It is time for a rye whiskey again, and this week I feature Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye whiskey. The distillery was founded by John Shenk in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, in 1753 and known as Shenk’s. In the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Dutchman Abraham Bomberger bought the distillery, and the name changed to Bomberger’s.
This week, my side-by-side comparison is two high-volume brands against each other; Jim Beam bourbon vs Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey. Both are from large commercial distilleries, and between these two brands, they command quite a bit of bottle space. They are in a similar price category and are both known globally.
Today is the turn of another interesting 12 year old whisky, the Balblair 12 year old single malt. I have slowly been working through my collection of Balblair Vintage mini’s this past year.
Today I look at a smoky budget blend; the Famous Grouse Smoky Black blended Scotch whisky. I have tasted my way through some of the top-selling budget blends this year. The Bell’s whisky was not too bad and brought back lots of childhood memories.
When you hear the name Chivas Regal, it’s like stepping back in time to a bygone era of whisky, where it was served in dimly lit, dark wood and leather-clad libraries. For me, it evokes memories of my father, reclining with a “scotch” in hand, especially the Chivas Regal 12 year oldblended Scotch whisky, his all-time favourite, some four decades ago.
I tasted the Redbreast 12 year oldsingle pot still Irish at a whisky show a year before Covid and bought a bottle on the spot. I am not the biggest Irish whiskey fan, but the 12 year old convinced me to explore more. So it got added to my collection, and it is time for me to explore it a bit further.