The Liquor Store Podcast

Tasting Notes: In the southeastern corner of the small but whiskey-rich island of Islay, Arbeg Distillery has been happily pumping out one of the peatiest, smokiest single malts for decades (with some breaks!) Catapulted to stardom during Jim Murry's golden years, Ardbeg 10 bottled at 92 proof and non0chill filtered is still a standard bearer in the category. Sweet, salty, and smoky like a smolder...

Tasting Notes: As mysterious as a snow-bound yeti and as dazzling as the northern lights, comes Sazerac's single-barrel Canadian Whiskey...Caribou Crossing, is a playful twist on "Buffalo Trace" with the silly sculpted animal on top to match. What's the real story though? This is an 80-proof Canadian whisky single barrel with no age statement (other than for legal purposes 3 yr. requirement) with...

Did you know one of best gins in the world is made in Bloomington Indiana? Cardinal's Terra Gin is so unassuming and humble in its craft bottle that it masks one of the most flavorful, smooth, and enticingly drinkable gins on the market. A new gin is REALLY hard to do. Most fail because they simply aren't balanced enough, letting one or another botanical overwhelm the others. But that's not the ca...

  This Booker's batch named "Pinkie's Batch" is a combination of four different warehouse productions, aged 6 years, 10 months, and 10 days and bottled at 122.4 proof. Named after Fred Noe's grandfather Fredrick "Pinkie" Booker Noe, this batch launches into the atmosphere with hazelnut, cedar wood, camphor, and spice. On the palate, a wave of hot vanilla, then mint, then back to brown sugar and ci...

This spring we picked two delicious Bulliet single barrels. Bourbon World High Rye which is the "B" mashbill of 36% rye and the "1" yeast feautring a rich tropical fruit and leather profile. Given a 10-12yr age range for this one with only a 7 case yield. We also selected a Bourbon World "Fruit Bomb" with utilizes the "E" or 21% rye mashbill and the Number "2" yeast which gives the spirit a fruity...

It's not often a new regular vodka comes along and impresses us this much, but Blue Ice potato vodka from Idaho has done it. Sure, we could brag on the snake river aquifer where the water is sourced from or the Russet Burbank potatoes so carefully distilled, but really at the end of the day it's the incredible mouthfeel of this vodka that's the real showstopper. Big soft, pillowy, and rich from st...

Tasting Notes: One of the weirdest standard releases in whiskey gets a facelift with this 118.8 proof version of Bernheim wheat. A WHEAT WHISKEY, and not a wheated bourbon, the grain note on the nose is massive, like a wood-fired oven bakery, then follows oak, then a touch of orange fruit on the end. The palate is a full-flavored grain blockbuster, almost austere, but with JUST enough vanilla and...

Tasting Notes Hand-crafted alongside the tropical riverbed in the village of San Luis Del Rio where the Red Ant River flows. Agave: Espadín. Naturally fermented and twice distilled in wood-fired copper stills. Nose of tropical fruit, honey, & roast agave; the palate offers ginger, cinnamon, & tangerine, with a soft finish. ABV 42.    Perfect Starter Mezcal

Tasting Notes 20 year Mellow Corn? Sure, why not! 115 proof small batch 20yr old corn whiskey. 80% corn by law with 8% rye and 12% malted barley making up the rest. The nose is wildly perfumed, closest thing I can think of is a vanilla ice cream root beer float with a touch of sweet earthiness mixed with a big vanilla pop! On the palate, the thick fatty corn flavor bounces back and forth between p...

Tasting Notes A popular brand for over 150 years, Yellowstone has bounced around and been reborn six or seven times by different companies. In its current iteration, it's owned by MGP who bought Luxco this past year. It was reborn in the early part of the craft whiskey boom by Limestone Branch, a craft distillery operated by Stephen and Paul Beam. A Kentucky Bourbon, LIKELY sourced from Heaven Hil...

Tasting Notes An early "craft" gin out of Philadelphia, Bluecoat is a citrus-forward "American" style dry gin. All organic botanicals contribute to a gin tailored for a crisp, lemon-rind finished martini. The initial nosing is sweet earth, and lemon peel, with a touch of dried root. On the palate, the 94-proof spirit is a heavyweight. Spicy botanical notes coat the sides and bottom of the tongue w...

Tasting Notes: The new 100% fermented, distilled, and bottled range from Bardstown called Origin Series includes this 36% 6yr old rye mash bourbon, bottled at 96 proof. Light and fruity on the nose with floral notes, cinnamon, and a touch of licorice. On the palate, amazingly bright fruit and oak spice. It sizzles and pops on the mid-palate. While I LIKED the wheated, this is modern bourbon on a w...

