It tasted like it was missing something a little less dimensional than the Ocho Años. Also a little to woody
On the other hand @cannabineer loved it. So he says thanks for the recommendation.
Scotch Whisky / Bourbon Whiskey thread
- Thread starter Ibex
- Start date
On the other hand @cannabineer loved it. So he says thanks for the recommendation.
Olive Drab Green
Well-Known Member
Maker's 46, Bulleit Bourbon, Knob Creek, Booker's, and Blanton's.
Sir Napsalot
Well-Known Member
I like 100-proof Evan Williams in a horn cup
qwizoking
Well-Known Member
I really enjoy it. 20 yrs in "European white oak" at a fairly Warm temp ... It is a bit woody. Dimensional however we disagree on. Its one of the finest rums I've had that seems to evolve as I finish a while bottle!It tasted like it was missing something a little less dimensional than the Ocho Años. Also a little to woody
But to each their own. I might just pick me up another bottle to take with me for xmas
Sir Napsalot
Well-Known Member
The word "whiskey" comes from the Gaelic word uisge beatha (pronounced ishka bah'a) which means "the water of life".
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
guess I could have put this in the FML thread 
Remember That Time You Learned Your Nearly $125,000 Whisky Was Fake?
by Nino Marchetti - December 19th, 2016
In the world of collectible whisky one thing high end buyers will tell you they fear more then about anything is discovering that super rare bottle of Scotch or bourbon they purchased is a fraud. Can you imagine the shock you would feel if you laid out $100,000 or more for an old bottling, only to discover it is just caramel colored water, much younger whisky something else? Rare Whisky 101, a whisky analyst firm out of the United Kingdom, unveiled just such an issue recently.
<img ;
Testing the Laphroaig 1903 (image via Rare Whisky 101)
Rare 101 Whisky 101 said it purchased at an auction last year a “a trove of forged rare Scotch malt whisky” which included a bottle of Laphroaig 1903, potentially worth £100,000 (about $125,000 USD), and two fake part sets of Macallan Fine and Rare, one worth around £500,000 (about $624,375 USD) and the other worth around £250,000 (about $312,200 USD). It focused its forgery study on the Laphroaig 1903 over a six month period of forensic tests, said to include:
Given that the UK whisky auction market alone will trade around an estimated 55,000 bottles and turn over around £12,000,000 (about $15,000,000 USD) in 2016, key to this growth is trust in the market. It is most definitely a buyer beware kind of experience, however, when there’s no easy way to authenticate the contents of a bottle without cracking the seal and significantly dropping its worth if it is real.
Remember That Time You Learned Your Nearly $125,000 Whisky Was Fake?
by Nino Marchetti - December 19th, 2016
In the world of collectible whisky one thing high end buyers will tell you they fear more then about anything is discovering that super rare bottle of Scotch or bourbon they purchased is a fraud. Can you imagine the shock you would feel if you laid out $100,000 or more for an old bottling, only to discover it is just caramel colored water, much younger whisky something else? Rare Whisky 101, a whisky analyst firm out of the United Kingdom, unveiled just such an issue recently.
Testing the Laphroaig 1903 (image via Rare Whisky 101)
Rare 101 Whisky 101 said it purchased at an auction last year a “a trove of forged rare Scotch malt whisky” which included a bottle of Laphroaig 1903, potentially worth £100,000 (about $125,000 USD), and two fake part sets of Macallan Fine and Rare, one worth around £500,000 (about $624,375 USD) and the other worth around £250,000 (about $312,200 USD). It focused its forgery study on the Laphroaig 1903 over a six month period of forensic tests, said to include:
- Glass dating to match the bottle with the methods used in early 1900s
- Cork and capsule assessment
- Organoleptic assessment of the liquid to prove quality and style fit the profile expected from a Laphroaig
- Analysis of peat derived compounds to prove Islay signature and provenance of smoke
- Analysis of malt and grain whisky derived compounds to prove single malt or blended scotch
- Carbon dating at Oxford University’s Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit to verify the year of distillation.
Given that the UK whisky auction market alone will trade around an estimated 55,000 bottles and turn over around £12,000,000 (about $15,000,000 USD) in 2016, key to this growth is trust in the market. It is most definitely a buyer beware kind of experience, however, when there’s no easy way to authenticate the contents of a bottle without cracking the seal and significantly dropping its worth if it is real.
We all experience taste differently. Thanks for the recommendation. @cannabineer loved it. So it worked out.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
yum, Steve's a lucky dog...
