New website location and RSS feed address

We've moved to a self hosted web server! If you'd like to keep receiving RSS updates, please click here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/whiskeynose/join or visit our new site, http://whiskeynose.com, and join by clicking "Subscribe to RSS" in the top right corner.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at our new address!

http://whiskeynose.com

Review: Corsair's Wry Moon

Corsair's Wry Moon - 3.5 out of 5 Noses

http://www.corsairartisan.com/spirits/wry-moon/
http://twitter.com/corsairartisan

Typically, I don't like "moonshine" unless its mixed with 2/3 apple juice, has a stick of cinnamon and a big apple wedge in it.  "Heavy on the apple and light on the Tini, please."  That being the case, I thought it would be best to have some help on this review.  Oddly enough, every one I asked to help out accepted.  Hmm…free booze!

And of course, you can't drink moonshine from a glass.  What would Popcorn Sutton think?!?  We used mason jars as it should be.  The notes are a mix of all five of us, not just me this time.

Packaging:

None of us liked the front label.  Some of the quotes were, "cartoony", "doesn't inspire me to look further", "ego marketing", and all of us said Reservoir Dogs at some point (not that its a bad thing all the time...).  What we all did like was the back label with the individual batch and bottle numbers and Darek Bell's signature.  One of the quotes for this was "very classy with regards the hand-printed batch and bottle numbers".  The bottle is the plain and simple tapered Corsair bottle.  The fact that the label doesn't really fit the bottle gives it a an unprofessional feel.  I pointed out the same thing in my review of  Corsair's Triple Smoke more than a year ago.  A couple of the quotes for the bottle: "Gives me Vertigo", Reminds me of a 70's lampshade".  We almost got calipers out to see if the bottle is actually tapered or if the bottle plus the label is just an optical illusion.  After all, we were drinking moonshine so we are allowed to wander a bit.  And it is actually tapered.

Color:

It's moonshine.  If it isn't clear, I'm not drinking it.  It was unanimous...the color in the bottle and in the glass...clear.

Nose: 

The nose was slightly sweet with a hint of pear and even a vote for honeydew.  It didn't have an overwhelming "moonshine" aroma like we were expecting.  The mash is there and you can tell its moonshine, but its almost as if moonshine grew up and decided to read a book.  And eat a pear.  

Taste: 

Again, being prejudice against moonshine, I wasn't expecting this to be that good.  A couple of the quotes are: "Very spicy for the proof and sweet on the front end", "peppery yet sweet".  Back when I was a kid, I had moonshine made in southern Louisiana.  Apparently it was made in an old refrigerator because it tasted like I was licking that old refrigerator.  Not. Good. At. All.  This, however, was not anything like my previous experience.  Since the "official" review, I've had Wry Moon mixed with Coke, straight on ice, neat, and I even had a little mixed with orange juice (Is there an actual drink name for that?).  It was all very good!  I do intend on getting another bottle and making my own "Apple Pie" to see how that goes.  When I do I'll post the results.

Finish: 

For the most part, even the finish was excellent!  Two of the positive quotes about the finish: "the finish was better than the initial taste", "sweet, sweet".  And as you know, there's always at least one in every crowd.  The one complaint was "a rather off aftertaste...like morning mouth".  No one else got that, but opinions are like noses, right? 

Over all, Wry Moon is a good whiskey.  It's better than "moonshine" for sure.  Corsair really did a great job improving an old product.  I'd love to see what could be done with Apple Pie Moonshine.  Hint, hint.

Corsair's Wry Moon gets a 3.5 out of 5 Noses.  

http://www.corsairartisan.com/spirits/wry-moon/
http://twitter.com/corsairartisan

Have you already tried it? What do you think? Agree or disagree? Be sure to leave comments below!

Review: Cabin Fever Maple Whisky

Cabin Fever Maple Whisky - 4 out of 5 Noses...sort of

http://www.cabinfeverspirits.com
http://twitter.com/CabinFever80pf

I first tasted Cabin Fever Maple Whisky last year at the Beer and Bourbon Festival in Nashville, TN.  If you've been to the Beer and Bourbon Fest (they are held all over the US) you know that it's mostly like a big Frat party.  Without going into too much detail about that, let's just say you don't get a lot of time to really taste what you're drinking.

After having a pour of Cabin Fever I stopped the young lady and asked her if she could tell me more about this sweet, sweet nectar.  She worked for the arena, not Cabin Fever and is just there to pour, mkay?  Okay.  She did, however, have business cards for Cabin Fever so I took one. Unfortunately, I didn't use said business card other than to simply hang it on the wall by my desk.

