It amuses me how “Old” appears to have become synonymous with “good” when it comes to whisky, and how many distilleries take advantage of that in one way or another. Not that I wouldn’t, if I were them, nor that it isn’t generally true that whiskies do (at least to a point) get better with age, but it’s still amusing. There are, for example, a number of American Whiskeys and Bourbons that have the word “old” in their name: Old Fitzgerald, Old Timbrook, Old Crow, Old Grand Dad. To my knowledge, however, there is only one that has taken the phenomenon to the extreme of calling itself very old – Very Old Barton. Take that, you “old” pauper’s drams!

I can’t remember where exactly it was that I had this – I found a bunch of notes scribbled down in my notebook (good a place as any for note taking) and reckon they must be at least a year old. I’m sure the Very Old Barton won’t have changed thatmuch in a year, however, in fact if it had then surely that would make it Very New Barton, or at a stretch Very New Very Old Barton. What I like most about VOB can be summarised by a System of a Down lyric: Banana banana banana terracotta bread! In fact, having read that it was meant to both smell and taste a lot like banana bread is the reason I tried it in the first place. Along with the banana bread offers a combination of sweet tobacco, vanilla paste, wood, and dry leather – the taste is virtually the same but with an added nuttiness which isn’t present on the nose, according to my notes.

All in all a very decent bourbon indeed, made particularly interesting by the intensity of the banana notes.

Summary

Colour: Copper

Smell: Banana bread, sweet tobacco, vanilla paste, wood, and dry leather

Taste: Same as above, but with added nuttiness

Tags: American Whiskey, £10-20

You are all going to judge me now, and I suppose when you take the name of my blog in and add it to what I’m about to admit, I can’t really blame you. But I ask that you try to keep an open mind – better yet, before you continue reading I want you to promise that you will try this for yourself at some point. You won’t regret it, I promise.

Life can, at times, be a bit repetitive and bland – I think we can all agree to that, right? The cure to that particular problem is to do something out of the ordinary, something random, and ideally something fun. When I start to feel like I’m just doing the same crap day in and day out and find myself going to bed not looking forward to tomorrow – an awful state of affairs not to be accepted by anyone – I like to mix things up a bit. An important part of that is Blanton’s Original.

The moment I wake up – this being the day after feeling pathetically sorry for my poor little self – I don a fancy cowboy hat, bought for this very purpose, and stride into the kitchen wearing nothing but the hat and whatever, if anything, I happen to have worn to bed. I crack into a tin of beans using a knife – it’s important to stay in character – and eat them straight from the tin with a rusty spoon, before proceeding to my whisky cabinet and grabbing a bottle of Blanton’s and a square tumbler. The rest of the day is spent listening to country music, singing along in my best deep-south accent (which is incredibly poor), and sipping away happily. There’s nothing like it.

Presumably, you came here because you want a sane person’s thoughts on Blanton’s original, and at this point you’re probably quite convinced that that is exactly what you haven’t found. It’s hard to argue otherwise from my current standpoint, but nevertheless I’ll proceed to tell you why I love Blanton’s. The nose, for starters, is seductive to the point of being ridiculous: it’s depth of aroma is simply heavenly, and full of dried fruit (banana, currants), woody (cedar? Oak? A bit of both I think), vanilla and just a hint of clementine peel. The palate is full of the most beautiful vanilla note I can recall coming across, along with a healthy serving of caramel, cinnamon, and pepper. While none of these flavours and smells are particularly unique to Blanton’s and can be found in many bourbons, it’s the balance that makes this particular bourbon one of my absolute favourites. Oh, and I flipping Love the bottle!

Summary

Colour: Deep caramel

Smell: Deep! Dried fruit, wood, vanilla, clementine peel

Taste: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, pepper.

Tags: American Whiskey, £31-50

Here’s one for anyone who likes cryptic crosswords (not because it follows the same system – I’ve never managed to bring myself to learning it – just because, well, it’s cryptic): if you add Pedro Ximinez, American Bourbon, and Spanish Oloroso together, what do you get? The straight and truthful honest answer might be one heck of a hangover, but if you’re clever enough to save the casks after you’ve emptied them they can be put to very good use indeed. That’s what the good folk over at Auchentoshan figured out a while ago, and for that we should all thank them. I’ll go first: Thank you, Auchentoshan.

Reading through that again it strikes me as more than a little bit brown-nosey, sorry about that, but I’m far too lazy to erase it and start over. Plus (Spoiler warning!) it’s a delicious whisky anyway, so cuddling up a bit to the people who made it isn’t too bad I suppose. Right – I really need to get back on track here. What I’m smelling and tasting today is Auchentoshan Three Wood, and as I’m sure you’ve figured already it gets its name from the fact that they use three different casks (above) during the maturation process.

While I take absolutely no issue with the name “three wood”, I’d like to extend the suggestion that it be renamed “three punch”, on account of it delivers three punches and then you’re head over heels in love with it!

BLAM! Punch 1: the first punch is in the first time you smell it – lots of sherry here! And since sherry is another favourite drink of mine, that’s just fine by me. Citrus zest, plump wee raisins and sultanas, dates, plums, and just a touch of spice – even writing this is making my mouth water to be honest. Ten quid says I won’t be able to stop myself getting a glass of sherry before the end of this review.

Ka-Pow! Punch 2: the second smack to the fact springs from the fact that the nose changes completely as you begin to get accustomed to it, and you start to pick out bourbon-esque notes in place of the sherry: molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, wood. I really need to drink more bourbon.. Luckily with this here blog I have a pretty decent excuse to do so!

THUMP! Punch 3: the knockout! Delivered straight into your mouth (assuming the previous two punches haven left you too groggy to aim properly), three wood offers up caramel, toffee, vanilla, molasses, spice, wood and almond extract in a combination that can only be summarised as – and I want you to read this with an Alan Partridge accent – lovely stuff.

Summary

Colour: Like a shiny new penny dipped in melted sugar

Smell: first citrus zest, raisins, sultanas, plums, spice and dates, then molasses, vanilla, cinnamon and wood

Taste: caramel, toffee, vanilla, spice, molasses, almond extract and wood

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £31-50

Argh, no! It has happened! The one thing I promised myself wouldn’t happen when I started this blog – I’ve become one of the endless number of bloggers who post vigorously for a couple of months and then stop altogether. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on the whole thing completely though, that would be mighty silly after spending a hefty $7.49 on the domain! I’ve basically been a bit too busy to review whiskies of late, but the Christmas holidays are sure to offer up both the time and treats necessary for a couple of posts!

First up is the another Ardbeg expression (I’ve previously reviewed their 10 year old)- namely Ardbeg Blasda. If you’re familiar with Ardbeg you probably associate the name with heavy peat, smoke and brine, and quite rightly too since that is arguably their trademark – what with their being an Islay distillery and all. The Blasda is quite different however, as its purpose is to show off the wonderful flavours hidden beneath the smoke and peat their other expressions are infused with.  So far as I’m concerned that makes Blasda a brilliant concept, as it’s easy to forget that there is far more to a smoky, peaty whisky than smoke and peat!

With that out of the way, let’s take a wee sniff! The nose is full fresh, warm citrus notes – I’m thinking slightly unripe and tangy orange, with a lemon twist – caramel, apple, and just a whisper of peat and smoke, though I’m unsure if that’s a ghost-smell conjured up by my mind upon reading the ‘Ardbeg’ on the label! On the palate it is nice and well behaved, serving up a virtual cocktail of fruits (apricot, apple, citrus), and a pinch or two of spices and herbs that carry on through the finish.

Final verdict? Yum – but I’m not sure whether I think it’s worth the £45-50 price-tag, unfortunately, at least not in its own right. If you factor in the fact that it shows another side to a well-loved and highly skilled Islay distillery then yes, by all means, it’s worth every penny. If, however, you’re simply after a fruity and crisp whisky, then in my opinion you can find better value elsewhere. Personally, I’d go for a Penderyn Maderia Finish instead.

Summary

Colour: Chardonnay

Smell: Warm citrus (tangy orange, lemon), caramel, apple, very light peat and smoke

Taste: Friendly, apricot, apple, citrus, spice, herbs

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £31-50

I’ve only written about 2 or 3 handfuls of reviews so far and I’m already starting to sound like a broken record –“this is a fantastic whisky” seeming to be my staple view on most of them (a couple aside) – but this really is one of (if not my very) favourite drams. If there is one whisky I would never be without, it’s Dalmore 12. First of all it’s relatively cheap – a bottle will set you back just over £30 – and second… read on.

The nose is glorious! Full, round, and as well balanced as a Samurai sword it’s full of cherries, apricot, mature (dark) caramel, raisins, vanilla and warm pear – in case you hadn’t guessed, this is a rather sweet whisky. It all comes together incredibly well and is offset by a shy, but present, floral note, which makes Dalmore 12 nosegasmic. The fact that I had to invent a new word to describe it should go some way towards emphasising just how lovely it is.

While your nose is getting its fill your mouth will begin salivating uncontrollably – but don’t let this scare you, it’s a highly natural reaction – and it certainly won’t be disappointed when it finally gets to do its thing. As you take a sip your tongue is covered by the smoothest, butteriest (another new word) feeling you will ever experience – short of drinking melted butter – packed with maple, ripe summer fruits, cherry, toffee, almond,  and a touch of cinnamon which again brings a beautiful balance to the sweetness. God, it’s good.

If there is any need to summarise my views at this point, I guess one word will do: masterpiece. You will struggle to find a better whisky in its price range (I haven’t) and you would be a fool not to try it.

Summary

Colour: Rich, golden honey

Smell: Cherries, apricot, caramel, raisins, vanilla, warm pear, soft floral note

Taste: Buttery, maple, ripe summer fruits, cherry, toffee, almond, pinch of cinnamon

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £25-30, £31-50

I Love Bacon – you heard me – I love Bacon. Can’t get enough of it – cover it in chocolate, caramelise it, put it in ice cream, sprinkle it on a donut, put it in a sandwich, or make it into a hat; whatever you do with it, I will eat it, and enjoy it. In the interest of self-advertising, that’s the reason behind my also having a blog dedicated to perfecting bacon classics and developing bacon oddities (check out the blogroll). Now, you may be thinking that I wrote all of the above just to advertise my other blog, but you would be horrendously mistaken – and I’m disappointed that you would think so little of me, in all honesty!

I’m declaring my love for bacon for two reasons, the second being that it’s present in the nose of the whisky I’m reviewing today – no points for guessing that I’m going to give it full marks for aroma. The whisky in question is Benromach 10 year old, which is priced at a pretty decent £30 or so and commonly available in your corner whisky shops. The nose, as I mentioned, offers smoked bacon, but also caramel, vanilla pod and a couple of handfuls of wood -  all in all it comes together to remind me of caramelised smoky bacon, which is one of my favourite cheeky snacks. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £25-30

“What’s the dram of the day?!” I hear you eagerly asking (in my wildest and least earth-bound of fantasies) and the answer is – drumroll, if you will – the outstanding Aberlour A’bunadh, batch 35. I mention the batch number because in the case of A’bunadh, there is actually a fair bit of variance between different batches – or so I’ve heard, I’m yet to taste any other batches as 35 was the only one available when and where I bought mine (it set me back £36, by the way).

A’Bunadh has been getting quite a lot of attention in the online whisky world, as you may have noticed, and people seem to be in near-complete agreement that it is an outstandingly tasty whisky. I couldn’t resist, then, to see find out if I am yet another fan. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £31-50

With Scotland being the capital of Whisky, and Edinburgh being the capital of Scotland, it is no surprise that Edinburgh serves as the starting point for many a Whisky fan’s holiday. In visiting whisky shops and bars around the centre of town I’ve come across many a foreign, and British, tourist who is here to sample our fine whisky and ale, but don’t quite know where to go. As such, I thought it might be a good idea to write a couple of pub reviews so as to help any tourist who may be on their way here find a good watering hole.

Rather than putting together a big list (which would be tedious, and I suspect the quality would suffer) I am going to write the reviews fresh after a re-visit to the pub in question. Yesterday, I went to the Bow Bar, which is without doubt my favourite pub in central Edinburgh. You will find it on Victoria Street, which basically runs parallel to the top of the Royal Mile, and will take you from George the IV Bridge (where you will also find the Elephant House Café, famous as the birthplace of Harry Potter) to the Grassmarket, roughly 5-10 minutes’ walk form the Castle. In short, it’s right slap in the centre of the tourist mecca. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Edinburgh Pub Review

Founded in 1995, Arran is one of the youngest distilleries in Scotland – placing it at a slight disadvantage in terms of experience against some of its countrymen and rivals. It’s also the only distillery on the Isle of Arran, and they have collaborated with Scottish brewer Brew Dog in creating the delicious Paradox Isle of Arran edition, which I would highly recommend if you can get your hands on it.

While a young distillery, there is no doubt as to the rich heritage of its surroundings – Arran is 100% Scottish, and youth aside it acts much like its older relatives. It pours a very pale golden colour, much like a white wine, and the nose is at first salty and smoky, but turns quite sweet as it carries to your awaiting nostrils a pleasant combination of oat biscuits, vanilla, and ripe pear – a B+ nose, impressive for such a young distillery. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Scottish Whisky, £31-50