Macallan 10 Year Fine Oak

This is the first "real" single malt Scotch I purchased for myself, for the express purpose of sipping and learning and appreciating. It was on sale at a local liquor store for a price I then considered "reasonable" - $36 or so - and when seeing it against the value of the other Macallan bottlings (whose pricing has no real upper limits, it would seem), it appeared to be a steal. 

The Balvenie Caribbean Cask (14 Year)

This was my introduction to The Balvenie - a distiller whose every Speyside expression seems to garner glowing reviews from professional reviewers and casual drinkers alike. I have had a handful of their whiskies, and am fairly chomping at the bit to try a few of the older, more expensive varieties (I'm looking at you, PortWood 21 Year). 

Light or heavy, Speyside whiskies are known for their sweetness, and this is something that the folks at The Balvenie seem to specialize in - a very rich, endless sweetness that is never cloying or sticks in your teeth. Instead they present a light, dancing sweetness that has facets and details and rewards patience. 

Bruichladdich The Laddie (10 Year)

I just attended a great cookout this last weekend, and the host of the manor was a great aficionado of single malt Scotch. In fact, I invited him to pen some guest reviews - and if I'm lucky, he'll even post about his trip to several distilleries in Scotland, with pictures and the works. 

The one whisky in his cabinet I had never had was Bruichladdich The Laddie, their 10 Year unpeated expression. Coming from the same folks who make Port Charlotte and Octomore, I was mightily intrigued by their "standard" flavor profile, which you might expect to underlie all the other expressions. 

Hakushu 12 Year

Ahhhh.... now we come to the first whisky I truly dislike. And I really wish I didn't - the Hakushu 12 Year is from the same company (Suntory) that presents the fabulous, vaunted Hibiki 12 Year blend and the delicious, well-put-together Yamazaki 12. 

Like Hibiki and Yamazaki, of course, this isn't technically Scotch. But this is the closest Scotch analog of any whisky not made in Scotland, by a landslide. 

anCnoc 12 Year

Before you ask, it's pronounced "a-nock," and comes from the Knockdhu distillery ("nock-DOO") in the village of Knock, somewhere in Aberdeenshire. This makes it a Highland Scotch, generally known for sweet, richly honeyed whiskies. 

ScotchTalk Vol. 2: Oxidation

Oxidation... oooh, sounds sciencey.

Don't worry, no didactic lectures, formulae, or math here. I'm an arts person. But I do want to address a serious drinker's problem: oxidation, aka Booze Rot or Hooch Death.

Most people know that once opened a bottle of wine has a very finite lifespan. After a day or two - unless the air is pumped out of the open bottle using a vacuum system or something like it - it goes flat, loses flavor, and eventually becomes unpalatably gross. 

Lagavulin 16 Year

Ah, finally I get to Lagavulin. Considered by many to be THE Islay Scotch, it's the favorite single malt of many a refined drinker. I first had this delicious beauty at a birthday party in a small apartment on Capital Hill, drinking with a pilot who generously shared his bottle. I was instantly enamored. It's dangerously easy to drink and bottles tend to empty themselves all too quickly.

Bruichladdich Rocks (NAS)

We've covered a bottle from Port Charlotte already, the heavily peated imprint from Islay distiller Bruichladdich ("Brook-LAH-dee"). Yesterday I had a chance to sample this unusual bottle - Bruichladdich Rocks, an "un-peated" Islay single malt. Rocks is but one of a three-part set from Bruichladdich, the other two being the simply named Peat and Waves. I usually like creative and/or descriptive marketing, but this is perhaps not quite enough for me to get a firm hold on. 

Laphroaig Triple Wood

I am slowly, steadily working my way through Laphroaig's entire range of whiskies... and what a glorious ride it's been so far! This is my wife's favorite distillery, and for good reason - one of the great Islay standard bearers, every whisky they make is rich with full flavors - iodine, maritime flavors (seaweed, minerality, salt), rich vanilla, rich oak... and those are the baseline flavors, not counting their special offerings... like the Triple Wood. 

Kilchoman Machir Bay (2013 bottling)

Spoiler alert: This whisky is a big winner. A big, big winner. I sure hope someone from Kilchoman is reading tonight. 

Kilchoman is, by a large margin, the newest distillery on Islay. While you might ask "Hey, what about Bruichladdich?" (like I did), Bruichladdich was actually founded in 1881 and active for years and years, and only closed for a small window in the late 1990s. 

Kilchoman, however, was freshly founded, built from the ground up, in 2005. And apparently the "C" is silent (hence the giant "H" on the package?). As their website notes, it's a very small distillery, and built on a farm (hence the "Islay's Farm Distillery" on the box and bottle), which means that they grow their own barley. Talk about quality control.

ScotchTalk Vol. 1: Sherry

Welcome to Volume One of ScotchTalk, the space I reserve for non-review related subjects. Today: sherry.

Sherry is a big deal in the Scotch world. Sometime around 150 years ago distilleries discovered that aging their whisky in ex-sherry casks lent a richer, positively luscious flavor. And they've been doing it ever since. Now many a bottle proudly features "matured in oloroso sherry casks" or "aged exclusively in ex-sherry casks" or a similar statement.

By totally random chance, about a year ago - just before I got into single malt Scotch in a big way - I went through a huge sherry phase. It remains my favorite wine by a large margin - I prefer a glass of amontillado above any red or white wine I'm offered.

Laphroaig 18 Year

I was very curious about Laphroaig 18 Year, as I love all their younger offerings, and it's rather difficult to find near me. What does a long-aged Islay taste like, I wondered? 

Auchentoshan 12 Year

Wow, and I thought I liked the Auchentoshan Classic! This is instantly delicious whisky. To review: Auchentoshan is probably the most prominent of the remaining Lowland distilleries, all their whisky is triple distilled (like most Irish whisky). 

The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year

The Balvenie is one of those good distillers that makes a little bit of everything, and most of it is highly lauded. Their Caribbean Cask, PortWood, and single cask offerings are particularly well regarded. The DoubleWood 12 (there is an older 17 Year variant I haven't tried yet) is their basic entry level offering, aged a dozen years in both bourbon and sherry casks. 

Longrow CV (NAS)

This was a recommendation by my friend Sonu at Riverside Liquors at 2123 E St NW in Washington DC - he runs Whiskytrade.com, which I recommend visiting (and not just because he's my favorite Scotch source in DC). I've made a sub-hobby out of scouting liquor stores in Washington DC, and Riverside has the widest selection by far. 

Longrow is the heavily peated variety of Springbank, one of the few remaining Campbeltown distilleries. Campbeltown is one of the classic regions of Scotch production, like Lowland, Highland, Speyside, and Islay. Springbank also has an imprint called Hazelburn, which is unpeated, triple-distilled, and quite smooth. I look forward to reviewing that soon. 

Hibiki 12 Year Blend

Technically, although Hibiki is a "whisky" it's not a Scotch because, of course, it's not made in Scotland. Made in Japan by beverage giant Suntory, whose most well known product in the USA, for years and years, was the sickly sweet neon green melon liqueur Midori. 

But the Japanese have always had a strong affinity for Scotch. Scotch arrived with the British back in the 1800s and the complexity and craftsmanship of Scotch (and whisky generally) appealed immediately to the Japanese. Now, in 2014, they make some of the best whisky I've ever had - Scotch or otherwise. I have a very good friend with a highly trusted and refined palate who claims that a 40 Year expression of one of the Suntory whiskies is among the very best he's ever had - and he's had all the very good stuff.