High West Campfire Whiskey Review:

I know, I know! No reviews in almost a month. This isn't how I ever want things to go. I've been busy and a bit sick, so high proof alcohol hasn’t been treating my throat very nice. But alas, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There are some genuinely exciting changes coming up for the Bourbon Intelligencer that will guarantee more reviews and whiskey content for the foreseeable future. But that is all I can say on that for now. You'll just have to wait for more news. Updates will be coming possibly within the next month or so.

Tonight we've got with us a truly revolutionary product from High West Distillery: Campfire. This thing breaks all the rules and does so with poise and courage – yes... courage. I feel that good whiskey calls for the assigning of virtuous nouns. Campfire is composed of three whiskies: a 5 and a half year old rye distilled at MGPI, a six year old bourbon also from MGPI, and finally an 8 year old peated Scotch. Where the peated Scotch is from, David Perkins at High West does not divulge, though we do know it is not from Islay or the Islands. Ultimately I am not too concerned with the origin – High West has up to this point always been straight forward with their practices and this thing is so damn delicious that we don't care too much to ask.

High West Campfire Whiskey Review:

Price: Around $50.00 for a 750ml bottle.

Packaging/Labeling: Classic High West – the necessary information included.

Alcoholic Content: 46% abv, 92 proof.

Nose: More of a honeyed and fruit nose than I expected. Dried golden raisins, toffee, cinnamon, vanilla. Only on the back end do you find traces of scotch and rye. A hint of smoke that lingers on your jacket after a weekend of camping. Sweet green apples.

Palate: Quite unique indeed. The scotch does seem to play second fiddle to the American spirits here, but the balance of all three seems to work out wonderfully. The smooth and creamy dried fruit of the bourbon, with the spice and pepper of the rye, leads very nicely into the sweetness and peaty twist of the scotch, which allows itself to be ever so present throughout.

Conclusion: High West has really done something unparalleled again. And in many ways, the name fits even better after trying it. This is not necessarily a bold and overbearing whiskey in any sense of the word. It's calming and delightful. That's what I meant by poise and courage. This experiment could have been anything, but High West took the high road and has shown they are always taking their time, always honing their craft.

Rating: Excellent/Highly Recommended

Ballantine's Finest Blended Scotch Whisky Review: A Working Man's Whisky

“For her fifth wedding, the bride wore black and carried a scotch and soda.” - Phyllis Battelle

Ballentine’s Finest is no doubt a large name. Not only is it well known in the world of blended scotch, but it is also a foundational staple in the the world of whiskey. This is one of the best selling blends in Europe, while it simultaneously enjoys large fame in eastern countries. Even in places where Jack or Jamison might be scarce you can be sure that Ballentine’s can still be found.  

Created by George Ballantine in 1827, this blend began in much the same way many blended scotch whiskies did, being blended in the back of grocery store. As was common in those times, whiskey was not always as consistent as some would like – hence blenders were in somewhat high demand. Also well known and still touted with pride on the label, Ballentine’s Finest made its way to Glasgow and eventually would become the premier variety for the Royal Family, etching out its place for centuries to come.

Ballentine’s Finest Blended Scotch Whisky Review:

                                    

Price: Around $14.97 for a 750ml bottle.

Packaging/Labeling: Classic. To ask for it any other way would take away from its aesthetic.

Alcoholic Content: 80 Proof, 40% ABV. 

Color: Medium well - with caramel definitely added. 

Nose: Sweet and sour apple, caramel, cherries. Floral notes with chocolate. Has a young character to it.

Tasting: Grainy, however this is mildly enjoyable. Cream lemons, light apple, sweet caramel, and a young herbal finish.

Conclusion: Blended with more than 50 single malts and 4 single grain whiskies, Ballantine’s provides stability for those types of scotch drinkers who choose one blend when they're young and stick with it till they're old. Easy to enjoy, Ballantine’s will not knock your socks off, but neither will it break your bank. Leans more on the side of a scotch and soda sipper, yet this is something you can drink straight after coming home from a long day of work.

Sheep Dip Blended Malt Scotch Whisky:

"The light music of whiskey falling into a glass - an agreeable interlude." - James Joyce

For my birthday last year my wife gave me the Spencerfield Spirit Company’s Pig's Nose. A blend of young grain and single malt scotches. And for this Christmas I happily received Spencerfield’s step up brand, Sheep Dip. Crafted by Richard Paterson, Scotland’s only third generation master blender, this particular blend is of single malts only. Sourced from all four major regions of Scotland, the blend uses 16 single malts – all between the age of 8 and 12 years.

The name, just like Pig’s Nose, is less serious than more aged brands out there. Yet, in no way is it inferior. Sheep Dip gets its name from a solution, invented by George Wilson in 1830, which farmers could “dip” there sheep in before shearing them. This arsenic powdered concoction would in turn get rid of lice, ticks and other pesky invertebrates. Though we can’t, or wouldn't want to, stop there because no one would want to purchase a blend which received its name from an arsenic solution.  As stated on the bottle, the specific title comes from a time when farmers would hide their home-distilled products from the infamous excise officers in barrels labeled sheep dip. A title thus telling us that this is stuff you want to hide and savor for yourself. Though Sheep Dip is still a fairly unknown product, it has been gaining quite a lot of attention lately, and now can generally be found in many of your local liquor stores.

