All reviews on this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
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Hi, this is a blog I put together quickly so that my girlfriend and I could post our thoughts on some of the things we drink. Right now, this is heavily centred around alcoholic beverages, but it might some day even encompass other beverages we enjoy, such as tea and coffee. Of course, the opinions expressed here are our own and may very significantly differ from yours (it's all a matter of taste, isn't it?), but, whether you agree or disagree with us, I hope it will be useful in some way, if only to introduce you to drinks or brands you didn't know existed. If you should have any comment on what you read here, please feel free to drop me a note at smassy at sdf dot lonestar dot org. For context's sake, know that we are currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we arrived from Montreal in August 2005; hence, when we refer to something as local, it more or less means NS or, at its broadest, the Atlantic provinces. It also means that all prices reported here are in Canadian currency, unless otherwise specified. Price are also non-inclusive of taxes (15% in Canada), once again, unless otherwise specified. But that's boring stuff… Click on any category or subcategory to read entries more relevant to your interests and tastes. Happy drinking! Monday, August 20 2007
MacKillop's Choice is the other great buy I snatched about the time of my birthday. This is a 14 year old cask strength, single cask bottle produced at the Longmorn Distillery, from which I have unfortunately not tasted any other malts. Though one has to compensate for the higher alcohol content, once it is done, the smells perceived are surprisingly mild and tantalising, softly woodsy, with pine and cherrywood, overlaid with sweet herbs and just the slightest whiff of smoke. The impression one is left the slightest inkling of smoke on the air. The impression one is left with is that of standing in the forest with smoke drifting from a distant campfire for which one is perhaps seeking dead wood at this very moment, while a gentle mist is beginning to frost the surrounding leaves. The taste begins off with many of the elements described in the smell, the arboraceousness, for one thing, and a little of the smoke, as well as other flavours. The start is fairly sweet with creamy malt and prickles of licorice and roasted fennel to give it a certain piquancy as well as prevent the sweetness from getting out of hand; it carries a certain dewy, leafy freshness with it, like that found at the bank of a brook on a hot Autumn day. When we reach mid-palate, the taste shifts and the sweetness is further tempered by the emergence of a certain bitterness, being partly that of oak and partly of black chocolate, combined with a taste of roasted nuts which increases the richness of the drink and leads into a quiet, but profound climax. The finish is a dignified merger of these tastes, with a return to the foreground of leafiness along with the stalwart presence of bittersweet chocolate: one can literally taste both the malt and the cask in that finish, and enjoy their union. This is quite a magnificent Whisky in a restrained, meditative way. It is quite mild, despite its high alcohol content, but demonstrates a richness and balance which is extremely compelling. In fact, this falls within the category of drinks I would like to have on hand the year round. This particular batched was laid in 1988, but if other years are of the same caliber, this is one every one should try. [/Whisky/Scotch] permanent link |
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