stripped down composition... Continue Reading →
You know what I like? Cocktails. And just between you and me, I sometimes enjoy a Vodka Cranberry. Yeah, you heard me right. But do you know what I don't like? Alchoholic Syncretism. If we are not talking about cocktails, generally speaking, this is expressed when you merge two standalone styles into a new creation.... Continue Reading →
My first recollection of Ardbeg Supernova occurred in 2009, the year of its first release, during an interview between Whisky Cast and whisky writer Jim Murray. Murray recounted his sensory experience with Supernova as intense, to say the least, but perfectly caught the moment when he described swirling his last sip in the mouth for... Continue Reading →
We find ourselves bathing in the glory of Laphroaig’s 200th anniversary. One of the distillery’s celebratory bottlings is this year’s Cairdeas, Laphroaig’s selected trophy in honor of this year’s Feis Ile Festival of Music and Malt. Each Islay distillery is given a day to during the week long festival to promote and celebrate its contribution... Continue Reading →
Whisky writer Dominic Roskrow remarked that marrying smoky, peaty flavors with sherry finishing is a tricky thing. He covered the Lahproaig line for his book 1,001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die and mentioned this in his write up on Laphroaig Triple Wood. If we are talking about heavily peated whiskies it’s not hard... Continue Reading →
Micro barreling used to be kind of a thing in the American whiskey industry. More like a craft thing, but a big thing. Without getting into it too much, the idea is that new companies, needing to get a brand to shelf as soon as possible, turn to aging their new make spirit in small... Continue Reading →
The French wine industry coined the word “terroir” as a way to romanticize not just the wine but the very ground from whence the wine is derived. Terroir is defined as “the characteristic taste and flavor imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced.” Ever see that documentary “Somm?” The sommeliers... Continue Reading →
I think the American craft distilling scene could take a lesson from Benromach Distillery. Looking at the movement from afar, it seems that there are a number of things they can no longer get away with, but one in particular is simply this: no more riding on the coat tails of anything other than what you put... Continue Reading →
I hope the good people at Glenlivet never read this review. Not that there is any remote chance they would anyway, but hope remains. You see, we as a club have tried every readily available expression from Glenlivet with the exception of their 25 year old. We’re not dentists, so we don’t count the glass... Continue Reading →
So we move on from the sassy fest of our last post to a more reasoned approach this time around. We present today a rather invigorating rhapsody of whisky geekery on Auchentoshan Triple Wood. The issues raised by this particular malt’s style inspire a quick word or two on distillation, as Auchentoshan distills their Scotch... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
There will never be a perfect whisky. Ever. Few are bad, most are decent, some are good, even less are considered great. Maybe a handful are considered legendary. Today’s selection is certainly not legendary, but it might as well be for lowly bottom feeders like us. I am not a rich dentist, I buy what... Continue Reading →
Allow us a mere moment to divert from our populist method of reviewing bottles you can actually find on the shelf and talk about something much more titillating: independent bottlings. The spirits industry across all styles maintains a lovely working relationship with independent companies that buy excess quantities of casks from distilleries for eventual resale. A... Continue Reading →
Like the other two bottlings in our recent look at Glenmorangie’s 12 year old finished whisky, Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban is the original 10 year old single malt, aged in first and second fill bourbon casks, and this time around is finished for a further two years in port wine “pipes.” A Port pipe is a... Continue Reading →
Spokane Whiskey Club 