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A couple of nice ones I tried recently. First is the Springbank 12 Cask Strength and it is a new favorite! Lovely as is and really blossoms with just a smidge of water. Also been trying a few Longrow's, Springbank's peatier sibling. The new Caol Ila release called Stitchell Reserve is the NAS unpeated version they release every few years. This one is named for the retiring master distiller, Billy Stitchell, and presumably he had a hand in creating it. Usually the periodic unpeated release has an age statement but this one does not. A blend of several different finishes and it is really, really good stuff! Not peaty but a hint of smoke down deep in there and a wonderful example of the whiskey that Caol Ila can make without the overlay of peated malt.

Will be interested to hear your thoughts once you have tried it. I really like it but recognize every palate is different!

Have tasted it but not opened that particular bottle and spent anytime with it. It just happened to be bought around the same time as the Emerald and so was in the same picture! My samples were enough to get me to buy it but I do recall it was a bit thin at the lower proof. The French Oak was perhaps a bit more spicy with a little more proof but also more costly.

It was my least favorite which was a bit disappointing. It is a pure or single pot still style made with malted and unmalted barley (80% barley, 15% malt and 5% oats) and aged about 4 years. I compared it against the new Emerald 1865 Irish style whiskey from Ransom. It is a bit different with 67% malt, 7% barley, 12% oats and the addition of 15% rye which the McKenzie doesn't have. It is a bit younger at three years. The Emerald was the better whiskey to me. I think it is a really nice whiskey that doesn't seem to know it is only 3 years old. Also the mashbill is closer to my recollection of typical single pot still whiskey like Redbreast being made today with a 2/3 malted, 1/3 unmalted mashbill. I think the oats add something unique that may contribute to the richness of this otherwise relatively young whiskey. I highly recommend it if you can find it. It is rather spendy though. The McKenzie was all barley on the nose to me (not a bad thing) and retained a lot of grain on the palate. A bit more coarse then the Emerald which had a real richness and oily mouthfeel that was somewhat unexpected in such a young whiskey. I like it more every time I try it and have acquired several bottles.

Dinner out last night to try Kimball House for the first time. Packed on a Saturday and the bartenders didn't have a spare second to chat which I always enjoy doing when I can. Ended up with three different cocktails but forgot my phone so no pictures to be had. Also no opportunity to see if they would share the recipes. One was a Johnnys Hideaway. Presumably an homage to an older Atlanta cocktail bar/dance club generally featuring 50's and 60's music to the best of my knowledge. james e. pepper rye cocchi barolo chinato punt e mes amaro sibilla pickled peach bitters Quite dry but tasty. Next was a Death & Company. Presumably named after the New York bar of the same name although Company was spelled out rather than abbreviated. j.w. dant bonded bourbon spiced honey lemon la muse verte absinthe green chartreuse angostura bitters Had a couple of these. Very good but very dependent on the absinthe rinse. The second one seemed to have a touch too much and of course the absinthe can quickly dominant. But the "sleeper" of the night was the Sleep Walk. scarlet ibis trinidad rum capano antica formula chichicapa mezcal tart cherry brandy aromatic cola bitters Really, really good! Although the use of Scarlet Ibis made me think of Death & Co. again since they created the original blend for this rum brand.

Had a chance to try three different McKenzie whiskies recently. The rye was the favorite for me. About 3 years old and aged in barrels that are air seasoned for 36 months before being finished briefly in barrels that had contained locally made sherry allowed it to have a nice rye grain nose but a more rounded palate than one might have expected for its age while retaining a solid rye spiciness. The bourbon was also good although I hope they will continue to let it age a bit more as I think it has great potential. Everything used to be made in pot stills but they have since converted to a column still which they feel allows them to produce an even better product although it will take some for it to age before it will be released. I definitely think they are a distillery to watch in the near future. They don't rush things and are trying to do it in what I would consider the right way with full size barrels and a decent amount of aging as well as trying some different touches like the sherry finish on the rye. Hard part for me as that there is only so much so distribution is limited. Not available locally so I have to order it online currently.

