Fun video, would love to see some Gwhisky videos on Tariquet, Brandy or Malternatives in general... Even if that is reaching a bit outside of what the name of the channel implies the content would/should be! I'm mainly a whiskey person, but living right next to Cognac, I have a lot of brandy around me, but it's so damn hard to find any good info or reviews for the stuff before putting down the money to buy them. I generally love hearing about various liquids from the POV of a whiskey person. Fresh and interesting, and whatever. Thanks for the video and food for thought, Geoff! :)
You Sir, talking about Tariquet, is a multiverse type of event 😂. This is after all, primarily the biggest (in size) winery in south western france, where I come from. Hearing its name in a video made by a great whisky channel based on the other side of the world is unreal ! Thank you for some great recommendations!
The Jack Daniel's SBBP Rye is even better and only about $5 more. It was tough to get early in the year but I even see it at Costco at this point. Fantastic!
@@agee3251 The larger amount of corn in Tennessee Whiskey (bourbon) is sweeter with a little more vanilla. The rye has more cinnamon spice and a light spearmint taste but is still sweet like all Jack Daniel's because of the maple charcoal filtering that all their products go through. It's sweet but not as sweet as the mostly corn based whiskey. Both are incredibly drinkable for their proof which JD seems to do better than any other brand.
I dove into rum in a big way this year, hampden hlcf is my no 1. I highly recommend the 8 year old. Neisson white rum is unbelievably good. Rhum jm vo, worthy park do great rums as well. I'm definitely a fan of the weird and funky style
Giving us price points as whether something may or may not be "worth-it" is helpful! In my market I found Ichiro for 80 USD. So you saved me 80 USD. Thanks!
The two bourbons up top are definitely bangers - although that Foursquare rum also looks quite interesting! I will have to take a closer look at the shelf next time. ;)
great episode, I'm very happy with your alternative to single malt whiskey in the form of ARMAGNAC TARIQUET, which is available in Poland and I will definitely test it thanks to you :) best regards and I'm waiting for more videos from you, hoping that you won't get bored of recording :)
Although I definitely prefer Scotch to bourbon, being an American in America I drink almost as much bourbon as Scotch. I love that Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Single Barrel. Alway a great buy! Good job, Geoff!
Wow Geoff. The bourbon picks are very solid. I have and very much enjoy both those. I'll throw out something in category you didn't even mention: 1. Mezcal: Tornillo & Bicuixe (the version by maestro Ageo Cortez Sanchez). It's got a cheesy lactic note that is strong enough to compare to Bruichladdich. Not my malternative but I'll put this on your radar: Irish: Limavady Single Malt Whiskey. I surprisingly got to try Barrels 0070 and then 0035 (and there is another one at another bar I have yet to try but will). Barrel 0070 was sublimely good and could have been a 2024 malternative contender. It was good enough that I was forced to expand my budget for 2024 and allow another purchase. Barrel 0035 is what I found but sadly it wasn't at the same level. Still easily worth the $43 price point.
Thanks for your videos, Jeff with a "G." I love the sarcasm. I live in the Philippines, expat from America, San Diego California. I often imagine as I be sippin on a dram to drop by Taiwan 1 of these days to hook up with you and share a bottle with you. Your videos are quite informative and funny. Great stuff brother. Captain America here 💪
really got into rums this year. I agree on the Foursquares, they are delish. Also enjoying some of the Jamaican stuff. Also still trying some older cognacs. Not sure I agree on the JD tho, for me its just the same banana shake at a higher abv.
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof has become readily available over the last 12-18 months. It went through a 2=3 year stretch where it was possibly harder to find than the Elijah Craig. My vote would probably be the Calumet 15 year, but only because I’ve never found a Stagg.
Very cool list. Foursquare is indeed amazing. Not cheap but amazing. It and Hampden can surprise the whisk[e]y sipper (they surprised the heck out of me). Cheers!
