Welcome to Nice Sipper
Penelope Architect Build No. 2
French Oak finished and/or aged whiskey seems to be my preferred picks, does Penelope Architect Build No. 2 meet the standard?
Old Forester 100 Proof Bourbon
Not only will we be talking about the Old Forester 100 proof today, but we also have a special Halloween video titled “The Sipper: The Death of Value Bourbon” that was a lot of fun to make, so we hope you enjoy it!
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
Buffalo Trace Bourbon is a staple bourbon for many people. It used to be readily available at nearly every liquor store that sold any other bourbon besides Jim and Jack, but then demand spiked ahead of the supply build up and this little gem got put allocation. Let’s see if this old faithful holds up.
Knob Creek 9 Year
Knob Creek 9 is, what I would refer to, the higher end entry level bottle for the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection. At 100 proof, it’s a also affordable. But does it taste good? Let’s find out….
Loch Lomond Single Cask Store Pick Aged for 15 Years
I have reviewed two Loch Lomond releases already, the first a 12 year old single malt which is part of their core release and another, which was a SMWS 20 year old single grain whisky. I liked both. This 15 year old single cask store pick has been on my shelf for a while now, so let’s see how it tastes….
Bain’s Cape Mountain Single Grain Whisky
For today’s review, we are exploring a new part of the wonderful world of whisky, South Africa. This is my first South African whisky but since I have a lot of followers from the area, I wanted to say thank you and what better way to say thanks, than to do a review of their home country whisky…..
GlenDronach 21 Years Old “Parliament”
On Independence Day Eve we will say goodbye to our British colonial rule with a sip of GlenDronach 21 Year Old “Parliament” Scotch…..Not a bad way to say goodbye me thinks…
Old Forester Rye
Old Forester Rye has a surprising mash bill given the flavor profile….and why do I think of it as a “Mullet Rye”? And what exactly is a “Mullet Rye”? All that and more awaits you…..
Craigellachie 13 Years
I saw the bottle of Craigellachie on the shelf and it looked very “old timey” but it was also a 13 year old priced at $55 so I figured what the heck. As I’m trying to mix in more entry-level bottles with my reviews, it seemed about time that I returned to the Craigellachie 13…..
SMWS G9.5 “Cargo Floating By A Varnished Boat”
Next up we will revisit another bottle from Scotch Malt Whisky Society, an independent bottler who I have done a few reviews on in the past. From all of my purchases, this one was a ginormous leap of faith on my part given the price point and the fact that it is a Single Grain Scotch Whisky, not a Single Malt. Let’s see how it went….
New Riff Straight Rye Bottled in Bond
Today’s review is on New Riff Rye Bottled in Bond. I previously did a review on another one of New Riff’s releases, the Single Barrel Bourbon, which I really liked. It was a nice little sipper with some traditional bourbon notes, but gave it a 3x 🥃 due to value, at $10 cheaper, it would have been a 4x 🥃. The Rye, however, is a little more interesting…..
1792 Single Barrel Bourbon
The 1792 Single Barrel Bourbon is a “Limited Edition”, not to say that these are one-time releases, they’re just not as readily available as their staple, the Small Batch Bourbon. All of the 1792 bourbons have a nice little color coded band on the neck of the bottle to help you easily identify them, which I am thankful for as it can be hard to distinguish which is which when you have multiple types way back in the old booze cabinet. The Single Barrel is an off-white/cream color. …
Pike Creek Canadian Whisky Aged 21 Years Finished in European Casks
This review (the 50th for Nice Sipper!) will be on a bottle that I bought on a whim a while back and have been sitting on for a while now – Pike Creek Canadian Whisky Aged 21 Years Finished in European Oak Casks. Since that’s a mouthful of a label name, I’ll just refer to this as the Pike Creek 21….
Eagle Rare Bourbon 10 Year Old
I don’t know how I have done this many reviews and I’m just now getting to Eagle Rare Bourbon. The Eagle Rare 10 year, like the Stagg Jr. I recently reviewed, is the younger sibling of a Buffalo Trace Antique Collection release (Eagle Rare 17), but unlike the Stagg, this one is readily available year round….or rather, it used to be…..
Stagg Jr. Bourbon (Batch 17)
Stagg Jr. Straight Bourbon Whiskey is the younger sibling of George T. Stagg Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Unfortunately, older brother George took a sabbatical in 2021. Luckily, Stagg Jr., which is rumored to be aged 8-9 years, had 2 releases (as usual) in 2021. The one I will be reviewing is Batch 17, which was the last release in 2021 and is said to be the last that will carry the “Jr.” in the label.
Green Spot Irish Whiskey Finished in Zinfandel Wine Casks
The Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is a nice little Irish Whiskey with a long history. My first bottle(s) of it were purchased 6-7 years ago and I burned through them pretty quickly. This particular expression was finished for 12 months in Zinfandel wine casks from Chateau Montelena, a Calistoga, Napa Valley, vineyard. The Green Spot is a NAS whiskey blended from 7-10 year old ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. According to Vivino, Montelena’s Zinfandel is bold with lots of oak, vanilla, and both black and red fruits. I no longer have the regular Green Spot to use as a baseline, but let’s see how this one goes….
The Balvenie 30 Year
This next review is the crown jewel of my whisky collection, The Balvenie 30 Year that my wife bought for me for my birthday 8 years ago when we were still dating. She happened to give me this around the time I was hunting for her engagement ring, so to say that she is a master strategist would be an understatement.
Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey
Continuing on the good-bang-for-your-buck trend, our next review is on an irish whiskey, Teeling Small Batch. The Small Batch is @teeling_whiskey’s core product, which is a blend of both grain and malt whiskey each aged in ex-bourbon barrels. According to the website, this blend is then married in Central American rum casks for up to 12 months. However, the bottle I will be reviewing was bottled in November 2019 and states that it was finished in rum casks for 6 months so perhaps the newer releases have a little longer finish to them, I will have to find one and compare.
1792 Small Batch Bourbon
Apologies dear reader, I inadvertently have been reviewing some higher priced bottles, so I will focus my next few reviews on lower price point whiskeys as while I enjoy nice bottles, I love finding undervalued gems even more.
1792 Small Batch Bourbon is made by the Barton distillery which is owned by Sazerac who also owns Buffalo Trace and all of their great whiskeys. The Small Batch Bourbon is the core product for 1792, but they also have a slew of other “Limited Edition Expressions” including Sweet Wheat (I’ll be reviewing that in the near future), Single Barrel (same), and Full Proof (same), as well as Bottled in Bond, 12 Year Old, High Rye, and Port Finish, each of which I would love to review once I get my hands on them.