Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2017 i Whisky Advocate

Despite all the buzz around American craft spirits, “craft” is not a protected term and there is no universally accepted definition. So what are we talking about? Small production is typically a differentiating factor, but different states set their own limits for a craft distiller license. Some states have additional requirements, like Washington, which requires that at least 50 percent of the grain used in production be grown in-state. This page defines craft distillers as U.S.-licensed producers that have not more than 750,000 proof gallons (or 394,317 9-liter cases) removed from bond annually, market themselves as craft, are not con-trolled by a large supplier, and have abided by the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) Code of Ethics. My How You’ve Grown TOTAL NUMBER OF U.S. CRAFT DISTILLERS BY YEAR If…

Some whisky fans assert that bourbon is analogous to jazz: the only spirited art form original to America. As bourbon is made with an indigenous plant—corn—that seems a pretty solid claim. Well, as long you define “American” as from the U.S. Look south of the border, however, and you’ll find another spirit unique to North America: tequila. Its agave base is similarly original to the continent and it predates America’s corn concoctions by a century. The Aztecs were drinking the fermented juice of agave for some 2,500 years before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the early 16th century and distilled it into what would become tequila. Yet tequila received little re-spect north of the border, until recently. High- end tequila is currently thriving in the U.S. Ac-cording to industry trade…

Few meals are as primally pleasing to prepare as steak cooked on the grill. Summer is when countless Americans get in touch with their inner Neanderthal, carefully choosing the cut, thick-ness, and age of steaks for a meal of flame-cooked flesh. Whisky, of course, makes a natural partner with flavors of smoke and char, but as it turns out, creating the perfect pairing of whisky and steak requires a little more inspection than you might first think. “The provenance of the beef is more important than the cut,” says Danny McCallum, chef at Toronto’s premier steakhouse, Jacobs & Co. “While fat and texture do make a difference, the entire cow is going to have a similar taste,” he notes. With this in mind, McCallum advises paying attention to the environment…

American whiskey drinkers can easily locate the proof of their favorite whiskey on the bottle label, but more elusive is its barrel entry proof, the alcohol strength at which it enters the wood barrel. You see, before they dump it into barrels, distillers are legally required to reduce the proof of their bourbon or rye distillate by adding water. Reducing the proof in turn increases the total volume of liquid. Thus, the lower the proof of the whiskey, the more barrels that are required, adding greatly to the final production cost. In 1962, the U.S. Treasury raised the legal maximum barrel entry proof from 110 to its current 125. Since the regulatory change, most distillers slowly increased their own barrel entry to take advantage. But now, some bour-bon producers are…

Change is inevitable. That is, unless you were a 19th or 20th century bourbon distiller who adhered to strict bourbon stan-dards: distill a fermented mash made predominantly of corn and age it in new charred oak. They did not delineate from this path and were so paranoid of change that they’d hammer dents into a new column still until it resembled the retired rickety version. So staunch in their ways, bourbon distillers once dismissed ideas outright because they were new. Wild Turkey master distiller Eddie Russell jokes that he thought his name was “No,” because his father and distilling mentor, Jimmy, said no to his ideas so often. Who can find fault with their guarded ways? Find a bottle of 1950s-era bourbon and you tell me it isn’t so delicious…

If whisky tends to get neglected when the weather warms up, a victim of summer cocktail triage, it’s time to lis-ten up, because help has arrived. “Most people correlate dark spirits with winter because they are so warming when sipped, but as drinks like Smashes and Juleps have proven, whisky can easily be converted into a refreshing summer cocktail when using seasonal ingredients,” says Sara Rosales, bar manager at Radiator Whiskey in Seattle. Now, lay back and take a deep sip, as bourbon embraces the summer flavors of juicy peaches, spicy jalapeños, sweet rasp-berries, and fragrant basil. Southern Style Created by Brett Esler, barman at Whisler’s, Austin “The ginger beer and basil keep this drink light with bright, fresh, cooling notes that keep you wanting a second and third sip.…

