Putting a new country on the board is always fun – Juraj Dobrila Single Barrel Malt Viski from Croatia! Thanks to Steph for checking a bag to bring this home. There’s not a lot online about this distillery or whisky – they have a Facebook page that suggests maybe it’s an offshoot from a winery. […]
Most completistisming going one here. We had the VP01. So therefore we must have Innis & Gunn’s Vanishing Point VP02 or how will we know.. anything? How will we know we even exist unless we experience two similar things and observe their subjective differences over linear time? I ASK YOU. Last year’s beer was only […]
Not every one has the time or budget to buy selections of tiny whiskies and write down their subjective impressions – no, as a busy working non-layabout mortal on the giggity-go, you need to know where the best bang for your whisky dollar is to be had! And that’s the sheer genius of the BattleScotch! […]
How many of these things are there? It’s like I’ve forgotten we ever reviewed anything else. NUMBER 5 – Compass Box Spice Tree, a veritable uh tree of I guess spices. Spice Tree apparently broke some rules when it first came out, using a system of inner staves of a different wood to achieve (or […]
Very quick review today because I’m late but that’s okay, we’ve had Compass Box’s Peat Monster before! Here’s our previous go-round with this boggy bugger, so we can jump right into what we thought this time – there’s a bit of drift between then and now: is it us? Is it the whisky? Did we […]
Compass Box Oak Cross – named for the American and French oaks used to re-age whiskies from three distilleries. I could go into more detail but sometimes too many things is too many things. nose Dan – oak, lime, pickling spice, sour cream? Simon – oak, tequila, mustard neat Dan – rough umami, weird […]
Compass Box Hedonism! Not the Jamaican sex holiday, but rather a scotch grain whisky blend. This is a multi-grain, multi-barrel concoction, whose website write up talks about “a certain enticing femininity” which sounds… i dunno, kinda gross, honestly. Whisky is cool and interesting but it suffers enough… genderizing already. It’s okay to tell the marketing department […]
Aw yiss let’s kick of Compass Box Month-And-A-Half here at iScotch – Asyla! A blended scotch meant as an everyday drinker, taken with splash. Unfortunately for anyone who did take them up on the daily driver option, this expression is no longer available because they can’t find the right source whiskies for the blend. Which is […]
EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE THING – THE WHISKY SAMPLER. This time 5! FIVE! F!VE! whiskies! 4 new reviews, a Round 2! and a BattleScotch! The whole kajimmy! Stay tuned for Asyla, Hedonism, Spice Box, Oak Cross and The Peat Monster! November (and early December) is Compass Box Month at iScotch!
Beer from Belgium! I thought they were supposed to be good at this? Rodenbach is a brewery in Roeselare, a city in West Flanders, and we all know what Homer said about Flanders in… uh, the Odyssey, I think. The Vintage 2015 is a Flemish red-brown ale, in this case sour and aged in oak […]
Highland Park Magnus. Big dark bottle, cool.. uh.. dragon.. wolfy sort of logo. Classic Highland Park. And by “classic” Highland Park I mean this truism: the less you pay for Highland Park the better it is. And not just in that classic market economics sense. We’ve had a few Highland Parks at iScotch and we’ve […]
Aw yiss. A classic of the form. One of the pantheon. A real… thing of the… stuff. Lagavulin 8y. We’ve had exactly one Lagavulin before because they are prized, rare and expensive. But if you want a true Islay and have had enough Bowmore, you should try Lagavulin at some point. It’s like an off-white […]
More ghosts of Christmases past! Woo hoo Christmas references in August! Glen Garioch Founder’s Reserve. Another wonky Scottish name, Garioch is now pronounced somewhere between Geery and Garyich, like a chubbier Gareth. Traditionally, it is pronounced GRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA with a nasal umlaut in the middle, and is screamed into the genitals of one’s defeated enemies. Glen […]
Just a quick Round 2! for this glorious August weekend. Scotch doesn’t always feel like a summer drink, but on those cooler evenings in front of the grill or out in nature, it can be the right compliment. And when it’s as good as Dalwhinnie, all the better. Here’s what we thought: nose Dan – […]
A Highland single malt from Bacardi by way of Dewar’s, from the Macduff Distillery: The Deveron 12y. This is one of three expressions launched in 2015, a new line from a newerish distillery that used to produce mostly for blends. Here’s what we thought: nose Dan – strawberry creamsicle, salt water, candied apple Simon – […]
Thornbridge Eldon Oak Infused Imperial Stout, a Dickensian(*) name to be sure. Thornbridge Brewery is in the UK and the names of their beers seem to indicate an affinity for literature and the arts. I can’t find the Eldon in their beerlist so I’ll have to assume this dark beer makes swarthy reference to the […]
A lovely Christmas present reviewed in the spring and finally published on one of the hottest days of the year. It’s hot. It’s real hot. You’d be excused by saying “Damn, dude, surely this is the kind of weather best suited for a refreshing gin review or some such” and I would agree with you, […]
Once again, it’s been a while since we had a single malt scotch, the whisky after which the site is named. This happens, of course, because other whiskies, spirits & beers tend to be cheaper. Scotch still carries the whisky banner and therefore the price standard, even if Americans like to pay a lot for […]
Innis & Gunn are known for trying stuff, different combinations, interpretations etc. They’ve launched a new line called Vanishing Point, which is: the point at which the skills and passion of our brewers converge with our ambitions to create exceptional beers that define us as a company. Which is guess is cool as long as […]
BattleScotch o’clock, Tomintoul time! You knew it was coming – we can’t do a whole month from one distiller without pitting them against each other in petty subjective combat. Cutting to the chase, here’s what we thought: nose Dan – 16y Simon – 25y Goran – 25y neat Dan – 16y Simon – 25y Goran […]
We’ve come to the last new bottle out of the Tomintoul pack, the 25y. As near as I can tell this is the oldest expression of any whisk(e)y anything we’ve reviewed to date. That’s kind of cool, congrats Tomintoul. Next week we’ll wrap up Tomintoul April with the mandatory BattleScotch! But for now, here’s what […]
The second entry in our month of Tomintoul, we have the 16y. There’s… not too much to say that we didn’t cover last time, it’s the same whisky, just from longer ago. Iteration is the highest form of… something. Probably. Here’s what we thought: nose Dan – savory mash, sherry, cranberry Simon – fuller, slightly […]
Tomintoul Glenlivet 10y. So.. which is it? It appears to be a Tomintoul, as Tomintoul’s website calls all their whiskies Glenlivet Speyside. The Distillery is the Tomintoul-Glenlivet distillery, but it’s owned by Angus Dundee, while Glenlivet is owned by Pernod. Glenlivet is a place, tho. Tomintoul & the River Livet (and one would assume its […]
A Tiny Trio of Tomintoul… Glenlivets? Stay tuned for 3 Reviews and a BattleScotch! coming your way!
