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RY3 Rum Cask Finish
Next up is a newer expression of a rye that I have really enjoyed over the past year or so – RY3 Blended Rye Rum Cask Finish. For those unfamiliar with this brand, get familiar with it! I really enjoyed the core release, which is a blended rye and I purchased a bottle of the Cognac Finish release for my Dad for his birthday this past Spring, so when I saw the Rum Finish, I had to give it a sip….
Putnam Rye & Putnam Rye Red Wine Barrel Finish
In honor of Father’s Day, the next review is for Putnam Rye made by Boston Harbor Distillery. I first had this bottle when my wife took me to the distillery for a tasting on my first Father’s Day after my oldest was born…On the 6 year(ish) Father's Day anniversary of my first visit, I thought it appropriate to do a double tasting of the rye and rye finished in red wine barrels….
Craigellachie 13 Years
I saw the bottle of Craigellachie on the shelf and it looked very “old timey” but it was also a 13 year old priced at $55 so I figured what the heck. As I’m trying to mix in more entry-level bottles with my reviews, it seemed about time that I returned to the Craigellachie 13…..
Old Forester 1910 “Old Fine Whisky”
For the next review, we will revisit another Old Forester release from the Whiskey Row Series, the 1910 Old Fine Whisky. I really like Old Forester and previously reviewed a couple of 1920 Prohibition Style, but this will be the first time I’ve sipped the 1910…..
Old Elk Straight Bourbon 5 Year (store pick)
Next up is an Old Elk Straight Bourbon Whiskey 5 year old store pick from @thewhiskyguys at Gordon’s Wine in the Greater Boston area. This bourbon has a high amount of malted barley compared to rye, so I am intrigued….
GlenAllachie 10 Year Cask Strength (Batch 5)
Next we have The GlenAllachie 10 Year old to make back-to-back 10 year old Speyside scotches this week. The only other GlenAllachie I have tasted was the SMWS Oven-Ready Moomin that I reviewed a bit ago so I am interested to see how the core lineup compares to the single casks as this is also a cask strength (like SMWS)…..
Benromach 10 Year
Next up is a Benromach 10 Year old. I initially tasted this bottle over a year ago, albeit under the old label. Assuming that nothing has changed except for the marketing, let’s check it out….
Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack
Next up is Gentleman Jack made by the iconic Jack Daniels. I know I'm supposed to give deference to good old King Jack, but, oh well…..
Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength
This next review is for Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength Whiskey which already gives us a lot to unpack just from the name. This is a new label which is blending and bottling MGPI Bourbons. I had a lot of strong feelings about this one…
Old Overholt Straight Rye
Today’s review, in celebration of “World Whiskey Day”, is Old Overholt Rye. Yes, that dusty bottle on the bottom of your local store’s shelf……
SMWS G9.5 “Cargo Floating By A Varnished Boat”
Next up we will revisit another bottle from Scotch Malt Whisky Society, an independent bottler who I have done a few reviews on in the past. From all of my purchases, this one was a ginormous leap of faith on my part given the price point and the fact that it is a Single Grain Scotch Whisky, not a Single Malt. Let’s see how it went….
New Riff Straight Rye Bottled in Bond
Today’s review is on New Riff Rye Bottled in Bond. I previously did a review on another one of New Riff’s releases, the Single Barrel Bourbon, which I really liked. It was a nice little sipper with some traditional bourbon notes, but gave it a 3x 🥃 due to value, at $10 cheaper, it would have been a 4x 🥃. The Rye, however, is a little more interesting…..
1792 Single Barrel Bourbon
The 1792 Single Barrel Bourbon is a “Limited Edition”, not to say that these are one-time releases, they’re just not as readily available as their staple, the Small Batch Bourbon. All of the 1792 bourbons have a nice little color coded band on the neck of the bottle to help you easily identify them, which I am thankful for as it can be hard to distinguish which is which when you have multiple types way back in the old booze cabinet. The Single Barrel is an off-white/cream color. …
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12
For the next review, we will visit the Balvenie DoubleWood 12. I previously did a review on the 17 year old version of this release, but that’s a bit pricey these days, so let’s dig into the more affordable option, which is also their core product. Check out my previous reviews (here, here, or here) for some backstory on Balvenie and the DoubleWood releases and to see some of their other releases….but this single malt was first aged in American Oak and then in European Oak.
Westland American Single Malt Cask No. 2548
Our next review is on a store pick, the Westland American Single Malt Whiskey Cask No. 2548 which I purchased from Gordon’s Wine in the Greater Boston area. I try to limit my store picks to liquor stores who I know have good taste as I have been burned a few times on others, but Gordon’s tends to pick some good ones. I’ve had this bottle for a bit and finally decided to crack it open for a tasting.
Pike Creek Canadian Whisky Aged 21 Years Finished in European Casks
This review (the 50th for Nice Sipper!) will be on a bottle that I bought on a whim a while back and have been sitting on for a while now – Pike Creek Canadian Whisky Aged 21 Years Finished in European Oak Casks. Since that’s a mouthful of a label name, I’ll just refer to this as the Pike Creek 21….
A Midwinter Nights Dream Act 7, Scene 6
Our next review is High West’s A Midwinter Nights Dram Act 7, Scene 6. As evidenced by the Forsythia in the picture, I am a bit late to review this one as the Forsythia is the harbinger of Spring for my area, but then again, I have never been one to limit my whiskey intake based on the season. …
Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength
The last Bottle Kill Week review is Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength. This was my first Glenfarclas and it was recommended to me by someone whose whiskey tastes I highly respect. I had been eyeing a few of their bottles for quite some time so I was easily persuaded to check out this release.
Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon Bottled in Bond
The next review for Bottle Kill Week will be for Wilderness Trail Small Batch Straight Bourbon Bottled in Bond. I wrote quite a bit about the distillery last time on my website, so I will spare you with the extensive preamble, but this particular bottle came from Batch 16D01. As a BiB release, it is 100 proof (50% ABV).
SMWS 107.24 “Oven-Ready Moomin”
I’ve decided that in the spirit of Spring Cleaning, I’m going to make this Bottle Kill Week where I focus on the random assortment of bottles that I have saved just a wee bit of whisk(e)y to eventually do a review.
Since my last review was on, what I would essentially refer to as, an independent bottler for Bourbons and Ryes, I will continue this trend and do another SMWS review (that and I have two newer ones that I want to open!). This is bottle 107.24 called “Oven-Ready Moomin”, a nice little Speyside 8 year old Single Malt…..