Chris | Page 9 | NYC Whiskey Review

christopher.dias.nyc@gmail.com

Stranahan’s Original Single Malt Whiskey

May 23, 2024 America

Name: Stranahan’s Original Single Malt Whiskey

Color: Copper

Nose: Malt, oak, vanilla, white fruit

Taste: Malt, oak, vanilla, white pepper

Stranahan’s Whiskey was founded in 2004 and it is located at 200 S. Kalamath St. Denver, CO. The distillery and visitor center is in an industrial park and has a simple outdoor seating area with a nice view of the mountains. The inside bar area has a modern rustic wood design with seating for around 75 people. The bar serves whiskey, flights, cocktails, and the retail store sells bottles and merchandise. The staff has that Colorado friendly and easy going vibe.

The Original is 100% malted barley, aged 2-5 years in new charred oak barrels, non-chilled filtered, and the water is sourced from a spring in Boulder. The Original is very nice tasting and well-balanced whiskey, however, when you start comparing it to their other expressions it is a baseline whiskey. The whiskeys that really impressed me are the Snowflake, Sherry Cask, and Cask Strength.

One issue I keep running into with American Whiskeys is the cost v. age v. flavor profile. I realize many distilleries are in an economic position where they need to charge a lot to cover their production costs and make profit. This should not be considered a deal breaker, but it is a mathematical fact that should not be ignored by any reviewer. It can be difficult to spend $50-75 for a young domestic whiskey when you can get a aged single malt for the same or lower price. Everyone has a budget when it comes to whiskey no matter how much they have in their wallet.

Other expressions produced: Original, Blue Peak, Mountain Angel 10 Year, Snowflake, Diamond Peak, Sherry Cask, Single Barrel, and other special releases.

Priced around $55 and a good baseline.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Davidoff Late Hour – Nicaragua

May 22, 2024 Cigars

Name: Davidoff Late Hour – Nicaragua

Size/Gauge: 5” / 52

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Marron Oscuro

Binder: Mexico

Filler: Dominican Republic / Nicaragua

Upon smelling this cigar before and right after first lighting it up I could tell is was going to be good. I did a bullet cut which made the draw a little difficult, so I eventually switched to a straight cut. My stick and a small plug in it, but my steel tooth pick on my key chain fixed it.

The cigar has wonder taste of nuts, light/smooth tobacco , dried fruit, some wood, and earthy notes. It has an even burn and balance flavor/smoke. There is a full flavor with no harsh taste or after taste. The smoke is about 45 minutes.

Box is approximately $500 for 20 cigars3 and works out to $25 a stick. Worth it.

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

If you like it, drink it!

Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select

May 16, 2024 America

Name: Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select

Color: Copper

Nose: Corn, malt, oak, vanilla, dark fruits

Taste: Corn mash blend, oak, vanilla, spices

Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select is surprisingly good expression from the Jack Daniels Distillery. Their baseline expression, Old No.7 aka “Black Label” is absolute shit and difficult to drink. I would rather drink frozen rose and watch the Housewives of New Jersey than drink Black Label. The word “quality” does not come to mind when I think of Jack Daniels, but I am beginning to change my mind. This is the best part of whiskey tasting, the evolution of your opinions.

The mash bill is 80% corn, 12% malted barley, 8% rye and is non aged stated but estimated to be aged 4 to 7 years. It is bottled at 47% abv, aged in virgin American oak barrels, and has unique shaped bottle. From my research is appears to also be undergo the maple charcoal filtration processes which is a signature trademark of Jack Daniels. Upon my first tasting I was bracing myself for disappointment, however, I was pleasantly surprised by smoothness on my palate. On the second taste I wondered why Jack Daniels does not make better stuff for their baseline expressions.

I am not a fan of regular Jack Daniels, but the Single Barrel Select and the Sinatra Select are very good. Sinatra Select is the best expression I have sampled, but due to its cost and lack of production it is hard to find.

Priced around $65 and is affordable and very nice for a Jack Daniels product. I might keep a bottle on my bar.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Lochlea Harvest Edition

May 15, 2024 Scotland

Name: Lochlea Harvest Edition

Color: Light Amber

Nose: Malt, orange, flowers, cedar

Taste: Malt, orange fruit, light oak

Lochlea Distillery is located in Ayrshire, Scotland and was founded in 2018. It is a new distillery, and therefore their whisky is young. In Scotland, by law, whisky must age a minimum of 3 years & 1 day. In my experience, not enough time passes in 3 years for a “scotch” whisky, but a distillery does have to make money.

