Whiskey Review #17: Jameson caskmates stout edition

Price: this bottle was a gift from my mother the second of 2 lovely bottles of Irish whiskey that she gave me last year.  I'm not sure how much she paid for it back home however it has since become available here in Oz and is priced at $55 AU. I think that's reasonably OK for a good blended whiskey with a cask finish. 5/6

Availability: I can pick this up in my local bottle shop, at specialist whiskey bars, probably in duty free and in Irish bars too but probably not in every bar: 5/6

Marketing: Good story of guys talking in the pub and doing a swap deal and making it work without the knowledge of their marketing department it also promotes rather nicely the Franciscan Well craft brewery with whom they did the swap. Of course there is a website which is alright to look at, provides a video of the story behind the whiskey and also a little blurb about it too all done quite nicely without an excess of nonsense - the link is below check it out if you like!: 6/6 

https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/us/ourwhiskeys/jameson-caskmates

Packaging and label: Nice typical green glass bottle from Jameson with an attractive label which tells me about the brewery and gives some vague tasting notes around the neck of the bottle and states that the whiskey is triple distilled and bottled at 40%. No mention of chill filtration or caramel colorant addition which probably means both have happened. There is mention of the bow st distillery in Dublin which is a museum but no mention of the Middleton distillery where this was likely produced. 3/6

Appearance: A little darker than regular Jameson I think, yellow gold with a hint of green and amber. Not too much caramel added maybe. Nice legs on the glass but I'm starting to wonder if any whiskey doesn't have that quality?  6/6

Nose: hint of chocolate and coffee typical of stout- yummy! Can get the typical Jameson potstill nose in the background with some cereal and something green with sweet soft buttery fudge: 14/20

Taste on entry: buttery fudge and bananas with spice developing into the finish: 14/20

Mouthfeel: this is a lovely soft whiskey, nice and buttery: 8/10

Finish: medium to long with lingering spice - ginger i think and a little annise too. also after a few minutes it definitely tastes as though I've had stout in my mouth - in a good way!: 15/20

Total score: 76/100

This is a very enjoyable dram
Thanks again Mom.

Cheers

Kev

Review #18: Templeton rye

Here's another interesting gift that I picked up for myself from Hawaii - I really am so Good! This was a really good whiskey and I and everyone I shared it with really enjoyed it too.

This is a whiskey which has courted controversy recently having been the subject of a class action lawsuit in the U.S. over claims made on it's label which you can see in my photos. The issues related to claims on the label about where the whiskey was produced, it claiming to be "small batch" and the "prohibition era recipe". The class action lawsuit was successful and the guys who produce the whiskey or who bottle this whiskey have since had to change their label to state that it is produced in Indiana by a different company and have had to remove small batch and prohibition era recipe from their label.

The legend on the label would have you believe that this was Al Capone's favorite whiskey and that it was referred to by him or others as the good stuff! I wasn't around back then so I don't know if that's true or not and how closely this product actually reflects whiskey produced in Iowa during prohibition is anyone's guess? I have heard that the guys who make the whiskey may have tried to produce their own whiskey instead of buying it in from the people in Indiana but apparently the stuff from Indiana was much better than anything they were able to make themselves so they kept buying it in. The legend behind this whiskey also states that originally the "good stuff" was made by farmers in Iowa as a source of income and that I would say is probably the truth. Whiskey is an agricultural product produced traditionally by farmers to make use of excess grain. It's a very useful product alcohol, it can and has been used for preserving, many medicinal purposes, fuel and for pleasure. Some people call it liquid sunshine!

Ultimately the producer had to pay damages to the princely sum of 6$ to anyone who could prove that they bought a bottle for up to 6 bottles.. doesn't sound like much, they should add it to the bootlegging stories! 

Price: pretty good for what I paid which was just over $30US, however a little search online in Australia indicates that when this whiskey was available it would have set me back $199AU - FFFFFFar out! that's expensive! quite a difference! It's no longer available anyway!!! For what I payed: 6/6

Availability: pretty bad - have not seen this for sale anywhere else, no sign of this for sale online either and I've never seen it in a pub: 1/6

Marketing: Well Stretching the truth to the point where you loose a class action lawsuit and have to refund customers and change your label - I think these guys took the Michael with their bullshit stories and overlooked facts. The website focuses on the history of the area and stories and legends pfff: 0/6

Packaging/label: LEGEND!!! LIES!  too much BS not enough fact. No age statement, no mention of what additives are added, Prohibition era whiskey had all sorts of nasty crap thrown in by some accounts. Lovely looking bottle and label though: 3/6

Appearance: golden with a tinge of amber and nice legs on the glass: 6/6

Nose: fruity and something green - fresh cut grass with grapes, lychees and musk sweets and maybe some sherbet - really nice. Something a little earthy in the background. Limes and avocados coming in too: 18/20

Taste on entry: sweet and spicy - peppery and ginger and a little citrus - lemon: 15/20

Mouth feel/Body: quite good actually - cant fault it: 10/10

Finish: long, peppery and spicy ginger and some citrus in the finish too nice stuff: 17/20

Total score: 76/100

So this whiskey may have additives and flavorings but it was a really good whiskey and I really enjoyed drinking it, just too much B.S.

Review #16: Evan Williams Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey 43%

I picked this little gem up in Walmart when we got to "the big island" on our trip to Hawaii last year. 9$ is what this whiskey cost me.... Yes I picked up this bottle of whiskey for 9$!!!! Yes 9$!!!! and would you believe it, it's actually quite good! Very drinkable, lovely tasty whiskey. Well worth the 9$ gamble on an unknown quantity! 

Price: 9$ for 43% straight bourbon the cheapest best value whiskey I'm ever likely to find. Nothing more to say. 6/6

Appearance: Golden brown. Legs present but I'm beginning to think I wont ever find a whiskey that wont have nice looking legs. Apparently at international whiskey competitions the appearance of a whiskey when being judged as a rule gets scored 0 points. So I'll only deduct points in future if something looks really wrong with a whiskey which is not likely to happen as I probably wouldn't drink it in that case. Still though nice to look at and describe what I'm drinking. 6/6

Availability: I can pick this up in a bottle shop albeit for significantly more than I paid for it in the states ($45 aus). I think I've seen it in a few pubs but generally not behind the bar in most pubs also I've never noticed this in duty free: 4/6

Marketing: check out the website link below, they provide some tasting notes and cocktail recipes, not bad but nothing special: 4/6

http://evanwilliams.com/bourbons.php?page=black-label

Packaging: No age statement. Straight bourbon so its at least 4 years old with no additives, either flavorings or colorants. There is a silly story which might be stretching the truth about the man for whom the whiskey is named and some other waffle which doesn't really tell us much about what's in the bottle.  4/6

Nose: Not too much going on. Slight solvent smell and maraschino cherries. Oakwood, sweet caramel, crystalised ginger and you can smell the mash or wort in the background too. 14/20

Taste: sweet cherries, oak, pepper: 15/20

Finish: medium to short finish some licorice: 14/20

Mouthfeel: Has a nice body to it, nice and smooth, not amazing but not bad: 6/10

Total score for this most budget of budget whiskies: 73/100

I was really chuffed with myself for having taken a punt on this while on holidays and I remember tucking into a dram of it on several nights while in Hawaii, happy days!

cheers,
Kev