Laphroaig Càirdeas Port Wood is an Impressive and Limited Single Malt

Laphroaig is one if the most recognizable names in Scotch. Not only that, they bring to mind something even more specific, Peaty Scotch. They are best known for Single Malt’s that feature a trademark smoke and peat in their flavor profiles. Quite recently they have launched a brand new expression: Laphroaig Càirdeas 2013. The name comes from the traditional Gaelic meaning for friendship. The Laphroaig Càirdeas Port Wood Edition was finished in port barrels to add even more complexity. It is available nationwide but in limited quantities. Càirdeas Port Wood has a suggested retail price of $75.00. This Scotch has a gorgeous Rosé tinted hue that just shimmers beautifully when you pour it. The nose is impressively expressive with hints of dark chocolate, fruit and just a gentle wisp of green herb. Taking the first sip it’s impossible not to be immediately knocked by the depth and complexity of the palate. A cornucopia of light and dark flavors simply envelop your senses and get your brain working on figuring out all the different pleasing characteristics it’s enjoying. Bits of brown sugar emerge on the finish and provide a nice sweetness along with loads of spices that bring fruitcake to mind. These lead into a hint of char, dark chocolate and pepper spice. The length here is tremendous with all the elements reverberating persistently for a long and impressive amount of time.

There are more and more expressions of Scotch available to us every day. As such this is a great and prosperous time to be a Scotch drinker. Part of what keeps things really interesting are rare and limited releases such as The Laphroaig Càirdeas Port Wood edition. It’s not going to be on shelves forever, so grab a bottle if you’re lucky enough to find one.

The Ultimate Summer Wine: Petite Sirah Roundup

Summer is here and grilling season is in full swing. Whether you’re pulling burgers, ribs, chicken, or portabellas off of your grill, you’ll need a wine that will pair well with all of those things. Petite sirah, generally one of darkest, inkiest, and most intense wines out there, is too often relegated to winter and paired with stews and pot roasts. Don’t get me wrong — it works fabulously with those dishes, but it works equally well, if not better, with grilled or smoked foods.  Over the last several weeks I tasted through 77 current examples of petite sirah of all shapes, sizes and styles. The 36 below are the examples I heartily recommend, including a couple of older wines I tasted. One of the things I love about petite sirah is the quality you can get for such a reasonable price relative to many other more well-known grapes. It’s a particularly good value if you like aging wine. Not every example will age well of course, some are built for youthful drinking, but many are and they’re often bargains. I sampled two examples from the 2004 vintage. Both from long-term petite producers whose current releases I also recommend. Head over to The Daily Meal to read the rest.

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Impresses

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Highland Scotch, SRP $150. Glenfarclas has been owned by a single family since 1865. This Speyside distillery is in fact one of a small handful in Scotland that remains family owned and run. They’re a fairly small company with just more than 30 people employed in their entire operation. Several of these employees have been with them for more than 25 years. They run a 24 hour operation which among other things manages 52,000 casks at varying states of maturity; these are all moved by hand. I recently tasted the Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Highland Scotch. Head over to The Daily Meal to read the rest.

Basil Hayden’s: An Easily Adaptable Bourbon

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I tend to lump my Bourbons into two distinct categories: those I like to drink neat or on the rocks, and those I use in cocktails. Often the ones at the lower end of the price spectrum aren’t as palatable neat, whereas I’m often loathe to mix higher-end bourbons with anything. So when I sat down to taste Basil Hayden’s, I tried it both ways and really wondered where I’d land with it.

The recipe used to distill Basil Hayden’s dates back more than 200 years. It’s made from both rye and corn to create a Bourbon with a wider flavor profile, and to this day they still use... Read the rest over at The Daily Meal

Chile’s Concha y Toro Makes Food & Budget-Friendly Wines

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Concha y Toro is the largest winery in Chile. The depth and variety of their portfolio spans many styles, price-points, and varietals. They employ several winemakers; each focuses on a different tier of wines. I recently had lunch with Marcelo Papa at Haven’t Kitchen. He’s the Concha y Toro winemaker responsible, among others, for the Marqués de Casa Concha line. These offerings are single vineyard, site-specific wines. Over lunch we tasted a number of the selections in this range, each paired with a food that showcased a different global influence. The goal was to highlight the ability of their wines to pair with cuisine of various styles from all over the world. If wine pairing is performance, this was a tour de force showing. The foods prepared by Concha y Toro executive chef Ruth Van Waerebeek worked fabulously with Marcelo’s wines. Prior to sitting down to lunch we tasted a few newly launched wines outside the Marques line. Here are the six wines from this afternoon that really struck a chord with me. Read the rest over at The Daily Meal

Ironstone Vineyards - A Wine for Every Taste Bud

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The Kautz family has been farming grapes in California for more than 65 years. With more than 5,000 acres under vine, they’re one of the largest growers in the state. In addition to selling fruit, for more than 25 of those years they have also been making their own wine. Ironstone Vineyards is located in the Sierra Foothills. They farm their property sustainably as shepherds of the land they inhabit. Their portfolio features a wide range of wines, many available nationally, as well as a few limited releases found in their tasting room. Here’s a look at four of my favorites among their current offerings.

Ironstone Vineyards 2012 Ironstone Reserve Chardonnay – The fruit for this wine came from Sierra Foothills vineyards that have been in the family for four generations. This offering is 100 percent Chardonnay. The fruit was hand-selected and gently pressed. Barrel aging occurred entirely in French oak; bottle aging followed prior to release. About 1,000 cases of this wine were produced, and it has a suggested retail price of  of $19.99. Bright apple, white fig and gentle crème brulee aromas are all part of the nose of this Chardonnay. The palate is studded with Asian pear and... read the rest over at Bullz-eye.com