Castle & Cairn

I've had a bottle of Knob Creek Smoked Maple on my shelf for around two years. In my review, I found it to be very sweet with plenty of candy-like, artificial maple flavor but lacking any sort of smokiness or char. To put it plainly, I did not care for it. For this ill-advised Whiskey Frankenstein ( home whiskey blending ) experiment we will be combining Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon and Costco's Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch  to try and make something that is actually smoke adjacent. Why the Kirkland? It's cheap, it's on my shelf, and I won't be sad to have used it when this turns out terrible.  Vámonos! 🧪Preparation I will make three 60ml samples for a total of just under two shots of each whiskey consumed. We will give the best of the three an appropriately zany name.  Samples & Ratios: A: 50/50 "Half and Half" B: 75/25 Majority Knob Smoked Maple C: 75/25 Majority Kirkland Islay Whiskies are measured using a 100ml lab-quality graduated cylin...

Produced (at the time of this bottling) by Heaven Hill in Bardstown Kentucky, Ezra Brooks is a brand owned by Lux Row which itself is a property of the Indiana overlords at Midwest Grain Products.  There are 99 proof, 99 proof finished, rye, and seven-year versions of Ezra Brooks floating around. They have a robust private barrel  program and also have put out a number of distiller select barrels to large retailers to get rid of excess inventory. Lux Row now produces the juice in house at their own Bardstown Facility.  🛒 Sourced:  $41.99 - 750ml - World of Beverage Smyrna, GA - Discounted as the last few bottles of a store pick, normally $54. I see distiller's selects of this around the $60 mark, though some ABC state picks are around $35. March 2025 update - seeing distiller picks in the low $50s, they're trying to move these and not having much success.  🧪 Proof:  120 proof, 60% ABV  - This is a great example of how "Cask Strength" is not a regulat...

I've always wanted to do a Pork Butt (also known as a Boston Butt). Pulled Pork is probably my favorite type of barbeque, so the idea of having a massive amount on hand is very appealing. It is a pretty long cook; my total time was right around 11 hours, but the results were well worth it. Meat : 12.6lb Boneless Pork Butt from Costco @$2.29/pound - $29 plus tax total. Yielded about 7lbs of pulled pork which is about 55% of the mass.  Preparation: Since the rough rule for a Pork Butt is around 1.5 hours smoking time per pound, I cut my butt into two 6.3lb sections. Coated with yellow mustard the night before and covered with McCormick Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning (basically had everything I would put in a rub and I have a lot of it on hand). I do think it is value added to have a giant metal bowl to put the rub in the bottom and then rotate meat to the rub rather than trying to actually apply the rub directly to the meat with your hands. It helps to create a more uniform d...

In the continuing war on the bottle of  Knob Creek Smoked Maple  that has been taking up space on my shelf since 2023, this 50/50 blend serves to kill the last bit of Dread River remaining after the creation of a rather excellent 75% Rebel Cask Strength Blend  (the Cask ran out before the Dread). On their own, the Dread River suffers from extreme youth and lack of oak while it is charmingly sweet, and the Knob Creek is artificial candy sugar, a lot of maple and not much smoke. The hope is that the edges on the Dread River help balance out some of the sugar from the Knob Creek, though the result is still going to be very sweet. Not sure how optimistic I am going into this one.  Vámonos! 🧪Preparation I mixed the two half and half until all the Dread was gone. No art or science this time. They mingled for five days and I shook the mix roughly before pouring. Sat out for a few minutes but didn't track the total. Rocks glass on deck tonight because I don't want as much o...

This edition of Whiskey Frankenstein ( home whiskey blending ) brings together two bottles that just didn't "Wow" me. Dread River's Birmingham Bourbon is lovely distillate, very well balanced, but really needed more time in the oak. Rebel Cask Strength , in this case a store pick single barrel, delivered thick flavor but no nuance and more heat than I'd prefer. Can these two misfits from my shelf be better together? Let's find out.  Vámonos! 🧪Preparation I made three 45-50 ml samples for a total of just under two shots of each whiskey consumed. Samples & Ratios: A: 50/50 "Half and Half" - 105 proof - Average Age ~4.12 years B: 75/25 Majority Dread River Bourbo n - 97.5 proof - Average Age ~3.43 years C: 75/25 Majority Rebel Cask Strength - 112.5 proof - Average Age ~4.8 years Whiskies are measured using a 100ml lab-quality graduated cylinder wielded with questionable skill. Mechanical agitation (stirring/shaking) is applied at the time of...

