Bruichladdich: The Octomore Eleven

September 28, 2020October 1, 2020 The Scotch NoobFeatured Articles1 Comment 675 views

The Octomore 11 Insider’s Guide: A whisky enthusiast’s companion for exploring the depths of Bruichladdich Distillery’s 11th series of Octomore. For 30 days, a group of 11 whisky aficionados spent time with the team at Bruichladdich to experience a deep dive into the history, processes, complexities and evolutions of the world’s most peated whisky. This one-of-a-kind collaboration reflects the union between the passionate team behind Octomore and the 11 enthusiasts who were given the opportunity to appreciate it first-hand. What unfolded was this compendium, crafted for your enjoyment, to accompany and complement your experience with this remarkable spirit.

Anchoring

August 10, 2020August 10, 2020 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles2 Comments 1816 views

Today I bring you a public service announcement about your brain. … Anchoring is a cognitive bias that causes our brains to “depend too heavily on an initial piece of information offered (considered to be the ‘anchor’) to make subsequent judgments during decision making. In practical terms, this means if I tell you that the brand-new GlenBracken 15 is an excellent whisky and easily worth $80 a bottle, and assuming that you already have some positive perception of my ability to discern value in whisky, then those two pieces of information are the anchors that your brain uses to form a mental model…

Now is the Special Occasion

April 20, 2020April 18, 2020 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles3 Comments 1585 views

If you’re anything like me, you find a certain level of satisfaction from stocking up. You have 3 extra bottles of your favorite vermouth for that imaginary dinner party where just everyone wants a third Manhattan. You have that esoteric bottle of peated Swiss single malt for that “someday” when you need to impress a malt-savvy visitor. You have sixteen hundred or so bottles of weird mixers that you’ve used for exactly one oddball cocktail. …

Cocktails: Part One. The Noob’s Top 10 Cocktails

January 11, 2016January 12, 2016 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles / Whiskey10117 Comments 18107 views

Here are the drinks that I consider to be my favorites after a few months of experimentation and rediscovery. Of course, many are whisky-centric, but not all. Also, my cocktail philosophy.

Father’s Day Whisky Gift Guide

May 25, 2015June 10, 2019 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles2 Comments 6908 views

Giving your Dad whisky for father’s day is a time-honored tradition. Getting him to share it with you is even more time-honored! Unless you already know what he likes (in which case, why are you reading this?), you have to determine what kind of drinker he is, and what is likely to be appreciated.

The Whisky Gift Guide

December 10, 2012June 10, 2019 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles10 Comments 11550 views

Around this time of year I get a lot of emails from people asking for gift suggestions. So, I’ve worked up a handy little chart for anyone who wants to gift something “slightly better” than last year’s gift.

Book Review: The World Atlas of Whisky by Dave Broom

December 3, 2012March 26, 2015 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles11 Comments 13906 views

…that makes it my “desert island” whisky book, and the one I would recommend anchor any whisky lover’s library. If Dave Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky were a dram, I would definitely award it with a “Must Have” rating.

How to Store Whisky

April 16, 2012November 11, 2015 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles181 Comments 93132 views

There comes a point in every whisky lover’s journey when he or she surveys the box/cabinet/shelf/underwear drawer in which his or her whisky collection is stored and wonders how long all those open bottles are going to keep. Here are some tips to keep your whisky tasty, and know when its time has come.

Picking Your First Single-Malt Scotch

February 23, 2012March 26, 2015 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles / Whiskey101109 Comments 64051 views

Before you can taste it, though, you’ve got to know how to pick a whisky to try! This post will focus on single-malt scotch, which I think is the best possible place to get your bearings in the wider world of whisky.

Whisky Prices Trend Upwards

February 20, 2012December 21, 2015 The Scotch NoobArticles / Featured Articles25 Comments 18282 views

Right now, like it or not, we are experiencing a boom. Distilleries are opening or ramping up production, prices are ratcheting higher, and limited-edition bottles are making headlines with record prices at auction. Many distilleries are riding the boom by releasing special bottlings and limited-editions at inflated prices because they know there’s consumer demand for them. So what’s to be done?