Spirits

Sep 07 2015

Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey

Summer is still upon us, so I don’t often feel like sitting down to sip a nice, warming glass of whiskey. But one recent night, after a long walk with my dog, it just seemed like the thing to do.

So I went to my liquor cabinet and there it was: Knappogue Castle 12-year-old single malt Irish whiskey. I had totally forgotten I even had this stuff because I hadn’t bought it. It was sent to me after I responded to a press release sent by the New York-based distiller. Let that serve as a disclaimer: I did not pay for the whiskey I am about to review.

Without further ado, let’s talk whiskey.

Taste

I think what I like best about this whiskey is how mellow it is. Before you even take a sip, you get a delightful whiff of alcohol. It almost burns your nostrils. But then you take a sip and it’s wonderfully smooth, though it does warm your esophagus as it goes down. The first thing you taste is vanilla and a hint of cinnamon, and it finishes with very smooth oak and ginger flavors. I’m a fan.

Profile

This clocks in at 40 percent ABV. According to the distiller’s website, “As a single malt Irish whiskey, it is crafted exclusively from unpeated, malted barley before being triple distilled through both pot and column stills. After distillation, it is aged for a minimum of 12 years in ex-bourbon casks before being bottled at 80 proof.”

How to drink it

That’s up to you. As I type this, I’m drinking it neat from a rocks glass. But if you prefer it cooled down a bit, you could serve it on the rocks or with a splash of water. Pick your poison. The only thing I would suggest is that you not mix it. This is really good, complex whiskey and mixing it would keep you from enjoying all the delicious and subtle flavors.

Value

Admittedly, this is pricey. You can buy a 750ml bottle directly from the distiller for $49.99 and Binny’s lists it for $39.99.

Metasip grade: A

This is a great sipping whiskey. It’s incredibly easy drinking and as sessionable (can you tell I’m usually a beer drinker?) as a whiskey can be. My only quibble is that it’s a little too pricey to be an everyday drink.

Feb 12 2015

SIA Scotch Whisky

We write, we do videos. Choose either or both. We aim to please. As for this whisky…I guess it aims to please, too!

I remember the glee when I got the email from the SIA brand manager. “Can we send you a bottle to review?” Well, yee-ha! Of course, brand manager for SIA Scotch Whisky, you can send me a bottle to review, I’d be happy to review it! (This serves as one of many requisite disclosures that I received a bottle, at no cost to me, and that was what was reviewed.)

[BTW, if you’d rather just see the video, here it is:]

What they sent me wasn’t this flask (pictured, Left) – in fact, the thing they sent me (which you’ll see if you watch the video) is closer to something you might have used in Chemistry class. Just the right amount for me to sample.

Anyway, let’s find out if this is any good…to the review machine!

SIA Scotch Whisky Review

First thing I noticed in the marketing materials? “Winner: Double Gold, San Francisco World Spirits Competition, 2014.” So I’ll go out on a limb and say this stuff has to be pretty top-notch, right? And, really, why would they spend their time sending some to little ol’ me?

Let’s break it down, though, comparing their marketing notes to my own tasting:

Taste:

They said “The color of clover honey, SIA awakens the nose with citrus and spice and opens the palate with the smokey vanilla crunch of a creme brulee.” Me: I didn’t really get the citrus and spice on the nose, but the vanilla, caramel, creme brulee smell and taste were both there. I liked it – as I said in the video (and they also said in their materials) “not overpowering.”

Profile:

“An ultra-premium blend with a high malt to grain ratio (40/60%). Regional breakdown is Speyside (50%), Highlands (40%) and Islay (10%).”

ABV of 43% – it’s 86 Proof.

Value:

You can buy a 750ml bottle over at Ezra’s for $50. It’s a good value, we think – you’re not going to be knocking it back over a weekend, right?

Metasip Grade: A-

We tasted it in the video and graded it A-; we would have changed that, honestly, if the price was a lot higher. But at $50, that does sound like a value.

Feb 04 2015

Mr. Katz Rock and Rye

Spirits Guy Bill Mayeroff returns! Check this particular combo out in his latest review.

