bluesbassdad Posted December 22, 2002 Share Posted December 22, 2002 While picking up some shipping containers at a nearby [primarily] wine store this afternoon here in Long Beach, I was cooling my heels while someone dug around for what I needed, and I spotted a small spirits section. On the very top shelf (I'm six feet tall, with a 35 inch sleeve, and I couldn't have reached it on tiptoes), next to a bottle of Pappy's 20 and one of Kentucky Spirit, sat a bottle of Charbay Whiskey, priced at $299. (I checked the website for Hi-Times Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, and they list it at the same price. I've never seen it there; it may be in the locked glass cases, which I generally avoid. A pint of Mt. Vernon rye for $100? I think not.) Does anyone have any information on this bottling? As you can see, the website is light on facts. The man at the store, who seemed to be more knowlegdeable about wine than whiskey, desribed it as having a fruity quality like cognac. It didn't occur to me to ask whether he had actually tasted it or was relying on second-hand accounts. Will we be lobbying Jim Butler to add a "California Whiskey" forum in a few years? Yours truly, Dave Morefield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackkeno Posted December 23, 2002 Share Posted December 23, 2002 I have tried several liqueurs produced by this firm that have been incredible. I have not tried the whiskey though. The Spirit Journal only rated it one out of five stars! Here are their notes, "100% two row European malted barley, grown in British Columbia; only 840 bottles of Release One are available; cask strength, unfiltered; the bright bronze color is attractive and pure; the initial nosing passes detect leather, leafy vegetation and damp earth--I keep waiting for aeration to deepen or expand the bouquet but even after nearly ten minutes all I pick up is leather and damp vegetation; the palate entry is eerily beer-like and hoppy (hops were added, according to the PR materials)--even diluted, the mid-palate grills the taste buds with searing spirit; hot finish; a whiskey distiller like Booker Noe can excel with cask-strngth, but not here." I am a sucker for one off bottlings--I have 5 American single malts--but, unless someone buys me a serving of Charbay, I doubt I'll ever taste it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest **DONOTDELETE** Posted December 23, 2002 Share Posted December 23, 2002 100% malted barley says it all for me. It's crap. Don't buy it. Don't drink it. Don't even think about it. 100% malted barley in = 100% undrinkable crapola out. WORD UP! YO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackkeno Posted December 24, 2002 Share Posted December 24, 2002 Linn, What do you mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted December 24, 2002 Share Posted December 24, 2002 My closed mind tells me I'll not be missing much if I never taste this stuff. However after going to their site and reading that this is produced by a 12th generation Master Distiller and a 13th Generation Distillers' Son, I'm intrigued to know who they are and what their history is. I thought the nine generations of Beams who started firing the stills when Christ was a small child had a lock on it. Looks like these guys were with Moses in Eygpt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MurphyDawg Posted December 24, 2002 Share Posted December 24, 2002 MY guess is Linn is equating 100% Malted Barley with Sc**ch! We All know what Linn's opinion of the S-Word is. . .Tom (Say it ain't So!) C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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