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Opinions Vary – Whiskey & Cigars

Opinions Vary – Whiskey & Cigars

November 30, 2022

Opinions Vary – Whiskey & Cigars

The classic scene in any movie, tv show, novel, etc. is the man with a glass Whiskey in one hand and Cigar in another. Either he is a fat cat billionaire, a bad ass, or a super hero with metal claws that come out his knuckes. For the rest of us, the regular folk it is either a get together with friends or some quite time to relax.

Cigars and Whiskey pair well and poorly depending on what cigar/whiskey you choose your state of mind and environment you enjoy them in.  I do not think there is any right or wrong was to match them, but I have some thoughts I have settled on after years of enjoying them together.

  • Thought #1: Do not put them together. If the whiskey or cigar is of high quality, it needs nothing else.
  • Thought #2: Do put them together. Have either a smokey whiskey or a lighter whiskey with strong/lighter cigar. You will have to figure out the mix and match that you like.
  • Thought #3: Do put water in front of you. Cigars can take a while to smoke, the whiskey might get drank far faster and with some good conversation time seems to fly. Take a water break between whiskey refills.
  • Thought #4: Do be in the right frame of mind. Be with friends, be in a good mood. Don’t sit and smoke and drink unless you are going to relax and enjoy yourself.
  • Thought #5: Don’t listen to me. Go figure it out for yourself.

For me, if the whiskey is over $75 or the cigar is over $15 for a cigar you really may want to consider not making them a combo. I have noticed that I have prefer separating them in the last few years and have enjoyed them just as much.

My 1st NYC rooftop setup in Midtown, NYC

As I mentioned in my Nub Cigar review, try a cigar with a nice cup of black coffee in the morning. I do not recommend drinking whiskey in the morning. Unless you are stuck in a hotel flying back home and there is The Macallan 18 Year Old to finish up before your flight home. (You know who you are! Ha!)

If you like it, drink it! (or smoke it!) – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisOpinions Vary – Whiskey & Cigars
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Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

November 24, 2022

Name: Buchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, lemons, seaside, flowers, honey

Taste: Malt blend, citrus, iodine notes, honey notes

James Buchanan created his whisky in 1884 as a blended business to supply the England market for blended scotch whisky, the distillery has changed ownership and partnerships over the years. I have seen this bottle on the bottle shelves over the years and the shape an color has caught my eye, but never the price. Nor have I seen it served in bar, a tasting, or offered to me. 

Aged 12 years, blended, and bottled at 40% its nose is nice and surprising clean. The body is medium and decent tasting. Overall, I was very surprised at the taste profile. It is decent and a slugging whisky but good for “mad night” or a “mental rager” as they say in Scotland. I find this one similar to Famous Grouse or Dewar’s White Label for nose, taste, profile and cost.

Priced around $35 and nothing to complex, but nothing really bad about it.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisBuchanan’s Deluxe 12 Year Blended Scotch
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Bardstown – Discovery Series #1

Bardstown – Discovery Series #1

November 17, 2022

Name: Bardstown – Discovery Series #1

Color: Copper

Nose: Corn, wood, dark fruit, orange

Taste: Corn, sweet orange jam, warm mulling spices

Bardstown Bourbon Company is from Bardstown, Kentucky and it is a relatively new company compared with others from the region. I learned they are “a new blend of bourbon makers pushing the boundaries through innovation” and “a modern Napa Valley styled facility with food paring…on the new 1,000-acre property…combo of distillery, visitor center, rickhouses, and active farm”. I visited the distillery in April 2021 and it is impressive. It makes some other visitor centers feel tiny in comparison. The company states $25 million was spent on the property, but it appears they spent much more. I hoped to sample some of the expensive expressions, but they were only available for purchase.

Discovery Series #1 is a very nice balance when some water is added. Compared to the Fusion Series it is a better bourbon, but you pay double, if not more.

