I felt the need to do this post as soon as possible, since this will be the first Single Malt Scotch post I’ll be doing. For today’s little post, we’ve got a classic, The Macallan 18 Year Old Single Malt.

For lack of a better picture since I had mine at probably the best bar in the Metro (The Distillery, with branches at Burgos Circle, Jupiter St., and Eastwood City). I had mine at the Burgos Circle branch. It was quite a quaint set-up, 2 floors, the first one had the best collection of imported beers I’ve seen so far and a Single Malt collection that made me tear up inside because of the variety. The Eastwood branch has around 2-3 walls lined with it, but for purposes of ambiance, this set-up was already quite appreciated.

Without much to think about, I proceeded to the bar with my friends and looked at their selection. I decided upon this, the 18 Year Old Macallan and, in the spirit of tasting, chose to drink it neat. 

(You gotta love the personally marked glass, and the fact that they used this kind, perfect for tasting notes and what have you).

So, after the gentleman at the bar poured me my glass of Scotch, I decided to proceed with the tasting.

(I’ve always wanted to do this).

There’s a reason why this Scotch is quite dear to me. I love how the scent of sherry and spice defines it (Nose). Palate wise, it’s a bit fruity, with a creamy feel and, as said, the sherry and spice feel remains. It was also quite sweet (Taste). IIf I could give just one word to define the finish, it’d have to be Smokey. Or maybe Smooth, whatever floats your boat, but they definitely define the finish. 

Overall, this Scotch is truly commendable. In the tradition of how Whisky is scored on a scale of 0-100, I’d rate this bad boy at a solid 92. It’s something I’d love to have again, sans the price tag, but I guess you pay for the satisfaction it gives you, and believe me, I got a real kick out of it.

Till next time, this is Rye, signing out ;)

Over a cup of some nice (and ridiculously underrated) 3-in-1 coffee, I’ve decided to just sit back and finally put something into this hibernated wilderness I call a blog. Looking through some old files, I remembered how, a few months back, me and my buddies decided to kick back after a long day of school work and grab some good old fashioned chicken wings.

It had been a particularly long day and going somewhere far was out of the question. Lucky for us, we all happened to live near a joint that served, quite frankly, the best Chicken Wings in Metro Manila. People who’ve read my 1st post will know I’ve been raving about it excessively, but that’s what you get when you’ve got good food. We went to, you guessed it, Charlie’s Grind and Grill. 

I find it funny that I’ve been there over dozens of times and I still forget to take a picture of the sign, so I might as well just skip ahead to the food. First up, we’ve got an appetizer made for real men. Charlie’s Chili and Cheese Fries were a massive discovery for us. This was going to be my first time to try it but, as fate would have had it, it did not disappoint. 

(Just look at the overflow of chili and cheese, and the fact that they use REAL potatoes. That’s a real appetizer.)

Next up on our menu was the ever enduring, always delicious, and terribly addicting Angus Burger. This wonderful, P175 (P195 if you want fresh cut fries) burger has been a staple of my diet for more than a year already, and given that I was already there, I might as well…

(Seriously, how can you not fall in love with the pickles, patty, cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce, and to top (or bottom) it all of, a pair of soft buns. That’s the stuff.)

And now, the main event: Coming in at a dozen pieces, with a hotness rating of 7/10 (literal hotness, they’ve got 2 more levels after this one, but more on that later), introducing (or re-introducing for that matter), THE CHARLIE’S DOZEN HOT WINGS!

(This beautiful dozen is at the Hot level. The wings are currently available in Sweet Honey Dijon, Hot, Nuclear, and, the mysterious “Punyeta” sauce. You can’t make this stuff up.)

Of course, what would be a complete meal without something to help pour it all down. On this day of all days, I encountered a very interesting beer with a very interesting name. It was on this day that I met…The Arrogant Bastard.

From the moment I poured some of it into a glass and noticed its nice brownish hue with a hint of orange (A), I knew I was on to something big (or maybe the name gave it away, take your pick.)

(Accidentally placed it beside a bottle of Corona. The actual bottle is behind it.)

Moving towards the scent and the taste, it gave quite an impression. Some fruity scents, and a nice kick of malt and hops, it was a pleasant surprise to finally have tasted something quite full of flavor (S & T). Body was at medium, with quite a nice level of carbonation (M). 

Overall, this beer was quite the experience. Among the beers I’ve tried, this one was definitely one for the books (D). Placed among the fine spread of delicacies and the fact that this was truly one of a kind, I can safely say that this beer gets the first (but hopefully not the last) A-grade among the beers that I’ve had. 

