24 Days of Christmas Whisky: Day 3!

Whisky: Jameson Whisky

 

Distillery/Brand:

Jameson

 

Bottling:

Jameson

 

Region:

Irish 

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:

My wife purchased a Master of Malt Whisky Calender for me for Christmas. This whisky calender was comprised of 24 different whisky samples varying in whisky regions, ages, abv strengths, types of whisky, etc.

I'd tried only a few of the whiskies before, and had been working my way through some entry level whiskies, some of which I'd had before, when on the third day I decided I needed to mix things up.

I decided to try a whisky that I used to drink many years ago, abeit in whiskies and coke and over ice.

An Irish whisky.

Jameson.

Only this time I was trying it neat.

In a glencairn.

Wewt!

Time to see the differences.

Nose is sweet with citrus, apples, spices, specifically hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, some grassy notes along with oak.

Not too bad. Actually considering this is one of the whiskies I grew up on it's really nice to be able to nose it and sit there and say "whisky doesn't smell like whisky, it smells like...."

Huzzah for getting older!

Time for a drink!

Apples, pears, oak, some spices and barley.

It's not awful, however there's something in there that's actively unpleasant, something artificial, something causes a burning sensation when the liquid hits my stomach. Something chemical. Can't place it, but I don't like it.

Actually check that, it is awful.

Finish is short with pears and apples and that chemical flavor.

This is definitely a mixing whisky, if you enjoy whiskies and cokes have lots of fun. However if you're looking for a nice sipping whisky, this is definitely not the whisky for you. Mind you it runs for roughly $40-45 AUS, so it's not horribly priced, however there are quite a few other whiskies in that same price range which are far superior.

Glad that I got a chance to revisit this whisky though, especially without paying for a full bottle.

Nose:        19/25
Taste:       16/25
Finish:       16/25
Balance:     16/25

Overall:      67/100

24 Days of Christmas: Day 2!

 

Whisky: Oban 14 year old

 

Distillery/Brand:

Oban

 

Bottling:

Oban 14 Year old

 

Region:

Highland

 

ABV:

43%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Region:
My wife just picked me up a 24 bottle whisky sample pack for Christmas. She picked it up from Master of Malt based off my oh so very subtle hints based off an email I sent her asking for it for Christmas.

This was a good thing as up to then neither of us really had an idea on a good gift for me for Christmas.

Even better is that the large majority of whisky samples in the pack were from whiskies/distilleries that I'd never tried before and a couple of the whiskies that I had tasted before I'd never sat down and contemplated them before so even better!

The first sample I tried was a Dalwhinnie 15 yr old and the next one up was a whisky I'd tasted before, but under less then ideal conditions.

Oban 14 yr old.

Now the first time I'd tried this whisky was in an Irish restaurant, after discovering that this was the only whisky they had that I'd never tried before.

Sadly the dram came out in a massive tumbler, from a half full bottle which after trying this sample seems like it was largely oxidized.

So I decided to crack open this sample next in order to give it a try.

Nosing it in it's glencairn the first odors to hit the nose is citrus with honey, then oak develops with peat smoke and always an undertone of salt.

Interesting nose, especially with the salt, but honestly not a nose that makes me eager to take a sip.

However whisky isn't just for nosing, it's also for tasting.

Odd palate. Sweet with salty. Pears, apples, vanilla, honey and through it all is salt.

A drying mouthfeel and finish. Faint fruit and lingering salt ends the whisky.

This for me had the potential to be a really cool whisky, especially with the salt, however sadly the salt dominates every aspect of this whisky.

I'd still call this an entry level single malt, however at $85 or so AUS it's not a whisky that I'd ever pick up in it's current form.

Nose:       20/25
Taste:      18/25
Finish:      18/25
Balance:    17/25

Overall:     73/100

24 Days Of Christmas: Day 1!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whisky: Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old

 

Distillery/Brand:

Dalwhinnie

 

Bottling:

Dalwhinnie 15 Year old

 

Region:

Highland

 

ABV:

43%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:
My wife has been wondering what to get me for Christmas.

Should she buy me a nice bottle of whisky?

 Should she just set aside some money for a nice bottle of whisky for when we get to Scotland?

Movies?

Video games?

She had no real good ideas, and to be honest neither did I.

Until I received an email from Master of Malt. In this email they had a couple gift ideas, including a whisky calender that was comprised of 24 different whiskies, including a 50 year old whisky worth hundreds of dollars.

Awesome!

So I send my wife the email at which she calls out to me "Is this a hint to me?"

"Yes!"

24 different samples of whiskies, I couldn't wait!

We order this whisky calender and then we wait.

And wait.

And wait some more on Customs.

All the while Master of Malt posts on Facebook each and every day a picture of the calenders, asking "What's in your calender today?"

And the responses, oh sweet jesus the responses.

I see people getting whiskies I've never even heard of, distilleries I've never tried, different ages, cask strengths, differ countries.

Oh I am so jealous!

Mind you I also see duds being posted, one guy in particular seemed to have a bad calender, but overall I'm left drooling.

As I wait.

And then finally one day the customs invoice arrives, I pay it immediately and 4 days later it appears.

