The Art of Whisky

THE ART OF WHISKY

A fine collection of different styles of whiskies

A good evening to each and everyone. I've been thinking about this upcoming blog post for quite some time now, trying to "plan" it to the best of my ability. I want it to be a bit more detailed and comprehensive than my usual "let's make a drink!" because the issue in hand needs to be explained better. Well, to be more exact I want to share this with you dear readers.

So where do I start??

Well, first of all, almost a year back I started taking proper notes regarding whiskies with the intention of self-quote "Not only do I find it interesting to take notes aka micromanaging with these kinds of products, I want to learn." This has been not only fun but also something very helpful and interesting. Moreover, last year I held my New Year's Resolution 2014 and pulled off the roughly ~70 whiskies (and other products in the process), learning more of the Art of Whisky. 

I'm no longer a 20-year-old lad. The liqueurs and other stuff (I could afford) have been put aside. My taste buds have matured with me and I can now afford the more expensive stuff as well! Don't get me wrong, I still love the creation and drinking of cocktails but in the past years they're turned from fruity and fancy long drinks into short(er) ones that have a bit of an oompf to it.

Also, with age and experience I've started to take a bigger and better liking to stronger alcohols i.e. cognacs and rums, but mostly whiskies. My collection has started to grow and I like it!

So why whiskies? The answer is quite simple. Of all the different types of alcohols in the world (rums, tequilas, vodkas, cognacs etc.), whisky is the only one which flavor spectrum varies so much depending on where you make it! Vodkas get smoother, cognacs/rums softer and fruitier but whiskies? Take any land where whisky is being made and you have a completely unique product at hand. Not to mention Scotland alone and its various types of different blends/single malts! You have the Islands, Lowlands, Highlands and Speyside and they're all so different. North American (bourbon), Japanese whiskies and in the last decades the rest of Europe has started to get some well-deserved recognition as well.

And I don't want to miss out on those flavors.

In September 2013 when I started my (first ever) bartending job at Teerenpeli I remember my boss ask me at the time "Would you be interested in becoming a whisky ambassador for Teerenpeli at some point?" I agreed with an open heart knowing this would be an excellent opportunity for me to learn more. To become more.

Teerenpeli Lahti restaurant & distillery

So in February, 2015, it happened. The Teerenpeli Whisky Ambassador course 2 was organized. I applied immediately, trying to summarize in the application my last two years of learning whiskies into four lines. I was accepted.

Three days ago I went to Lahti where the training was held. An intense two days of learning about our whisky and everything from the single grain of barley to the distillation process until you have a glass of whisky in front of your nose. We also visited the malting facility and the well where the whisky gets its ground water from.

Keep in mind that I am not any kind of ambassador at the moment. The training is still in progress but I shall keep you updated as soon as possible.

Not only am I sincerely happy for all of this to happen to me, but I feel confident about this too. I believe in our products and I can easily recommend our whiskies to people, especially to those who are living far away.

So if I were to summarize my feelings at the moment...Pride and moreover, a journey to a land of flavors that never end. Starting from our very own distillery in Lahti.

Random Access Cocktails (RAC)

RANDOM ACCESS COCKTAILS

A good Monday evening to everyone! Last night I had a little game with a friend of mine after some heavy duty Dungeons&Dragons. He had brought a bottle of sour apple schnapps so I thought "Why not randomly decide two other liqueurs and whip up a drink of them?" What a splendid idea!

Three "rules":

1. 2 cl of sour apple included
2. one lime wedge squeezed in
3. 4 cl of apple juice included

So we headed to my bar cabinet and rolled a d20 to decide which Dekuyper liqueurs we would use! We both rolled once and with 20 bottles available we got the following combinations:

• peach & blueberry
• amaretto & watermelon

#1

sour apple, peach, blueberry, apple juice, lime wedge

So here's the first one. With a fresh aroma, you couldn't really notice the peach flavor. The blueberry on the other hand dominated most of the drink leaving only a crisp, US-candy-ish (jelly bean) aftertaste to it!

