About Us

Castle & Cairn is a blog where you can find my ramblings across beer, wine, spirits, energy drinks, and more. Who am I?

I'm Josh. Nice to me you. You can find me on X/twitter as @Joshdebiers. I live in Georgia, am a CPA, and have worked for consulting houses like Deloitte and PwC in the areas of analytics and systems development. I am a certified Bourbon Seward and previously was a community ambassador for Anheuser Busch.

Looking to get in touch? Send me a DM on X or submit the contact us form below!

My operating costs are low, but if you'd like to support this passion project there are a number of options on our support us page (direct donations and affiliate links). I keep the ad load low and you won't find any affiliate marketing on our post pages. It means the world to me that you're reading.

A glass of whiskey sits on a stone wall overlooking a green field in the old country

Approach to Editorial Integrity

In the event a product is provided for free in exchange for a review, no preference will be given to the providing party or manufacturer (though we will be understandably over the moon about the opportunity). These circumstances will be disclosed in the relevant post. Opinions and analysis will be genuine and free from modification other than verifiable corrections of fact. I will wait a little while before reviewing it as I likely will be overly excited that someone has sent me something. For review articles, look for a verifiably authentic header photo of questionable composition (likely my living room) as a stamp that the bottle or item in question has indeed been sampled.

Scoring Guidelines

For spirits, a modified 10 point T8ke scale will be used as it is the de facto standard adopted by community reviewers and allows for more differentiation between truly remarkable products. All spirits are blinded with at least one other representative offering before score assignment (typically more), and reviews are updated throughout the course of the bottle. If only a taster or mini-bottle was sampled, this will be disclosed.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.
10 | Perfect | No Notes | No time, ingredients, or craftsmanship can improve this.

For beer and energy drinks, we use an abbreviated five point scale as that aligns with Untapped and reflects the tighter relative quality range within those categories. The scale used is always presented at the bottom of the review.

1 | Bad | Don't Drink it | I Wouldn't Drink it
2 | Poor | I would drink it if there was nothing else or it was free
3 | Good | Serviceable | Buy it on sale
4 | Great | A Cut Above | White Monster - Ballast Point Sculpin | Buy at full price
5 | Excellent | Standout in the Category | Pay venue prices

Approach to AI Generated Content

I believe that human generated content is critical to the future of the internet and continued functioning of society. At work, I utilize traditional machine learning models as well as generative AI to accomplish a variety of tasks. After more than three years of working with these tools, I can tell you that they are fantastic for many use cases, but still significantly prone to error. While AI tools may be used to create some of the images on this site and language models may be used as research aids, all text on Castle & Cairn will be human generated.

Behind the Name

Why Castle & Carin? Cairn is fairly straightforward as it is the back half of the now prolific Glencairn drinking glass popularized in the early 2000s for tasting and assessing whiskey. Castle comes from my natural disposition as a homebody. I do enjoy traveling but there's just something different about being at home. It's the environment most cultivated to your enjoyment. It's a place to host parties and be generous with friends. It's a hierarchy need and the single most worthwhile investment in yourself, a nice place to live. In 1644, English judge Sir Edward Coke was quoted as saying, "For a man's house is his castle".

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🥃 Review #40: Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024)

Like Costco's other Scotches, the Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt is bottled for Alexander Murray and imported by MISA Imports after being distilled and aged in Scotland (TTB.gov plant registry TX-I-1277). The isle of Islay is one of the southern most islands in Scotland and is one of the five whisky regions ensconced in law. There are only nine active distilleries on the island, and the Islay style is typified by strong peat or smoky flavors. As a single malt, we know that the juice in this bottle comes entirely from one of those nine! All of the distilleries are significantly smaller than Glenlivet and many of the mainland producers. Taste testing has people split between Caol Illa, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), and Bunnahabhain as being the source. Caol Illa and Laphroig both have done deals for private brand scotch without rights to name the source distillery, but Laphroig does not match the flavor profile for this bottle. Realistically, Caol Illa is the most likely cand...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Mountain Dew, Samuel Adams, Sun Crusher, Truly, and Twisted Tea. Some brands may not have active...

🍺 Costco's Kirkland Vintage Ale 2025 - Review & Tasting Notes

Fall is in the air, and that means we have yet another year of Kirkland's Vintage Ale! Brewed proudly by Deschutes (pronounced "Da-Shootz") in Bend, Oregon, this Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout spends nine months in the wood, picking up what the whiskey left behind (mostly vanillin and tannins). Bottled over the summer, this particular beer is from Lot B. Neither Costco nor the packaging give us much additional detail beyond the ABV and style. I remember finding last year 's edition to be solid but nothing to write home about, fairly dry but a pleasant pour. The use of the work "vintage" to me implies that some changes may be made year-to-year but we'll have to see if our taste buds can help us validate. How does the 2025 vintage fair? 💅Style: Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout 🛒Sourced: $7.99 Costco, GA for a 22oz bottle. $2 cheaper than the 2024 edition! 💥Hops: Not Mentioned sadly. Other ingredients include chocolate malt, milled oats and Dutc...

🥃 Review #34: ASW Fiddler Toasted Wheat Cask Strength Bourbon

Founded by University of Georgia graduates Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson, American Spirit Whiskey Distillery ("ASW") is a craft producer out of Atlanta, GA with the plant registry DSP-GA-20014. As Southern Pot-Still Pioneers, they are one of the few producers to distill in the ancient Scottish Tradition of small, grain-in batches (where grain solids are left in for the remainder of the distillation process) though they also partner with Midwest Grain Products to source distillate for further aging, finishing and blending before bottling as is the case here. This bottle is from the June 2023 batch which is a blend of two principal spirits. ASW's master distiller, Justin Maglitz, is accomplished old-time string music fiddler and he often experiments with various factors between batches. As such, the "Fiddler" brand name fits perfectly. No two batches are truly the same, but all of the ones I've had so far have been to my liking. This bottle shares the same...

🥃Review #20 Elijah Craig Barrel Proof - Private Barrel Distiller's Selection

📚 Background: Released in three batches per year, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey is almost always a hit with aficionados. Barrel proof means that, of course, the whiskey is not cut with water after being dumped from the barrel. The "Private Barrel" moniker further tells you that not the barrel was specially selected and not batched or blended. This can cut both ways as single barrel whiskies sometimes differ significantly from their batched counterparts which have the benefit of distiller curation to even out any off notes. If your local store owner's tastes align with yours, their barrel picks may be better than anything else you can find. On the other hand, a less conscientious selector may pick you a big loser of a barrel. This bottle comes from Costco which means that the private barrel is a "distiller's selection" and not picked by a Costco employee specifically. Typically for these big releases the manufacturer will try...

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