One bourbon I’d been reading about repeatedly all over the web is the Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, named after the Master Distiller by the same name who joined the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky in the mid 20th century. Since what I’d been reading was praise on every account, my curiosity was naturally stoked, and I finally caved in and bought a bottle. $28 isn’t cheap, so needless to say my expectations going in were high.
How did my investment pay off? The Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel was a lovely deep reddish amber color in the bottle, consistent with 14 years of aging. It was immediately clear to me when I picked up the bottle that the consistency was smooth and thick.
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If you’re looking for a Christmassy whisky but don’t quite fancy Glenfarclas 15 – which is arguably the most Christmassy dram you will find – I’d recommend you keep reading, because Dailuaine 27 from Master of Malt is a good contender for the honourable title of Christmas Dram of the Year 2011 – which I just made up now, and for which, if I’m honest, there are currently no other runners. Don’t let the admittedly thin starting field fool you, though – Dailuaine 27 would put up one heck of a fight if it had to.
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Johnnie Walker is without doubt one of the most well-known whisky blends in the world, and for good reason; their whiskies never fail to offer not only good value for money, but indeed high quality regardless of price. For those of you who like to read a bit of distillery history with your review, I would recommend that you check out my review of the Johnnie Walker Black Label as I have presented what I could find there.
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This is an amusing review from Ryan, our bourbon specialist. Enjoy.
When poet legend Robert Frost wrote, “Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold…” , he wasn’t only talking about nature. I have the sneaking suspicion he might have had a bourbon in his hand at the time.
Now the holiday season has fallen upon us with a nip in the air and a nip on the lips. What better way to greet your in-laws than after having a Jim Beam Black. Not only will you feel more relaxed, but you can ignore the high volume at which your mother-in-law is speaking. Why not have another of that 8 year old bourbon? After all you deserve it. You have worked hard to put a roof over your family’s head and food on the table. In fact this year you are putting food on the table for all 15 plus extended family members. Have another drink with warm apple cider; Jim Beam Black, some cloves and cinnamon. What better way is there to relax and enjoy the family?
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Located in the lovely town of Pitlochry, Blair Athol is, in my opinion, a distillery that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Even I have taken longer than I should to review one of their expressions, so I thought it about time to do so now. Thus I proudly present to you: Blair Athol 12 year old, a fine tipple indeed.
Delving straight into the aroma, it presents a very light and summery bouquet of citrus, flowers, honey, and tangy apple. By no means an outstanding nose, I wouldn’t put it in my top 10, but it does have something distinctively unique about it, and that is the very summery feeling that fills your entire chest as you take a long sniff of it. That said, the nose isn’t quite as forceful as I would like – it doesn’t approach you with quite enough confidence, but what is there is very pleasant. Had it been just a bit bolder, a bit deeper, it would have been much better.
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From Bruichladdich to the town Bowmore, this series outlining my recent trip to Islay will now detail our visit to the Laphroaig distillery – which, appropriately, was the second distillery we visited on our tour. The drive from Bowmore to Laphroaig took in the area of twenty minutes (which seems to be a common theme when driving around Islay) and brought us right through the peat bogs. Now, the peat bogs are quite interesting! This is where they break the peat that is used to get that peaty (would you ruddy believe it), smoky, Islay taste. What you might not have guessed is that the peat is actually broken/dug out/whatever you prefer to call it by hand; there is no machinery used, just good old man-power.
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