For a few weeks after the show, whenever I was in a liquor store I'd check to see if they had it.  No one did.  Finally, I just gave up on finding it locally and hoped it would get more popular soon so I could get my grubby paws on some.  Finally, I was at Red Wine and Spirits in Bellevue, TN just two weeks ago and there it was...just sitting on the shelf. <Enter Angels Singing>

As soon as I got home the bottle was opened and I was pouring a glass. Wow!  Maple: Check!  Whiskey: Check!  The butter / butterscotch flavor is a lot more pronounced than I remember, but I had a few other whiskeys before trying this one last year so my taste buds may have been slightly impaired.

Packaging:
I really like the label.  It's artsy without being pretentious.  It looks hand drawn and has a lot of tiny detail on what feels like high quality label paper.  The only thing I'd like to see added is a batch number or bottle ID on each bottle.  A lot of the smaller distilleries are doing that now and it's a nice touch.  That being said, the label is great as-is.


Color:
One of the funny things is that it actually looks like Maple syrup in the bottle.  It has the deep, rich mahogany color that I associate with good Maple syrup and, sometimes, a good bourbon.  Once poured and a little ice has been introduced, it lightens up a bit.  Not too much, but a noticeable transformation takes place.  It's all good, trust me.

Nose:
Here's where is starts to get a little tricky.  At first whiff, you'll get a strong Butterscotch scent. If you keep going (trust me...you will) you'll eventually stumble upon the Maple.  If you haven't started impatiently sipping by now and try again you will get a little oak and maybe...just maybe a little malt. Maybe.  It doesn't smell like any whisk(e)y I've ever smelled before, which is quite refreshing.

Taste:
When tasting for a review, I'll typically take a big bite (about 1/3 of the drink) and let it sit in my mouth, maybe swish it around a little, then swallow.  I have to admit, because of the sweet nose, I took a much smaller sip. Wow! It's sweet, but not too sweet. The butterscotch is there, but not as pronounced as it smells. As soon as the butterscotch steps back I got a rich, sweet push from the Maple. By now I'm thinking, "How'd they do this?" The ever so elusive malt in the nose was nowhere to be found during the tasting. After adding a couple ice cubes, however, there it was! The sweeter, buttery goodness was suppressed for a more "normal" tasting whisk(e)y.

Finish:
The finish is sweet and lasts for a couple days. Probably the longest finish I can remember since Ardbeg's Uigeadail from a previous tasting. I found myself contemplating how this would taste with a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Mmmm....bacon.

On the website it mentions that Rob Robillard, after extensive travel, thought since other regions had their own whisk(e)y, why couldn't Vermont? That makes sense. I live in Tennessee and we have several whiskeys here so why can't Vermont!? Well, now Vermont is being represented...and being represented very well I might add.

The Robillard family didn't set out to take the whiskey world by storm. They set out to make a great product. The marketing is good, the label is very well done, and the whiskey, well, rocks!

Cabin Fever Maple Flavored Whiskey gets a 4 out of 5 Noses...when drinking it straight.

**SIDE NOTE: When mixed with the linked Egg Nog recipe below, it is a 5 out of 5 noses. Best dang stuff I've ever put in my pie hole! Ever.

Home made Egg Nog recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/eggnog-recipe2/index.html

Have you already tried it? What do you think? Agree or disagree? Be sure to leave comments below!

Review: Jim Beam Devil's Cut Bourbon

Jim Beam Devil's Cut - 4 out of 5 Noses

http://www.jimbeam.com

http://www.jimbeam.com/devils-cut/

When a whisk(e)y is aged in a barrel some of it naturally evaporates.  This is what's referred to as the Angel's Share.  Since its trapped in a closed container, read - the barrel, the whisk(e)y evaporates into the grain of the wooden barrel and is thus lost forever.  "Not so fast!" exclaims Jim Beam.

Jim Beam has developed a process of removing the trapped bourbon (Devil's Cut) from the wood.  Is it science?  Is it magic?  Is it Michael Jackson? Huh?

I'll tell you what it is.  It is intense!  How can a bourbon that costs only $25 be so smooth, yet be so complex?

Packaging:
The label looks like a piece of burned (or burnt if'n you're from Tennessee) wood.  Nicely thought out and it looks great.

Color:
The color is a nice dark amber.  Unlike some Scotches that are lightly colored but very smokey, this whiskey's color is closer to the actual taste...which is nice.  The color lightened quite a bit after the single ice cube I added melted.

Aroma:
The aroma is heavy wood, vanilla, and honey with noticeable traces of spice, smoke, and I swear, leather.  The sour mash is extremely heavy but it's supposed to be.  You're drinking bourbon!

