This release is part of the Glenfiddich Experimental series and bottled at 43% ABV (which is quite unusual from Glenfiddich).   It is a peated malt that is finished in rum casks, hence the Fire and Cane (as in sugarcane)  name.  The nose is smokey, but more camp fire rather than strong peat.  Fire before the Cane.  The taste is spicy and nutty, chocolate, pepper, brown sugar and some honey and a hint of the phenol from peat.  The finish is a little hot, like eating burnt cake batter off a wooden spoon.  Water brings up more brown sugar and some lemon peel.  Very nicely done but not sure I would pair peat and rum casks, personnally I prefer peat and sherry casks.

For the whiskey pedants this tasting was from bottle 3532 of batch 0194 which was bottled at 45.2% ABV.  The nose had familiar notes of fresh corn and spearmint chewing gum.   The taste was fresh cut grass, more mint, diet soda, lemon peel and milk chocolate.  The finish had peppercorns, charred oak and yet more mint, this time perhaps peppermint. A classic rye with all the grassy, minty, chocolately rye notes I am used too. 

Location: Perry's Steakhouse, Houston, Texas

Date: October 2019

Price: $15.00 USD

Recipe: Redemption Rye with Vya Vermouth and bitters

Garnish: 2 Luxardo cherries

Served: Up

Comments: Great and nicely balanced Manhattan but could have been chilled more.  Maybe next time I will try on the rocks.

What is this about? Check out  http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii

If you had not of heard of this French blended malt you are not alone, because it was new to me as well when I saw it in the Air France Lounge in Paris.  A little online research suggests this is a blend of 3 single malts of different regions of France and finished in new French oak casks.  It is bottled at 40% ABV but nosed like it was much stronger.  Very feisty and malty with barnyard, floral and even perfurmed notes in the nose.  Hot and sweet on the palate with some flashes of toffee which were quickly masked by pepper and even a slightly acrid smokey note.  The finish has some chilli heat with a hint of lemon peel marmalade.  A splash of water improves it greatly, smooths out the grainy mouth feel and brings out some more fruity and sweet flavours.  It is not bad but posseses little elegance or sophistication so in that respect it is not a very French French whisky.

This is the third expression in the Bushmills Steamship Collection travel retail series and the most expensive.  There is lots of red fruits and wine in the nose.  The mouthfeel is smooth and the taste has dates, digestive biscuits, red grape skins, cinnamon and a little oak which carries into the finish.  With water it gets much sweeter and even smoother with an almost glassy mouthfeel and toffee.  Even at 40% ABV this needs a little water.   A very smooth, easy drinking Irish whiskey and maybe the first in this series I might order instead of my go to Bushmills product Black Bush (....unless I am paying).

I am very happy to announce that I will returning to Houston Texas this summer after almost 4 years working overseas.   Most of that time has been spent in Dubai which has not been a great place to blog about whisky but once I am back in Texas I hope to refresh the website (which is well overdue) and promise to try and post more regular blogs and whisky reviews that everyone out there can then just ignore much more frequently.  In summary, everything will be just like it was before....

I always question "bourbon cask" finished as a feature of any whisky as most Scotch and Irish is matured in Bourbon casks.  It is like saying a "metal car" or a "terrible Brexit plan"; it's a  bit redundant.  Bushmills have highlghted the #3 char of oak casks used (meaning a few seconds less exposure to fire than the more common #4) as the USP of this expression.  The nose is malty with banana, vanilla and milk chocolate.  The taste also has malt and nuts, lemon citrus peel and sweet peanut brittle.  The finish is initially sugar coating on tongue with a spicy note of cinnamon and tamale hots candy at the end.  At end of the day it is another bourbon cask finished whisky and there is not much here that stands out so if you are in mood for no-age expression Bushmills (and why not) I would probably recommend Black Bush over this one.

Not long after I wrote the blog a few weeks ago the news was full, as I once predicted, of news around fake whisky (so actual fake news).  An example story from BBC is below but in summary twenty-one out of fifty five bottles of rare Scotch were proven to be outright fakes.  In short I felt this required me to update my prior blog to include my new, Fourth Law of Whisky Invesment as follows:

Law 1 Investing: Allocate for investment in Whisky exactly the same amount of money you would be willing throw onto a fire and watch burn

Law 2 Buying: If you are reading on the internet or in a magazine about a great investment, then it isn't.  Law 3 now applies.

Law 3 Selling: Appear in a series of magazine articles and internet postings about how great whisky investing is.  Then sell your shit.

Law 4 Owning: The "rare" whisky you own is quite possibly a fake and worthless.  For that reason do not under any circumtances allow it to be checked.  Law 3 still applies.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-46566703

Note: This was first attempt to limit my increasingly rare tasting notes to 280 characters so I can also tweet full review rather than link for all my millenial readers....

London Distillery LV 1767 Edition

54.3% ABV, 100% Rye and aged for 1400 days

Nose: Black cherry, plum, Cadbury Fruit and Nut with biscuit

Taste: Sweet, chocolate, coffee and more fruit

Finish: Peppermint and oak bitterness. Slight grain note indicative of youth

Location: Xian Bar, Bossa Nova Mall, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Date: December 2018

Price: 80 rials ($21.53 USD)

Recipe: Requested Makers Mark

Garnish: Cherry

Served: Up

Comments: For this price it had to be good... and it was.  Much better than previous visit to Rio (Experiment #27)

What is this about? Check out  http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii