Dickel Single Barrel

Nose: notes of anise and cough medicine. Not nasty medicinal, more like comforting medicine.  Tingly on lips and tongue, bitter and ashen on the swallow.  Again, with the quality here it isn't unpleasant, but it is a different taste to most bourbons. Sweetness is more toffee than caramel, but everything comes with the ashen smokiness over it.  If you have fond memories of somebody smoking, particularly having a drink, I find it reminiscent of that.  For me, I'm reminded of my father (who on the record didn't smoke), having a bourbon and water while the kitchen sink was smoking nearby.  That said, while working my way through a glass, the smoke and char flavors tend to add up and coat the inside of my mouth.  Much like you used to have to abandon the clothes that you wore out to the bar when they stank of smoke, your mouth may need a cleanser after this.

I drank most of this a shot at a time over a nice sized ice cube.  Water opened it up a little and the temperature took the edge off of the ash flavors.  This was a selection that lasted almost a year on my shelf.  I rarely reached for it as a desire, but grabbed it when I just wanted something and didn't want to sit and savor it.

Final remarks, it was good, probably a decent value in the upper $30s.  Interesting to sample for a little something different. Not sure I'll intentionally pick up another bottle without a specific recommendation on a barrel.

Michters Unblended American Whiskey (posted 02/13/2015)

Nose: Rich caramel, cloves, vanilla

Palate: Full of caramel and vanilla.  Good dose of spice, with clove and some anise.  Some pepper-y taste, but not too hot.

Finish: Warm and spicy.  If I am looking for flaws, it leans into the anise and becomes a hair bitter.

Last whiskey I reviewed was obviously flavored.  This is a spot for the whiskey I would least be surprised to learn uses artificial flavoring and coloring.  Talking to the Michter’s rep at some event, they call it ‘American’ because they don’t use all new oak barrels.  This company is shady enough that I don’t believe he knows any more about their production than what is printed on the bottle (which, oddly enough, contains a reference to their proprietary filtering process).  They don’t make anything; they are a non-distiller producer.  However, time and again, the stuff they put in bottles is delicious.  This stuff is nice, and it is at a mostly reasonable price point and compares nicely to others there, so I’ll continue to support it until they do something so stupid that I have to move on.

Clyde May's Conecuh Ridge

Nose: Apple, Apple pie spice, alcohol

Palate: Apple and burn, butterscotch, some hint of baking spices.

Finish: Burn and still more apple.

Ugh.  I really should not have bought this one.  First, it is geographically challenged. It is ‘Clyde May’s secret Alabama Recipe.’ BUT-- it is distilled in Kentucky, bottled in Florida, and owned by a Texas company.  Also note the words Bourbon and or Rye do not appear anywhere on this bottle.  This is a flavored whisky product, and it isn’t good.  Tons of burn at only 86 proof, and even ice and water don’t help that.  I’m sure I could use this as a mixer of some sort, but who knows in what.  I already have good apple pie liquor if I want something like that.  This has way too much burn to just play with.  Maybe an old-fashioned could make it work, given enough sugar, but it already starts fairly sweet as well.  I have to remember when my taste is better than those that are giving the recommendation.  Side note: does anything that is actually good come in this shape bottle?  I’ve got three not really good whiskies, all in this shape bottle.  Maybe the other stuff from Clyde May’s is OK, but they won’t likely be getting any of my money.  It is hard to pull that trigger a second time after getting burned. Additional note, my favorite store was out of both Elmer T. Lee AND Wiser’s Legacy.  Ouch.  Not that I’m in a bad place needing stuff to drink, but that hurts.  I should have stuck with my gut and just picked up a bottle of the new Beam Bonded like I wanted to.  I didn’t want him to have to get the ladder out, so I took his suggestion.  Remember: sometimes you know what you like and what you want to take home.

Free to a good home.

Hidden Lake Scotch & Whiskey Club

This group hosts an annual event that has been growing to crazier levels.  Fantastically crazy.  This years event featured a fully catered meal, a live band, and a guest speaker, Ricky Crawford from Glenlivet.  Wow.

