Vat 69 Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Vat 69

Bottled by: William Sanderson & Son, Edinburgh

Age: NAS

ABV: 40%

Colour: Light Gold

Nose: Not much going on here. Young Grain Whisky, Caramel, Green Wood, bit of Malt and Custard, Margarine and Alcohol.

Taste: Sugared Herbal Tea, Caramel, Bitter Oak and Spice.

Finish: Short and Sugary Sweet with Alcohol, Bitter Wood and a touch of Licorice.

With a few drops of Water, the Nose becomes a bit softer. Taste & Finish however are just watered down. Better drink this...eh, better don't!

Rating:  68 

Nose: 18 - Taste: 17- Finish: 16 - Overall: 17

General Remarks: This Blend was produced for the first time in 1882 by William Sanderson from Edinburgh. He organised a tasting panel to help assemble the Blend and out of the 100 Barrels offered, the blended whisky from Cask # 69 was considered the best of the session. Hence the name Vat 69. It's not a vatted Blend however. It consists of around 40 different Single Malt and Grain Whiskies. Today the brand is owned by the Diageo Group. Important markets include India, South America, Australia and Southern Europe. In these regions, whisky is often enjoyed over Ice or in Cocktails because of the hot climate. It's cheap at around US$ 25.

Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Below Average

Conclusion: The Vat 69 is cheap and that's about it. The Nose tells us that a lot of young Grain Whiskies have been used in this Blend.The Taste is Sugary, Herbal and Bitter at the same time. The Finish is mercifully short. There is no way to enjoy this dram neat. And if you wanna mix, buy some Bourbon instead.  

P.S. I try not to think about the whisky in Vat 01-Vat 68! 

Jan van den Ende                                                              November 11, 2012                                         

Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Years Review

Country: USA

Brand:  Knob Creek Small Batch

Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Age: 9 Years

ABV: 50%

Date: 07/11/2012

Colour: Deep Amber

Nose: Very complete Nose with Sweet Corn, Charred Oak, Maple Syrup, Citrus Peel (Orange), Raisins, Rye, Brown Sugar, Toffee/Caramel, Blueberry Pie and Vanilla. Fruity tones as well (Think of Plums, Cherries and Peach). Despite the ABV of 50%, the Alcohol is reasonably discrete. I advise you to Nose this dram from all possible angles. Don't limit yourself to the centre of the glass.

Taste: This is serious stuff! Strong, Woody and Spicy with Charred Oak, White Pepper,Maple Syrup, Caramel, Licorice, Cloves, Nuts, Raisins, Plums, Citrus Peel and Cinnamon. Hints of Dark Chocolate. It's a dram to be chewed!

Finish: Bit of a Bite there but nothing out of control. Quite Dry. Vanilla, Nuts, Herbal Tea, Grapefruit Juice and Oak.

I added a few drops of Water and the Nose becomes Sweeter with Buttered Toast, Honey and Cinnamon to accompany the Maple Syrup. Palate and Finish basically are watered down. The Spices are milder of course. More Licorice in the Finish. I prefer it neat or over some Ice.

Rating:  84 

Nose:  22- Taste:  21- Finish: 20  - Overall: 21

General Remarks: Knob Creek (named for the area in Kentucky where Abraham Lincoln grew up) is part of Jim Beam's Small Batch Bourbon Collection that also includes Baker, Basil Hayden and Booker. This collection aims to reproduce Bourbons as they were said to be before the Prohibition period. It is distilled at the Jim Beam/Knob Creek Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky and matures for 9 years in Charred White Oak. The Bourbon I'm tasting today comes from barrels that were hand selected for Buster's Liquors and Wines in 2010. Price: Around US$ 35.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good

Conclusion: It's not so easy for me to draw a conclusion on this Knob Creek. Let me start by saying that it's a quality dram. No doubt about that. And I really like the Nose. Nothing to complain there. On the Palate however I find the Charred Oak and the Spices a bit too dominant. Nine years is a long time of course! With water on the other hand, the Sweet components take control. In a perfect world Sweet, Spice and Oak would be completely in balance. That's not entirely the case here. So while I recognise the quality of the Knob Creek Small Batch I don't think I would buy another bottle. If you like your Bourbon quite woody and spicy however, go out and Seek the Creek!

Jan van den Ende                                                                November  2012

Late For The Sky - Jackson Browne (1974)

Songs: Late for the Sky, Fountain of Sorrow, Farther On, The Late Show, The Road and The Sky, For a Dancer, Walking Slow, Before the Deluge.

Comments:

Jackson Browne is a very serious guy. He does not write about The Lovely Linda or Valentine Day. On this, his third album his lyrics are about Death, Lost Identity, Relationships and Environmental Doom. His lyrics are very personal and are often compared to those of Bob Dylan in the sense that both stretched the limit of lyrics way beyond She Loves You (Yeah Yeah) and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

I´m not an expert on Jackson´s lyrics so I can´t confirm nor deny the above mentioned comparison. Musically however, the best work of Jackson and Bob are worlds apart. Bob´s music of the sixties and early seventies was mostly surprising, usually innovative and hardly ever boring.

