Martin, a good friend of mine, recently asked me to help him set up a blog about whisky, his long-time passion. The result is available at WhiskyCritic.com (check it out!) and Martin will be writing monthly whisky reviews for CigarInspector.com. Enjoy!

An Cnoc (which was known as Knockdhu until 1994) has a history which I think summarises the Scottish way of thinking beautifully. John Morrison, who founded the distillery, discovered several springs at the bottom of Knock Hill. What was the first thing that came to mind upon discovering freshwater springs? Why, whisky, of course! And so he bought the land and opened a distillery, heartwarming stuff (poor pun very much intended, I’m almost ashamed to say). Like Aberlour, and many other distilleries, Knockdhu were forced to put production on hold during WW2 due to restrictions on barley supplies.

An Cnoc have decided to approach the market with a focus on being modern, almost a bit Americanised if you will, which sets them apart from most other Scottish distilleries who put heavy focus on tradition. While their whisky is indeed traditionally distilled, their website contains something as controversial as cocktail recipes – you wouldn’t find that on Laphroaig’s website. Now, me being a traditionalist myself, I’m not generally one to mix my whiskey with anything but ice or water – I leave that to the kids. That said, I did try the ‘Apple Mac’ (50ml An Cnoc, 30ml Ginger wine, topped with pressed apple) and I have to admit it was quite nice.

Inspired by the Apple Mac cocktail, I decided to make some homemade apple & whisky sauce – bloomin’ gorgeous! If you want to try it for yourself, I used a basic apple sauce recipe from James Martin which I found on the BBC website and added 50ml An Cnoc during step 1 in the recipe. Try it in a roast pork sandwich, it’s to die for.

I have, of course, tried it neat as well. The nose is elegant with a peachy, heathery sweetness and hints of citrus/orange and herbs. On the palate there are hints of chewy toffee, vanilla and haulm – as well as what you would expect from the nose. A decent whisky by all means, but nothing spectacular.

Summary

Eye: Medium golden.

Nose: Elegant, peach, heather, citrus and herbs.

Palate: Same as nose with added hints of vanilla, toffee and haulm.

I was recently approached by Gabby Shayne from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America. Every year, they organize what they call "Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza", an event during which one can taste over 100 different whiskies (sounds crazy, right?) and enjoy a cigar afterwards. This spring, the events will be held in major US cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Denver and New York. Tickets cost $135 and the price is reduced to $120 if you use code "CI2010" when placing the order (here is the form). The best part is that we've got 2 tickets to one of the Spring 2010 events, ready to be given away to one lucky reader. Check out the schedule and if it sounds like something you're interested in and you can make it, just leave a comment below to be entered in the draw. The winner will be announced in one week.

Ladies and Gentlemen are cordially invited to enjoy a connoisseur's evening featuring over 100 rare & exceptional single malt and Scotch whiskies. The evening includes a delicious dinner buffet as well as a selection of premium imported cigars for our guests' later enjoyment. The Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza brings the discerning enthusiast the opportunity to sample the participating whiskies in a sophisticated and elegant environment with genuine camaraderie and knowledgeable representatives from each participating distillery.

All my family and friends know that I enjoy rare and exotic alcoholic drinks. The direct consequence of this is that I often receive some bottles from different countries as they remember about me when they travel and bring me the drinks as a gift. Whereas some of the beverages do not deserve a blog post (I still can't finish a bottle of rakia that was given to me a couple of years ago), sometimes the stuff is simply amazing.

This little series of 2 blog posts will concern brandy (locally called cognac although cognac, as its name suggests, can only be produced in the Cognac area in France) produced in the ex-U.S.S.R. regions, such as Armenia (now a separate country) and Dagestan (a republic of the Russian Federation).

According to a biblical legend, Noah's Ark moored to the Ararat mountain (now located in Turkey). When the water rushed back, he walked down and started growing grapes (besides other things). He would be the first person to have tasted wine...

