Dec 27

Holiday Cocktails With Whiskey

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This week is Christmas and New Years and I’m sure some of you will be celebrating with family and friends. Giving and getting gifts, eating turkey with all the fixings, and having a drink or two to wash it all down.

Now we’re not a food blog but I can tell you that even though we like our whiskey neat we’re not against having a good cocktail once in a while. I mean seriously a good cocktail is hard to beat. Especially during the holidays sitting in front of a fire or under the mistletoe.

Eggnog

One classic holiday cocktail is Eggnog. It’s a cocktail that is made typically with Rum, but is definitely known to go well with bourbon. We give credit where credit is due and the recipe comes from Delish.com.

Classic Eggnog

Ingredients

2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. heavy cream
1/3 c.  bourbon or rum (optional)
Whipped cream, for serving  

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla and slowly bring mixture to a low boil.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk egg yolks with sugar until yolks are pale in color. Slowly add hot milk mixture to egg yolks in batches to temper the eggs and whisk until combined.
  3. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat until slightly thick (and coats the back of a spoon) but does not boil. (If using a candy thermometer, mixture should reach 160º.)
  4. Remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and, if using, booze.
  5. Refrigerate until chilled.
  6. When ready to serve, garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon.

Hot Toddy

Another classic that everyone can get behind is the hot toddy. It’s a great way to end the night. Easy to drink and like drinking a tea with alcohol. This recipe comes way of Jamie Oliver.

Classic Hot Toddy

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ parts Whisky
  • 1/3 part honey syrup
  • 3 parts hot water
  • 3 dried cloves, per glass
  • ​freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus a slice of lemon to garnish each glass
  • ​​cinnamon stic​ks, to garnish each glass

Directions

Combine the whisky, honey syrup, hot water and cloves in a toddy glass and stir gently until completely combined. Squeeze in lemon juice, to taste. Remove the cloves, then garnish with a slice of lemon and cinnamon stick.

Maple Syrup Old Fashioned

The last cocktail is a twist on the classic Old Fashioned. Everyone enjoys the Old Fashioned and as a Canadian what else can make it better then maple syrup. The Maple Syrup Old Fashioned comes way of Nerds With Knives and really you can’t go wrong. If you are going to make this we suggest you use real maple syrup and not table syrup.


Maple Syrup Old Fashioned

Ingredients

  • 2oz bourbon or whisky
  • ¼oz maple syrup
  • couple of dashes of bitters
  • ice
  • lemon or orange twist

Directions

  1. Mix whisky, maple syrup and bitters. Stir or shake over ice.
  2. Pour into glasses with a little ice or water if preferred
  3. Add lemon

From all of us to all of you Happy Holidays and may 2019 be the best one yet.

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Nov 08

Japanese Whiskey

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Japanese whiskey... Are you on the band wagon?  If not you really should be.

More and more people are finding that Japanese whiskey is really some great stuff. So many people in fact that Japanese whiskey is suffering the same way Scotch did and the aged expressions are currently running out.

Japanese whiskey dates back to 1923 when the Yamazaki Distillery was opened and was Japan’s first single malt distillery.  Suntory actually opened in 1899 but didn’t start producing whiskey until later. So with nearly 100 years of experience under their belts people have taken notice.

The interesting thing about Japanese whiskey is that it’s mainly blended stock.  There is single malt, which has become very popular, but the blended stock is what’s most often sold.  It’s used in sipping and cocktails.  Another thing is that, unlike Scotch, Japanese distillers don’t share their whiskey’s for blends.  So a Suntory blend will only have Suntory stock whereas Glenfiddich may include out of brand stock.

The Whiskey Tasters recently held a Japanese whiskey night where we got to try four different bottles of Japanese whiskey.  The four bottles (pictured below) were firsts for us all.  Most of us haven’t really gotten into Japanese whiskey so it was a nice night of firsts.  One of the whiskey tasters had the idea of a Japanese night after he had travlled to Japan.  Of the four bottles two came from the SAQ and two came directly from Japan and aren’t readily available in Canada.  We paired the offerings with sushi and Green Tea KitKat’s.  We had a great time as always and learned that we should venture into the Japanese whiskey aisle more often.