#2

sour apple, amaretto, water melon, apple juice, lime wedge

The second one was a peculiar mixture! You have that distinct almond aroma, tastes like amaretto and then changes to the watermelony flavors! The apple part has completely disappeared!

In its essence, both cocktails weren't "super delicious". Sure, one goes (for the ladies) but they both had a problem of being very sugary (like candy), synthetic and something youngsters would appreciate. All of this was culminated in our discussion:

Me: "Try having six of these!"

Friend: " :D "

Angostura 1919 / El Dorado 15yo Old Fashioned

Angostura 1919 / El Dorado 15yo 

Old Fashioned

Angostura 1919 version

El Dorado 15yo version

A fine evening to each and all! Tonight I created a cocktail courtesy of Charlotte Voisey and her Flor de Caña Old Fashioned. Since I didn't have the original ingredients at hand I made a little adjustments/twists to suit my needs. In the end, it turned out alright!

As we know, an Old Fashioned can easily be modified by changing the base spirit. Bourbon is the traditional one but with little tweaks you can make it appeal to people who might not like the taste of bourbon (if such people exist :D). What I did was two versions because quite frankly, the first one did not catch the essence of what I was looking for. Let's break down what I did here:

• 6 cl aged rum (Angostura 1919/El Dorado 15yo this time)
• 2 bs brown sugar syrup
• 3-4 dashes orange bitters
• 2 orange zest + 1 for garnish

Put all the ingredients in the mixing glass, press the orange zest for their essential oils and drop them in as well. Give it a good stir with ice and strain into your glass. Flame one orange zest over the drink and use it as a garnish. Serve.

As it is no mystery that different rums taste differently, the way the worked in this particular cocktail was astonishing. With the Angostura 1919 version it was a bold, spicy cocktail. Elegant, but strong. I did not quite got the fruity aromas I was hoping for so later this evening I made a second one using El Dorado 15yo rum. Now the cocktail had a much more "aromatic" sense to it, making it a better drink overall.

Quite the cocktail, I say!

Grasshopper

GRASSHOPPER

Good evening y'all! Tonight's cocktail is a true classic! A colleague of mine once said and quote:

"This is just a Marianne made with cream!"

No. A Marianne is a Grasshopper made with milk! Done properly, this cocktail is a rather sweet and super pepperminty/fresh (!) pre - or after dinner drink. Not to mention how easily it is done. What you need is to remember the simple 1:1:1 ratio;

• 1 part crème de menthe (green peppermint liqueur)
• 1 part crème de cacao (white!)
• 1 part fresh cream

Don't use non-fat/low-fat cream.

So shake these up with plenty of ice, double strain into your chilled cocktail glass/coupe. Optionally grind some fresh nutmeg on top and serve. This is a really delicious drink. Like its Finnish counterpart Marianne (2 cl peppermint liqueur, 2 cl crème de cacao [brown] and milk built in a tall glass), the Grasshopper is just a much more richer cocktail in general. Not drunk too many a night, they make excellent cocktails for everyone to enjoy.

Grant's granting Grant's!

GRANT'S GRANTING GRANT'S!

(oh the puns)

Hello everyone! It is time for another grand tasting! Today's tasting include a set of three blended whiskies from the same manufacturer! I present you the Grant's tasting evening! (applause)

A brief summary first. As the shipment from Germany arrived bringing all kinds of liquid goods, my good friend (who is a big fan of Grant's blend) wanted to know whether their two special blends are worth their money. That is, if they're good. "Well let's give it a go then!" I said (not really but for the story's sake just play along) and within short notice managed to ask a colleague from work to join us as well. Alas, one friend (couple) couldn't make it after all so it was up to us three to objectively assess and evaluate the goods.

If you didn't know, Grant's is one of the biggest owner's in the whisky business, owning e.g. Glenfiddich. This evening's samples included:

1. Grant's Family reserve blended Scotch whisky
2. Grant's Ale Cask reserve (a blend finished in ale casks)
3. Grant's Sherry Cask reserve (a blend finished in oak casks that previously held Oloroso sherry)

As far as I know, the "regular" blend is widely available in pretty much anywhere but the special blends might be harder to come by. Then again I didn't know Grant's had a set of 12, 18 and 25yo as well so...who am I to decide?

