Other Spirits

Red Stag

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

Red Stag Kentucky Straight Bourbon Infused with Natural Flavors
40% ABV/80 Proof
$15 to $18
Available across the U.S.

What the Distillery Says:
Red Stag contains all the pride of the Beam Family’s 200 year history. Originated by Jaco Beam in 1795, Beam Bourbons are the product of seven generations of pioneering distillers. Like all Jim Beam products, Red Stag Black Cherry is made from the highest quality ingredients. And because it is made with Jim Beam, the world’s finest bourbon, it has a delicious taste and is rich with American heritage.

What Richard Says:
Nose: It smells like saltwater taffy floating in generic cherry Nyquil.
Palate: Luden’s cough drops (you know the ones in the white box that all get stuck together) with a Jim Beam chaser.
Finish: It’s like cherry generic Nyquil on the finish.
Comments: Do I hate it? No. It’s not as appalling as the popular nickname “Reg Gag” would imply but i’m not going to buy a bottle. I’m also not the target market for this product. I think among flavored/infused whiskeys this is one of the better ones. I’m going to pass on this but if you’re inclined to give it a try then by all means.
Rating: Probably Pass

Red Stag Read More »

New U.S. Releases – September 2011

/ / Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, Other Spirits, Scottish Whisky

I’m a little late again this month but I have good reason. I reinjured my right ankle and as a result I’ve been medicated and hobbling around. It’s an old injury that actually goes all the way back to fourth grade. My MRI results are pending and it hurts. It is what it is. This is just an excuse on my part. There’s really no good reason why I couldn’t have posted this on time so here goes.

Bruichladdich 10 Year Old
Timeframe: TBD
ABV: 46%
Price: TBD
Bruichladdich is back. Well, they’ve been back. Now they are back with their own 10 Year Old from entirely new production stock.

2011 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection
Timeframe: October 2011
ABV: Varied
Price: $70
The whole gang is back again. All five releases are coming back this year. George T. Stagg, Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17, William Larue Weller, and Thomas Handy will be available in October.

Bunnahabhain Vintage
Timeframe: 2012
ABV: 43%
Price: TBD
Starting next year Bunnahabhain will be replacing their 18 Year old with a vintage release. For fans of the 18 Year Old you better pick it up while you can!

Elijah Craig 20 Year Old
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 45%
Price: $275
The rub on this one, aside from the price (EC 18 is about $60), is that it’s only available at the Bourbon Heritage Center in Kentucky.

Glen Garioch 1994
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: $109.99
This vintage release is supposed to showcase a slightly smokier side of Glen Garioch.

Glenrothes 1995
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: $TBD
This is the newest edition to Glenrothes ongoing vintage releases.

Glenrothes Editors Cask
Timeframe: Winter 2011
ABV: 55.8%
Price: $250
This new limited edition will see only 130 bottlings coming to the U.S. later this year. This one comes from a Spanish hogshead and is cask number 9973.

High West OMG Rye
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 49.3%
Price: TBD
This is a new un-aged rye from High West. It’s 100% rye, 20% malted. High West has caused some controversy in the past but I like their stuff and look forward to giving this a try.

Johnnie Walker Double Black
Timeframe: October 2011
ABV: 40%
Price: No price yet but it’s expected to retail for 15% to 20% above standard JW Black.
Think of this a more heavily peated version of JW Black. Interested? I am. This one was available in travel retail only for a while. I’m glad it’s making to release.

Macallan 60 Year Old Lalique
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: $20,000
This is the fourth release in the Macallan Lalique series. Realistically for most of the us a $20,000 bottle of scotch is a pipe dream. However, it comes in a really pretty bottle. 😉

The Mackinlay
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 47.3%
Price: $162
This is the recreation Whyte and Mackay did of the whiskey found in the Antarctic that was all over the news a while back. It should be interesting. I’m supposed to have a review sample on its way. I’ll keep you posted.

Oban 18 Year Old
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 43%
Price: TBD
I like Oban but I feel that it tends to be overshadowed by its stable mates. Well, Diageo seems to be giving it a little more attention with the line expansion of adding the 18 Year Old as a permanent addition.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Cask Strength
Timeframe: 2012
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
Okay Redbreast fans, the hits just keep on coming. First we got a 15 year release and now we’ll see the original 12 year old coming out in a cask strength version. I’ll definitely be picking some up.