Taste:
The body is light and quick.  I thought it would stay on my tongue like syrup and melt slowly but it is there - and then not - very quickly.

Then the taste which is quite surprising!  With the nose being so strong I expected Devil's Cut to have a heavy bite, but doesn't.  It is flippin' smooth!   The first thing I taste is vanilla followed by caramel.  Almost immediately after that is a spicy, smokey, floral jumble that's hard to describe with a word other than wonderful.  With a name like Devil's Cut, it might be expected that the word's "Hellfire" or "Damnation" would said after sipping because of the bite.  Those words are nowhere near this pour.  It's intense, but in a good way.

The finish is just like the body.  It's there one second and gone the next.  This would be a great bourbon to drink with a thick steak or really good burger (think Burger Up! or Hoss Burgers).

I'm not sure how this bourbon could get any better.  The sour mash is a little heavy, but like I stated early, that's part of bourbon's taste.  Maybe a little less sweet taste up front would be nice, or would that ruin how smooth it is?

And have I mentioned that Jim Beam has completely done the media campaigning with this product perfectly?  That, you have to check out for yourself.

Should you buy a bottle of Devil's Cut? Absolutely! Should you buy another bottle and send it to me? Absolutely!  I'll make you a deal.  If you buy it and don't like it, send it to me and I'll dispose of it properly.

Jim Beam Devil's Cut gets a 4 out of 5 Noses.

Have you already tried it?  What do you think?  Agree or disagree?  Be sure to leave comments below!

Review: Lismore Single Malt

Lismore Single Malt Whisky - 4.5 out of 5 Noses

The best contact info I could find for Lismore or for the parent company, William  Lundie & Co., was through the Whisky Portal.  Lismore Single Malt is a Speyside whisky.  They need a website, or I need to get better at using the Google.

Packaging:

Pretty boring.  Just a clear bottle with a simple label.  Maybe the money was spent elsewhere...hmm.

Color:

Light honey gold.  Even after a dollap of water, the color was about the same.  Lovely, lovely, inexpensive gold.

Aroma:
Being a Speyside, I expected the nose to be sweet and floral.  A pleasant surprise awaited me when I actually took a whiff.  While the caramel, peat,  and floral scents definitely were there, a noticeable aroma of the sea and even a little wood stands up and gets your attention and the peat was a little stronger than expected.  

Taste:

The body is light to medium with a slight lingering, not really a coating, like I said, a lingering on the tongue.

After the aroma, I thought I knew what I was in for with the flavor.  While the taste does stay close to the aroma, an additional nutty flavor and a heavier sweetness were nice surprises.  After taking notes on the tasting, I looked at a few other reviews on teh Interwebs.  Several others said exactly what I was thinking: With a little aging, this would be a great whisky.  But then everyone agreed with the fact that for $20 per bottle ($15 in some places) that this is a great whisky.  That's where all the packaging money was spent!

The finish is pretty quick.  If I could change one thing about this whisky, it would be that the finish last a little longer.  Not a deal breaker by any means, just me being picky.

As you can see by the picture above, this bottle is almost gone.  That's because it has become my everyday whisky.  For the price and the taste you almost can't beat this one.  It's not Lagavulin or Glen Livet because it doesn't have to be.  It is what it is.  A great, cheap single malt whisky.

I'm giving Lismore Single Malt 4.5 out of 5 noses.
  

Have you already tried it?  What do you think?  Agree or disagree?  Be sure to leave comments below!

Review: Ardbeg Uigeadail

Ardbeg Uigeadail - 4 out of 5 Noses

There's a reason this whiskey was named "Whisky of the Year" in 2009 in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.  It's an unbelievably smooth sip, followed by the usual heavy hit of smokey, rich flavor that Ardbeg is known for.

The best way I can describe tasting Ardbeg Uigeadail is as follows:

You reach in your golf bag and pull out a new tee and ball // You pour the whisky into a single malt glass.

Next, you step up to the tee-box, slowly bend down to tee up the ball // You spend a second smelling the aroma, then take a small taste.

Finally you take your stance, pull the club back keeping your hips straight, then use your hips to pull your body and club back and hit the ball with all the controlled effort you can muster //  At first you get a smooth, sweet flavor and then BAM!!  A heavy, heavy smoke, thick honey, light vanilla, and a very subtle nutty flavor rear back and smack you in the palate!

I read a post on a whisky blog that tasting Uigeadail is like licking a campfire.  I'm not sure that it's that smokey but it's pretty darn close.  I love smoky, peaty Scotches and this one pushes the envelope.  Compared to Ardbeg Supernova which I reviewed a few months ago, I'd have to say that both run pretty close to peatiness although Supernova probably wins by a nose.

