Notes: This is one of three whiskies released by a new company (the others are: The Smooth Sweeter One and The Smokey Peaty One). Formed by two brothers and their best friend, a former master distiller at The Macallan. The Rich Spicy One is supposed to by in the form of The Macallans Gran Reserva and Exceptional Single – only much cheaper.

The aim of the company is to make scotch more approachable and fun – to shed the snobbery and lower the barriers a bit. They accomplish all of these goals with their offerings.

While they do not have the distinctiveness of single malts, they do have an easy-to-drink, casual quality to them that makes them a good introduction to malt whiskies. As a rule, I would rather drink bourbon from a full ashtray than most cheap scotch blends- thankfully, these guys have broken the mold and produced some very drinkable whiskies.

Appearance: Red brown in the bottle, light gold in the glass, nice edge line on the glass when you swirl it, smooth layer of whiskey on swirling (very few legs to speak of).

First Impression: Toffee, orange, some floral notes. Lots of nut smells at the end as well: Oloroso or Amontillado.

Taste: Medium-weight mouth feel (for a scotch). Orange honey, toffee, cinnamon or mace, slight alkali tang like a good dark chocolate. Lingering, warm finish like a good sherry.

Drinks: I like it straight up myself put does well for a Rob Roy if you play with the ingredients a bit. Make a somewhat sweet, lighter Blood and Sand. Good with chocolate or other aromatic alkalis. May have to work up a chocolate cocktail with this one.

Cigars:Yes, but nothing too heavy.

Bottle: Rather thick recycled glass with lots of small bubbles in it. Upside of that is it bounces rather than breaks when you get towards the bottom of the bottle. Also useful for those disagreements that might spring up about then. Glass resembles a number of tequila bottles in their use of recycled glass. Unlike the recycled coke bottle glass that the tequila comes in (notice the color on those?) they use clear glass and it lends a certain charm. Relatively plain, unpretentious labels and sealing wax tops (in this case dark red) finish it off. Hang tag with interesting flavor chart to explain what you are in for.

Final Thoughts: While not The Macallan, a reasonable approximation – reminiscent of the style for a lot less money. You can kill a bottle of this with some friends and not feel guilty about the money you spent. A cheap, easy alternative, but interesting whisky (Gee sounds like some of my old girlfriends).

Web site:http://www.jonmarkandrobbo.com

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