Before we really get down to business, I must I just must stop you right there. I will interrupt the Grant's session with an outsider I just had to try before the official set!

This bourbon is the shit!

To the nose, an explosion of bourbon-vanilla and in the mouth starts strong and followed by a sweet toastiness. The following video explains the quality of this bourbon:

Okay! Let's get back to business.

Courtesy of Minttu Virolainen

We had a 4 cl measure of each and (if wanted) water to the side (to add). The "regular" Grant's smells like it (any household whisky) should; a bit stingy. In the mouth it has a very light peatiness and adding a drop of water verifies this. The Ale Cask had a softer nose to it and tasted softer as well. But the finish wasn't as pleasant as with the regular one, even slightly bitter! The true surprise was with the Sherry Cask blend! Smooth as fudge, light smokiness, peat and sherry notes (duh) really gave this blend an edge!

Out of the three the Sherry cask was a clear winner. The regular blend came in second and the Ale cask came in third. Price-wise the special blends cost pretty much the same as the regular one albeit having 0.3L less in volume.

Whisky tasting, serious business!

The event ended up being a great success! If not after the three full measures of whisky (my colleague had a G&T before), another bourbon glass and the last Glenfiddich 12yo, I enjoyed my time sampling these products! I can't wait for the next time a similar event is being organized!

Gin Sour

GIN SOUR

Hello again! Today we explore a truly classic cocktail, which in fact is one if not the easiest to make in its category. The Gin Sour. To simplify what a sour is, basically it comes down to

1. Choice of liquor
2. Fresh lemon juice
3. Simple syrup

The ratio might vary from bar to bar or even recipe-wise, but a solid 2:1:1 works just fine. So what liquor to use? That's the beauty of this drink! You could pretty much use anything you want and still have an amazing cocktail. Or an interesting one. A vodka sour, whisky sour, tequila sour, campari sour, midori sour and so forth. Only keep in mind if using a very sweet alcohol base, to cut back with the sugar syrup. You want the cocktail to be fresh and crisp, not overly sweet.

Let's get back to this one. Easy to make, solid in taste (love the pun).

• 4 cl gin of choice
• 2 cl fresh lemon juice
• 2 cl simple syrup
• (optional) garnish

Since gins have very different flavors nowadays, the choice of garnish is relevant. With Hendrick's gin I definitely would've used cucumber to garnish my drink. But since I used Schwartzwald dry gin, which is a very citrusy gin, the classic "lemon+cherry" worked out fine.

Pour ingredients in a shaker, add ice, shake, rattle and roll. Strain, garnish and serve. There you go!

I liked it. It is all a rather "manly" drink, but has that nice citrusy note to it. Also it wasn't too sweet but just enough to be...well, sour :D To be honest though, I could've used 5 cl gin instead of 4 cl but that's alright. The drink tasted excellent!

A promise made is a promise kept

A promise made is a promise kept

A 365 days' work between the covers

This year's last season greeting to you all! It is the last day of 2014 and I have something big to discuss.

As this year has come to a wonderful end, you might remember me talk about my New Year's Resolution for the year 2014. A quick recap to those who can't be bothered with the link;

"In the year 2014 I will/have taste/d every alcohol product (most importantly the whiskies) we sell at our bar."

"The commandments with twists and turns"

A great way to combine work and pleasure:

1. Work: I want to learn how different whiskies taste like so I know what I am selling our customers
2. Pleasure. I want to learn to taste different whiskies to become better at it. 

Now 365 days to sample what, ~100 products in total? (I counted them, 133 is the correct amount) What looked like an easy job actually ended up being one of the closest thing to be unfinished!

Okay, let's break this "task" down. What did really happen during this year?

1. The whiskies

This included each and every whisky our bar holds. Naturally, in the course of one full year, some whiskies were drunk before I got to them and subsequently some new products were available for me to assess. As long as I had each currently available sampled at the end of this year, I considered it a success. Every time I sample a product, write down the date as well.