Packaging:
The bottle is in typical Ardbeg fashion.  The same formatted label and green bottle color as most of the other flavors offered.  Normally this would be boring but it comes off as being classy and, as the Scotch is, smooth.  Since I tasted this at a friend's house I didn't see the box it came in, just the bottle.

Color:
Just like Supernova, I found the color to be deceptive of the flavor.  With an unassuming light gold color, you'll be fooled into taking a bigger sip if you aren't careful to take a big sniff first.

Aroma:
Of course, the first aroma to hit is the smoky goodness.  It stays for a while, covering almost all of the other...wait...there's a little vanilla in here...hold on...I think I'm getting a nutty aroma.  Walnuts, definitely walnuts.  This whisky is as complex as it is smooth.

Taste:
**I normally taste whiskey straight, with ice, and with a splash of water; this whisky was only tasted straight.**
The sweetness really sticks out at first, fooling you into thinking this is a slow uneventful ride.  Then, almost out of nowhere the smoke flavor rears its massive head and looks you right in the eye then takes a bite out of your face!  Eventually, if you haven't doused your mouth with water yet, you'll get an intricate weaving of more honey, some vanilla and a little nuttiness.  I didn't get the heavy alcohol overtone with Uigeadail that I usually find with very smoky Scotches.

Finish:
I found the finish to be the best quality of this whisky.  The taste stays in your mouth for a long time.  A long, long, long time. Did I mention a long time?  After 10 minutes I found the taste still lingering.  Wow. Plain and simple.

Ardbeg Uigeadail gets 4 out of 5 noses.
Uigeadail should really get 5 noses but it's such a specific taste that most scotch drinkers just aren't going to like it.  If you do like Laphroaig, Lagavulan, and other Islay whiskies then you will LOVE Uigeadail!

Have you already tried it?  What do you think?  Be sure to leave comments below

Review: WhiskeyDisks

WhiskeyDisks - 2 out of 5 noses

Made from canadian soapstone, WhiskeyDisks are designed to slightly chill your whisk(e)y to 50 degrees(F) without watering it down or changing the flavor.  According to everything I've ever read/seen/heard about whiskey, especially single malt Scotch, you should not put ice in your glass.  Something about changing the molecular structure or somesuch.  According to the WhiskeyDisk website, it's all about staying above 45 degrees.  Any lower and you start messing with the science nonsense.  

As the WhiskeyDisks.com website states, "The natural oils in the wood leach into the distillate over time and contain a large part of the residual flavor profile that will mark that particular spirit.  These oils, although dissolved in alcohol, will partially congeal or "close down" if the temperature of the liquor falls below a certain point.  Temperature is important.  A subtle chill can enhance the drinking experience; too much can destroy it.  Storing fine liquor below 45°F, or adding large volumes of ice, can eliminate important flavor notes."

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch (5th ed.) states that a true whisk(e)y lover neither puts his whisk(e)y in the fridge or puts ice in his glass.  Of course, it all comes down to a matter of opinion, but it is hard to argue with the WhiskeyDisks scientific backing.  

If I'm drinking Tennessee whiskey, I'll put two cubes of ice in the glass.  Irish Whiskey, again, a couple of cubes.  Scotch never gets ice, maybe a splash of water, but never ice.  Canadian whiskey...gets Coke (sorry Canada).  

For this test I wanted to use two different whiskies so I used Collier and McKeel, Tennessee Whiskey and a new scotch I just received, Lismore Single Malt (review coming soon).  Unfortunately, neither pour got below 61 degrees.  According to Jesse at WhiskeyDisks, the idea is to be between 50 and 60 degrees...simply cooling the whiskey.  The box, however, reads 50 degrees.  I would love to see that changed to "between 50 and 60 degrees."

Jesse and I exchanged a couple of emails about the specifics such as freezer temp being as close to zero as possible.  My freezer is set to 8 of 9 and everything in it is frozen solid but, unfortunately, I never got a good thermometer reading on the freezer temp.  I also gave a disc to a friend to try, just to make sure I wasn't somehow screwing this up, and he was equally unimpressed with the temperature that his single malt reached.  We did both agree that the stone turns a very cool color while soaking in the whiskey.

This product is a fantastic idea.  I'd love to chill my whiskey - but not below the 45 degree threshold.  However, taking it from room temperature to slightly below room temperature just doesn't make the grade.

WhiskeyDisks gets 2 out of 5 noses.  The packaging, the website, and the idea of the product are top notch.  If the wording were changed or the product somehow improved (I'm not too sure how soapstone can be improved) the rating would have been a little higher.

Have you tried WhiskeyDisks and think I'm off my rocker? Do you agree? Just like to argue? Leave a comment below.