No Nonsense Whisky

@OdysseusUnbound I'll wager you're still knowledgable, especially if you are detecting differences between bottlings. After all, if I think something tastes pretty bland but someone who writes books says its the best ever, who says we can't both be right

I've not enjoyed it any time I've tried it. Maybe it's just me...

@NNWhisky Jim Murray is a bone fide flake. He gave it to Ballantine's 17 year old blend one year, so we all dutifully ran out and bought it only to find that it was expensive and distinguishable mainly by its mediocrity.

@BlueNote I don't trust Murray at all. I'd sooner take recommendations from the folks here.

@Nozinan The last time I bought the book was 2013. I agree, more reliable reviewers right here.

@BlueNote @Nozinan I bought the 2015 bible when I decided to try to take whisky a bit more seriously. At the time it seemed like a sound investment. A book with all the whisky I'm likely to try and tasting notes for all of them. It didn't take me long to realise I didn't agree with the man at all and it was just a massive book of opinion. To be fair, it was also solely responsible for me finally understanding that whisky is incredibly personal, so I guess it serves some good

Seen as Glenfiddich have just announced the third expression of their experimental range is just around the corner, I thought it prudent to cover the second expression. Curated by the 20 global Glenffidich ambassadors, this is the most interesting thing to come out of the distillery in some time (in my humble opinion)

Hi Gang, This week is something slightly different from my usual 'one dram' review. It's a comparison between the FEW Bourbon and the British Bourbon Societies special bottling. Enjoy!

Nice comparison, VinPF. I am not sure whether or not I have tasted any of the FEW bourbons. Is there any sort of age statement on the bottle?

Without question I think that some of the best values in US whiskey now are in hand-picked above-average private barrels of standard products. I am guessing that your BBS friends are getting into that barrel acquisition business in a big way. That's a smart and cost-effective move.

For many of the non-alcohol-averse among us the high-proof products are the ones we want to drink. I like to say that my favourite drinking strength starts at 68% ABV.

@Victor they don't have specific ages but they only opened in 2011 so only a max of 6 years. I do know they only release stuff 'when it's ready' which I suppose is the way to do it. It's just a shame it's a little expensive, it must put off people who aren't sure. I completely agree about high abv, I love it

@NNWhisky I saw it on clearance at the LCBO last month but still passed, same price as Bookers, double the price of Four Roses Single Barrel, 40% more than Eagle Rare 10 and the list goes on. Would like to try the cask strength Rye, but that is hard to come by.

@Astroke it's always the way. For most of us, money is finite so we have choose carefully. For me, anything over £50 requires a lot of thought and a few tastings before a purchase

@NNWhisky I sort-of agree with you. One single taste of Octomore 4.1 and I was ready to buy it. Maybe I should have tried it more than once. I'll let you know when I open it.

Word of mouth is helpful when tasting is not an option. hat's how I wound up with my first Redbreast 12 YO CS.

When Arran 12 CS was available having a sample of the same batch from MoM helped a lot to determine it wasn't worth the cost.

@Nozinan I guess there are always exceptions to the rule. Every now and then I'll fall in love with a dram after a single taste and just buy it. Glengoyne Cask Strength is a good example of that. I have batch 004

Hi All, apologies again for another none review, but after my experiences at the festival in question I decided to give my liver a rest for a week. Here is a rundown of The Whisky Show London 2017 on Monday 2nd October

VinPF, thanks for the run-down. It is a very big whisk(e)y world.

It takes a lot of gustatory and olfactory capacity just to file away the memories of 30-odd new whiskies sampled at a time at one of these affairs. Non-whisky people wonder how whisky lovers can be so involved in liking and observing whisky! Whisky love requires a good bit of RAM and a substantial human internal hard drive to keep track of all the marvelous and not-so-marvelous experiences.

I think that over time whisky lovers tend sort out in groups according to taste. I have a very broad taste and I like the better examples of all of the different whisky types. That makes it easy for me to relate to just about everybody in the whisky world. I would be bored to death being limited to drinking just malts, or drinking only bourbons. That is why I have settled on Connosr as my club-- this is a world-wide group and includes all forms of whisk(e)y. The one limiting factor for me is that I have over time become super-sensitive to sulphur smells and tastes. This results in my not being able to identify at all with the tastes of those who do not notice or mind the smell and taste of sulphur. It also makes those reviewers who are acutely sulphur sensitive extremely useful to me as warning guides to many sulphur-containing whiskies which I will hate and the sulphur-insensitive will find good. So, VinPF, thanks for being another canary in the coal mine! I identify strongly both with your very broad taste and with your acute sulphur sensitivity.