Harvest Edition is 100% malted barley, aged 3 years in Port and first fill Bourbon casks, and bottled at 46% abv. It has a nice medium body and easy finish. I saw this one at the Postill in Glasgow this year (2024) and decided to gamble. Overall, it is a nice whisky, but I was not blown away by it. Young “Scotch” can be tough to enjoy compared to young Bourbon.

Other expressions: Our Barley, Cask Strength and Seasonal Released (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Crop).

Priced around $65 and decent. I will try more next time I in Glasgow and I have not seen it on the shelves in the NYC area.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Troëgs Brewery

May 9, 2024 America

Name: Troëgs Brewery

Location: 200 Hersheypark Drive, Hershey, PA

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11:00am to 9:00/10:00pm

As the summer approaches the travel season to the Parks will be soon be upon Americans. If you are heading to Hershey Park this summer, I recommend a visit to Troëgs Brewery. I went to my first trip to Hersey Park last Fall and discovered this brewery as I was pulling off the highway.

Troëgs Brewery is a nice place with indoor and outdoor seating. There is plenty of beer, food service at the Snack Bar, and a gift store with merchandise and beer to go. There are no televisions so do not plan to watch a game. I saw plenty of families enjoying themselves so it appears to be kid friendly.

I did not get to try to food, but I did sample a few beers. Below are my condensed thoughts and ratings.

Sunshine Pilsner – Clean and Crisp. Better than your average pilsner. 7/10
Oktoberfest – Medium Body. Sam Adams style. 7/10
Double Block – Medium Body. Yuengling style. Not my thing. 5/10
Perpetual IPA – Baseline. Nice flavor and balance. 8/10
Pumpkin – Chemical gimmick shit. Horrible. 3/10
Dream Weaver – Wheat ale. German Hefeweizen style and nice taste. 7/10
Hop Cyclone – 9% Very nice taste and balance. 8/10
Grand Cacao Chocolate Stout – The name says what it is. Tastes heavy but is weaker than Guinness for some reason. 7/10

Troëgs Brewery is worth a visit if you are in the area. It has the shortest lines in all of Hershey which is great!

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Del Bac Frontera

May 8, 2024 America

Name: Del Bac Frontera

Color: Light Brown

Nose: Malt, dry cedar/oak, orange, vanilla

Taste: Malt, wood, orange zest, vanilla, citrus/flowers

Del Bac whiskey is produced by the Hamilton Distillery located in Tucson, Arizona and is named after a 17^th century Spanish mission. Del Bac’s website explains the distillery “puts a Southwest spin on their whiskey…with the use of mesquite instead of peat….”

Frontera is an American Single Malt, aged in new American White Oak, finished in Pedro Ximenez Sherry botas, bottled at 48.5% abv, and is non-aged stated. It is a limited annual release at around 1,200 bottles.

This whiskey was given to me as a sample from a coworker. I was not familiar with this distillery, but he said it was very good so I was curious to try Arizona Whiskey. On my first taste I was impressed. The nose was a little dry and it smelled more like a bourbon than a malt to me. On my second taste I was still impressed, and the balance was more evident. I got the feeling the distiller was more influenced by Kentucky than Scotland, but I liked the little kick on the finish. I also tried it in Old Fashioned. I used orange bitters to enhance the flavor, and the dry finish works well with the sugar, ice, and lemon peel. Once again, it shows that someone who is new and cares about their craft can make a good whiskey. Most new whiskies the market are shit. This one was not shit, it was good. I look forward to trying other expressions and need to try the base line in the near future.

Other Expressions: Classic, Dorado, Sentinel Straight Rye, Frontera, Normandie, Ode to Islay, Distillers Spring/Fall/Summer Cut.

Priced around $90 and worth the money if you like the flavor profile. I have not seen it in the NYC area.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

May 2, 2024 America

Name: Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

Color: Copper

Nose: Corn, malt, vanilla, oak, caramel

Taste: Corn, vanilla, wood, caramel finish

Woodford Reserve comes from Versailles in Northern Kentucky and is officially titled Labrot & Graham Distillery. It was founded in the 1830’s and it has changed ownership over the years. It is considered a premium Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon and over one million cases per year are produced.

The Double Oaked expression is richer, darker, and smoother tasting than the regular Woodford Reserve Bourbon. It is bottled at 46.2% abv and finished in two barrels with one that is deeply toasted and then lightly charred. The bottle shape, along with the price, are different that the baseline expression. Overall, this bourbon is very good and smooth to drink.

