Tacos and margaritas on the fifth of May are no more Mexican than green beer in the middle of March is Irish. But if you're looking to put a shot of authenticity into your celebrations this Saturday, you should really consider making it mezcal day. More
When it comes time to unwind, I usually reach for domestic drinks. Bourbon, American gins, and our amazing wealth of microbrewed beers are high on my list of go-to tipples. But every now and then I get adventurous, and yearn to explore an exotic destination. These 3 bottles offer a trip around the world—no passport required. More
Happy almost St. Patrick's day! For those of you who are hoping to celebrate the holiday with something a little stronger than green beer, we've compiled a hitlist of three exciting new Irish whiskeys that will knock the beard off a leprechaun. More
In a little warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the New York Distilling Company is beginning to take shape. They're currently producing two gins, and have plans to expand into rye whiskey and beyond in the near future. And unlike most craft distilleries, where you need to scour the shelves of boutique liquor stores and hope to find a bottle, NY Distilling Co. opened a bar next door to the distillery where you can try the spirits and the cocktails they inspire. More
If you're not a whiskey-obsessive like myself, odds are your interaction with rye whiskey is limited to classic cocktails such as the Manhattan or the Sazerac. While those time-tested concotions certainly deserve their success, the world of rye has come a long way from the spirits that inspired them. So what exactly is a rye? More
The world of whiskey is highly regulated, and in order for a bottle to be labeled Scotch, Irish, bourbon, straight, or rye, the qualifying characteristics are quite precise. In order to be called an American whiskey, on the other hand, a spirit must be produced in America and distilled from cereal grains. That's it! Think of American whiskey as the whiskey world's bloomin' onion outpost—no rules are just right! With such tremendous latitude allowed to distillers, there are a wide variety of styles and interpretations of the spirit. Want to explore the options a bit? These are three bottles worth seeking out. More
Seasonal celebrations and free flowing libations go hand in hand, but picking the perfect potable as a gift for your favorite discriminating drinker can be a tall order. The world of fine liquor is vast and frustratingly opaque to outsiders, but fear not! Here are some strategies on how to play spirits Santa this year. More
When it comes to brown spirits, black is the new black. In a continuation of the whiskey industry's current infatuation with black-branded spirits, Jameson has launched their Select Reserve Black Barrel. The Black Barrel's base is a higher than usual proportion of Jameson's pot still whiskey, aged to around 12 years instead of the normal 5 to 7. Small batch grain whiskey rounds out the blend. So what does special plus special equal? And is it worth the extra bucks to go black? More
Today we're tasting through the offerings from Bushmills, including Bushmills Original, Black Bush, 10 Year Old Malt, and 21 Year Old Malt, in order to get a sense of the house style and determine which bottle is the best value. Perhaps we'll even pick out a whiskey to add to our Christmas wish list. More
It's getting hard to keep track of the extensive Kahlúa flavored family: mocha, French vanilla, hazelnut, especial, and peppermint mocha. And that's not even including their ready-to-drink concoctions: Original Mudslide, White Russian, Banana Mudslide, Cappuccino Mudslide, chocolate latte, Rspberry White Russian—phew! And with the launch of Kahlúa Cinnamon Spice this month, I can't help but wonder whether the world really needs another Kahlúa on the shelf. More
Instantly recognizable from Kathmandu to Khartoum, the walking man on a bottle of whisky is seen as an international symbol of taste and quality. And for good reason—Johnnie Walker is the world's best selling blended Scotch whisky. Not content to rest on their laurels at the top of the booze chain, the folks at Johnnie Walker have been testing the market for what they describe as a pumped-up Black Label. More
We've already tried a whiskey that tastes like a tequila and an aged tequila that tries to taste unaged, so you'd think we would be used to the idea that the category doesn't necessarily define the spirit. But we were taken by surprise when we first sipped today's bottle: Brugal 1888 (full name: 1888 Ron Gran Reserva Familiar)—a new rum that thinks it's a scotch. More
