One of my graduate students is being promoted soon, marking a major career and life achievement.
His seminar group colleagues are getting him a very nice bottle of peated Islay scotch, the Kilchoman PX Sherry Cask Matured – 2023 Release, since he really enjoys peated scotches.
I’ve grabbed him a bottle of Compass Box’s The Peat Monster blended scotch and a bottle of the Virginia Distillery Company’s (VDC) fantastic VDC Cabernet Cask Select American single malt whisky. Though I am just starting my exploration of peated scotches after an early foray that didn’t go well (thanks to an Ardbeg way too early in my scotch journey), I’m a big fan of Compass Box’s releases – Crimson Casks is one of my top two favorite malt whiskies at the moment. And without the VDC, I wouldn’t have ever started exploring the vast world/s of whiskies – it was their American single malts that made me curious about what other aromas and flavors I could find with whiskies, opening the door to scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish, and Japanese whiskies.
One of the coolest things about Compass Box is how transparent they are with their blend recipes – their recipe sheets provide a ton of information about the distilleries the scotch distillates in their blends come from and the type of casks/barrels used to age/finish them. The Peat Monster is 18% Caol Ila, 35% Laphroaig, and 1% Compass Box’s own “Highland Malt Blend.” Casks/barrels/hogsheads used to age and finish the sourced distillates include French Oak and a variety of hogsheads used for peated single malt scotches.
The VDC’s Cabernet Cask Reserve, which has rich fruit/wine, spice, dark chocolate, malt, and light smoke aromas and flavors, is aged for a minimum of four years in first-fill ex-bourbon American White Oak barrels before being finished in French and Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon casks. I’ve already shared a sample bottle of the VDC Cabernet Cask Reserve and he likes it, but now he’ll be able to spend some time with a full-sized bottle.
I’ll likely miss the celebration his classmates are organizing for him depending on how long the USG furlough lasts but will gift him the two bottles once the furlough ends and I look forward to hearing what he thinks of them.
______________________
1792 Bourbon Agave Spirits American Single Malts American Whisky ArteNOM Añejo Tequila Blanco Tequila Blended Whisky Bourbon Whisky Bruichladdich Buffalo Trace Cocktails Código 1530 (Codigo 1530) Dulce Vida E.H. Taylor Elijah Craig El Tesoro Extra Añejo Tequila Four Roses Gin Glassware Glenlivet Irish Whisky Limestone Branch Distillery Liqueurs Lost Lore Maker's Mark Mezcal Mijenta Mt. Defiance Distillery Patrón Penelope Reposado Tequila Reviews Rye Whisky Scotch Whisky Siempre Single Malt Whisky Spirits Tequila Tequila Ocho Tequila Partida Virginia Virginia Distillery Company Whisky
Agave Spirits+ Journey 