Richard

Founding Apostle

Southern Comfort

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

Southern Comfort
35% ABV/70 Proof
$12 to $15 for 750ml
Website

What the Distillery Says:
Not much really. The company website actually redirects you to Wikipedia. Here’s what Wikipedia says:

Southern Comfort (often abbreviated in English to SoCo) is an American liqueur made from neutral spirits with fruit, spice and whiskey flavourings. The brand was originally created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874,[citation needed] and is now owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation. Although the original product contained whiskey, the current formula for Southern Comfort only contains whiskey-tasting flavouring rather than actual whiskey (except for the premium version called “Special Reserve”).

In the US Southern Comfort is available as 100 US proof (50% alcohol by volume), and 70 US proof (35% alcohol by volume). Southern Comfort Special Reserve, found in duty-free shops, is a blend of Southern Comfort and bourbon, and is 80 US proof. Southern Comfort Lime, released in the Summer of 2010, is 55 proof (27.5% alcohol by volume) and Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper, released in the Fall of 2011, is 70 proof (35% alcohol by volume).

Southern Comfort also produces Ready-To-Pour cocktails available in the US including Southern Comfort Sweet Tea, Southern Comfort Hurricane and Southern Comfort Lemonade, which are all 30 proof (15% alcohol by volume).

Southern Comfort has expanded over the years and has several product offerings globally. Outside the US, Southern Comfort produces single-serve cocktails, including Southern Comfort Lemonade and Lime in the UK and Southern Comfort and Cola in Australia.

Outside of the Americas, Southern Comfort is produced and bottled in Dublin, Ireland.

What Richard Says:
Nose: How do you really describe the smell of Southern Comfort? It’s like describing what apples smell like. Other things smell like SoCo, SoCo doesn’t smell like other things. Even still, vanilla, lemon, oranges, and cinnamon are the most pronounced notes that I get.
Palate: Cherries, vanilla, simple syrup, and cloves.
Finish: Here’s the only place I get any hint of whiskey, even though it’s only whiskey flavoring. SoCo actually finishes a little shorter and cleaner than you might expect. Most syrupy liqueurs seem to never go away.
Comments: I guess this was an early sort of introduction to whiskey for me. Long before Matt and I spent long hours contemplating that first bottle of Bushmills, he showed up at my door with a bottle of SoCo. Okay, so Southern Comfort isn’t really a whiskey liqueur. Today it’s made with neutral spirits and whiskey flavoring. Still, when you say “whiskey liqueur” more often than not Southern Comfort will be pretty close to the top of the list people start naming. SoCo is a classic. Is it something I’m dying to drink glass after glass of? No. However, it still holds its own and stands out among today’s growing sea of liqueurs. While I’m not going to down glasses of it I’ll still drink my share in an Alabama Slammer.
Rating: Stands Out

Southern Comfort Read More »

Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky
47.3% ABV/ 94.6 Proof
$150 to $175

What the Distillery Says:
A meticulous re-creation of the original malt whisky shipped to Antarctica in 1097 by Shackleton to fortify his ‘Nimrod’ expedition, this dram has been a long, long time in the making.

Abandoned to the Antarctic winter in early 1909, three wooden crates of this fine Mackinlay’s malt, originally distilled at Glen Mhor Distillery in Inverness, were buried in the ice beneath Ernest Shackleton’s hut.

Unearthed a century later by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, in 2010 a single crate was flown to Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand for conservation. Heralded as ‘a gift from heaven for whisky lovers’, this original and long-lost malt provided the inspiration and critical insight for our timeless re-creation.