Example page. Name, "type" and date when tasted.

2. The liquors

This meant the rest. From the mild ABVs (e.g. port/sherry) to the hard stuff (gins, rums, vodkas and other).

3. No (tap) beers, wines or mixer liqueurs!

I deliberately wanted to limit this section not to be included in the resolution. The reason is quite simple. Sampling low ABV mixer liqueurs doesn't make much sense (no-one ever orders them separately) and with the bottled products we had so many seasonal changes (cidre weeks, summer beers, winter ales and so forth). The same goes for the wines. Although we have a more or less "steady" list, our wines changed throughout the year quite a few times.

4. What if a product was drunk before I got to it?!

Well that sucked! For instance, I was really sad that the Nikka 10yo was drunk before I was able to taste it. Okay, I got to taste its older 20yo brother but still, evaluating them together would have been so much better. Later on I will let you know about the ones "missing in action" and "new incomers".

5. Which one did you like the best? Which one was not good?

Each product, be it a whisky or a liquor, I rated with a 1-5 star system. When evaluating an article, I tried to write down a few notes regarding said product and finally putting a "rating" to it. Coarsely, the rating as follows and keep in mind, this is according to my opinion. What I say only reflects my personal preferences:

* : Did not taste good at all!
** : Meh. Lacked potential and taste.
*** : Palatable. Missed that little "oompf" to receive another star.
**** : Very good! Wouldn't mind having another one!
***** : Exceptional in taste, texture and finish. A diamond.

Strictly speaking, only the greatest whiskies got in my personal Hall of Fame. They needn't be a five-star whisky to achieve this but if they managed to knock my socks right off my feet, they made it to the list. In addition, the ones (whiskies) I liked the least had the "honor" of becoming products in my Hall of Shame. As for the rest liquors, I did rate them as well but did not include them in the HoF, for obvious reasons.

Finally, every time I had a sample at our bar, I kept the receipt. I wanted to know how much I spent over the year to accomplish this task.

MISSING IN ACTION(never got to sample these)

• Benriach 12yo non-chill filtered
• Benriach 16yo
• Nikka 10yo
• Highland Park Loki 15yo
• Laphroaig 10yo cask strength
• Laphroaig 18yo
• Ardbeg non-chill filtered
• Minttu (black mint)
• Koskenkorva Nordic Berries
• Koskenkorva Blueberry
• Koskenkorva Lingonberry
• Ardbeg Auriverdes

NEW PRODUCTS(available to sample)

• Nikka 20yo
• Ardbeg Corryveckan
• Plantation XO Rum
• Nikka from the Barrel
• Macallan Ruby

THE FINAL WHISKY
MISSION COMPLETED :D

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

So up to this day, I had finished everything else except for three whiskies! The Laphroaig series; Triple Wood, Cairdeas 2011 and Quarter Cask. After my work I sample the two former and as I got home I popped open the QC. Thus my New Year's Resolution was completed! And not a day too early :D

So what ended up being totally awesomesauce in flavor and which did not quite make it to the top (or even past the start line)?

The Hall of Fame and Shame, respectively

Eventually, according to my taste and preferences, some whiskies proved their right to become awesome, great and fabulous. "Sadly", for two whiskies this was not the case but quite the opposite. Glenlivet 18yo, Macallan 12yo sherry oak and Nikka 20yo were exceptional in taste and I had no problem adding this trio to the list! On the other hand, Bowmore 10yo (Devil's cask) and Johnny Walker Red Label were something quite horrid. Okay, for Red Label's defence, it is not a single malt but a blend. But even mixed with cola it didn't taste good! For ratings' sake I had to give it a "parenthesis" one star.

So what did this all cost me? Of course I didn't pay for the stuff I could drink at home. I counted the sums in the receipts and ended up in a sum of 343.8€! I actually had to recount twice because I got a bigger sum before! :D So this cost me less than 1€/day!

