Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa does a lot of interesting stuff, but Davey and I couldn’t agree on whether this was one of them. As stouts go, it’s great for people who don’t like stouts. Whether it’s for you is yours to discover, here’s what we thought: nose Davey – 70% dark chocolate, acai Simon […]
This one is going to be a very short review. We had this beer with Christmas dinner (not quite 6 months ago), so we weren’t able to take traditional notes. I was hoping for something that might cut the savoury with enough structure and flavours of its own to compete. The Collective Arts Bourbon Barrel […]
The Continuing Weird Beer Adventures Of Innis & Gunn – Don’s Choice Black IPA with Coconut & Rhubarb. The definition of too many things – a barrel-aged black IPA with coconut & rhubarb which is the result of a “landslide” winning contest suggestion from a Canadian, the aforementioned Don. I think I know a hundred […]
The Innis & Gunn Completionist Blog That Also Sometimes Drinks Whisky Chapter Several Dozen – 15 Barrel Aged Double IPA. This is kind of unfair because I don’t like IPAs but no one else is here. The 15 (pronounced fif-teen, like the number) marks 15 years of barrel aging beer at Innis & Gunn. The […]
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. […]
When a lovely birthday present isn’t a lovely whisky – Thanks Steph! Caribou Crossing Single Barrel whisky – a birthday gift that has turned into a bit of a public service announcement. We’ve talked before about the Box Tax, well, this whisky makes you pay all the taxes. The Box Tax. The Swank Velvet Bag […]
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 […]
This one’s going to be a little messy. Steph, Dan & I reviewed the Founder’s Original – Dan discovered he does not like Old Fashioneds and bowed out of the Barchef review – fair dinkum. Steph suggested we have some people by – these things are made for parties. So we invited some interesting Ottawa […]
Another big bottled, high abv, milestone-celebrating weird beer here, with a twist – it’s actually good! A lot of times these large format beers can be.. um.. challenging. A lot of hops to make big flavour can make something undrinkable or a lot of yeast to kick up the alcohol content can make things a […]
Ah yes, the great Victoria Day long weekend, known as May 2-4 by people still drinking crap beer by the crate. “We here at iScotch only drink the best!” – a lie, best exemplified by what we did to ourselves for you, loyal reader. We put ourselves back through the Jack Daniel’s product stack to […]
Add another Innis & Gunn to the roster – Longitude & Latitude Series 001, the Barrel Aged Raspberry Saison. This was a great drink, somehow managing to be 6% and full flavoured while remaining exceptionally light. Hard to drink a case at $5 a pop but hey, that’s not good for you anyway. Here’s what […]
Quick little review with the family while I’m on the road in Vancouver. My sister bought a pre-St Paddy’s Day treat, Innis & Gunn Kindred Spirits Tullamore DEW Barrel Aged Stout for my brother in law and I to try (she did smell it and pronounced it “coffee I wouldn’t drink”). We’ve had Innis […]
Knob Creek, purveyors of fine Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This is their Single Barrel Reserve, aged nine years and bottle at 60%. It’s not often a distiller can pull off a high-powered whiskey without a lot of collateral damage in the flavour and face burning departments, but Knob Creek manages to do it and still […]
Here we go, the other Stalk & Barrel blend, the Blue. So what’s going on here? Stalk & Barrel is retiring the 1+11 blend and instead offering the Blue & Red Blends as the entry and midrange bottles, respectively. We really enjoyed the 1+11 originally, but anecdotes suggest it may have changed over time – I’m not […]
Stalk & Barrel Red Blend! Aged single malt, rye & corn whiskies blended by the lads in Concord. It’s been a while since we’ve had a new S&B, but since we did this one at Dan’s place for a party, the notes are… not great. Here goes: nose: vanilla, floral, wood, books, sharpness, lemon & […]
A slightly odd bottle this time. Some Jameson Black Barrel arrived in a covert container on the doorstep, a sample from somebody’s stash. Thanks, generous stranger! Jameson is an Irish whiskey we’re familiar with, having tried the White Label and Select Reserve in the past. The Black Barrel this time refers to the charring of the […]
Hadn’t seen Vanni in a while and he swung by for birthday drinks with this interesting bottle. Thanks Vanni! Merlot Barrel-Aged Earnscliffe ESB from Dominion City! So many things! We have steered around the wine barrel-aged stuff in the past, having experienced a few examples where the cask overpowered the contents. Getting it right should “just” […]
Jack Daniel’s. You know it, you’ve had it. But you may not have had this. As the name suggests, this is bottled from a single barrel of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey. Okay, so why is that interesting? Because coming from a single barrel limits gives us the best indication of what Jack Daniel’s whiskey […]
Post 301 y’all! Haven’t done back to back articles in a while. Since we’re starting on a new day, with a new theme, I figured we should do a proper single malt scotch to mark the occasion. Bowmore Legend. We’re known as big Bowmore fans – before the price went up, their 12y was *the best* budget-range […]
I spent a few days down in (relatively) sunny Michigan for a Michigan Municipal League tradeshow, and stumbled across another Canadian. Well, not… not Canadian beer, like Molson Canadian Beer, but a lower-case-upper-case-C Canadian beer…ugh. Let’s try this again – I was down in the States with my buddy Brad for work and we found […]
Blanton’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This has been on the to-try list for a while now, so this was a great Christmas present. Great bottle. Good website. Excellent product placements on Bored To Death (a personal favourite), House Of Cards & Justified. A Sazerac brand related to the Buffalo Trace lineage, Blanton’s has […]
Welcome to 2015. This year will mark 3 years of iScotch, and there’s a good chance we’ll cross 300 posts and a million views this year too. And what better way to start another year of whiskey than with something good and weird? Koval is definitely unusual: from Illinois, organic, single Minnesotan barrel and made […]
Great Lakes Brewery Beard of Zeus Barrel-Aged Barley Wine. It’s a name whose length is only bested by how long I’ve been meaning to post this review – there just always seemed to be something better to talk about. I believe Ryan picked this up for us to try. We cracked it open and had […]
Back to the creek best known for its knobs. That is a terrible intro, so let me try again. Knob Creek! Single Barrel! 120 Proofs! All the proofs! We’ve had a Knob Creek before, about a year and a half ago, and the last review is a little, or completely, light on the information. I’m […]