No objection here! I will interject only to say I completely agree with you! OGD is an excellent alternative with a higher rye mashbill, thought to be about 27% rye and comes in three proofs, 114, 100 BIB and 80 (which was recently lowered from 86 with little fanfare). OGD is about the only mashbill that was not changed by Beam to their usual mashbill with a different name slapped on it when they acquired it. They continue to use the same mashbill as it used when it came over from National Distillers (thankfully!) including a different yeast than other Beam products. Basil Hayden is the same mashbill as OGD only lower proof and higher cost. Go figure. OGD is indeed a bargain that one can only hope won't change much, Suntory or no Suntory. High proof good quality whiskey aged maybe 7-8 years (hard to know these days for sure since it is no longer age stated) that sells for a relative pittance these days. How long can this last in a world of whiskey shortages??? Along with other bargains like EC12 and Weller 12 one wonders if it may be the last of a dying breed.

Got a rye-heavy bourbon? I've done it with both Rittenhouse 100 and Wild Turkey 101 and it comes out great both ways. I have no bourbon either. I have tasted bourbon, years ago, and I remember that I liked it. I've read the entire eG thread on rye but still have no firm idea of what it tastes like. I feel like such a virgin. One thing I do not like (with all apologies to Canadians) is Canadian blended whiskey. If rye tastes like blended whiskey I will pass. Is tannic a taste in rye? If so, are some brands of rye less tannic than others? As I said I have a lot of local rye choices, including Rittenhouse 100. Less tannic the better as far as I am concerned. Nothing new to contribute to the thread tonight. I'm on my second cup of "whiskey" punch made with Black Barrel rum. I can't believe I made it thtough the bottle. It may be my last whiskey punch till I find a replacement. Which won't be till payday. The recipe does call for rye. Rafa hit the nail so squarely on the head I'm not sure what else I can say, but here's my attempt: I prefer rye to bourbon because of the so-described dryness. Granted, this varies in ryes and varies in bourbons, depending on how much rye/corn/wheat is involved. Bourbon must be min. 51% corn, rye must be min 51% rye. What makes up that remaining 49% is open to the distiller. The higher the rye content (for either whisky), the spicier and less sweet it will be. For example, Bulleit Rye is 95% rye. I believe Rittenhouse is also high up there. Both are by no means sweet, and with the 100 proof of the Rittenhouse, it's perfect for cocktails, whereas a lower percentage and lower proof rye, such as Pikesville, while quite unobjectionable, doesn't stand out the same way. Bourbons such as Maker's Mark, as Rafa and others have said elsewhere, are heavy on the wheat for the remaining 49%. These tend towards being too sweet for my tastes. My go-to Bourbon, though, Wild Turkey 101, is as I understand it, heavy on the rye for its 49% and comes off far less sweet, and more bracing than most bourbons. Just like Rittenhouse, that quality plus its proof make it a great cocktail spirit. As for tannic qualities, if I'm not mistaken that's just a function of time in the barrel, as tannins are released from oak. So theoretically, bourbon and rye should have the same amount of tannins given the same age and same type of barrel. That said, though, there is a somewhat astringent quality in the high-rye mashbill spirits, but this is why rye is so favored among cocktail enthusiasts (at least those who dislike sweet drinks!) Finally, Canadian whisky has nothing to do with real rye and you should not confuse the two. My two cents. Typical Canadian whiskey is in no way similar to a true rye as noted. It often has less rye than some straight bourbons. Long story on why it got that association that I can't type here! That said, many of the most interesting rye whiskey of late is coming from Canada. Whistlepig, Mastersons, Jefferson, Lock Stock and Barrel. It is all 100% rye from Canada.There is a reason for that too. I will try to find some links when I get time if anyone is interested in all the dry historical stuff! Bulleit, Templeton and Dickel are all 95% ryes from LDI/MGP. The mintiness of those ryes (to me) is a distillery characteristic of LDI/MGP (Which interestingly has been undergoing some turmoil of late!). Rittenhouse (a Heaven Hill product, now made at Heaven Hill but used to be made at Brown Forman) is a "Barely Rye" rye (meaning it is 51% rye or maybe a tad more. Much more like bourbon than the higher ryes noted previously. That said it is an excellent introductory rye and as noted great in cocktails. Wild Turkey 101 (which has just recently been reintroduced) is also a lower rye content rye, closer to Rittenhouse. But it is perfectly nice as well. The WT Rye 81 proof is not so good. YMMV! Tannins are indeed a function in part of barrel aging and the degree of temperature fluctuation a barrel is subjected to, probably among many other things (barrel entry proof for example) about which I am no expert, and rye does not necessarily have more than a similarly aged bourbon. Wild Turkey bourbon is not particularly high in rye content. thought to be around 13%. Most major brands of bourbon are around this level. Some of the highest rye content among readily available bourbon are the Four Roses bourbons that use the "B" mashbill (OBSV is 35% rye as compared to OESV for example which is 20%). Bulleit bourbon also comes from Four Roses at present (only the Bulleit Rye comes from LDI/MGP) and has a fairly high rye mashbill.