I have to admit that this New Year's Resolution was worth every cent. Not only did I experience a wide range of flavors but also (hopefully! :D) became more proficient in spirits of different styles. Now, could I explain you thoroughly about a whisky I tasted in February? Probably not. Sampling half a measure of whisky does not make me a pro, no sir! This is not just one year's job. It's a life-long process that follows one to their grave. It's a passion. If nothing else, at least I had quite a few different whiskies and other liquors to drink!


Sláinte!

When in doubt, gin it out!

A GIN TASTING

Well, hello everyone! It's been a good two and a half months (!) since my last post. My sincerest apologizes, I just happened to become a father for my first-born daughter, so I was rather busy all this time :D

But have no fear, I am here, with new tricks in my bag! My new (and fourth) shipment from Germany arrived just dandyishly so I could pull off another great tasting. This time we were to explore the world of gin. Given, from only two countries, but still!

Before we get to the details, I will try to "open up" my history to gin. As for most, gin equals Beefeater, Bombay, Gordon's and gin&tonics. It does make excellent other cocktails as well (the legendary French 75 for example) but is it really good drunk pure? This we were about to find out. Of course, we sampled these products with some "special" tonics as well and finished the night with three different gin-based cocktails.

Our first gin, a true classic, if you may, was Beefeater London dry gin. This was known to everyone of us the best. The second one, an organic gin, The Duke of Munich, from...you guessed, Munich. The last was a gin "titled" by the world as a "super-premium-excellence-diamond-platinum-one-of-a-kind"; Monkey 47 Schwartzwald dry gin from Germany as well! All of them were at least 45% ABV (90 proof), the Beefeater and Monkey 47 being 47% (94 proof) respectively. So stronger than your usual stuff.

SAMPLING

As you can see, this was super interesting :D What was really remarkable was the fact that gin as a product is really versatile! The amount of different styles of gin has sky rocketed in the last few years. Taste-wise, the Beefeater was the purest. Meaning, this tastes as people would imagine gin should taste like. Moreover, even with 47% it was incredibly smooth.

The Duke of Munich on the other hand, quite the opposite. Although in its purest form it wasn't quite as palatable as the other two, it had a long, lingering aftertaste. To the nose it was a bit stuffy. But there's quite the twist to this gin, explained later!

Thirdly and as our "joker" the Monkey 47. According to their websites they used lingonberries in the process of making this gin. Anyhow, this gin was extremely fresh and lemony! One wouldn't believe it's gin at first! It was truly an exception to the bunch.

So now that we've sampled these pure, how about some tonic added?

Instead of using the o'regular Schweppes tonic water, I had a few bottles of Tonic Monaco at my disposal (from Aquamonaco). With silly 0.23L sizes (seriously), we used the extra dry tonic with our dry London gin and the regular tonic with the two others.

Of course the garnish part plays an important role. With the Beefeater, a lemon slice. The Duke of Munich received an orange slice (as recommended on their website) and with the Monkey 47 I decided to go with a lime wedge (just because). I tried to extract some juice of said fruit before adding the tonic.

As you could imagine, adding extra dry tonic with dry gin, the result? Quite dry!

I mean it was really, really dry. And I didn't know you could drink liquid that dry. Phooie! The greatest (positive) reaction was from the Duke of Munich version. Albeit it didn't claim much success by itself, in a tonic it was the best one! The Monkey 47 + tonic did succeed from the given task quite nicely as well. A very refreshing choice!

We finished the evening with three gin cocktails: Club Cover Cocktail, Bee's Knees and the Pegu Club Cocktail, in all using different gins (in given order).

Club Cover Cocktail was liked the best

Okay, I lied. I also made a Boston Sour.

Delicious. Period.

Summa summarum, the world of gin is exploding. The mass-produced "we-all-know-these" gins are getting substituted by special, distiller cuts or otherwise extraordinary products with each having their own little special quirk in their taste. I also believe that everyone can find their own favorite, let it be with or without (any) mixer.

Clover Club Cocktail

CLOVER CLUB COCKTAIL

A wonderful evening to each and every one!