On Dining With Bourbon’s First Family, the Van Winkles
by Steve Coomes - December 14th, 2016
Pappy Van Winkle whiskeys are virtual unicorns in the American spirits world. They’re fought over, coveted, stood in line for and secreted if found. Those limited brown liquors can be a bit hard to find even in Kentucky.
Unless you know where to look, which isn’t always a bar or liquor store. Sometimes a restaurant is your source.
For eight years, Proof On Main, a restaurant in Louisville, Ky., has hosted a multi-course feast dubbed The Hog & the Barrel Dinner. The coursed meal, prepared by Proof’s executive chef and guest culinary luminaries like Sean Brock, Mike Lata, and Linton Hopkins, features pig parts fabricated into delicious bites. Better yet, all are paired with Glencarin glasses of Pappy Van Winkle whiskey. In that light, the otherwise pricey $150 meal morphs into a bargain.
Some years, guests get four pours, others five. Sometimes the run is all bourbon, other times the rye is in. At this year’s dinner, guests got five pours: the 10 year, the 12 year, the 15 year, the 20 year and the most-coveted 23 year.
<img
Julian Van Winkle and his wife, Sissy (image via Steve Coomes/The Whiskey Wash)
Twice.
Yes, the full line of PVW bourbons were poured a second time, an unexpected lavishing to be sure. The meal, prepared by Proof chef Mike Wajda and James Beard Award-winning chef Ashley Christenson, was served over a three-hour span, and I was lucky enough to cover it.
Most whiskey fans will never get a sip of Pappy, much less a taste of two or three expressions in a single sitting. And yet, there we were, some 80 guests in all, sipping rounds of every Van Winkle bourbon expression made.
Were my luck already not good enough, I shared the same dinner table with the brand’s owners: Julian Van Winkle and his wife, Sissy, and their son, Preston. The press hack taking his repast with bourbon royalty.
The Van Winkle family would likely cringe at that descriptor, but it’s hard not to bestow it given their product’s high mantle. Yet the Van Winkles are about as down to earth as they come, and the clan has never taken its whiskey’s success or the status it’s afforded them too seriously.
More than once the press has quoted Julian saying he’d not pay the crazy prices some do for his whiskey.
“But I can’t say it makes me sorry, either,” he told me a few years ago at this same meal. “We’re just really glad people like it.”
At the cocktail hour, where guests sipped Pappy 10-year-old neat or in a cocktail (or, ahem, both), Sissy Van Winkle discreetly poured her neat whiskey into Julian’s glass.
“I like our bourbon just fine, but you can imagine we get enough of it,” she whispered. Then, adding through a tight grin, she said, “I really like champagne. I’m fond of bubbles. Is that so wrong?”
Mr. and Mrs. Van Winkle are entertaining, but opposites. He’s dry witted and she’s bubbly. At the risk of being treacly, they’re a sweet match. She loves traveling with him, though he’s working to reduce his road time.
“Though the more I can push off onto to him, I do,” Julian said, gesturing toward Preston. “I still like getting out, but getting onto planes gets old.”
Later, dovetailing into her husband’s travel remark, Sissy said, “If you ever tell anyone this, I’ll kill you. But I have to admit I’ve had enough of (redacted name of lovely resort). I really do appreciate those places, but sometimes you just want to be home in your pajamas with no one waiting on you. Know what I mean?”
I do, of course … the pajamas and no one waiting on me parts.
<img
The Van Winkle whiskeys of the hour (image via Steve Coomes/The Whiskey Wash)
As Preston led the group in the opening tasting, he announced we’d sip all three expressions poured before us (the 15, 20, and 23) rather than interrupting the meal to announce a new whiskey with each course. When I and some others swirled our glasses to open up the 15-year-old spirit, he cautioned us to stop, “because it kicks off too much alcohol at 107 proof.” Indeed, it was a lively sip, fiery, fruity and edgy, a bit like its cousin, Old Weller Antique 107. It remains my favorite of the family’s bourbon line.
When we arrived at the 23, Preston advised drinking it as is. “No water, so you can taste and smell the full effect of what 23 years does to the bourbon.”
And who disobeyed him? His father, who added a small splash from his water glass. “It stretches it out some,” he said, implying that bourbon icons consume responsibly.
As courses arrived, I thought to myself, “Pork and Pappy. How could a meal be better?”