The 2025 release of Costco's Kirkland 15-year Highland Scotch hit shelves in late January and is a recurring installment on an annual cadence. The first pallet to hit my local store sold out almost immediately. Thankfully, we got two more shipments at one pallet each that hung around a bit longer and I was able to snag a bottle. Like in previous years, this Highland Scotch is finished in sherry casks. Alexander Murray & Co. is the bottler with MISA imports out of Texas bringing it to the States for consumption (Costco's standard sourcing pattern for Scotch). The bottle has a nice heft to it and there is an ensconced Alexander Murray Lion adding some nice texture to the front of the bottle. Steve Lipp, CEO of Alexander Murray, calls it "Perfect for after dinner drinking." All-in-all, this shows an attempt to elevate the product and presentation from the ubiquitous blends and non-age stated iterations you'll sometimes find under the Kirkland label.  Neither Alex...

The product of Boston Harbor Distillery  (DSP-MA-21015), Putnam New England Rye is an ultra high rye whiskey that joins a single Malt as being the distillery's main workhorses. Both base spirits are offered in a variety of finishes. They also make small batch gin, rum, liqueurs, and ready-to-drink cocktails. The namesake for this whiskey was Silas Putnam who built a factory, now the site of the distillery, that automated the manufacture of the hot-forged horseshoe nail. BHD was founded by Rhonda Kallman in 2012 with a focus on whole grain whiskey after more than two decades as a brewery founder and executive, first at the Boston Beer company of Sam Adams' fame and then again at new Century Brewing.   Front Label 🛒 Sourced:  $49.99 on their website - I got this tiny bottle in a Flaviar tasting set given to my by my dad.  🧪 Proof:  86 proof, 43% ABV - Always a bit interested in how they get these nonstandard numbers. 🎨 Color:  R3  - An orange yel...

Named after Abraham Overhold (1784 - 1870), this Suntory owned brand has its roots as a Pennsylvania rye though it is now made and aged in Kentucky by Jim Beam . Old Overholt is the oldest continuously released rye in production. It was one of the few makers to continue production during prohibition under a medicinal whiskey license, potentially benefiting from its partial ownership by Andrew Mellon, Warren G. Harding's Secretary of the Treasury. This bonded iteration was introduced in 2017 as bottled-in-bond whiskey experienced a resurgence during the corresponding whiskey boom. Together Old Overholt and Old Granddad are referred to and sometimes marketed as "The Olds". While other rye whiskies experienced more of a resurgence in the 90s cocktails renaissance, Old Overholt remained a sleeper pick though it still has as strong connection to Old West culture. JFK and Ulysses S. Grant both considered this standard version of this whiskey to be their go-to.  🛒 Sourced:  $25...

If you've peeped our traditional " Five Bottle Bar " guide, you're well aware of the concept. The premise is alluringly minimalist; create a fully appointed bar with just five bottles, one from each of the main cocktail spirits: Vodka, Gin, Whiskey, Rum, and Tequila. For unaged spirits, there are great deals to be had in quality products at a low price, but how will that change with age? In this post, we'll instead focus on the world of whiskey  which is rich and varied across (to name just a few categories): Bourbon - From the USA, 50+% corn mash though there are subcategories for Wheated, High-Rye, and Low-Rye Rye Whiskey - Also typically from the USA, 50+% percent rye mash Scotch - mainly single malts and blends from Scotland, varying significantly depending on region Other Nationals : Canadian, Indian, Irish, and Japanese Whiskies Rules: Prices will be those available on Total Wine set to Georgia, USA and bottles will are priced at the standard 750ml volume...

Known formerly by the name "1792 Ridgemont Reserve", 1792 Small Batch Bourbon is produced by Barton 1792 and is the entry point to the 1792 brand, being a slight step up from their Very Old Barton (VOB) product line.  The namesake is the year that Kentucky became a state. The 1792 lineup is filled out by Full proof, Bottled-in-Bond, Sweet wheat, High Rye, Port Finish and "Aged 12 Years". Most of the higher proof 1792 offerings were hunted to extinction during the and after COVID, but I am seeing them with some regularity now. Barton, owned by Sazerac, is known to make the Kirkland and Wolcott series of store label whiskies which taste and feel very much like 1792. While big Sazerac has been fixated on Buffalo Trace expansion, Barton feels relatively neglected though supposedly they are aligning some of their production processes with their much awarded sister brand.  🛒 Sourced: Commonly $29.99 for 750ml A gift from my brother's Girlfriend, thanks for contribut...

Distilled by Barton 1792 on behalf of Total Wine, Wolcott Bottled-in-Bond is a cousin of Costco's Kirkland Bottled-in-Bond and the bonded version of 1792. Barton does a huge number of other private bottlings while at the same time many of the 1792 branded iterations have become difficult to find. It is worth noting that the Wolcott brand has changed producers over the years. The version that won double gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022 was produced by Buffalo Trace. There are still a few of those floating around, so it's definitely worth checking the label for collectability (thankfully these Barton bottles have it emblazoned in big letters on the front). Both distilleries are owned by Sazerac, so it is unlikely that the mash bill has changed though the equipment itself can impact the flavor. 🛒 Sourced:  $36.99 on sale, normally $39.99 - Total Wine, GA 750ml - Note that this is roughly 2x the price of Kirkland Bottled-in-Bond (1L bottle) and about $1...