The sound of bagpipes as it cut through the cold, dark, intense and hostile air; the myriad of black polished boots clickety clacking against the earth in unison. White socks, kilts, sporrans, bagpipes – a hundred that marched leading the militia towards war; a piece of history that has inspired and made its way into…
Tag: finish
Review : Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch
“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” – Abraham Lincoln The approach has rather worked on the contrary for the folks at Ian Macleod distilleries, especially in the case of one specific bottling – The SmokeHead. To the novice drinker, the name might cause one to think of a pot addict in…
Review : The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Years Old
The roar of motor race engines, the layers of tyres stacked one over the other, the hustle of the pit crew gripping jacks and bald tyres, the buzz of wheel guns and the garbled chatter from walkie-talkie machines – a composition, each like notes of a symphony. The long fuel pipes, the nuts, bolts, oil…
Review : 100 Pipers 12 Years Old
A friend of mine had recently travelled to the US on business, and had got me a bottle of Bushmills 10 YO for my review. While making a trip nearby, he thought of handing over the bottle instead of me having to do the travel. I had recently changed jobs and the meet turned out…
Review : The Glenmorangie Original
It’s surprising how the mind and the many plethora of human senses perceive an event that takes you back a few decades. In this specific instance, it was the scent of dust as it gets lifted off the earth with every drop of rain hitting the arid, seared soil. So much did this sound of…
Review : Vat 69 Black
Every once in a while you stumble across something that stays camouflaged in the background but just for that instance gets caught in your field of vision. And though it might not always be a high dollar spirit, the act of discovery itself manifests an interest that draws you to pour yourself a dram and…
Review : McDowell’s Single Malt
Whiskies are so much of an unexplored and unappreciated lot that it took me over a decade to realize what I was really missing. The outlook the world over has matured and continues to do so with more and more people appreciating the drink; not to mention distillers going beyond just age and ingredient in…
Review : Teacher’s Highland Cream
It all started in the early 1830s when William Teacher began making blends and selling them at his grocery store. After he was granted a license in 1856, he opened a ‘dram shop’ and with time, the number of such establishments grew to eighteen. Although there were several of his blends sold over the counter,…
Review : Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky
A lot can happen over coffee they say…and in the case of the Cutty Sark, it happened over lunch between Francis Berry, Hugh Rudd (partners of Berry Bros. & Rudd) and James McBey. The idea was to introduce a whisky that could be mixed into a cocktail or sipped as an aperitif, a move from…
Review : Glenlivet 12 YO
At a time when liquor was produced illegally and the need to push against all the competition meant licensing the means to produce spirits – George Smith an illicit distiller formed the first licensed Distillery in the parish of Glenlivet, the year being 1824. The Glenlivet is one of the few that survived the Great…
Review : Black Dog ‘Centenary’ Black Reserve
The Centenary, the youngest expression from the Black Dog family has had some stage presence in India for quite a while and though distilled and aged in Scotland, it is imported and then bottled locally. This effectively brings down the import customs considerably making them not only pocket friendly but also enabling cash registers to…
Review : The Famous Grouse
The ‘Famous Grouse’ came to life in 1905, and was known as the ‘Grouse Blend’ prior to being renamed. Much of the blends existence can be attributed to almost a century ago in 1800, when Matthew Gloag, a native of Perth, Scotland started his establishment, ‘Matthew Gloag & Son’. A grocer and a wine merchant…
Review : Chivas Regal Extra
The weekend came with a surprise, in the shape of a nice shiny red box – The Chivas Regal Extra; thanks to a friend of mine who got hold of it at the Duty Free Store. Its absence at the local liquor stores tells me that it’s still being exclusively sold at the airports and…
Review : Whyte & Mackay Special
The first time I had caught wind of the Whyte & Mackay portfolio was while browsing the internet and stumbling across a couple of YouTube Videos of their Master Distiller, Richard Paterson; a very passionate, enthusiastic and hands-on person. Probably one of a handful of Master Distillers who love devoting ‘on screen’ presence spreading whisky…
Review : Black & White Blended Whisky
December and Christmas is when I make a run down south to the lands of backwaters, plush green estates, rubber, banana and coconut plantations. Kerala is where my folks reside and is my home away from home. And this time, while tidying up a few shelves and scrubbing up a few nooks and corners I…
Review : Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt
Never before have I waited this long for a bottle that I’ve heard so much about. Since my interest for whisky had spurred a different direction and the mysteries of the Japanese juice had made rounds in the various books, forums and websites; I had my mind set in getting a taste of that oriental…
Review : Jameson’s Original
With Christmas and the New Year nearing by, I certainly didn’t want to pen a review on the usual Scotch or Bourbon. And it was then that I had realised something rather dumbfounded and to be quite honest …stupid! I kept telling myself how could I be so daft that I happened to overlook one…
Review : Johnnie Walker Red label
We’ve hit the JW Black Label in our last post and also briefly compared the Dewar’s White Label to the Ballentine’s Finest. But having said that, we’re not leaving the youngest sibling from the JW stables aside without a fight and surely a worthy competitor at that; yes today we’re diving into the JW Red…
Review : Johnnie Walker Black Label
If you were to overhear the word ‘scotch’ in a conversation; chances are the first bottle to flash by your mind would be in all likelihood the infamous Johnny Walker Black label. Better yet, observe the liquor counters at the Indian Duty free stores and chances are you’d see more than a few Johnny’s being…
Review: Bulleit Bourbon – Frontier Whiskey
My trip to the Americas a few months back had introduced me to a Bourbon that I’ve seldom heard off here in India; never seen at the local liquor stores, the duty free shops or from the mouths of colleagues, peers, friends and coworkers. In fact, the pronunciation of the tag on the label itself…
Uisce Beatha | My Whisk'e'y Diaries 