Sissy had her own ideas. After asking a server for a glass of champagne, she leaned to me and joked, “I think sometimes I should feel ashamed that I’m not drinking our bourbon, but I don’t. It’s just what I prefer with dinner.” Overhearing her, Julian nodded his approval.
Midway into dinner, father and son get peppered with questions:
“His collection is crazy,” he said. “It’s something he’s really passionate about.”
“The baton is passed,” Sissy added.
Their son is different from both his parents: measured in conversation and manner; friendly and easy-going; more listener than talker.
“He’s good in the role,” Julian told me in an interview some time ago. “It’s a good job, but it’s not as easy or fun as some people might think.”
By the time dessert arrived, the group was on its tenth petit pour of Pappy—a ration compared to a common bar pour, but a generous extra splash nonetheless. As our group stood to leave, others from across the room moved in to greet the Van Winkles. Spoiled to have them as dinner mates for the evening, I backed off to clear the way and stood next to Patrick Hallahan, drummer for the band, My Morning Jacket. Assuming the Louisville-based rock star might be too jaded to savor the Pappy pairing as much as I, I asked, “So, did you enjoy it?” The question seemed to surprise him.
“Of course! How do you not?” said Hallahan, beaming. “It’s not every day this happens to just anybody.”
On Dining With Bourbon’s First Family, the Van Winkles
by Steve Coomes - December 14th, 2016
Pappy Van Winkle whiskeys are virtual unicorns in the American spirits world. They’re fought over, coveted, stood in line for and secreted if found. Those limited brown liquors can be a bit hard to find even in Kentucky.
Unless you know where to look, which isn’t always a bar or liquor store. Sometimes a restaurant is your source.
For eight years, Proof On Main, a restaurant in Louisville, Ky., has hosted a multi-course feast dubbed The Hog & the Barrel Dinner. The coursed meal, prepared by Proof’s executive chef and guest culinary luminaries like Sean Brock, Mike Lata, and Linton Hopkins, features pig parts fabricated into delicious bites. Better yet, all are paired with Glencarin glasses of Pappy Van Winkle whiskey. In that light, the otherwise pricey $150 meal morphs into a bargain.
Some years, guests get four pours, others five. Sometimes the run is all bourbon, other times the rye is in. At this year’s dinner, guests got five pours: the 10 year, the 12 year, the 15 year, the 20 year and the most-coveted 23 year.
Julian Van Winkle and his wife, Sissy (image via Steve Coomes/The Whiskey Wash)
Twice.
Yes, the full line of PVW bourbons were poured a second time, an unexpected lavishing to be sure. The meal, prepared by Proof chef Mike Wajda and James Beard Award-winning chef Ashley Christenson, was served over a three-hour span, and I was lucky enough to cover it.
Most whiskey fans will never get a sip of Pappy, much less a taste of two or three expressions in a single sitting. And yet, there we were, some 80 guests in all, sipping rounds of every Van Winkle bourbon expression made.
Were my luck already not good enough, I shared the same dinner table with the brand’s owners: Julian Van Winkle and his wife, Sissy, and their son, Preston. The press hack taking his repast with bourbon royalty.
The Van Winkle family would likely cringe at that descriptor, but it’s hard not to bestow it given their product’s high mantle. Yet the Van Winkles are about as down to earth as they come, and the clan has never taken its whiskey’s success or the status it’s afforded them too seriously.
More than once the press has quoted Julian saying he’d not pay the crazy prices some do for his whiskey.
“But I can’t say it makes me sorry, either,” he told me a few years ago at this same meal. “We’re just really glad people like it.”
At the cocktail hour, where guests sipped Pappy 10-year-old neat or in a cocktail (or, ahem, both), Sissy Van Winkle discreetly poured her neat whiskey into Julian’s glass.
“I like our bourbon just fine, but you can imagine we get enough of it,” she whispered. Then, adding through a tight grin, she said, “I really like champagne. I’m fond of bubbles. Is that so wrong?”
Mr. and Mrs. Van Winkle are entertaining, but opposites. He’s dry witted and she’s bubbly. At the risk of being treacly, they’re a sweet match. She loves traveling with him, though he’s working to reduce his road time.
“Though the more I can push off onto to him, I do,” Julian said, gesturing toward Preston. “I still like getting out, but getting onto planes gets old.”
Later, dovetailing into her husband’s travel remark, Sissy said, “If you ever tell anyone this, I’ll kill you. But I have to admit I’ve had enough of (redacted name of lovely resort). I really do appreciate those places, but sometimes you just want to be home in your pajamas with no one waiting on you. Know what I mean?”