Stated on the bottle:

  • 5% Kentucky Bourbon 13 years, 78% corn, 12% rye, 10% malted barley
  • 75% Kentucky Bourbon 11.7 years, 74% corn, 18% rye, 8% malted barley
  • 10% Kentucky Bourbon 10 years, 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley
  • 10% Kentucky Bourbon 5 years, 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley
  • NAS, non-chilled filtered, 60.605% abv (121 proof)

This expression is also very hot, almost too hot. It needs water to cut it to expose the flavor profile. I continue to feel and state in my reviews; I am the customer, why am doing your job as the distiller? It makes sense to me when you use high proof for cocktails to deal with the ice, but I’m not spending $100+ on a mixer. You get 100 proofs for $35-50.

I purchased this bottled at a charity auction for Brett Ferencz, aka “Scotch Trooper” to support his fight against cancer. Sadly, Brett lost his battle with cancer on February 11th, 2021.I would like to note that if you can afford expensive whiskey please consider donating money to families, friends, neighbors, or strangers that are fighting cancer. Cancer just doesn’t devastate a ones health and family’s emotional state, it does massive damages to their finances.

Priced around $130+ and worth the money is you like the taste profile and the proof. 

Rest in Peace Scotch Trooper.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

 

ChrisBardstown – Discovery Series #1
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Bardstown – Fusion Series #4

Bardstown – Fusion Series #4

November 16, 2022

Name: Bardstown – Fusion Series #4

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Corn, vanilla, wood, orange, cherry notes

Taste: Corn and malt, orange-vanilla, spicy, pepper finish

Bardstown Bourbon Company is from Bardstown, Kentucky and it is a relatively new company compared with others from the region. I learned they are “a new blend of bourbon makers pushing the boundaries through innovation” and “a modern Napa Valley styled facility with food paring…on the new 1,000-acre property…combo of distillery, visitor center, rickhouses, and active farm”. I visited the distillery in April 2021 and it is impressive. It makes some other visitor centers feel tiny in comparison. The company states $25 million was spent on the property, but it appears they spent much more. 

The Fusion Series #4 falls under Bardstown baseline whiskey for taste and price point. I found this expression a little too hot and needed some water to open up.

As stated on the bottle:

    • 40% Kentucky, 13 years, 74% corn / 18% rye / 8% malted barely
    • 11% Bardstown Bourbon Co. Kentucky, 3 years, 60% corn / 40% rye
    • 15% Bardstown Bourbon Co. Kentucky, 3 years, 78% corn /1 0% rye / 12% malted barley
    • 34% Bardstown Bourbon Co. Kentucky, 4 years, 70% corn / 18% rye / 12% malted barley
    • 94.9 proof

I was not amazed with the taste, but it is a good whiskey for the price compared to other expressions. I am not finding too many Bardstown Bourbons on the shelves in the NYC area. Is anyone seeing them? Please reach out if you do via social media I would be curious to see the selections offered and prices.

Priced around $65 and worth the money for a baseline bourbon expression.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisBardstown – Fusion Series #4
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Ballantine’s 17

Ballantine’s 17

November 10, 2022

Name: Ballantine’s 17

Color: Light Yellow

Nose: Malt, vanilla, heather, citrus

Taste: Malt, flowers, oak, lemon, cream sweetness

Ballantine’s Scotch Whisky dates to back the 1827 when a farmer’s son just trying to earn a living selling whisky in a small store in Edinburgh, Scotland. The family sold out in 1919 and the new owners continued to use the family name to market the whisky as it was known for quality. Ballantine’s is a blended malt whisky using various amounts of whisky and is stated to be the 2nd highest selling scotch whiskey in the world. I can believe that as the Spanish drink this stuff like the world is going to end at parties. The first time I had Ballantine’s was in Spain, but it was mixed with coke, as they do it.

The Ballantine 17 is a blend, bottled at 40% and is a medium bodied summer drinking scotch. It is overall very nice, smooth, and very drinkable. This is a scotch you open with a friend, and you end up finishing the bottle.

Other expressions are: Finest, Limited,12-Year-Old Pure Malt, 12, 17, 21, 30, and 40.

