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Posts Tagged ‘Review’

Review: Diablesse Clementine Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 10, 2023

According to the Diablesse Caribbean Rum website their Clementine Spiced Rum is produced in Guyana at the Diamond Distillery using locally produced sugar cane molasses which has been distilled in both traditional pot and column stills using methods which stretch back in time for over 100 years.

This is an all female owned Rum Company, and  their rum, Diablesse Clementine Spice Rum, is named for a feminine figure from Caribbean folklore. Once human, Diablesse’s vanity causes her to give her soul to the Devil in return for eternal youth. Unfortunately, this deal also transforms her into a demon with a hideous face and one leg that ends in a cow’s foot. By hiding her face with a wide brimmed hat and her foot by walking with one leg on the grass, she retains the power of seduction over male victims who she lures into the forest to be killed. (That’s quite a backstory for a spiced rum!)

Here is a link to my full review where you can learn the rest of the story:

Review: Diablesse Clementine Spiced Rum

“… The spices are sort of aggressive indicating the rum will have a bit of bite in the delivery. The overall effect however is pleasant as the flavour and spice mixture seems to be nicely balanced. In the background we notice hints of alcohol, not surprising as the rum is bottled at full strength …”

Please enjoy my review which includes my cocktail suggestion, The Boxcar.

Chimo!

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Review: Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 7, 2023

Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is an original member of  Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbon Collection composed of Booker’s, Baker’s, Knob Creek,and Basil Hayden’s.  Although Jim Beam Distillers no longer promotes the Small Batch Collection, I would like to suggest that this selection of premium bourbon played no small part in the explosion of popularity of the spirit for whiskey enthusiasts. (It certainly has a positive impact on me.)

Baker’s Bourbon is named for Baker Beam, who was the grand-nephew of James Beauregard Beam (Jim Beam). Each bottle is poured from a single barrel. When that barrel is used up, the next bottles will come from a new barrel. This means that the overall flavour profile is unique to each barrel produced.

Baker’s Bourbon is bottled at 107 proof (53.5% alcohol by volume) and produced from whisky which was aged for a minimum of 7 years.

Here is a link to my review:

Review: Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

“… The breezes above the glass were rich and enticing with the scents of sappy oak, rich vanilla and caramel chocolate. Honeycomb joins in with luscious baking spices (particularly cloves and cinnamon) drifting into the breezes …”

Please enjoy this review; hopefully I will get a chance to take another look at the other original members of the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection in the coming months.

Chimo!

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Review: Trait-Carré Aged Gin 1665

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 5, 2023

It’s time to go back to the Distillerie de Québec which was founded several years ago by Christophe Légasse and David Lévesque. So far in my examinations of the distilleries spirits, I have reviewed their  Rhum St-Roc Foundation, as well as their Trait-Carré Dry Gin, both of which I enjoyed.

Today I will share my review of Trait-Carré Aged Gin 1665 which has been constructed from the same botanicals as the dry gin, but aged for up to two years in quarter casks of American rye whisky. This aged gin has won numerous awards, most notable a Double Gold Medal at the 2020 Berlin International Spirits Competition.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Trait-Carré Aged Gin 1665

“… Juniper arrives alongside a mild butterscotch sweetness and light scents of almond and vanilla. Citrus zest and red berries give the gin a light fruity quality and then a sort of menagerie of indistinct scents and smells arrive in a jumble giving me an impression of those dense evergreen forests that grow in the foothills next to the Rocky mountains …”

Please enjoy my review of this ‘sipping’ gin.

Chimo!

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Farewell to Appleton 151 Dark Jamaican Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 3, 2023

On March 6, 2010 I posted my original review for Appleton 151 Dark Jamaican Rum which I was told at the time was one of the more favoured rums on the Isle of Jamaica.  A lot of time has passed, and now 13 years later I have reached the bottom of that bottle which was originally opened 13 years ago.

Unfortunately, the overproof dark rum appears to have been discontinued for several years now. The only bottles I see for sale are on auction sites rather than retailers.  As this rum holds a bit of nostalgia for me (it was one of the first rums I reviewed many years ago) I thought I would give it a brief update on the website with a better bottle image and more detailed tasting notes using the last swallows from my now empty bottle.

Here is a link to the review of this blast from the past:

Review: Appleton 151 Dark Jamaican Rum

“… The aroma is strong with molasses, brown sugar spices and a heavy alcohol updraft.  I was not expecting such a nice aroma. The alcohol masks the individual scents to some degree, but I can identify  spices akin to cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, as well as spicy orange and banana peel. And a lot of alcohol astringency …”

Let’s hope this one comes back.

Chimo!

Posted in Overproof Rum, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Farewell to Appleton 151 Dark Jamaican Rum

Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye

Posted by Arctic Wolf on June 30, 2023

The Last Straw Distillery is Ontario’s smallest production micro-distillery located at 40 Pippin Rd. in Vaughan, Ontario (a wee bit north of Toronto) just off Highway 400 and around the corner from Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre.

Last Straw Distillery’s Rice and Rye Whisky is the result of a question posed by Mark Hayhoe, then of K2 Milling. He wondered out loud when speaking to Don DiMonte of Last Straw whether wild rice make good whisky?

So the folks at Last Straw Distillery ran a batch of Argentinian Wild Rice through the distillation process. Problem was, the batch didn’t produce enough distillate to fill a cask. So they decided to to top up that cask (a #3 char re-charred ex-Bourbon barrel) with rye distillate. Four years and Nine months later, they decided to send out some samples and get a few opinions as they prepared to bottle their new creation.

The whisky sent to me to analyze was constructed from 55% Argentinian long grain rice, sourced from farms in Cordoba, Argentina and 45% Ontario Rye grain sourced from small family farms in York and Simcoe Counties.

Here is a link to what I found out when I tasted this new Rice and Rye whisky:

Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye

“… When I nosed the glass, I found it was full of leathery grain and rye spice. Some dusty dry grain is evident as well. Bits of sweet honeycomb is forming in the breezes and there is a little fresh tobacco as well some light baking spices …”

Please enjoy this review and stay tuned for more Canadian Whisky reviews in the coming weeks (and a little bourbon too).

Chimo!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review, Whisky Review | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Review: Last Straw Distillery Rice and Rye