The Macallan and Highland Park, but also the well-known blends The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark, in which much of The Glenrothes’ production ultimately ends up. Fortunately Glenrothes has moved more and more in recent years towards single malt bottlings, and today we are tasting the 1995 vintage.
One way in which Glenrothes distinguishes itself from other Speyside brands is by bottling its whiskies in vintages rather than using age statements. Hence in your local whisky shop you might find The Glenrothes 1998, 1988, 1994, etc. as well as the vatted malt …
If there is one wine out there which harkens to an earlier age, a wine truly steeped in tradition, it would have to be the classic wine style of Rioja. One taste of these wines will delight your taste buds in a way that could only be described as timeless; the alluring silkiness, the mysterious spice, the desire for one more sip. While the wines that belong to this old school are definitely receiving lots of new attention as wine drinkers turn away from the overblown styles prevalent not only …
Here on the Aspiring Gentleman, we’ve written about growing your own tobacco in the past, and on our twitter feed have pointed to various tobacco-growing resources over the years. However, it is not often that a book comes out dedicated to the craft of growing tobacco, so it is with great excitement that we recently received our copy of “How To Grown Your Own Tobacco: From Seed To Smoke” by Ray French.
This book, coming in at around 150 pages, including images and diagrams, is short in size but large in …
Transitioning from college life, where “hanging art” meant tacking movie posters to your dorm room’s walls, to adulthood, where decorating with class requires careful thought and planning, is a difficult one. Given infinite resources, the easiest path to entering the art world is to purvey your local art gallery, spending some time learning what you like, and purchasing some pieces to adorn your walls. However, for those just transitioning out of college or bachelorhood, replacing that Baywatch poster with a several thousand dollar piece of art is a serious step. …
From all of us at The Aspiring Gentleman, we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We’ll be taking the next week off to spend quality time with our families, and we hope you’ll be able to do the same. Make sure to open a nice bottle or clip a treasure from the depths of your humidor, take the time to grow closer to friends and family, and don’t forget to give some of your time and resources to those less fortunate.
Until 2012, sláinte!
As much as we love to label Fruit Cake as the red-headed stepchild of Christmas, when it’s done right it can harken us back to an era of simpler holiday traditions, when spices themselves were a luxury. It is a dessert that reminds us more of shared family times than of overbearing gluttony. Despite being a dessert, it is in truth a simple peasant food that is far from luxury and decadence. Obviously there is plenty of bad fruit cake out there. But in some way shape or form it …
On a visit to Havana last spring, I noticed that the cigar culture, environment, and production techniques were subtly different than I had seen portrayed in films and documentaries. I was delighted, therefore, to learn of a new documentary focused on Cuban cigars released just last week. Created by American wine and cigar critic James Suckling and filmmaker James Orr, the video shows footage of factories in Havana and around Cuba, and explores not only the production but also the lifestyle surrounding cigars on the island of Cuba. Check out a …