Sweet!

My wife and I sit down that night and dinner and crack open the calender, I've got to see what mine contains!!

Oh sweet!

50 yrs olds, 30 yr olds, no age statements, cask strengths!

Score!

Actually such a score because out of the 24 whiskies in it I've only tried 5 of them before.

Even better two out of those five whiskies were tasted under less then ideal conditions (massive tumblers) so here was a chance to try it in ideal settings!

Not wanting to crack open anything I've never tried before this evening I decide to crack open one that I'd had and reviewed before.

Dalwhinnie 15 yr old.

So I crack the wax open and pour it into my glencairn and start nosing the whisky.

Honeyed flowers, citrus, toffee, apples and a hint of smoke after sitting in the glencairn for about twenty minutes.

This is when I decide to pull up my tasting notes on this bad boy, to see if it's at all different from the last time I'd had it.

Too my surprise I quickly discover that I've actually never reviewed this whisky, actually I've never tasted this one before...

Score!!

Time to get back to the whisky!

Again a slight hint of smoke develops on the whisky's nose after about twenty minutes on top of the honeyed flowers, citrus, toffee and apples make this an enjoyable nose and makes me eager to take a sip.

The flavors are similar to the nose with the honeyed flowers, however after the honeyed flowers the palate comes into it's own with vanilla, pears and hints of cocoa.

Yummy!

A short finish with flowers, vanilla and pears ends this whisky.

Not a bad sample, and definitely not a bad whisky! Especially for roughly $60 AUS.

By no means is this a super whisky, however price per value it's pretty damn good.

Nose:         21/25
Taste:        21/25
Finish:       20/25
Balance:     21/25

Overall:      83/100

To Friends, Old and New

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whisky: Balvenie 21 yr old Port Wood Finish

 

Distillery/Brand:

Balvenie

 

Bottling:

Balvenie 21 Year old Port Wood Finish

 

Region:

Speyside

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Old Sauternes

Review:

Many months ago I heard about a very sexy Speyside whisky from a good whisky friend, Victor. That this whisky was a top notch beautiful, fragrant, flavorful, second to none whisky.

This whisky was Balvenie's 21 yr old Port wood finish.

The only problem was that only a few places in Australia sold it, and it was always around the $250 mark.

Just a wee bit of money to spend on a bottle without having sampled it before hand.

However I found that I would be able to bring it in myself for a little over half the price. Not a bad deal.

I decided to go with that option, along with bringing in another whisky that I'd heard nothing, but good things about.

Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX.

On my shelf these two whiskies have sat.

For almost a year.

Awaiting a special occasion worthy of cracking them open.

However no occasion occurred that seemed worthy of such whiskies.

Then recently a member on Connosr, lost their beloved partner of 10 years. They'd decided to treat themselves to a special bottle in memory of this loved one.

From the whisky community came an outpouring of support, condolences and well wishes.

Drams, many special, were raised in this person's support and their partner's memory.

I was like many and cracked open a special bottle for this occasion. Thinking of my beloved grandmother who passed away the year I moved to Australia I cracked open the Balvenie 21 yr old Port Wood.

Beautiful sexy bottle concealed in a very nice looking tube. Dark gorgeous liquid inside sexy beautiful bottle.

But that's not why we buy whisky, for the bottle, but for that beautiful nectar inside.

So I sit down to dinner thinking about new friends and old friends as I pour the Balvenie into it's glencairn.

I nose the glencairn over the course of dinner, not taking any sips or anything, just enjoying the intoxicating aromas off this whisky.

You can easily tell the wine influence on this whisky, the port, strong aromas of spices,
cinnamon and nutmeg, sultanas, raisins, hints of vanilla. Very beautiful.

When I finally take a sip the flavors follow quite closely the nose with the addition of cocoa on the palate. Once more the wine influence is easily seen.

Even though this whisky sits at 40%abv it has a very nice mouth feel to it, one that coats the mouth. At times it does feel thin, but it's not to the point where it bugs me, it's more like I would have loved to have seen this whisky coming in at 46% or thereabouts.

Finish is sweet with the wine once again making itself known, but with the cocoa and vanilla doing a little interplay with one another.

A very lovely whisky, one easily worth the $250 or so AUS that it runs at. It's not the world's most complex whisky, but it's what I call one of those "feel good whiskies"

If you get a chance to try this lovely little gem, do so. You won't regret it!

Nose:        23/25
Taste:       23/25
Finish:      23/25
Balance:    23/25

Overall:     92/100

Cooking With Whisky: I Confront Wild Turkey!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whisky: Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon

 

Distillery/Brand:

Wild Turkey

Bottling:

Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Region:
American

 

ABV:

43.3%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:
My wife and I purchased three bourbons in order to cook up some spiced ribs for her work. She uses my bourbon to make these ribs, usually most of my bottle, which means that I get to replace them,

I'd purchased three whiskies that I'd never tried before. Buffalo Trace, Bulleit Bourbon, and Wild Turkey.

I'd enjoyed both the Buffalo Trace and the Bulleit, but the last one to try was the Wild Turkey.

I'd given each whisky a quick nose as we were making the sauce, but now it was time to get serious and see if what I thought was correct.