So we reiterate if you haven’t tried Japanese whiskey yet do yourself a favor and go get yourself a dram or bottle.  If you have try it again because honestly what is there not to enjoy.

As always check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and let us know your thoughts.

Nov 03

Whiskey Tasting Descriptions or How They Really Come Up With Those Flavors

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So the other day I was at one of our tastings and we were having a good laugh over all the information provided about any given scotch.  You know what I’m talking about… things like the nose or pallet description.  We were wondering how they come up with some of those descriptions or more specifically, do those flavors actually exist.

I’ll be the first to admit I really enjoy a good scotch or whiskey, but I rarely taste/smell half, or more, of those flavors/scents in a description.  So it got us wondering how do people come up with things like the smelt, tasted band-aid, asphalt, cherries or any other out there idea.  It led us to one possible answer and that was Mad Libs.  You know what I’m talking about; that pen and paper game we all played as kids and thought was hilarious because you’d use words like boobs or whatever and make your friends laugh with stupid answers.

I know it’s highly unlikely that it’s actually the way they come up with tasting notes but, bare with me, maybe, just maybe I’ve cracked the secret wide open.  I mean Master of Malt describes the Glenmorangie Signet as bread and butter pudding and Terry’s Chocolate Oranges and pleasantly rubbery. I mean, come on, fine I could possibly buy the bread and butter pudding, but Terry’s Chocolate Oranges is a very specific taste.  I mean I would buy chocolate and oranges or even chocolate covered oranges but Terry’s Chocolate Oranges that’s very specific and, honestly, who the hell can tell that taste.  Then we have pleasantly rubbery.  When has rubbery ever been pleasant?  I use the Glenmorangie Signet because it was the first that comes to mind but pick any scotch or whiskey and you will find anything from apple to raisins to dirt to asphalt to pretty much anything your mind can think up.

All this lead us to come to the conclusion that there is a secret whiskey mad lib that we want to be part of.  If you have access, please send it our way.

As usual check out our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see what we’re up too.

Jul 30

Glenfiddich Winter Storm

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  Recently the Whiskey Tasters got the chance to enjoy a bottle of the Glenfiddich Winter Storm.  This is the third bottle in the new Glenfiddich Experimental series.  So far each bottle has been unique and a recent announcement of the fourth bottle in the series is definitely keeping with the uniqueness and has all of us excited for the release.

Glenfiddich Winter Storm

  With the Glenfiddich Winter Storm the Malt Master, Brian Kinsman, got the inspiration when he visitied the Peller Estates winery in Ontario Canada.  Brian Kinsman felt that taking an older Glenfiddich whisky, in this case a 21 year old, and finishing the maturation process in Ice Wine barrels for up to six months would give the scotch a unique scent and flavour.  Brian Kinsman sure wasn’t wrong.  The Ice Wine finish gives the 21 year old scotch a very ice wine taste.  If you ever tasted Ice Wine then you know it tends to be on the sweeter side and those flavours carry over to the Winter Storm.  It’s almost a desert Scotch.  Something you can drink with your chocolate cake or kicking back in front of the fireplace on one of those cold Canadian winter nights.  The flavours aren’t overpowering but add something unique that you don’t often find in a drink like this.

  Overall this was a great bottle and one I would personally add to my collection.  Some complaints or changes we’d have liked to see would have been the bottle costing a little less.  At around $350CDN at the SAQ in Quebec and around $380 at the LCBO in Ontario this definitely puts the Scotch in a higher price point.  Granted it’s a 21 year old scotch it’s more justifiable then a No Age Statement bottle like the IPA and XX were, but considering you don’t know what you are getting $375 is a lot to spend.  We would have also liked to see a longer maturation in the Ice Wine barrels.  Now I’m no Malt Master or even work at a distillery but we wonder if the flavours would have even more bold and pronounced if the whisky was able to mature even longer

  If you haven’t already check it out if you can find a bottle also if you haven’t already checkout Beth Havers also known as @Whiskybeth on twitter or @Whisky_Beth on Instagram.  She’s the Canadian Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich and overall cool person who’s back yard is pretty much where Glenfiddich Winter Storm was born.

As usual check out our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages for our further adventures

Jul 30

Glenmorangie Signet

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  So this is a post that is a long time coming.  Last summer The Whiskey Tasters got the chance to try a bottle of The Glenmorangie Signet.  We tried it at the same time as The Dalmore Alexandre III that I posted about a while ago.  The short version of the night was it was a really great night to be drinking scotch.

