About Us/Contact Us

Castle & Cairn is a personal blog first and foremost.

It is a reflecting place and online journal. Who am I?

I'm Josh. You can find me on X/twitter as @Joshdebiers. I live in Georgia, am a CPA, and have worked for consulting houses like Deloitte and PwC. During the day, I stay busy with projects ranging from management consulting to analytics development. Looking to get in touch? Send me a DM on X or submit the contact us form below! For group tastings and composite reviews, there will be a variety of visiting contributors.

Interests

Beverage: Anything in a cup. From Bourbon to coffee and tea, I'm a big fan of liquid luxury on a budget. I have tasted and ranked more than 600 distinct beers and was a community ambassador for some Budweiser family brands. In terms of whiskey business, I am a certified Bourbon Steward.
Gaming: What could be better than having your friends at your fingertips every day? Video games have long been an important part of my friend group. From Call of Duty to Deep Rock Galactic to Sea of Thieves and many more, I view gaming as a way to bring people together. In terms of entertainment per dollar, video and board games provide huge value. I stream very occasionally and you can find me as "MuggleJosh" on Twitch. My favorite types of games are FPS and Open World RPGs.
Lifestyle: Balance in all things. I was taught to cultivate a "Renaissance" mindset and I strongly believe that anything can be interesting provided you know enough about it. Lifestyle is my catch-all category for the things that make life most enjoyable.

Product Reviews - If I find something I really like or don't like, I'll let you know.
Recipes - I love cooking and grilling. Most nights you can find me by the grill or stove.
Reflections on News - I'm naturally interested in technology and current events, particularly the overlap of the two with business. Find some hot and cold takes here.

A glass of whiskey sits on a stone wall overlooking a green field in the old country

Approach to AI Generated Content

I believe that human generated content is critical to the future of the internet and continued functioning of society. At work, I utilize traditional machine learning models as well as generative AI to accomplish a variety of tasks. After more than three years of working with these tools, I can tell you that they are fantastic for many use cases, but still significantly prone to error. While AI tools may be used to create some of the images on this site and language models may be used as research aids, all text on Castle & Cairn will be human generated. For review articles, look for a verifiably authentic header photo of questionable composition (likely my living room) as a stamp that the bottle or item in question has indeed been sampled.

Approach to Editorial Integrity

In the event a product is provided for free in exchange for a review, no preference will be given to the providing party or manufacturer. These circumstances will be disclosed in the relevant post. Opinions and analysis will be genuine and free from modification other than verifiable corrections of fact. I will wait a little while before reviewing it as I likely will be overly excited that someone has sent me something.

Behind the Name

Why Castle & Carin? Cairn is fairly straightforward as it is the back half of the now prolific Glencairn drinking glass popularized in the early 2000s for tasting and assessing whiskey. Castle comes from my natural disposition as a homebody. I do enjoy traveling but there's just something different about being at home. It's the environment most cultivated to your enjoyment. It's a place to host parties and be generous with friends. It's a hierarchy need and the single most worthwhile investment in yourself, a nice place to live. In 1644, English judge Sir Edward Coke was quoted as saying, "For a man's house is his castle". The overlap of the two concepts gives me a cozy overall vibe. I like to think of my ancestors in Ireland and England home amidst solid walls on a drizzly cold day.

Contact Us

🥃📰 First Look: NEW Old Fitzgerald 7-Year Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

In a TTB filing , Heaven Hill soft announces a new Old Fitzgerald edition whiskey: Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year Bourbon. The Old Fitzgerald decanter line has long been a coveted edition, but low supply and high demand means that it is terribly hard to find, particularly for anything close to suggested retail price. Official press from the distiller has not yet occurred, but we have put together the following details. About Old Fitzgerald From Heaven Hill's wheated mash bill (68% Corn, 20% Wheat, 12% Barley), the Old Fitzgerald decanter series is a Bottled-in-Bond offering released twice annually. This mash bill is also likely shared by the Larceny series of products, all aged in #3 char barrels. Old Fitzgerald Decanter Series Old Fitzgerald 7-Year Bottled-in-Bond credit @Bourbonconky posted on X.com by Bourb Your Enthusiasm The new product will have a seven year age statement, and per the bottled-in-bond act will consist of bourbon produced by Heaven Hill wit...