There is no shortage of great bars dedicated to our favorite spirit. This highly subjective best list is curated by the Whisky Advocate editors. It reflects our common passion for whisky and our indviduality. Some of us enjoy our whisky with fine food, while others swirl to the rhythms of live jazz, or fire up a cigar. We expect our readers hold the same eclectic tastes. Whatever your desire, you’ll find it among these bars, given the one thing we all agree on: we’ll be drinking great whisky. Northeast A CIGAR CLUB OPEN TO ALL Ashton Cigar Bar Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Located atop Philly’s oldest cigar store, Ash-ton Cigar Bar pairs two of the finest things in life: cigars and whisky. Distressed brick walls, leather furniture, and a marble bar make…

Coinciding with its 120th anniversary, Glen Moray Distillery in the Speyside capital of Elgin has released three new aged expressions in their Elgin Heritage Collection. 90 Glen Moray 18 year old, 47.2%, $90 This offers a slightly oily nose, with or-chard fruits, vanilla, cocoa powder, nutmeg, cucumber sprinkled with white pepper, and very subtle smoke. Powerful flavors of peppery fruit and malt on the palate, with honey, butterscotch, milk chocolate, cinna-mon, and mellow oak. The finish is lengthy and redolent of toffee apples.—GS 90 Glen Moray 15 year old, 40%, $55 Aged in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks; the nose is initially relatively reticent, slightly earthy, with a hint of drinking chocolate, emerging sherry notes, and subtle orange. Toffee, more chocolate, and spicy dried fruits on the relatively…

Arouse your senses and prepare to deconstruct the flavors found in your whisky glass. Tasting Lesson is a drink hack to help anyone identify common whisky flavors and their origin. Vanilla is America’s most popular ice cream flavor. It’s familiar and imminently likeable, and its appearance in bourbon and other whiskies ranges from vanilla buttercream frosting to the intense flavor of the tiny, granular seeds scraped from a dark, wrinkled vanilla pod. Vanilla pod flavors vary according to the pod’s origin, whether from Tahiti, the island of Bourbon, or Mexico. Vanilla can be simultaneously smoky, sweet, floral, or fruity, but its trademark scent comes from vanillin, a compound that is naturally present in oak timber. By toasting the wood barrels used to mature whisky, the woody support struc-ture, called lignin,…

If you like rye whiskey, try… Casa Noble Alta Belleza, 43%, $1200 The first issue of Colección del Fundador is a triple distilled 5 year old with a cabernet sauvignon finish. For the lofty price you get a sublime mix of caramel, truffles, orange peel, black pepper, and earthy bread dough. Don Julio Real, 40%, $350 Another extra añejo, at the super age of 5 years, this melds lemon with choco-late and caramel, and finds a bit of crispness. Patrón Piedra, 40%, $400 If your only experience with Patrón is with its silver expression, prepare to be stunned by this extra añejo, with its butterscotch, hot peppers, tobacco, and cinnamon. If you like Lowland scotch, try… Avión Reserva 44, 40%, $150 The brand’s extra añejo expression balances hearty caramel with…

Once upon a time, air travel was a glamorous affair where well-dressed men and women kept their shoes on and idly sipped Manhattans before strolling straight to the gate for takeoff. Nowadays, travelers are lucky if they get to grab some overpriced mixed nuts or a can of Coke before being corralled to their cramped seats. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. There are options for whisky lovers seeking a good drink and a little dignity before taking off. Next time you’re traveling through one of these airports, check in a little early and relax with a whisky cocktail, a generous pour on the rocks, or—yes, a flight. Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen Louisville Visitors to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail can start or end their trip at this…

The humble Thermos. Generically known as a vacuum flask, it’s been around for well over a century, accompanying some of the most famous expeditions in the world—Shackleton at the South Pole, Roosevelt in the Belgian Congo, even the Wright Brothers during an early flight. Soldiers have carried the Thermos into battle, while doctors use it to transport plasma, insulin, and other substances. Its vacuum-sealed design has been applied in research across a number of scientific fields. Not bad for an insulated vessel best known for carrying mom’s homemade soup to school or filling with hot chocolate for an autumn hayride. The Thermos regulates both hot and cold temperatures, and its usefulness for sum-mertime drinking doesn’t need explaining. We asked three expert bartenders to mix up whiskey cocktails that can be…