@Victor thanks Victor. I’m often made fun of for moaning about sulphur and some just simply don’t believe me but I shall continue on wrestling with ruined whisky and talking about it in the hopes it saves a fellow sufferer some money. It’s also great to hear of someone who is as sensitive to it as me (in addition to the empathy I feel for you of course), I have genuinely never met anyone who finds it distasteful to the degree I do

@NNWhisky, I expect that a few of us, certainly including Jim Murray, @paddockjudge, and me, are just as sensitive to sulphur as you are. I think that you may have manifest that extreme sensitivity much more quickly than I did, though. It took me a few years of frequent whisky tasting to move strongly in that direction. You do risk making yourself unpopular in certain circles because of your enhanced perception of sulphur, particular with Scottish malt whisky industry trade people who have a vested interest in pretending that their sulphur-ruined wine-cask products are high quality delicious premium whiskies. I fully understand the isolation you face with those who like those brimstone-tasting spirits just fine.

This week I managed to get hold of the brand new Inaugural Release from The Cotswolds Distillery. I've had it on preorder for three years so it's been great to final get, and taste, it. They've done a remarkable job for only three years old

Here's a little bonus episode covering the new of Jim Murray's Top 3. Say what you will about his choices but he creates some serious noise in the community when he announces his award. I break down his top 3 and chuck in a review of the Glen Grant 18 for good measure

Re: Cotswolds Distillery...Drink Local! Not only is it nice to have a local distillery for which to root, but it is much better still if you like their products. You mentioned no sulphur on the wine casks used in the 3 yo Cotswolds. I assume this means that you found the whisky clean of sulphur. Whence did the wine casks originate? I think that if I were making malt whisky that I would source wine casks elsewhere than from Spain, to avoid the sulphur problem.

Regarding the 2018 Jim Murray's Whisky Bible Awards, while it is always interesting to see what he picks, is there really anybody else alive who has just the same taste as does Mr. Murray? That "sort of boring" reaction to Glen Grant 18 yo seems to be a rather common one. One man's gorgeous subtlety is another man's boredom.

@Victor do you know, I forgot to ask where the ex wine casks came from. If I find out, I'll report back. Their first whisky for general sale comes out in December, which is only ex bourbon so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. I'll certainly be keeping a close eye on them.

I seem to be making an awful lot of content at the moment! This is a bonus video that is the result of a remote collaboration with a whisky buddy of mine. He sent me five blind samples with a few challenges and put me to the test. But how did I do?

Continuing a review theme of new English spirits, here is a quick comparison of the Lakes Distillery two year spirit and last years one year spirit.

Hi All, I have absolutely no doubt that all of you have at least heard of Haig Club. BUT have you really given it a fair chance? Have you tried the HC and the Clubman side by side to gleam the differences? Have no fear! I have you covered

I'm firm believer that all whisky lovers should have the bottom shelf in their repertoire. Love them or hate them, to ignore them is to forget about a massive part of what keeps the industry alive and able to provide us lucky souls with the luxury goods we love

@NNWhisky I am on transit and can't stream right now.

I have tried JW red. I waved did a Ralfy style H2H with a significantly older bottle. That one was at least drinkable.

I agree we should be familiar with them. I am not so sue we need them in our cabinets. No space for that stuff.

@Nozinan There is room in my cabinet for inexpensive blends, but JWR isn’t good enough, regardless of the low price. Teacher’s, Famous Grouse, Bushmills, Grant’s, Islay Mist 8 are all similarly-priced and they’re much better than JWR, imho.

Also, Alberta Premium Dark Horse is better than most of those at about $30/bottle. Yeah, I said it. Fight me.

@Nozinan @OdysseusUnbound Completely agree. I should perhaps clarify by saying that when I say repertoire I mean that we should have at least tried them, rather than we should own them. There is definitely not the room for a whole bunch of basic blends in my cabinet either