February 2011
10 posts
Who Pays For All This Whisky?
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “First Class pays for Coach.” It’s a metaphor to describe a business model in which more expensive, exclusive products help defray business costs for cheaper, higher volume products enjoyed by the “rest of us.” Is that how the whisky industry works?
Are all those diamond encrusted, Lalique-contained, 50 - 70 year-old...
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40 Whiskies Under $40: Rittenhouse 100 Proof...
Here’s another installment of our ongoing series, 40 Under 40, but this time we’ve chosen our first American product for the list— the truly classic style of a bonded rye whisk(?)y (yeah, Rittenhouse uses the British spelling, oddly enough). Although we love all kinds of American whiskey at WhiskyParty, we typically do not include them in our 40 Under 40 list because there are...
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Tasting Notes: Hankey Bannister 12 Year Old...
As with most whisky websites, if you visit the site of Hankey Bannister you can read all about the heritage of this blended scotch whisky. Somewhat curious is that the accounting of said heritage seems to have been written in the first person by Mr. Hankey himself, a self-described “man about town” who probably died sometime in the late 18th or early 19th C after founding Hanky...
Where Are American Craft Distilleries? →
American Distilling Institute has put together an interactive map listing all the craft distilleries in the country. Pretty useful if you’re looking to find some hometown hooch near you.
WatchTip of the hat to Don at Beer and Whiskey Brothers for finding this excellent video interview with Jake Norris, Master Distiller of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. I especially loved the part where he talks about Michael Jackson making a surprise visit to the distillery.
Stranahan’s produces one of the best craft whiskies in America, and their Batch 49 was voted artisinal whiskey of...
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Tasting Notes: Kings County Moonshine
Update: American Craft Spirits just posted an interview with the owners of Kings County. Go check it out.
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Kings County Distillery is the oldest operating distillery in New York City. While that may sound impressive, you should know that it first received its license in April of 2010, making it less...
January 2011
9 posts
1 tag
Tasting Notes: Old Pulteney 17 and 21
Old Pulteney is a Highland whisky, and the northern-most distillery on the Scottish mainland. Located in the coastal harbor town of Wick (and featuring a big-ass ship on its bottle), it is sometimes called the “maritime malt.”
The distillery uses non-peated malt in its production, and is distinguished from all but 4 other distilleries in that it uses dried, rather than liquid, yeast...
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Tasting Notes: Forty Creek Confederation Oak...
Just one of the advantages to knowing thoughtful, pretty Canadian girls: I received this rare whisky as a very generous present this winter. Furthermore, it is as-of-yet unavailble in the US (although I hear that the second batch will be coming here at some point).
Forty Creek Distillery, founded and run by the ex-wine producer John K. Hall, is only ten years old but has already become a...
The Whisky Bloggers Are Alright
Or, Why the Whisky Industry Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Embrace Digital Marketing
There’s a whisky blogger backlash brewing. Tim Forbes, of the Whisky Exchange, fired the first shot way back in November when he published an opinion piece in Whisky Magazine lambasting the whisky blogosophere. (You can read the full piece for free if you give Whisky Magazine your email address).
...
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40 Whiskies Under $40: Tamdhu 10 year old
In an unfortunate turn of events, The Edrington Group, owners of Macallan, Glen Rothes, Highland Park, and Tamdhu, mothballed the latter distillery earlier this year.
Although there are no immediate plans to reopen the distillery, their stocks will continue to exist (and age) for a while to come, and grocery store shelves will likely carry Tamdhu products for the forseeable future. Since...
Course Offering at the Oriental Institute at the...
Chicagoans: starting next week I’ll be co-teaching a class, open to the public, at the Oriental Institute entitled:
“Our Liver is Happy, Our Heart is Joyful:” Drinks and Drinking Culture in the Ancient Near East
Normally the OI doesn’t publicize these offerings, but we’ve still got space to fill and it might interest some of you drinking scholars out there. Here’s the...
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40 Whiskies Under $40: Macphail’s Collection...
It’s really great that the famous Gordon & Macphail shop and indie bottler has revived their Macphail’s Collection range of generally younger, cheaper, but high-quality single malts. Their Highland Park 8 year old was excellent (for the price; good either way), and I was excited to see this Islay malt for under $40.
Macphail’s Collection Bunnahabhain 8 years old
Price: $35.
...
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Mike, Mike and Dan's Favorite Whisky Party posts...
Instead of doing a top ten list for 2010 based on traffic (we didn’t think our regular readers were consistently hitting up our review of McClelland’s Single Malt), we each wanted to start off the new year by identifying our favorite Whisky Party posts from 2010. We hope that we can continue this wonderful whisk(e)y journey and consistently drink to the health of our friends, family,...
December 2010
10 posts
2 tags
40 Whiskies Under $40: Auchentoshan Classic
Auchentoshan is one of the few remaining Lowland distilleries, and it is the only Scottish whisky distillery to permanently triple distill their spirit. The result of this triple distillation is a house style that leans towards smooth, light and floral whiskies. Beginning in 2008, the entire range of Auchentoshan went through a radical transformation, as owners Morrison Bowmore reimagined...
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Tasting Notes: Connemara Turf Mór
The Cooley Distillery in Ireland is known for independence and experimentation. The youngest Irish distillery, they offer a wide range of products that go well beyond the standard, non-peated, triple distilled product put out by Bushmills and Midleton. This strategy has served them well, and in 2010 Malt Advocate declared Cooley “Distillery of the Year.”
Connemara is the...