Rye whiskey is an old school drink. According to Serious Eats, it was first brewed in colonial America in what became the eastern United States. George Washington even made rye at his Mount Vernon estate. [Editor’s Note: Not sure if there was a Mr. Katz in the White House and whether he was the one who brought the rock candy.]

These days, it doesn’t seem like we think about rye much. Sure, bars may have a bottle or two of Templeton’s on the shelf, but that’s about it. And we don’t drink it even if it’s there. Well, most don’t. I usually have a bottle of rye at home, but even I don’t drink it often.

So when I got a press release from the Brooklyn-based New York Distilling Company saying they had created a rock-and-rye – a mix of rye whiskey and rock candy sugar – I had to ask if they’d send me a bottle to review. I never thought for a second they’d do it, but lo and behold, a couple weeks later, a bottle appeared on my doorstep.

DISCLAIMER: I did not pay for the bottle of rock-and-rye I am about to review.

Mr. Katz Rock and Rye Review

Though I’d had rye whiskey before, I’d never had rock-and-rye before trying Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean, come on. Rye whiskey with rock candy sugar? I don’t know. I’m not a fan of sweet booze. So I was worried that it would be too sweet.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The first thing that I noticed about it was the gorgeous caramel color. It’s deeper and richer than most ryes; very pleasant to look at. Opening the bottle and pouring a bit into a rocks glass, you get a strong smell of alcohol and spice. It’s almost overwhelming. Almost.

Take a sip and you get a sugary sweetness that lingers on the tongue. It’s sweet, but not cloying. The alcohol scent and cinnamon spiciness cuts through and tempers the sweetness just enough. It goes down smooth with a slight burn at first, but as you drink more, that burn evens out into a very pleasant warmth in your throat and esophagus. It’s a good winter sipper when consumed straight, though it would do well in cocktails over ice no matter what time of year you drink it.

The description on the bottle says the spirit contains hints of citrus, sour cherry and cinnamon. You can definitely taste the cinnamon, but I didn’t notice any citrus and only a very slight cherry scent.

The biggest problem with Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye? You can’t get it in Chicago. At least it doesn’t seem like it. The New York Distilling website lists shops in New York where you can get it and a few of them will even take online orders. But shipping booze across state lines is a legal mess and not many shops will do it.

The moral of this story is this: Get yourself some Mr. Katz’s Rock and Rye if you can. And if you do, tell me where you got it.

Metasip Grade: B+

Jan 05 2015

Four Vodkas For Your Bloody Marys

You can bet one of these vodkas is called “Three Olives” – not only because that would be clever (because it’s a post about “four” vodkas, not three), but because it’s the vodka Clive Owen drinks.

Format be darned – we’re in the business of sharing usable content with you, gentle reader! Also, we like those “whipsaw” posts – you know, the ones where we say things like “gentle reader” then we use an exclamation point! It would make total sense, then, to keep this listicle to something digestible, like Four Vodkas for Your Bloody Marys as opposed to “You Wouldn’t Believe What 11 Magic Ingredients We Added to the Bloody Mary!” (then with a subtitle like “Number 7 Will Make You Question Humanity!”). Clickbait is not our thing, yo.

Four Vodkas For Your Bloody Marys

Before we dive in, a word to the wise: “Bloody Marys” as we wrote it is grammatically correct. Shut the front door if you disagree.

Also, we plan on having something for every budget here, or at least some sort of range for you to choose from. And, we should have done the clickbait thing because Number One Will Shock You!

1. Sobieski (Metasip Grade: A)

Scene: Middle of the summer, downtown, suburban USA. Family walks to a cafe for a weekend brunch-type meal. Parent orders Bloody Mary and is struck by the tastiness of the vodka. Inquires of the waitstaff and is informed…”well, I don’t know. Let me find out.”

So the random well vodka, it turns out, was this stuff. Sobieski. Boomski. We’ll take it.

Didn’t realize that the Beverage Testing Institute (a) was such a thing and (2) rated these vodkas. Why not the others, too? Where’s Tito’s, which seems to be EVERYONE’S FAVORITE VODKA???

We’ve since had people tell us this is their go-to. Big bottle (1.75L) is under $20, and it’s the premium vodka of Poland. Gets an A in our book. Go get some.

