Category: whisky
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The Wide Variety of Irish Whiskey Made at Midleton
Jameson, Redbreast, Green Spot, Midleton Very Rare, Powers John Lane, Paddy: These Irish whiskeys and more are all made at one distillery: Midleton in County Cork, Ireland. On a recent trip the distillery for a big celebration (I wrote about that here), I learned more about the differences between various products, and gained some perspective…
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A Doubled Jameson – A Return Visit to the Midleton Distillery in Ireland
A couple of months ago I returned to the Midleton distillery in Cork, Ireland, for a party they were throwing to celebrate the newly-expanded facility. I wrote a one-page story about it for November's issue of Tasting Panel magazine, which you can read here (digital magazine, go to page 149), but I have more to…
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Which Whisky Chiller Works Wonders?
I have a story in the new Fall 2013 issue of Whisky Advocate magazine that's not online. In it I compared a range of devices meant to chill down whisky. Teroforma Whisky Stones [buy] Teroforma Whisky Stones MAX [buy] Balls of Steel [buy] Skybar's Wine Chill Drops [buy] Tilt Spheres [buy] Steel Ice [buy] A…
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How Different Waters Affect The Flavor of Whisky
This is some seriously cool stuff! A few weeks ago I tasted waters sourced from Scotland's Highlands, Speyside, and Islay regions and noticed how they brought out different flavors in scotch whisky. Bowmore's master blender Rachel Barrie recently performed a similar experiment, though she didn't name the source of the waters. But it turns out…
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Tasting the Regional Waters of Scotland
In my search for information about water sources used for various spirits as part of the Water Project, I came across Uisge Source, a company that bottles waters from different regions in Scotland. The waters from Speyside, Islay, and the Highlands are meant to be representative of the waters used by distillers in those regions…
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The Geology of Scotland and the book Scotch on the Rocks
In my studies of water in spirits and cocktails, I picked up the book Whisky on the Rocks: Origins of the 'Water of Life' by Stephen and Julie Cribb. The book is about the geography of Scotland and how that influences the water sources for scotch whisky. It turns out Scotland's geology is pretty varied…
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I Peated in your Scotch: A Trip to Laphroaig
In June I took a short trip to Islay, Scotland to see how Laphroaig single-malt scotch whisky is made. Islay is an island off the coast of Scotland known for its smoky, peaty whiskies. What Laphroaig does differently from other scotch producers, as you'll read, is: Floor maltings Separation of malt flavoring (with peat smoke)…
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Filtration in Spirits: A Primer
For CLASS Magazine online at DiffordsGuide.com, I wrote an article about filtration in spirits. This was based on the research I did for my talk on the subject at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic earlier this year. Don't Forget the Filtration FactorBy Camper English Nearly every spirit undergoes some sort of filtration, yet we rarely acknowledge…
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Buffalo Trace Distillery Visit
This spring I visited 8 American whiskey distilleries, including Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace is owned by the Sazerac company. They make Buffalo Trace, Blanton's, Elmer T. Lee, Eagle Rare, Van Winkle, and other whiskey brands, plus the make/own/import other spirits including Rain vodka, Puebla Viejo tequila, and Glenfarclass scotch. Unlike most of the other American…
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Heaven Hill Distillery Visit
This spring I visited 8 American whiskey distilleries, including Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill makes whisky brands Evan Williams (the second largest bourbon after Jim Beam), Elijah Craig, Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, Old Fitzgerald, Rittenhouse Rye, and Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey, plus they make and/or own Burnett's vodka, Hypnotiq, Lunazul tequila, and many other brands. They are…