Ratings - Who's Good, Who Isn't

[Anwalt]

Is it just me, or does wine enthusiast seem generous?  Participation trophies?  Anyone, anyone?

 

I like the Whiskey Shelf (He seems very thoughtful), breakingbourbon.com (he's perhaps on the stingy side), whiskeyraiders (I like the consolidation of scores).  As my palate is still developing, I cannot quite say which one aligns with mine just yet.

 

Any reviewers you especially like or dislike?

[flahute]

These guys:

 

https://malt-review.com/

 

They use a 10pt scale and unlike anyone else I know of they actually use the entire scale.

You will see 2s and 3s. 9s and 10s are very very hard to come by. They factor price into the score (which some will agree or disagree with).

 

Disclaimer: a friend of mine writes for them.

[mbroo5880i]

Sorry @Anwalt, I know you are looking for website reviewers, bloggers, etc.  However, I find my friends here at Straightbourbon.com to be the best reviewers.  If I am looking for honest, accurate reviews, I don't need to look anywhere else.  That said I still do.  Yet, it confirms my original post.   

 

A member here @sku used to have a great website that provide links to whiskey websites and blogs.  He stopped updating it several years ago.  While dated, several of the blogs are still active.

 

https://recenteats.blogspot.com/p/the-complete-list-of-whiskey-blogs.html

 

One cool bourbon history site is http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/.  I know Chuck was an active member of the forums at one-time.  

Edited September 12, 2022 by mbroo5880i

[Kjbarth]

I agree with @flahute, look at malt reviews. May have to go through Patreon.

[BigRich]

I'm kind of partial to our own @GaryT over at WhiskeyApostle.com

 

[fosmith]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:43 AM, Anwalt said:

Any reviewers you especially like or dislike?

I mostly browse YouTube whiskey channels.  My favorite is ADHD Whiskey.  Matt has a pretty good palate, IMO, and his act always makes me chuckle.  I also like Mash & Drum but I wish he would devote less screen time to lingering shots of the bottles he's tasting. 

[Skinsfan1311]

SB is my whiskey home.

There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here and I take advantage of it.     While I do visit other sites, from time-to-time, this is my "go-to"

 

 

[Anwalt]

OK, I get it, I get.  SB is the place.  I agree.

 

But I want a mistress.  Or two.  At least in one place in my life....

 

Actually, I'm just an info hound.  I can never get enough on topics I latch onto.  Thank goodness I like what I do for a living and latch onto it too.

 

7 hours ago, fosmith said:

I mostly browse YouTube whiskey channels.  My favorite is ADHD Whiskey.  Matt has a pretty good palate, IMO, and his act always makes me chuckle.  I also like Mash & Drum but I wish he would devote less screen time to lingering shots of the bottles he's tasting.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a look.  I generally minimize audio info (unless I'm in the car or walking) because it is soooo inefficient.  You mentioned one reason why, lots of empty chatter time.  The other is I can simply blow through a transcript in 10% of the time it takes me to listen.  Appreciate the mentions, I'll give them a listen.  Or a read if they do transcripts.

 

8 hours ago, BigRich said:

I'm kind of partial to our own @GaryT over at WhiskeyApostle.com

 

Ooh, interesting. I will definitely check that out.  One of our own makes it a plus.

 

 

21 hours ago, mbroo5880i said:

 

https://recenteats.blogspot.com/p/the-complete-list-of-whiskey-blogs.html

 

One cool bourbon history site is http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/.  I know Chuck was an active member of the forums at one-time.  

 

Thanks, I will dig into it.  

 

21 hours ago, flahute said:

 

https://malt-review.com/

 

They use a 10pt scale and unlike anyone else I know of they actually use the entire scale.

You will see 2s and 3s. 9s and 10s are very very hard to come by. They factor price into the score (which some will agree or disagree with).

 

 

I really enjoy the writing.  Not just the content, but the style.  Worth reading twice, once for each.  Did someone study English Lit back when English Lit departments still taught English Lit?

 

I wish they'd do two scales:  The value-weighted one they do, and an absolute one with price mattering not at all.  But I also wish the Wifey and Salma Hayek would arrange for a nice Parisian...triple date.  Hasn't happened yet.

 

I will have to see how it aligns with my (developing) tastes.  But just excellent reading for both form & substance.  And higher ratings are most definitely earned.

 

17 hours ago, Kjbarth said:

I agree with @flahute, look at malt reviews.

 

Thanks for the reinforcement, see above.  I do enjoy their style as much as I do their content.

 

 

Thanks again everyone!  I always get the best info here, Lord knows how much turpentine you've kept me away from.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

2 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

SB is my whiskey home.

There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here and I take advantage of it.     While I do visit other sites, from time-to-time, this is my "go-to"

 

 

Hear hear!

 

The to OP it's just hard to find genuinely unbiased reviews.  It's hard when most of the reviewers rely on (and to some extent expect) media samples direct from the distilleries.  It's hard to bite the hand that's feeding you.  

  

[lemonman]

Some of the written sites I enjoy and seem to align pretty well with my palate are these-

 

whiskeyreviewer.com

thewhiskeyjug.com

thewhiskeyshelf.com

drinkhacker.com

 

 

[flahute]

2 hours ago, Anwalt said:

 

I really enjoy the writing.  Not just the content, but the style.  Worth reading twice, once for each.  Did someone study English Lit back when English Lit departments still taught English Lit?

 

I wish they'd do two scales:  The value-weighted one they do, and an absolute one with price mattering not at all.  But I also wish the Wifey and Salma Hayek would arrange for a nice Parisian...triple date.  Hasn't happened yet.