A lot has changed about the business of putting people on boats and sailing them around the world since Gavin “Captain Stubing” MacLeod strode the decks of “The Love Boat” in the 1980s. Take size, for example. The Pacific Princess, the real ship that the fictional Stubing navigated to and from Puerto Vallarta each weekend, had capacity for all of 780 passengers, whereas today’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s immense Harmony of the Seas, can accommodate close to 7,000 travelers. And it’s not just the size of the ships that has grown, but also that of the cruise industry itself, with the trade group Cruise Lines Interna-tional Association reporting that 24 million passengers were expected to set sail in 2016, up from a mere 1.4 million in 1980. Then there…

Alberta Rye Dark Batch 45%, $30 The addition of about 1% sherry wine gives this blend of rye and bourbon whiskies a touch of prune and candied dates. Offers a pleasant richness and supple body quite unlike traditional Canadian ryes. Charbay R5 Hop Flavored Whiskey 49.5%, $80 Distilled from Bear Republic Brewery’s Racer 5 IPA, with extra hop flavoring, this whiskey’s smoky, slightly salty green spices come roaring out of the gate before a hoppy heart reveals itself in a lengthy, dramatic finish. Kings County Chocolate “Flavored” Whiskey 40%, $37/375ml Brooklyn-based Kings County steeps fresh cacao husks—remnants of the chocolate-making process—in their corn-based white dog. The result-ing juice is rich, bitter, and soft on the palate, never overplaying its subtle sweetness. Knob Creek Smoked Maple 45%, $31 Pure maple syrup…

There have been some remarkable bour-bon and rye whiskeys released by Trey and Chet Zoeller under the Jefferson’s label over the past 20 years. The company name honors President Thomas Jefferson, who made a number of contributions to whiskey, such as repealing the whiskey tax in 1802 and signing the deal purchasing the Louisiana Territory in 1803, which opened up a most significant trade route to the distillers upriver with access to the Missis-sippi. The Zoellers have released a series of Jefferson’s Presidential Select bottlings aged between 17 and 30 years. The trigger words for collectors are printed on the ver-tical strip on the lower right-hand corner of the earlier bottles: ‘Aged in Stitzel-Weller Barrels.’ As soon as this is mentioned, the imagination is stimulated to conjure up memories of…

Americans didn’t invent ice, but by God, we perfected it. In late 18th-century America ice was a luxury item afforded only to the wealthy, harvested from northern lakes and ponds in the winter, and stored in private ice houses until the weather warmed and refreshment beckoned. By the middle of the next century, ice found its way into elaborate concoctions called cocktails, and outsiders’ impression of “American drinks” became synonymous with outrageously icy beverages. The introduction of refrigeration in the early 1900s ultimately commoditized frozen water and brought it to the masses. Today, cheap and bountiful ice packs our beer kegs, makes our soft drinks overflow, and tumbles from our freezer doors in ways that early Americans could never have imagined. However, for some whisky drinkers, a truly perfect ice…

Bourbon was born on the American frontier and came of age on Madison Avenue—and everything about its history reflects the nation that invented it. The story is cast with immi-grants, industrialists, farmers, and hustlers, and set in fields, factories, boardrooms, and back rooms. Inextricably intertwined, America shaped bourbon and bourbon shaped America. And no matter how hard marketers try to embellish the history, they’ll never top the real thing. 7000 BC A-maize-ing Early Native Ameri-cans domesticate a weedy Mexican grass called teosinte, ultimately trans-forming it into the primary ingredient of bourbon and a grain that feeds and fuels the United States. 1622 Dying for a Drink George Thorpe, a colonist who had been experiment-ing with making alcohol beverages from corn, is killed during the Pow-hatan Uprising in Virginia. 1776 Revolting…

When there aren’t enough bottles to go around for the whole country, distillers may release new or rare whiskeys only in their own backyard. These are among the most readily available exclusives of Bluegrass State. Bulleit Barrel Strength ABV varies, $30/375 m Don’t let the petite bottle fool you: this high-rye whiskey packs a serious punch. Not going to Ken-tucky? Availability may expand to other states later this year. Old Bardstown Bottled In Bond 50%, $22 One of the first bourbon boom-era whiskeys to hit full maturity, it’s a great value and a throwback to the Willett Distillery’s early days. Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked 45.2%, $50/375 ml Doubling down on Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, it spends another year in a second new barrel. A must for fans of big…

