While perusing my local liquor store over Labor Day weekend, I found something I simply couldn't resist. Art of the Spirits is a small distillery out of Colorado Springs with a few interesting selling points. Most obviously, the artwork - each bottle has a label based on an oil painting by Danial James or David Uhl, two Colorado artists made famous by their work for Harley Davidson motorcycles. I'm a big believer that a handcrafted whiskey is a work of art in its own right so I love the pairing here. Less obvious is that this distiller has specifically targeted the barrel pick market. Each of the five whiskies shown here is a cask strength single barrel selected by Goody Goody. The three Bonnie-and-Clyde themed "Final Run" bottles are actually the same spirit, just finished in different ways to bring out different flavors, whereas we also have as "Easy Elegance" and "The Originals" are a bit different. All five bottles were in the $80-$100 range each at my store.

I will put my individual reviews below, but overall I am impressed by Art of the Spirits. This is a very competitive price point, and none of these are likely to become an everyday favorite. Keeping in mind that these are cask strength limited editions I always felt like I was getting my money's worth though. Which is best? That's hard to say. "The Originals" was my least favorite and the one of the five I wouldn't recommend. The flavor profile was certainly unique but not something that really clicked with me. I can also say that I preferred the Ruby Port "Final Run" over the "Tawny Port" as those are similar enough that a head-to-head comparison feels fair. Between the Ruby, the Madiera, and they surprisingly complex Rye "Easy Elegance" I find it impossible to crown a victor however. All three are excellent and which I prefer depends entirely on my mood at the moment.

Distiller: Laphroaig

Product: Cairdeas

Bottle: 2023 - White Port and Madeira

Category: Islay

Aged: Three quarters finished in second fillMadeira, one quarter finished in first fill white port

Nose: Green apples and peach cobbler over the distinctive Laphroaig peat smoke

Body: Harsh peat smoke is quickly tempered with candied oranges, honey, vanilla, and buttery dinner rolls.

Finish: Miles of lingering campfire smoke with a bit of salted caramel underneath.

Activation: Helps to marry the sweet fruits with the oily iodine peat, creating a single coherent flavor where once there were distinct layers. Recommended.

Notes: Laphroaig Cairdeas is one of the longest running special editions in the industry, although apparently this is the very first offering by new master distiller Barry MacAffer. Certainly more distinctive than last year's unimaginative “Warehouse 1” release, this bottle grows on you with time. It doesn’t break much new ground - aging harsh peats in wine casks is a time honored tradition by this point - but it is remarkably well balanced, with none of the chemical or medicinal harshness that you might expect. Things might be looking up at Laphroaig.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/467414

Distillery: Compass Box

Product Line: -

Product: Canvas

Aged: Vino naranja and American oak

Category: Blended

Nose: Delicate custards and marmalade. A citrus of bitter sort, with under-ripe figs.

Body: Rich honey over apricots and oranges. A light, English muffin sort of biscuit. As it goes on, a rich dark chocolate encroaches.

Finish: A bold, malty surprise. Loses nearly all the delicate fruit notes in favor of wheats and grains and fresh baked bread.

Activation: Really opens up some of the rich juicy fruits. Oranges, grapes, pears. Recommended.

Notes: I've always been fond of Compass Box, but they went through a phase for a while where seemingly every new limited release was (over) aged in a sherry cask. I'm glad to announce that Canvas breaks this pattern- in fact, there’s no sherry here at all! Just some Spanish orange wine, a beverage I didn’t even know existed until I picked up this bottle. It’s sweet and rich and creamy and endlessly drinkable, without that bitter or medicinal quality that can frequently come through with sherried casks. After such a fruit forward body, the malted finish is a welcome surprise as well. One of the best blended malts I’ve had in a while, though it is on the pricier side at ~$135.

Distillery: Compass Box

Product Line: -

Product: Canvas

Aged: Vino naranja and American oak

Category: Blended

Nose: Delicate custards and marmalade. A citrus of bitter sort, with under-ripe figs.

Body: Rich honey over apricots and oranges. A light, English muffin sort of biscuit. As it goes on, a rich dark chocolate encroaches.

Finish: A bold, malty surprise. Loses nearly all the delicate fruit notes in favor of wheats and grains and fresh baked bread.

Activation: Really opens up some of the rich juicy fruits. Oranges, grapes, pears. Recommended.

Notes: I've always been fond of Compass Box, but they went through a phase for a while where seemingly every new limited release was (over) aged in a sherry cask. I'm glad to announce that Canvas breaks this pattern- in fact, there’s no sherry here at all! Just some Spanish orange wine, a beverage I didn’t even know existed until I picked up this bottle. It’s sweet and rich and creamy and endlessly drinkable, without that bitter or medicinal quality that can frequently come through with sherried casks. After such a fruit forward body, the malted finish is a welcome surprise as well. One of the best blended malts I’ve had in a while, though it is on the pricier side at ~$135.

Any hikers, climbers, or wanderers here? Where's the most exotic place you've had a glass of whiskey?

Reviews, recommendations, tasting notes, gift ideas and more. Pour a dram and have a civil conversation.

https://lemmy.world/c/whiskey !whiskey@lemmy.world

Distiller: Bear Face

Product: Elementally Aged

Bottle: Triple Oak

Category: Canadian

Aged: 7 years in ex-bourbon American oak barrels, then finished in French oak red wine casks and air-dried virgin Hungarian oak.

Nose: Thick with caramel, butterscotch, and call me crazy but is that maple syrup?

Body: Buttery creme brulee with candied walnuts and pecans. Traces of campfire smoke and rum-like molasses.

Finish: Faint pine nuts and a mild biscuit.

Activation: Unnecessary.

Notes: For a long time I’ve considered the cheap Canadian whisky market to be good for fighting off the bitterly cold north winds and not a whole lot more. Couple that with a scammy sounding “Elementally Aged!” proclamation and suffice it to say that my expectations weren’t high for Bear Face Triple Oak. But let me immediately say this is a damn good whisky. It’s rich, full bodied, and complex. Seven years is a fair amount of time, and their silly name just means that it has been living in a metal shipping container in Canada and therefore exposed to extreme temperature swings, which serve to speed up the aging process. Factor in the low price and this is a fantastic hidden gem.