What Spirit Bloggers sites do you recommend?

malt-review.com

Rum: inuakena.com is a good source.

For tequila, I like this one:

tequilaconnection.com/Grading1.htm

And for vodka:

vodkaphiles.com/reviews/…

Vodkaphiles visitor reviews is the Vox Populi of the hoi poloi, the equivalent to the Connosr Top 100 Rated, assuming you consider only products with a significant number of ratings, for me, 10+ reviews OK, 30+ reviews much better. I never fail to be impressed by how high the quality is of some very inexpensive vodkas. I could be very content never buying a vodka other than Luksusowa, or Sobieski. N.B. Vodkaphiles "Visitor" hoi poloi average review ratings on a 5 scale: Luksusowa 4.45, Absolut 2.32. And the marketing? Well, you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

@Victor I don’t understand! Grey Goose, which is obviously THE most luxurious vodka gets a 3.25/5 rating while the inexpensive Russian Standard (a favourite of mine along side Luksusowa) is rated 4.4/5. How is this possible? Isn’t Grey Goose the vodka equivalent of The Macallan??

@OdysseusUnbound I almost added Russian Standard to Luksusowa and Sobieski as the "standards" I would rely upon. I guess that I was just waiting for your comment before mentioning it.

As for Grey Goose, yes people were really turned off by the pretensions of its marketing, and, for a while, by its price, which seems to have come down, relatively speaking. Never having paid any attention to anybody's arrogant braggadocio regarding being "the best" this or that spirit I was able to approach Grey Goose with an open mind. I like Grey Goose fine, but I still prefer Luksusowa.

In that camp of hyped products: Grey Goose Vodka, Patron Tequila, Baby Hudson Bourbon...these are three of this type ALL of which have come DOWN in price over time because of the failure of arrogant braggadocio. You can't fool all of the people all of the time. Eventually people figure out the truth.

If someone were to say to me, "This is the BEST THIS or THAT in the world!" I would say to him or her, "Give me a FREE sample, and I will see whether I agree with you." I would follow that up with: "Until that time I have no opinion whatsoever about anything you have to say about your product. I have no reason to believe or disbelieve anything you say about your product. My taste alone will decide the quality of your product for me".

Also: jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com (Jason also does rum reviews on occasion) and scotchnoob.com and www.scotchblog.ca/scotch_blog/blog/

@Victor It's funny you mention braggadocio. The first time I tasted Patron tequila was in a "blind" tasting. We were at a backyard bbq (remember those?) and one of my acquaintances (a bit of a braggart who was on our softball team for a few years) had a bunch of tequilas he wanted "the whisky guy" to taste. He told me nothing upfront, but was floored when I tasted Patron Silver and said it was "ok, good enough, but nothing extraordinary". He proceeded to tell everyone within earshot how expensive this bottle is in Ontario and so on. He's really not a bad guy, I don't want to misrepresent him, but he is a bit of a peacock. Someone who sort of knows "the price of everything and the value of nothing."

@Victor - I like the Kazakhstan vodka, Snow Queen, but those you mention have always been decent too. @OdysseusUnbound - as for the Goose, good but way overpriced.

@fiddich1980 - nice thread! You've got all my go to's covered above.

I rely on Josh over at The Whiskey Jug for a lot of bourbon reviews since our palates seem to line up pretty closely.

@OdysseusUnbound They'd have to start calling it THE Grey Goose in order to approach Macallan's level of pretention.

@OdysseusUnbound I like Josh too and am also a big fan of rarebird101.com. It’s focus is, not surprisingly, Wild Turkey but there are also interesting comments re the state of the bourbon world.

I’m reviving this old thread because I don’t really want to start a new one, but speaking of online sites and reviewers…

I had to make sure it wasn’t still April Fool’s because I received a (mass) email from a certain well-known Canadian whisky author and there was, wait for it, a criticism of how some distilleries use the 9.09% rule and how it may be keeping some premium Canadian whiskies from being taken seriously on the world stage. I realize this point has been discussed ad nauseam here but to have a certain champion even acknowledge it without complete and utter derision is wild…

@OdysseusUnbound But a certain (non-medical) doctor says that the 1/11 rule gives Canadian whisky an advantage of flexibility over other whiskies on the world stage...

@Nozinan Flexibility ≠ credibility though does it?

@OdysseusUnbound There are not a lot of "premium" Canadian Whisky available outside of Canada (unless released by Crown Royal for the USA only) from the large distilleries and most of the newer distilleries like Macaloneys, Two Brewers and Shelter Point among others don't add anything to their whiskies from what I understand. I suppose the best way to make sure that the Canadian whisky is genuine is to buy those releases that are blended and bottled in the US. Now that I think of it none of the major distilleries in Canada relase anything special anymore it seems.

@Astroke I have really enjoyed my last couple of Alberta Premium Cask Strength editions. Don't know about availability but know that there is some supply to the USA. To my knowledge they are a 100% Rye mashbill and very well received across the line. Not cheap for sure but worth every penny IMHO.

@Jonesz For the quality of the APCS, I would say the prices have been reasonable. I've enjoyed each of the 5 releases (though 1 and 4 stand out, I have not had enough experience with the 5) and one day plan to do a H2H2H2H2H.

@Jonesz Yes, Cooper Spirits on the other hand have released Lock Stock & Barrel 13,16,18, 20 and 21 year Alberta Premium at high proof and the incredible Hochstaders 16 year cask strength AP. Whistle Pig 10 year cask strength store picks are readily available in the US and one or two Alberta stores. I enjoy AP CS releases but I feel that ADL really should up their game with some cask finishes like Sagamore and Doc Swinson's do with MGP 95/5 Rye or a higher age stated CS. Hopefully they would do better than Livermore has done with his Lot 40 finishes.

@astroke all good info for sure. Will watch for some of your recommendations.I might have some luck with the online sellers in Alberta.

@Jonesz KWM used to have single casks of APCS through Shelter Point, 9, 11 double oak and a 12 year. Sierra still has a WP 10 CS store pick on their site I believe.