Elijah Craig Small Batch is my favorite bourbon so far ( I have only about 10 bourbons) and it's very reasonably priced. A 1.75L can be commonly found for about $60 where I'm at. It's 94 proof is a perfect proof for this stuff. Amazing balance, complex and delicious. Great bourbon doesn't have to be impossible to find or ridiculously expensive.
Quick update. I tried a Noah’s Mill Kentucky Bourbon from Willetts Distillery two days ago and as an initial impression, found it comparable in quality and flavour with the JD SBBP. It’s also around the same price in the UK, so I’ve now got a bottle on order so I can try them side by side. If you like the JD SBBP and fancy trying something different, perhaps with a touch more rye spice than the JD, this is recommended! 🙂
Hi Geoff, very nice list. I must admit that my malternative over the last years is tawny port. And where I like less cask influence in whisky, I certainly do enjoy it in port. Really like ports of 10, 20 or even 30 years old.
With Tariquet I agree. From Foursquare distillery I would choose Doorlys 14. I dont like bourbons so I would pick rye. I use Jack Daniels Rye for mixing, because it has a good price to performance ratio. I would also add local dram Gold Cock Peated. It is technically a single malt though. It tends to be cheaper in Czechia than Connemara. And I like it more than Connemara. And lets also scratch Slovakia... Any "Spišská borovička" might be a nice replacement to gin. And it also goes well with tonic. Oh and if I can add any blend... Jameson Black Barrel is in my book a good Irish blend for its price. Oh and Cutty Sark Prohibition is great among Scotch blends!
Great list my friend! I'm sticking with Powers 12 as my Malternative. It always delivers. I would write Balcones Single Malt but that's more a Scotchternative. Cheers Buddy 🥃🥃🎩
Great bourbon picks. I haven't had the others but I will look for them. For rum I would suggest Plantation XXI and for bourbon Kings County Distillery single barrel, barrel proof is amazing
Here in NZ, we have the Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Strength 125 proof. It's really good. Approx. $75-80 USD. I haven't seen the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof here recently, but I think when it was available it was around $130 USD. My world whisky for 2024 is the New Zealand Pokeno Prohibition Porter. Combines my favourite style of beer with a good whisky. Rum is my malternative and my rum of the year is the Clairin Sonson, followed closely by Doorly's 14. Cheers!
For a cool malternatives I like some texas whiskies. One that has fairly good distro is milam and green cask strength. Another that lacks the distro is the rodeo release from Maverick distilling in san Antonio
I think every bourbon fan recognized the blurry photo immediately as Jack Daniels SB BP, with the square bottle and gold label. Oddly enough, I prefer the black label Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select, at the lower 94 proof.
Hey Geoff, question. Is rum labelling similar to scotch? I notice it has 'single blended rum' on the label so does this mean same or different spirit, different cask types, min age of 18 etc or something else 🤔
Thanks for sharing Geoff Malternatives? ... Espresso or water for me. Other than that I stick with single malt (very ... very occasional blended malt). Slàinte mhath
Big fan of Castarède cask strength releases. Delord has some fantastic stuff. Also bottlers like Grosperrin are pretty consistent. Note that I'm not well versed in the world of fine brandy. A casual admirer. Cheers! 🥃
What's your malternative philosophy? I thought of "something different that a malt-er would like" like rum or mezcal but I feel your list is more like "what is something close to (but not) a malt"
Jack Daniel’s is not a Bourbon. It can’t be categorized as such because it doesn’t use a virgin American Oak cask. They use Mapple wood in their maturation which violates the laws of describing it as Bourbon. Anyway, just some semantics, but that’s not a Bourbon.
Jack Daniel's products are technically bourbons. The Maple wood is not used during maturation, but is turned into charcoal and the liquid is filtered through that. This is known as the Lincoln County Process, and is what Jack Daniel's (and other Tennessee distilleries) use to define Tennessee whiskey, which is not explicitly a legal category in the US. They do use charred new oak barrels for aging, and the mashbill contains over 51% corn. Since the Lincoln County Process does not add flavors (which is not allowed for the legal definition of Straight Bourbon), it can be legally classified as a Bourbon, though Brown-Foreman have fought tooth and nail to not be called that, even so far as to sue the government for their own legal category.
