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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: Deep Creek Reserve Straight Bourbon WhiskeyMade entirely of Virginia-grown grains (corn, rye, wheat, & barley) with the malting of the barley being done in Charlottesville, Deep Creek Reserve Bourbon is not age stated but is a minimum of 3-5 years old. It is brought to bottling proof (90 proof/45% ABV) using purified local water and…
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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask American Single Malt – Nancy Fraley Special BatchNamed after whisky master blender Nancy Fraley, perhaps currently best known currently for her work with Still Austin and Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend, this special batch of the Virginia Distillery Company’s Courage & Conviction Cuvée Cask was distilled in August-September 2016 and put into 8 cuvée casks (225 liters) that…
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Continue reading →: SHORT REVIEW: Storywood Añejo TequilaStorywood is a very unique tequila brand that fuses the mixed heritage of its founder, chef Michael Ballantyne who was born in Scotland, raised in Texas, and has a mother from the San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico. After opening a whisky bar in his mother’s hometown, he was…
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Continue reading →: Spirits Sample Share: Introducing a Colleague to Finished WhiskiesOne of my favorite things to do with spirits is sharing them with other folks – it’s what spirits are for and how they’re best enjoyed in moderation. The “theme” of this round of samples for a work colleague is finished whisky, primarily bourbon but also one rye. He enjoys…
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Continue reading →: Sharing Bottles – What Spirits Are All About & (Trying) to Emulate Positive Influences in Your LifeOne of my very few fond memories related to faculty from the university where I completed my PhD is of one of the few professors worth remembering from that period of my life making themself available to their students every Friday at the end of the day at a “resto-bar”…
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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: Tequila Ocho Reposado Barrel Proof – Las Raíces (2024 field)Produced at distillery Tequilera Los Alambiques (NOM 1474) in Arandas, Jalisco, by master distiller Carlos Camarena, Tequila Ocho Reposado Barrel Proof – Las Raíces is made from 7-10-year-old Blue Weber agave which is cooked in stone/brick ovens (hornos) for 48 hours including a 24 hour cooling down period. The aguamiel…
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Continue reading →: SHORT REVIEW: My 1st Bottle of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon WhiskeyThis is my first bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon. One of the flagship American whiskies produced by the Buffalo Trace Distillery, Buffalo Trace Bourbon is made from an undisclosed mash bill thought to be the distillery’s “Mash Bill #1” with less than 10% rye alongside the corn and malted barley. …
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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: Completing My Cierto Tequila Lineup – Cierto Extra AñejoI’ve been waiting to get this bottle for quite a long time and this weekend decided to just go for it – this beautiful extra añejo completes my Cierto Private Collection series tequila lineup joining the brand’s blanco, reposado, and añejo. Produced by renowned master distiller Enrique Fonseca, a legend…
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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: G4 Clasico ReposadoThe G4 Clasico Blanco and Reposado are limited special releases from master distiller Felipe Camarena and his distillery, El Pandillo (NOM 1579) in Jesús María in the Jalisco Highlands (Los Altos). There are 2,016 cases (6 bottles per case for a total of 12,096 bottles) of each expression released to…
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Continue reading →: New Bottle Highlight Series: G4 Añejo TequilaI’ve had this bottle (and a couple reserves) since before New Year’s Day but have just cracked open one of them to share with my graduate student cohort. This bottle is from lote (lot/batch) #LG0009AE and was bottled on Halloween 2024. Produced by master distiller Felipe Camarena at his distillery…
Documenting my journey into agave spirits along with a smattering of other spirits after many, many years away – This blog is meant to take note of this journey including tasting notes, bottle photography, and other related topics.
Agave Spirits+ Journey 