Tonight I present you with a classic cocktail; The Clover Club Cocktail. Fair enough, I made the most common variation of this, explained later. Moreover, here's a perfect example how egg whites work in cocktails and what an outstanding looks they give to the final product! Let's take a look, shall we?

• 4.5 cl gin
• 1.5 cl lemon juice
• 1.5 cl raspberry syrup or grenadine
• 1 egg white

The original recipe calls for raspberry syrup. The most used variation of this (how I made it, too) substitutes the syrup with grenadine. I won't get a bottle (if I even find one) for this one particular drink. But anyhow, combine everything in a shaker and dry shake first. The egg white emulsifies the drink. Then add the ice, shake again and double strain into your chilled cocktail glass. Raspberry garnish optional (should you have any at your disposal).

I even wrote down notes regarding this cocktail, since my wife was watching a TV-series from the laptop.

First things first. Beautiful color and texture! Velvety smooth and the layers stay in the drink for a long, long time. Even the mouth-feel was exquisite! Taste-wise, the gin was definitely present, albeit "smooth". The Club Clover isn't too bitter and has a definite after-sweetness to it.

I give this cocktail a 4½/ 5 for the outlooks (seriously this is one good looking cocktail) and a 3/5 for taste. Given, using the "proper" ingredient (raspberry syrup) would probably make a big difference.

*EDIT*

using raspberry syrup now

So I made the same drink...almost two years later, now using proper raspberry syrup instead of grenadine. The drink is otherwise exactly the same. My thoughts? Was better, definitely. Some recipes call for some dry French vermouth for that little oompf and "yay I'm an adult" :D, I can't see anything wrong with that. That said, this drink is easily modified and in my sincerest opinion making a twist to this IBA cocktail does not hurt at all!

Punch in the face

PUNCH IN THE FACE

Three punch ideas for a par-tayh

Good evening everyone. With my wife one (1!) day due from "labor" (these are interesting times, my dear readers), a good friend of mine gave me a challenge!

Last Saturday I bumped into him at my work. He had a friend who was organizing a big party and needed a good punch for it. So my friend challenged me to come up with a few ideas and preferably have a tasting at my place. Since I'm rather short on time (our first born should pop any given day now), I managed to make the tasting happen today.

I was given one restriction; the punch can't be overly sweet.

So as I rode my bike on Sat. (technically Sun.) night home, I came up with three ideas, of which I actualized two. I didn't know the "theme" for the party, so I made a range of different styles of punches which would work and if needed, could be tweaked easily.

For a punch, a few reminders. The most important part; garbage in, garbage out. Using crap products gives you a said result; crap. That said, it is vital to recognize we're building a punch here. So there's no reason to buy champagne when you can use sparkling wine. Well there's one obvious reason. You don't spend so much money with the latter. BUT say one uses juices for their punch. Getting the cheapest carton of concentrated stuff can and will make a big difference.

In addition, always work in parts. It is way easier making a big bowl of punch when you can easily e.g. ten-fold your amount of liquid poured in and still have the same consistency with each batch.

Lastly, freeze a carton of juice instead of a big chunk of ice for each batch. This way as the block melts it gives more flavor than just regular ice/water.

So let's get down to business. The three ideas I had were:

Grasovka-pear and the citron-peach, respectively.

• Grasovka (bison grass vodka)
• Xanté
• Cloudy apple juice (premium)
• Sparkling wine

• Citron vodka (in this case Absolut)
• Peach liqueur
• Orange juice (premium/"squeezed")
• Sparkling wine
• (twist, explained later)

And the last (which was not made since I didn't have the material)

• Bacardi Razz/Forest fruit vodka/Nordic berries vodka
• Cassis/raspberry/relevant liqueur
• Forest fruit juice
• Sparkling rose wine

With the first, I thought of a "wintery apple pie/pear punch" with cinnamon sticks/apple slices as a decoration. The consensus was this would work as a drink but was too heavy for a punch. The second one I made (two versions actually) was a solid candidate. The fact I squeezed the juice for the glass made it (surprise, surprise) very fresh and easily enjoyed! I made another version where I substituted the peach liqueur with apricot brandy and a Fanta and the difference was huge, in favor for the first version.