Priced around $80 and worth the price if you like the flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisBallantine’s 17
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The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

November 3, 2022

Name: The BenRiach 10-Year-Old

Color: Light Yellow

Nose: Malt, lemon, white fruit, light oak

Taste: Malt, apple/pear, lemon

The BenRiach 10-Year-old is a Speyside single malt whisky from Morayshire, Scotland. The distiller was established in 1898 and has changed ownership a few times over the years. The whisky is bottled at 43% abv, aged 10 years, and finished in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It is a nice medium bodied fresh tasting whisky and has a good balance of flavors. It is a good whisky for a non-scotch drinker and would work well as a summer or a winter dram.

Having no knowledge or experience with this whisky I bought this bottle on a gamble for the price. I was pleasantly surprise at the taste and quality. I look forward to trying more expressions, but I have not seen much of BenRiach on the shelf around the NYC area. I will have to sample some on my next trip to Scotland.

Other expressions: Smoky 10 & 12,16, 20,21, 25, 30, 1996 Vestige, Casks, Peated Quarter Cask, and Triple Distilled. There are also numerous “Archive” expressions with various finishes.

Priced around $50 and worth money for the price and the baseline expression.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisThe BenRiach 10-Year-Old
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Bardstown – The Prisoner #2

Bardstown – The Prisoner #2

November 2, 2022

Name: Bardstown – The Prisoner #2

Color: Brown

Nose: Corn, vanilla, citrus, root beer, dry wood (amber wood)

Taste: Earthy, dirt, honey, vanilla

Bardstown Bourbon Company is from Bardstown, Kentucky and it is a relatively new company compared with others from the region. I learned they are “a new blend of bourbon makers pushing the boundaries through innovation” and “a modern Napa Valley styled facility with food paring…on the new 1,000-acre property…combo of distillery, visitor center, rickhouses, and active farm”. I visited the distillery in April 2021 and it is impressive. It makes some other visitor centers feel tiny in comparison. The company states $25 million was spent on the property, but it appears they spent much more. I hoped to sample some of the expensive expressions, but they were only available for purchase.

The Prisoner #2 has a dryer nose/taste than any other expression I have sampled from the distillery. It has a very flat and earthy dirt flavor that heavily masks the other flavors. I do not know if it is the Tennessee corn that I am not enjoying, but this was not that enjoyable for me.

As stated on the bottle label:

  • Origin = Tennessee
  • Age = 10 years
  • Mash Bill = 84% Corn, 8% Rye, 8% Malted Barley
  • 50%abv / 100 proof

I was overall unimpressed with this expression, especially at the price. The bartender at the distillery told me they were “selling out of this amazing whiskey”. I thought to myself, “This kinda smells like bullshit”. I would have loved to go into the back room or warehouse to see how many cases they had left. A tip for you on my experience on anything a seller is running out of, don’t believe them. You will know when someone is running out of something when the price goes up significantly or you can’t find it on the self.

Priced around $125+ and not enjoyable due to the flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisBardstown – The Prisoner #2
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Paul John – Brilliance

Paul John – Brilliance

October 27, 2022

Name: Paul John – Brilliance

Color: Copper

Nose: Apples, malt, sweetness

Taste: Malt, grassy, toffee

Paul John Brilliance is another expression from Paul John Distilleries in Goa, India. Unlike its sister Edited, it is a bit plainer with mainly a malt/grass taste. There is no peat or exotic fruit in the flavor profile. This not a bad thing, I just was not expecting it.

The whisky is non-chilled filtered and is made with 6-row barley. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a member of the grass family and there are 2 or 6 row types of barley. The two and six row barley each have pros and cons, but I won’t get too deep into that subject. The main pros of six row barley are that is has a higher protein levels and more enzymes for converting starch into sugar. Getting sugar from the starch is a very big part of the distilling process. As for as the taste, could not tell you the difference, but I can say that Brilliance is very malty and grassy. I struggled to taste much else, which made it a bit dull. Brilliance is non-peated, so it is more of a summer drink that a cold winter dram. Personally, I need my peat and smoke in my whisky when the snow falls.

