Whisky – AlbinoTree.Net: Whisky (and book) reviews

Whisky and Words Number 110: Bunnahabhain 2008 Manzanilla Cask Limited

This Bunnahabhain Limited Release was distilled in 2008, bottled in 2017, and I received it as a gift in 2022. Yes, I’ve been a lazy lad and have not written a blog in two years, LFG!

How is this different from regular old Bunna 12? The 12 is also ‘sherry cask matured,’ but the little secret about “sherry barrels” is that many times they are not actually casks used to make sherry. The Whisky Wash reported in 2022 “in 1981, the Spanish government changed its export rules, banning the use of casks for shipping. The global supply of sherry barrels dried up overnight.” They explain that the distillers purchase new-make barrels that have had sherry sitting in them for a few months, or do their own sherry-cask seasoning, which would be for some time period, not necessarily as long as sherry is normally aged for production (minimum two years).

The label on this whisky specifically mentions “former Manzanilla sherry casks” which implies they actually aged sherry in said casks. Manzanilla sherry is domain-protected (Whisky and Wisdom has a great article on Sherry) and can only be produced in a single coastal town, Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The Bunna marketers highlight a salty maritime air on the carton and bottle notes, due to these casks laying for 2 years in a seaside warehouse.

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Whisky and Words Number 109: Bushmills Prohibition Recipe (vs. Bushmills White Label)

Bushmills was one of my first reviews, number 3 to be exact, back in 2015. Given my journey since then, I’m re-tasting it as I compare to the Prohibition Blend that landed in my local bottle shop.

The Prohibition Blend has a lot going on visually as you can see by the photo at right. There are callbacks to the ‘Shelby’ company, a tie-in to The Peaky Blinders TV series. Their star, Cillian Murphy features on the Bushmills landing page for the whisky. There is a quote on the back of the bottle from a Shelby (who is fictional). We have reached a level of marketing tomfoolery seldom seen. On the side of reality, we see this is non-chill-filtered and bottled at 92 proof (46% ABV), aged for a minimum of 3 years (which is required by Irish law anyway) in ex-bourbon barrels. Also, it’s got a cork stopper; very 1920s.

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Whisky and Words Number 108: Johnnie Walker Double Black vs. JW Black

I have long relied on Johnnie Walker’s 12-year old ‘Black Label’ blended whisky (aka JWB) as a standard everyday drinking whisky and a standard of quality against other blends. I’ve compared JWB to Ballantine’s, Johnnie Walker’s Green Label and special releases, various other ‘two Jackson‘ ($40) whiskies, a Compass Box blend, and Dewar’s Ancestor. And today we’re at it again, comparing the Johnnie Walker ‘Double Black’ to the venerable JWB.

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Whisky and Words Number 107: Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Rye vs. Bulleit 95 Rye

A true small-batch, single-barrel release

Full disclosure: I can find Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Rye locally, but I did not buy it for this review. I received a sample bottle of this and two other whiskies for a group tasting event. (Hence not much in the way of photography today.) If I had purchased, it would have set me back about $49 locally, which is a lot for an American whisky with no specific age statement.

Michter‘s is interesting for being a small distiller specializing in small batch whiskies and, in this case, single barrel releases. Yes, this is a single-barrel rye. Of its provenance, the Michter’s web site does not tell us any more than we’d know from the branding as a Straight Rye: aged at least 2 years in charred, new American oak barrels, at least 51% rye in the mash, no colors or flavoring agents added, and all the whiskey in the bottle distilled in same state. It would be interesting to know the actual ratio of rye in the mash bill. I emailed, let’s see what we hear back. But we do know they distill their own spirit (unlike many ’boutique’ rye whiskies that use spirit from MGP). Michter’s distillery is in Louisville, KY.

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Whisky and Words Number 106: Copper Dog vs. Naked Malt – Blended Malt Shootout

Note: if you came here for scurrilous photos (searching for ‘naked’ are you?) you will be disappointed….nothin’ but whisky here.

Completely serendipitously, I find myself with two blended malt whiskies. These were purchases of opportunity. They are ‘Naked,’ imported by Edrington (the outfit behind Highland Park and Macallan), and Copper Dog, from the Craigellachie Hotel in the town of the same name, imported by Diageo.

First off, what is a blended malt? It is a blend of only malt whiskies, which can be from different distilleries. I like buying blended malts like Monkey Shoulder because for about the same price as a blend, you are getting pot-stilled malt whiskies, with no column-distilled grain alcohol (as you will find in even a nicely aged blend like Johnny Walker Black). What you usually do not get with a blended malt is an age statement, so the downside of a blended malt is that you may have some more aggressive, younger spirits in the mix.

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