It's Friday! Let's Drink Some Whisk(e)y!! (Responsibly, Of Course)

by Low-Key Lysmith 121 Replies latest jw friends

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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Haven't done a whiskey post in a while. What better day to do it than on the American/Wear Green/Get Pissed/Eat Corned Beef & Cabbage/Pretend You're Irish day?

  Today's featured whiskey comes from the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Bushmills is the world's oldest licensed distillery, obtaining their license to distill from James I in 1608. There are documents that would suggest that whiskey had been produced on this site at least 200 years prior to that year.

  Today's whiskey is a limited edition, (I have bottle #0033). It's a single malt (meaning produced at a single distillery, from 100% malted barley) and aged in a single cask for 20 years. The cask they selected for this delightful gem is an ex-rum cask.

  The rum oak gives the whisky a molasses-like sweetness, creamy character, and lingering finish. Exceptional!

  Slainte!

  -Breck
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Tonight, I bust open my bottle of Cragganmore Distiller's Edition.

  Cragganmore DE is a single malt from Scotland's Speyside region. Aged 12 years minimum in ex-bourbon casks, then finished for an additional year in a cask once used to season port wine. The port cask finish gives this delightfully complex whisky an almost berry-like character at the very back.

  The regular Cragganmore bottling skips the port finish and relies on only the bourbon oak. One of Scotlands most complex single malts.

  The nose on the Cragg DE brings up thoughts of polished saddle leather and sandlewood. The nose almost betrays the palate, however. Flavors of berries, port, and oaked all wrapped up with just a whisp of peat smoke. A long, elegant finish is the ultimate reward.

  Slainte Mhath!
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  Glander

  Had a tot of my favorite budget Scotch, Teacher's. It's good enough for me!

  drunk to liqour store clerk - "Do you skell sotch here?"
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  bsmart

  So Low-Key,

  Have you been on any whisky tours lately?
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  No. Not lately. I may be going soon to Kentucky to tour the Bulleit Bourbon facility, as well as Tennessee to tour the George Dickel Distillery.

  Heard a rumor that they may be sending us back to Scotland in August. Hope so!
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  EntirelyPossible

  I recently got a bottle of this:

  http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/strathisla-30-year-old-whisky/
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  on the rocks

  No one seems to be commenting on Indian Whisky...just down four pegs of Signature.....but unfortunately globally Indian whiskys are termed as Rum or spirit:(
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Wow EP!

  I love Strathisla, but have never had a chance to try the 30yr. The Speyside complexities can only be enhanced by all that extra time in-cask. Have you opened it yet? I'd love to hear your own tasting notes.
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  zoiks

  How did I miss this thread the first time around? Thanks for the bit of education, LKL. Very, very cool. I enjoyed your tasting notes on the Ardbeg; it is only available by special order through the department of liquor control in my state, so I'm kind of waiting for a special occasion on which to grab a bottle.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  No one seems to be commenting on Indian Whisky...just down four pegs of Signature.....but unfortunately globally Indian whiskys are termed as Rum or spirit:(

  My only personal experience with Indian Whisky has been Amrut Single Malt. A great whisky to be sure. The one thing that really sets Amrut apart from many other Indian whiskies is that Amrut actually makes whisky. Several of the other Indian "whiskies" are simply cheap scotch that has been blended with who knows what and re-packaged. Also, there is a trend that I have seen in that some of these "whiskies" are produced from cane sugar, negating the whisky qualification. Whisk(e)y is defined as any distilled spirit made from some type of grain, and aged in a wooden barrel. If a spirit is made from cane sugar, it technically therefore becomes a rum.