I do, of course … the pajamas and no one waiting on me parts.
The Van Winkle whiskeys of the hour (image via Steve Coomes/The Whiskey Wash)
As Preston led the group in the opening tasting, he announced we’d sip all three expressions poured before us (the 15, 20, and 23) rather than interrupting the meal to announce a new whiskey with each course. When I and some others swirled our glasses to open up the 15-year-old spirit, he cautioned us to stop, “because it kicks off too much alcohol at 107 proof.” Indeed, it was a lively sip, fiery, fruity and edgy, a bit like its cousin, Old Weller Antique 107. It remains my favorite of the family’s bourbon line.
When we arrived at the 23, Preston advised drinking it as is. “No water, so you can taste and smell the full effect of what 23 years does to the bourbon.”
And who disobeyed him? His father, who added a small splash from his water glass. “It stretches it out some,” he said, implying that bourbon icons consume responsibly.
As courses arrived, I thought to myself, “Pork and Pappy. How could a meal be better?”
Sissy had her own ideas. After asking a server for a glass of champagne, she leaned to me and joked, “I think sometimes I should feel ashamed that I’m not drinking our bourbon, but I don’t. It’s just what I prefer with dinner.” Overhearing her, Julian nodded his approval.
Midway into dinner, father and son get peppered with questions:
- Where in the rickhouse are the Pappy barrels located? “The first and second floors are the most consistent for us,” Julian said.
- Are you and Preston on the tasting panel for the final mingling? “Oh, no. There are people there with much better palates than ours, trained experts who know what to look for,” Julian said. “We pick what we like and they come in.”
- Is chef Sean Brock as big a fan of Pappy as I hear? At that, Preston considered his answer. “Umm, yes, he is.”
“His collection is crazy,” he said. “It’s something he’s really passionate about.”
- How’s the Pappy merchandise company doing? “It’s going really well,” Julian said. “Probably better than expected. The girls are doing a great job.” (“The girls” are two of the couple’s set of triplets.)
“The baton is passed,” Sissy added.
Their son is different from both his parents: measured in conversation and manner; friendly and easy-going; more listener than talker.
“He’s good in the role,” Julian told me in an interview some time ago. “It’s a good job, but it’s not as easy or fun as some people might think.”
By the time dessert arrived, the group was on its tenth petit pour of Pappy—a ration compared to a common bar pour, but a generous extra splash nonetheless. As our group stood to leave, others from across the room moved in to greet the Van Winkles. Spoiled to have them as dinner mates for the evening, I backed off to clear the way and stood next to Patrick Hallahan, drummer for the band, My Morning Jacket. Assuming the Louisville-based rock star might be too jaded to savor the Pappy pairing as much as I, I asked, “So, did you enjoy it?” The question seemed to surprise him.
“Of course! How do you not?” said Hallahan, beaming. “It’s not every day this happens to just anybody.”
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
I know I keep throwing up non scotch but you guys appreciate good liqueur 
Attachments
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
Tis crimbo after all! I've hit so much variety this year my head will be foggy til April. Port, cocktails, rum, gluhwein. gin mostly tbh. There's been a spate of new hipster gin bars open in town which I hate but love to go and lower the tone in. One in an old bank that uses the strong room as the cellar.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
"Berlin Arsonist"? Are they telling us it doubles as a Molotov?
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
It was export strength 43.something. ive been familiarising myself with German idioms for shits n giggles.Wer weiß, warum die Gänse barfuß gehen
why do the geese go barefoot?!
Good gin, loads of botanicals
why do the geese go barefoot?!
Good gin, loads of botanicals
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
My lady is at this tonight
Singlemalt
Well-Known Member
Whoa!! Back in the '50's it was popular for middle class folks to have a well stocked liquor cabinet, it was the "height of culture' to be able to give a guest anything they wanted. Anyway, my dad had such a cabinet and there was a bottle of "lachkummel" that no one ever touched again once it had been sampled. It was a liqueur( aperitif), extremely sweet and tasted like caraway seeds. Observing this for a few years, I began to sneak nips off of it (and other non favored bottles). Kummel brought that memory back
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
It's funny how the brain triggers. Smells, tastes and sounds for me. I'm quite lucky to have a good olfactory sense.
Don Gin and Ton
Well-Known Member
I felt the same about raki!
Singlemalt
Well-Known Member
Indeed. The nose knows
