Lookin' good, souljah. How does that work, actually? Prices better? Unique take-homes, like casks or barrels? Kinda gives the term 'getting barreled' new meaning.
We go to a bunch of distilleries, they roll out a bunch of barrels. We taste through and pick the ones we want. Because of the three tier system, you can't just roll out of there with a barrel in your pickup truck. They have to bottle it and send it through a distributor. Prices are a little better than what you'd pay off the shelf, but you're getting a single barrel of your choice.
I don't mean this in a negative way, but when someone mentions that a whisk(e)y is "smooth", the guys in my group immediately disregard everything that person has to say.
how would you define it? Serious question. I like whiskey. when i think of a smooth whiskey i think of one that doesn't bite me when i drink it. I've been enjoying red breast. neat. it tastes good and goes down easy
I guess that was the wrong word to use, I just meant it wasn't that bad. I am def not a whiskey expert, but there are some I like and some I don't. Even though I have had Jameson quite a bit, it's not my first pick.
Also, not that it's a very expensive bottle of whiskey, it didn't seem to burn as much, if that makes sense.
Regular Jameson is pretty light on the nose with a decent barley backbone. It's rather uninteresting on the palate. Sugar water with very light vanilla and fruit. The mouthfeel is pretty thin and the finish is almost nonexistent. Moving onto the Jameson 18 you get a much added boost of fruit, but at 18yrs aged in Ireland it still doesn't pick up much oak. The mouthfeel becomes a bit thicker, but not sweeter. I also find a medicinal note to the 18 that is reminiscent of something peated, however; it's not. The Jameson rarest vintage reserve is quite spectacular for an Irish. The melon and fruit notes are very pronounced, and the oak seems to come into play. Most likely from being aged in Port pipes. Along with the oak is a nice raisin, cinnamon, and cocoa. The whiskey rolls across the palate like oil and is a fun dram to sit back and ponder. Is it worth north of $200, probably not, but that seems to be the going rate for a top end Irish these days.
I don't mean this in a negative way, but when someone mentions that a whisk(e)y is "light on the nose", the guys in my group immediately disregard everything that person has to say.
Touche. Just trying to get folks to think beyond how easy a whiskey is to pound and chase with a beer. A lot of time and effort goes into producing a good whiskey, and it should not be a rushed process to enjoy and put some thought into describing. A master distiller only gets two (three if they're lucky) chances to make a 15 year old bourbon in their lifetime. Everything you learned from the first, goes into the second. And once the second is done, you're done, and the knowledge is passed onto the next in line. Cheers!
When your drinking to forget, It don't matter what went into it. I would imagine the dude making whiskey gets to make a bunch of 15 year whiskey. He's just dead before most of it matures.
My point was that you only get to see the finished product twice, three times if you're lucky. You can't really decide on what to change for the better until the first one is completely matured. And once the second has matured, you're most likely done.