Background

As I assume most people reading this, I have been roughly zero for infinity in whiskey lotteries since the dawn of time. Well, my fortunes finally turned, and I won this year’s A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength lottery (review forthcoming, I promise!). Because mental health is important, I opted not to drive an hour and a half down the hellhole that is I-95 to merely pick up a bottle and turn around. What better opportunity to spend an afternoon touring A. Smith Bowman and writing up my experience at this Virginia institution!

Background

Two years ago, Buffalo Trace started silently rolling out NFC tags to potentially curb counterfeiting. They provided no information, but if you had an app like NFC tools and scanned the tag on your 2021 Thomas H Handy (and only THH) it would tell you if the bottle had been opened or unopened.

Last year, the situation remained largely unchanged, but NFC tags appeared, seemingly sporadically, on other bottles within the BTAC line. Personally, I tested a 2022 THH and 2022 George T Stagg. The 2022 THH had an NFC tag, while the GTS did not. It's worth noting that I purchased the GTS from Costco, an unlikely place for counterfeit products. Although I could have mis-scanned the tag, the bottle has been open for a long time, so I can't verify it now. However, others reported mixed results. This redditor noted no tags, yet a friend kindly scanned their 2022 GTS, revealing an NFC tag. What would help is if Sazerac put out the slightest bit of helpful literature on what they are doing so we can all actually utilize this better. While we wait to see if the polar ice caps will melt before Saz does this, I am here to personally report that it appears this tech took one step closer to being official this year! Here’s what I’ve found out so far, through a combination of limited home testing, home testing via friends, and Google.

Background

Last but not least, part three of my Speyside stories! A quick reminder on the full series:

• Part 1: GlenAllachie tour and a quick stop by Glenfarclas

• Part 2: BenRiach and Glendronach tours

• Part 3: Glen Moray tour and stops at Glenfiddich and Aberlour

After finishing a delightful day at BenRiach and GlenDronach, we found ourselves with some time to kill on Wednesday morning before our Glen Moray tour. As such, we decided on some impromptu drop-ins at Glenfiddich and Aberlour.

Background

Continuing with part two of our recent Speyside tours! As I mentioned in my last write-up, this will be a three part series:

• Part 1: GlenAllachie tour and a quick stop by Glenfarclas

• Part 2: BenRiach and Glendronach tours

• Part 3: Glen Moray tour and stops at Glenfiddich and Aberlour

Following our visits to GlenAllachie and Glenfarclas on the first day, we spent the night at the delightful Abbeyfield B&B in Dufftown. The next day, we set out early for the BenRiach and Glendronach tours, first up was BenRiach!

Background

Back from a recent trip to Scotland so I figured I'd break down our distillery tour experiences in a bit of a series. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to tour around some Kentucky distilleries, and wrote it up in three parts. I'm going to take the same approach here. In each post, I'll break down the distilleries toured, as well as other notable stops (distilleries or otherwise) we made along the way:

• Part 1: GlenAllachie tour and a quick stop by Glenfarclas

• Part 2: BenRiach and Glendronach tours

• Part 3: Glen Moray tour and stops at Glenfiddich and Aberlour

We drove up from Edinburgh, successfully conquering the wrong side of the road, and had about a half day to fit in a tour. We booked at GlenAllachie for a few reasons, first and foremost is that I was pretty impressed with their offerings after a tasting earlier this year. It's also a pretty convenient stop, essentially right on the way up from Edinburgh to other distilleries in the area. It is off-season as well, and we were up on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when tour options were a bit limited (Glenfiddich and Glenlivet were closed Mon/Tues for instance). We start then, with GlenAllachie…

Background

Last week, our whiskey group here in DC, J St Whiskey, had a wonderful opportunity to pick a barrel in person at Old Forester. Back in July, I wrote about our previous experience picking at Peerless, so we were excited to see how the process would overlap and/or differ at Old Forester. Before we get into the pick process, let’s run through a quick tour of Old Forester and its history!

Background

I’ll say it again, a week after my Arby’s Bourbon review… I’m a sucker for a gimmick. So when a friend posted in our local chat that Buffalo Wild Wings had a Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce it felt like a divine signal. My high school days are filled with fond memories of TGI Friday’s Jack Daniel’s Sauce. I would certainly reach for a pour of Bulleit before I reach for a pour of Jack… ipso facto- I felt honor bound to pummel a Saturday hangover with Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce and bring my review to the masses.

Now, my fellow D/M/V residents may know, there is a single B Dubs in the District and it lies within spitting distance of Nationals Park. When this location opened in 2015, it was an unexciting yet somewhat necessary food option in a neighborhood that was undergoing rapid development. Since then, virtually every superior local restaurant has decided to open on a location on this now crammed block. This has left this particular Buffalo Wild Wings as inarguably the worst possible place to eat with the ballpark in sight. Hell, Nats Park itself has even significantly upped its game in the intervening years. Time has passed this poor Buffalo Wild Wings by, and it shows.

