Whisky Curator

A blog from The Broadfield Ale House's whisky curator, featuring news, reviews, tasting notes and other whisky related stuff... maybe a beer or two.

[whiskycurator]

The Arrogance of Youth

This week's topic of conversation, snappy titles aside, is that of young and no-age statement whiskies. So let us begin with the former - young whisky. With the (relatively) recent resurgence of scotch whisky and its growing popularity, there have been several new distilleries opened/reopened around the world. However, although reopened distilleries like Bruichladdich, Bladnoch, etc. can carefully release old stocks bought with the distillery, those who are brand new have no such option. So that leaves them with a couple of different options to monetise their whisky quickly; the most straightforward is to simply release young whiskies, many new distilleries have a significant investment and some money to play with and as such can spend the necessary bit extra to buy the best quality casks they can. By doing this, even after a relatively short time in the cask, the whisky can take on plenty of flavour and be ready to sell. Here are 2 of my favourites:

Kilkerran (Glengyle) Work in Progress #6 - Bourbon

The Glengyle distillery was rebuilt (from nothing, so is essentially a new distillery) back in 2004, and began distilling soon after. The name Glengyle is actually already trademarked by another company for a blended whisky, so the single malt from here is released under the name Kilkerran. Starting with a 5 year old released as a "work in progress", as the distillery builds up to a fully-fledged 12 year old, they have been releasing these gradual improvements over the years not only to drum up some enthusiasm for the 12 year old, but also to help bring money into the distillery along the way (12 years is a long time to wait with no money coming in!) This is the already sold-out 6th release, which came in the form of both a bourbon and sherry matured whisky, and it's getting ever closer to being a cracking 12 year old single malt

Nose: Warm, slightly spicy with ripe orchard fruits, green apple skins, and brown sugar.

Taste: Oily and nutty on the palate with some initially light spice notes. Apricot tart and toasted almonds, with vanilla custard. After a little while the oak spices notes develop a little more, bringing with them notes of sticky toffee and toasted brown bread.

Finish: Long, nutty and spicy. Sticky, cinnamon roasted nuts. 

Overall, this is a brilliant whisky in its own right, regardless of whatever its age may be. However, this is not a whisky that will continue to be released I fear, once their stocks are old enough it will disappear, barely more than a marketing exercise for the new distillery sadly. On the other hand, some distilleries that are doing essentially the same thing avoid labelling it in that way, which is something I rather like. Rather than painting the young whisky as somehow inferior to what will be the finished product, they proudly bottle it as a great whisky in its own right... so what if it's only 5 years old?

Kilchoman Machir Bay

This is one of the very best examples around of a young whisky. The current 2014 edition (pictured above) is a vatting of mostly 5 and 6 year old whiskies from bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks but earlier releases have been as young as just 3 years old! Named after the nearby beach on Islay, this youthful dram has a medium peatiness to it and a pleasant salinity which when coupled with the slightly aggressive power of such a young spirit makes for a delicious whisky!

Nose: Youthful, exuberant and just a little aggressive; this really jumps out of the glass at you, packed full of slightly medicinal peat smoke which makes way for a softer marmalade and vanilla with a briny background aroma.

Taste: The mouthfeel is oily and coats the tongue well, with the palate being surprisingly mellow for what the nose was. Well balanced fruit with a bourbon like vanilla and toffee flavour which is followed by the sherry influence of oak, pepper and Christmas spices. The smoke permeates throughout.

Finish: Long and spicy, with iodine and hints of chilli coated nuts.

Another young whisky that, in my opinion, stands up against any whisky that's ten years old or more. Another way round the problem of releasing young whisky is the use of smaller casks, usually quarter casks, which hold around 125 litres. These casks are significantly smaller than the hogsheads and butts usually used to mature whisky, and as such there is a much higher ratio of wood in contact with the spirit. This encourages flavours to impart into the whisky much quicker and effectively speeds up the maturation process. Laphroaig famously pioneered this idea with their quarter cask release, but there are other malts out there using the technique to great effect, such as:

Ardmore Traditional Cask

A firm favourite ever since my first time trying this whisky. Ardmore spend almost nothing on marketing or advertising, relying purely on word of mouth and reputation to get there product out there. They let the whisky do the talking, and it does rather a good job of it. The chaps at Ardmore make use of traditional methods all the way through the whisky making process, including the use of these quarter casks. The process isn't cheap, as hand-making these smaller casks takes time and expertise, but the result is a faster maturation in which a deeper, fuller flavour can be created in less time.

Nose: A classic, woody bourbon maturation on the nose with plenty of caramel, toffee, hints of vanilla and also an ever-so-subtle waft of peat towards the end.

Taste: More of the same on the palate, the bourbon influence is the star of the show, but now there’s an added malty flavour to the sweetness and the spicy character of the oak starts to show through just enough to begin to balance the caramel/vanilla/barley sugar with a little help from the gentle peat smoke.

Finish: Medium in length but full in flavour, the smoke continues to linger right to the very end, tying together a sort of greatest hits from the nose and palate, caramel and vanilla at first with barley and cereals following into a dry and slightly citrusy end.

Initially out of necessity, this expression remains at the heart of Ardmore's core range and doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon; testament to the quality that they've managed to achieve without the years.

Finally, perhaps the more important side of the issue, which is no-age statement whiskies. First and foremost, I will admit to perhaps being biased here, I have long been a fan of some no-age statement whiskies and indeed one of my all-time favourite whiskies (Ardbeg Uigeadail) carries with it no age on the bottle. Lately, The Macallan have been the ones stirring up controversy by switching to an entirely NAS range of expressions. Known as the 1824 series, the whiskies are identified solely by colour (gold, amber, sienna, ruby), not age. The idea being that if all the whiskies are sherry matured and of natural colour, then the hue would indicate the age. This also however, as critics rightly point out, means that they can put in younger (read: cheaper) whiskies in order to save money and charge the same. Both sides have a valid point here, and you'll never get anyone from Macallan to admit the latter, so I guess we'll never know. In the mean time though, we may as well drink it right?

