What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

The Nal

Jack Daniels isn't a bourbon. Its a fairly nasty whiskey.

Bulleit is probably best bang for your buck when it comes to mixing. Classic taste and cheap.

EagererBeaver

The Nal wrote: »

Jack Daniels isn't a bourbon. Its a fairly nasty whiskey.

Bulleit is probably best bang for your buck when it comes to mixing. Classic taste and cheap.

Four Roses does the job for me. Can get a bottle for 11 euro here in Barcelona

the beer revolu

The Nal wrote: »

Jack Daniels isn't a bourbon. Its a fairly nasty whiskey.

I wondered how long that would take.

BeerNut

The Nal wrote: »

Jack Daniels isn't a bourbon.

More like Jack Denial, eh? It's a bourbon, regardless of what their marketing says.

Cazale

I have a bottle of Jack Daniels single barrel. Smoother and less sweet than the original.

ZV Yoda

The Nal wrote: »

Jack Daniels isn't a bourbon. Its a fairly nasty whiskey.

Bulleit is probably best bang for your buck when it comes to mixing. Classic taste and cheap.

Can't say I've ever met a whiskey that was nasty to me. Maybe you should try being nicer to them.

Black Sheep

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Four Roses does the job for me. Can get a bottle for 11 euro here in Barcelona

I was going to respond to your post a few back, where you said you might try Elijah Craig, and warn you that it's pretty pricy to buy for use as a mixing bourbon (Also just too damn nice, I would say)... But if you're in Barcelona then you might be able to get it at a price that will reduce us to tears :pac: Enjoy, I'm very partial to it.

Edit to add ... I just looked at a Spanish price... €40... That's expensive by Spanish standards but certainly a nicer price than here I guess.

Cazale

The ballot for this years Dream Cask is live for the next week. I've entered it for the craic. Anyone else going to give it a go?

Cazale

Our weekly online tastings continue and we are delighted to be showcasing whiskey from Japan. We have had several request over the years for this event so finally it is here! We have 6 diverse whiskies from single grain to blended malt for you to get stuck into, it promises to be great a night. The event will take place via Zoom on Friday 5th June at 7:30 p.m. A link to Zoom will be sent on event day.

Tickets will go on sale at 7 p.m. this evening follow the link below.

https://www.lmulliganwhiskeyshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=japanevent

killbillvol2

Cazale wrote: »

Our weekly online tastings continue and we are delighted to be showcasing whiskey from Japan. We have had several request over the years for this event so finally it is here! We have 6 diverse whiskies from single grain to blended malt for you to get stuck into, it promises to be great a night. The event will take place via Zoom on Friday 5th June at 7:30 p.m. A link to Zoom will be sent on event day.

Tickets will go on sale at 7 p.m. this evening follow the link below.

https://www.lmulliganwhiskeyshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=japanevent

Looking forward to this one.

Cazale

killbillvol2 wrote:

Looking forward to this one.

Should be a good one. They sold out in less than five minutes.

ZV Yoda

I got a ticket. My first event, so be interesting to see what’s what. Also my first time tasting Japanese whiskey.

Effects

Tried to get tickets at 7.07 and it was gone!

actuar90

Effects wrote: »

Tried to get tickets at 7.07 and it was gone!

Same here, missed it as well.

sceach16

actuar90 wrote: »

Same here, missed it as well.

http://www.lmulliganwhiskeyshop.com/product-p/japanevent2.htm

Effects

Ah here, I missed that one as well.

Greg81

Glen Garioch 12yo last night.

This was my first encounter and I am positively surprised. Very sweet taste and fruity on the nose. 48% gives a nice kick at the end

Cazale

Cazale wrote:

@potstilled_ on Twitter and Facebook are having a talk tonight at 8pm with Red Breast master blender Dave McCabe. They will be discussing the Dream Casks and how they are selected etc.

This was a really interesting talk. I took some notes for myself if anyone is interested. Forgive any typos or shorthand.

Blending = Marriage of distillates also affected by barrels and age of maturation

Difference between Powers, Green Spot and Redbreast?

Powers
One distillate type. Focus on flavor is distillate driven and less about oak and wood. A spicy light pot. Spirit driven. Bourbon barrels. Some first use but mainly second and some third use barrels. Influence of wood diminished using 2nd/3rd fill barrels. Powers John Lane 12yo distillate still at front with oak at back.

Green Spot
One distillate type but different spirit. Bourbon and sherry casks. More first fill bourbon barrels used to bring up orchard and fruit/apple notes. Little bit of sherry but not so it dominates.

Redbreast
12-15 two different styles of distillate
21 and 27 three types of distillate
Light pot and medium pot

12
Spirit led. First use bourbon barrels. First use sherry casks. Two distillate types. Minimum 12 years. Dried fruits. Raisins/Sultanas. More tanin from oak than 15.

12 Cask Strength
No difference in 12. Exact same formulation. Just no reduction in strength. This is why there is more variation in batches than normal 12.

15
Oldest whiskey used is 19 years old. Some second fill bourbon and second fill sherry barrels used. Oak contribution goes down. This works with age going up. Fudge/caramel. Spicier than 12.

21
Made once a year in small quantities. Oldest whiskey used is 35 years old. Three distillate types. Smaller amount of sherry casks as it's too influential in flavor in smaller batches. Only 50-60 barrels used to blend each year. Exotic fruits.