Every whisky is an adventure, but this one more than most. From Glen Mhor to many years lying under Antarctic ice and then journeying back to the land of its birth. And in many ways it is now that the adventure is really just beginning as the discovery and analysis of the original malt an dour faithful re-creation now add an exhilarating new chapter to an already epic story.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Lightly smokey, fresh and citrusy. It reminds me of the smell of my kitchen the next morning after making a bunch of whiskey sours. It’s kind of like lemon but after it’s been left out for a while.
Palate: Lightly sweet and very delicate. This is more of an aperitif than an after dinner malt. It’s rather fruity and very little of the peat and smoke that is in the nose and finish shows up in the palate.
Finish: For such a delicate drink the finish is a surprising peaty smokey little punch. Oak makes a standing ovation too.
Comments: This is a funny little dram. The nose, palate, and finish seem like three different whiskies. It’s very enjoyable and speaks to Mr. Paterson’s skill as a blender.
Rating: Stands Out

My thanks to Patricia Jimenez with The Baddish Group for providing me with a review sample.

Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Read More »

Wild Turkey American Honey

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

Wild Turkey American Honey
35.5% ABV/71 Proof
$18 to $20
Widely available across the U.S.

What the Distillery Says:
Wild Turkey American Honey is an exceptionally smooth liqueur blended with pure honey and real Wild Turkey Bourbon Whiskey, perfect served chilled straight from the freezer, over rocks, it is the sweeter, smoother side of Wild Turkey.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Surprisingly alcoholic on the nose. Much more than other similar liqueurs. The honey is very delicate and comes across more like honeysuckle.
Palate: Very viscous and sweet. The sweetness is more cane sugar than honey. There may be a little Wild Turkey at the back but it is the sugar that I taste.
Finish: One of the shorter finishes of the whiskey liqueurs I’ve tried. Even though it goes down like oil and coats like tar the finish is relatively quick and leaves more of the honey sweetness than the palate.
Comments: If you’re a fan of this type of drink then this one hangs with the best of them. It’s just not my bag.
Rating: Average

Wild Turkey American Honey Read More »

Evan Williams Cherry Reserve

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

Evan Williams Cherry Reserve Kentucky Liqueur
35% ABV/70 Proof
$13 to $16
Widely available across the U.S.

What the Distillery Says:
Evan Williams Cherry Reserve Kentucky Liqueur, a new product that marries extra-aged Evan Williams Bourbon with natural cherry flavor.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Luden’s cherry cough drops floating in cherry 7-Up.
Palate: Cloyingly sweet. Cherry Nyquil comes to mind. No hint of Evan Williams.
Finish: That sickly sweet taste hangs around for almost a minute. As it clears it leaves a light pleasant cherry note for a while. The finish is definitely the best part.
Comments: The best thing about this is that it actually make me yearn for Red Stag. Again, the whiskey connoisseur is not the audience they are targeting. However, if you’re inclined toward a cherry/whiskey infusion then I would pick Red Stag over this. Evan Williams Bourbon is so smooth that it can’t really stand up to all that cherry sweetness as well as Jim Beam.
Rating: Probably Pass

Evan Williams Cherry Reserve Read More »

Thankfully I’m Not a Horse

/ / Richard's Blog

I’ve gone lame. I haven’t started drinking Pappy Van Winkle with Dr. Pepper or using Highland Park 18 in whiskey sours. I’ve got a bad ankle on my right foot. It’s a reoccurring ligament injury that goes back at least as far as college. There’s even some argument that it goes all the way back to elementary school. This last go around I finally tore it in half (the ligament, not my ankle). So surgery is the only course of action at this point. Friday is the day.

Why am I telling you all this? I’ll be out of commission for a couple weeks while the pain subsides and the ankle starts to heal. While I’m on the DL I’ll be on heavy medication. Apparently, you’re not supposed to drink with said medication. I’ll also be pretty loopy too. I try not to blog under the influence of heavy narcotics. I know it’s hard to believe coming from a whiskey blogger but I like to be lucid when I write this stuff.

I’ve got several reviews queued up for the rest of the month and if I can kick this damn head cold I’ll get in a couple of bourbon reviews and my review of The Mackinlay before I go under the knife. I may not be too responsive for the next couple of weeks but hopefully I’ll be extra responsive after that. It’s my right ankle so I can’t drive or really go anywhere for the next couple of months. That should leave me with a lot of time for whiskey reviews, blogging, email, etc.

Hey, at least I’m not a thoroughbred. If I was I might be off to the glue factory!

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

Thankfully I’m Not a Horse Read More »