Behance Grey Goose Ad — From Behance.net

2. Grey Goose (Metasip Grade: B+)

Stuff’s expensive, so, since our grading scale takes into account Taste, Profile, and VALUE, all three must be perfectly aligned. Still, some of y’all swear by Grey Goose and we don’t blame you if you want to splurge. So, go ahead, splurge! Get the Bloody with everything! Ask for twelve olives, a complete half-ham mortadella, twice-cured salame and maybe even real Amana Bleu Cheese.

I think the ad above is from a contest to design an ad for Grey Goose. An interesting formula for an ad, don’t ya think? Attractive woman, bottle of liquor, cold beverage. No wonder the ad industry is so successful.

BTW, by expensive, we mean $45-plus for a big bottle.

Kirkland Vodka — Official Vodka of Euchre

3. Kirkland Signature Vodka (Metasip Grade: A)

Our most popular post ever here at Metasip HQ was this one: Costco Alcohol Shopping or some such, I forgot the title. In it, we discussed a not-very-well-kept secret: that Kirkland Signature Vodka – the one that’s “Five-Times Distilled” (like Grey Goose) and “Imported from France” (like Grey Goose) might actually be…well…Grey Goose.

Also works well in the Vodka Tonic.

$30 for the bottle. THIRTY. DOLLARS.

Clive Owen for Three Olives — Thanks, 2luxury2.com

4. Three Olives Vodka (Metasip Grade: A-)

If you wake up in the morning and ask yourself “What vodka would Clive Owen drink?,” then your answer should be “Three Olives.” Your next step should be trying to figure out where Clive Owen has been lately; a quick jaunt over to IMDB tells us that he’s in a show called “The Knick” and that he recently turned 50. That last bit is a surprise.

His vodka is not a surprise – like him, I guess, in that it does the job, doesn’t muck things up, might amaze from time to time, but is really what you need in the Bloody Mary. You don’t want the vodka to say “Give me back my son!” or “I’ll be back!” or “Yippee Cayenne Muppet Trucker” or some other catch phrase. You just want it to add the little bit of vodkicity to the Bloody Mary and then go back into the freezer – or, in Clive’s case, back to Cinemax for another season. (Or was it Starz? NO, it was, definitely, Skinamax.)

We believe we paid around $20 for a 1L bottle back in the day – a year ago; it was the one we used up before buying the Kirkland. For THIRTY BUCKS.

What good would a Bloody Mary post be without a recipe?

Good question: we normally just go with a mix – srsly, what’s wrong with pulling mix out of a bottle and rolling with it? Well, in these days of craft cocktails and whatnot, you might want to take just a little extra time an go with this one – from people we plan on becoming friends with over at Liquor.com – because we have found (being fans of the classic Chicago hot dog) that celery salt makes everything better.

Four Vodkas for Your Bloody Marys…

There are more – this is not meant to be a definitive list, of course, since you could drive yourself nutso at the vodka aisle of the Walmart. But here are four to take a look at.

Drink up!

Nov 22 2014

Quick Take: Mora’s Savvy Spirits Whiskey Club

Another Quick Take: and sorry if you whiskey lovers feel ignored. You shouldn’t be.

Ah, whiskey. Or whisky. Either way you spell it – well, Mora’s Savvy Spirits has a Whiskey Club to check out. NOTE: all the links below are affiliate links, so we’ll be compensated if you sign up.

Here goes…

Quick Take: Mora’s Savvy Spirits Whiskey Club

So we have a really hard time trying to keep track – Mora’s website has a crazy number of things on its website – all sorts of clubs to take advantage of, and here’s an affiliate link to the main site: Mora’s Fine Wine & Spirits. (Tequila club? Not for me…yet. But I’m starting to head down that road. One of these days…)

We’ll admit that our whiskey skills on the site – and Dave’s own whiskey sampling – remain to be, uh, refined. But we’re getting there – and some of these reviews from our Metasip community might help us along:

Bulleit Rye Whiskey

Auchtenoshan American Oak

Granted, we don’t know if these end up in the monthly club at Mora’s – but given their track record with these clubs, the staff knows what they’re doing there.

Take a spin through the site and, of course, if you order something, let us know how it is!