Sheep Dip Blended Malt Scotch Whisky:

                                    

Price: Around $35.00 for a 750ml bottle. I find the prices on this one tend to fluctuate more than some.

Packaging/Labeling: Standard bottle with a clean modern finish. I wouldn’t say the cover alludes to what is on the inside. However, it assumes a more refined character when presented with the box.

Alcoholic Content: 80 Proof, 40% ABV.

Color: Medium to medium well.

Nose: The nose on this one is a pleasant surprise. A clean, creamy freshness and assertive front without being overbearing. Milk chocolate with currants. A pleasant and light maltiness. Fig and bread pudding. As Ralfy says, "there is a nose on this that many single malts would be pleased to have."

Tasting: The front is just as assertive as the finish. As with the nose, it is never over baring. You have some of the traditional smoke and peat notes along with lemon creams and floral notes, sided by honeysuckle. And there is a wonderful earthiness – reminds me when I walk outside after a rain. The finish is very nice and long lingering. There is a part of this blend which brings Bushmills Black Bush to mind (only a small part).

Conclusion: In all actuality Sheep Dip isn't much of a step-up brand to Pig's Nose. It stands on quite a different level. And this is actually one of the better blends I’ve had within the price point. Very enjoyable and unique in its own right. It will satisfy any malt head who needs a break or just want to sip this while they watch a movie. This is what a blend should be. It also makes a fun and unique gift from the general Johnnie Walker.

More Like a Wild Boar Than a Domestic hog: Pig's Nose Blended Scotch Whisky Review

"Designed to be smooth but full of character; character, indeed. After all, a pig’s nose spends most of its days nosing around in shit, mud, and feed."  - Dr Whisky

I'm a sucker for good packaging. Judging books by their cover is something I pride myself on. I have bought more books then I can count based on their covers. Some have been good and others have not. It's not an exact science, but I count it a success with the good ones I do find. That doesn't mean we should only focus on what we see on the outside, but odds are you'll get lucky every so often. The same goes for whisky (or rum for that matter - the first time I saw the Kraken I picked it up faster then you could say, "99 bottles of Rum on the wall," and I don't even really drink rum that often). Lets face it, appearance matters. Now we don't want to simply rely on what the outside shows, nor should our ultimate judgement be swayed by swagger, but as a producer if you value the quality inside the bottle you should value the quality on the outside. Time and care should be used in construction. When I am sitting at the table and I look over at my bar and see a beautifully constructed bottle sitting there, I just feel more comfortable in my ascetic surroundings. Call me strange, but I am sure there are many more of you out there like me. 

And this is exactly why Pig's Nose makes me so happy. It might at first seem like Pig's Nose or the SpencerfieldSpirit Company's other brand Sheep Dip, are no more than fun/collector item whiskies to be bought for a fathers day gift, yet both brands are currently receiving quite a lot of attention. And these great looking bottles are magnified by the fact that they have great owners who take pride in what they do (quality inside, quality outside). Alex Nicol (holding an impressive lineup, including work with Scottish & Newcastle, Glenmorangie, and Laphroaig) and partner Jane Eastwood took both Sheep Dip and Pig’s Nose as part of Nicol's severance package from Glasgow based distiller and blender Whyte & Mackay after he left the company a few years back. Though Pig's Nose has been around since 1977, the packaging as well as the content within has been revitalized due to much needed attention from Whyte & Mackay's master blender Richard Paterson. And it's turned out to be a mighty fine and unique blend.
 

Pig’s Nose Blended Scotch Whisky Review:

Price: Around $24.99 for a 750ml bottle.

Packaging/Labeling: Wonderfully modern and not over contrived.

Alcoholic Content: 80 Proof, 40% ABV. 

Nose: With a rather high malt content of 40 percent there is a prominent malty caramel and young green candied apples. A sherried oak on the back of the nose.

Tasting: Very sweet. Any of the malty caramel is drowned out by the very green and tart apple. Candied orange peels turns into prunes and sherried oak which is covered in a bitter vinegar. You would expect it to level out into a dry finish but the vinegar comes back and remains in the after taste. Peat running through the whole body.

Conclusion: Complexity is sure to be a defining point here, yet I feel there is a battle going on within the glass. Every flavor seems to be vying for attention, each ending up working out their differences in a rather unorganized fashion, not a team effort. The nose, while not overbearing, indicates the battle which awaits.

