tire-bouchon...

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...

Glen Moray Classic Cabernet Cask Finish...

Glen Moray Classic Cabernet Cask Finish (40.0%): Fourth whisky of Glen Moray week is another cask finish and this time a rather unusual one: It is finished in Cabernet Sauvignon red wine casks. There is no info from which wine country or region the casks are sourced from. Like the rest of the Classic series it doesn't carry an age statement and bottled at 40% abv. After liking the previous two cask finishes I tasted previously I have to admit I have high expectations from this one. Color: Light amber, polished copper color with thin but slow legs around the glass. Nose: Slightly sulphureous initially: Camembert cheese, boiled eggs and steamed milk. After allowing it air it gets considerably better... Apple strudel, peanut brittles and gas fire. Palate: Nice texture... It's silky and thick. Vanilla custard, Mexican flan and cinnamon. Yoghurt covered raisins, honey and peach juice. Grape molasses, preserved grape leaves and dry soot. Strawberry jam... Finish: Short to med...

Wild Turkey 101 Rye...

Wild Turkey 101 Rye (50.5%): Another classic rye whiskey review to follow the late Rittenhouse BiB and Old Overholt BiB posts kinda entertaining the idea of trying to find our household choice of rye whiskey for our Manhattans... But before you start to read me blabbering about smells, tastes and whatnots you should visit my good friend The Whiskey Jug 's Wild Turkey article first and while you are at it bookmark that link.. It is the best resource about the distillery you can find anywhere online for my two cents. Remarkable work... The whisky is distilled from a mash bill of 52% rye, 36% corn and 12% malted barley and bottled at 101 proof. Color: Light amber, polished copper color with immediate but oily and thick legs. Nose: Whiskey soaked raisins, dark thick crust rye bread and light maple syrup. It has a dusty and chalky quality I like a lot... Toasted grains, pine resin and fresh tarragon. Palate: Mint. applejack and cinnamon. Slightly herbal with dill and ros...

tire-bouchon's top of 2021...

Here is the last post of the year but I have a short announcement first: It's been more than 12 years since I started this blog and as many long time followers would know it did go through quite a few different phases within all these years. But for a long time it was acting strictly as a brown spirits review site with tasting notes, scores, etc. but I think at this point we all can agree that no one would miss tire-bouchon if it changed its course to a different direction. Especially in an era where there are so many other tremendous sites (which I also follow religiously) posting reviews of all the new releases more regularly, more timely and to be honest in a more disciplined manner. I was thinking about this for some time and I decided to change this blog's course to back where it started... With the new year tire-bouchon will act more like a personal journal like it used to be rather than being another review site. We will cover almost everything we enjoy throughout the ...

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...

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