The Macallan Sienna

So... all debate aside about marketing, money, value etc etc etc. At the heart of everything is the whisky. The Sienna is the upper end (but not the top) of the 1824 series, sitting a little below the Ruby. Roughly speaking... it weighs in roughly around what the much lover 18 year old did in terms of price and quality.

Nose: A big, rich and sweet nose. Candied orange peels with hints of vanilla, toasted oak and faint wintery spices all colliding together in one big bouquet.

Taste: A deep, thick palate of dark fruits, raisins and winter spices. Hints of peach melba, caramelised brown sugar and toasty malt sweetness all balanced by subtle notes of citrus oils and liquorice.

Finish: Long and fruity finish, which dries out with oak spices and nutmeg.

For my money, this is the best of the bunch in the new Macallan range, but the really important thing about it is the taste. This is a fabulous whisky, and at the price it retails for it doesn't disappoint! There's no room for snobbery here, there are plenty of great whiskies that are young, and some old, and some both. 

All in all though, despite it sometimes being a necessity for a new distillery to release a young whisky, sometimes it might be an established one looking to make more profit, let's not forget that whisky is still whisky. No distillery in their right mind would waste their precious young whisky - with all its potential - on producing a bad single malt.

In a business where reputation can mean everything, imagine if Macallan sacrificed all of their prestige, built over centuries, just in order to make a bit extra money! So although some young whiskies might be a bit too much for some to handle, don't overlook a whisky just because you don't know how old it is!

[whiskycurator]

Whisk(e)y and Cocktails night at The Broadfield

It's always nice to do something a little out of the ordinary from time to time, and the American whiskey tasting is always one of the calendar dates I look forward to most of all for this reason. The first time I ever did an American session I was unsure about what to serve with the whiskies when a colleague of mine started asking me about cocktails and it hit me... why not do cocktail matching? There's no science to it, make the cocktails with the whiskies and they'll go together just fine. In the end, my solution was to do a tasting of five whiskies, each paired with a classic American whisky cocktail.

America is the birthplace of the cocktail, so it seems a fitting theme for an evening drinking some of the whiskies that inspired their creation. The history of most cocktails, and indeed the topic as a whole is a little fuzzy; to the point where no-one is actually certain where the word itself comes from, but this is all part of the intrigue. Having already done cocktails once, this evening I decided to do the same format, but with a little twist on each one:

Old Fitzgerald 1849 with a Smoked Old Fashioned

Old Fitzgerald is quite simply one of the best value bourbons around, in the States you can pick up a bottle for just $16, but even over this side of the pond you can still get a bottle for around the £20 mark; and for an 8 year old bourbon as good as this, that's great value!

Sweet, sticky and with some lovely estery fruit notes on the nose before the palate delivers a good oaky spice character alongside. A good dollop of wheat in the mash bill gives a lovely smooth mouthfeel. For the cocktail I did a slight variation on the classic Old Fashioned cocktail:

Obviously I was preparing several cocktails to serve to a whole room, but you can just as easily make a single serving. To do so you will need:

50ml Bourbon (in this case Old Fitzgerald)

A sugar cube

3-4 dashes Angostura bitters

Orange peel

A smoking gun

An empty bottle

To prepare, put the orange peel in the bottom of a glass, with the sugar cube on top and then soak the sugar in the bitters and muddle into a pasty consistency. Next, add the bourbon and ice cubes and stir down for approximately two minutes, tasting as you go. You may need to add a little simple syrup or more bitters to taste. 

Once ready, strain the cocktail into an empty bottle, put a stopped in and give it a little shake to force the spirit through the smoke and take on some of the flavour. At this point, you can allow it to sit (as pictured) for as little or long as you like, depending on how smoky you'd like the drink. Think of it as a 1-5 star rating of smokiness, and leave it for 1 minute per star.

To serve, pour the cocktail into a fresh glass over a few ice cubes and then garnish with a flamed orange peel (there's no smoke without fire!)

Woodford Reserve and Barrel-aged Manhattan

Next up is one of my favourite bourbons that is easily accessible. Woodford Reserve is a small batch bourbon, unusually triple distilled and with a fairly high rye content which gives it a lovely spiciness.

A familiar bourbon nose of vanilla oak and toffee with faint spices and cocoa, followed up by a smooth palate full of toasted cereals, warming winter spices and ginger. The cocktail pairing for this was a barrel-aged Manhattan, which requires rather a lot of advance preparation but should you want to do so, the barrels I used are available here from Master of Malt and the recipe is as follows:

Using a 1 litre oak barrel, the first step is to fill it with warm water and leave to soak for up to 48 hours to expand the wood and make it watertight. After this, I filled the barrel with a bottle and a half of Punt e Mes sweet vermouth and left it to age for 2 weeks. This causes the vermouth to a) take on flavour from the barrel and b) oxidise slightly both of which give an added depth and complexity to the drink. 

After ageing the vermouth and decanting it back into the bottle, the next step is to put a Manhattan into the barrel. To do so you will need:

700 ml Whiskey (I used Woodford Reserve, but a rye like Rittenhouse straight also works really well)

150 ml Dry Vermouth (I prefer Dolin or Noilly Prat)

50 ml simple syrup (to counteract the bitterness imparted by the oak tannins)

The barrel used to age the Punt e Mes

Add all the ingredients to the barrel and swill around well to combine the liquids, then allow to sit for 6-8 weeks. Note that I have not yet added any bitters, this is because the flavour of the bitters is so powerful that if left to sit in a barrel for weeks with the other spirits it would end up overpowering them. The amount of time the cocktail needs to be aged depends on the barrel, climate, luck etc. so I say 6-8 weeks as a rough idea, mine took just under 7 weeks in the end. The best thing to do is to taste it once a week to see how it's getting on, then bottle it up once it tastes right.

