Does that Leopold Brothers Bourbon have that same off, bit moldy, locker-room like aroma that characterizes some of their other spirits? I’ve found it in two of their gins, and, I want to say, one of their cordial-type products.
I’ll skip the Beam then, thanks for the tip. Agree that the EW isn’t really for drinking by itself, but I wouldn’t complain much if I did. Which is surprising at that price.
I didn’t notice a funk, but then again, I didn’t notice it in their Navy Strength gin either. So maybe I’m less sensitive to it - I know I experience liquor funk differently than most- Jamaican rum has that “hogo” flavor that comes across less funky and more of a dusty flavor to me. Same for Luxardo maraschino- it’s not ‘funky’ like mold/cheese/feet, but something else.
Having just smelled the Leopold Bros. bourbon, the VOB 100 and the Beam Repeal Batch, I can say that the Leopold Bros is noticeably more aromatic than the other two, but in a bourbony way- there weren’t any off aromas I could detect.
The Navy Strength was the first product we tried from them. “Hey! They’re doing their own distilling, and not just buying bulk spirit from MGP and rebottling it. Let’s support them, and see if they can be something we’ll like besides Junipero…” Nope. Though I still like their concept.
Different people, different perceptions. I just thought it strange that I could smell that aroma in different products from them.
The back of the bourbon bottle says “We open ferment our sour mash of 64% corn, 21% malted barley and 15% rye with both house-cultured and wild yeasts indigenous to our region”
That would definitely explain some unusual flavors and aromas that you might find in their products.
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I was lucky enough to tour Ireland and do a lot of tastings, Green Spot came out on top.
I was a huge Bushmills fan but I have to say I am a convert to Green Spot. I still love the grassiness of Jamesons, though.
Looking up Green Spot, and shopping for Christmas, I’m amazed at the vast differences in prices out there.
Total Wine has generally good prices, but I’d rather support The Little Guy. So I pay a few dollars more at the little local spot that gives me advice (shout out to Steve’s Liquor. In Madison, WI… where they also have Woodman’s Market, where I’ve seen bourbon and rums at half the price of the real world).
…
Oh, more free advice:
What I’ve been doing, since I can’t (safely) drop into a tavern and try something new, is buy a 375ml bottle. A neighbor recommended Woodford, and I went through my pint-size pretty quickly, so I said to myself “You’re gonna need a bigger bottle!”
ps: I’ve tried that with the tiny 50ml bottles, but those are often plastic, and I just don’t feel like I’m getting a pure flavor of the liquor… am I being silly? Does it affect the flavor or not?
I was talking with some college friends today and said something about having a drink. One asked, “You don’t drink, do you?” I don’t know where she got this idea. I don’t drink much, but I do drink. I said I had a nice assortment of single-malt Scotch in the house and next time they visited, I’d interview them and suggest some tastes. “What do you mean by ‘interview’?” they asked. I replied, “Well, when you were a kid, did you like to chew on bandaids?” One said such a thing had never occurred to her, one said yes, and one said no. I said that that information alone would help me choose the region for their flight.
behold a one stop shop if you can’t find something in here well you’re lost …tho there is the import tax …but enjoy:
Grumble, grumble, stupid BATFE…
On a better note, Lagavulin 16 is still as lovely as I last remembered it, even if I prefer Ardbog or Ardbeg “Day” now.
this happens to be a booze regulation agency or import tax?
The first. Being the ‘home of the free’ doesn’t extend to allowing its citizens to choose whether they may shop and import alcohol by mail from another country. (And it used to be, even from another State in the US when it came to wine or Coors beer)
So all of those promotions that Scotch whisky distilleries put on to try or win ‘X batch’ of new whisky? Or buying some weird bottling from Masters of Malt? US residents are out of luck.
I wonder if they’d swear off trying Scotch after an honest interview:
“Did you suck on dirty gym socks?”
“Do you wish it was safe to add paint thinner to soda water?”
“Have you ever put a handful of dirt and moss in the bottom of your glass before you poured a drink?”
You’re a Peat Monster kind of person!
Less fattening than being a Cookie Monster kind of person…
(Someone at the pub was asking what celebrity each of us were most like, that was my answer).
Actually, the fact that I don’t like peat is heart-breaking, because my Scottish ancestors are from a town with distilleries that I’d love to support. But they apparently shovel the local bog directly into their kettles.
Who knows if it’s legit, but the comments thread on it at Master of Malt claim it’s a blend of primarily Caol Ila and Laphroaig. So you might like some of those, too, w/o paying the Compass Box tariff.
Caol Ila has improved quite a bit in the last few years, to my palate. Less oily and dank than previously.
Drove up to Seattle yesterday to visit a couple distilleries. Stopped at 2Bar Spirits with the intent to get a bottle of their recently release Amaretto Barrel bourbon. I was offered a discount if I bought 2, it was a choice between Wine Barrel bourbon or a 100 proof Bottled in Bond bourbon. I went with the Bottled in Bond.
Next was Westland Distillery and a bottle of their latest Sherry Wood Single Malt release. All 3 bottles are not in my liquor cabinet. I tried the Amaretto Barrel bourbon last night and I am in love. Hints of sweetness from the Amaretto and the bite from a high rye bourbon. The finish reminded me of sweet plums with undertones of sage. Based on this, I might have to go get me a bottle of the Wine barrel bourbon.
If you like peat, Bruichladdich’s Octomore series is crammed full of the stuff. Unfortunately, it’s not cheap.
The whisky itself is young, usually 6 - 8 years, but you wouldn’t know it. The last time I was around an open bottle, I knew it had been opened from the other side of the house. That peat smell can travel.