Category: Review
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #9: Elijah Craig 12 Year (From Long Ago In The Before Time)
There’s a sense of static in the air these past few weeks of quarantine. Not of any sense of normal but certainly of familiarity. A sense of sameness and of the world outside the familiar walls drifting away. But also there’s that electrical charge like anything can and could happen at any moment. The world […]
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #8: Kilchoman Sauternes Cask Matured (2016)
It feels like the quarantine weeks are quickly going up in smoke. That’s probably because half of the home bar is Islay Whisky right now. Is that a forced transition? You bet it is. I thoroughly enjoy heavily peated whisky. I often use Octomore as an example of just how good a Scotch Whisky can […]
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #7: Drouin Pomme Prisonnière
I think the biggest thing people feel they have lost from this whole quarantine is time. Time lost on their career. Time lost to spend with loved ones. Even the time to simply plan. The future looks so uncertain that it filters back into the present spreading a malaise over each individual moment. And while […]
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #5: Longrow Red 11 Year Cabernet Sauvignon Cask
Just because we’re in quarantine doesn’t mean that there can’t be a theme. Aside from sparking joy by eliminating bottles from the booze cart that is. So next up on the quarantine bottle list is the cousin to the last, the Longrow 11 Year Red: Cabernet Sauvignon Cask. For all single malts produced in Scotland […]
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #3: Springbank 12 Year Cask Strength Burgundy
Springbank has always been a fascinating distillery to me. I intellectually love them. They are one of the last great Campbeltown distilleries. Located on Kintyre Peninsula, Campbeltown was once known as “the whisky capital of the world” with 28 distilleries packed into its borders. Today a measly three remain with one of them, Glengyle which […]
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Quarantine Bottle Kill #2: Woodford Reserve Rare Rye
The next victim of the Quarantine Bottle Count is the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Rare Rye twins from 2011. Yes, I’ve been sitting on two open 375ml bottles for nine years. Don’t judge me. Let’s put this into context. Nine years ago rye whiskey was just becoming the hot item after decades of obscurity. And […]
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Whiskey Wednesday: Take Off of Taketsuru
Continuing this month’s conversation about Nikka comes the news that Nikka will be discontinuing the Taketsuru 17, 21, and 25 Year old expressions as of March of 2020. The Taketsuru line represents NIkka’s history. It pays homage to its founding father as well as combining the art of both of the company’s distinct distilleries. The loss of the Taketsuru line is the loss of a piece of history but it does open a future. Whisky, and in particular Japanese Whisky, is having an incredibly large moment. Bit even if whisky distilled 25 years ago is being depleted left and right the world, and the flavor, that whisky represents is gone. The challenge now is to find the way to create the spirit that fills the barrel to be bottled in 25 years while still keeping the lights on in the years between.
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Whiskey Wednesday: Nikka Days of Our Lives
I love a good story and Nikka Whisky certainly has a good story. A story of both an excellently crafted whiskey but also a phenomenal story in the life of the company’s founder, Masataka Taketsuru. The month of January is especially important to the story of Taketsuru and his redheaded Scottish wife, Rita. So, I thought I’d take some time and look at a few of Nikka’s offerings for the rest of January.
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Whiskey Wednesday: Blood Oath Pact #5
A couple of months ago I was graciously sent a sample of the new release of Blood Oath Bourbon. Between competitions, menu flips, leaving a job, and much needed vacation travel after leaving said job the sample unfortunately fell by the wayside. But with Halloween nearly upon us I figure it would be appropriate to crack open a little Blood Oath and see what it was about.
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Whiskey Wednesday: Four Roses’ New Selection
Conservatively, I would say that 87% of the Four Roses Single Barrel depletions at any bar I work at are due to it ending up in my mouth. Conversely, my Partner-In-Bars, Dave Purcell, would rather sit in the pool with a bottle of the Four Roses Small Batch. I’ve sourced Four Roses Barrel Strength Single […]
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