Priced around $50 and worth the money, just not my preferred flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisPaul John – Brilliance
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Opinions Vary: Neat or on the Rocks

Opinions Vary: Neat or on the Rocks

October 26, 2022

Opinions Vary: Neat or on the Rocks

Following up on my Opinions Vary: Cask Strength I wanted to give my thoughts on enjoying whiskey “Neat” or “On the Rocks”.

On the Rocks makes sense to most people as it is on ice. The term “neat” comes from somewhere at sometime and has a history that I can’t figure out, but it sounds cool when you say it in a bar ordering your whiskey.

I believe that a good whiskey, which is subject your opinion, needs nothing more than a glass. I have found that ice can really ruin the enjoyment of a good whiskey. If you are drinking whiskey over 18 years old (and sometimes younger), it usually has been created with care and balanced very well for taste. Why ruin it with ice?

With many whiskeys it can be a crap shoot. A whiskey on ice may be nice, but the ice melts and waters down the whiskey. It affects the taste, weakens it, and makes it easier to drink. I find this a problem when drinking bourbon on the rocks. The sweetness of the corn mash becomes easier to consume and you end up drinking too much too quickly.

Many years ago watched Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations drinking his favorite whiskey on the rocks. From what I remember, he was in Brooklyn and he was drinking Pappy Van Winkle 23-Year-Old in some hipster bar. He spoke about how you can drink whiskey any way you want, which is true, but you need to consider a few things. One thing to consider is the TV show was paying for it, another was he did well for himself finically so he could have bathed in Pappy for all I care. For most of us, budgets are a controlling factor in our whiskey experience.

My advice, order whiskey neat, with ice on the side. Start with one or two cubes and take it from there.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

If you like it, drink it!

ChrisOpinions Vary: Neat or on the Rocks
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Bardstown Bourbon Company – Fusion Series #1

Bardstown Bourbon Company – Fusion Series #1

October 20, 2022

Name: Bardstown Bourbon Company – Fusion Series #1

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Corn, vanilla, dark fruit, wood

Taste: Corn, cherry, oak, caramel, pepper

Bardstown Bourbon Company is from Bardstown, Kentucky and it is a relatively new company compared with others from the region. I learned they are “a new blend of bourbon makers pushing the boundaries through innovation” and “a modern Napa Valley styled facility with food paring…on the new 1,000-acre property…combo of distillery, visitor center, rickhouses, and active farm”. I visited the distillery in April 2021 and it is impressive. It makes some other visitor centers feel tiny in comparison. The company states $25 million was spent on the property, but it appears they spent much more. I hoped to sample some of the expensive expressions, but they were only available for purchase. 

Fusion Series #1 is very good. It is well balanced, well made, has a smooth flavor profile, and has just the right amount of kick to it. Stated on the bottle is the following:

  • 40% Kentucky Bourbon 11.7 years, 74% corn, 18% rye, 8% malted barley
  • 18% Bardstown Bourbon 2.3 years, 68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley
  • 42% Bardstown Bourbon 2.1 years, 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley
  • NAS, non-chilled filtered, 49.45% abv 

I purchased this bottled at a charity auction for Brett Ferencz, aka “Scotch Trooper” to support his fight against cancer. Sadly, Brett lost his battle with cancer on February 11th, 2021. I would like to note that if you can afford expensive whiskey please consider donating money to families, friends, neighbors, or strangers that are fighting cancer. Cancer just doesn’t devastate a ones health and family’s emotional state, it does massive damages to their finances.

The Series #5 is available for around $60. Series #1,2,3,4 are now listed as “Previous Releases” so I am not sure if you will be able to find them, nor do I know the price. The bourbon and distillery are worth your money and your time.

If you like it, drink it! – Christopher

ChrisBardstown Bourbon Company – Fusion Series #1
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