Practical Whisky

Practical Whisky?

Practical (prak-ti-kuhl) Adjective: Having the virtue of being realistic and useful, a decision based in pragmatism.

Whisky (hwis-kee) Noun: A liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grain (barley, rye, or corn) containing at least 40% ethyl alcohol. Also: Whiskey, Rye, Scotch, Bourbon. From: Uisge Beatha, Aqua Vitae, Eau de Vie.

	Whiskies Reviewed
	Tastings

Random Dram

Completely Random:
Mortlach 21 YO

Random + Practical:
Glenfiddich 15 YO Solera Reserve

Taste Events

From 18 February to 12 March it was the Winter of Desolation.

Visit the Event Page to see all previous taste events.

On Deck

Coming soon to a history blurb near you!

First Time Visitors

→ If you're under the legal age to drink, move along.
→ You can click on a number of things to take you to detailed reviews. For example:
Balvenie 12yo Doublewood Single Malt Scotch
Each of the above colors will take you to a different set of reviews. One (Balvenie) takes you to all the Balvenies (including the 12yo) The second second link takes you directly to the 12yo review. The type of whisky, Single Malt, will take you to a list of Single's and Scotland will take you to every whisky from that country.

[ Version 4.7 ]

Welcome!

There are dozens of excellent web sites out there that extol the virtues of fantastic whisky. Fantastic in taste, fantastic in character and sadly, often fantastic in price. I have no lack of respect for the whisky aficionados who can dedicate the time, energy and money to tasting all the whiskies that I can't afford, and I salute them with glass held high. That salute will just have to employ a dram of practical whisky.

Practical Whisky, this site, contains my reviews of whiskies that I've sampled, from Scotches , Irishes and Canadians to Single Malts, Bourbons and Blends and how “practical” I think they are. I make recommendations like those found in the Random Dram widget to the left, check the lower review for whiskies that score well in both the taste and cost departments. There will also be news and updates on the goings on in the practical whisky market as I become aware of them. Look for new whiskies every Monday and Wednesday plus retastings and news updates on Fridays. So be sure and come back and see what's new.

I hope the site is entertaining and useful, or at least one of the two.

Salude!
-- Brian --

Recent Updates (last 30 days)

» A pair of Laddies: The Seventeen

23-JUL-2008

I've never seen this in full size so having it at all is a nice treat. This also brings my eternally ignored Bruichladdich list up to a respectable foursome.

#259 Bruichladdich XVII Scotch Single Malt whisky (Islay)

Bottler

Official Distillery Bottling

This cost is what I found the likely shelf price for a 750ml bottle to be, based on an average of costs throughout the USA. Your price may differ significantly. This is not an advertisement of sale, this bottle is likely empty by now anyway Cost

$100⁰⁰

00-09:	Horrid
10-19:	Awful
20-29:	Unpleasant
30-39:	Poor
40-49:	Below Average
50-59:	Average
60-69:	Recommendable
70-79:	Very Good
80-89:	Excellent
90-99:	Fantastic

Taste Score

The whisky's score as weighed against the cost of a bottle. Adj. Score

ABV

40%

Misc:

XVII label

Awards

Tasting 23-JUL-2008 (T-280)

Smell

Mild chalky, salty smell becomes sugary grapefruit and malt. Really builds if you swirl it. Ginger at the end.

Taste

Oh, that's nice. Very delicate and smooth in the front but it kicks in halfway. I'm going to avoid water, this is great without it. Citrus and malt are the main themes. Opens mild and malty then builds fast to oak and a lot of citrus and a sweet smoke. The fade eases toward sharp (that kick I mentioned) and keeps the tongue occupied through the extensive finish. Some honey, lots of wood, nice balance, good complexity, hitting all the right notes. 80s for sure, leaning toward the middle.

Notes

Part of a nice triple pack including the 10 and 15 year old.

Tasting Score

» A pair of Laddies: The Fifteen

21-JUL-2008

Bruichladdich was one of my first personal Scotch purchases and I have to confess that it was the free glassware that helped boost it over the Bowmore. Now I have a chance at two nicer 'Laddies in a set that I missed a few years ago, although now it's 1/3 the size and 1/3 the price.

» Back to Speyside for THE Speyside

18-JUL-2008

Still an annoyance, that name. I'll let it go, though. It's a fair glass and little more, I'd rather hoped that if a scotch was going to try and adopt the entirety of Speyside it would aim higher.

» I can hardly spell “Old Ballantruan”

16-JUL-2008

It calls itself "The Peated Malt" which is a bold claim considering the likes of Ardbeg. Amazingly, this isn't from Islay rather it hales from Speyside!

» Trimming down the Tops

14-JUL-2008

As the number of total reviews grows, so does the number of whiskies at the top of the Tops page. To trim this down to just the best (and worst), I've dropped the percent from 7% to 5%. It stuns me that I've had so many whiskies that the top 5% amounts to 13 different whiskies (as of right now), but such is my quest.

» More SMWS: Mortlach

14-JUL-2008

A major part of the Johnny Walker line, you can't really get an official Morlach anywhere. I was quite impressed, which explains my fondness for the upline JWs.

» A second sip of Ardbeg 10

11-JUL-2008

Traveling back 100 whiskies to a stellar performer: Link to another review

Ardbeg 10. Last seen in the Alphabet Challenge, Ardbeg was a monster with an unyielding peat presence and massive score to match. In my second tasting she still deserves her 90 and stands as my gold standard to greater scores.

