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Posts Tagged ‘Review’

Review: Glenmorangie the Sherry Cask Finish Lasanta

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 18, 2016

sherry-cask-lasanta-sam_2868The Glenmorangie Distillery was officially licensed to produce whisky in 1843 (how long the distillery was unofficial is unknown to me). Glenmorangie, from the beginning, established a tradition of innovation beginning with the construction of tall gin styled stills which would be used to distill their whisky rather than the traditional shorter onion shaped stills in use at the time. They were also amongst the first distilleries to use American oak for maturing their whisky, and in the early 1990’s they were at the forefront of the new style of ‘extra matured’ whiskies which are finished (or perhaps we can say flavoured) by spending time in used wine barrels. (I suggest flavoured because these used wine barrels rarely impart any oak into the whisky, and the primary result of their use is to impart some of the previously held wine’s flavour into the whisky.) The core range of Glenmorangie includes three of these unique extra matured whiskies, the Sherry cask Finish Lasanta, which is a Sherry finished whisky, the Nector D’or, which has a Sauternes wine finish, and the Quinta Ruban, which has a Ruby Port Finish.

Recently the Lasanta received a bit of a make-over from the distillery. Previously the expression was branded Glenmorangie the Lasanta, and to produce the whisky the distillery began with a spirit very similar to their Glenmorangie Original (a ten-year old spirit matured in first and second fill bourbon barrels) which was finished or extra matured in Spanish Olorosso Sherry Casks. The new Glenmorangie the Sherry Cask Lasanta on the other hand carries a full 12 Year Old age statement in clear view, and this spirit is extra matured for the two final years in a combination of  Olorosso and PX Sherry Casks.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Glenmorangie the Sherry Cask Finish Lasanta

“… The initial aroma in the breezes carries obvious scents of dry raisins and dates. It is also oak filled with assertive wood spice, and it is stained with coca and cola.Taking my time with the glass I notice a few citrus notes and building baking spices (vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon) in the air as well …”

Please enjoy my review of the new Lasata expression from Glenmorangie.

Chimo!

 

Posted in Scotch Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Glenmorangie the Sherry Cask Finish Lasanta

Rum Howler Annual Rum Countdown (Best Mixing Rums)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 16, 2016

In addition to my Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown, I have been working on another special project during the year that is 2016 as I have been building, tasting and rating cocktails in secret throughout the year. As a result of these efforts, my annual 2016 Christmas Season Rum Countdown is going to be a little different from years past.

rum-fun-sam_2865

royaloakRather than building a list of the best premium rums this year, my Rum Howler year-end list will feature the very best rums (which I have tasted) which all of us love to serve in cocktails. (Those mixed drinks included the Rum Old Fashioned, the Cuba Libre, the Mojito, and the Daiquiri as well as libations specific to the class of rum I was rating.) Not only does my year-end rum list feature a completely different selection od spirits this year, it is also larger than ever with 50 spirits included for your cocktail enjoyment.

It is my intention that this list represents only those rums we love to mix. Therefore, all of the rums on this list would carry an age statement of less than 5 years. Additionally, if the rum was blended from spirit of different ages, then I used my best judgement to exclude any rum which would carry an average age of 5 or more years. Finally I also excluded any spirit which was marketed as a premium sipping rum. (Just to be clear, although these are all ‘Mixing Rums’, the truth is that many are just fine on their own as sippers giving the rum connoisseur the best of both worlds.)

As with any such list, there is always that one spirit which just missed being included. In this case it is Angostura Royal Oak Select Rum which landed in the #51 spot. And so today, as a sort of prequel to my Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown, I thought I would re-introduce you all to this fine rum from Angostura:

#51 Mixing Rum of 2016: Angostura Royal Oak Select Rum

“… I mixed a few bar drinks in my examinations beginning with the quintessential cocktail for a young amber rum, the Cuba Libre’. I followed that up with a Rum and Ginger cocktail and then a simple Daiquiri. Although all of the cocktails tasted nice, strangely enough I preferred the daiquiri. Of course, when I referred to my original review of this rum which I wrote almost five years ago, I saw that I had come to the same conclusion …”

Please enjoy my review of the Angostura Royal Oak Select Rum, and stay tuned for my Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rum Countdown!

The reveal begins on November 21st, Chimo!

Posted in Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Howler Annual Rum Countdown (Best Mixing Rums)

Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown (2016)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 14, 2016

It is that time of year again, and I have finished my private deliberations for my annual Canadian Whisky Countdown. This is an exercise I thoroughly enjoy every year. For the year that is 2016, my list is bigger than ever as I will have tasted close to 70 Canadian Whiskies during my deliberations.

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If you are wondering how I manage to rank all those whiskies, I will take this opportunity to walk you through the process.

royal-reserve-sam_2648Almost every whisky I considered for this year’s countdown was already tasted and reviewed upon my website. I began with my review scores and placed all of the whisky samples into groupings based upon those scores. Then I tasted the newest bottling of every spirit within my groupings to ascertain whether any deserved to be moved up or down into higher or lower groups. I did not rank anything yet, I just want to recognize whether any spirit (in my opinion) had changed since my most recent review. Those spirits which seemed to have changed were moved up or down as required.