Pouring the Wild Turkey into the glencairn and gave it a quick nose.

Caramel, cinnamon, hints of cherries, and underneath it all a faint aroma of alcohol.

It's not the worst bourbon I've ever smelled, but that faint alcohol aroma has me a little leery.

Time for a taste, because that's where the proof lies.

Oak, spices, caramel and alcohol. The alcohol is dominating a good portion of the flavor profile and is quite unpleasant.

Finish is quite short, which is a really good thing considering that it's oaky with lots of alcohol.
Hints of cherries appear at the very end which partially lifts

Out of the three bourbons that went into this recipe, this is by far the worst of them. The alcohol dominates the flavor profile too much and distracts from the rest of the whisky. It would of been a decent bourbon without that aspect. As it stands this is a bourbon that I'd leave just for mixing.

If you're looking for a sipping bourbon there are many bourbons in the same price range that offer much more bang for buck i.e. Makers Mark, Buffalo Trace, Bulleit Bourbon, Hogs 3, etc.
 
Nose:        18/25

Taste:       17/25

Finish:       16/25

Balance:    16/25

Overall:     67/100

Cooking With Whisky: Rye Spices!

Whisky: Bulleit Bourbon

 

Distillery/Brand:

Bulleit

 

Bottling:

Bulleit Bourbon

 

Region:

American

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw


Review:
My wife and I'd picked up a few different bottles of bourbon so that she could cook up some spicy pork ribs that can only be called sexy.

We'd picked up Buffalo Trace, Bulleit bourbon and Wild Turkey.

Three different whiskies that I'd never tried before, but ones that I'd had interest in for a while.

I'd enjoyed the Buffalo Trace quite a bit, but was really looking forward to trying Bulleit bourbon as I'd heard good things about it and was a slightly different style of bourbon than I was used to.

So I pour the Bulleit into a glencairn and decide to give it a nose to see what I can see!

Or maybe so I can smell what I can smell!

Rye, Oak, hints of tea, vanilla, caramel, hints of citrus develop in the glass after a few minutes.

I'm enjoying this nose!

But now it's time for a taste!

Bulleit is quite sweet, however it doesn't ever get too sickly sweet. Lots of flavors that are
sweet with honey, rye, spices, vanilla and caramel

The finish is spicy and full of rye with hints of cherries.

Not a bad bourbon and one that I think is a steal at $40 AUS. I've definitely had worse
bourbons that were more expensive.

If you're looking for a nice easy going entry level bourbon this might just be the one for you!

Nose:       20/25
Taste:      20/25
Finish:      20/25
Balance:   20/25

Overall:     80/100

Cooking With Whisky: It Begins!

Whisky: Buffalo Trace

 

Distillery/Brand:

Buffalo Trace

 

Bottling:

Buffalo Trace

Region:
American

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Young Sauternes

Review:
My wife every so often decides that she's going to cook up some beautiful ribs that are cooked in a lovely sexy bourbon sauce.

However this poses a problem for me as she uses MY bourbon to cook said ribs.

But I came up with a solution, she uses the bourbon, I buy more bourbon.

Great solution right!?!

So she took it upon herself recently to cook up not one batch of these ribs, but four batches.

One for each family member.

Problem is that's going to take a LOT of bourbon, more then I had on hand.

Solution is to go pick up more bourbons, new bourbons!

I always take the opportunity when my wife makes bourbon ribs to pick up bourbons that I've never tried before, or bourbons that it's been a very long time since I've tried them.

So we head out to Dan Murphys to pick up some new bourbons.

We need three different bottles of bourbon and I decide to go with three completely different bourbons that are all new to me.

Buffalo Trace (weirdly enough I've had all of his big brothers), Wild Turkey and Bulleit bourbon.

We get all the bourbons home and over the course of the day my lovely wife does 99% of the prep while I try to help out and generally get in the way.

Hey what else are husbands for?!

Now I convince my wife to use whisky from some of each bottle in order to make sure that I can grab a sample from each whisky.

Now it's time to take these whiskies out for a spin!

I decide to start with Buffalo Trace, having tried multiple versions of it's big brothers, George T Stagg, William L Weller and Thomas H Handy.

I pour a wee bit of the Buffalo Trace into the glencairn and decide to give it a nose.

Oak, coconut, caramel, vanilla, burnt sugars, and cinnamon make this a very enjoyable nose.

Time for a taste!

Oak comes through first, quite strongly, then moving to hints of vanilla, bits of coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of cherries.

It's quite sweet with a wee bit of oak tannins providing some bitterness.

However the body feels quite thin to me, coming in at that 40%. Even a 5% jump up in strength would have served this bourbon quite well.

Quite a very short finish with coconut and vanilla ending with a faint hint of sugar at the very end.

Not a bad bourbon.

Especially for $50 odd AUS, considering that Jim Beam and his company run at around $35 AUS.

Definitely spend the extra $15 bucks for the better whisky, but personally I find that I enjoy his big brothers much more, even if they are six times more expensive.

Nose:        20/25
Taste:       20/25
Finish:      20/25
Balance:   20/25

Overall:    80/100