Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
My whiskey journey is a baffling one. My first legit tasting session was with a miniature of Johnnie Walker Black. I nearly spit it out and gave up on this "whiskey as a hobby" thing almost as soon as it started. It is now a dependable and steady dram as sure as God made green... Continue Reading →
When it came to the whole craft whiskey boom thimgamajig, my innocence was lost almost immediately. It didn’t win me friends in the industry at the time, but I think I did give credit where credit was due in terms of what tasted good. As a consequence, I didn’t fall madly in love with the... Continue Reading →
Stagg Jr. was a joy to see launched. Anytime an uncut, unfiltered, barrel proof bourbon aged nearly a decade by Buffalo Trace goes to market, any bourbon fan should be grateful. But of course, when you appropriate the mighty, beloved brand name of George T. Stagg and attach “Jr,” as sure as God made green... Continue Reading →
It seems that every time I sashay into a local Total Wine and More here in Spokane I find some new, out of no-where Dry Fly product showing up on the shelf. This pleasant reality, along with the fact that most of their products are now older and possess a higher ABV, means that I... Continue Reading →
It was at one time customary for this blog to introduce a new brand with a quick history overview. That’s becoming less and less necessary in my view, so I will leave Westland Distillery’s story to the internet, as their story has been told already in numerous places (here's a good one). Let’s spend the... Continue Reading →
Dry Fly Distillery is not only Washington State’s first distillery since prohibition, but they're also credentialed as one of the original pioneers of the craft whiskey boom. In 2007, they laid down new fifty three gallon barrels filled with whiskey made from a mash bill of 100% Washington wheat. This whiskey was released two years later... Continue Reading →
A Tennessee whiskey company that buys bulk rye whiskey from Indiana, modifies it somewhere in Plainview, IL and then bottles it in Norwalk, CT is almost a quintessential example of the current state of American whiskey. Maybe a better way is to say that George Dickle Rye is a glimpse behind the curtain of the American whiskey business.... 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 →
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 →
If Rittenhouse Rye is for the bourbon lover, Lot 40 for the Canadian purist, and Whistle Pig Boss Hog for the rye sadist, then Russell’s Reserve Rye is rye’s elegance. And now that rye is finally hip again, you bearded and scarved trendsetters now have full rights to pour this celebrated distillate in your Madison... Continue Reading →
Depending on the temperature of any given whiskey market, popular demand tends to drive new offerings to the shelf, and for rye fans what a grand time it is right now. But during the time frame between the recent rye resurgence and Prohibition, rye was scarce. While most rye brands, very popular before Prohibition, did... Continue Reading →
Frederick Booker Noe II, grandson of Jim Beam, started working at his family’s distillery in Clermont, KY in 1951. During this time, Bourbon did not enjoy the rock star status it has today, despite the fact that a family as important as the Beams were quietly distilling and aging their barrels in the hot Kentucky... Continue Reading →
Craft Distilling seems to be holding some gems within its midst. These can be difficult to find when the 9th new distillery opens up in your town to offer yet another 2 year old spirit priced over $50.00 a bottle. That is, if the “distillery” even made it all. Perhaps they bought the whiskey from... Continue Reading →
It took me two years to get this damned bottle of whiskey. Quite frankly, I forgot I was even on the waiting list until they called me. I slowly came to accept the reality that Pappy 15 would never reach my lips. Oh, the horror. When you come to realize that a murderous, crazed obsession... Continue Reading →
The craft distilling industry is succeeding on a few levels. The most important of which is innovation, ever rare in the crowded marketplace. Non-traditional grains, unorthodox finishing, old school comebacks (plain corn whiskies) and micro-barreling, to name a few, have seen success on the whiskey shelf. Things get interesting when a new innovation is added to... Continue Reading →
Folks, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I can also confidently state that Bourbon is pretty good at present for the most part. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t welcome attempts to make it slightly better on occasion. The problem is that a “new” whiskey is very difficult to simply introduce into the market place.... Continue Reading →
Spokane Whiskey Club 