Jackson´s Music is not. On Late for the Sky the music and vocals are professional. However, the album is never surprising , let alone innovative and often slightly boring.

Maybe American Teenagers with suicidal tendencies found relieve in Jackson´s Lyrics or mercifully dozed off with Late for the Sky as Background Music. But I tell you, when I want to hear good old mainstream country rock, I prefer The Eagles Greatest Hits. Not that serious and intellectual but far more catchy!

By the way, did you know that Jackson wrote Take it Easy? Just listen to The Road and the Sky and you will recognise the similarity. And if you ever wondered where Bob Seger got the inspiration for Against the Wind, have a close listen to Before the Deluge.

Don´t get me wrong, this is not really a bad album with the exception of Walking Slow. It just does not seem to make contact. It´s there in the background and I can hear it but that´s it. There´s one big exception to the rule and that´s Fountain of Sorrow, a nice flowing song not unlike Lying Eyes. By far the best song on the album, on a distance followed by the title track. But these two songs are easily found on any Greatest Hits Compilation. 

Type of Music: Country-Rock

Rating: ******* (Out of 10)

Dufftown 1997 Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Dufftown 1997

Bottled by: Gordon & MacPhail, Elgin, Scotland - Connoisseurs Choice

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Region: Speyside

Age: 12 Years (Distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2009)

ABV: 43%

Date: 04/11/2012

Colour: Pale Gold

Nose: Soft. Typical Fruity and Floral Speyside Nose with Malt, Oak, Vanilla, Heather, Honey and Sherry. There is some Alcohol there but it's not aggressive.

Taste: Fruity although I find it difficult to identify the individual Fruit flavours. Plums and Pineapple perhaps. I also find Malt, Honey, Heather, Sherry, Oak, Vanilla, Spices (Pepper and Cinnamon) and Nuts. Traces of Cigar Ashes. Nicely balanced.

Finish: Relatively short, clean and medium dry with Malt, Pepper, Heather and Licorice.

I added a few drops of Water and you get extra Malt, Fruit, Butter, Heather and Honey on the Nose and on the Palate. The Finish does not alter significantly. Still, there's room to play with a couple of drops.

Rating:  84.5 

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 22- Finish: 20- Overall: 21

General Remarks: The Dufftown Distillery (Diageo Group) started production in 1896 and is one of today's seven whisky distilleries in the city of Dufftown (Moray). The distillery has 6 stills that mainly produce for the Bells Blend. Gordon and MacPhail is an Independent Bottler from Elgin. In the Mid-Sixties the company introduced the Connoisseurs Range with many whiskies that otherwise would not have been available as Single Malts. Refill Sherry Hogsheads were used to mature this Dufftown Expression. I don't believe this whisky contains E-150. If so, than only a little bit.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: A well-crafted Speysider. The Nose is soft, Malty, Floral and Fruity. The balanced Palate has Malt, Sherry, Spices and a nice hint of Ashes. The Finish is clean and medium dry. The Dufftown 1997 is not an earth-shattering dram but it's utterly enjoyable, specially if you like this type of Speyside Whisky.

Jan van den Ende                                                                   November 2012

Update # 2

Hi Everybody and Welcome to Best Shot Whisky Reviews,

It's been a great week. Thanks to the new set-up it has become much easier to find the site in Google. This way many more visitors have been able to read about Whisky and Classic Rock. I also succeeded in posting a new Classic Rock Album Review. That was about time as I have been neglecting that a little bit lately. It's not really Rock actually but it's Classic enough. You can find the Review of the first James Taylor album below or here: James Taylor - James Taylor

I hear you thinking. What has this well-known guy to do with whisky! Yesterday night I was tasting the Crown Royal Black, a Canadian Blend owned by the Diageo Group. In my opinion this whisky is a Crown Royal Goes Bourbon Style type of marketing! You can find the Tasting Notes below or here: Crown Royal Black

I would also like to remind you of the possibility to start enjoy drinking whisky via Nosing - and Tasting Sets instead of buying expensive full bottles with the chance of disappointment! You can find the basic details here: Whisky Nosing and Tasting Kits. If you want more detailed information you can have a look at the site of Dolce Vita Trading here: Dolce Vita Trading - Nosing and Tasting Kits

And finally I would like to thank all of you for visiting and re-visiting the site. At the end of this month we will celebrate the first year of Jan's Whisky Paradise/Best Shot Whisky Reviews. It has been a great year and today we will pass the 67.000 Page View mark. Who would have thought that when I posted my first Tasting Notes in November 2011. One of the first reviews was the Johnnie Walker Red. You can find them here if you like: Johnnie Walker Red Label It's nice to see how the Reviews have matured since!

I would like to wish you all a very nice weekend and see you all back tomorrow for more whisky and Classic Rock.

Saude!

Jan