To prepare the cocktail, what we've made here is a version of a perfect Manhattan, by using dry vermouth in the drink and maturing it in a sweet vermouth treated barrel. So, in a mixing glass put 75ml of the barrel-aged cocktail, 2-3 dashes of bitters and a spoonful of Benedictine (optional, if you have it, but it helps bring all the flavours together nicely). Then fill with ice and stir down to chill/dilute for about a minute. 

To serve, double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry or orange twist.

Blanton's Special Reserve and a Hot Mint Julep

I really love the idea behind the Blanton's range, named after Albert Blanton, the distillery manager post-prohibition, who believed that the centre of Warehouse H was the best place to mature whiskey at Buffalo Trace, and each year he would select a few casks to bottle as his private reserve to enjoy with friends and family. These days, this range does exactly that, picking casks from Warehouse H to bottle under his name. The "Special Reserve" of the range is the lowest ABV, at a standard 40% making it far more easy-going than some of the other single cask releases.

Dry and spicy, with some dried dark fruits and and hints of lemony honey, this is the perfect ingredient to make my hot version of the classic Mint Julep:

photo courtesy of Mashtun & Meow

Again, it's worth pointing out that the teapot and china are probably not necessary for making this drink at home, they were more for the theatre aspect of cocktail making. This drink is a great alternative to a hot toddy or buttered rum on a cold or rainy day. To make the demerara syrup simply put 100g brown sugar and 75ml water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer to dissolve all the sugar, then allow to cool and store for up to 4 weeks.

To prepare a single serving you'll need:

1 Peppermint tea bag

125 ml Boiling water

35 ml Bourbon (Obviously I used Blanton's)

20 ml Demerara syrup

Sprig of fresh mint

Brew the teabag in 125ml boiling water for 3-4 minutes (in a teapot if you have one/want to) and then add the bourbon and demerara syrup and stir to combine.

To serve, pour into a teacup/mug, give the mint a gentle slap against your hand or hard surface to release the aromas and place into the drink.

FEW Rye with a Whisky Sweet 'n' Sour

FEW spirits are a relatively new outfit, based in Evanston, Illinois - the spiritual home of prohibition. The name is actually based on the initials of Francis Elizabeth Willard, a key figure in the temperance movement. This is 70% rye, 20% corn and 10% malted barley, which gives flavour, mellowness and complexity respectively.

Surprisingly fruity on the nose and palate for a rye whisky, this is a peppery and syrupy whiskey with a spicy kick from the rye and a although pretty young, it has great depth from the malted barley. This mixture of flavours makes it a great ingredient for one of my favourite classic cocktails, the whiskey sour... or at least a version thereof.

This variation on the classic sour is made in two parts, the cocktail and the foam. So to prepare the foam you'll need:

A cream whipper

3 Nitrous chargers

4 egg whites

40 ml fresh lemon juice

25 ml simple syrup

37.5 ml Krupnik honey vodka

Sprig of rosemary

Strip the leaves from the rosemary and steep them in the honey vodka for a few minutes (you can give them a gentle muddling to get things going). In the meantime, separate the egg whites and put in the cream whipper with the lemon juice and sugar (We want the foam to be sour, but the sugar is necessary to stabilize the foam). Once the rosemary has infused enough, remove the leaves and add the infused vodka to the other ingredients. Shake hard and then charge twice with the nitrous oxide, shaking in between charges, then refrigerate for a few hours.

For the cocktail:

50 ml whiskey (I find that rye works best with its herbal notes)

12.5 ml simple syrup

2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for 15-20 seconds. To serve, half fill an empty glass with the foam and then slowly strain the cocktail into it, so that it takes on some of the flavour. The foam will remain on top and separate so long as you pour reasonably slowly. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary, and spritz with chartreuse or absinthe as you ignite (pictured above). This is a little bit of razzle dazzle for the audience, but doing so singes the rosemary ever so slightly to give off a wonderful herbal aroma. The experiences all combine as you smell the chartreuse and rosemary, drink through the airy, tart foam to sip the cold, slightly sweet whisky underneath. My personal favourite of the evening.

NB - if you haven't got a cream whipper, you can use a stick blender like an aerolatte to whip up and emulsify the egg whites, but you'll have to drink it a bit quicker as the foam won't be as stable.

High West Campfire with a Deconstructed Rob Roy

The story behind this whisky sums up for me the romantic aspect of making and drinking whisky. Distillery manager David Perkins was staying on Islay in a B&B near Bruichladdich, and had breakfast one morning of melons with a peaty whisky and honey syrup drizzled over. It was a revelation to him, that delicious peaty whisky with sweet honey and fruity flavours. Inspired, he headed home and set about blending bourbon, rye and Islay whiskies to create this stunning blend.

Sweet, syrupy fruits balanced by rye spices all play a part in this fantastic whisky, with the subtle touch of Islay adding wonderful complexity to the palate without overshadowing anything. It does however give enough of that Scotch flavour to make a great base for a Rob Roy... albeit a strange one!

The Rob Roy was created for the grand opening of the film of the same name in New York and is, essentially, a Manhattan cocktail made with Scotch rather than rye/bourbon. This cocktail is also made in two parts, and it's a little long-winded but for those who'd like to know I've written the recipe below, I was making very large cocktails for people to share, but also to show off the suspended pearls in the drink. This recipe will make an appropriate single serving, maybe in a test tube?:

For the sweet vermouth caviar (makes enough for 4-5 cocktails):

100 ml Sweet vermouth (I used Martini Rosso)

1.2 g Sodium alginate

200 ml water

2 g Calcium lactate

Stick blender (like an aerolatte)

Syringe

Whisk the vermouth whilst slowly adding the sodium alginate through a sieve and blend until fully hydrated (about 5-6 minutes) then allow the sit for a while in the fridge. Prepare a calcium bath by whisking the calcium lactate into the water until dissolved. Then fill a small syringe with the Martini alginate and carefully drop it into the calcium bath one drop at a time. As they contain alcohol, the caviar pearls will need a little time to "cook" so leave them in the bath for a couple of minutes.