Managed to aquire a number of things recently including some Clement single cask rum, Clement Bleu Canne rum (Ti punch here I come!), a 3yo dark rum from the Netherlands of all places called Flying Dutchman (made by the same distiller, Zuidam, that made one of my favorite unknown ryes, Millstone 100), A couple of interesting Armagacs, Darroze 20 and 1996 Chateau de Pellehaut, as well as a bottle of I have been trying to acquire for a while, the Teeling Vintage Reserve 21yo Single Malt Irish whiskey finished in Sauternes casks. First picture is a bit dark unfortunately. I didn't buy any high end rye recently but I may try to practice a bit of alchemy myself and magically turn one that I have in the bunker into an otherwise unobtainable Australian whisky... Going to be a busy weekend!

I had the good fortune to spend some time in Hawaii over the holidays and it seemed the natural place to see what was available in terms of Japanese whisky. Several expressions of Nikka were available including a couple not available at home at prices that were as good or better. Ended up with the Nikka Pure Malt Taketsuru 21yo since the 12yo was available at home and I might never see the 21 at home. Hopefully it will not be quite as subtle as the 12! It has been reviewed well so far but have not opened it yet. . Kind of wish I had also gotten the Nikka Coffey grain as well. Might make an interesting comparison to the Greenore grain Irish whiskey as both are essentially all corn mashbills as best I can tell. Will have to look for the Nikka Coffey locally and see if I get lucky.

Quite an interesting collection of bourbons. Two from the same mashbill of a big distiller although one brand is much less common than the other, two sourced bourbons, one from Kentucky and one from Indiana, both blended by separate but very reputable craft distillers, and a small "craft" distillery bourbon that has been aged briefly in small barrels. Should make an interesting comparison!

Korgstad was a deliberate choice. I had a chance to try it alongside other products made by House Spirits, and liked its flavor enough to invest in a bottle.Linie is indeed available here, but is completely different. As it's aged in sherry casks, it is more mellow and has a noticeable sweet sherry finish. It was used in the White Lady variation mentioned above but I imagine it's best for sipping, if you are really into aquavit. The spices are less prominent compared to Krogstad, which was by far the most fragrant of the ones we tried that night. Thanks! Interesting to hear the differences. Wasn't familiar with the barrel aged Krogstad but have seen the regular stuff around here. I do rather like Linie on its own, especially this time of year, and have rarely tried to use it in a cocktail.

Right you are. A bit of trickery goes into making the conversions sufficiently, but not overly, precise. 40 ml = 1.35256 oz. If you can set you ml / oz preference in your account profile. Ah! Fair enough. Guess I need to use the preference tool when I see an odd measurement!

A curious choice given it is not Norwegian but rather an American aquavit. Linie is generally available and would seem a logical choice given that it is after all from Norway! When it is isn't on a cruise anyway... Never had Krogstad. Do you know if it is similar to Linie or other Norwegian aquavits?

Interesting sounding drink and may suit the crowd that liked the In Bloom last weekend. But what an odd measurement for the mezcal! KC lists the Vida at 1 3/8 ounces. Reallly? Is another 1/8 oz (roughly 3.7 ml) going to make that much difference?

