Isle of Jura distillery, resurrected from the stones of a decrepit 19th century distillery in the 1960s, now produces a range of whisky from the lightly peated Superstition to the heavily peated Prophecy.  Called “Diurach’s Own 16,” Jura’s 16 year old offering is not peated like its siblings, and is usually considered a lightweight offerings from Jura, who describe it as follows:
Nurtured for sixteen long years, this is the whisky of choice for the people of Jura. It’s a subtle malt – unassuming, understated yet intriguing. Qualities often attributed to the Diurachs …

I’ve written plenty on CAO already (namely, the Brazilia Gol and the OSA Sol).  They’re well known for their bold flavors, top notch construction, and unique packaging.  The LX2 series is no different, sporting all of those traits and then some.  The LX2 (ligero-times-two) moniker is given after its extensive use of ligero leaves in the construction of the cigar.  The wrapper is a sun-grown Nicaraguan leaf, binder Honduran, and fillers two different ligero tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  Despite the heavy use of ligero leaves, the cigar is …

We all have our daily internet tours, maybe weekly, where we catch up on what’s going on out there in the ever changing world. There are all the favourite sites on wine, spirits, cigars, or whatever.  The casual browser will quickly become overwhelmed by useless information overload, or in many cases a complete lack of information. You could conceivably google a wine from a restaurant list and it wouldn’t even come up. It happens to me often. Perhaps because of the sheer volume of information, or because of variations in shipping …

Glen Garioch distillery, sitting on the eastern end of the Scottish Highlands, is in isolation from other distilleries.  About 20 miles south-east of the Glen Dronach distillery, Glen Garioch sits in one of the finest barely-producing regions in the world.  Currently in the Morrison Bowmore portfolio (and hence under the Suntory umbrella), Glen Garioch has had a storied history starting over 200 years ago, including several years with no production in the late 1960′s due to water shortages, and a transition from lightly-peated to non-peated whisky in the late 1990′s.  With …

La Gloria Cubana isn’t too new to the cigar market, but it’s one of the newer Cuban-doubled brands to gain recognition.  The (Dominican) company started with Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Cuban Senator and tobacco grower.  He fled Cuba in 1959 and began making cigars in Little Havana in Miami, FL.  Years later his son, Ernesto Jr., would blend Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos together and create a combination that would really take off.  Since then La Gloria Cubana has gained a reputation for rich bold flavors that have impressed many.

The Artesanos Retro Especial …

It’s not often new distilleries are built, particularly Canadian distilleries making single malt whisky. Shelter Point Distillery is one such place; Mike Nicholson, who has seen time at Lagavulin, Royal Lochnager, Blair Athol, Glenkinchie and Caol Ila, is the master distiller.  While currently meeting high demand with a rye brought in from an Albertan distillery, the ultimate goal of Shelter Point is to have single malt bottlings at 5, 10 and 12 years.
For serious connoisseurs, you now have the opportunity to put your name on 200 litres of future Shelter Point …