Scotch. Many adjectives can be used to describe it's color, aroma, mouth feel, and finish. Experts use words like phenol, heather, tobacco, fig, and nutty to name a few. What exactly does it mean? That question can only be answered on your own. That's double talk for I don't know, or rather don't know enough to explain everything. The beauty of tasting scotch, honestly, is in your discovery. Discovering what tastes are brought to your own mind. Does that mean ever critic is full of it? No, it means that you may not agree with what aficionados like those of Whiskey Advocate or Michael Jackson say, and that's ok. Any time I try a new scotch I look at what the experts say to give me an idea of what to look for, or to define that elusive aroma that I just can't place. There was a time when I would read review of Scotches I've been tasting and not agree with anything that an expert had written. Did I feel stupid? Yeah, until I accepted that not everybody interprets the same taste or smell the same way all the time. It's okay to have your own opinion, it's also okay to allow your opinion to evolve over time.
Is drinking Scotch pretentious? No, it's awesome. It's so nuanced and complex. It can actually be kind of fun. No what is pretentious is Matt and I writing down notes for over a decade like somebody is going to give a crap what we say. Now THAT is pretentious, but here we are all these years later and somebody, somewhere, will be reading this. Probably just my family but that's cool, they're great people.
Anyway, these notes are snapshots of time, to be used as a reference. Did I like the Talisker? (Hell, yes!) What was that one that was really orange-bubblegum-y smelling? (Brenne, a french single malt whisky.)... In the end your opinion is as valid as ours, or any actual expert out there. In the end the only thing that counts is how you liked it, not the score that we gave it or an expert gave. In the end you decide for yourself. Besides, what I said 13 years ago may not be what I think today. Maybe someday, when we're rich we'll revisit some of them and re-review them.
This site will start with our chronological tasting order and also then broken up into regions and styles. Our scores are on a 0.0 - 10.0 scale, the main score being tasted neat with an inclusion for tasting with a few drops of water. Eventually we give the scotches two scores, one for neat and one with the addition of water. Our reviews try to be as concise and to the point as possible. We don't waste words, mostly because we write in a small journal and our whole review between the two of us takes up just one page.
JIM- I have enjoyed scotch for a long time. When I first started drinking it, I didn't know how do determine flavors or smells. It smelled like good scotch or it just burned. This one tasted better than that one, but there was no real thoughtful reason behind it. It just was, or wasn't. Then something magical happened: My friend and co-author, Matt, and I had been trying to figure out what flavors were actually going on in different scotches when we gave Lagavulin a try. Immediately we were hit in the mouth with Peat & Smoke. That's what really woke up my taste buds. The transformation from good/bad to understanding subtle differences was quick and enlightening. One scotch was able to spark a whole new thought process about tasting. Since then we've had a lot of practice. I look back at the older reviews and wonder if I still would describe a scotch the same way. I'd like to say yes without a doubt, but the truth is I'm sure I would feel differently after a decade more of experience.
Matt- George Bernard Shaw once said that "Whisky is liquid sunshine." When I first started drinking whiskey I would probably have said that Shaw was crazy but as time has gone on and we have sampled so many different whiskies my palate has taught me that Shaw was a genius. My friend Jim hit the nail on the head, when we first tried Lagavulin it changed everything. Not only did it show me the wide range of flavors that could be discovered in whiskey but I fell in love with peated scotch. Since then, I gravitate towards a nice Islay but have had the opportunity to sample some amazing whiskies from all over the world. I too would love to revisit some of the whiskies we reviewed early on, something tells me that my review of the Pappy would be much different than when we reviewed in several years ago. I hope you enjoy our reviews and can help you discover the joy and delight that can be discovered in a nice dram!
Is drinking Scotch pretentious? No, it's awesome. It's so nuanced and complex. It can actually be kind of fun. No what is pretentious is Matt and I writing down notes for over a decade like somebody is going to give a crap what we say. Now THAT is pretentious, but here we are all these years later and somebody, somewhere, will be reading this. Probably just my family but that's cool, they're great people.
Anyway, these notes are snapshots of time, to be used as a reference. Did I like the Talisker? (Hell, yes!) What was that one that was really orange-bubblegum-y smelling? (Brenne, a french single malt whisky.)... In the end your opinion is as valid as ours, or any actual expert out there. In the end the only thing that counts is how you liked it, not the score that we gave it or an expert gave. In the end you decide for yourself. Besides, what I said 13 years ago may not be what I think today. Maybe someday, when we're rich we'll revisit some of them and re-review them.
This site will start with our chronological tasting order and also then broken up into regions and styles. Our scores are on a 0.0 - 10.0 scale, the main score being tasted neat with an inclusion for tasting with a few drops of water. Eventually we give the scotches two scores, one for neat and one with the addition of water. Our reviews try to be as concise and to the point as possible. We don't waste words, mostly because we write in a small journal and our whole review between the two of us takes up just one page.
JIM- I have enjoyed scotch for a long time. When I first started drinking it, I didn't know how do determine flavors or smells. It smelled like good scotch or it just burned. This one tasted better than that one, but there was no real thoughtful reason behind it. It just was, or wasn't. Then something magical happened: My friend and co-author, Matt, and I had been trying to figure out what flavors were actually going on in different scotches when we gave Lagavulin a try. Immediately we were hit in the mouth with Peat & Smoke. That's what really woke up my taste buds. The transformation from good/bad to understanding subtle differences was quick and enlightening. One scotch was able to spark a whole new thought process about tasting. Since then we've had a lot of practice. I look back at the older reviews and wonder if I still would describe a scotch the same way. I'd like to say yes without a doubt, but the truth is I'm sure I would feel differently after a decade more of experience.
Matt- George Bernard Shaw once said that "Whisky is liquid sunshine." When I first started drinking whiskey I would probably have said that Shaw was crazy but as time has gone on and we have sampled so many different whiskies my palate has taught me that Shaw was a genius. My friend Jim hit the nail on the head, when we first tried Lagavulin it changed everything. Not only did it show me the wide range of flavors that could be discovered in whiskey but I fell in love with peated scotch. Since then, I gravitate towards a nice Islay but have had the opportunity to sample some amazing whiskies from all over the world. I too would love to revisit some of the whiskies we reviewed early on, something tells me that my review of the Pappy would be much different than when we reviewed in several years ago. I hope you enjoy our reviews and can help you discover the joy and delight that can be discovered in a nice dram!