For the cocktail:

50 ml Whisky (I really liked the High West in this)

12.5 ml simple syrup

3-4 dashes Angostura bitters

0.1 g Xanthum gum

Blend the ingredients just like before, be sure to sieve the Xanthum otherwise it will clump together, until fully combined. You will know it's ready because the air bubbles created by the process will remain suspended in the liquid (as will the vermouth pearls later, which is the point of the xanthum gum). In order to remove the air bubbles, you need to vacuum the liquid to boil them out (if you don't have a vacuum machine, you can leave them in, it's purely for aesthetics).

To serve, carefully add ice to the cocktail and stir to chill, then strain into a champagne flute or test tube. Then strain the vermouth caviar and rinse in water before adding 15-20 pearls to each drink. Give the drink a quick stir to distribute the vermouth evenly throughout and they should remain there in suspension (as pictured above).

And there you have it! 5 cracking American whiskies and 5 exciting cocktails to try out with them! Thanks for reading.

[whiskycurator]

In praise of: Food matching

Over the years I must admit I've fallen in and out of love with food matching and whisky. When I first started doing tasting sessions I religiously served various food pairings with each whisky, and although some worked really well, I felt others were a bit contrived and at the very least, unnecessary. So for a while I dropped the idea altogether and provided themed snacks. Then after just over a year I went full circle and began creating pairings at home, designed to match the whiskies and now I can't imagine not doing it!

Of course I'm not suggesting that everyone should be cooking up a few amuse bouche at home every time you fancy a dram, but it's definitely an interesting new way to enjoy whisky from time to time. Today's article is all about food matching and how it works, not so much from the sciency perspective but more a layman's guide to the topic.

In my experience, there are three different ways to pair food with whisky: contrasting flavours, complementary flavours and masking flavours. The first of these methods is the most effective in many ways, as it can be done with most whiskies, and is an interesting experience for the palate. For example:

Glen Elgin 12 year & Goat's cheese

This is a fantastic whisky and food pairing, and brilliantly simple. The Glen Elgin 12 year is a classic gentle and aromatic Speyside malt, with lovely honeyed notes to it. As many may well be aware already, honey & goat's cheese is a fantastic combination, with the sticky sweetness of the honey balancing the slightly piquant sharpness of the cheese. The same effect can be achieved by pairing a sweet, honeyed single malt with a bit of goat's cheese (although you may want to drizzle a little honey  on as well just to give the brain a head start). In fact, I would argue that the alcohol bite of the whisky adds to the effect and improves the experience. This works with most of the sweeter bourbon-matured Speysiders, although I find Glen Elgin to have a faint herbal/heathery note in the background which brings yet another level of sophistication to the pairing.

The next option is a little more challenging, but worth trying in order to really get the most out of your whisky drinking, especially for those just getting into the drink. In order to do this, I find that the best results are achieved using higher quality and complex drams. This is because they tend to have greater depth, and more flavours to play with. By identifying one of the more subtle flavour notes from the whisky's palate, then picking a similar food pairing, upon revisiting the whisky your brain and senses are more in tune to those particular flavours and so the effect is to lift them from the background and push those more interesting notes to the forefront of the palate, allowing you to taste a new dimension to the malt. For example:

Highland Park 18 year old & Tiramisu

This is a nice pairing to illustrate the thought process behind this style of food match, using the coffee flavours from the tiramisu to lift the delicate nutty espresso notes that lurk in the background of the Highland Park 18's incredibly sophisticated palate. The fact that the coffee flavour is delivered in the form of a creamy dessert means that although it draws your olfactory senses towards the coffee notes, it doesn't end up overpowering the whisky, instead just pointing you in the right direction for you to find and taste it yourself... which makes it just a little more satisfying!

Finally what I think might be the most interesting way of pairing food, and simultaneously the simplest method, is to use what I've dubbed 'masking flavours' for want of a better phrase. The idea behind this is almost the opposite of the previous method whereby you take a predominant flavour of the whisky, and pair it with similar food. What happens here however is rather than the food helping to accentuate that flavour, it hides it. Because that particular note is already very pronounced, after tasting the food, your brain returns to the whisky and is now associating the taste with the food you ate, when you drink the whisky your senses practically ignore it in the whisky and it allows you to focus on the more subtle notes that were previously obscured. For example:

Kilchoman Machir Bay & smoked salmon

A classic whisky pairing this one, to the point of it being almost clichéd, but with good reason. Kilchoman's core expression, the Machir Bay, named for the nearby beach is a wonderful young and peaty whisky. Combining a dry, slightly medicinal smoke with its youthful aggression the resulting single malt is a fabulous and exuberant dram worthy of recognition. However, in this context, what we're focussing on is the smoky nature of the spirit. Just as some people may want to add a little water to their whisky in order to subdue those phenols and taste beyond them, a similar result can be achieved with an appropriate food pairing; like this smoked salmon. Once the smoky notes from the salmon have passed over your tastebuds, upon returning to the Machir Bay, when those powerful smoke notes appear your brain thinks to itself "no, that's the smoked salmon I just had, ignore that" and tries to focus on the flavours behind it, allowing you to appreciate a new range of flavours within this fabulous single malt.

Of course the potential food pairings for various whiskies are practically infinite, but these three examples are easily sourced in shops and ready to go should you fancy hosting a whisky themed dinner party perhaps, or just wanted a snack with your nightcap!

