If you’ve never been on a riverboat – it’s objectively okay. Sure it feels nicer than say a regular ferry, and it’s certainly got some historical interest – but then so does a clipper ship. The point we’re very long-windedly trying to make is that it’s nothing special. This is because it makes a perfect segue into this Riverboat whiskey.
Given our track record if we led with the fact that we’ve yet again bought a twelve dollar rum you could already expect the subsequent review. One of pain and woe, of price not being worth the wincing and sugar and awfulness. Put that aside though, because while yes Kaniche has a fault, it’s not as glaring as you might think, and given some other aspects – it might not even be a concern.
Aging whiskey in red wine barrels isn’t as common compared to beers, or even to sherry casking, but as we’ve seen before with Blood Oak, the effect is solid enough that more should give it a shot. Luckily Agitator makes wine, so them doing this makes – well a lot of sense. The question though is whether this soak in an old barrel has done anything to improve the whiskey, or just made it a slight shade of red.
Typically the concept of Islay single malt and sixteen dollars are not grouped into the same category. While there’s not an age on this bottle which makes the affair a tad more sensical, from the first crack of the bottle it’s certain you’re 16 buckaroos has given you a bit of Islay. However as for how the first sip treats you for you bargain purchase – well – it could be worse.
Another day, another French vodka. This time the outing is a bit all over the place scoring wise due to the fact that we once again can prove that simply distilling something multiple times has almost no bearing on quality. Things can be distilled twice, 3 times, or 6 or more like this – but as our resident chemist has said ‘distillation columns are not all the same’ and because of that the result is just as much a crapshoot as what you put in, and how you filter it out.
Of course, not 2 weeks ago we had a bourbon that was well liked, and recommendable. So by the laws given of the universe we must balance with something from the lower shelves. And yes we pride ourselves on being the ones able to find the gold coin at the bottom of the wishing well, but let’s be honest – it’s mostly pennies. (We don’t actually do that because it’s morally wrong to take wishes, but the metaphor is strong).
It’s been almost a season since we last did a tequila, but luckily much like how well received Casa Noble was – this too is pretty dang good. If there’s a real complaint it’s how it fares with a bit of ice, or just a tad too much burn, or a little high on sweetness – but these are ultimately nitpicks. (reviews notes) Ah right that’s sort of our whole deal, but considering most often the other part of that deal is wading through the shit to find the shine, well as the gold labeling will prove – this is shiny.
Yes you read that correctly, this is a bourbon – not a rum. Though you’d be forgiven for thinking so. And while it may have a sweetness that compares to a rum as well, it very much wears it’s bourbon colors in flavor. We of course intend the pun here, but if you are looking for a decent bourbon you might want to give this a chance.
The mention of tea brought back to our minds something else that’s relatively close to Scotland in the form of an Irish Gin (Drumshanbo) the result not being stellar, however that was made with tea prepared in a way that likened it to gunpowder. Here however we have Ceylon tea which might mean something to you. What means something to us is what the contents of the bottle bring – which is good, but there’s a catch.
So it’s pronounced Bu-na-ha-venn. Just felt the need to get that out of the way, because the name (and dear god their literature) can be summed up best by the word verbose. If we’re honest the contents of the glass can also fall under the category of verbose as well. The whiskey here is quite a complex thing – but the problem with complexity in a scotch is whether it fits the expectations and the desires of the drinker.
