Videos

Open the Bottle - Laphroaig 16 year old single malt whisky. The world of whisky is vast but there perhaps no flavor more recognizable in that world than peat. It's polarizing and I don't think one aquires a taste for it. You like it or you don't and boy do…

Open the Bottle - Devine Winery and Distillery's Quarter Cask Ancient Grains whisky from Canada uses unique grains to create the mash bill for this 90 proof whiskey. Distilling from a mash of BC barley, spelt, emmer, khorosan and einkorn, said to be the ancestors of all modern grains and…

Back to the Bottle - Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon - everybody is toasting. This bourbon starts off life as Elijah Craig Small Batch but then spends some time in a toasted barrel. Does it matter? Well, it's different than regular small batch and, at least for a while, it…

Back to the Bottle - Barrell Whiskey Private Pear Brandy Finish. Kentucky whiskey, finished in pear brandy casks. This one has its ups and downs but overall, it ticks 3 of Dan's 4 keys for tasty whiskey so it is a winner ... if you give it the time it…

Open the Bottle - Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrel is a wonderful, if underappreciated, single barrel offering from one of the great distilleries. I can't understand why people chase Blanton's at its ever-climbing price when this wonderful bourbon can be had anytime for less.

Dan and Mark exchange blind samples from each other's whiskey shelves and engage in glass to glass combat in a Blind Shelfie Throwdown! Who will emerge victorious? Who will score the most points by unlocking the details of whiskey style, proof, distillery, and the exact bottle? Well, probably neither one…

A Valentine's Day, Special Edition Open the Bottle with a 2019 Ardbeg Supernova Committee Release. There wasn't supposed to be any more Supernova releases from Ardbeg after 2015 but nothing is for sure in the whisky world I guess. After running across this bottle in the store of a friendly…

Back to the Bottle - Knob Creek 15 year old Limited Edition that we really hope becomes a standard offering so we made up a story about it doing just that. If you like Jim Beam and Knob Creek bourbon, it's hard to imagine you won't love this release. On…

Open the Bottle - Copper Sky Private Barrel Pick 7 year, 8 month old MGP Bourbon. Uncut and unfiltered and pretty tasty. Whatever you call them, private selections, store picks, single barrel picks, it's fun to try something a little different even from brands or distilleries we're really familiar with.…

Back to the Bottle - Blue Note 10 year old private barrel bourbon, store pick from Spirits, Wine, Provisions in Arvada, CO. Dan comes back to a bottle he liked when he opened it. Distilled in Tennessee but not quite as Dickel as one would think, it still carries the…

Back to the Bottle - Wild Turkey Rare Breed, barrel proof bourbon at 116.8 proof. After having a bottle a few years back that wasn't wonderful, I'd stayed away from Rare Breed bourbon but I'm really glad I found my way back. This bottle of whiskey is fabulous!

The pandemic is changing how we relate to all sorts of life events, hobbies, and other things we perhaps took for granted before. Has the isolation changed how you enjoy your whiskey? It sure has changed our relationship with the spirits we love to drink. The most beautiful part of…

Open the Bottle - Barrell Bourbon EWS #2 Club Pick 14 year old Tennessee distilled whiskey. Oh boy! If you like George Dickel whisky, and I do, you'll love these Barrell Bourbon releases and private picks that originate in Tullahoma, TN.

Special Edition Open the Bottle: Dan gets in the game - Blue Note 10 year private barrel pick. Dan turns the camera on himself and a lovely bottle of 10 year old Tennessee whiskey from Blue Note in Memphis, TN. This is Dan's first solo video but certainly not the…

Back to the Bottle - Barrell Dovetail is Indiana and Tennessee whiskey finished in rum, port, and Dunn Vinyard cabernet barrels. After becoming frustrated with poorly finished bourbon and rye whiskeys, Dan and Mark left them alone for a year or so but this release from Barrell pulled us back…

Open the Bottle - Wild Turkey 101 Rye Whiskey. A staple on our shelves, tasty on its own, and an excellent choice for Old Fashions, Manhattans, or any cocktail calling for rye whiskey. At around $40 for a liter, this rye whiskey is a solid choice when you're ready to…

Back to the Bottle - Stranahan's single barrel, cask strength, single malt whiskey. This store pick, single barrel expression of Stranahan's is quite different from its standard offering sibling. Deeper, richer flavor with much more going on. Is it the cask strength or that someone at Total Wine just picked…

Dan and Mark talk about starting The Practical Still in 2020 and what's coming up in 2021. There will be guests on the podcast and new topics for the YouTube channel too. There will still be lots of whiskeys but maybe some rum and tequila too. Any spirits are fair…

Not Whiskey - Rebel Yell 10 year single barrel and 15-month-old egg nog. What do these two things have in common? Well, I thought so poorly of the Rebel Yell bourbon, I used it in an egg nog recipe. 15 months later, it has redeemed itself by contributing to a…

Back to the Bottle - 1792 Full Proof Bourbon Whiskey. Oh man, this whiskey is stupid hot. Maybe every bottle isn't like this one but it's just so hot it is really hard to taste any real flavor. Is a 125 proof whiskey that drinks as if it's 1,250 proof.…

Open the Bottle - Glenmorangie Lasanta 12 with my mom. My mom watches all of my whiskey videos which makes me smile. We live far apart these days so it's heartwarming to know she's watching me sip on and ramble on about whisky. She's not unfamiliar with whisky having drunk…

Open the Bottle - Bunnahabhain 12-year-old, Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Somehow, we just stopped opening bottles of Scotch whisky. I don't know why or how, it just happened. So, it's time to get back to good single malt whisky and reacquaint ourselves with the category. Bunnahabhain is a great…

Back to the Bottle - 2019 George T Stagg from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection - Practical? How can anything from the BTAC be practical? Well, it can if you can pay retail or close to retail for it relative to what else you can buy these days in the…

If you could only drink one brand of whiskey for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? You still have to pay for it and you're still subject to marketing conditions such as pricing and availability so if you choose poorly you may never again sip bourbon…