Sipping With Smoth: Making an Old Fashioned Cocktail
One of my all time favourite cocktails is the classic Old Fashioned. I learned the principles of this famous drink from the same generous gentleman who shared his Talisker 57° North with me, although I’ve put my own spin on it. While the traditional Old…
Potent Bourbon Taste From Buffalo Trace
When you think of good bourbon, you think of high prices. Or, if not high, at least pushing the limit you’re comfortable spending as they approach $50. Great bourbon, however, is not mutually exclusive with low prices. The perfect example of this is Buffalo Trace Kentucky…
Sipping With Smoth: Blind Luck at a Blind Whiskey Tasting
What happens when a group of friends find themselves with several bottles of whiskey and nothing to do on a Saturday night? Why, a blind whiskey tasting of course. Last year, by sheer coincidence, my close group of friends noticed we were each simultaneously in…
Woodford Reserve is a Big, Beautiful Bourbon
If you could somehow transport yourself into a Faulkner novel, walk to the nearest liquor store and buy a bottle of bourbon, it would likely taste just like Labrot & Graham Woodford Reserve Bourbon. It’s the quintessential bourbon: Potent (at 45.2% alcohol), rich (it’s got…
A Bangin’ Single Barrel Bourbon: Eagle Rare 10 Year
The first time I tried Eagle Rare 10 Year, I was already several drinks (and a hardy several at that) deep at a fairly rowdy work event. My co-worker had purchased it for some occasion or other, and in his alcoholically-amalgamated generosity, proffered a taste…
What’s a ‘Whiskey’?
One of my most frequently asked questions is, essentially, ‘what’s a whiskey?’ Is bourbon a whiskey? What’s the difference between Scotch and Irish Whiskey? Why do we call it rye in Canada? What the hell is sour-mash? With minimized technical jargon, let me set the…