[whiskycurator]

A (whisky) trip around the world

The 'World' category is currently one of the fastest expanding areas of whisky both in terms of production, popularity and now quality. Countries you wouldn't normally associate with its production are now not just producing whisky, but fantastic ones at that! Take for example the Tasmanian whisky, Sullivan's Cove, whose French Oak cask was just named the best single malt in the world.

Proponents such as Dominic Roskrow have dubbed these 'New World whiskies' in a nod to the new/old world wine tradition. But unlike wine, these whiskies should be treated almost as a different spirit. In the same way that you wouldn't compare Scotch to Bourbon, you should treat these whiskies as their own unique drink. To paraphrase Dom at a tasting of his I once attended: "You can make whisky in one of two ways; you can try and do it like the Scots... and you will probably fail because you can't do it as well as them, or you can make it your own way, using local production methods and ingredients to create a unique but authentic whisky."

This pretty much sums up the idea of world whisky as we know it today, just as Islay is known for it's use of abundant peat, or the lowlands were known for triple distilled, delicate malts, hopefully these countries will one day be known for their idiosyncrasies in the same way.

Here are five of my personal favourites from around the world:

Bain’s Cape - South Africa - 43%

Distilled at the James Sedgwick distillery in Wellington, South Africa, this is a single grain whisky named after the man who built the first road there. Full of that fresh character that grain whisky gives, but surprisingly robust given that it’s a no age statement grain whisky. This deservingly picked up the best grain whisky prize at last year’s world whisky awards.

Nose: Full of fresh grains, toffee and Madagascan vanilla pods with subtle oak and nutty notes to boot.

Taste: Huge bourbon influence, continuing from the nose with toffee, vanilla and sugar-coated almonds. In addition, there’s new flavours of citrus zest and candied peels with just a hint of coconut.

Finish: Surprisingly long and a little fruity, dries out after a while leaving behind peppery oak and spices.

Filliers’ Goldlys 12 year old Amontillado finish - Belgium -  43%

From the Filliers’ distillery in Belgium, best known for their fantastic gins, this is labelled by them as a “double still whisky”, as it’s a mixture of grain and malt whisky from both pot and column stills. Similar in style to Irish blends, but utilising a wider range of grains; a particularly prominent rye spice character and the amontillado finish gives this a full and rounded flavour.

Nose: Spicy rye jumps out of the glass, carrying with it toasted oak notes of caramel and vanilla with subtle hints of sherry and dark fruits.

Taste: Sweet and richly sherried palate, full of wintery spices and dark fruits. Toffee apples and fizzy cola bottles bringing just enough sweetness to offset the slightly herbal flavour.

Finish: Medium length, but quite full. A little bit spicy and slightly sweet. Almost like brown sauce.

Discovery Road Smile - Dutch Rye - 46%

From world whisky writer Dominic Roskrow’s Discover y Road range, showcasing what he’s categorised “new world whisky”, from countries you wouldn’t normally associate with single malts. This rye whisky from Zuidam distillery in the Netherlands is a superb and really interesting whisky, my personal favourite from the  Discovery Road range.

Nose: Reminiscent of Irish pot still whiskey as much as rye at first, a gristy, cereal body to the nose with vanilla toffee and pine sap. After a moment the rye makes itself known in the form of dried apricots and nutmeg.

Taste: Creamy and well rounded mouthfeel, peach melba, toasted oak and spicy rye all play a part backed by a subtle liquorice note.

Finish: Medium long, and proving its rye spice credentials throughout. Dusty mulled wine spices and toasted oak linger.

Amrut Fusion  - India - 50%

So named as it is produced using a combination of Indian and Scottish malted barley – a fusion of countries as it were. Jim Murray named it his 3rd best whisky in the world in 2010, and it’s easy to see why. Between its Indian climate maturation and 50% ABV, it’s a hugely powerful and rich whisky which boasts great value for its modest price tag.

Nose: Big, heavy and creamy nose full of barley sugar, rich oak spices and a gentle peat and citrus note.

Taste: Lovely and full palate, rich oak spices and ripe fruits dominate initially, followed by the peat which brings with it bitter cocoa powder and a slightly herbal flavour as well.

Finish: Very long, hot finish with big spice notes and a lingering citrus sweetness.

Spirit of Hven - Sweden - 45%

Named Dubhe, after the second brightest star in the Big Dipper constellation, this is the first even Island single malt from Sweden, Hven is just off the coast, between Sweden and Denmark. Matured in a combination of American, Spanish and French Oak this is a rich, deeply complex and totally unique whisky not to be missed!

Nose: Syrupy and yet dry and spicy at the same time. Bursting with vanilla, red apples, cherries and oak notes. After a moment or two in the glass a soft smoke aroma develops, with a hint of liquorice.

Taste: More of the vanilla and orchard fruit notes from the nose, alongside more subdued and gentle spices. The smoke flavour is a little drier and grassy now, offsetting a creamy milk chocolate and raisin sweetness.

Finish: Long and peppery finish, still some sweet and brown sugar lingers, but dried out by spices and oaky tannins.

All in all, I'm completely sold on the idea of 'New World' whisky. Each of these is just one of many fine examples of the spirits coming from countries like these and more. Whilst I'm not going to say they're better than Scotch whisky... that's precisely the point. They're not better, they're not worse, they're differently delicious!

[whiskycurator]

In Praise of: Blends

I know, I know, I know... Blends?! Cheap, rubbish whisky that needs to be drowned with coke to make it palatable? No, I'm talking about the other kind...