Woodford holds a special place in my heart as it was my first introduction to good whiskey and distillery tour. I visited in 2007, or as I like to say, about three weeks before Madmen became the cultural phenomena. I was living in Florida at the time and no one was drinking whiskey in bars. A week after Madmen aired on AMC, everyone was drinking and Old Fashioned and Manhattans. Luckily for me I switched from my gin and tonics just before!

Other expressions: Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Woodford Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey, Woodford Reserve Straight Malt Whiskey, and Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey. There are also limited releases and many of them are associated with the Kentucky Derby.

Priced around $65 and worth the money and would make a great holiday or party gift.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Bruadar Malt Whisky Liqueur

May 1, 2024 Scotland

Name: Bruadar Malt Whisky Liqueur

Color: Gold

Nose: Malt, honey, sugar, raspberry

Taste: Honey, sugar

I’ll make this one short because I fucked up. I bought this nip in Edinburgh at World of Whiskies. I just grab a bunch of nippy sweeties without reading carefully what I was putting in my cart. My mistake.

This is a shit tasting honey sugar liqueur (22% abv), not a malt whisky. It must be the Scottish version of Jack Daniels Honey. If you need whisky and honey flavor use whisky and fucking honey in your drink. It is fucking awful!

Priced around “who gives a flying fuck.”

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

Sagamore Rye “Cask Strength”

April 25, 2024 America

Name: Sagamore Rye Cask Strength

Color: Copper

Nose: Rye, white pepper, orange, vanilla, smoky wood

Taste: Hot, rye, very spicy

Taste with water added: Rye, pepper, vanilla, oak, toffee

Sagamore Spirit Whiskey originates from Baltimore, Maryland and is owned by the owner Under Armor clothing. The marketing claims that Maryland produced rye whiskey before Bourbon was created in Kentucky. This makes sense when you look at how America’s colonies and states developed, however, I can now smell a Mad Men marketing a mile away before I taste a whiskey.

Sagamore Rye Cask Strength is bottled at 112.2 proof compared to the Signature at 83 proof it’s a big jump. The bottle I enjoyed came from Batch 5A and was Bottle #1996. This expression has a very strong nose and taste profile, but that would be expected at this high proof. Add a little water or ice and it opens up nicely, but it is still a strong rye. This is too strong for me to drink neat or on the rocks. However, in a cocktail I expected it to be amazing and it was far better than I expected.

I found this bottle at Liquor Outlet Wine Cellars in Boonton, NJ which has a good selection of whiskeys. I have not found a lot of Sagamore expressions on the shelves. If you see multiple expressions on the shelf in the Tri-State area, please reach out to me and let me know.

Priced around $70 and worth it. This Sagamore Rye Cask makes the best Old-Fashioned cocktail I have ever had. Hands down.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

The Singleton 12 Cocktail Series #1 – The Old Fashioned

April 24, 2024 Scotland

The Singleton 12-Year-Old is a Speyside Scotch whisky with a lighter taste profile of malt, lemon, honey, heather, and oak. It is 40% abv, chilled filtered, color adjusted, and aged in ex bourbon and sherry casks. For me, The Singleton 12 it is a summer scotch.

On their website they present numerous cocktail receipts. I am generally not a fan of cocktails made from scotch so this series will be an experiment to broaden my horizons and educate you as the reader.

The Singleton Cocktail Series #1 – The Old Fashioned

1.5 oz Singleton 12
Splash of club soda
2-4 dashes of bitters (regular)
1 small brown sugar cube
Orange twist for garnish

The nose was heavy on the sugar, and light on the malt and flower with a touch of orange. On my first taste I did not like it, but upon my second taste I warmed up to as it was smooth to drink. After a few minutes (3 or less) the ice melted and the flavor became almost non existent. Maybe an extra half shot as a floater would have helped but that would overall be make it a double Old Fashioned and it would put you on your ass if you had second cocktail. I usually prefer a minimum of 2.5 – 3.0 oz of 100+ proof whisky in my Old Fashioned. Sagamore Rye Cask Strength is my current go to for cocktails, The Singleton is just too weak.

In conclusion, it is far too sweet and weak for an Old Fashioned. If you want a scotch Old Fashioned I recommend a trip to The Devil’s Advocate in Edinburgh for their Ardbeg version. It is stronger, smokier, and has a better flavor profile.

If you like it, drink it! – Chris

If you like it, drink it!

christopher.dias.nyc@gmail.com

Stranahan’s Original Single Malt Whiskey

Davidoff Late Hour – Nicaragua

Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select

Lochlea Harvest Edition

Troëgs Brewery

Del Bac Frontera

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

Bruadar Malt Whisky Liqueur

Sagamore Rye “Cask Strength”

The Singleton 12 Cocktail Series #1 – The Old Fashioned

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