OMG! The World’s Strongest…oh, who gives a rat’s ass

For a long time the seasonal bock, Samiclaus, reigned as the world’s strongest beer with it’s now relatively mundane upper-teens alcohol percentage. Then as extreme beers came into vogue, some barley wines and imperial stouts began flirting with the same numbers. Finally, Sam Adams’s Uptopia galloped past with numbers that reached the twenties. […]

St. Patrick’s Day is Coming

If you are a days-that-end-in-y kind of drinker like I am, then you probably look forward to St. Patrick’s Day with just as much anticipation as I do. The patriotic crowd can have their Fourth of July, the tree-huggers can have their Arbor Day, the glutens can have their Thanksgiving, the religious folks can […]

Recovering Lost Whisky

Do you know who Ernest Shackleton was? After Columbus, he might be the most famous explorer who didn’t find what he was looking for.
In 1909 he and his team attempted to go to the South Pole. When supplies ran out they had to turn back before making it.
Now we know that they left […]

Holiday Booze Gift Packs

Have you been to the liquor store lately? The holiday booze has definitely arrived.
The most noticeable of the lot are those spirits gift packs. They usually consist of a distiller’s most popular product and a couple of old fashioned glasses. Sometimes, especially with spirits like gin that are primarily mixed there will […]

The Smell of Place - Whisky Distiller Told to Stop Stinking

For a few months, I lived in a small apartment in Kansas City. It was a quiet neighborhood not far from the business district. I worked in the suburbs and when I left for work in the morning, the air was heavy with the smell of coffee. This wasn’t your typical “cuppa […]

Clever Marketing but Where’s My Booze?

I love Knob Creek. I’m by no means an expert in whiskey but I know what I like and Knob Creek is easily my favorite bourbon. That’s not to say that I won’t drink other whiskeys - I will and here lately I’ve had to do a lot more of that.
It hadn’t really […]

Nudie Whisky Label Separating the Idiots From the Morons

I think it was George Carlin who neatly divided all other drivers on the road between idiots and morons. The idiots are anyone who is driving faster than you as in “Would you look at that idiot go?” Morons are anyone who is driving slower than you, especially if they are in your […]

Gassy Whisky

This is the first I’ve heard of a distillery turning to alternative energy sources. Admittedly I pay more attention to the beer industry so I’m familiar with breweries from Anheuser-Bush Inbev and Molson Coors to New Belgium and Brooklyn Brewery using energy produced from wind, spent grains, spilled beer and waste water. Chances […]

Microdistillery of the Year

Malt Advocate, a whisky magazine, has named its pick for the microdistillery of the year. Before I tell you who the honoree is, take a guess where it’s located. Scotland? Ireland? Kentucky? Nope. Nope. And Nope.
The big winner for 2008 is Penderyn Distillery in Wales. Who knew there was […]

Scotch Bottle Art

For most Scotch lovers the art of the thing is what’s inside the bottle. Since Scotch is on the pricier end of the booze spectrum I haven’t had the chance to taste a lot of really fine bottles. But the few that I have tried left indelible sense memories that are as strong […]

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