18th taster from the advent calendar. For me, Chivas is something you drink at weddings because there is only that and Johnny Walker Red. This isn’t much different. Yes, it is smooth, as expected from a blended scotch, and it has some sweetness and smokiness, but not much it terms of warmth. Not something I’d buy.
I didn’t particularly enjoyed this beer, and it gave me a runny nose. That’s all I’m gonna say about it. Wish I went with classic La Chouffe instead today.
17th bottle from the Advent Calendar. I thought that I tried another Balvenie already, and I was right. It was the Balvenie 12 Year Old Double Cask. This one is what I’d call “supermarket grade whiskey”. It’s rather smooth for a Scotch, with plenty of sweetness and some warmth. A decent whiskey for sure. But for 63GBP, there are much better options, in my opinion.
16th bottle from the Advent Calendar.
I love Sherry Casks. But at first I was warry of this one, because the smell was very sharp and alcoholic, despite just 45%. Must admit though, the taste is very sweet, and it makes your head light as if it was all 60%. For 45GBP, it’s a no-brainer, and probably one of the best whiskeys from the calendar yet.
I love Imperial Stouts. So naturally, when I was in Trader Joe’s in the US and saw an the Dragon’s Milk Imperial Stout, I decided to try it out. Of course, because it’s the US, they were only sold in packs of 4.
Was it worth shipping it across half the world? Absolutely. I know there’s a misconception that Americans don’t understanding anything about food, but that’s all it is, a misconception. It’s everything you expect from Imperial Stout and more. Glad that I still have 3 more bottles left, should keep me until the end of the year, I hope. And if you’d thought that 11% is their limit: they’re also producing a 18% one.
15th taster from the Advent Calendar. All I can say, it’s a whiskey. It’s not particularly good or bad, in my opinion, maybe has a bit longer aftertaste and warmth than most, but nothing that would amaze me.
Decided to use my visit to the US to purchase Misono UX10 knife, that isn’t sold in the UK. For those that don’t know, this knife is heavily promoted by America’s Test Kitchen:
What’s interesting about this knife is that although it’s made in Japan, the steel is from Sweden. Also, it has an asymetrical edge: 12 degrees on one side, 20 degrees on the other. Most European kitchen knives are 20 degrees, and Japense are 15 degrees. It is also much lighter than any other knife of comparable 18cm length. Hell, Wusthof Icon 16cm weights 179g, and Misono UX10 is only 155g.
But… the knife isn’t very sharp. Which is funny, because out of the box, they should be the sharpest you can get them. But Global is sharper. And Wusthof is more comfortable.
The 13th taster was a Bruichladdich 12, which I know by now, so I’ll jump to 14th, “Wemyss Spice King batch strength” instead. The key component here is “batch strength”. I’m not a fan of blended whiskeys, because, well, it’s easy to hide imperfections when you blend everything together. But this one is indeed tasty and spicy. Not something I would probably buy for myself, but interesting nevertheless.
12th whiskey from the Advent Calendar. At that pace, I may keep it until the next Christmas.
It’s a proper 18 year old whiskey for sure. Has the kick, has the taste, has the warmth. Maybe not 83GBP they ask usually, but for 72GBP, a good bargain.
I made a full circle, and bought the HORL 2 sharpener a couple of weeks ago. It stays. The great thing about it, is that it maintains the angle itself, while WorkSharp Benchtop can help you get the angle correctly, but you still need to maintain it through the motion. As simple as that.
It is also much smaller than I expected. Not a coffee mug, but more of a whiskey glass, maybe.
At first I wasn’t impressed by the sharp taste, despite some floran afternotes. But it does give a nice lightheadiness, that may convince me to explore if not the 12, but the 16 year old ones.
10th whiskey from the Advent Calendar.
For its price, it is a very good whiskey. Sweet, if a bit sharp around the edges. With a bit of warmth.
I love Salomon. Specifically, I love their X Ultra 4 so much that once I wore a pair down, I just bought a new pair.
And when I decided a need a mid Salomon boots, I at first just thought of buying the mid version of X Ultra 4. But then I decided to try something else.
It didn’t worked out. Got blisters in all the unexpected places. One above my thumb, another just above the ankle joint. And that wasn’t a rough walk, it was literally a walk in the park.
So I’m sending those back.
Next in line are X Ultra 360 now.
9th bottle from my Advent Calendar, this one is absolutely disgusting. Yes, they sell this stuff that smells like alcohol and tastes just a tad better for 33GBP. But then you could grab heavenly Aberlour for the same price sometimes. So this is just an offence to any whiskey lover, really.
It all started with a Facebook ad.
I had a Vulkanus pullthrough sharpener for at least 5 years. But then I saw an ad for a strange rolling knife sharpener called Tumbler, or something like that.
After a short investigation, I discovered that it’s a cheap Chinese knockoff of HORL knife sharpener: https://www.horl.com/gb/en/
And unlike Tumbler, HORL is actually considered a good sharpener. Then I started digging deeper. And turns out there isn’t as much choice among knife sharpeners, as one would expect. There’s unimaginatively named Chef’s Choice electric knife sharpener line, and then there’s WorkSharp, that produces both manual and electric sharpeners.
A lot of sharpening enthusiasts were swearing by the WorkSharp Field Sharpener. But since I didn’t need something too compact, I decided to get the benchtop version.
After sharpening half of my knifes, I can confirm, that it’s good, very good. Not something for people in a hurry.
It’s astonishing that at 12.5%, this is not even the strongest beer from Swedish Stigbergets.
It’s a fantastic Imperial Stout throught and throught, though. Surprisingly sour, which means that it tastes like 90% chocolate, and very smooth. Makes you light, not heavy. Something I definitely would buy if I ever find it again.
8th whiskey from the Advent Calendar.
Nothing to write home about, as would be expected from a whiskey that is sold in the supermarkets and has a stag on it.
It is the most tart whiskey I can remember, though. And it has some interesting spicy aftertaste.
But defintely wouldn’t buy it for myself.
7th bottle from the Advent Calendar, and so far probably the best yet.
It has almost no smell, pleasant or otherwise, but hits you with a warmth, quiets the head, and is quite sweet.
I think I got this from the random crate, but I’m not sure. Been meaning to taste Mad Squirrel just for the sake of the name.
It’s a nice porter. Not much gas, which is good. Has some sweetness, some smokiness, doesn’t leave you with a headache. For 3GBP or so, not bad at all.
Got it from the same Beer52 random crate I’m still struggling to finish. It’s a nice surprise, pretty sweet and tasty for a cheap 5% stout. Not sold on their site directly at the moment, so I couldn’t get it even if I wanted to, but all their other beers are ridiculously cheap: