Whiskey recently tasted.
The Balvenie 17 Peated Cask
I recently visited my best friend and drinking buddy, Tom. He's got a nice collection of single malt scotches. What is fun about his collection is that even though it is much smaller than my own, he has many bottles that I don't have. So when I visit him, I am treated to whiskey that I may not ever have tasted, or a whiskey that I don't own myself.
The latest addition to his liquor cabinet was The Balvenie 17yr old Peated Cask. While I am more of a fan of sherry, port or other wine finishes to my scotch, I do enjoy some smoke once in a while. This whiskey delivers very well. The peat is not over powering, it is there, but it's not the focus of the flavor profile. The smoothness of this whiskey is excellent, and you could easily drink several glasses of it while conversing during an evening. I've tasted whiskey with a much heavier peat flavor profile, this 17 year old drank quite well. The balance of peat to the overall flavor profile of the whiskey was right on the money. I will gladly enjoy this dram again, especially since my friend is the one shelling out around $120 dollars a bottle.
John J. Bowman Single Barrel
Bourbon at it finest. I recently enjoyed this whiskey at Maysville NYC. Owning a fair amount of bourbon makes it difficult to find a bar with bottles I don't have in my collection. Maysville usually delivers something new to me every time I'm there.
This John J.Bowman bourbon was delicious. It's a single barrel bottling, so there may be a slight variation from bottle to bottle, year to year. Smooth, flavorful and clean. Not overly sweet, as many bourbons can be. This is now in my collection and its a "go to" whiskey for friends that like bourbon. Nobody has yet to say that they didn't care for it.
Bourbon at it finest. I recently enjoyed this whiskey at Maysville NYC. Owning a fair amount of bourbon makes it difficult to find a bar with bottles I don't have in my collection. Maysville usually delivers something new to me every time I'm there.
This John J.Bowman bourbon was delicious. It's a single barrel bottling, so there may be a slight variation from bottle to bottle, year to year. Smooth, flavorful and clean. Not overly sweet, as many bourbons can be. This is now in my collection and its a "go to" whiskey for friends that like bourbon. Nobody has yet to say that they didn't care for it.
Stratheden, The Lost Distillery Co.
I picked up this bottle at Table & Vine in Springfield Mass. The concept is intriguing. The price point is fair enough. So lets discuss the taste. I never pass judgement on the first sip. I find that with any dram, you need to savor the nose, taste, and aftertaste to fully get a sense of what the whiskey is trying to convey to your palate.
The Lost Distillery Stratheden Malt Scotch Whisky is the second release from The Lost Distillery Company and is a recreation of a single malt whisky distilled at Stratheden Distillery. The distillery had been operating for nearly three centuries until 1926, when it was closed as a result of Prohibition.
The whiskey has lots of fruit and apples. Caramel on the tongue with a hint of smoke at the end. I have no idea if it is anything like the original whiskey from almost 100 years ago, but it is very good for what it is. Even minutes after your last sip, there is a very pleasant lingering finish. I enjoyed this whiskey and will be purchasing the other two offerings from this distillery. Cheers.
I picked up this bottle at Table & Vine in Springfield Mass. The concept is intriguing. The price point is fair enough. So lets discuss the taste. I never pass judgement on the first sip. I find that with any dram, you need to savor the nose, taste, and aftertaste to fully get a sense of what the whiskey is trying to convey to your palate.
The Lost Distillery Stratheden Malt Scotch Whisky is the second release from The Lost Distillery Company and is a recreation of a single malt whisky distilled at Stratheden Distillery. The distillery had been operating for nearly three centuries until 1926, when it was closed as a result of Prohibition.
The whiskey has lots of fruit and apples. Caramel on the tongue with a hint of smoke at the end. I have no idea if it is anything like the original whiskey from almost 100 years ago, but it is very good for what it is. Even minutes after your last sip, there is a very pleasant lingering finish. I enjoyed this whiskey and will be purchasing the other two offerings from this distillery. Cheers.
Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey
Ok, so I picked up this bottle at my regular spot to shop for whiskey, Westchester Wine Warehouse in White Plains, NY. While there one day, chatting with Trueman, the resident wine purchaser and whiskey drinker, he recommended a bottle of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. I, at first, was a tad bit hesitant. The bottle wasn't cheap for a relatively young whiskey. But upon Trueman's recommendation, I took this poor lost bottle home and put it on one of my many shelves with many other bottles of bourbon and rye so it would feel at home and more at ease. (If you have to ask, yes, I am drinking as I write this, and yes, it was a full pour, probably three fingers.) Anyhow. Sitting at my desktop shopping for booze I felt compelled to have a dram of something while I surfed the web. I pondered some single malt scotch, but couldn't decide on one. Then a bourbon, but wasn't feeling the need for sweetness or such. Then I spotted my tin cup capped bottle of Stranahan's.