🥃Review #30: Kirkland Bourbon Casked Rum XO

XO stands for "Extra Old" but how does this bottle of Bourbon Casked Rum from Costco's Kirkland Signature line measure up? 📚 Background: Finished in used Cognac barrels, this bottle is a product of Guatemala, imported for Costco by MISA IMPORTS out of Dallas Texas. MISA, named after the founder's children Michael and Sarah, started primarily as a sourcing partner for fine wines, but has since expanded operations into sourcing spirits. MISA's rum brand partners include 1731 , Autentico Nativo , and Navy Island. We would have to guess the maker if not for the back label which clearly identifies one Olivier Dumont, Master Blender. Mr. Dumont works for Les Bienheureux , a French company growing at an alarming rate that has both a foothold in French Whisky and Costa Rican Rum. Les Bienheureux is the company behind "El Pasador De Oro " (roughly translated as "Gold Pin") which has two widely available iterations. The XO version retails for $46.99 a...

🍺🍷🥃 Beer, Wine, and Spirits Rebate Website Master List

If there is anything I love more than a good drink, it's saving money buying that good drink! The rules for providing discounts on alcohol differ substantially between states with some allowing outright discounts or coupons and others entirely disallowing any sort of purchase incentive. Thankfully though, in my native Georgia as well as most states, a simple reimbursement approach is permissible. Alcohol Rebate Site Master List The following sites are relatively stable for each manufacturer. New offers usually come out every few months. None of these are affiliate links and I provide no assurance as to the process. I have saved so much money using rebates and hope you have similar success. Best practices and general process advice will be presented at the bottom. New sites will be added as I uncover them. Beer Rebates Boston Beer Company Brands - Angry Orchard, Dogfish head, Hard Mountain Dew, Samuel Adams, Sun Crusher, Truly, and Twisted Tea. Some brands may not have active...

🥃 Review #40: Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024)

Like Costco's other Scotches, the Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt is bottled for Alexander Murray and imported by MISA Imports after being distilled and aged in Scotland (TTB.gov plant registry TX-I-1277). The isle of Islay is one of the southern most islands in Scotland and is one of the five whisky regions ensconced in law. There are only nine active distilleries on the island, and the Islay style is typified by strong peat or smoky flavors. As a single malt, we know that the juice in this bottle comes entirely from one of those nine! All of the distilleries are significantly smaller than Glenlivet and many of the mainland producers. Taste testing has people split between Caol Illa, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), and Bunnahabhain as being the source. Caol Illa and Laphroig both have done deals for private brand scotch without rights to name the source distillery, but Laphroig does not match the flavor profile for this bottle. Realistically, Caol Illa is the most likely cand...

🥃 Review #43: Jim Beam Black Label 7-Year Bourbon

Upgraded in both age statement and reasonable proof, Jim Beam Black Label has a new label to match the reinvigorated specs as of 2024. Bourbon stocks have been under pressure for around a decade, but exploding producer capacity has finally caught up just a demand begins to lag. As always, the brutality of supply and demand can have some upsides, and this is bottle is one. Prior to 2015 Black Label actually had an eight year age statement. Perhaps we'll see it again if trends continue. From a design perspective, this bottle joins Jim Beam Double Oaked, Devil's Cut, Special Releases , and Single Barrel at the premium end of the Jim Beam range, billed as an affordable step up from a litter of flavored versions of the iconic white label. 🛒 Sourced: $27.99 - Total Wine, GA - 750ml, also commonly available in 1.75L in the low $40s. I actually grabbed a gift set which included two lovely little rocks glasses for $3 extra. Black Label is about $10 more expensive than...

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