Put down that beer! Too often our favorite spirit gets cast aside in favor of a cold brew or a white wine when the heat is on. But bourbon, our great American whiskey, is also one of the most versatile spirits at the table, according to celebrity chef, author, restaurateur, and whiskey lover Edward Lee. Lee has created a summer menu that pairs perfectly with our love of bourbon. At his standout restaurants in Louisville, Ky. (MilkWood, 610 Magnolia, The Wine Studio, Whiskey Dry opening this summer) and the Washington, D.C. area (Succotash), Lee gets playful with flavors of the American South. Green curry boudin sausage, for example, challenges expectations with Lee’s signature Asian twists, while his riff on a cheeseburger comes slathered in pimento cheese and slab bacon jam.…

THE LIVING LEGEND Jimmy Russell Every American whiskey bottle embodies a distiller’s legacy. The names of Jack Daniel, Jim Beam, Evan Williams, and Henry Mickenna are just a few you will find etched in glass and honoured on labels. Their legacies are sealed for the ages, but we’ll never taste any whiskey they actually touched. There are more recent American greats, with legacies just as strong. Although not always easy to find, their whiskeys still lurk behind the bar. To have a sip is the closest many of us will ever come to meeting an American distilling legend, to revel in their life’s work, created by their own hands. Nicknamed the “Buddha of Bour-bon,” Jimmy Russell’s presence has defined not only Wild Turkey, but also the best of bourbon culture…

We make single malt in Seattle because we have the perfect climate for barley, peat, and oak trees,” says Matt Hofmann, master distiller and co-founder of Westland Distillery. When he set out to make a peated single malt whisky, however, he ran into trouble immediately. “Nobody in the U.S. knew how to make peated malt,” admits Hofmann. Peat was never used as a fuel in the Pacific Northwest like in Scotland: no need, there are plenty of forests. As a workaround, he imported heavily peated malt from Bairds Malts in Scotland. In 2016, Hofmann partnered with Skagit Valley Malting to make peated malt on (and from) American soil. “We filled 70 casks which we are pretty ecstatic about,” he grins. “We just tasted the stuff that has been in cask…

94 Crown Royal Noble Collection Wine Barrel Finished, 40.5%, $60 The first expression of the Crown Royal Noble Collection was our Canadian Whisky of the Year in 2016 and this one outdoes the original. This release features the standard Crown Royal Fine De Luxe finished in caber-net sauvignon barrels. To an already complex blend of vanilla, delicate flowers, and fruits, add canned peach syrup, pears, and white plums, with smoldering pepper and grape skin tannins on the finish.—DdeK 88 Pendleton 20 year old Directors’ Reserve 2017, 40%, $125 Joining the core Pendleton lineup, with a new edition expected each September. Past releases of Director’s Reserve have been irregular, perhaps because a local rancher killed the buzz when he bought the entire first batch nearly a decade ago. A luxuriously creamy…

FRENCH SINGLE MALT WHISKY 89 Armorik Single Cask 8151, 46%, $90 What happened when Warenghem Dis-tillery’s David Roussier finished some of his famous Breton whisky for 2 years in a Dartigalongue Armagnac cask from the old-est Bas Armagnac production house? Sweet apple, pear, vanilla, lemon peel, and marzipan appear. A drink that awakens intense citrus sensations of marmalade, mixed peel, lemon and orange segments, followed by a light snap of pepper, gooseberries, nectarine flesh, and a lemony finish with hints of oak.—JM…

PILSNERS 96 Ayinger Bavarian Pils, 5.3%, $12/four-pack You’d expect a traditional approach from this accomplished Bavarian family brewery, and you wouldn’t be disappointed. From beneath its pillowy white foam, this light gold lager offers an aroma of equal parts fragrant grain and spring meadow, and a fresh, approach-able character that accentuates the grassy, floral notes of the hops without ever over-playing their bitterness. Dry, quenching, and eminently quaffable.—SB 95 Saint Arnold 5 O’Clock Pils, 5.2%, $9/six-pack This Houston brewery is better known for its Germanic beers, but there is a definite Bo hemian character to this lightly hazy, highly floral pilsner. Traditional Czech Saaz hops announce their presence with a nose that underscores carnation and wildflower with fresh grain notes, while the firm maltiness of the body supports a moderate,…

