BAR ROVER

05/17/2026

grabbed the newest whiskey bottle because a) i love playing wizards and b) I am a big fan of Irish Whiskeys especially so this was a no-brainer. 16 years Single Malt makes for a balanced and immensely drinkable pour!

Nose—Malt comes across as toasted-bakery-bread and almonds on the nose, plenty of that Pot Still character. very Bushmills on the nose!

Taste—Buttered toast is a recurring Irish Whiskeys tasting note; Much like a Gnome and a Wizard it’s absolutely what you want to get when you see the words on the label, no complaints here.

Finish—creamed coffee dark roast and nutmeg after that long sparkler-bright Pot Still burn washing down the throat. lingers a long time like a dungeon-scorched Fireball spell.

H20; a few drops opens up the Cranachan-buttercake crispy brightness of the distillate, then gets even lighter as evaporation moves from back of throat to top of the soft palate and fades quicker.

5/5 stars. Recommend for any adventure party 🐉⚔️🥃

05/12/2026

Whiskey Winks! quick peek at a new bottle that landed on my bartop this week… an Irish Pot Still made with 5% Oats, a notoriously tricky grain to use in whisky for a variety of chemistry reasons, it’s uncommon to see anyone putting it in their mix (shout out to Corsair in TN, my first exposure…)

Nose— high Oats— very bready nose/steel cut w/cinnamon and nutmeg; creamy coffee on second nosing

Tongue - vanilla latte and lots of honey, then a big punch of spice for 86proof

Finish- long and spicy, the fruits from the Sherry Cask finally show up in the back

h2o - gets fruitier and spicier; the exBourbon and the Oats really clashing in a tactile tongue way, but not bad. interesting harmonies to make this melody.

4 out of 5 drams — not for every palate but I’d reccomend it to the intermediate explorer for sure 🥃

04/30/2026

04/13/2026

another week, another Whiskey Winks! today we’re saluting the Very Old St Nick bourbon.

04/03/2026

Another week, another absolutely delicious Whiskey Winks!

03/25/2026

Somehow missed posting this treat from the autumn season… but like all good whisky, worth the wait!

03/17/2026

celebrating that thing that happens in March with the appropriate Whiskey Winks!

03/10/2026

whiskey peychuga!

two things I didn’t expect to see together. but one of my Bottle Angels found me a california experiment and well… I don’t hate it. There aren’t many calls for chicken-infused raw spirit, but here we are. I’ve had plenty of white spirit/white dog/raw still depending on where you make whisky and what you call it, but never with the traditional mexican process of stewing meat in spirits (usually fowl), namely Mezcal, during fermentation. And I see their curiosity because, good scottish white dog can absolutely get that mezcal texture.

Nose - funky and broth-y
Tongue - meaty for sure. surprised at the mezcally texture.
Finish - the oiliness goes down about ten full seconds before the burn hits

second sip gets a little minty and spicy?
aftertaste moves firmly towards Peychuga, i’m impressed that the texture for this whitedog is so creamy and bodied (and so few whisky drinkers get to experience that)

03/03/2026

talkin’ bout the classics.

02/12/2026

Had the pleasure of a very rare nip tonight; one of the rarest in the bar was end-of-bottle and the drinker didn’t want to finish it so I took a wee nip of the unsellable and since I hadn’t posted yet…

Dalmore’s always characteristic of “bacon wrapped dates” to me, the darkfruit and slow pruny quality offset by pepper and a crisp highland bite—- this nose no different, even with such a concentrated barreling; astringence on the first nose stretches into laffy-taffy confectionary notes, i’m getting strawberries and lemons; the sip is one of the smoothest pulls of Whisky I’ve had pleasure to drink. those bright fruit notes contunue in the mouthfeel. Finish is long and slow, with a cherry lozenge linger but none of the bad aftertaste; These sherry barrels were clearly picked with love and the long wait was worth it. Hot damn. what a pour. this is the kind of dram you want to tell stories about.