The Glenmorangie Signet

  Now the longer story.  We decided being summer that we would have a special night where we blew up the budget to try some really great scotch.  The only hesitation that was originally had about The Glenmorangie Signet was that it was a No Age Statement (NAS) scotch.  Now none of us are snobs. We are all open to trying anything.  That’s not to say we don’t have preferences.  Some like their scotch peated and some don’t for example, but I think most of us, fall into the snobbery of aged scotch.  I mean we like to know how long it’s been maturing generally and can lean towards bottles that have ages.  So this night was a bit of, we felt, a gamble.  Since both bottles were not cheap bottles and both were NAS bottles.  After our first sips we were all sure that we had just tried some amazing scotch

  The Glenmorangie Signet is just simply amazing.  As I said with The Dalmore I could just write Wow!! and end the article there.  It’s no wonder it won Whisky of the Year at the 2016 International Whisky Competition.  You can tell that when they made this whisky they did it because they wanted to.  They enjoyed making this one and we all enjoyed drinking it.

  Now is it worth the price?  Running at $300 at the SAQ in Quebec and $340 at the LCBO in Ontario it’s definitely up there on pricing.  Not something most of us would spend on a single bottle of anything, but the honest answer is if you like scotch you’ll love this bottle.  The plus is the bottle is really nice and displays well.  You could likely buy one and drink it only on special occasions and be happy you have it.

As always check us out on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to follow our further adventures.

 

Jul 12

The Dalmore King Alexander III

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Recently the Whiskey Tasters were lucky enough to get our hands on a bottle of The Dalmore King Alexander III.  Now I could end this post with just typing wow!!! I won’t but I am telling you I could.

This was a really great scotch.  From the first sip you can taste the quality that went into this scotch. The Dalmore had this mature in six different casks, which gives it so much flavor and depth. This is a scotch any level of whisky drinker would enjoy because of the rich flavors and how much difference each sip brings out.

The Dalmore King Alexander III

Even the presentation of the box is impressive. Solid and opens to reveal the bottle inside and leaves you anticipating what’s to come.

As usual we won’t go into all the tasting notes, which you can read over at Masters of Malt, other than quickly. There are so many flavors and scents it can be a bit overwhelming at first but they do blend together very well and after a few tastes you will be impressed we can pretty much guarantee it. One thing I can say is how smooth it is.  Easy on the palette and easy with the after taste.

For pricing it’s on the more expensive end of the scale for most people.  A bottle of The Dalmore King Alexander III runs for about $300 Canadian and the SAQ and the LCBO.  We all felt it was worth the price though and would add a bottle to our collections

As always check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Mar 30

Our Personal Whiskey Collections

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Our Personal Whiskey Collections

Here at whiskey tasters we are a group of individuals that range from beginners to amateur connoisseurs. We might not be experts but we’ve come a long way over the last year, tasting over 30 different whiskeys and every tasting helps us to learn a little bit more about the world of scotch / whiskey.

Here is a look at some of the bottles that we have in our personal collections.

Let us know which bottle from your collection is your favorite in the comments!

Cheers, Slàinte, Proost!

Our Personal Whiskey Collections Image 1

Our Personal Whiskey Collections Image 2

 

Our Personal Whiskey Collections Image 3

Our Personal Whiskey Collections Image 4Our Personal Whiskey Collections Image 5

Mar 28

Highland Park Dark Origins

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Highland Park Dark Origins

We at Whiskey Tasters got together recently for another tasting night.  This time it was a Highland Park theme and we finally got to try the Highland Park Dark Origins.  Now before I talk about the whisky itself let me tell you this has been one on our list for a while now to try.  It’s not that Dark Origins is a hard to find whisky or really an expensive one but rather other things kept coming up.

So finally at our last Whiskey Tasters night early in March we decided to have the Highland Park 10 year old, Highland Park 12 year old and finally the Highland Park Dark Origins, but more on that tasting at a later time.

 

Highland Park Dark Origins

I was curious why it was called Dark Origins and it turns out the founder of Highland Park was named Magnus Eunson.  Magnus was a very good smuggler and distiller and so it’s their own nod to their shady past.  I think if you check into the history of all the older distillery’s most have some shady past.