Red Stag Honey & Red Stag Spiced
Timeframe: Early 2012
ABV: 40%
Price: $15
Apparently Red Stag was so popular that Jim Beam decided we need more. Two new flavors are coming to the market next year.

R&R Reserve Canadian Whiskey
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 40%
Price: $14.99
R&R stands for rich and rare. This new value release comes to us from Sazerac. Building on the previously release Royal Canadian and Caribou Crossing Sazerac continues to expand their Canadian offerings.

Temptation Bourbon
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: 41%
Price: $22
This new bottling comes from Dynamic Beverages. They are the same folks bringing you Redemption Bourbon and Rye. This is another rebottling of bourbon produced by LDI. This one is from their mashed bill that uses a higher percentage of corn. It’s bottled at about two years old.

Woodford Master Cask Rye
Timeframe: Fall 2011
ABV: TBD
Price: $45 per 375ml bottle
There are actually two releases in this year’s Woodford release. Both are 100% rye triple pot distiller whiskeys. This is a first from Woodford. One is aged in new oak barrels and the other is aged in used oak barrels. This should be pretty interesting.

Glenfarclas Family Casks
Timeframe: TBD
ABV: TBD
Price: TBD
Not much news here. The Glenfarclas Family Casks have been available abroad for some time. They are finally going to make it stateside late this year or early next year. No word yet on which bottlings or prices.

That is all for September.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

New U.S. Releases – September 2011 Read More »

New U.S. Releases – July ‘11

/ / Bourbon, Other Spirits, Other Whisk(e)ys, Scottish Whisky

It’s been a busy summer. We have a whole mess of new stuff coming in.

Highland Park Earl Haakon
Timeframe: July 2011
ABV: 54.9%
Price: $260
This 18 year old is the third Earl Magnus release. It’s supposed to be a darker take on both the Magnus series and the standard 18 year old. It’s named for Saint Magnus’s “deceitful and murderous” cousin!

HighWest 36th Vote
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 36%
Price: $45
This is High West’s “Barreled Manhattan” celebrating Utah’s vote to repeal Prohibition. It’s 2 parts High West Rye, 1 part sweet vermouth and bitters that was put together and aged for 90 to 120 days in rye whiskey barrels.

Auchentoshan Bordeaux Cask
Timeframe: Summer 2011
ABV: 58%
Price: $75
This limited release is an 11 year old Auchentoshan matured in Bordeaux casks and comes non-chill filtered. You read that right, not finished but fully matured in Bordeaux casks.

Auchentoshan Valinch
Timeframe: TBD
ABV: 57.5%
Price: TBD
This new release is a response from the distillery to long time fans requesting a cask strength, non-chill-filtered version of the Auchentoshan Classic. It gets its name from the pipette used to draw the whisky out of the cask.

Black Bull Special Reserve No. 1
Timeframe: TBD
ABV: 46.6%
Price: $105
This is Duncan Taylor’s newest Black Bull extension. This blend uses a 50% malt to grain ratio like the 12 and 30 year olds. There’s only 978 bottles of this so grab it if you can.

Tomatin Decades
Timeframe: TBD
ABV: 46%
Price: $115
Those familiar with the Parker’s Heritage Golden Anniversary release will be familiar with this idea. To celebrate Master Distiller Douglas Campbell’s 50th year of serve this is mixture of whiskies from all the decades of Mr. Campbell’s career. Only 9,000 bottles worldwide!

Tomatin 30 Year Old
Timeframe: Late 2011
ABV: 46%
Price: $200
This new release is replacing the old 25 Year Old. It will be an ongoing limited release of 2,000 bottles per year.

Kilchoman Spring 2011 Release
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 46%
Price: $65
The latest Kilchoman release is a marriage of three and four year old whiskies aged in first-fill bourbon barrels. The four year old component was finished in oloroso sherry casks.

American Spirit Whiskey
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 40%
Price:
Marketed as an alternative to vodka, this new white dog release comes to us from a Charleston, SC bottler.

