Category Archives: Whiskey

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Boirbon

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Straight Bourbon, 9 Years, 45% ABV, $20

I’m still playing catch up from the North Texas ice storm that somehow put a damper on my whiskey advent activities. Here is #7 – a familiar pour that I’ve been through several bottles of – Buffalo Trace.

With a medium amber color and viscosity that provides a nice coating on the glass, BT looks really nice. The nose is of vanilla, cherry, plum, honey, old cigar box, lemon drop, black pepper and a bit of charred oak. Sometimes I notice a bit if green grass and green pepper.

The initial taste is lemon, vanilla, caramel, cherry and honey, which gives way to a bit of white and black pepper on the way to a mildly wooded finish. Eventually, some grass and ginger join the fray between the initial burst and the finish. There’s also a bit of leathery cocoa… like cocoa powder just before the finish arrives. I continue to sip on this whiskey and a tobacco flavor develops on the background… not as forward as on the Eagle Rare 10 that I like, but a nice addition nonetheless.

This is a very solid whiskey at a great price and still one of my favorite bottom-shelf bourbons. I tend to step up to Eagle Rare 10 or Evan Williams Single Barrel for a few dollars more, but I like this for any mixing that I do since it’s available at a good price in 1.75l bottles.

Ardbeg Corryvreckan

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Islay Single Malt, No Age Statement,
57.1% ABV, $75

Next up is an Islay single malt from Ardbeg to finish the night.

A nice golden color and a bit of oiliness coats the sides of the glass. One whiff and I’m certain that this Islay and maybe more like Laphroaig than the Ardbeg Ten that I’m used to. Smoke, peat and a hint of iodine rise from the glass. Notes of honey, ginger, apple, straw, lemon and sea salt rise through the smoky vapors. Leaving it I disturbed for a bit allows me to gently inhale smells of grass and tobacco.

The flavors are delayed slightly and then mildly explode into honey, grapefruit, apple, orange, cherry, ginger, cocoa and white pepper and it’s all bathed in mild peat and smoke. The finish is more peat with a mildly leathery wood and mild spice as the salt and sweetness fades. It never reaches a dry mouthfeel, but the mild bitterness is evident. The fruity flavors in the midst of the smoke are lots of fun while the spices keep you attentive. I was expecting more of the oily iodine or sulphur characteristic of Laphroaig, but I don’t detect any… maybe just a hint after drinking several sips and only after the fruits and spices completely fade. No, this is a more refined yet bolder Ardbeg… much less sweetness than Ardbeg Ten with more tangy fruit.

This is a serious whisky that you can’t just casually enjoy. It forces you to engage it with some focus and the attention is well worth it. I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I do. It’s much better than Ardbeg Ten and probably my favorite Islay to date.

Signatory Fettercairn 15 Year Old 1996 (Vintage Collection)

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Highland Single Malt, 15 Years,46% ABV, $50

Highland Single Malt, 15 Years,
46% ABV, $50

This is #5, so I’m still 6 days behind schedule after this one. I’ll have to go for 2 tonight. First up is a Signatory bottling from a now defunct highland distillery.

Firstly, I’ll note the pale coloring. Although it pours a pale yellow-gold, the nose is moderately bold. There’s lots of honey and straw with notes of ginger, overripe pear, mild tobacco and sea salt.

The taste is fruity and delicate at first, giving way to a gradual build of mildly peppery spice and an equally mild woodiness. The fruits linger all the way through to the finish and fade slowly. Initially, there’s lemon drop, orange, pear, vanilla and apple, then a gradually increasing amount of ginger that is joined by black and white pepper. The peppers are mild, while the ginger is more prominent. The mild sweetness up front is contrasted with a dry, woody and mildly bitter finish. The lingering and soft fruitiness provides good balance as the wood fades. After a while, I notice a bit of brine that is quite complementary along with a really smooth honey flavor… not like raw honey, but more like a creamed honey that goes well with the candy, fruit and spice

This is a very nice whisky and one I might have to pick up (thanks for the sample, Mark E.). Some refer to this as a nice Summer whisky and I get that. I’ll add that it’s quite nice on this cold winter night as well.