The question stands thus: how is it then? Well, the debate which has been going on in my head about how I should actually get this down on paper is sure sign that it will keep any whiskey enthusiast enthralled. I would suggest drinking this neat – some ice could actually tame some of the volatile flavors. I would state that this might not be the best thing to use for mixing cocktails, mostly because of the viscous texture, yet depending on your bar-man, it could be tamed. I would suggest Scottish Breakfast by Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

All in all Pig's Nose is, as the title says, more that of a wild boar than a domestic hog. It's young and viscous, but not something I would completely try to dull down. I would suggest that it be bottled at a higher proof, possible 8-10abv which would really bring on some more interesting notes, as well as control some of the complexity already there, but being a blended whisky I never see this happening. 

Bushmills Original Blended Irish Whiskey Review:

“So long as the presence of death lurks with anyone who goes through the simple act of swallowing, I will make mine whiskey.” – W.C. Fields

Blogging takes time. I have realized as of late what a commitment it is to constantly post and keep things going and just judging by my posting history the last few months I haven't been doing very well. As I always have said, I don't take this too seriously. Yet I do want to remain consistent to keep posting, because each new post I add is part of my learning process as a whiskey novice. So hang in there and don't forget about me, because I haven't forgotten about you. Lets get to it, shall we?

From the most northerly distillery in Ireland, the Old Bushmills Distillery, owned and operated by Diageo, this particular Bushmills is the basic 1608 blended whiskey. No doubt one of the standard Irish whiskey's, with the Distillery attracting 110,000 visitors per year, Bushmills is tends to be more mellow then its counterparts across the way in Scotland. Honestly I hadn't sampled the standard 1608 Bushmills until recently. I have been a long fan of the Blackbush for quite some time and since I had already reviewed some of the lesser popular Irish whiskey’s I thought it was about time I review its predecessor.

Bushmills Original Blended Irish Whiskey Review:

Price: Around $24.99 for a 750ml bottle.

Packaging/Labeling: Very much a branded product, Bushmills does claim to have originated in 1608, yet this was when Bushmills was granted to the license for distillation. The distillery started producing much later.

Alcohol Content: 80 Proof, 40% ABV. 

Color: Carmel, yet the e150e is not overly used.

Nose: Creamy green apple, vanilla – almost a chardonnay. The nose is actually quite wonderful with this underlying tone which mimics a bourbon, with its oak-ness and vanilla. Here mellow means subtle complexity rather than lack of a nose.

Tasting: Comes on much more dry then I would have expected. With a gentle fudgness which has some wood and spice. There is a gentle, though not wobbly, balance here. 

Conclusion: Arrives, developes and finishes all in the same manor. This is one of those whiskey’s that is an enjoyable dram if you want to spend a small amount at the local bar. Easy introduction to Irish whiskey yet good enough to not snob away from.

Johnny Walker Black Label Whisky Review:

"Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, ever give up unless they offer Johnny Walker Black." – Winston Churchill

One of the first and the best selling blended whiskies in the world, Johnny Walker Black label (owned by Diageo of course) has been eying for a review for quite some time. Within the blended whisky category, that is blended grain whisky from continuous stills and single malt whisky from pot stills, Johnny Walker Black is one of the best you can get, at least for its price point, reliability and accessibility. Simply put the Black Label name is almost synonymous with quality blended Scotch. Supposedly this blend, as Johnny Walker states, is based on the original 1820 Walker Family recipe. Either way this is no doubt the flagship of the Johnny Walker brand and has won more awards than any other deluxe Scotch whisky brand out there to prove it.

Blended whiskey markedly was what most people drank in the 20^th century. And today, though it still holds a strong place in the Scotch whisky market (roughly 90 percent!), it is very much seen as inferior to single malt Scotch. Which I have to say is unfortunate because the rightly blended whisky, as generally stated, can be greater than the sum of its parts and it can simply be a joy to drink. Johnny Walker Black is a blend of 40 different whiskies, each aged 12 years or longer. More clearly the age statement on a blended whiskey actually distinguishes the youngest whisky in the blend.

This was the first of the whisky tastings from my last vacation – shout out to my father who joined me for this blended experience.

Johnny Walker Black Label Whisky Review:
 
Price: Around $30 for a 750ml bottle.

Packaging/Labeling:  Classic Johnny Walker square bottle which cones at the top. One brand which has really stayed true to its original design and label and for that I say: “Thank you Mr. Walker!”

Alcohol Content: 80 Proof, 40% ABV.

Color: Burnt golden hue. A bit too much E150e.

Nose: Vanilla and caramel, dried apricot, and nutmeg, a lot of cinnamon on the back. Smoky.

Tasting: Butterscotch and pepper. Floral notes, raison, vanilla, and light peatiness. Not very sweet – more rounded and less direct compared to any particular single malt. A wonderful dryness.

Conclusion: This is a very well balanced and well rounded blended whisky. Yes, we know this isn’t a single malt and yes, we know this isn’t Johnny Walker Blue Label. Get over it! Ignore most reviewers who say it taste like crap – we don’t want to be malt snobs anyway. The time and dedication it took to blend this is apparent and for the price this is a fabulous blended whisky. Great to start someone off with because of its standard setting excellence, but something you can always have tucked away in the bar for easy drinking or a starter while your single malt opens up.