If you are looking to explore sherry-finished scotch whisky, and you have done some research looking for value, typicite, and renown, you will very likely end up at a cashier with a bottle of Glenfarclas 15 in your hands. This bottle is a darling of beverage critics, most likely due to its purity of expression and complexity. This is a dram for cold winter nights next to the fire. It features, deep dark colour and texture from the sherry wood finish. This dram is also remembered by many for the …

The Dalmore is not shy about Sherry, and we have waxed poetic on these pages about the pure orange citrus notes of Dalmore 12 and the savoury decadence of Dalmore Mackenzie. Bottled at 43%, and with a suggested retail of $150, the relatively new bottling of Dalmore 18 slots in nicely among the other offerings in their range. Which is to say, it feels like a product created from a desire to fill out slots in the range and not borne of a desire to exhibit a unique expression of …

I often feel a little cowardly when browsing the scotch section at the local liquor store, and quickly shuffle past the Islay section. Everything about whisky from Islay can seem daunting. The billows of smoke, the oil slick iodine, the gold plated price tags. Getting into Islay feels like getting into an exclusive club, where there is a splash of hazing prior to full membership. One Islay which delivers the full peated experience, but at a slightly gentler flavour and price point is Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask. Battled at 96 proof …

It was a time when all the men wore suits, and you got stared at if you didn’t have a cigar in your mouth and a drink in your hand. There was but one rule in Las Vegas in the 1960’s, and that was to smoke and drink with reckless abandon while you spent your money.
Listening to Count Basie Live at the Sands, a rather obscure treasure of a CD, one is immediately carried away and transported to that seemingly swankier era.
This release is from the time when Count Basie …

From this Sunday’s Vancouver Province:
Scotch whisky was on the rocks.
It was seen as an old man’s drink, a last liquid refuge for unhip ancients slurring Johnny Mercer tunes in stubble and dressing gowns.
That was several years back. Today, Scotch’s image is cool and its sales are hot. Reports say the chunks of the global population that can afford it are falling over themselves to order double neats, Rusty Nails, Rob Roys and Blood and Sands.

Although the Aspiring Gentleman fully endorses Scotch Whisky as the drink pairing of choice with any of your favourite cigars, the realities of workplace, dinner table, time of day and other factors may warrant another beverage option. I’ve presented here what I consider to be the best pairings, but please let us know what your ideal pairings are.