Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout - The Original - Review and Tasting Notes

So, I decided to play the Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout game this year.

You know... frantically drive to every grocery or liquor store in the area Black Friday morning.  Cope with bottle limits.  Call ahead to ask if the stores farther from town had any stock left.

I made off with a grand total of four bottles after about 2 hours of work.

Yeah.  I know.

To my credit, I worked an overnight shift (yes, I worked overnight Thanksgiving into Black Friday...) and didn't get off until about 9:30 in the morning.  At least I had my priorities in order: beer over bed.

Ardbeg 10 - Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

For some reason, I have always seen Ardbeg as something of a rival to my beloved Laphroaig.

This is ridiculous, I know.

It's the many similarities but critical differences that do it to me.

They're both Islay distilleries that produce an unabashedly peaty malt that avoids being one dimensional.  Key similarity.  A key difference is the "type" of peatiness, with Ardbeg's being the more smoky and dry campfire type and Laphroaig's being the more wet, moist and drippy type.

New Holland Dragon's Milk - Beer Review

Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

I had planned for a long time to review the occasional beer on this site.  Although scotch is by far my true liquor love, beer certainly has its place in my world.  I thought it might be nice to ease the transition by reviewing a bourbon barrel aged stout.

So there's still some whisky in there.

Sort of.

Since I'm up front in my scotch reviews about my bias towards more strongly flavored whiskies and my love of the peatier malts such as Laphroaig, I'll get my beer preferences out of the way.  I'm a dark beer guy, a lover of stouts and porters, although I certainly enjoy a good amber or brown ale.

I'm also not a hops lover, although I can appreciate them if they're done right.

Coming Soon: Johnnie Walker Collection Review

I bought myself an early Christmas present today.

I was in the store and noticed the Johnnie Walker Collection on sale for a significant holiday discount.

The Johnnie Walker Collection contains Black Label (which I reviewed here and found to be all right), Gold Label Reserve, Platinum Label, and Blue Label.  That's three scotches I have never had and one that I think is a solid if unspectacular buy.

My scotch sense started tingling.  I did some quick mental math to see what I'd be paying per ounce for the different liquids, and... well, it wasn't bad.

Glenmorangie Lasanta Tasting Notes and Review

The Story

Glenmorangie is one of the distilleries that is leading the way in experimenting with different cask finishes on their mainstay whisky.  You can think of these whiskies as simply their ten year aged for an extra two years in a different type of cask.  Check out my review of the Glenmorangie 10 Year HERE.

I love cask finishes.  Scotch is great and beautiful and perfect as it is, but it's always nice to experiment with interesting variations.

Ardbeg Uigeadail Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

Ardbeg's Uigeadail is a tremendously well regarded scotch, previously named as Jim Murray's World Whisky (not just Scotch!) of the Year in 2009.  It predominantly consists of Ardbeg's peaty malt, but it is combined with some whisky aged in ex-sherry casks.  The ratio is thought to be roughly 80:20 with sherry aged malt consisting of the minority.

As you know, I'm a pretty big fan of the Corryvreckan.  I'm also a fan of sherry, although I consider peated malts to be the true definition of heaven on earth.

Thus, Ardbeg's Uigeadail offering sounds like a match made in heaven for me, right?  Made by the artists behind the Corryvreckan.  Some subtle sherry notes mingled in.  And those miles and miles of peat we have come to expect from Ardbeg.

Match made in heaven, right?

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

Ahhh, yes.  Laphroaig.

Laphroaig was and always will be my first true love in scotch.  It was a warm summer day... okay, I won't go there.  But Laphroaig's 10 Year offering was the first scotch I truly fell in love with, and it remains among my favorites and among the best values in scotch.

Naturally, I consider myself a friend of Laphroaig, and naturally, I have to get my hands on Laphroaig's yearly Cairdeas offering.

"Cairdeas" means friend in Gaelic, and each year, Laphroaig's master distillers craft the annual Cairdeas malt.  Typically, they put a spin of some sort on it.

In 2015, it was Laphroaig's 200th anniversary, so the goal for the Cairdeas offering was to craft a dram much like it might have been made 200 years ago.