Billed as the first añejo claro tequila, Don Julio 70 is a 100% blue agave tequila that is twice distilled and aged in American white oak barrels for 18 months. The spirit is filtered using a proprietary process involving electronically magnetized particles, leaving the aged tequila crystal clear. It's a nice idea, but all that really matters is what's in the bottle. More
It can be challenging for a beverage older than agriculture to maintain its relevance over the years. Indeed, you rarely see mead these days except at Renaissance Festivals or as a novelty at a theme party. Maine Mead Works is on a mission to change all that. Using cutting edge techniques—continuous fermentation, for one—and inventive flavorings, such as hops and lavender, they have crafted some dangerously drinkable booze. More
While single malt scotches and single barrel bourbons dominate the dreams of most high-end whiskey drinkers, the vast majority of sales in the wide world of whiskey (and whisky) are of the humble blend. Taking its name from its ingredients—usually high quality straight or single malt whiskeys cut with grain alcohol—blends are typically less complex and therefore less 'interesting' than their big league brethren. You're probably familiar with some of the more popular suspects, such as Johnny Walker, Jameson, or the Famous Grouse. Blends vary widely in quality, but are typically held in somewhat low regard by the liquor cognoscenti. However, Compass Box Whisky aims to change all that. More
I usually take a low-key approach to constructing cocktails—my ideal process involves finding a glass and opening one bottle. Enter today's spirit: Bluecoat American Dry Gin, a punch in a bottle. More
Micro-distilleries aren't the only ones who are challenging the status quo of whiskey making. With new expressions and distilling techniques, major brands are committed to staying relevant in these revolutionary times for the American distillery. Today's example comes from one of the largest: even Jim Beam, the world's #1 selling bourbon, is eager to mix it up with the upstarts. More
Moonshine is running off the stills and bourbon is quietly aging in the corners of Kings County Distillery in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This young distillery really puts the 'small' in small batch—their distilling room is only 325 square feet! More
Whistlepig's Master Distiller, Dave Pickerell, comes to the project after 14 years of working at Maker's Mark, and together with entrepreneur Raj Bahkta, aims to create a self-sustainable organic whiskey distillery in rural Vermont. But instead of waiting to get their farm, distillery, and aging warehouse up and running, or bottling and selling unaged white whiskey, as is common practice for many whiskey micro-distilleries who can't wait several years for a revenue stream to appear, they've launched their brand with a fully matured rye whiskey. More
As Paul Clarke wrote recently, summer is the perfect season for light spirits like tequila and gin. Today we're tasting two unusual offerings from New Holland Artisan Spirits. More
While this gin from House Spirits is not as eccentric as plenty of other new American gins, the spirit's balance really makes it stand out. Starting with a neutral rye grain liquor base, the House Spirits team adds seven botanicals sourced from the Oregon Spice Company: juniper, green cardamom, lavender, Indian sarsaparilla, coriander, anise seed, and dried sweet orange peel. More
From the suburbs of Munich, bartenders Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck of The Bitter Truth have been creating various flavors of cocktail bitters since 2006. They've come a long way from the orange bitters that launched their product line. With the release of their E**X**R Kräuter Liqueur, they're branching out into the other kind of bitters—the digestive liqueurs Italians call amari. More
Miles and Marko Karakasevic of Charbay are 12th and 13th generation distillers, but their Hop Flavored Whiskey is anything but conventional. Instead of the typical "low wash" beer (read: you wouldn't be thrilled quaffing a pint) that distillers brew expressly for their whiskies, this whiskey is distilled in a pot still from 20,000 gallons of high quality pilsner beer that received an extra dose of hops. More
@TimoG Adding caramel coloring (the technical designation is E150A) is a pretty standard practice for scotch producers - in fact, if you don't see the words "no coloring added" it's a pretty safe bet that you've got caramel in your bottle. See Ralfy's in-depth video all about it here. As for the smokier flavor - I'm pretty sure that's due to the inclusion of more smoky whiskys in this blend!
@portail32 The MSRP for the Double Black is $40, or 15% more than the Black Label's $34. Let us know if you find it, and what you think!!