» A second chance at Clynelish.

09-JUL-2008

My first shot fell through unexpectedly and this second chance came at my favorite price: free! Killed this at a party amidst friends.

» Strathisla is a Home Run

07-JUL-2008

Every time I think I'm putting a dent in the list of whiskies you might realistically run into at your local liquor store I find ten that I haven't yet tried. It's part excitement at the potential and part despair at the size of the task. A coworker mentioned liking Link to another review

Strathisla back at a Christmas party and I nodded and added it to a mental checklist that I have going. Then I promptly forgot about it. Now I've actually found it and here we are, only seven months later.

» For the Fourth we hit the Wayback Machine

04-JUL-2008

Going all the way back to September 2006 we find Link to another review

Bruichladdich 10, a classic introduction to the non-peat beasts of Islay.

» Happy Birthday to me?

02-JUL-2008

For my birthday review (well, near-enough) I ended up with Link to another review

Schenley Reserve. Luck of the draw, but so help me this is a draw that I'm going to put the fix on next year.

» Isle of Jura

30-JUN-2008

I'd say "Overdue" but that's getting a bit tired so I'll just say that Link to another review

Jura 10 has been on my to-do list for a long while thanks to a good showing by an earlier Link to another review

Jura and because a buddy has Jura 10 on his shelf standards list. The ten joins a number of other decade-agers on my new list of practical spotlights, scoring very well for a bottle that could be yours for less than 40 bucks.

» Back to Beam

27-JUN-2008

I know it's been a bit since we've had a Friday retasting and the godawful cost of gas and weak dollar are killing my whisky exploration, but I've managed to pull a few together and can promise regular Friday updates and a steady supply of Monday / Wednesday new reviews. Today it's back to double digits with Jim Beam Black. Nothing really new in this tasting, but it's great to go so far back and pick up a second shot. Enjoy.

» A Passport to fair drinking

25-JUN-2008

Passport is a standard shelf mate of many well known whiskies, one of the old guard who I can never seem to find in standard bottle sizes or, so help me, miniatures. This bargain priced mainstay fares well enough, a surprise when you consider the weakness of some of its comrades.

Site Layout

Index: The page you are on. Right now. Presently even.
Reviews: The raison d'etre of the site where the reviews go to congregate and establish pecking orders. This is important, get moving
» Brand Listing: A breakdown of brands for ease of location or general interest
» Events: A subsection of reviews, with a ranked list of whiskies for each taste event.
About
» About Whisky: Start your education here.
» About PW: Info about how this site works and what some things mean.
» Stats: Lies, damn lies and statistics.
Tops: The top (and bottom) 10% of the list, broken into interesting categories. If you want to know the best of the best, go here.
History: Will eventually contain everything I've ever done. Ever. For now it's just the history of this site. Sanitized for your protection.
My 2¢: Rants and raves about ... well, whisky related topics mostly. Gripping stuff.
Links: Places to go when you're tired of being here. I refuse to make this one a link because I don't want you to leave. See how much I care?

Whisky Cred

Member of the Ardbeg Committee
One of the finest Islays, and the 10YO is legendary.
Ambassador of Maker's Mark
Don't be put off by the hype as I was. MM is a fine bourbon and a perfectly Practical Whisky.
Companion of Aberlour
Speysiders that will warm your heart without draining your wallet.
Balvenie Club Member
One of my first, and I've yet to find a Balvenie I haven't liked.
Compass Box Hedonists Society
Master mixers and Lords of variety. Expand your horizons here.
Striding Man Society
If all you know is the Red Label, you don't know Johnnie.
Glenmorangie Kindred Spirits
They once made the perfect 10YO, I still love them despite changing her.
Member of the Springbank Society
My first true Scotch and the bar by which all others have been measured.
Jim Beam Brotherhood of Bourbon
Beam Black is nearly the definition of Practical Whisky in Bourbon.
Glenfarclas Friend of the Family
Glenfarclas is a wonder and impossible to find locally outside the 10 and 12. Luckily a buddy loves the 21 and so I get a taste reminder once in a while.

Boring Notices

This site is not offering anything for sale. Should I ever decide to offer anything for sale it will not include anything produced or trademarked by a whisky company.
I receive no compensation for doing reviews, linking to manufacturers web sites or for doing anything else in relation to this page.
The images on this site are eiter:
- Original works created by me
- Photographs of bottles taken by me for purposes of review
- Images taken from official sources for identification under Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act for purposes of Review and Criticism.
The links on the links page and distillery data pages lead to the companies that produce the whiskies and are provided explicitly without agreeing to any "Linking Policy" presented by the company in question. The proliferation of these unenforceable policies is ridiculous and I refuse to be a party to it. The company web pages are public information, I am presenting them clearly as addresses to be visited for further information, I am linking only to the top level entry page of the site with no framing and I offer no option to deep link. Should the company in question complain, I'll just add a link to a Google search for their name and let Google's lawyers fight it out. The content of those pages is outside of my control, such links do not represent any endorsement by myself or the linked company and should you choose to follow those links, I am no longer in control of your internet destiny.
The images of bottles clearly include copyrighted works, and are presented under the Fair Use Statute of the Copyright Act for purposes of review and criticism. All trademarks and copyrights are held by the companies represented.
It sucks that I should have to even consider posting this legaleese here, but that's the world we live in.
Isn't this text TINY! Man, you could get a migrane reading this.