Whiskey is Good » Scotch

Glenlivet 12 Year

Whiskey is Good — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:21:13 +0000

The Glenlivet is somewhat of a legend in the world of scotch for both its history and for where the distillery is located, the region of Moray. (If you decide to look up Glenlivet’s history, you should also look up Andrew de Moray, the lesser known partner to William Wallace.) Glenlivet is a single malt, meaning that they soak the barley for several days, allowing the starches in the barley to convert to the sugars needed for fermentation. This particular Glenlivet is aged for 12 years in oak barrels that were previously used to age other spirits or wines – usually bourbon (a plus) but sometimes sherry or port.

The result is quite pleasing. You get a great mix of the flavors of the oak and malted barley with the flavors of what was previously in the casks. The outcome here is a sweet, almost fruity smell with a pretty hefty sting of alcohol. The taste is very smooth and the bite of the alcohol takes longer to come on than a standard bourbon or whiskey would.

Benromach Traditional Speyside Single Malt

Whiskey is Good — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:30:21 +0000

Re-opened by Prince Charles in 1998, this distillery produces a variety of bottlings, of which the Traditional is the probably the youngest. And you can taste it. The absence of barrel taste makes me wonder if this qualifies as scotch, and the variety of other flavors (cream, smoke, citrus, flower) is a bit egregious for my taste. That said, the blend could be interesting for some, individual flavors aren’t too poignant, and the overall taste is mild. (Sorry for the low quality image. We’ll get a better one if we can find it.)

Johnnie Walker Red Label

Whiskey is Good — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:33:26 +0000

For the first ever Scotch review on Whiskey Is Good I felt it was fitting to pick something that could be an entry Scotch, a base point to build on a lifetime of scotch drinking enjoyment. So, naturally the best place to start would be the world’s most widely distributed brand of Scotch – Johnnie Walker Red Label – a blended Scotch Whisky, meaning they mix malt (made only from malted barley) and grain (unmalted barley and other grains like corn or wheat) whiskies in order to get the flavors they want.

So, what’s the verdict? Honestly, if you’re a seasoned Scotch drinker, Red Label may do little for you. The generous blending gives way to a milder set of flavors and a fairly faint finish. But, if you’re new to the game, this could be a good way of getting used to the different feel of the Scotch.

Scotch Competition

Whiskey is Good — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:14:21 +0000

We are looking for new reviewers. As you know, our reviews so far have been all bourbons. However, our site isn’t called Bourbon is Good, it’s Whiskey is Good, so we’re expanding. We are wanting to find two people that love Scotch, and want to share their thoughts on it. Here is how to enter:

Read through some of our reviews and get familiar with how we work.

Get a bottle of any Scotch and have a few drinks

Write a review and email it in to us

Please state in the email if we can use your review, even if you don’t win. (you will be given full credit and links to your site)

That’s it. We’re going to give until the end of the month to get your reviews in, and we’ll hopefully start up in May with weekly Scotch reviews. So, enter as many times as you like, tell your Scotch drinking friends, and spread the word about us.