Well, since we had Summer in Winter this year, how about a Winter themed whisky in Spring?
Tonight's Whisky with Pip is a limited edition release from Mars' Shinsu distillery. This is Mars Iwai Tradition Fuyu (Winter).
This blended whisky is finished in Japanese chestnut wood casks for four months to impart a roasted, nutty sweetness.
This whisky has a nice, deep amber color. On the nose - maple syrup and toasted grains. Taste - plenty of woody and sweet malt notes with an interesting savory nuttiness. The finish is brown sugar sweet and a little bitter, but not in a bad way. I can see why this whisky is labelled for "winter", it's a perfect sipper in front of the fireplace with your tiny furry friends.
This whisky consists of 70% corn and 30% malted barley, which is a bit of a surprise to my palate. I really do not taste the corn in this whisky the same way corn contributes to the flavor profile of an American blended whiskey. It is bottled at a consumer level of 40% ABV so not super oily or intense.
This whisky is fantastic neat and on ice, definitely recommend!
乾杯!
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Tonight's Whisky with Pip is the first in a three part tasting experience from New Zealand! I had a pocket full of NZ cash to spend on our last day in Dunedin and couldn't decide what to spend it on. I popped into a small liquor store and saw a Divergence whisky 3 pack tucked up on the shelf behind the counter. I asked the clerk how much and he said he wasn't sure. A quick call to the owner of the store paired with a little bit of negotiating, and the whisky came home with me to Colorado 😃.
This first 200ml sampling is Divergence Virgin French Oak Single Malt Whisky. This whisky is aged 4+ years in 50 and 100 liter Virgin French Oak barrels and bottled at 46% ABV.
Divergence hails from Christchurch, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Oddly enough, we never made it to Christchurch during our travels last year. We did spend a day hiking the crater rim around Lyttleton just south of the city though.
On the nose - sweet wood, fruit, and honey. No smoke or peat here. The taste is oaky and full of a toffee/caramel sweetness that is satisfying without being too overpowering. The finish brings in some earthy spice tones. On ice, the sweetness is toned down and cooled, but I think getting the full flavor in a neat pour is better in this case.
Bonus pics of the munchkins as always, along with a few snaps from our travels around the South Island.
Sweet as!
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Something a bit different. Special request from great customer and collector @mdnt_32 . He wanted a completely OEM restored intake assembly for his JDM Z32, and that is what he got. Retaining all the factory cooling circuits, replicating all the original finishes, and completely dismantling down to raw castings. These Z32 plenums are probably the most beautiful of the 90’s JDM intake assemblies in my opinion. #z32 #fairladyz #nismo #300zxtt #300zx
More weekend maintenance on the 34.
R35 door stop links and installed the rear Nismo/Yamaha performance damper. Front will be a bit more involved since I have to take the diffuser off and trim some carbon so that's still pending.
#bnr34
#nissanskylinegtr
#baysideblue
#nismo
#r34gtr
Shout out to @stgzila / @elevatedrecon for painting my Dolphin S2 grill, rear lip and rear window trims!
Did a bit of maintenance today. Finally installed my Stagea hatch emblem and replaced the rattling and completely rotten rear door speakers with a pair of new Rockford Fosgate 2 ways.
Next up - emissions, plates, then coilovers.
#stagea
#baysideblue
#nissanstagea
#rb25det
#advan
Tonight’s Whisky with Pip is a blend of two distinctive single malt whiskies from Nikka’s Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries. This is Taketsuru Pure Malt.
This whisky takes its name from the founder of Nikka whisky - Masataka Taketsuru, who was the first Japanese distiller to travel to Scotland and learn the traditional methods for making Single Malt Whisky. His life story is quite an interesting one, and the onsite museum at Yoichi does an excellent job of telling his story in chronological order.
I picked up this bottle (and a few others!) on my latest trip to Japan back in February. It was hard deciding which whisky to bring home, but I have had a couple different aged Taketsuru pure malt offerings before and knew this one would be a tasty choice.
The beauty of Taketsuru pure malt is that it isn’t a variety of blended whiskies, designed to be subtle and even. These are two already excellent malt whiskies, combined to create an even more intriguing mix of flavors not usually possible from one whisky.
Yoichi has a very coastal, salty, briney, and mildly peaty note to it, while Miyagikyo brings flavors of wood, fruit and spice to the table. Combined - you get waves of all of those. No single flavor stands out too strong. The nose is sweet and fruity while the taste is full of roasted malt. The finish brings in that coastal and peaty note to finish things off. Wonderful!
It’s been an unusually warm and dry winter/spring, the cats are already enjoying the outdoors in the evening.
乾杯!
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Always a good time supporting @denverramenfestival with a few JDM cars. Thanks to everyone who made it a fun event!
#bnr34
#nissanskylinegtr
#nismo
#denverramenfestival
#skylinegtr
Tonight’s Whiskey with Pip (yes, tonight we have an extra “e” in whiskey) is long overdue. While in Nashville for ZCON 2025 with @nsf3271982 I made a visit to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. This region of the US is steeped in distilling history and the legacy that Nearest Green and Jack Daniel left behind have shaped countless other distillers and whiskey sippers alike.
We’ve all had a shot or two of Jack in our days. I brought home a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select - a barrel selected by Master Distiller Chris Fletcher specifically for the White Rabbit Bottle Shop onsite. What’s different? This whiskey is sourced from a single barrel, aged in the upper floors of the barrelhouses where the temperature swings are a little more pronounced, and chosen for its unique character by the master distiller. This whiskey is then filtered using the Lincoln County process over sugar maple charcoal and bottled at 47% ABV / 94 proof. It's taken me so long to sit down and write this review, I’ve almost finished off the entire bottle across several evenings of enjoying it.
The result is a more complex and intriguing take on the traditional Jack Daniel’s profile. The scent is heavy charcoal and sweet oak. Sipped neat, it has a nice balance of caramel sweetness, a little bit of lemony citrus on the sides of the tongue, and that unmistakable savory charcoal goodness on the finish.
For me, this whiskey really shines on ice. The lemony notes fade away, replaced by notes of light sugar and vanilla sweet cream. There is still a little sour mash touch that hits the sides of the tongue, but not in a bad way. The finish is nice and smooth, with a little bit of baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom…) in the mix.
As for the distillery? There’s a reason Jack Daniel’s is famous. The tour is fantastic. The tasting is fantastic. The entire experience is well worth the trip, even for someone who prefers malt whisky over Tennessee Whiskey or Kentucky Bourbon. Highly recommend if you’re ever in the Nashville area!
Cheers!
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