To cap off a hell of a night, and an even more awesome memory, this is Rye, signing out ;) 

Lingering around the super market at 6PM (because I was bored to death), I came across one of the more popular offerings at the liquor section. 

Lo and behold, it was a bottle of Asahi Super Dry. My buddies and I had a bottle of this a few weeks back and after much thought, I decided to see what it would really taste like at a regular chilled temperature (Drinking beers “below zero” compromises the taste, though that isn’t to say I’m not a fan of the whole “BBZ” craze. On the contrary, I’m quite the fan of the product.).

After around 2 hours in the fridge, I took it out and brought it up to my room for the tasting.

One thing I immediately noticed was how the bubbles and foam disappeared almost as quickly as when I poured it into the bottle. It’s got a nice golden/amber hue (A), with a very tamed scent, if to give a better word for weak (S), quite dry, it lives up to it’s advertising, with a slight taste of rice (akin to some really bad bottles of souju) and a bit of carbonation (T/M). Overall, it’s a pretty run-of-the-mill beer, nothing really special about it.  I’ll be a bit more generous and grade it a C (At best, the Beer Advocate dudes have quite their opinions on this). 

Till next time fellow enthusiasts and experimenters, here’s Rye, signing out ;)

The FIFA World Cup.

Defined as: An event held every 4 years (at the chagrin on many an impatient viewer) which unites countries from all across the world to antagonize each other and put on extensively long football games with commercials as long as the fields football players play on. There is usually a host nation (who, despite much hype, ends up with a lower rank than usual) and a favorite (who, around 80% of the time, gets into the finals). There are also (at press time) psychic animals of unknown power (the enigma that is the 50-50 ratio) and bitter citizens and leaders of nations who are more than willing to send their gracious players to coal mines and the proverbial wall of shame.

Date: June 25, 2010

Location: Somewhere in the Metro.

Log: On a cold night, 3 men made phone calls to each other on a very urgent matter. Portugal and Brazil were going to face off in a World Cup match, and it seemed like an interesting way to pit a Colonizer (Portugal) against its former Colony (Brazil).

With much haste, the men met up with beers in their hands and chicken wings on their plates. And thus, the night began…

My first bottle of Stella Artois. Nice lighter than amber hue, bordering towards yellow (A). Grains, slight scent of citrus (S). Sweet for a lager, crisp (T). Lighter than expected, quite smooth (given the 4 degree temperature of the beer) (M). A pretty satisfactory beer. I was expecting something a little more…surprising, if you will, given its popularity around the world, but I guess I should have kept the hype lower than what my bar was raised to (D). 

My personal love affair with this establishment began with their Handcrafted Burgers. A year later, I discovered their buffalo wings, and the rest…is located below.

We start out with the veggies, the most common of appetizers for wings. They came with a bleu cheese dip which I was too distracted dipping on to take a picture of. 

The package = Neat, without any sauce spills. Definitely not wrapped as though the person was in a hurry. It was truly prepared.

Probably one of the best buffalo wings I’ve ever tried. Compared to an establishment I tried around 3 days before, these wings were comparably juicier, and definitely bigger. Tangy without the overly spicy kick, as well as a generous portion for the price we paid, these wings are truly winners in our book. 

The night ended in a draw for the football teams, but the 3 guys definitely came out winners with the selection of treats above. 

Stella Artois = B-, B

Charlie’s Buffalo Wings = B+, A 

Hoping you enjoyed this column, please feel free to comment on this article (especially since this was my first attempt at one). 

Till the next escapade, this is Rye, signing out.

What I’m about to do is nothing new.

Our fast paced society dictates that one way or another, something weird/crazy/stupid comes into play. It’s a simple matter of patience that is taken into consideration before the aforementioned happens.

Blogging in general isn’t anything new. I’ve made 4 different blogs over the past 6 years that reflected what I felt were things that resounded in my daily life. But in all honesty, it was bullshit.

So instead, I’ll be writing about food (like the hundreds more out there) and drinks (which kinda mixes and matches with food) to make this funny little thing called WhiskyBurgerBeer, my three personal vices (mostly found on crowded streets and rundown grocery stores). Mostly a collection of my random encounters with these three, I’ll also be adding up trivialities of whatnots and something to do with drunk invertebrates on Sunday mornings.

And me? I’m just a bored individual trying to get out of this boring rut called life.

Welcome to the party.