27
Bourbon, sherry and port Casks blended. Small batch size. About 9000 ltrs a year to ensure stock. 54.6%

Dream Cask 28
Four barrels filled with Redbreast from 1991 and 1989. Two exbourbon barrels from 1991, sherry cask from 1991 and port cask from 1989. Married them together. Refilled the emptied 1989 port cask then with the blend for four months. 105 days. Port finished. Natural cask strength of 51.5%. Plums, kiwi, mango, nutty liquor, raisins/sultanas. Pepper/spicy. Cinnamon and vanilla on second nose. Old wood characteristic. Rich and complex. 912 bottles made.

Difference of port influenced whiskeys.
Method and madness 28 year old port cask spent all its life in a single port cask. 27 is a blend where port is only one of three elements. Dream cask 28 is blend of port, sherry and bourbon then finished in port cask for 105 days.

The difference between light, medium and heavy pot still?

They can create three different styles in the pot stills from a flavor point of view. Start off light herbal menthol notes. Heavy style oily and rich. Medium is in between those two. Same mash bill using malted and unmalted barley which makes a beer/wash. Different distillate style is when you make the head and tails cuts, when you recycle heads/tails and how much you recycle.

Wood type influence from cask.
Pickup can be very fast and tail off quickly. Sherry mainly European Oak doesn't take long. Less dense compared to American oak.
Chestnut like a sponge. Huge interaction after few weeks. Affected angel share. Wood type and what was on before also influences. Sherry casks from one cooperage in South Spain. Made especially for Redbreast. European Oak seasoned for two years with oloroso sherry. Historically the sherry producers would use American oak barrels but would ship sherry in European Oak because they didn't want to use the more expensive American oak as a transport barrel.

Stock levels and warehousing.
1.7 million filled casks currently in storage. Mainly bourbon. Each bay has 16k barrels. Ambient controlled temperature. Filling more barrels than they are emptying on daily basis at moment. Filling 2500 casks and emptying 1200 mature casks a day.

odyssey06

Also from Potstilled.com, I enjoyed this entry in the podcast series - a 1 hour chat with John Cashman on his time in brand development with Cooley \ Kilbeggan.
Not much into the technical side of things, more on the sales side going from 'guerrilla' marketing days with tiny budget to being part of Beam and then Suntory empire.
https://potstilled.com/2020/05/20/episode-q5-john-cashman-industry-veteran-global-brand-ambassador/

For fans of Kilbeggan Single Grain, @36 minutes there's some good info on the differences between the 8 year old and the current NAS version.
Previously it was all bourbon barrels, now there's a mix of bourbon, virgin oak, sherry and PX.
Much more complex blend and includes some 'double digit' aged whiskey in there.
Now bottled at 43% versus 40%.

Random trivia, at one point in Dublin airport, the Cooley miniature set of Kilbeggan, Greenore, Connemara and Tyrconnel was the 2nd biggest selling item after bottled water.

Greg81

Ardmore Highland Single Malt Peated

46%. Super spicy (pepper) on the tongue.

Good but I would think twice before buying full size bottle

Sláinte

Cazale

Drinking some Glendronach 12 tonight. A speyside whisky bottled at 43%. Finished in sherry casks so full of dried fruit with a very smooth finish.

Cazale

odyssey06 wrote:

Random trivia, at one point in Dublin airport, the Cooley miniature set of Kilbeggan, Greenore, Connemara and Tyrconnel was the 2nd biggest selling item after bottled water.

That's mad. I have that set myself. Greenore has been rebranded now as Kilbeggan 8-year-old Single Grain.

odyssey06

Cazale wrote: »

That's mad. I have that set myself. Greenore has been rebranded now as Kilbeggan 8-year-old Single Grain.

Loved the Greenore / Kilbeggan 8yo.
Was my fave in that set.

Preferred the old name for sentimental reasons too ie the Greenore ferry which I have taken on a scenic route booze cruise to Sainsbury Newry.

Havent had the NAS Single Grain yet that replaced the 8yo but must pick up a bottle. Sounds like an intriguing but v different blend now.

Cazale

The father in law bought a bottle of Ben Bracken Islay single malt in Lidl not realising it was a peated whisky so I got the bottle gifted. Trying it tonight. Obviously young spirit with a very short finish. Very Smokey on the nose. Very little balance or complexity on the palette and the peat over dominates. I'd only get another bottle of it was free again.

Cazale

odyssey06 wrote:

Havent had the NAS Single Grain yet that replaced the 8yo but must pick up a bottle. Sounds like an intriguing but v different blend now.

Didn't realise they replaced it again!

odyssey06

Cazale wrote: »

Didn't realise they replaced it again!

In the podcast Cashman was worried it would be dropped altogether after the Beam takeover and the stocks for it and the Small Batch Rye would end up blended into the basic Kilbeggan!

Suntory to the rescue there.

They upped the ABV to 43% as a selling point for cocktail bar market in the States.

odyssey06

Cazale wrote: »

The father in law bought a bottle of Ben Bracken Islay single malt in Lidl not realising it was a peated whisky so I got the bottle gifted. Trying it tonight. Obviously young spirit with a very short finish. Very Smokey on the nose. Very little balance or complexity on the palette and the peat over dominates. I'd only get another bottle of it was free again.

I got the sampler set of 3 miniatures they had for a while. The Speyside was nice, typical of the region but not sure I would buy a bottle of it.
Wasnt keen on the Islay one, thought it was a rough ride.
Highland was ok.

Wailin

Teeling Brabazon series 2, port finish. Personally I preferred series 1, sherry finish, but this is a quality whiskey for anyone interested. 46% non filtered and natural colour.

pleasant Co.

That's a decent pour

Hogzy

Port finishes seem to be all the rage lately!