@Wade Woodard, do you know that this is the process they use? I'm actually quite curious, but I'm not sure your analogy holds up - with the paint shaker, dried paint is merely coating the internal surface of the can, but here the bourbon is actually soaked INTO the wood of the barrel, so I would imagine that it would take more than shaking water around in the barrel to extract the trapped spirit. But I haven't tried the experiment myself - anyone have any insights?
I don't know from wine glasses, but I have done some legit A/B on spirits glasses - take the exact same whisky in a tumbler vs. a shaped glass and the results are stunning. Since so much of the spirit experience is based around aroma, shaping the flow of those compounds to your schnoz is paramount. My personal preference is for a Glencairn glass: it was designed for whisky in particular but I've found it versatile enough for any sipping spirit. There's definitely a place for the rest of the spirit stemware out there (tumbler for on the rocks, martini for martini, highball for highballs, etc.), but when enjoying a spirit on its own, it's worth paying attention to your glass.
In a superior parallel universe, the hippest '80s craze in children's dolls = melon patch kids.
With apologies to George Thorogood:
1. Bourbon: A nice balanced bourbon [Four Roses] to get through the pregame coverage
2. Scotch: One of the peat monsters from Islay [Laphroaig CS or Ardbeg Uigeadail] to get the smoke on the fire
3. Beer to take it on out. American for the 'bowl - Sierra Nevada, king of American Pale Ale
Relatively unknown in North America until about five years ago, elderflower liqueur has come a long way from its humble origins as a medicinal cordial. Today we're comparing the popular brand St-Germain to another version from Pür Spirits. More
Novo Fogo is located on the edge of Brazil's coastal rainforest and produces two styles of seriously delicious organic cachaça. Their Silver is dangerously balanced and crisp and unlike any other cachaça I've ever tried. More
Distilled from Eastern Washington-grown winter wheat and flavored with dried Washington apples, mint, juniper, and hops, this spirit is almost more of a genever than an American gin. It's very aromatic, with a nose perfumed with green apple, grapefruit, and malt and only a hint of the telltale juniper and botanicals. More
@Sov Thanks for your comment. This is actually a pretty in-depth topic, which is why I didn't get into it in a review of several whiskeys as I wanted them to be the focus, but perhaps I should write a longer piece on all the different types of whiskeys (and whiskies). One could write a whole post on spelling variations alone... but let's sort this out!
Let me put out some quick working definitions (by no means exhaustive, as they get very technical fast):
Single Malt: 100% aged malted barley whiskey from one distillery
Blended Malt (formerly called vatted malt or pure malt): blended single malt whiskeys from different distilleries
Blended Whiskey: practices do vary a bit, but in general this is grain whiskey blended with aged malt whiskeys
Single Barrel (sometimes Single Cask): the product of a single barrel or cask, with some water added to bring it down to proof
Single Barrel Cask Strength: one barrel, into the bottle. that's it.
There are other categories also... bourbon, bottled in bond, canadian whisky, rye, etc, etc...
Tricky stuff. But the fact of the matter is that yes, in general single malt whiskeys are actually a blend of a bunch of different barrels of aged whiskey from a single distillery. This is how distillers are able to achieve a consistent product since, as you correctly note, each individual barrel will have variations in taste and color due to the vagaries of the aging process. The master blender tastes all of his barrels, and using his artful skill in the craft acquired through years and years of experience, she is able to orchestrate the blending of these barrels into an expression that people the world over know and love. The age indicated on a bottle of a single malt is the age of the youngest whiskey used to achieve that expression. So you can really read those as "x years or older."
Also it's not true that "all whiskeys are generally aged at least 4 years." There's been a trend recently towards early releases of a new whiskey, young (6 months!) whiskey, and white dog (unaged whiskey) hitting the market. "Whiskey" is a tremendously broad category - a distilled spirit made from fermented grain. That's all you have to do to make whiskey, aging isn't required. This is precisely why there are all of these subdivisions to differentiate different products!
It is a little unclear in this post, but both Bushmills Original and Black Bush are blended whiskies, while the 10 year and the 21 year are single malts.
I hope that clears things up!