Let’s begin by addressing the stigma surrounding the word ‘blended’, which is somewhat of a dirty word to some in the whisky world. This isn’t entirely unfounded, but it is often wrong nowadays. The origins of this stigma stem from many places, but probably most importantly is simply the ubiquity of blended whisky worldwide. This has caused many people to assume that blended whisky is an inferior product, because there’s more of it and it’s generally cheaper than single malt. Whilst this is indeed true in many cases, the fact is that Scotch whisky as we know it wouldn’t exist without these blends. Today, over 90% of all Scotch whisky made goes into blends but a few decades ago it was around 98%.

The practice of blending whisky originated in earnest back in the early 19th century, around 1820, and was done originally to disguise the often unpleasant taste of the rough/raw whisky being produced at the time. In 1853 and then 1860, parliament passed acts that paved the way for the vatting of malt whisky and cheaper grain whisky, allowing better quality blended products to be produced. The use of grain whisky helps make the product cheaper, and malt whisky gives it more complexity and interesting flavour. There are also blended malt whiskies, which contain no grain, just single malt whisky, which tend to have more body and complexity to them.

Another important thing to remember, with a few exceptions (such as single cask bottlings), is that all whisky is blended. Single malt whisky means that all the whisky in your bottle has been produced at the same distillery, but as for the spirit itself it can be made up of countless different casks, vintages, ages, maturation methods. So for every single malt whisky you buy a bottle of, the distillery’s master blender has spent years, sometimes decades perfecting that particular blend, and works to maintain that same style/flavour and even colour year after year for that expression!

So when somebody makes a blended whisky, they usually have every bit of expertise as the blender at a distillery, but with a larger palate to draw flavour from; which is why some blends can achieve great complexity and depth, or be designed to be easier going and more accessible and anything in between. Here's a few of my favourites:

Compass Box Great King Street Artist’s Blend

Named after the address of their Edinburgh headquarters, this is the perfect place to start off with the world of whisky, and a great example of the art of blending. Designed to appeal to both connoisseur’s and newcomers/cocktail drinkers alike, this is one of Compass Box’s many great blends, making use of the best quality casks.

Nose: Sweet vanilla and dried fruits up front, followed by toasted cereals, marshmallows and a little citrus.

Taste: Soft and creamy, yet surprisingly rich. On the tongue there’s a showing of wintery spices before returning to a more familiar fruity flavours. Touches of marzipan and delicate floral notes add to a remarkably complex palate.

Finish: Long and fruity finish which leaves behind biscuity sweetness and a touch of spice.

Haig Dimple 15 year old

Founded by John Haig in 1824, a descendant of Robert Haig who holds a claim to operating the oldest ever whisky distillery and was once reprimanded by the church elders for distilling on a Sunday. Haig dimple is one of the most recognisable brands in the world of blended whisky, with its distinctive “pinch” bottle. Benefiting from a higher malt content than most blends, and with the extra maturity of this 15 year old expression, this is a really full-bodied blend with great depth of flavour. 

Nose: Rich spice and caramel erupts out of the glass with faint notes of stone fruits and vanilla.

Taste: Smooth and beautifully balanced, porridge with a drizzle of honey. Hints of toffee and just a whiff of smoky spices.

Finish: Relatively short, but big finish full of buttery fudge and oak.

Blue Hangar 9th Release

The 9th and most recent in Berry Bros & Rudd’s fantastic Blue Hangar series of blended whiskies. Named after William Hangar, the well-dressed lord of Coleraine who reputedly had a penchant for wearing blue, this latest expression sees a little turn away from its predecessors by downplaying the sherry cask influence and adding a little peated whisky.

Nose: Vanilla, roasted almonds, orange peel and a delicate peat-smoke with just a hint of stewed fruits to perfectly balance the nose.

Taste: Full bodied, and with a surprising sherry influence, the palate is bursting with fresh fruits and a little citrus followed swiftly by a warm spice character from the European oak.

Finish: Long and spiced, black pepper and sweet fruits just about push through the smoke.

Ballantine’s 17 year old

Not only was this Jim Murray’s best blend in 2010, he named it the overall best Scotch whisky in 2013! The Whisky Exchange describe it as a true testament to the art of the master blender, it’s appreciation like this that stands as proof of the quality of this blend.

Nose: A deep and complex nose with rich vanilla oak and a touch of smoke; after a moment there’s espresso coffee and a dark fruit/pedro ximinez sherry note.

Taste: Full-bodied and sweet at first showing lots of honey and vanilla fudge which is then balanced by oak spices and citrus with just a touch of anise.

Finish: Long, sweet and fruity with a little dry spice.

Big Peat

What was, until recently, referred to as a vatted malt; this is a blend made up entirely of Islay single malt whiskies, no grain in sight. From Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore and even Port Ellen, this blend punches well above its modest price tag! Bottled at 46% but also without any chill filtration to maintain all those pungent, costal notes Big Peat is surprisingly easy to drink and wonderfully well crafted.

Nose: Fresh and ever so slightly vegetal, hints of dark chocolate and ground coffee with an oily nuttiness… oh and a little peat.

Taste: Like smoking chimneys at the seaside; coastal saltiness, wintery spices and freshly cut grass. Quite straightforward but superbly balanced to reign in that huge peat flavour.

Finish: Long and phenolic, bonfire ashes, sea salt and liquorice. 

[whiskycurator]

A little travel blogging

No, not that kind of travel blogging. Whisky blogging... but whilst travelling. The reason for this being that I happened to be popping through the duty free shop when I spotted some of Laphroaig's PX cask finish whisky. This was recommended to me a while back by a few fellow whisky lovers but I'd never had a chance to try it until now.

But before I share with you the details of this wonderful whisky, it's worth taking a moment to look at the strange world of travel retail exclusive whiskies. Many people who've been through a duty free shop may have noticed that all the whiskies are usually found in 1 litre bottles, rather than the traditional 70cl ones. What people may not notice however (unless they're very keen indeed) is that many of the whiskies on offer in those duty free shops are not available anywhere else. These are known as TRE (Travel Retail Exclusives). The idea being that distilleries release certain products, usually ones that are a little bit out there, that are only available for purchase in selected travel retailers like duty free shops in airports.

