Infectious Charm. Devastating Wit. Below Average Looks.
Revival. Like at a Baptist revival tent, but not really. I am trying to come up with a provocative intro, and it is not working. What else is new? But seriously, GlenDronach is a significant Scotch whisky. But it was not always so. Popular in the 60s but only as a contribution to Teacher's, the... Continue Reading →
With blind tasting comes boldness, boldness to disavow everything you thought you knew, or perhaps confirmation of the few precious truths you hold dear. What I mean is that if you hate a whisky whilst blind tasting it, you probably truly hate it, and if you like it, you probably...like it. You have no bias... Continue Reading →
One of the challenges of long term whisky enjoyment is the trajectory of one's ever changing palate. The goal of any whisky freak from day one is frequently adding varied sensory input in order to evolve your taste and mental Rolodex of aroma. That's part of the fun and good work of growing your skill.... 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 →
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 →
Baker’s 7 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a whiskey that took me years to figure out. Liking a dram your first time seems almost too easy, too…lazy, maybe? The idea that multiple tastings with patience and contemplation, which are eventually rewarded with enlightenment, is much more fun. Some whiskies just take time to get,... Continue Reading →
Some time ago another club member and I were prepping work on a “Best Bourbons under $20” project that would surely sweep the interwebs by storm and propel us into the stratosphere of whiskey blogging. While I am sterling certain that our popularity will be irresistible, the project probably stays in the hopper for the... Continue Reading →
It’s been too long since I have spent a meaningful amount of time poking around the Irish whiskey scene. Last I looked, it wasn’t just all about Midleton, Bushmills and Cooley. Small outfits were popping up much like the American craft boom, although not quite at our pace. The most prominent of these new distilleries... Continue Reading →
If we just stuck with our standard rotation of Scotch, American, Irish and the occasional Canadian whisky, we would have plenty to do content wise. But it seems like we would be missing out on a whole new world of whisky making. We don’t want to be that kind of group, endlessly dogmatizing only what... Continue Reading →
While the Knob Creek brand under Beam started in 1992 as part of the Small Batch Collection, the timeline of the brand can actually be traced back to the 30’s. The significance of the name can be loosely attributed to Abraham Lincoln having lived near an actual “Knob Creek,” and his father working seasonally at... Continue Reading →
To say that Woodinville’s newest bourbon is great for Washington state's whiskey industry merely starts the conversation. In this author’s opinion, Woodinville Straight Bourbon is a major step forward for the entire American craft whiskey industry, if I may be so bold. I should also stress that this opinion is not expressed flippantly or out... Continue Reading →
Not that it has ever stopped me in the past, but to use a tired yet accurate phrase, “success story” seems to be a nice tight fit for the Four Roses brand. Its history, however, is a rather strange one when you start at the beginning. The distillery was founded in 1888, and eventually the Four... Continue Reading →
Meanwhile, up in Canada, Diageo’s small, heel nipping startup distillery called Crown Royal released Northern Harvest Rye whisky earlier this year. Should be interesting, as Canadian whisky has been trying to grow from the top down, meaning the premium category has seen quite a few new bottlings in recent years. Crown Royal is doing something... 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 →
Spokane Whiskey Club 