 

I will have to see how it aligns with my (developing) tastes.  But just excellent reading for both form & substance.  And higher ratings are most definitely earned.

They are usually quite up front when lowering the score for price so you can infer from that if it would be 1 or 2 points higher if cost wasn't a factor.

[Dannabis]

I am as usual, no help here.

 

I read some of that stuff from time to time but consider the variety of preferences here among members - I don't hold much stock in bourbon reviews. I trust my palate. 

[Thomm]

22 hours ago, fosmith said:

I mostly browse YouTube whiskey channels.  My favorite is ADHD Whiskey.  Matt has a pretty good palate, IMO, and his act always makes me chuckle.  I also like Mash & Drum but I wish he would devote less screen time to lingering shots of the bottles he's tasting. 

I watch ADHD from time to time, not necessarily for the reviews as much as for Matt's witty banter (with himself).  If you want a good laugh, check out the Dickel Tabasco episode of ADHD. 

[Jazz June]

I don't really trust a particular review blog/website because it is just one person's opinion and they are often corrupted by the media sample game, as mentioned up thread. The wisdom of crowds seems most effective, so I rely on this site and the bourbon Reddit as they generally get a wide variety of reasonably well informed opinions. That said, I always factor in my personal preferences, i.e. some rave about Dickel products, but they are not for me even when well-done. I find some of the most useful comparisons are within a distillery's product range, for example saying, this Wild Turkey LE is worse than/akin to/better than a good Russell's Reserve pick. That gives a good baseline for comparison.

[fosmith]

21 hours ago, Anwalt said:

Thanks, I'll give it a look.  I generally minimize audio info (unless I'm in the car or walking) because it is soooo inefficient.  You mentioned one reason why, lots of empty chatter time.  The other is I can simply blow through a transcript in 10% of the time it takes me to listen. 

 

I agree.  I've really cut back on the WhiskeyTubers that I watch because there's so much unnecessary chatter.  If I weren't retired, I wouldn't have time to watch any of them.  Jason at Mash & Drum gives solid reviews but I fast forward through the first third of the video.  Matt at ADHD Whiskey is a real odd duck but his shtick makes me laugh. 

[fosmith]

6 hours ago, Thomm said:

I watch ADHD from time to time, not necessarily for the reviews as much as for Matt's witty banter (with himself).  If you want a good laugh, check out the Dickel Tabasco episode of ADHD. 

I'll check it out.  I still chuckle remembering his episode on how to hide your whiskey from your spouse. 

[JustDucky]

I concur with everything said about https://malt-review.com/, in particular the author Taylor.

Another site I like with similar writing style is https://the-right-spirit.com/. He does some very good and thorough interviews, in particular some craft distilleries up here in the "Upper Left Corner" (Woodinville, Westward, Freeland Spirits).

[beasled]

Well I would like to be the one who says malt-review was poor before it was taken over and hasn't much changed since. Too much focus on whinging about the state of things or these days reviews of bottles of store picks of things I shall never be able to acquire from places I shall never visit ("but this 200 bottle limited edition from Steve's Bourbon Emporium in Alaska  that's already sold out three years ago is a must have!" etc.). 

 

Prior to Taylors takeover every article was whinge-whinge-whinge, six out of ten!

 

 

[smokinjoe]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:36 AM, BigRich said:

I'm kind of partial to our own @GaryT over at WhiskeyApostle.com

 

I think Troyce has come around to that site recently.

[GaryT]

22 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

I think Troyce has come around to that site recently.

After having drank PLENTY of great whiskey at @BigRich's (the original WhiskeyApostle) house for years . . . better late than never  

 

I'm also with @flahute that there are some pretty good folks at https://malt-review.com/ - although when folks ask me who I'd recommend they read, after a shameless plug for https://whiskeyapostle.com/ (mainly because I have that site to thank for finding my way to SB.com and the GBS), I tell them to check several on something that they know they like - and something they know they dislike.  Key is to find who has taste that seem to align with yours.  I mean, there's some stuff I think tastes like panther piss, but based on sales - someone likes it (or at least buys it; maybe they're using it for floor stripper).  For me - it's more about the descriptions than the scores.  Someone might think something is awful because it smells like wet/used band-aids - but as long as they're talking about an Islay single malt (and not a craft bourbon), doesn't sound so bad to me  

Edited September 15, 2022 by GaryT

[mbroo5880i]

2 hours ago, GaryT said:

After having drank PLENTY of great whiskey at @BigRich's (the original WhiskeyApostle) house for years . . . better late than never  

 

I'm also with @flahute that there are some pretty good folks at https://malt-review.com/ - although when folks ask me who I'd recommend they read, after a shameless plug for https://whiskeyapostle.com/ (mainly because I have that site to thank for finding my way to SB.com and the GBS), I tell them to check several on something that they know they like - and something they know they dislike.  Key is to find who has taste that seem to align with yours.  I mean, there's some stuff I think tastes like panther piss, but based on sales - someone likes it (or at least buys it; maybe they're using it for floor stripper).  For me - it's more about the descriptions than the scores.  Someone might think something is awful because it smells like wet/used band-aids - but as long as they're talking about an Islay single malt (and not a craft bourbon), doesn't sound so bad to me  

 

If only you would post more in the forums friend! Your insight isn't as frequent as we would like.

[Jazzhead]

I listen from time to time to several YouTube bourbon channels, including ADHD Whiskey (Matt is hilarious) and Mash and Drum.   But the only one that I contribute to each month as a Patreon is SLB Drinks "Basement Bourbon Bar".   Kurt and Trent are easy going and conversational, do a lot of interesting side-by-side comparos,  and focus mostly on bourbons I can actually obtain.   It's a great channel to drink bourbon to.