@ thank you for clarifying that! So this is much more a legal fight than a favor of the matter thing. Good to know. I was taught by the tour guides in Louisville that because of the use of Mapple, they can’t be called Bourbon, but I thought they were actually aging partially in Mapple. That’s very good insight! Thank you!
The real reason jd isn't labelled as bourbon is because jd doesn't want to be labelled as bourbon. (Which means if they wanted to they could do things that bourbon couldn't but they don't) Also never take what a kentucky tour guide says about whisky as 100% fact. Tall tales aplenty but If a distiller tells you about their own place that's a different story.
Im beginning to think I got a bad bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch. It has no sweetness at all and only dry oak. Not good at all. Every other channel say they love it. I have enjoyed Wild Turkey Rare Breed this year though
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof > Elijah Craig small batch. It's night and day. When you taste them, you'll wonder how they are from the same distillery. Depth of flavors. Worth hunting for the ECBP
Is there a coincidence that you mension tariquet just a week before they launch a lineup on the swedish market? And that i thought of buying armangac as a cool malternitive just this morning.. to many coincidences, show us your bankaccount!!
I have a JD SBBP since a few months. Not that excited about it. You have to water it down quite a bit to make it drinkable, and at that point you might as well drink Old No. 7. I much prefer Four Roses SB.
Brooooo! I love Nikka from the Barrel. I gotta be careful whenever I drink that stuff 😅 I have a great contact here who gives me great products under market value. I have went as highest spending on a Johnnie Walker Blue Label Cask Strength 1L bottle. That's a lot of money to spend if you only been drinking since March 27, 2024.
Great call. The single barrel barrel proof Ryes and Tennessee whiskies are that best value products out there.
Fun video, would love to see some Gwhisky videos on Tariquet, Brandy or Malternatives in general... Even if that is reaching a bit outside of what the name of the channel implies the content would/should be!
I'm mainly a whiskey person, but living right next to Cognac, I have a lot of brandy around me, but it's so damn hard to find any good info or reviews for the stuff before putting down the money to buy them.
I generally love hearing about various liquids from the POV of a whiskey person. Fresh and interesting, and whatever.
Thanks for the video and food for thought, Geoff! :)
You Sir, talking about Tariquet, is a multiverse type of event 😂. This is after all, primarily the biggest (in size) winery in south western france, where I come from. Hearing its name in a video made by a great whisky channel based on the other side of the world is unreal ! Thank you for some great recommendations!
Hah that's awesome! Yeah Tariquet Armagnac is beautiful stuff. Haven't tried their wines, though. Cheers ! 🥃
The Jack Daniel's SBBP Rye is even better and only about $5 more. It was tough to get early in the year but I even see it at Costco at this point. Fantastic!
Totally agree. Rye is fantastic and better than most ryes twice the price.
How are the flavors different on the JDSBBP vs JDSBBP Rye ?😊
@@agee3251 The larger amount of corn in Tennessee Whiskey (bourbon) is sweeter with a little more vanilla. The rye has more cinnamon spice and a light spearmint taste but is still sweet like all Jack Daniel's because of the maple charcoal filtering that all their products go through. It's sweet but not as sweet as the mostly corn based whiskey. Both are incredibly drinkable for their proof which JD seems to do better than any other brand.
@@GOTAisMe Appreciate that knowledge! When / if I see it, I will pick up a Rye, cheers
I came here to say that.
I dove into rum in a big way this year, hampden hlcf is my no 1. I highly recommend the 8 year old. Neisson white rum is unbelievably good. Rhum jm vo, worthy park do great rums as well. I'm definitely a fan of the weird and funky style
Giving us price points as whether something may or may not be "worth-it" is helpful! In my market I found Ichiro for 80 USD. So you saved me 80 USD. Thanks!
