Whisky round-up

There's at least one place in the USA renowned for its Round-up, and that's Pendleton, Oregon. I've got two connections to Pendleton: 1) I love Pendleton wool shirts, and 2) I drink Pendleton whisky. Despite being from Hood River Distillers, the whisky is of Canadian origin. That's OK, I've come to appreciate the smoothness and sweetness of these multi-grain blends. Pendleton is crisp, spicy, aromatic, and a fine drink, though not a new discovery.

What's new, you ask? How about George Dickel Barrel Select? Wow--this stuff is rich and sumptuous. All the whisky coming from Cascade Hollow is high on my list, but this particular version is almost too good. They call it Tennessee Whisky but use the Scots/Canadian spelling. JD is the most famous of this type of spirit, but a side-by-side tasting with George will wean you off that slop for good.

The last stop on our round-up takes us across the Pacific. Japan produces some outstanding whiskies, the oldest being Yamazaki, first produced in 1924. Suntory has a range of ages and bottlings for Yamazaki, and we found one of their malts in our local liquor warehouse. It was excellent stuff. Sadly, I cannot remember which version we tasted--it was a birthday gift for my pal JCP--and I hope I can find it again. It was probably the 10-year old. Regardless, this is only the second time I've been able to taste a Japanese whisky and I hope to remedy that in the future.

That's it. Stay tuned for more!