This is a practice that has passed me by for the most part of my whisky drinking life, until I dawned on me that not only am I missing out on certain whiskies... but great ones! Turns out the travel retail market is actually rather lucrative, and everyone in the whisky world loves "exclusivity", so brands are competing all the time for this market, and as such are putting forward some of their best and most innovative whiskies for it.

Malts such as Highland Park's 'Warrior' series, countless Johnnie Walker exclusives, Talisker's 'Dark Storm' - to name but a few - are all only available to people passing through airports. Which seems a little unfair.

But enough moaning, because I went through an airport and bought a litre of THIS:

You'll notice the 3 glasses, because I like to share :)

This whisky has no age statement on it (something which still draws a little suspicion from me) because it's quite young, and instead matured in quarter casks, which accelerates the ageing process in terms of extracting flavour from the wood, but doesn't hide it's youth. The resulting malt is rich, powerful and with a great depth of flavour, but also has a bit of a bite to it.

Nose: Big, rich sherry aromas try to hide that famous Laphroaig peat smoke but after a moment it bursts through, bringing with it touches of citrus peels, aniseed and dark fruits.

Taste: Now the peat comes to the forefront, hinting at the classic medicinal TCP smoke we all expect, but thanks to the PX finish it's now much darker and less acrid. The dark fruits from the nose return, but sweeter and chewier.

Finish: Long, smoky, spicy. Everything you could want/expect from a PX finished Laphroaig.

All in all, fantastic. Forget about being exclusive to duty free shops, forget about the no age statement and quarter casking and just focus on drinking a cracking single malt. It's almost a shame winter is coming to an end, but next October a bottle of this will be the first thing on my shopping list.

[whiskycurator]

Shiny new whiskies!

Hello there! Today's post is rather mundane at heart, there's a new batch of whiskies on our bar at The Broadfield which is hardly of interest to people who've never been or don't live locally. However, the upside of this is that they are 5 of the best whiskies I've put on this wonderful back bar, so I thought I'd share them here as well as with customers

Ordinarily I would go the traditional left to right in this picture but I just can't wait to talk about that Caol Ila 18!

I've been after a bottle of this for over a year now, ever since I first visited the wonderful Islay. On a VIP (oooh get me) tasting session at the distillery, we were told that we wouldn't be tasting this particular vintage because they'd run out. "Run out?!" we all thought, "...don't you make this here? Store this here? Go find a cask and get me some!" Of course we didn't say that because we're all terribly polite, but then the folks in the gift shop elaborated on the issue; they had none in stock... anywhere. They'd phoned all their friends at Diageo and asked if any bars were hoarding a few cases they could buy back, but to no avail. This whisky was just sold out... everywhere. "Why is this?" I wondered, as I perused the whisky list in the pub near our hostel; which is when I spotted it, Caol Ila 18 year old - £8.00.

Well... it would be rude not to. It was then that I realised why this was sold out everywhere I went.

Nose: There's a good strong influence from the cask up front, a sweet vanilla and orchard fruit smell erupts from the glass and carries with it lemon drizzle cake, marzipan and a pleasant nuttiness. At first there isn't too much smoke, but after a little while in the glass it really starts to show through, that classic Caol Ila fragrance of oily, dry, herbal smoke.

Taste: It's almost the reverse of the nose, at the start it's full of peaty smoke and nuts, although a little spicier this time and that's followed by the soft citrus flavours. After a moment is when you begin to taste the wood again, plenty of caramel and vanilla which is just the right amount to balance the smoke and citrus.

Finish: The finish is all about the smoke for me, once that bourbon fades from the palate, the smoke lingers on for ages and really has a chance to shine. As the alcohol dies off the smoke seems much softer, ever so slightly sweet with a malty ovaltine-esque flavour that peeks in just before the grass and iodine take over again.

I was very surprised to be able to get hold of a bottle of this for the bar from Master of Malt, and less than a week later I've noticed it's sold out again... of course. But at least we all know one place we can go to try it right?

Hazelburn 12 year

Another whisky I've been hoping to get onto the bar for a while. From the Springbank distillery, this is their triple-distilled and unpeated expression that stands alongside the heavily peated Longrow and the half-way Springbank.

Nose: A prominent aroma of sherry flavours, in the form of dried fruits, wintery spices and toffee.

Taste: It's still sherry on the palate, but different this time. Much richer and bursting with more spices, hazelnuts and mocha. Towards the end there's a subtle and gentle hint of smoke.

Finish: Dark chocolate and coffee continue through to the finish with a nice oaky dryness that helps it along.

All in all, a lovely and light, yet incredibly rich single malt. Sure to be a hit with fans of Irish whisky.

Glenfarclas 105

It's a cask strength Glenfarclas... need I say more?

...ok.

Nose: Hugely rich and heavily sherried, full of depth with toffee, cinnamon and hazelnuts.

Taste: An explosion of sherry oak spices and rich creamy nuttiness leading into dried fruits and christmas spices.

Finish: at 60% ABV it's long and peppery, with an oily nuttiness that lingers.

Overall this is a cracking cask strength dram, and for the money I reckon it might be one of the best value whiskies out there!

Ledaig 7 year single cask

Produced at the Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig is the original name of the distillery and is given to a range of experimental whiskies (usually peated) which are distilled at Tobermory and then stored for maturation on nearby Islay. This particular one is from the same range as the incredible Glenburgie 21 (pictured above, and tasted here) from the chaps at Master of Malt, and this single cask is just as good!

Nose: Peat… wait, let me get that right… PEAT. Plenty of it, a really rich, tarmac and iodine peat as well, filling the nostrils along with barley and a little sea salt.

