The Wine & Whisky Thread

[struth]

nice t-shirt, mate.... Looks kinda khaki. Was your frock in the wash?

marco.

yup in my sands... Rather nice drop of rye

[guy]

Lidl bargain alert!

Just got in having finally drained an old oil tank in my garden and thought that I deserved a beer.

St Austel "proper job" £1.49 a bottle:

pale golden IPA - at first glance I thought it looked a bit like a lager, perhaps more golden.
Very light malt/creamy scent with a touch of citrus.
It doesn't look very fizzy/carbonated but when it gets in the mouth a very fine expansion of bubbles, lovely mousse.
Taste, surprising - light malt/toffee, nettles/grass? some citrus but not over the top grapefruit like some.

Must be careful with this - 5.5% and doesn't feel like it, I could end up drinking it like a session beer and fall over when I go to pour myself my fifth or sixth bottle.

[Marco]

yup in my sands... Rather nice drop of rye

Looks good. Quite sherry-like in appearance, or is that a misleading image, due to the camera?

Marco.

[Marco]

Lidl bargain alert!

Just got in having finally drained an old oil tank in my garden and thought that I deserved a beer.

St Austel "proper job" £1.49 a bottle:

pale golden IPA - at first glance I thought it looked a bit like a lager, perhaps more golden.
Very light malt/creamy scent with a touch of citrus.
It doesn't look very fizzy/carbonated but when it gets in the mouth a very fine expansion of bubbles, lovely mousse.
Taste, surprising - light malt/toffee, nettles/grass? some citrus but not over the top grapefruit like some.

Must be careful with this - 5.5% and doesn't feel like it, I could end up drinking it like a session beer and fall over when I go to pour myself my fifth or sixth bottle.

Noted! Sounds good. Did you find the Loch Lomond stuff?

Marco.

[struth]

Looks good. Quite sherry-like in appearance, or is that a misleading image, due to the camera?

Marco.

its a fair representation i think. good colour, but 6 years for a american rye is quite long

[guy]

Noted! Sounds good. Did you find the Loch Lomond stuff?

Marco.

Unfortunately not - see post 2698.

Bit disappointed about that, but very pleased with the "proper job" - will need to find an excuse to go back for more.

[goraman]

My understanding for Rye is the first 6 weeks of barrel aging is the spirit taking on the sugars and tannins of the chard wood and the next 4 years of the aging proses is those same sugars and tannins being broken down.
The latter part just can't be rushed and very little occurs after 6 years so for Rye 6 years is a good time to bottle it. Some even argue there is a point that Rye breaks down so much you start to loose some of the flavor.
Grant, may be able to touch more on this,I am sure he knows more about whiskey than the well known ascot waring reviewer. Sorry, but if you are waring an ascot in the 21st century you probably ware long over coats at kids play grounds in the summer too.

[Roy S]

More Irish tonight (think I preferred the Bushmills).

[struth]

My understanding for Rye is the first 6 weeks of barrel aging is the spirit taking on the sugars and tannins of the chard wood and the next 4 years of the aging proses is those same sugars and tannins being broken down.
The latter part just can't be rushed and very little occurs after 6 years so for Rye 6 years is a good time to bottle it. Some even argue there is a point that Rye breaks down so much you start to loose some of the flavor.
Grant, may be able to touch more on this,I am sure he knows more about whiskey than the well known ascot waring reviewer. Sorry, but if you are waring an ascot in the 21st century you probably ware long over coats at kids play grounds in the summer too.

Rye is same as bourbon regs in many ways. It you want to call it straight rye it has to be aged min 2 years. Under 4 it has to have an age statement.
Traditionally rye had 100% rye content and was called the Monongahela style. Most rye now don't go that far but mid West rye like templeton use the 95% rye, 5 % barley mash Bill which is made in Indiana by mgp. It is the same base stuff that many other brands use. In fact templeton got done for label irregularities a few years ago. They are distilling their own now but it won't be sold til 2022.
Templeton was said to be Al Capone's fav and they try to achieve the same taste by adding a flavour addition.
Redemption is the same distill base. The use of new char oak, like bourbon and level of char impacts on the flavour and colour. So if there is no age statement on rye it's over 4.

Forgot re your point on tannins. Yes tannins come from the oak and give both, an astringincy and colour, a bit like it does in tea.
Tanin helps get rid of sulphur present in the mashbill and lingins in the oak, and produce those lively vanillas etc.
That's about all I know

[struth]

More Irish tonight (think I preferred the Bushmills).

Ah tullamore. It was a recent new distillery built by William Grants of Scotch whisky fame.
Think it is only 6 years old. Not tried it tbh Roy. I will likely not either going with your recommendation that Bushmills is better.