Ouch yeah $80 is too much. Glad to be of service. Thanks for watching! 🥃
The two bourbons up top are definitely bangers - although that Foursquare rum also looks quite interesting! I will have to take a closer look at the shelf next time. ;)
That one was at Matt's. Sadly no longer with us. 😥
@@Gwhisky All good! So much stuff I haven't tried yet - it's all new to me! :)
Ichiro's in Québec (SAQ) is $140 CAN
@@goldorak1962 Ben non. 👎
great episode, I'm very happy with your alternative to single malt whiskey in the form of ARMAGNAC TARIQUET, which is available in Poland and I will definitely test it thanks to you :) best regards and I'm waiting for more videos from you, hoping that you won't get bored of recording :)
Although I definitely prefer Scotch to bourbon, being an American in America I drink almost as much bourbon as Scotch. I love that Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Single Barrel. Alway a great buy! Good job, Geoff!
Wow Geoff. The bourbon picks are very solid. I have and very much enjoy both those.
I'll throw out something in category you didn't even mention:
1. Mezcal: Tornillo & Bicuixe (the version by maestro Ageo Cortez Sanchez). It's got a cheesy lactic note that is strong enough to compare to Bruichladdich.
Not my malternative but I'll put this on your radar: Irish: Limavady Single Malt Whiskey. I surprisingly got to try Barrels 0070 and then 0035 (and there is another one at another bar I have yet to try but will). Barrel 0070 was sublimely good and could have been a 2024 malternative contender. It was good enough that I was forced to expand my budget for 2024 and allow another purchase. Barrel 0035 is what I found but sadly it wasn't at the same level. Still easily worth the $43 price point.
Interesting! Never even heard of Limavady. Don't think I've ever seen it in my market but I'll keep an eye out for it. Cheers buddy! 🥃
Spot on with the Jack Daniel's SBBP. Great flavor, high quality-price ratio and available.
You have not lost your mind.....
This time.
Anything other than the overrated Rare Breed
Thanks for your videos, Jeff with a "G." I love the sarcasm. I live in the Philippines, expat from America, San Diego California. I often imagine as I be sippin on a dram to drop by Taiwan 1 of these days to hook up with you and share a bottle with you. Your videos are quite informative and funny. Great stuff brother. Captain America here 💪
really got into rums this year. I agree on the Foursquares, they are delish. Also enjoying some of the Jamaican stuff. Also still trying some older cognacs. Not sure I agree on the JD tho, for me its just the same banana shake at a higher abv.
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof has become readily available over the last 12-18 months. It went through a 2=3 year stretch where it was possibly harder to find than the Elijah Craig.
My vote would probably be the Calumet 15 year, but only because I’ve never found a Stagg.
Very cool list. Foursquare is indeed amazing. Not cheap but amazing. It and Hampden can surprise the whisk[e]y sipper (they surprised the heck out of me). Cheers!
Elijah Craig Small Batch is my favorite bourbon so far ( I have only about 10 bourbons) and it's very reasonably priced. A 1.75L can be commonly found for about $60 where I'm at. It's 94 proof is a perfect proof for this stuff. Amazing balance, complex and delicious. Great bourbon doesn't have to be impossible to find or ridiculously expensive.
Great shout on the JD SBBP. I’ve only tried around 12-15 bourbons but this is my favourite to date.
Quick update. I tried a Noah’s Mill Kentucky Bourbon from Willetts Distillery two days ago and as an initial impression, found it comparable in quality and flavour with the JD SBBP. It’s also around the same price in the UK, so I’ve now got a bottle on order so I can try them side by side.
If you like the JD SBBP and fancy trying something different, perhaps with a touch more rye spice than the JD, this is recommended! 🙂
I'm sure you're right about the JD, but I just can't get past that bottle. I'll try the Elijah, however, thanks.
Hi Geoff, very nice list.
I must admit that my malternative over the last years is tawny port.
And where I like less cask influence in whisky, I certainly do enjoy it in port.
Really like ports of 10, 20 or even 30 years old.