They were nigh sold out of beer. Beer! This is a BUFFALO WILD WINGS. Bud Light, Miller Light, Michelob Ultra, Modelo, Yuengling, most of the IPAs, and more. Beer, and specifically light beer, is a core competency for a chain sports bar! As the waitress recounts the lack of options, a friend mumbles under his breath “what are we at war?” One of the scant few options was a Goose Island “Wild Herd'' Kolsch, which I assume is some co-branded monstrosity (get it, herd, buffalo) but I’m too lazy to look it up. Also, since I am riddled with hangover self-loathing I make the most self-loathingist of choices- the wings will be boneless. Minimal effort as I soak up my sorrows in what will hopefully be the sweet release of Bulleit Bourbon BBQ sauce. The decrepit looking boneless wings (nuggets?) arrive, and it’s time to review…

Background

Quick background- our whiskey group here in DC (J St Whiskey) was fortunate enough to partner with some local establishments (shoutout to District Liquors, Show of Hands and Cinder BBQ) to head out to Kentucky and pick a Peerless Bourbon barrel recently. As a few of our picking crew had not been out to the promised land yet, we decided to build in a fair amount of tours and stops. I wanted to share some of my takeaways from our experiences throughout our trip, with the hope being that others heading out to KY find some of this useful:

Part 1: Bardstown

Part 2: Louisville

Part 3: Our experience picking at Peerless

In the past two posts, I broke things down by distillery, tour, and also noted some interesting stops we made along the way! This one will be all about our experience touring and then picking a barrel at Peerless. Spoiler alert- it was awesome.

Background

Quick background- our whiskey group here in DC (J St Whiskey) was fortunate enough to partner with some local establishments (shoutout to District Liquors, Show of Hands and Cinder BBQ) to head out to Kentucky and pick a Peerless Bourbon barrel recently. As a few of our picking crew had not been out to the promised land yet, we decided to build in a fair amount of tours and stops. I wanted to share some of my takeaways from our experiences throughout our trip, with the hope being that others heading out to KY find some of this useful, and am planning to do it in three parts:

• Part 1: Bardstown

• Part 2: Louisville

• Part 3: Our experience picking at Peerless

In each of these posts I’ll break things down by distillery, tour, and also note some interesting stops we made along the way! We already covered Bardstown in Part One, now onto our first stop in Louisville!

Background

Quick background- our whiskey group here in DC (J St Whiskey) was fortunate enough to partner with some local establishments (shoutout to District Liquors, Show of Hands and Cinder BBQ) to head out to Kentucky and pick a Peerless Bourbon barrel recently. As a few of our picking crew had not been out to the promised land yet, we decided to build in a fair amount of tours and stops. I wanted to share some of my takeaways from our experiences throughout our trip, with the hope being that others heading out to KY find some of this useful, and am planning to do it in three parts:

• Part 1: Bardstown

• Part 2: Louisville

• Part 3: Our experience picking at Peerless

In each of these posts I’ll break things down by distillery, tour, and also note some interesting stops we made along the way! Starting off with our first tour getting into Bardstown…

Background

Living in the nation’s capital is a give and take. On one hand lies taxation without congressional representation, on the other are wonderfully lax liquor laws that allow distilleries to ship directly to your door! A growing number of distilleries are offering membership/subscription programs, and I wanted to take a moment (ok bear with me it'll be a bit longer than a moment) to compare my experiences with two of them: Jim Beam’s Barreled & Boxed and High West’s Saloon Society.

My typical format for whiskey reviews is to put them head to head, so I wanted to compare these two services across a few categories:

• The Nose... Transparency (how open is the distillery about what you’re getting and for what price)

• The Palate... Value! (pricing, what’s included, benefits over traditional hunting)

• The Finish... Peripheral Benefits (customer service, presentation... the lingering impression stuff)

Background

I first posted this in r/bourbon over a year ago, and I was inspired to revisit this list upon seeing a certain Facebook group offering a “Pineapple Mezcal” pick offering. I am positive I am not the only one feeling this way, but it does seem like we are (and have been) in the midst of peak barrel picks. It seems like at least monthly, if not more frequently, I am made aware of a new/different pick group. Early on in my whiskey journey, I felt an urge to snatch up a lot of picks that came my way. Since then, I have set some ground rules for myself that I have mostly stuck to and I wanted to share them in the event others feel a bit of choice paralysis on picks.

Background

We’ve all been there. Maybe you get suckered by a local craft distillery, grabbing a bottle of their two year old whiskey out of guilt, local loyalty, or you took a tour and just felt like leaving with SOMETHING. Or maybe some excellent packaging drew you in. Hey it’s from Kentucky, and the bottle can be re-used as a decanter, that’s cool!

Whatever the reason, we’ve all ended up a bummer bottle (or hell, bottles), and we’ve all heard the common refrain “just use it in a cocktail.” Well, I dont know about you but I can only drink so many cocktails. So let’s explore some other ways to put that crappy juice to work!