Castle & Cairn

Over the years, I have been taught a variety of tasting techniques. Some swear by certain mouth movements while others prefer a simple sip. To develop the tasting method used in reviews on this site, I analyzed more than a dozen tasting guides from industry influencers, manufacturer's, and equipment suppliers in addition to my aforementioned experience. I believe this process allows for the most accurate personal diagnosis of a particular spirit, but ultimately the most important thing is that YOU enjoy your whiskey experience. Chase your muse with brown water however you please.  Preparation As with most activities, being properly prepared can greatly increase both the pleasure and proficiency of the experience. For the best results, consider: Glassware - We have a whole guide on stocking your bar with the right drinking vessels. To summarize: a Glencairn or other glass with a tulip top, like a small red wine glass or traditional snifter, works best. Due to their shape, these gla...

 Every now and then, I get acquisition fever and go scroll amazon looking at whiskey glasses, bar accessories, and grilling paraphernalia, none of which I need. I'm always intrigued by the concept of whiskey stones. It sounds like a great idea: put these little fellas in your cup to cool it without watering down the good juice. But do whiskey stones work? I decided to pull out the spreadsheet and some high school physics to find out.  The Contestants A la Jeff Bezos, I grabbed four of the more popular material options from Amazon. In general, individual stones seem to be around 28grams though the bullets are a bit larger and the relative weight of the filled stainless steel cubes a bit lighter. Overly Simplified Science  Heat is a form of energy that can transfer from one object to another due to a temperature difference (yes even cold things have heat energy). Specific heat is a material property that tells you how much heat energy is required to raise the temperatu...