Now for our thoughts on the Highland Park Dark Origins itself.  After a long time building up the anticipation of trying it we have to say it lived up to the hype.  Now fair warning Highland Park is known for the peat they use.  You can search Hobbister Moor to see more photos of where they get their peat.  This does tend to make Highland Park a more peaty whisky.  If you aren’t a fan of peaty whisky’s you may not enjoy Highland Park as much as others.  There is no age stated on this one, but you’ll see its similar to the 12 year old.  It’s different enough to be it’s own dram.

The thing that really stands out about the Highland Park Dark Origins is the bottle and box it comes in.  It’s mostly black with silver writing and an ominous hooded figure right on the front.  This is definitely what grabs people and makes most give this bottle a second look.  This day and age with so many different options on the market you definitely need something that stands out.  Good for Highland Park for doing exactly that.

Overall we all would say if you have the chance go out and try a dram or bottle.  It’s not an really expensive bottle retailing for $100 at the SAQ, LCBO and Manitoba Liquor Mart.

As always let us know your thoughts.  We can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Mar 24

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Cask

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Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Solera Cask

Recently we got our hands on the Glenfiddich 15 year old Solera cask and we were all in agreement this is a really good whisky.  Now let me start off by saying I am a big fan off everything Glennfiddich.  I’ve never had a bottle I didn’t like.  Even the 12 year old is an excellent whisky and one I keep as a go to every day staple. Everyone at Whiskey Tasters agreed that this bottle of the 15 year old is excellent.

There’s a lot to say about this bottle.  It’s very smooth and easy to enjoy.  It doesn’t hit you with a harshness that some whiskys have and it has a sweet after taste.  Some describe the Solera Cask as a good desert whisky or aperitif.  What I mean by this is because of the sweet taste it’s a great after dinner drink.  Something that you can enjoy while having some cake.

Glenfiddich 15 year old Solera CaskNow don’t get us wrong drink this scotch whenever you want we won’t judge promise, but if you are looking for a good dram to top off a night then the 15 year old Solera Cask should be on your list.  It’s also very reasonably priced.  In Quebec you can get it from the SAQ for about $80 and it runs for about $80 at the LCBO in Ontario.  If you’re picking up a scotch for the weekend it’s definitely not one that will break the bank but definitely not on the low end of the scale either

As always find us on Twitter and/or Instagram and let us know your thoughts.  We love to hear from our readers

Mar 02

Alberta Premium Dark Horse Canadian Rye

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Alberta Premium Dark Horse Canadian Rye

This is a Canadian rye whiskey from The Whiskey Tasters first ever tasting night over a year ago.  It definitely was one bottle that has set the tone for us since.  We weren’t expecting the Alberta Premium Dark Horse to be as good as it was but it definitely was enjoyed by all.  We came across it because we wanted to do whiskey’s from around the world for our first one.  We had a Irish, a bourbon, a rye, and a blended.  I’ve already written earlier about one we tried being the Pig’s Nose.

This is a blend of 12 year old and 6 year old rye’s, but it’s blended by someone who truly understands what they are doing.  It’s also one of the few Canadian whiskey’s that use 100% rye.  Since there is no rules for the minimum use of rye when making whiskey anything containing 1% or more can be called rye whiskey.  A bottle of Alberta Premium Dark Horse will run around $35 Canadian.  It’s definitely worth the price and worth a pick up

Dark Horse Rye

As for the notes on this whiskey are complex.  On the nose you get everything from wet cement to raspberries to molasses to burnt wood among others.  When it first hits your palette you get hit with pepper and vanilla and you get a heaviness from it almost oily when the way it covers your tongue and lingers with each sip, but in a pleasant almost sweet way that surprises you when you see the dark colour in your glass.  For the finish it remains long after it’s been swallowed but again with a sweetness that surprises and entices to go back for more.  Even in the end you can look at your glass and see it still slowly gathering the last bits at the bottom.

As mentioned the bottle runs for around $35 Canadian and can be picked up at the SAQ or LCBO and we here at The Whiskey Tasters definitely recommend trying a dram or two to see how well this bottle holds up.

As always hit us up on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and discuss your thoughts we’d love to hear them