tire-bouchon...

Powers Gold Label (2009 - 2013) (40.0%): Although I reviewed Powers Gold Label before here on tire-bouchon before that bottle was a release right after the brand received the major face lift in 2013... This one on my desk is from an earlier era most likely between 2009 and 2013 and bottled at a lower strength at 40% abv. It was also priced slightly less before. As you already know Powers is blended by pot still and grain whiskeys distilled in New Middleton Distillery in County Cork. The blend has a larger ratio of pot still whiskeys to grain whiskeys compared to its sibling Jameson. It has been my favorite budget Irish whiskey since I moved to US in 2003... Perfect companion to a pint of Guinness and the best base for an Irish coffee. Let's unscrew its old school screw cap and remember how it was back then. Color: Yellow gold, lemon zest. Definitely lighter in color than the current version. Slow and thick impressive legs. Nose: Young grain whiskey, lemon scented floor cle...

Two different McDowell's No.1's "Luxury" and "Platinum"...

Continuing with the world's top three selling whisky brands... Today is day 2 and the brand is McDowell's No.1. Owned by United Spirits/Diageo McDowell's No.1 sold 25.5 million cases in 2016 securing the title of second best selling whisky in the world. * I do have two different botllings on my desk though... I will take a wild guess and assume that "Platinum" has a higher rank than "Luxury" in the line-up just because it comes in a glass bottle not in a plastic one like "Luxury". So let's start with "Luxury"... McDowell's No.1 Luxury (42.8%): Color: Yellow gold with again thin but slow moving legs. Nose: Sweet with touch of smoke... That's surprising, isn't it? But soon enough alcohol rises up in the glass and kinda kills all our hopes about the nose. Now the smoke is purely medicinal but in a good way: First aid closet, hydrogen peroxide and gauze pads. Palate: Industrial alcohol with hints of ins...

ciders of London...

If somebody told me this a couple months ago I wouldn't believe it in a million years but I am into ciders now... It's been only over a month since I arrived London and I can say that I managed to try a good amount of different ciders. I love British cask ales and I am getting so excited with so many great choices in pubs but my unstoppable impulse to try what the locals drink made me order ciders most of the time. Although London is having the wettest and coldest summer of the last decade people's choice of seasonal drink is still a pint of ice cold cider . I think I am enjoying mostly the drier ones. I also discovered that I definitely have a soft spot for pear ciders. Lastly having any of them on draught is a plus. Here are a few I tasted and enjoyed lately: Aspall Draught: Probably the most common apple cider in pubs. It is sold on tap and served in stemmed pint glasses. Crystal clear hay color with apple vinegar aromas on the nose. No head at all and has less ...

Imperial Blue...

Imperial Blue (42.8%): Next three days I will be tasting world's top three selling whisky brands back to back here on tire-bouchon . All three of them are produced in India and for the Indian market. First one is Imperial Blue which is a brand owned by Pernod Ricard . The brand sold 18 million cases in 2016 making them the third best selling whisky in the world. * I probably cannot thank enough to Susannah Skiver Barton for generously sending me the samples after bringing them all the way from India... But before we start let me explain what Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) is first and how it differs from whiskies we know... IMFL refers to hard liquors produced in India other than "indigenous alcoholic beverages" or spirits produced in foreign countries and imported to India to be bottled. Although any type of raw material can be used to distill the base spirit, molasses are the most common ingredient used in India. It is distilled to a level as high a...

The Mad Men behind The Balvenie and William Grant & Sons...

Since I started to explore the world of whisky I always enjoyed The Balvenie ... Actually it is quite fair to say that I haven't met anyone in the whisky community who didn't like The Balvenie . I know a few who don't care about the brand but no one actually hates it. The Balvenie has a pretty firm fan base all around the world. Besides how good their whiskies taste, how solid their permanent line up is compared to many other brands in the industry with the 12yo Doublewood, 14yo Caribbean Cask and 21yo Portwood and besides being one of the pioneers of double maturation the brand has also an unmatched warm and friendly reputation among enthusiasts. Its image is extremely artisanal, crafty and old-school. Both the bottle shape and color scheme on the label make the whisky look like a relic from a Victorian-era pharmacy. The sepia-toned photographs in their campaign ads and the elderly craftsmen posing in them, look like they were taken out of a photo album from your local ...

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