Tastes
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After reading @LeeEvolved ‘s review of this, I simply had to open up the sample he graciously sent me. I should end this review with simply three words: Oh. My. God. But I’ll write a bit more. Light beach bonfire on the nose; followed by burnt wood, salinity, and charred lemons. I totally agree with Lee—-better than HP 18, or Talisker 18. Why the hell do we bother with other crap whiskey when a few of the classics such as this, Ardbeg 10, Springbank 10, and Lagavulin 16 suffice ? Quite simply—-it’s excellent, and at the price of <$100, a no brainer must buy. Thanks for this Lee!
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Caroni 1998 20 Year (Ultimatum)
Aged Rum — Trinidad & Tobago
Reviewed April 3, 2019 (edited April 13, 2019)This might be my first 5 star rum. I’ve had a few, but always found rum overly sweet, like artificial sweetener or sugary. This one drinks like whiskey. I opened up my sample, and immediately got aromas of brown sugar and oak. Thick and viscous in the mouth, tastes of green olives (???!), cinnamon heat, and almost a herbaceous aftertaste...like thyme? Tasted blind, I’d have guessed a really well made American craft whiskey ( maybe like Balcones, Stranahan’s, or Westland), but better. Much better. The cask strength adds a hot cinnamon finish, but after adding a wee bit of water, it quickly dissipates to a lingering aftertaste. This is the first rum that I have myself saying “I need to buy a bottle”. How the hell did this distillery go out of business????!!!! -
Sometimes the most unlikely of all things end up surprising you. Long time ago, as a young 25 yr old, I went traveling through Northern India with a girlfriend of mine. Her parents were originally from Punjab, an area in northwestern India, bordering Pakistan. We’re at a local dive bar, and there’s these three guys harassing us, saying women don’t belong in bars and if we want to stay, we have to pay them. We decided to leave...we’re foreigners in another country, no need to cause problems. But they followed us out and cornered us. I figured “damn it, I’m going to get pummeled tonight”. But before I could even blink, this 22yr old 5’4” little Punjabi grad student had all three guys on the floor screaming in pain. Two years of dating and she fails to mention she’s a 3rd degree black belt in two types of martial arts!?!? I felt like telling those punks “don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you got your ass kicked by a skinny petite Asian girl”. That’s a surprise. In a good way. So, yesterday in Denver, I walk into a Total Wine with the sole purpose of buying a really hard to find 291 cask strength rye that’s very Colorado specific. A colleague of mine suggests I pick this up too...$40 Colorado specific Anejo tequila. I’ve not had many tequilas, and generally am opposed to mixed drinks—-so I was expecting this one to be something that goes well with a margarita but not so much neat. I was in for a surprise. Cracked this open today expecting to absolutely hate it. Instead I’m on my second pour! And I don’t have two pours in one sitting. So—Aroma is definitely cooked agave, grassy and herbal. Taste is smooth like butter. Sweet at the entrance, with an herbal backbone. Absolutely 0 burn. For $40, I’m glad I bought this bottle back home. A damn good surprise that totally caught me off guard ( like those 3 poor chaps in Punjab).40.0 USD per Bottle
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Stranahan's Sherry Cask
American Single Malt — Colorado, USA
Reviewed March 29, 2019 (edited April 15, 2024)Tasted at Stranhan’s in Denver. Out of the three I had ( sherry , Snowflake , and this) this was right behind Snowflake. Less complexity than Snowflake. Almost like a young Macallan 12. Dried fruits and nuts, with heat that tapers off.12.0 USD per PourStranahan's Colorado Whiskey -
Stranahan's Snowflake
American Single Malt — Colorado, USA
Reviewed March 29, 2019 (edited March 31, 2019)Nothing like experiencing whiskey in its native location—this one at the Stenahan’s distillery in Denver. Snowflake is their annual release, and like a snowflake—no annual release is like an other. This is their infamous annual release that has lines overnight when they release it that one day in December. It’s really good—-complex layers of fruit, wine, sherry and bread pudding. We’ll never find it in the wild, so was great experiencing it at the source.15.0 USD per PourStranahan's Colorado Whiskey -
@Richard-ModernDrinking and I had a tasting last night where we shared a few pours. I bought to the table the unusual harder to find non-Scottish versions. This one was the last pour of the night, and was preceded by some amazing drams..so I probably didn’t do it justice. A really summer time drink. Grapes and more grapes. All grapes...purple sweet grapes. I need to give this another shot...just wasn’t fair after having an amazing Macallan 10, Smogen Triple and Ardbeg Drum CE
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@Richard-ModernDrinking and I shared a few drams last night. This was one opened by Richard. This is a first of its kind using Japanese blending skill with American bourbon. Blend of bourbon, sherry cask bourbon, and wine cask bourbon. If you haven’t bought this yet...do so. It’s only $35...and you won’t go wrong. Not your typical bourbon, more a whiskey drinker’s. Not overly sweet, but rather layers of complexity from the different blends. This rounded up my top 6 ( preceded by the belle of the night Macallan 10 from the 80s, Ardbeg Drum CE, Stranger & stranger , NY Blend, and the beauty from Sweden Smogen). Thanks Richard for sharing!
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Compass Box Great King St New York Blend
Blended Malt — Scotland
Reviewed March 23, 2019 (edited March 24, 2019)@Richard-ModernDrinking and I had a tasting last night where we shared a few drams with each other. Why the heck did Glaser stop making this? It puts the other two Great King St blends to shame. Only about 1200 bottles—-so I’m thankful to Richard for sharing! This rounded up my top 5 for the night ( Macallan from 80s, Ardbeg Drum CE, CB Stranger & Stranger, Smogen Triple we’re ahead of it). Smoky, briny and citrusy—-Laphroaig is at the core. This was amazing. Thanks Richard! -
Compass Box Flaming Heart 15th Anniversary Limited Edition
Blended Malt — Scotland
Reviewed March 23, 2019 (edited September 16, 2019)@Richard-ModernDrinking and I had a tasting last night where we shared a few drams with each other. Any other night, this would’ve made my top pour. But in the tasting where we had a Macallan from the 80s, Ardbeg Drum CE, Stranger and Stranger, and the unexpected beauty from Sweden’s Smogen, this unfortunately didn’t make my top 5. Maybe 7 out of the 12. Charred lemons, smoky. Balanced with honey sweetness. Thanks Richard for sharing!
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