Finally a glass made for tasting whiskey, and how to christen it properly. Whistlepig does the trick!

As I began tasting whiskey I sort of went with what I could get on hand to make it an enjoyable experience. I needed some small glasses with a little taper, and found some simple standard cognac/brandy snifters. They were inexpensive, and I could buy a few knowing that if I ever broke one I wouldn't shed a tear. As time went on and I ran around looking at whiskey, it was something I read about when tasting brandy that made me think I might be missing out on the tasting experience because of my glassware. The person said "When evaluating brandy never use a snifter, use a tulip glass". What??!? I thought.. you mean these so called glasses called "cognac/brandy" glasses should NEVER be used for as there name says... "brandy"?

Well it made me think if whiskey was the same. Certainly two revered products should be capable of a good glass right? So I was talking about my rye experience online with some very knowledgeable people on StraightBourbon.com, and on a lark someone pointed me to a Canadian Whiskey aficionado, and there stood in his hand on his webpage... something I hadn't seen before that was to me... very unique. What was that thing?! I asked myself.. and before I knew it I discovered he had in his hand a glass SPECIFICALLY for tasting WHISK(E)Y which is called a "Glencairn".

Long story short, I bought four of them finding a good online deal I think. Many times a single Glencairn glass can be a little pricey (not too bad), but also I would be peeved if I broke one of these (the glass is a little fragile). I am very excited to try the four glasses out on my next bourbon tasting, but I figured it made sense to evaluate it with something good. I used the glass while hunkering down and evaluating a bottle of Whistlepig rye whiskey, a 10 year aged straight rye whiskey made in Canada and bottled in Vermont.

The glass made some interesting surprises for me. To see how, take a look below at the video. Cheers!

BIG American Double Imperial Stout goes to the test... with a Dane coming to the top!

In the grand scheme of things, when it was time to have a good old Russian Imperial Stout... I know I could sit back and relax, enjoy some good simple ABV and enjoy the malty and sometimes big goodness. Then I realized stouts could also be big in ABV beyond my comprehension.

Enter two big giants ready to do battle on the American Double Imperial Stout beer war. Here we have Mikkeller Black (17.5 ABV), in it's standard form (don't get me into all those wax capped bourbon aged barrel variations of I could only dream about tasting..), against... an evil looking incarnation... a very silverly looking devil of it's own from Avery brewery... Mephistophele's Stout (ABV 16.8).

I tasted and compared both of these. This was great for a nice winter day as snow has been falling of late. Strangely enough, I actually prefer these high ABV concoctions to other big carbonated beers with lower ABV. Sometimes sipping these is like imbibing a great wine. One was truly great indeed! Can you guess which one?

Only way you can find out is watching below! (or try them both yourself!)

Cheers!

Tripel battle American style

One style of beer I've always enjoyed has been a Beligan Tripel. As I was out shopping for my latest imbibing beer fest I discovered that this was also a style that many American craft brewers have started making. I had a few Belgian tripels and always enjoyed their big bodies and sugary/malt like goodness. It was as if eating cake sometimes. How would American ones taste?

I settled on two, one from nearby Adamstown PA, the other from far West coast of Seattle. Stoudt's from Adamstown makes a Belgain Abbey Style Ale, and the Pike Monks Uncle is another Tripel described using many organic ingredients.

One of these beers should have been from a different planet hardly tasting like a Tripel that I've had before, but not in a bad way.

To see more watch and find out below. Cheers!