Once back in front of the desktop I took a sip. What a wonderful whiskey. Totally worth the price, which if I recall was around $70 retail. The whiskey is very smooth, no ice or water needed to be added to the glass. First taste is an eye opener. Totally not what I expected. This whiskey drinks very well neat. It has a nose of candy and caramel. The mouth feel is perfect, not heavy , not watery either. The taste is full of caramel and heavy vanilla, wonderful in the mouth. There is zero harshness associated with a whiskey of this age, which according to the bottle, is about 2 years or so. No two batches are the same. My bottle was from batch 117. The aftertaste and lingering feel in the mouth was also very nice, with butterscotch and raisins. Even with all these tastes and aftertastes of sweet things, the whiskey was not bourbon-like. It wasn't rye either, it's somewhere in between and it's dead on the mark. I was very pleasantly surprised by this whiskey and I will most certainly be buying another bottle and sharing it with friends.
Ok, so I picked up this bottle at my regular spot to shop for whiskey, Westchester Wine Warehouse in White Plains, NY. While there one day, chatting with Trueman, the resident wine purchaser and whiskey drinker, he recommended a bottle of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. I, at first, was a tad bit hesitant. The bottle wasn't cheap for a relatively young whiskey. But upon Trueman's recommendation, I took this poor lost bottle home and put it on one of my many shelves with many other bottles of bourbon and rye so it would feel at home and more at ease. (If you have to ask, yes, I am drinking as I write this, and yes, it was a full pour, probably three fingers.) Anyhow. Sitting at my desktop shopping for booze I felt compelled to have a dram of something while I surfed the web. I pondered some single malt scotch, but couldn't decide on one. Then a bourbon, but wasn't feeling the need for sweetness or such. Then I spotted my tin cup capped bottle of Stranahan's.
Once back in front of the desktop I took a sip. What a wonderful whiskey. Totally worth the price, which if I recall was around $70 retail. The whiskey is very smooth, no ice or water needed to be added to the glass. First taste is an eye opener. Totally not what I expected. This whiskey drinks very well neat. It has a nose of candy and caramel. The mouth feel is perfect, not heavy , not watery either. The taste is full of caramel and heavy vanilla, wonderful in the mouth. There is zero harshness associated with a whiskey of this age, which according to the bottle, is about 2 years or so. No two batches are the same. My bottle was from batch 117. The aftertaste and lingering feel in the mouth was also very nice, with butterscotch and raisins. Even with all these tastes and aftertastes of sweet things, the whiskey was not bourbon-like. It wasn't rye either, it's somewhere in between and it's dead on the mark. I was very pleasantly surprised by this whiskey and I will most certainly be buying another bottle and sharing it with friends.
This past and last week of June in NYC I was blessed with the company of two out of three of my best drinking partners. Sorry Andrea, you were not present for this outing.
We settled into three comfortable bar stools at a regular and favorite spot of ours to imbibe, Maysville, in NYC. Once seated the three of us looked over the whiskey menu and then one of my friends just handed back to me and said, "you decide what we should drink". How could I say no. So the ordering began, all one ounce pours, it was a tasting after all, not a frat party. Tom, the first of and foremost my closest friend and drinking partner is a strict scotch drinker. He's not a fan of bourbon or other whiskey. He did say that he trusted my judgement and would drink what i chose for him. I started with the Masterson's 10 Year old Barley Whiskey. A very "scotch like" dram that is very nice neat. Tom enjoyed it very much, and agreed that we were off to a good start. For Mark, the second drinking partner in out group, I chose High West Campfire. Mark loved his dram as well, commenting on the sweet smokiness of it. I enjoyed a Stagg Jr. 128.7 Proof , which was surprisingly smooth for a barrel proof bourbon, but was also a little thin on mouth feel and fullness of flavor.
Okay, so now I was batting 1000, on to the next round. Round two was even better. For Tom I chose Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, which in my opinion is every bit as fine a single malt as you can get from Scotland. Tom loved it, as I knew he would. For Mark I chose the High West Son of Bourye, and once again they were both very pleased. The third and fourth rounds were a repeat. What I ordered for the third round in a once ounce pour was SOOOOO good, we just ordered it again. Tom had the french single malt, Brenne. What a dram! We could not get over the smoothness of such a young whiskey and how much vanilla and butterscotch undertones there were, it was like drinking candy. It was truly an amazing dram. Tom took pictures of the bottle and promised to buy at least two bottles for my next visit to his house in Massachusetts. For Mark I ordered John J. Bowman Single Barrel Bourbon. Once again, I picked a winner. Mark said it was the best whiskey of the night. For myself it was time to go a tad upscale and I went with the Barterhouse 20 pictured above, which brings us full circle in the tasting I have one bottle of the exquisite 20 year old bourbon, and I will be buying up as much of it as I can find before the price skyrockets. To say it was delicious would be a gross understatement. The Orphan Barrel Barterhouse 20 is one of the best bourbons I have ever had, and I have had plenty of A.H.Hirsch 16, and Pappy 20 & 23, those you can't find or can't afford. You can not find a bourbon this smooth and this full of vanilla and toffee and leather and oak, as in the Barterhouse 20. It would have been very easy for us to sit there for several more rounds, but we were there for just a tasting, and what a tasting it was.
