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The Sassenach Blended Scotch
This next Exclusive Content Review will feature a celebrity brand in the blended Scotch category, The Sassenach. The celebrity attached to this brand is Sam Heughan, the co-start of the Starz original series, Outlander. This will be the first time that Nice Sipper reviews a blended Scotch as well as the first review of a “celebrity” whisky. Is this a money grab by Sam? Or is this the real deal? Let’s find out….
Bowmore 15 Year Old
This next Exclusive Content Review will feature Bowmore 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch from the Isle of Islay. Since we had our first official snowfall of the year up by me yesterday, it seemed like the proper time to open up a bottle of peated single malt to warm up….
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel is a limited release which puts the base Elijah Craig Small Batch bourbon into a second barrel for additional aging, except this one is a toasted barrel instead of the Level 3 char used for the Small Batch. A lot of distilleries have a Toasted Oak release these days, but are they worth the extra money?
Thomas S. Moore Bourbon Finished in Cabernet Sauvignon Casks
We will be tasting another release from Thomas S. Moore, this time the Cabernet Sauvignon finish. These bourbons were first aged for 5-6 years in the traditional American Oak casks and then underwent an “extended cask finish” for up to 4 additional years, making the unofficial age statement in the 9-10 range (plus or minus). I liked the Chardonnay Cask Finish, but thought it was a little overpriced, let’s see how the big bold Napa Cab interacted with the core 1792 bourbon.
The Balvenie 16 Year French Oak Finished in Pineau Casks
For this next Exclusive Content Review, we will visit The Balvenie’s most recent release, the French Oak 16 Finished in Pineau Casks. In addition to sampling the new single malt scotch, we will also sip on some of the fortified wine that The Balvenie chose to finish its whisky in as well as sipping on The Balvenie’s 15 Year Sherry Cask Single Barrel and the DoubleWood 17 in an attempt to figure out how this new cask finishing influenced the core product. Buckle up….
RY3 Rum Cask Finish
Next up is a newer expression of a rye that I have really enjoyed over the past year or so – RY3 Blended Rye Rum Cask Finish. For those unfamiliar with this brand, get familiar with it! I really enjoyed the core release, which is a blended rye and I purchased a bottle of the Cognac Finish release for my Dad for his birthday this past Spring, so when I saw the Rum Finish, I had to give it a sip….
Putnam Rye & Putnam Rye Red Wine Barrel Finish
In honor of Father’s Day, the next review is for Putnam Rye made by Boston Harbor Distillery. I first had this bottle when my wife took me to the distillery for a tasting on my first Father’s Day after my oldest was born…On the 6 year(ish) Father's Day anniversary of my first visit, I thought it appropriate to do a double tasting of the rye and rye finished in red wine barrels….
Benromach 10 Year
Next up is a Benromach 10 Year old. I initially tasted this bottle over a year ago, albeit under the old label. Assuming that nothing has changed except for the marketing, let’s check it out….
Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength
This next review is for Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength Whiskey which already gives us a lot to unpack just from the name. This is a new label which is blending and bottling MGPI Bourbons. I had a lot of strong feelings about this one…
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12
For the next review, we will visit the Balvenie DoubleWood 12. I previously did a review on the 17 year old version of this release, but that’s a bit pricey these days, so let’s dig into the more affordable option, which is also their core product. Check out my previous reviews (here, here, or here) for some backstory on Balvenie and the DoubleWood releases and to see some of their other releases….but this single malt was first aged in American Oak and then in European Oak.
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….
A Midwinter Nights Dream Act 7, Scene 6
Our next review is High West’s A Midwinter Nights Dram Act 7, Scene 6. As evidenced by the Forsythia in the picture, I am a bit late to review this one as the Forsythia is the harbinger of Spring for my area, but then again, I have never been one to limit my whiskey intake based on the season. …
Glenmorangie “A Tale of Cake”
Glenmorangie A Tale of Cake is the second “A Tale of…” Limited Edition series release that I will review, but the first that was released chronologically……Let them have cake?
Teeling Single Pot Still vs. Teeling Small Batch
Next up for St. Patty’s Week is Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.
We reviewed Teeling Small Batch a while back so now we will set our sights (tastes?) on another one of Teeling’s whiskeys, the Single Pot Still. This whiskey is made from 50% unmalted spring barley and 50% malted barley, which was then tripled distilled and aged in a variety of casks including ex-bourbon barrels, virgin American Oak barrels (new barrels), and sherry casks. This particular bottle was bottled in September of 2019.
Jameson Irish Whiskey vs. Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition
The first review of St. Patty’s Week 2022 is the O.G., Jameson Irish Whiskey. In addition to what was posted on Instagram, we will also review the Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition and compare it to the original. Let’s get started…
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Chardonnay Casks
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a newer whiskey on the market from Barton 1792 Distillery, sister distillery of Buffalo Trace, all under the Sazerac umbrella. This newer series released three Bourbons with an “extended cask finish” in Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay wine casks. According to the labels, these bourbons were aged “many years” and then finished for “several more years”. Typically, you see “finishing” for 6-12 months, so having something finished for “many years” should impart more of the wine cask elements to the final product. We will be reviewing the Chardonnay finished version of this series. While I do love me a nice port finish, I wanted to try something new, and Chardonnay finished bourbons are not that common. So here we go.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 17
I asked some of my Instagram followers what I should review next and The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Years was suggested. Just in luck, I had a bottle on hand. As those that have read some of my previous reviews know, I am a big The Balvenie fan so I was more than happy to jump on this suggestion.
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….
Aberfeldy 18 Year Red Wine Cask Finished
The Aberfeldy 18 Year Finished in French Red Wine casks from Pauillac, Bordeaux was named Whisky Advocate’s #10 (of Top 20) in 2020. I purchased it a while back but it has been sitting on my shelf waiting for a good time to open. Why not now?
Glen Moray Elgin Classic Port Finish
This is the final review (for now) on my lower price point whisk(e)y reviews. We have explored bourbon, rye and Irish thus far, so now it is time for a single malt Scotch. In an attempt to keep it an apples-to-apples comparison, I selected another $30 bottle to see how a single malt matches up at that price point.