Glen Grant 10yr Old

This is a good entry to the world of single malts, while you’ll have to put up with a rougher mouth feel than you’d find in a blend of the same price, there is more interest on the palate and the finish.

Hazelnuts and stonefruit, with the creamy vanilla that comes from a rest in ex-Bourbon casks. This is a tasty standard for your shelf or drinking cabinet.

In perhaps the best piece of marketing outreach I’ve seen thus far, the box came with a note mentioning the distillery edition. A cask strength bottling available only to those willing to make the long trek up to Spey. A tantalising reward, worthy of such a long road, in the imagining at least.

The 16 yr old is worth tracking down, they’ve a bottle hiding behind the bar at the Baxter Inn here in Sydney.

A gateway whisky in price as well, five cents back from $40 here.

UPDATED: Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon

I received a very special little present yesterday. The newest in the line of small batch bourbon’s from Jim Beam. I am a big fan of Basil Hayden’s and this bottle at least matches that. It was even signed by the Fred Noe, 7th Generation distiller of these fine Kentucky bourbons.

This latest small batch has port added to the spirit. The small batch website hasn’t been updated to talk about this new release, so I’m not sure as to how much port has been added, but the spirit still carries 40% ABV so I’m guessing not much. If you’ve tried the port finished Glenmorangie, which is single malt finished in a port cask, the addition of liquid port is noticeable in the Jim Beam product, but it works very well.

I’ve just been contacted by the Jim Beam team here in Sydney. This little beauty has been developed out of this market, which is why it doesn’t make an appearance on the website. Hopefully that means that it will only be sold down here, adding to the modest haul of great products that are exclusive to, rather than excluded from, this market.

Anyone who has tried a Ruby Manhattan before will know that port deepens the cakey, sugary, fruity flavours in a good bourbon. This bottle from Jim Beam certainly delivers on that front with a complex, rich, almost Christmassy flavour to the spirit.

The bottle is the same as the one used for the Knob Creek, and the wax seal feels very plasticy. Unwrapping it uncovers what looks like a piece of duct tape and I ended up cutting of the bottom part of the wax, as it just seem to get in the way.

You’ll forget about all of that as soon as you smell the product though, so let’s not get too hung up on the little things.

It makes an excellent Old Fashioned with Peychaud’s bitters and a truly wonderful Manhattan with an amazing colour and one of the richest spicy finishes I’ve ever been lucky enough to experience. It’s very well distilled, and the port makes it incredibly smooth.

At $46.99, this is the bargain of the Small Batch range. You can pick it up online here as well. Shipping Australia wide. This would be the perfect little glass to be leaving out for Santa this Christmas Eve, just don’t be surprised if the bottle is gone by morning.