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International Standard Industry - Inberia God Father Fine Whisky - Uncle Sam Father Whisky - Night Club Whisky

This too is Liberia

0 115

@NAV26Review by @NAV26

2nd Nov 2013

0

  • Nose
    7
  • Taste
    3
  • Finish
    3
  • Balance
    2
  • Overall
    15

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Distribution of ratings for this: user

  • Brand: International Standard Industry - Inberia
  • ABV: 42%

Liberia is a small country of approximately 4 million people on the West African coast currently recovering from 14 years of traumatic civil war. I have lived in Liberia for the last 3 years; enjoying many pleasant whiskies during my stay. On occasion, when traveling to in the rural counties, I have noticed small boutiques selling various bottles of whisky. On a whim I decided to purchase three such bottles and undertake a connosr review of each. Whiskey distillation and craftsmanship is not a priority and unfortunately the low cost spirits I am about to review are probably largely purchased by former rebel soldiers suffering from psychological disorders.

I am about to try 3 dubiously bottled whiskies from a country that's reputation over the last 30 years might lead one to ask the questions; what is really in these whiskies and am I going to survive this testing? The title for this review is a common colloquialism in describing an event that is an grudgingly accepted but unsatisfactory part of daily life.

Night Club No. 1 Whisky - Distilled Manufacture by Inberia M & T Impex. Cost $1.20 USD for 180 ml bottle. Interesting background on the bottle: 42% abv; and, caption "Brewed with the Finest Spirts & Natural Flavors" (yikes!). The label shows a close up photo of three attractive young women (I am assuming Liberian) dancing very close at one of the local night clubs (not kidding - I hope the young women's agent signed them on for a percentage).

Color caramel amber that is darker than the other two whiskies I will review. Interestingly the legs are globular and move down relatively slowly.

Nose: Rubbing alcohol, anise, vanilla extract, powdered donut, gin, cinnamon solvent (must be the natural flavors). Smell very young and unaged, I am not getting any oak.

Palate: hint of butterscotch on the initial hit that becomes bubblegum (original flavor) and then dries off and fads into cheap gin and rubbing alcohol. There is also hints of Jaegermeister.

Balance: Well it smells like it tastes but this is very far from what many of us would call whisky. Very light weight and lacks any viscosity in the mouth, the flavors are clearly chemical additives.

Finish: This doesn't last long and leaves with a faint hint of bubblegum and dry gin.

This is less offensive than I thought it would be but is very far from whisky and seems more like a gin. Definitely not a sipper but I could see the youths mixing this for a satisfactory evening at the club:) I don't feel that comfortable ranking this as a whisky but if I had to give a score it would be 15-20.

Up next we have the God Father Fine Whisky which is distilled by International Standard Industries. I paid $1.80 USD for a 200 ml bottle that is bottled at 42%. Nothing that interesting about the label other than a logo type image of what is probably the God Father; beneath the God Father is a very big diamond (you may have heard that Liberia is rich in natural resources and that a former president liked to give out big diamonds to supermodels). My local sources tell me this is the best of the three.

Color is lighter than the night club and the legs are very strange and globular slowly moving down the glass.

Nose: Rubbing alcohol; pickle water; powdered donut; solvent; vanilla extract but less than the Night Club; highly processed meat such as uncooked hot dogs when you open the pack.

Palate: Neutral delivery that becomes astringent like a light mint spearmint mouthwash on the palate.

Balance: Very light unaged spirit not complex fairly neutral and non-offensive

Finish: Ends on spear mint and fads quickly away with some rubbing alcohol.

If I had to score I would say 10-15.

Final Whisky will be Uncle Sam Father which is "manufactured" by International Standard Industries. I paid $1.70 USD for a bottle (no size indicated) that is bottled at 42% (this seems to be the Liberian standard).

The label portrays a cartoon image of a redneck complete with trucker hat, blue overalls and a pipe.

I had an incredible time actually getting the screw cap of this bottle open it kept turning.

Color and legs are almost exactly the same as God Father

Nose/smell: Very similar to God Father, perhaps a little bit more processed meet, new cheap rubber bag (a very specific type) and something like wood smoke extract.

Palate: Postage stamp, solvent some mint and . While this is mild in taste the profile for me is vile and I am a bit scarred of what this could do to my body if I swallow it. I'll pass.

Balance - Again very light

Finish - Thankfully very light gin (not to insult good gin) rubbing alcohol

Score <5

So I imagine, like many young man in Liberia the Night Club Whisky is my winner!

So what do I take from this experience: 1) Liberian whiskies are not really whiskies but more likely flavored new make and are marketed to a population that doesn't really know any better and can't really afford to care; 2) marketing tactics play on aspirations and desires of the collective all over the world; 3) The spittoon is your friend if you are worried about going blind; and, 4)I hope that in the future, as lives and buying power improve in sub Saharan Africa, more people will appreciate quality spirits; and that with this appreciation, craft oriented distilleries using a combination of local grains, new varieties of wood for casks and unique climates will contribute to the diversity of quality in modern world whisky production.

Body:

1 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

You are brave. Thanks for taking one for the team. This is entertaining and interesting information.

10 years ago 0

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