whisky!

tyrconnell 10 year madeira finish irish single malt - about $70 for a 750

http://www.tyrconnellwhiskey.com/_whiskey/whiskey.asp

nose - sauterne....chewy grapes, a bit of sherry, sultanas, some sweet citrus..kind of like candied orange peel..

mouthwise - hmm...alcohol..then the orange peel, some wood...ginger...some pepper, a meaty taste, mineral...

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http://www.isleofjura.com/


isle of jura superstition non islay island single malt whisky $40

nose - toffee, prunes, peat, some smoke,

mouth: grass and peat, heather....a smidge of brown sugar, oak...salt...moss

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dalmore gran reserva highland single malt whisky - $60

www.thedalmore.com

noze - tobacco, malbec, sourdough!, sour candies!...

mouthed: oak and grass, a bit of sherry....orange peel, tobacco..

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mystery dram number one...i wrote on the sample glass in sharpie which of course disappears after handling....it has several malts listed..kinda sorta..let us see..

smell-----sweet...ok...i have about 30 bottles open at home...and out of those only two that are this sweet on the nose...winey..a bit of grass....i would say it is glenlivet nadurra..

glenlivet nadurra speyside single malt $50

http://www.theglenlivet.com/



in the mouth - sweet grass, a bit of pitch, some lemon, spearmint after a while, peppery...

my bottle of this is about 5 fingers left..i may not renew...

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aberlour a'bunadh batch 15 speyside single malt whisky - 59.6 - 2005

http://www.aberlour.com/

this is a bottling i bought a few moons ago...one of the better ones if you ask me....

nose - yeast, honeycomb, oats, m&m's, cherries..?..

mouth - yep..cherries...lime, pitch, grass..tobacco...

my bottle of this is gone..i may buy a new batch..they are on # 28 or so...
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more tastings

http://www.artintheage.com/spirits-aita/

root liqueur - about $40 -

distilled from sugarcane and based on an old "root tea" recipe, this is not necessarily what you think of when you think root beer ..root beer was actually made from this with the alcohol removed...long agooooo...the aim of Art In the Age brewers was to exact a pre-temperance alcoholic root tea...

oooh.....who says this isn't root beer?..the first thing that comes to mind when nosing....then i smell more wintergreen...then butter..then allspice...

not nearly as sweet in the mouth as on the nose...wintergreen, cinnamon, a bit of pine...and strangely enough ..water...then eucalyptus, wood...cloves...

this i would drink alone, neat

i would buy a bottle of this

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green chartreuse - french liqueur - 110 proof

http://www.chartreuse.fr/

flavored with 130 herbal extracts, its coloring comes from chlorophyll.

nosewise i get vanilla, pine, chocolate malt, spearmint

mmm..pepper, cloves, rosemary, fucking basil!, spearmint, something i do not know what that hurts the back of my throat..this is a strong pungent one...the sweetness holds it but does not contain it, flavors burst from it instantaneously into the mouth..on the tongue...mustard...peppercorns...oregano...and a vegetal potato and a bit of leafy spinach...thyme.....the flavors keep giving long after you have swallowed it...

this is great by itself, high enough in alcohol that an ice cube would not kill it but allow it to flower..maybe a few drops of water...i hear this is great in mixed drinks but i am not a mixologist and this is damned complex....maybe with st germain elderflower liqueur and some soda water...?

i would love to have a bottle of this

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catdaddy carolina moonshine - about $20 for a 750 - 80 proof

http://www.piedmontdistillers.com/verification.php

not what you think of when moonshine comes to mind, this is most wonderful and i have been a fan of it for a while now.

nose - lemony magnolia flowers!!...meringue, butter...

mouth: soft lemon curd, you can taste what magnolias smell like...a touch of cinnamon, so lively...a tiny bit of grass....buttered toast..

this is great by itself, on the rocks....i have tried it with a dash of regans orange bitters on the rocks with some grey goose..also with some gin and fee brothers grapefruit bitters..

i have a lot of mini bottles of this but need to get a 750

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and of course thank you forrest for all of the wonderful samples...!!

night tasting deserves a quiet night...

latenight and i need to get some of my tasting online....some notes to remember...



Prichard's Sweet Georgia Belle Rum Liqueur - about $27 for a 750 - a peach mango rum liqueur..

http://www.prichardsdistillery.com/

the nose is more like apricots than peaches...a bit more musty than bright...the alcohol seems behind the dominant stone fruit smell..there is a hint of fruit skins that comes around afterwards..this is where the mangos come in, after it sits a while

buttery maple syrup is the first note...then the sweet peach flavor...not real peach but kind of a jolly rancher one...the alcohol comes up behind the simple syrup taste and bites a bit.....this would be good on the rocks with club soda....

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sapling maple liqueur - brewed using vermont grade A maple syrup
- about $32 for a 750

http://www.saplingliqueur.com/

such a tremendously yummy nose...buttery brown sugar...reminds me of pancakes..maybe that memory puts the taste of yeasty dough in my mind or there could be notes of it already in the liqueur...caramel...madeleines.....

in the mouth..warm butter..a bit of macadamia flavor..maple syrup..brown sugar..the alcohol bite is low. this is a great sipper...an ice cube may ruin it if drinking unmixed....this would go great mixed however with frangelico and a good vodka like belvedere on the rocks...hell this would be great in a shake with coffee and ice cream!!!!

this is a bottle i would like to have

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strega - italian herbal liqueur -

http://www.strega.it/index.php

strega means "witch" in italian...and this is some kind of witch. it gets its yellow tint from saffron used in the process.

on the nose i first get juniper berries, some bitter sort of tree bark, some wintergreen and pine and something savory i cannot put my nose on...

in the mouth...wow...sweet then quick pepper and wintergreen followed by some floral sort of perfume, wood, a bit of bubble gum....gentian...cardamom (green)...a tiny bit of cinnamon, and so many other things i do not know yet.... great neat...maybe with one ice cube......i cannot see mixing it with anything..i may try it with a few dashes of soda water up to a half.....

this is a bottle i would like to have.

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kraken spiced rum - 94 proof - about $20 a 750

http://www.krakenrum.com/

a darker reddish brown color

on the nose vanilla and nutmeg, playdoh (yes i know, lolworthy but it is there..to me at least)

not as sweet as it smelled, a dark rum flavor with vanilla following but not a sweet vanilla and not your ordinary vanilla....madagascar i would say...some wood..and more vanilla

i would drink this neat, or with an ice cube or on the rocks with an elderflower presse or a real good ginger ale or hot buttered even...this would be interesting to try with the right kind of bitters too, say fee brothers chocolate bitters.....

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