Balcones on Ice

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Well, I should be at the Balcones Distillery right now enjoying a tour, getting my Balcones Glencairn Whisky Glass and buying my bottle of their limited edition 5th Anniversary Brimstone Resurrection. I was so excited to have landed one of the 100 total tickets to the event and to have made it into the first tour at 10:00 am. Instead, I’m stuck at home with a few inches of ice on all of the roads and unable to travel to the event. Hopefully, I can find some other way to get a bottle of this fantastic whiskey, which I’ve had the pleasure of tasting at a Trinity Hall tasting event a few months ago.

TX Blended Whiskey

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Blend, No Age Statement, 41% ABV, $35

Blend, No Age Statement, 41% ABV, $35

This is a blended whiskey from Firestone & Roberts in Fort Worth that is probably more known for their bottle caps made with old boot leather than for their whiskey. Let me get my spurs on before tasting this one (yes, I really do have some). Now let’s see if I can stay on for 8 seconds.

The color is medium amber. The aroma is bold with sweetness, wood and spice. Really nice vanilla, caramel, dried corn cob, candied fruit and honey. There’s not a lot of complexity, but lots to enjoy nonetheless. After a while I get a bit of old wooden box and black cherries, too.

The first taste is somewhat resinous, but still spicy and sweet. The wood tannins are prominent (i.e. young whiskey), but nothing objectionable. Additional sips reveal the expected vanilla and caramel while the woody characteristics linger. There’s a bit of lemon, bitter honey and ginger as well. Once the sweetness fades, there’s a leathery spicy wood finish that lingers nicely. It’s a sequence of sweet, tangy, spicy then woody. The sweetness seems to build (in duration, not intensity) and begins to linger into the finish more and more. By the time I’m finished, I’m left with a definite taste of cocoa powder against the backdrop of the other flavors. It’s an interesting collection of flavors.

I like this stuff because its interesting and easy to drink. This could easily satisfy the coke and bourbon crowd while giving the whiskey aficionado something to explore. Another winner for the value conscious buyer, in my opinion. In the price range, there’s lots of competition (e.g. Evan Williams Single Barrel, Eagle Rare 10 and Weller 12 to name a few), but this is fun enough to try for some variety. Make sure you pick out a good cap, too!

Many thanks to Mark E. for the sample. He describes this whiskey as having “one note, but a very good note.” I’m not sure that this statement doesn’t sell it short, but I know what he’s getting at and I agree.

Bruichladdich The Laddie Ten

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Islay Single Malt, 10 Years, 46% ABV, $50

With this tasting, I’ve caught up with my advent schedule. This is the entry-level unpeated offering from Bruichladdich and one that I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about.

The Laddie Ten pours golden yellow. Although unpeated, it’s got a definite briny smoke on the nose along with the sweetness of vanilla and honey. It’s a pleasure to sniff the lightly smoky sweet aroma and pick out the fresh cut grass, spicy ginger and pepper, fruity plum and pear with a nice balance between all of them. You still get an image of a grassy island surrounded by seawater.

Moving on to the taste, it’s distinctly Islay with less brine than the nose would suggest, but the sweetness remains: apple, vanilla, honey and sweet lemon. There’s also the mild woody smoke as well as white pepper that carry through to the finish, which is long and mostly dry, woody and leathery after the last of the tart fruits fade.

This is a mild Islay and not at all like the oily experience of a Laphroaig, Ardbeg or Bruichladdich’s Port Charlotte offerings. It makes for a good introduction to the style because it has plenty of characteristic Islay attributes without the intensity that Islay lovers adore. Give it a try!

Balvenie 12 Year Old Doublewood

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Speyside Single Malt, 12 Years, 40% ABV, $40

The second whisky is Balvenie’s 12 Year Old Doublewood (there’s also a 17 Year Old now). I’ve had a taste of this before, but I can really spend some time with it this time. Over the aging span this whisky is first put in ex-bourbon casks, then transferred to first-fill Oloroso sherry casks for the remainder of the time (they don’t indicate how long in each).