When it comes to active summertime pursuits, your favorite whisky glass has one fatal flaw—it’s glass. After all, nothing brings an outdoor party to a literal standstill faster than the sound of a smashing glass. These durable whisky vessels are perfectly suited to summer fun. So pour yourself a favorite whisky, maybe topped off with ice and soda, and kick off those shoes with confidence, knowing that your crystal whisky glasses are at home in the cupboard, enjoying a well-deserved vacation of their own. CAMPING Top Choice David Rasmussen Design Wood Cocktail Glass, $61 Combining striking design with outdoor functionality, perfect to hoist your Manhatan while glamping—glamor-ous camping. The FDA-approved finish is easily maintained with a coat of mineral oil. davidras-mussendesign.com GARDEN PARTYTop Choice Copper Tumbler, $20 Pretty as a…

Without barrels from the U.S., Scotch whisky as we know it could not exist. Nine out of ten casks used to mature whisky in Scotland today initially matured bourbon or Tennessee whiskey. By law, barrels can be used only once for bourbon, but they still have plenty of flavor to give. Thousands of empty used vessels are shipped to Scotland every year to impart delicious sweetness, scented vanilla, and golden honey flavors to whisky destined for the bourbon barrel. Yet, finding scotch aged in only bourbon requires a keen eye. New American oak barrels are toasted and charred to break down the uppermost layers and prepare them for their first job of matur-ing bourbon whiskey. Toasting and charring enhances the vanillin present in the seasoned wood. The cask contributes oak…

1 Whisky Caramelized Onions Recreate chef McBride’s burger at home by caramelizing a couple of sliced onions low and slow in clarified butter until they’re the color of mahogany. Deglaze with three tablespoons of a smoky scotch, like Laphroaig. Just before serving, stir in a little more butter and a scant teaspoon of scotch. 2 Sauced Sauces Slather on whisky flavor with jalapeño-whiskey mustard from Sutter Butte’s olive oil or Sosu sriracha, aged in barrels from the Bay Area’s Anchor and Seven Stills distilleries. Or just whisk a little bourbon into your Heinz—we won’t tell. sutterbuttesoliveoil.com; sosusauces.com 3 Gooey Goodness Whisky and cheese go together all the time, including at the grill. Try Kerrygold’s aged cheddar, made with Irish whiskey; scotch-infused Amber Mist cheddar from Snowdonia; or Beehive Fully Loaded,…

Miniature barrels are like miniature horses. They’re almost too adorable to resist, yet nobody seems to know exactly what to do with them. So we asked chefs, distillers, and bartenders for their tips on the best small barrel DIY projects. Now, put these items in your mini-barrel, and turn it into the little workhorse it was born to be. The White Stuff Aging time: 3-6 months Woodinville Whiskey Co. offers the Age Your Own Whiskey Kit, including two 750 ml bottles of 110 proof unaged white dog and a 2-liter aging barrel. “Color develops within a few weeks in the barrel and it takes about 3 months to get a solid, enjoyable product,” says Woodinville co-owner Orlin Sorensen. Evaporation, or the angel’s share, is acceler-ated with small barrels, according to…

Toasting the birth of a child. Celebrat-ing a big tournament win. Pouring one out for a lost friend. During life’s big moments, whisky often has a place—even at your wedding. Especially at your wedding. “It’s about hospitality,” says wedding planner Emily King of Whiskey & White Events, who says more and more clients are incorporating whisky into their big day. “A lot of people want to show their friends and family Southern hospitality, and the whisky part is something that feels really natural with that.”…

