logo

My Handcrafted Opinions on Whiskies, Distilleries and Other Related Stuff

Most Recent Whisky

Most Recent Whisky Review

Woodford Reserve Distillers Select Straight Rye

This bottle was labelled #3031 from Batch 0887 and bottled at 45.2% ABV.  The nose was very nice, herbal tea with mint and sweet vanilla notes.  The mouthfeel is fresh, light and oily, bittersweet on palate with more vanilla, candy, black coffee and dark chocolate.  The finish has peppermint, wood and grassy rye notes.  With water it gets sweeter, even honeyed, while heat builds in the finish with chilli spiced dark chocolate.  Overall very delicious; a light and subtle of straight rye.

Read More
  • Sunday, 05 April 2020 17:32

    The Manhattan Project II - Update

    Written by
    The Manhattan Project II - Update

    My original idea for this blog project was to try 101 Manhattans (any similarity to 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die is purely coincidental) from the various hotels, bars and restaurants around the world that my work took me too. The basic idea was that #101 would be the Manhattan finest I could make after all that research. Confined to home in April 2020 I thought I would make Experiment #50 my “best so far” and I have to say it was very good. The recipe I used was as follows:

    As I can’t seem to decide if I prefer Rye or Bourbon I went with Wild Turley Forgiven (which is a Bourbon / Rye blend), 1.5 oz and has enough alcohol at 45% ABV to push through the sweetness. Next were a couple of classic of ingredients, 1 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth and a good dash of Angostura bitters. The now not-so-secret ingredient, courtesy of Mike Raymond at Reserve 101, is Luxardo Cherry liqueur (1 oz) which adds the classic cherry note and that lets me experiment with the garnish. I went with bitter note from a strip of lemon peel (that I scorched with cigar lighter to release the oils – a trick I saw at the Oak Room in Buenos Aires) to bring balance to the sweet liqueur. Shaken together and served on the rocks it was pretty good even if I say so myself.

    Manhattan 101 is going to be even better…

    What is this about? Check out  http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii

    More in this category: « Manhattan Project: Experiment #49 Manhattan Project: Experiment #50 »

    Leave a comment

    Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.

    back to top

    Whiskies Tried...

    Total to Date: 694

    Distilleries

    Visited to Date: 66

    Follow Me on Twitter!

    Random Whisky

    Edradour 1996 Port Cask Finish

    When I was in Paris in May 2013 I visited La Maison du Whisky and I noticed a sample set of four cask strength Edradour expressions and this was the first one I tried back my hotel.   The nose was fruity and buttery with marshmallow and vanilla as well. The alcohol develops with a little time (maybe warmth) as this was bottled at 57% ABV. The taste is alcohol led at first, powerful but still balanced and not too heavy. More creamy sweet fruits and then some oak spice and unexpected coffee notes. The finish is sweet and long as the alcohol dries the palate. A little water helps to soften the alcohol and bring up the sweetness. Of the four samples this was probably my favorite, don’t know much about it but I would guess by color it was not a ruby port cask.