Then I tasted each spirit again. This time I assigned scores to each spirit and compared my new tasting notes and my new scores to my written reviews. All samples which seemed to show quantifiable deviation from my review scores and/or tasting notes were flagged as candidates for revised reviews. (This year, I noticed that an unusual number of samples were flagged.)

Then I did my final deliberations. Each spirit that had been flagged for re-scoring was tasted one more time and new tasting notes were written and new scores assigned. Then I tasted my final groupings one last time and assigned my rankings. The entire process kept me busy for almost ten weeks.

The Rum Howler 2016 Top Canadian Whisky Countdown is the largest ranking of Canadian Spirits I have ever completed. The reveal will begin on November 20th, starting with numbers 50 through to 46; however, I couldn’t help but reveal today, the spirit which would have been added if the list were extended by one:

#51  Royal Reserve Canadian Rye Whisky

“… I taste a nice old-fashioned rye profile with a light dryness that goes for the tonsils. The whisky is crisp on the tongue and the dryness has the ability to pucker the palate making it receptive to another sip. A good dose of caramel arrives with the rye, and the oak spices carry flavours of fresh fruit and citrus peel …”

Stay tuned for the 2016 Rum Howler Top Fifty Canadian Whisky Countdown; the reveal begins on November 20th.

Chimo!

 

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Top 50 Canadian Whisky Countdown (2016)

Review: Glenmorangie Milsean Single Malt Whisky

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 12, 2016

milsean-sam_2872Glenmorangie was among the first Scottish distillers (1960s) to use ex bourbon barrels to age their whisky rather than Spanish oak (sherry casks). This helped to change the taste profile of Scottish Whisky in a significant manner, and today ex bourbon barrels are use extensively alongside ex sherry casks in many Scottish distilleries. Then, in 1996, Glenmorangie introduced their wood finish range which began the distillery’s experimentation with a range of new wood finishes like port wood casks and wine barriques. Again, the industry followed suit, and now wine finishes have become common in the Single Malt industry. Once again Glenmorangie can claim credit for helping to extend the range of the Scottish whisky flavour profile.

Today Glenmorangie continues to extend the taste profile of their whisky with their annual Private Edition Range which features limited edition whiskies which are meant to bring a new or unique characteristic to the Glenmorangie line-up. I was introduced to the newest (the seventh) of these Private Edition bottlings, Glenmorangie Milsean in an old-fashioned St. Louis Streetcar at the top of Edmonton’s High Level Bridge during a whisky tasting hosted by Glenmorangie’s global brand ambassador, Karen Fullerton.

Here is my Review:

Review: Glenmorangie Milsean Single Malt Whisky

“… The initial breezes bring hints of butterscotch and maple that are quickly drowned out by oaky spice and nutty barley grain. There is a bit of leather and burlap giving the dram an earthiness which is quite pleasing.  As the glass sits, the wood and grain spices build up bringing more of that leathery earthiness forward as well as undertones of licorice root and Angelica …”

Please enjoy my review of this wonderful new dram from Glenmorangie.

Chimo!

Posted in Scotch Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Glenmorangie Milsean Single Malt Whisky

Review: Our/Detroit Vodka

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 8, 2016

our-detroit-sam_2831The concept for Our/Vodka was born in Stockholm in 2010. Founder and CEO,  Åsa Caap, who was the former Innovations Director for The Absolut Company, in collaboration with four entrepreneurs from the Swedish agency Great Works developed the idea of local partnerships in which feature a vodka partly distilled, blended and hand bottled in micro-distilleries in different cities. All of the local partners share the same secret recipe, but ingredients are sourced as locally as possible to give each particular vodka its own unique character.  According to the Our/Vodka website:

Our/Vodka was treated as a black ops project under the umbrella of Pernod Ricard before the first micro-distillery opened up in Berlin in 2013 together with two local partners. The pilot in Berlin was a success and a new brand was born.

Our/Vodka now has similar micro-distilleries up and running in Detroit, Seattle, Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, Miami and New York (in addition to the original micro-distillery in Berlin) as of the end of 2016.

Here is my Review:

Review: Our/Detroit Vodka

“… When I was tasting Our/Detroit Vodka for the first time, I chilled the spirit in my freezer for several hours and then served the vodka cold in a small shot glass. Having been placed in my deep freeze for a few hours, Our/Detroit spirit was thickened and lightly creamy. At this cold temperature the vodka was very clean with very little aroma or taste. There was a light grainy spiciness and hints of lemon zest, but that was all …”

Please enjoy my review which includes a nice suggested cocktail, the Peppermint Gimlet.

Chimo!

 

Posted in Vodka, Vodka Reviews | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Review: Our/Detroit Vodka