If you were to amalgamate all the tasting scores given to the bottlings of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection over the years, I doubt there would be one clear leader. It would be true to say that Eagle Rare and Thomas H. Handy do not command the same auction prices as Sazerac 18 year old, William Larue Weller, or George T. Stagg, and if you had to push me, I would say the Stagg wins through. There are ex-ceptions, such as the $2,100 paid for the William Larue Weller 2006 release and the $750 bid for the Sazerac 18 year old 2001 release at Skinner Inc. in March. It’s hard to beat the six-bottle vertical of George T. Stagg 2004-2009 releases which sold for $2,800. For consistency, expect prices for…

In the modern parlance of beer, there exists an entity known far and wide as “lawn mower beer.” It is, simply, a beer of little character or flavor that elicits praise for the sole reason of it being a refreshing quaff when consumed very cold after sweat-provoking labor, such as mowing the lawn. It is also among the most explicit illustrations I know of the phrase “damning with faint praise.” When a person speaks of, say, a Bud Light or Corona as being a “good lawn mower beer,” what they are really saying is that if the beer is served so cold as to have little in the way of discernable flavor, and the person drinking it is sufficiently thirsty that they might equally appreciate a glass of iced tea…

Produced anywhere in the U.S. FACT Around 95% of bourbon comes from Kentucky. Made from at least 51% corn FACT Rye and wheat are common secondary grains, but any grain is permitted. Distilled to no more than 80% ABV FACT Bourbon can be produced in column or pot stills. Enters the barrel at no more than 62.5% ABV FACT There is no minimum aging requirement. (Bourbon less than 4 years old must state its actual age; bourbon labeled “straight” must be aged at least 2 years.) Matured in new charred oak barrels FACT After aging bourbon, most barrels are repurposed for scotch, rum, and other spirits.…

On May 4, 1964, a joint resolution of the United States Congress declared bourbon whiskey as a “distinctive product of the United States.” Coupled with the existing standards of identity for bourbon whiskey, it affirmed that America’s native spirit could be produced throughout the land. Of course, it wasn’t. Kentucky maintained a near monopoly on bourbon until the dawn of the 21st century. Now, small craft distillers are resur-recting bourbon traditions and creating new ones. Across the 50 states, you won’t believe the places we found folks making bourbon……

Frozen treats are among the most nostalgic of summer eats—cool, refreshing, and suddenly sticky for those who dare to dawdle. But ice pops aren’t just for kids from the hands of Brooklyn freezemeisters People’s Pops. “We are the grand masters of boozy pops,” declares co-founder Joel Horowitz. Taking their inspiration from sea-sonal farmers’ markets and savory cocktails, People’s Pops offers inventive icy treats, many designed for legal drinking age lickers. “When you freeze things you lose the flavor, so you need heightened flavors before you freeze, which makes whiskey, especially younger whis-keys, perfect for a pop,” says Horowitz, who is partial to rye. You’ll find the alcohol-infused varieties of People’s Pops for sale at New York’s Chelsea Market and served at the rooftop bar of the Conrad New York Hotel.…

Iodine. Coal tar. Asphalt. Bacon fat. Brine. Tarry rope. Soot. Campfire ash. Seaweed. Creosote. These are some signature flavors of peated whisky. It’s hard to tell if we should drink it or use it to seal a leaky roof. Peated whiskies have an edgy reputation for being boisterous, pungent, antagonistic drinks. They invite you to take a slug at the end of an ocean pier, stretch out your arms, and let out a visceral, primal howl. And for the drinkers who love them, only peated whisky will do. Peated whisky hasn’t always been so popular. Most recently, peated whiskies roared back into fashion after the Millennium, igniting a smoldering passion that has engulfed wave after wave of whisky drinkers ever since. Sure, other spirits use cereal grains, yeast, and oak…

You spot a great value bottle of your favorite single malt on the shelf. The price seems right, but the label is strangely unfa-miliar. Chances are it’s from an “independent bottler” rather than the distillery itself—a third-party operator in the business of buying casks, either singly or in parcels, and bottling them under their name, even though for the most part the original distillery is clearly identified. But operations such as Cadenhead’s, Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Adelphi, and others do much more than just bottle whisky. At their best, they are curators, brokers, and stewards during good times and bad who have given whisky lovers some remarkable drams at what now seems like incredible value. But as mar-kets evolve around them, their continued survival has dictated…

SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALTS 91 Balvenie Tun 1509 (Batch 3), 52.2%, $350 The third batch in this series comprises twelve sherry butts distilled between 1989 and 1992, eleven American oak hogsheads from 1989, and eight refill American oak butts distilled in 1992 and 1993. Rich sherry, honey, and malt notes on the nose, with figs and citrus peel. Silky on the palate, with Jaffa oranges, raisins, ginger, and plain chocolate. Licorice, sherry, and spicy oak in the very long finish. (8,850 bottles)—GS 87 Benromach Sassicaia Wood Finish 2009, 45%, $48 This vintage Benromach has been finished in Sassicaia wine casks from the Bolgheri wine region of Italy after maturation in first-fill bourbon barrels. Red currants and warm peat, ginger, and vanilla on the nose. Initially, juicy fruit on the palate, but…

BOURBON 94 Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (Batch A117), 63.5%, $70 Here, a perfect harmony delivers crème brûlée, butterscotch, fruit, cinnamon, and rising cornbread. Right away complexity sets in, delivering salted baked almonds, cashews, dried apricot, pistachio gelato, Nutter But-ters, salted caramel popcorn, rye toast with brown sugar butter, and sugarcane. Somehow, a drop of water makes it even more complex, amplifying the butterscotch and present-ing cinnamon-soaked roasted pecans and almonds. Pure bliss; a must-sip.—FM 93 Wild Turkey Masters Keep Decades, 52%, $150 When earth meets sweet in whiskey, it’s a beautiful thing. Here, soil tilled deep, fresh- cut grass, and mushrooms meet leather and dark chocolate, followed by dill, oregano, and oak. Caramel and vanilla explode over a heavy dose of cinnamon. There’s more: apple fritters, spice, and saltwater taffy…

IRISH SINGLE MALT WHISKEY 96 Teeling Vintage Reserve Collection 24 year old, 46%, $499 Wow—the nose is spellbinding. An exuber-ant mix of heavy fruit and deep sweetness: crème brûlée, vanilla pod, fruit syrups, sticky jam tarts, and apricot stone. Silken mouthfeel, with orange flan and brown sugar, grow-ing increasingly tangy, with peppery spice rippling over the tongue and hints of smoke at the end. Oak char and marzipan fruits on the finish. The bar has been set high for Irish whiskey this year. (5,000 bottles)—JM 90 Hyde No. 1 President’s Cask 10 year old, 46%, $70 Like an old confectionery shop, with fruit Life Savers, marshmallow, pear drops, coco-nut oil, and cherry notes. Ideal for those with a sweet tooth, it doles out tangy citrus, lemon peel, strawberry bubble gum,…

SINGLE MALT SCOTCH 92 Glenrothes Vintage 1988 2nd Edition, 44.1%, £375 Matured in a mixture of first-fill American oak sherry hogsheads and refill sherry butts, this is rich and fragrant on the nose, with dark berries and marzipan, then glacé cherries and wood polish. The palate is voluptuous with spicy dark fruit, Christmas cake, vanilla, milk chocolate, and a hint of dark rum. Dried fruits in the finish, with raisins, aniseed, and soft oak. Finally, plain chocolate. Superb!—GS 92 The Glenturret Jamieson’s Jigger Edition, 43.1%, £295 At 29 years old this single cask is one of the best releases to date from the Perthshire distillery. The nose offers geraniums, honey, almonds, and toasted brioche, while the palate is creamy with vanilla, heather, a fresh men-thol note, and green apples. Long…

Okay, it’s not quite breaking, and it’s not a huge wave, but it got my attention because it happened in the smallest place I’ve ever been or am ever likely to be: a tiny island in the Inner Hebrides. The crime in question was the theft of knitted hats and candy from the only shop on the island, and it marked the first crime on Canna in over 50 years. Let’s back up, shall we? Yes, we shall, because I’m the guy typing this. I check on Canna from time to time ever since I was marooned there in the summer of 1999. Sort of marooned. I was on a tall ship, a 105-foot brigantine that Irish Distillers had thought-fully provided to ferry a handful of Ameri-can scribblers around the…