Let's start with the food selections:
-Prosciutto & Melon
-Tuna
-Filet of Beef with Brioche and Horseradish
-Oyster Sliders
-Chicken and Lettuce Wraps
-Beef Tips and Crostini
-Chocolate truffles

Each 'station' was paired with a selection of whiskies.  If I were smarter, I would have cataloged them all.  As it is, I recall some of what I sampled, so a brief rundown of where I went on each table, respectively:
-Glenmorangie Nector d'Or -Port finished.  Very sweet and smooth, there were five up here, but I didn't come back to it.
-Aberlour 12, a NAS Aberlour limited release, and the Auchentoshan Triple Wood.
-Glenfiddich 19 -Very nice, good spice and a nice sharp kick.
-I avoided the oyster, but did sample the Tallisker Storm.  Nice salt and brine with these selections, which also included Lagavulin 16.
-Forget which brand, but a nice Suntory 10/12 year here.  Three Japanese whiskies available at this station.
-American Whisky table (mostly), Woodford, Elijah 12, Famous Grouse, Johnny Walker Black, and a Four Roses Single Barrel.  I went with the Four Roses and never looked back.
-A Speyside Table, I went with a Tomatin and a really nice Glenfarclas 12.  Probably my favorite of the table selections of the evening.

Glenlivet presentation:
-Nadurra. Nice spicy cask strength whisky.  Were it not for the next one, this would have been my favorite on the night.
-Aberlour Abundah. Great cask strength beauty here, only this time as a full Sherry Bomb.  Needs a good dolop of water, but so nice even at full strength.
-Glenlivet 18.  Stands as an excellent brand, Ricky gave a great speech for why this is his favorite, and I could support that as a daily drinker for the rest of time for anybody.

But wait, there's more....  Everybody brings a bottle.  Picture below is of the bar when they were beginning to be rounded up at the end of the night.  There was a great selection here, and surprisingly little overlap.  The exception to that being there were 3 or 4 bottles of Balvenie 12 Double Wood.  Which, I'm ok with that, it is a pretty great whisky, particularly for me as more of an American Whisky fan.  Some selections that I noticed:
-Whistlepig 10
-Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask
-Balvenie 15 Single Cask
-Basel Hayden's
-Macallan 12
-Glenmorangie Astar
-Glenmorangie Taghta
-Several Dahlwhinnies
-Nikka 17 (My contribution)

All told, there were in the neighborhood of 50 whiskies here.  I may have sampled 15.  Gotta be careful at these tastings.  Really easy to go overboard.  Takes restraint to take small glasses and to sip or not finish some.  I didn't find anything that I didn't like this time, which is surprising, as I do dislike certain flavor profiles in Scotch, but I must have chosen well.

All in all, an excellent evening hosted by an excellent group of guys.  If you meet them, you are sure to have a great time.

Cheers,
Andy

Sophie - Goose Island

Sunday was a football day, so beer seemed to be in order.  As has been noted, I love the variety available from Costco.  Particularly the Belgian style, which fits right in my wheelhouse.

Nose: sharp wheat and a slightly aggressive yeast

Palate: Definitely a soft wheat ale, but not as polished as many macro-type.  Fitting for a self styled "Belgian Farmhouse Ale"

Finish: pretty clean with a slight bitter tweak.

I  like this beer.  Very nice and slightly better to my palate than its' sibling, Matilda.  I'm not sure if I would choose it blind over the La Fin du Monde, but it is a good beer and beats most of what I'd be willing to stock most of the time.

Cheers,
Andy

The Mitten- Virtue Cider

Not and overly documented review today.  Still have a little lingering cold that is preventing me from full tasting and nosing.  Hence, not much to review recently, as I've just been drinking from my well decanter.

Anyway, this was a bourbon barrel aged cider that I had been looking at for a while.  With the label and the bourbon barrel aging, it was screaming for Andy to try it.  Josh over at Sipology blog recommended it. I find a good portion of my tastes line up with Josh's fairly well and I trust his reviews pretty strongly.  Also, his basic format is a lot of my influence so far for this.  That isn't where I specifically want to go with this, but I haven't had time to put that together yet.  Nevertheless, I picked up some of this cider at Costco.

Nose: Tart apples, lots of effervescence.  I think this bottle was a little over carbonated, frankly.

Palate:  Not too sweet, definitely a lot of nice tart apple.  Fairly dry.  A surprising lack of any bourbon barrel influence.

Finish: Maybe a bit of alcohol and a hint of the bourbon barrel spices here, but otherwise just a fairly straightforward cider.

This wasn't to sickly sweet like so many ciders can be.  For $16-17 or so, it is a pretty decent drink and wouldn't be out of place to be served as a fancy champagne like item when you don't want to use a sparkling wine because they suck.  The slightly cloudy appearance of the cider may be a knock against this for use in that role, but it was a nice drink with my salmon caesar salad.

Cheers,
Andy