Review: The Exclusive Malts Batch #3 – Laphroaig 2005, Speyside 2003, Craigellachie 2000, Mortlach 18, Longmorn 1985, The Exclusive Blend 1991
ImpEx Beverages imports The Exclusive Malts, a series of independently-bottled Scotch whiskys that are, well, pretty darn exclusive. Primarily cask strength bottlings produced in very limited editions (most have just a few hundred bottles drawn from a single cask available), these are rarities that single malt fans will definitely want to try and seek out. Thoughts…
Recipes: 2014 Oscar Night Cocktails
This year Ellen DeGeneres hosts the 2014 Oscars, and thankfully Seth MacFarlane lowered the bar so low in the expectations game that DeGeneres has nowhere to go but up. In fact, she did a great job in 2007 and presuming no disasters she’ll be great again this year. Meanwhile, we’ve received a few recipe ideas…
Review: The Arran Malt 12 Years Old Cask Strength Batch #2
Batch #2 of this rarity, a cask strength bottling of Arran 12 Years Old, was crafted from 17 first-fill sherry butts and 4 second-fill sherry hogsheads. There can’t be much of this to go around. In fact, as I type this, Arran is already on Batch #3 according to its website. The nose is hot,…
Review: Tamdhu 10 Years Old
Shuttered from 2010 to 2013, Tamdhu, one of Speyside’s founding distilleries, is back in operation. Primarily known for its contributions to blended Scotch, the distillery is now producing more single malts, and this 10 year old expression (obviously made from stock that predates the distillery’s current ownership) would be released is the first volley of…
Review: Tullamore D.E.W. Phoenix Irish Whiskey
Tullamore D.E.W. (nee Tullamore Dew) continues its march upmarket with the release of Phoenix, one of its fanciest bottlings released to date. This expression is launched in commemoration of the first-ever air disaster, a hot-air balloon fire in 1785 that took place in the town of Tullamore and subsequently burned down most of the town…
Tasting the Sweet White Wines of the Roussillon Region – Les Pins and Domaine Singla, 2014 Releases
Roussillon is southern France’s answer to Sauternes. This small part of the Languedoc region, nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees mountains, specializes in sweet dessert wines, made much in the same style of the more famous — and much more expensive — brethren to the north. These wines, known as Vins Doux Naturels…
Review: Hangar 24 Barrel Roll No. 03 Pugacehev’s Cobra
A Russian Imperial Stout brewed with maple syrup and aged in bourbon barrels for eight months, Hangar 24’s latest barrel-aged brew is indeed, as promised, “an assault on your senses.” They mean that in a good way, but at first, Pugachev’s Cobra, now in its third release (it comes out every December), is a little…
Book Review: The New York Times Book of Wine
If you want to learn about wine… like really learn about wine, you might think a mammoth tome like The New York Times Book of Wine would be a good place to start. Sure sounds legit. Alas, TNYTBOW is not that kind of place. As with many a book of this ilk (the kind with a newspaper name…