The last idea was something "forest fruity", merely to give options for a different kind of punch.

Whatever they decide to go with in the end, I really felt that this was a fun assignment to have as we also discussed total punch amounts + pretty much covered everything related to the party, punch and garnishes in general.

Whiskey tastings and life

WHISKEY TASTINGS AND LIFE

Hello again dear readers! The last two days have been quite extraordinary indeed as I had two tastings with completely different styles of whiskies! The true beauty of these is doing it with friends and eventually, the whole process of a tasting turns out into a long get-together. I really like that. 

This "two-part" tasting started on Tuesday at the bar I work at, where I met two of my good friends and a friend of my friend, an Italian exchange student...

:D

Jokes aside, he was a really cool guy. He drank beer with us and wasn't afraid of anything.

So what was the first tasting all about? The peat bomb Ardbeg - series hailing from Islay! As far as I was concerned, I've never been a true fan of heavily smoked/peaty whiskies. But with maturity comes great respon...taste bud development and lately I can appreciate a good smoked whisky. I would still prefer a sherry-like malt over any Islay whisky, though. But as I want to finish my project (New Year's Resolution 2014), I knew this day would eventually come.

The tasting included:

• Ardbeg 10yo
• Ardbeg Uigeadail (matured in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks)
• Ardbog (matured in ex-manzanilla sherry casks for at least 10 years)
• Ardbeg Corryveckan (previously a Committee-only bottling, it is intended as a replacement for Airigh Nam Beist in the core range)

For me these were difficult to evaluate properly. Yes, they were really peaty and all of them had an incredibly long finish. I kid you not when I say the flavors lingered in the mouth for a long, long time after tasting them. Corryveckan had peppery notes and out of these four I enjoyed the Uigeadail the best. Overall these whiskies were genuinely soft.

The evening continued with beers and alike with a soft touch of schnapps. But this was just the beginning...

The following day (one of my friends stayed over for the night) I conducted a Bourbon tasting with three products! I held this tasting twice today; once at noon and a second time when one friend got here from school.

For this tasting I initially had in mind to order the whole range of Jim Beam (they have over a dozen of different styles of bottling) and truly evaluate the differences (age and effect of wood respectively). But while writing a letter to a friend of mine a few weeks back and explaining this, I had a doubt. "Would I really want this? Can I really afford this?" I ended up ordering only two different ones along with the "basic" one I already had:

• Jim Beam White (4yo)
• Jim Beam Black (6yo)
• Jim Beam Signature Craft (12yo)

One really distinctive difference with these products was the effect of age and thus color; the 12yo has a copper-ish color whereas the youngest (white/4yo) possesses a light golden (slightly shifting to green) color. Woody notes were present , perfume and wax. With age the flavor becomes apparent smoother. I did enjoy the Signature Craft's smoothness but taste-wise the Black was a tad better.

As we sampled these bourbons as their own, I then had the same amount of said whiskies in glasses with a fixed amount of soft drink (pepsi) added to it. A big thanks to a friend of mine, who gave me whisky stones the weekend before; these became extremely handy! So what I did was put about 2 cl (~½ fl oz) of bourbon, add two whisky stones and 5 cl of pepsi (1½ fl oz) to "reanimate" a bourbon&coke and perhaps taste how they differ. Had I used regular ice the drink would've eventually watered down altering the results of this "scientific" experiment.

As a joker I then introduced a fourth bourbon i.e. Maker's Mark, which we sipped but didn't really evaluate. This was kind of a "hey now that you've tasted these Jim Beams have a sip of this!"

Tasting in progress

Before the other friend got here we popped open the Highland Park 12yo (or HP when feeling rad). I have to admit, this whisky was a purchase truly based on comments/reviews. I must concur with the rest; this is a good whisky! The remarkable aspect of this is how I couldn't nose the subtle smokiness but in the mouth it is present. It also has a long finish, which I appreciate.

The evening ended with a game of hearts. 

It was a really nice two days with good drink and better company!