Are we finished with "finishes"?

[Bev D. Blackwood II]

Sorry to chime in late... :-) My profession is now brewing beer and  
that leaves precious little time for everything else I participate in!
----
My personal "loss" from the proliferation of "finishes" is the  
Balvenie Classic (in the still-shaped bottle.) I have about 3/4 of a  
bottle of that remaining and it's my "go-to" malt for those who love  
sherry in their whisky, even over various Macallans.  All of the  
newer Balvenie offerings cannot hold a candle to it.  They lost the  
work of art for a handful of coins there, IMO.
However...
I have had an exceptional Calvados finished Imperial from G&M and  
have several other "finished" whiskies in my library that I return to  
again and again... (I still have the 17 YO (and the "evil" 18)  
Cadenhead Talisker sherry finish I enjoy and the original rum- 
finished Springbank is a taste i will never forget!  (Haven't clooped  
the recent version of that yet...)
What really gets me upset is to walk into a retailer and see 10 Isle  
of Arran offerings.. differing ages, finishes and strengths.  To me,  
the beauty of the distiller's art is finding the flavor you want and  
then perfecting it.  That's what I try to do every day at the  
brewery.  Yes, you can do "special editions" but they shouldn't  
become a way to occupy more shelf space on a nearly permanent basis.   
More often than not, I see these finishes as a means to disguise  
flaws in the original dram or enliven a boring whisky and charge a  
premium besides.  I trust some distillers and IB's more than others  
to bring something worthwhile to the table in this regard, but I've  
also been burned by some with "finishes" that "finish" my interest in  
their product.

-BDB2

Bev D. Blackwood II
http://www.bdb2.com



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