A friend of mine brought me a bottle from his biz trip to the island - good stuff! Not easy to find, I bet (certainly never seen it here) Interesting. The only Mauritian rum I have seen readily available is the molasses based Starr white rum in the odd triangular bottle. I have been told Pink Pigeon rum from Mauritius can also be found in the States but have never had it. As best I can tell from a very brief search St. Aubin is the only rum that qualifies as rhum agricole in Mauritius and comes in an unaged 100 proof white, several spiced flavors and possibly several aged versions. http://www.rhumsaintaubin.com/en/index-en.php Look forward to your impressions!

Brought cocktail fixin's to a holiday party this weekend and the hit of the party seemed to be the "In Bloom" from Paul Calvert. If I remember correctly it includes: 1.5 Vida Mezcal 3/4 Carpano Antica 1/2 St. Germain 1/2 Compari Rosewater rinse Flamed orange peel Stir first four with ice and strain into rosewater rinsed coupe. Flame orange peel over drink and discard. Smoke, bitter, sweet and floral. Had a little bit of everything!

What is the square bottle on the right sideways to the camera? I feel like I should know but I don't.

When you say "bonded applejack" do you mean Laird's bonded apple brandy? That would be closer to the calvados although still probably a little different. Applejack is a blend with NGS while the bonded is the 100 proof young apple brandy. Rhum and apple seems like a good match so perhaps as you note cutting back on the chartreuse will make this better.

Do you know the ABV and recipe of the 4R bourbon? I do love my Four Roses single barrel selections. Jim Rutledge is a great master distiller and a hell of a nice guy The 2012 was OESK. Out of town at the moment, but I believe it's in the neighborhood of 110 proof. The Four Roses 2012 Single Barrel Limited Edition (or FR 2012 1B LE!) was indeed OESK. The 12 year-old Bourbon was reportedly bottled at cask strength between 100.6 and 114.4 proof, or 50.3-57.2% ABV, depending on which barrel it came from. OESK is used with some regularity in the limited edition small batch bottlings (it has been used in the last four for example as well as the regular small batch bottle) but is fairly uncommon by itself which made this one somewhat unusual. Not to mention tasty!

Where are you located. I have heard rumors of there being a Clement Blanc 100 proof option in the US but have never seen it locally and last time I checked (which has been awhile) couldn't find it among any internet stores that ship to my location. I'm located in NC. I bought a bottle several years ago that was 100 proof just finished it off this summer after discovering how wonderful it is in a daiquiri. I was in Atlanta this past week and saw it on the shelf in a new bottle. Did not notice if it was still 100 proof or not. Sounds like I need to take another look around!

Would love to try those cask strength St. Lucia rums but it is not local as best I can tell and my first internet order got cancelled because the store ran out of them. Have had no luck since.

Seems like a place for a soft blend like Famous Grouse could work and let the PX Sherry carry the sweetness. The Glenfarclas 105 would certainly help punch up the proof but carries its own sherry based sweetness like most Glenfarclas does. I haven't bought "The Macallan" lately since the price for it began to completely stupid but the 10yo sherry cask would also be pretty sweet. Glenmorangie or Glendronach might work as well. Seems like scotch, or so most drink creators tell me (Making up a drink from scratch has never been my forte), can be tough to mix with unless you are pretty clear what style of scotch you want to use to achieve the flavor profile you want.

Where are you located. I have heard rumors of there being a Clement Blanc 100 proof option in the US but have never seen it locally and last time I checked (which has been awhile) couldn't find it among any internet stores that ship to my location.

Creole Shrubb is a perfectly lovely substitution in a Mai Tai. I am sure Jeff "Beach Bum" Berry would approve! In fact it is fun to play with various rum combos and orange liqueur combos to find what you like. I find a blend of Appleton 12 and S&C (I tend to use 3/4 oz of each but I like mine "rummy"!) for the Jamaican with the Clement VSOP and Creole Shrubb make a lovely Mai Tai!