The color is golden and it’s got a sweet grassy smell with notes of pear, apple, bitter orange, straw, burnt sugar, ginger, green pepper and a hint of smoke. I’m enjoying inhaling this one.

The first sip confirms the fruits and ginger while adding a good bit of peppery spice at the end. There’s also a woody finish with a hint of white pepper. As I continue to sip, flavors of vanilla, honey, orange, plum, pear, apple and ginger develop. The finish becomes a bit sweeter with notes of burnt sugar, but is still mostly bitter wood and mildly hot. The sherry influence becomes more evident after a while but continues to be balanced by a dry tannins and spices. It improves mildly with each sip and keeps me interested and hunting for other flavors. Just a drop or two of water opens up the flavors, but I wouldn’t add more than that. It’s just fine straight and loses just a bit of spicy bite with the water.

This is a very good whisky that I would enjoy again for sure. I think its a good value too at $40. Oh, and thanks to Gene for the sample.

Old Crofter

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Blend, No Age Statement, 40% ABV, $12

I’m already a day behind as this is yesterday’s whisky!  This is an exclusive bargain offering from Total Wine & More that a friend of mine discovered.  He also gave me a sample to share with my son in order to save him some money (thanks, Mark!).

I detect charred wood, straw, clover, mild cocoa and honey on the nose. I’m searching for fruits, but I’m coming up empty. Delving deeper I detect a bit of grassiness and a hint of bell pepper. After a bit more time, I notice the faintest bit of white pepper.

The taste is definitely grainy and thin with a bit of spice on the finish that lingers for a good while. Up front I taste vanilla, straw, honey, dry cocoa, green pepper and green apple. There’s a brief transition to sappy wood with a note of apple before a mildly woody and spicy finish. The spices are mostly white and black pepper with the wood showing no signs of leathery taste. When it’s all said and done, the wood is what remains with a slightly grainy taste.

This is the cheapest Scotch blend I’ve had, but definitely not the worst. It’s simple and only mildly interesting, but it works fairly well. This is a true bargain in every sense of the word, but it’s not enough to hold my attention. The most objectionable aspect is the green flavor presented by the green pepper (detecting more of it now as in the nose) and the white pepper, which is not a favorite with me. If the flavor profile interests you and you’re looking for something cheap, then I can recommend this one.

My Own Custom Whiskey Advent Calendar

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Last year I was introduced to the concept of a whisky advent calendar by my friend, Gene, and the folks at Master of Malt. Today, I decided to build my own custom version using samples that I’ve collected over the past year. I’ve come up a bit short, so I’ll supplement a few from my open bottles that haven’t been formally tasted yet. The collection includes, Scotch from most regions, bourbon, rye, rum, brandy, grappa and mezcal. I know that this ventures a bit beyond whiskey, but that just makes the journey more interesting. I’m using a somewhat arbitrary order while saving a few of the premium offerings for last. I’m looking forward to it and I hope you enjoy it, too.

Jameson Tasting

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Midleton LogoThe latest tasting at Trinity Hall Irish Pub (my favorite tasting venue of late) is the line of Jameson Irish Whiskies and the annual Midleton release from the Midleton Distillery.  Here’s the lineup:

  • Jameson Irish Whiskey – $20
  • Jameson 12 Year – $39
  • Powers Gold Label 12 Year- $33
  • Redbreast 12 Year – $45
  • Jameson Gold Reserve – $63
  • Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve – $290
  • Midleton Very Rare – $130

Of these, the Redbreast 12 , Jameson 12 and Jameson Gold Reserve were standouts.  I already have a bottle of Redbreast 12, but I think that my next Irish whiskey will be Jameson 12.  The two premium offerings were quite good as well, but not enough to tempt me when compared to some Scotch single malts in that price range.  I should also note that the Jameson Original and Powers Gold Label weren’t even worth drinking, in my opinion.  I’ve never really liked Irish whiskey and Jameson Original is a big reason for that.  I’m now discovering that there are some good ones out there and I’m looking forward to enjoying them.