Arkansas Young Bourbon Whiskey
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 46%
Price: $24.99/375ml
This one is a new wheated bourbon from Rock Town Distiller in Arkansas.

Laphroaig Cairdeas
Timeframe: Now
ABV: 50.5%
Price: $65
Laphroaig’s latest in this release series is an 8 year old aged exclusively in Maker’s Mark barrels. Apparently, the barrels and warehouse location make this 8 year old worthy of a price tag rivaling the old 15 year old. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve
Timeframe: August 2011
ABV: 44%
Price: $125
This new limited release from Dalmore isn’t a replacement for the old Cigar Malt. Rather this is a whole new expression the vein of other recent limited releases. This one is specifically formulated for cigar pairing. Some of our good friends were nice enough to send me a review sample so I hope to have that posted this weekend.

As always, if we missed or misstated anything please let us know.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

New U.S. Releases – July ‘11 Read More »

Yo ho ho and a drink with rum!

/ / Cocktails, Other Spirits, Richard's Blog

Rum. It’s been on my mind a good bit the last week or so. Why? I spent last week in Puerto Rico, the self proclaimed home of rum. Did they invent it? No, but they make more of it there than anywhere else so I won’t argue the title. Personally, I like rum. I like fine aged sipping rums. What I haven’t given much thought to was the rum used in cocktails and mixed drinks. I never really thought about it for a couple of reasons. First, I figured that like vodka and tequila, as long as you’re not buying crap to put in it then it doesn’t matter too much. Second, being a whiskey drinker most of the classic whiskey cocktails have a somewhat muddled (no pun intended) history and identifying a specific brand for that cocktail can be nearly impossible. With rum that isn’t the case at all. Almost every rum cocktail with some distinction has a pedigree and specific rum it was originally made with. Those specific rums wear those recipes like a badge of honor. None do this more so than Bacardi and DonQ. I actually toured the Bacardi distillery while in San Juan but I’ll talk more about that in another post. What I found very interesting is this cocktail association that is latched onto by certain rum producers. With that in mind we’ll outline four classic rum cocktails and the “official” recipes by the rum producers that make the spirit the drink was invented with. Purists take note.

Cuba Libre
The Cuba Libre, otherwise known as a rum and coke was originally made with Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola. The story goes that it was put together by American Soldiers on Neptuno Street in Havana around 1900. Bacardi was the preeminent Cuban rum at the time (originally made in Cuba prior to the Castro administration) and US servicemen wanted to mix it with this great new beverage from the U.S. called Coca-Cola. Bacardi will point out that this should always be made with Bacardi rum and Coke. Not any other rum and never Pepsi.

Recipe:
2 parts Bacardi Superior Rum
4 parts Coca-Cola
2 Lime wedges
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Squeeze and drop 2 wedges of lime into the glass. Pour on Bacardi rum. Top with chilled Coca-Cola.

Mojito
Everyone has their own twist on making Mojitos but the original was made with Bacardi. There was a forerunner concoction call The Draque made from some really nasty stuff you really shouldn’t even call rum. The Mojito as we know it came into existence in the late 1800s using the fine rum made by Don Facundo Bacardi Masso.

Recipe:
2 parts Bacardi Superior Rum
12 fresh mint leaves
½ lime in wedges
2 tablespoons simple syrup or sugar
Club Soda
Muddle 12 fresh mint leaves and ½ a lime. Cover with 2 tablespoons of simple syrup or sugar; top with ice. Add Bacardi rum and top with club soda. Stir well and garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime.

Daiquiri
I’m not talking about the fruity concoctions swirling in the mixing machines at your local Wet Willy’s. This is the original daiquiri. In 1898 an engineer at the Daiquiri copper-ore mines near Santiago, Cuba named Jennings Stockton Cox supposedly came up with this drink. It’s kind of like a rum version of a margarita. Try one of these and you may not go back to the strawberry party drink every again. I honestly have no idea where the bastardization of this drink came from that put it in swirly machines around the world in every color imaginable.

