Reviews

Johnnie Walker Select Casks – Rye Cask Finish Review
Johnnie Walker Rye Cask Finish

Photo courtesy: Diageo

Johnnie Walker is one of my favorite blended Scotches.  The brand has a variety of different blends, but this release is the start of something different.  Yes, this is a new 10-year-old blend, which is nice enough.  What makes this Johnnie Walker unique amongst its brethren is the implementation of a finishing process.  Cask finishing is nothing new in the world of Scotch, but I believe this is the first time Johnnie Walker utilizes this maturation method.  For the unaware, cask finishing means after a whisky matures in casks for a number of years, it spends a small amount of time in a different type of cask.  It more or less alters the flavor of the original matured whisky.  The first in a new series by the company, this 10-year-old Johnnie Walker is finished in American rye whiskey casks.  The blend is built around Diageo’s Cardhu single malt, which is usually found in most JW blends.

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Booker’s Bourbon “Center Cut Batch” (2015-03) Review
Photo courtesy Beam Suntory

Photo courtesy Beam Suntory

Uncut and unfiltered – a great way to experience bourbon at its rawest.  Booker’s was one of the first, if not the first, barrel-proof bourbons on the modern market.  The third batch (2015-03) of Booker’s bourbon is known as “The Center Cut”.  This refers to Booker Noe’s favorite part of the rickhouse, where Booker’s bourbon is aged.  Fred Noe, Booker’s son & current Master Distiller at Jim Beam, called upon a team of whiskey experts, enthusiasts, and writers to help him select this batch.  This batch is aged for 7 years, 2 months and 28 days, and bottled at 127.2 proof.

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The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14-Year Old Single Malt Review

The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14-year-old single malt is one of the first Scotches I purchased.  I’ve heard good things about The Balvenie’s core range, and I find the process of “finishing” whisky interesting.  Here we have a whisky that’s aged 14 years in “traditional oak whisky casks,” then finished in ex-Caribbean rum casks.  There’s no official note on how long the whisky is finished in these rum barrels, but I’m guessing it’s just a few months.

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