With Tariquet I agree. From Foursquare distillery I would choose Doorlys 14. I dont like bourbons so I would pick rye. I use Jack Daniels Rye for mixing, because it has a good price to performance ratio. I would also add local dram Gold Cock Peated. It is technically a single malt though. It tends to be cheaper in Czechia than Connemara. And I like it more than Connemara. And lets also scratch Slovakia... Any "Spišská borovička" might be a nice replacement to gin. And it also goes well with tonic. Oh and if I can add any blend... Jameson Black Barrel is in my book a good Irish blend for its price. Oh and Cutty Sark Prohibition is great among Scotch blends!
Great list Geoff!
My malternative recommendations are
Willett 4 Year Rye
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
El Jolgorio Barril Mezcal
Great list my friend!
I'm sticking with Powers 12 as my Malternative. It always delivers. I would write Balcones Single Malt but that's more a Scotchternative.
Cheers Buddy 🥃🥃🎩
Gotta love that Powers. I miss my bottle. 😥
My favorite non whisky right now is torres jaime 1 it is about the same price as a decent scotch in my location and is 30 years old and very complex
Great bourbon picks. I haven't had the others but I will look for them. For rum I would suggest Plantation XXI and for bourbon Kings County Distillery single barrel, barrel proof is amazing
Here in NZ, we have the Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Strength 125 proof. It's really good. Approx. $75-80 USD. I haven't seen the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof here recently, but I think when it was available it was around $130 USD. My world whisky for 2024 is the New Zealand Pokeno Prohibition Porter. Combines my favourite style of beer with a good whisky. Rum is my malternative and my rum of the year is the Clairin Sonson, followed closely by Doorly's 14. Cheers!
For a cool malternatives I like some texas whiskies. One that has fairly good distro is milam and green cask strength. Another that lacks the distro is the rodeo release from Maverick distilling in san Antonio
Recently been trying a few American whiskeys, bourbons and ryes. Have you tried many rye’s and what’s your thoughts? Do you prefer bourbon?
I love a good single grain. How about a top 10 single grain list? 😉
I'm not sure I'm familiar with enough single grain expressions. 😬
@@Gwhisky You’re never too old to learn 😉
I think every bourbon fan recognized the blurry photo immediately as Jack Daniels SB BP, with the square bottle and gold label. Oddly enough, I prefer the black label Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select, at the lower 94 proof.
I'm a huge fan of the Barrel Select as well. You can't lose with the higher end JDs imo. 🥃
Would love to see the channel branch out into some mezcal reviews
Would love to have access to quality mezcal. Sadly it's not really a thing here in East Asia. Not yet, anyway. 🥃
Scotch scotch scotch. I love scotch. 😂
Lol yeah same. 😉
Samai Kampot Pepper Rum from Cambodia is incredible!! Might be hard to get tho but source it if you can
Elijah Craig A124 Barrel Proof Bourbon $60 is a good deal!
Hey Geoff, question. Is rum labelling similar to scotch? I notice it has 'single blended rum' on the label so does this mean same or different spirit, different cask types, min age of 18 etc or something else 🤔
Have you tried Hibiki Harmony? I really want to try it out
Sadly Tariguet 12 and 15 Armagnac are not available in Japan but the VSOP and X0 are -- the latter is excellent.
Thanks for sharing Geoff
Malternatives? ... Espresso or water for me. Other than that I stick with single malt (very ... very occasional blended malt).
Slàinte mhath
My malternatives:
1. Rum Kuna Davidoff Cigar Cask Finish
2. Cognac Courvoisier XO
3. Ararat Dvin
4. Brandy Gran Duque D'Alba Oro
Barrel aged Brazilian Cachaça is a very good malternative.
What other Armagnac houses do you recommend?
Big fan of Castarède cask strength releases. Delord has some fantastic stuff. Also bottlers like Grosperrin are pretty consistent. Note that I'm not well versed in the world of fine brandy. A casual admirer. Cheers! 🥃
@Gwhisky Thanks for the advice it's greatly appreciated.
@@nickashton3049 My pleasure!
The jack SBBP is amazing, but the SBBP rye is even better.
Fine rum costs a pretty penny even compared to scotch.