Recipe:
3 parts Bacardi Superior Rum
1 part fresh squeezed lime juice
1 part simple syrup
Put all ingredients into a shaker. Fill with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled. Double strain into a rocks glass filled ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Pina Colada
This is one of the few classic rum cocktails not claimed by Bacardi. Don Q (only recently sold in the U.S.) has a certified letter from Ramon Marrero stating that he invented the Pina Colada using Don Q rum. By the way, Don Q is the favorite rum of Puerto Rico. That should say something. Anyway, as the story goes Mr. Marrero introduced the Pina Colada on August 16, 1954 at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hotel management had expressly requested Monchito to mix a new signature drink, and after 3 intense months of blending, shaking and experimenting, the first Pina Colada was born.

Recipe:
1 ½ ounces DonQ Cristal (although Marrero said he used DonQ Gold)
1 ounce coconut cream
2 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
Add ice, mix in a blender and garnish with a slice of pineapple and one cherry.

Personally, I don’t think the cocktail gods will hit you with a vermouth thunderbolt if you don’t use these recipes or the “appropriate” rum. I just found all this drink history interesting and thought you might too.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

Yo ho ho and a drink with rum! Read More »

Headlong White Dog Whiskey

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

Headlong White Dog Whiskey
40% ABV/80 Proof
$30
Currently Available in Washington and Oregon

What the Distillery Says:
Good things come to those who wait—and also to craft distillers using the finest equipment available, carefully chosen organic ingredients, and the mentorship of an industry giant. We proudly offer you our un-aged White Dog Whiskey “headlong” out of the still. Smooth, flavorful, unexpected.

Tasting Notes
Aromas of frosted peach pastry, buttercream and raisin bran with a soft, silky dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body and a super smooth, lingering peppery spice, Brazil nut, and grainy flour accented finish. Great purity and balance.

Made from a true bourbon whiskey mash bill (recipe), this unaged whiskey begins its journey to perfection as 100% organic corn, wheat, and malted barley. Un-aged and slowly distilled with precise cuts and handcrafted quality. Non-chill filtered.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Bananas, warm custard, and pina colada.
Palate: Very clean on the palate with a peppery nuttiness and hints of coconut.
Finish: A little spicy heat but it’s a very short finish so it fades quickly.
Comments: This is our first review of un-aged “whiskey” or “white dog” as we call it in the U.S. I love that these folks are making real bourbon out in Washington of all places. I also like the organic angle. It’s even USDA certified on the bottle! I also love that they are making it themselves instead of bottling someone’s bourbon and calling it their own. What I really have a hard time with is this new white dog sub-category all together. Let’s be fair, white dog “whiskey” is really a fancy name for vodka. As such I can’t in good faith review it against other bourbons. It will fail every time. However, I do think that rating it against vodkas is appropriate and as such Headlong kick’s the crap out of the competition. The folks at Woodinville sent me along some recipes that I will post below. Where I’d really like to try this is in a Chi – Chi. For those that aren’t familiar with that particular cocktail, it’s essentially a Pina Colada with vodka instead of rum.
Rating: Stands Out (as a vodka-type product)

We would like to thank Cameron and the folks at Woodinville Whiskey Company for sending us a bottle to review.

Apple Dog
3-4 oz spice or sparkling apple cider
1.5 oz Headlong
Dash Angostura Bitters
Stir with spoon and fill glass with ice.

Headlong n’ a Splash
2 oz Headlong
Ginger Ale or 7-Up
Fill highball glass with ice. Pour Headlong over ice. Top with Ginger Ale or 7-Up to taste.

The White Wedge
2 oz Headlong
1 wedge of Apple or Orange with peel
1 ice cube

Brown Derby
1.5 oz Headlong
0.5 oz honey syrup (2 parts honey thinned with 1 part water)
1.0 oz Grapefruit Juice
Dash Angostura Bitters
Shake well with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

White Manhattan
2 oz Headlong
1 oz Dolin blanc (sweet) Vermouth
1/4 oz Benedictine
2 dashes Reagan’s Orange Bitters no.6
Mix with ice and strain into Pear Brandy rinsed glass.

Green Trellis
3 slices cucumber and 10-12 mint leaves muddle together

After muddled, add:
1.5 oz Headlong
1.0 oz Apple Cider
0.5 oz Simple Syrup
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass

Headlong White Dog Whiskey Read More »