Armenia has been known as a grape-growing country for over 3500 years. Production of brandy started in 1887, using recipes and technology similar to the French ones (the French began distilling cognac in the 17th century). The volumes grew and more and more factories were opened. After the revolution, the industry was nationalized and was named "Ararat wine and cognac trust". At that time, the Armenian cognac was already very popular and in high demand both in the USSR and abroad. It is known, for example, that Winston Churchill was fond of this drink (everytime I write an article about alcohol, his name comes up) and Stalin was personally supervising the shipments to the Prime Minister.

In 1998, the Yerevan cognac plant (the biggest and by far the most famous one) was bought by Pernod Ricard (second largest world alcohol distributor, group behind Chival Regal, Mumm, Malibu...) for $30 million. One year later, a chart was put in place strictly regulating the production.

The bottle that I received was a ApApAт (ararat) 5 stars (which means that this is a 5 years old brandy). It was a simple, very pleasant drink that, as other cognacs, is a good fit for a full-bodied cigar. It is definitely on par with a good French VSOP. I recommend you to try it out, especially considering the fact that the price is not very high. A bottle will cost you $20-$35 depending on the store. You can compare prices by clicking here.

Enjoy and let me know what you think! If you have already tried Armenian brandy, feel free to share your experience.

The summer considerably changed my drinking habits. Both of my pairing favorites, red wine and single malt have become less pleasant in this 30°+ C weather. This is why I've been enjoying a lot of witbier lately and thought I should share the info with you.

Witbier or bière blanche ("white beer") in French is a very pale, cloudy ale. With a high level or wheat, it is usually spiced, either with coriander, spices, herbs or orange peel. With the alcohol by volume at about 5%, this is a very refreshing drink, perfect for the summer.

From my experience, it doesn't alternate a cigar's flavor much, so I can recommend pairing white beer with all kinds of cigars, from mild to full-bodied. A slice of lemon will make the beer even better. My favorite one is from Belgium (Hoegaarden), but I also appreciate the Edelweiss from Heineken. In the United States, from what I've found online, the most popular are Allagash White and Blue Moon Belgian White. Enjoy your summer as much as I do!

Do you like witbier? What are your favorite brands?

As I had a few free hours during my trip to Strasbourg, I was looking for an interesting winery to visit. By the way, the Route des Vins in Alsace is definitely one of the nicest in the world; if you have a few days, take this chance to discover the region where you can found top quality white wines.

Click here to read the full article...

Even though it has almost nothing to do with cigars, I decided to post here the results of our little study. In fact, I managed to get one of the best Russian vodkas (Beluga) and I thought it would be interesting to compare it with Grey Goose, which is quite often referred to as the very best vodka in the world (this is probably also due to their skillful PR campaign as underlined by @highwaystar).

Beluga is produced from Siberian artesian water and malt next to Novosibirsk. A 0.7L bottle costs a little under $30. Grey Goose is distilled in Cognac, France, from French wheat. The bottle cost me around $50.

To compare the two, I asked my friends for help and since they all share my passion for quality drinks it was with pleasure that they accepted to assist me. It was not a blind tasting, I just asked everyone to say a few words about the drinks and choose between them.
Oddly, I only managed to find 8 tasting sheets (we were 10). Probably because we had a lot of things to taste that night...

Result

Beluga scored 5 points, finishing ahead of Grey Goose with 3 points. According to reviewers, Beluga turned out to be more subtle and elegant, whereas its French opponent appeared too powerful for our palates (on the other hand, I can't say that it lacks freshness - it's as fresh as it can get!).
I should also mention the fact that none of us are professional vodka reviewers - these are purely our subjective opinions. Overall, it was very fun and definitely not the last time.

Where to get?

Please click on the corresponding link to be taken to a price comparison site:

• Beluga
• Grey Goose

Question to readers: what is your favorite vodka?

Being in Bordeaux, I simply had to visit Cognac as well, since it is one of the drinks that match up really well with a good cigar. Instead of dealing with the most famous houses such as Hennessy or Martel, we decided to have a look at smaller yet very good producers - Hine and Braastad Cognac.

Click here to read the full article...

Our first target was the Margaux region, which is located in the Medoc area (click here for a map). The soil contains a large amount of gravel which helps to keep the heat - this is needed to successfully grow the Cabernet-Sauvignon grape variety. The wines are considered the most elegant in Bordeaux and this is really one of my favorite appellations.

Click here to read the full article...