Have not seen much JDSBP in Asia. Are they for sale in Taiwan? And you never mentioned what kind of flavors you are getting on the palate. Many thx
They're only sold at 9city and they're pricier than in the States. But availability comes and goes. 🥃
One minute in and already in the comments section! Lettuce!
Would add Martell Cordon Blue to the list
ice cream cake, gmo cookies, banana og, cap junky, acapulco gold
Sir, give us review about Famous grouse and coke!
😂😂😂
I miss the pants :(
Genres?
What's your malternative philosophy? I thought of "something different that a malt-er would like" like rum or mezcal but I feel your list is more like "what is something close to (but not) a malt"
Have you ever tried Aquavit?
No, I haven't!
@@GwhiskySure worth a trip down Malternative-lane!
The only armangac I have ever heard and tried was Chabot VSOP..
I bought the foursquare touchstone 14yrs in cognac casks, I won’t buy anything else for some months
Jack Daniel’s is not a Bourbon. It can’t be categorized as such because it doesn’t use a virgin American Oak cask. They use Mapple wood in their maturation which violates the laws of describing it as Bourbon. Anyway, just some semantics, but that’s not a Bourbon.
Fair enough. To me it is, but technically you're right. 🥃
@ I agree with you. The experience is very similar, but the “gods of Bourbon” will pull your feet while you sleep if you say that 😂
Jack Daniel's products are technically bourbons. The Maple wood is not used during maturation, but is turned into charcoal and the liquid is filtered through that. This is known as the Lincoln County Process, and is what Jack Daniel's (and other Tennessee distilleries) use to define Tennessee whiskey, which is not explicitly a legal category in the US. They do use charred new oak barrels for aging, and the mashbill contains over 51% corn. Since the Lincoln County Process does not add flavors (which is not allowed for the legal definition of Straight Bourbon), it can be legally classified as a Bourbon, though Brown-Foreman have fought tooth and nail to not be called that, even so far as to sue the government for their own legal category.
@ thank you for clarifying that! So this is much more a legal fight than a favor of the matter thing. Good to know. I was taught by the tour guides in Louisville that because of the use of Mapple, they can’t be called Bourbon, but I thought they were actually aging partially in Mapple. That’s very good insight! Thank you!
The real reason jd isn't labelled as bourbon is because jd doesn't want to be labelled as bourbon. (Which means if they wanted to they could do things that bourbon couldn't but they don't)
Also never take what a kentucky tour guide says about whisky as 100% fact. Tall tales aplenty but If a distiller tells you about their own place that's a different story.
Four Roses Single Barrel Cask Strength. Like you I enjoy the other 2 bourbons you rated 1/2
Im beginning to think I got a bad bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch. It has no sweetness at all and only dry oak. Not good at all. Every other channel say they love it.
I have enjoyed Wild Turkey Rare Breed this year though
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof > Elijah Craig small batch. It's night and day. When you taste them, you'll wonder how they are from the same distillery. Depth of flavors. Worth hunting for the ECBP
Alright, I get ya. Some channels have recommended Small Batch as well though
Is there a coincidence that you mension tariquet just a week before they launch a lineup on the swedish market?
And that i thought of buying armangac as a cool malternitive just this morning.. to many coincidences, show us your bankaccount!!
Bourbon.... Yes, embrace your north American roots 😂
Malternatives…. I have a feeling I know where (who) you got that term from 🤣
Blasphemy!
how old are you? random question but im assuming you are in your 30's and look younger than that.
Hah well colour me flattered. I'm 41, and I got into whisky in my early 20's. Cheers and thanks for the ego boost! 🥃
I have a JD SBBP since a few months. Not that excited about it. You have to water it down quite a bit to make it drinkable, and at that point you might as well drink Old No. 7. I much prefer Four Roses SB.
Brooooo! I love Nikka from the Barrel. I gotta be careful whenever I drink that stuff 😅
I have a great contact here who gives me great products under market value. I have went as highest spending on a Johnnie Walker Blue Label Cask Strength 1L bottle. That's a lot of money to spend if you only been drinking since March 27, 2024.
Elijah Craig BP superr !