Tasting Notes: Juicy red fruit along with fat, sweet, and oily corn notes lead this extremely RARE bottle of bourbon. Selected by Perry Ford from experimental MGP stocks, there will never be another like this. 75% Crimson Red Corn, 21% rye, and 4% barley, aged 9yrs, bottled at 103 proof and finished in port barrels by Carindal for a year. Unlike some higher priced rarities from the past, THIS ONE...

Tasting Notes:  Aptly nicknamed "Big Red" for his coloring, Secretariat is still arguably the greatest racehorse who ever lived, STILL holding the record for the fastest Kentucky Derby. This 50th-anniversary edition commemorates the 1973 victory, with a beautifully rendered painting by Jaime Corum, a Louisville native and equine artist. Grab 2 bottles before they are gone. One to drink and one to...

Tasting Notes:  From NOM 1119 Herradura Cristalino Ultra Anejo is a masterclass in smoothness. Brick ovens, roller mills, and open-air fermentation produce a light, earthy spirit that ages and then is stripped of color to produce a delicious Cristalino. On the nose, lime cordial, sweet earth, vanilla, and light agave notes. On the palate, pillowy vanilla, orange zest, buttery soft mid-palate with...

Tasting Notes: Big Red Liquors' first ever Rittenhouse Rye Bottle in Bond single barrel comes from warehouse MM, on the old Schenley campus outside of Bardstown, from floor 4. Barreled on April 25th, 2018, so 4.5 years old at bottling and of course 100 Proof. Rittenhouse, in its HH form, has always been a sturdy, no-nonsense rye, with a blend of spice and sweetness. This particular single barrel s...

Tasting Notes  Simply put, Monkey Shoulder is 3 superior single malts blended together at a lower price with no age statement. YOU know two of them well...Balvenie and Gelnfiddich. The third is Kininvie, a rare malt owned by William Grant as well. Malt sugar, citrus, and baking spice on the nose. The palate is well-rounded malt with just a touch of oak spice, caramel and cocoa as well. Don't want...

Tasting Notes: This four-year Colorado Bourbon is made with Colorado grain and bottled at 90 proof from a mash of 70% corn, 15% rye, and 15% malted barley and aged in #3 char barrels present lifted cinnamon roll on the nose, honey, and a distinct fresh berry medley note. On the palate, the 90 proofer is sweet and spicy. The malt really asserts itself, with an almost beer wash maltiness which I per...

Tasting notes: One of the more successful celebrity brand launches in the last several years, Conor McGregor's collaboration with Proximo, owners of Bushmills has helped bring a classic Irish whiskey into the mainstream. Traditional soft fruit aromas are paired with fragrant vanilla and touches of barrel spice. Soft honey and apple through the finish

Tasting Notes Perhaps the most famous "private label" ever created for a retailer. Made for the Mitchell family, basically a Dublin Liquor store, and now one of the most sought-after single pot still Irish whiskies in the world. A blend of pot still whiskey aged 7 to 10 years in new fill bourbon casks, refill casks, and sherry casks and bottled by Pernod Ricard and sold around the world in small a...

Tasting Notes When John Teeling converted an industrial alcohol plant in County Louth into what became "Cooley" distillery in the late 80s, the seeds were planted for the revival of Irish whiskey. Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell, and Connemara all sprung forth, as well as a slew of barrels for smaller brands to grow and experiment. Post-Beam Suntory acquiring Cooley and the brands, the second generation of...

Tasting Notes Single pot still Irish Whiskey, a style unique and legally bound to Ireland uses at least 30% unmalted barley in its grain bill and is typically triple distilled to achieve a uniquely pleasant grassiness combined with citrus. Add to that ageing in sherry casks and you get Redbreast 12, one of the most elegant and drinkable premium whiskies in the world. Spice, citrus, and fruit domin...

Tasting Notes To say that Jameson Irish Whiskey is a great blend, is a bit of an understatement. And although in recent years it has transcended the Irish whiskey category and simultaneously spurred billions of dollars in invest in the country and category itself, at the end of the day it's about THE WHISKEY. And guess what...it's fantastic. Portions of single pot still and sherry finishing meld s...

Tasting Notes: Top floor, highest proof Old Forester single barrel we've ever encountered. There's not a wiff of heat about this. PURE BOURBON CANDY...nose of liquid caramel and cinnamon, very finely tuned oak spice, with an almost cedar like quality. The palate just melts with rich caramel sauce, butterscotch, and a touch of cocoa. With so many "okay" barrels out there, to come across a juggernau...

Tasting Notes: Tequila Ocho is always vintage dated, harvested from ONE field with the year and elevation and location given on each bottle. Each vintage expresses a slightly different characteristic of place in and around Jalisco. They use slow roasting brick ovens along with a roller mill, wooden washbacks, and copper pot stills to leave as much FLAVOR of the earth in as possible. On the nose, f...