Taste: Much sweeter than expected, with a bit more showing of the malty, oaty flavour. A bit like porridge with a drizzle of honey, and the peat is still there, just as rich as the nose promised. It coats the mouth well, and has an incredible depth for something so young, you really wouldn’t believe it’s just seven years old! 

Finish: A pretty long finish, partly due to its whopping 61.9% ABV, which doesn’t fade out, it stays just as big and as rich as before. A really powerful whisky.

I personally very rarely add water to whisky, but with this being so peaty and strong, I imagine many would like to, and a few drops really helps to soften the peat and bring out those sweeter honey/malty notes, but for me, I can’t understand why you would want to do anything that jeopardised that glorious peaty flavour!

So there you have it, 5 brand spanking new and utterly delicious whiskies. If you’re reading this and you do live nearby then pop down and have a taste of one of them… or all of them… or one of the other 150 knocking around, you can’t go wrong!

[whiskycurator]

The joy of single casks

I've previously mentioned (several times) my love of drinking cask strength whiskies, which I shan't bore you all with again. If there's anything better than a good cask strength whisky, it's a good single cask whisky. A single cask whisky is one that is bottled from just one cask. Whereas most single malt whiskies are a vatting of many different casks from just one distillery; they could be different types (bourbon, sherry, etc) or different ages but as long as they were made at the same distillery, the resulting blend can be labelled as a Single Malt. 

But a single cask whisky is the whisky that comes from just one barrel. Part of the appeal of this is that it is about as close as you can get to tasting a whisky straight from the barrel at the warehouse itself, which is quite a nice romantic idea. On a more geeky note, it's fascinating to try single cask whiskies in general, but particularly from distilleries you're familiar with. Some bottlers (Douglas Laing's Old Malt Cask range springs to mind) like to select specific casks that house a whisky with a different style than the distillery's typical style. 

The other reason I like to try single cask whiskies, is they're all different (obviously). You could try two single cask whiskies of the same age, distillery, wood, even the same spot in the warehouse and although they might be similar, they'll each have subtle differences. One of the wonderful things about whisky is how complex it can be, the depth of flavours on offer are staggering. Yet when the whisky you're tasting is made by blending together hundreds of different casks to achieve a certain flavour profile (which is a masterful art in itself) there's very subtle flavours, unique to each cask which will be lost in that massive vatting.

So thank the whisky gods the chaps at Master of Malt stopped this one going into a bottle of Ballantine's blend!

Glenburgie 21 year old single cask

Very rarely am I blown away by a whisky like I was with this one. It's immediately intriguing on the nose, but without being weird or unpleasant. All the flavours and aromas are familiar, and so well balanced you can't stop sniffing it... and then people start to give you funny looks.

Nose: Where to begin? there's a sweetness to the nose, but it comes in different forms, initially it's a malty/cereal sweetness which  makes way for ripe fruits; peaches & cream. Very subtle oak notes of vanilla sweetness... marshmallows?

Taste: The palate follows on nicely from the nose, with more sugary cereal (do they still make frosted shreddies) but a more pronounced wood influence. There's still some vanilla, but this time backed up with cinnamon, dark chocolate and hints of coconut.

Finish: Long, thanks to it's straight-from-the-barrel 56.9% ABV, but not to harsh. The chaps at Master of Malt reckon it's "Toast with a thin layer of marmalade" and I don't think I can put it much better than that.

Surprisingly easy going despite its strength, it takes a little water quite well, subduing the sweetness a little and bringing out citrus and a little more spice, but in my opinion doing so takes away from the whisky's unique character. 

With or without water, this is an absolutely cracking example of what single cask whisky should be, and I might even go so far as to say it's the best whisky I've had so far this year*

*The Ardbeg 1977 has remained safely on the shelf since December 24th 2013

[whiskycurator]

Thank You!

This is just a quick post to say thank you to everyone who's read and enjoyed this blog over the past 6 months. I've been short-listed for a UK Blog Award in the food & drink category, and it's mostly down to you guys so I just wanted to say thanks, I really appreciate it.

[whiskycurator]

Happy (not so) New Year

With Christmas finally over, there's talk everywhere of "dry January", "dryathalons" and what not.

So in the spirit of this... here's some whisky:

Well let's kick off 2014 with a bang shall we? With Ardbeg 1977.

I’ve often thought Ardbeg’s Uigeadail to be the most beautifully complex whisky in the world. Powerful yet delicate, strong yet subtle, but this is probably even better. Released in a very limited run between 2001-2004 there is not a drop of this vintage spirit left in the distillery’s warehouses which is part of what makes it so rare. Jim Murray described it as “simply one of the greatest experiences.” It's easy to see what he means!

Nose: Absolutely unparalleled complexity: at first it’s sweet, with toffee and fudge but accompanied by a delicate peat, rich dark cocoa and cigar smoke. After a moment or two there’s hints of citrus peels, but also a gentle oak influence in the form of spices, eucalyptus and ever-so faint traces of almond and vanilla.

Taste: Incredible. Peaty, but very smooth and velvety; the mouthfeel is big, rich and chewy. Full of sweet and smoky flavours in perfect balance, milk chocolate and liquorice at first which is backed up by delicate floral and parma violet notes. After a second or two on the tongue there’s candied citrus peels which have just enough sharpness to cut through the sweet smoke and bring with them a slight bitterness in the form of cocoa powder and espresso coffee.

Finish: Very long, as you might expect. That scented smoke doesn’t go anywhere, from beginning to end it ties all the flavours together, as it just begins to fade it allows one last glimpse at chocolate and oranges.

Now for the bad news, the price. Due to its aforementioned rarity, bottles of this sell for around £500, although you can sometimes get lucky at auctions (that's how I got mine).

So who wants to really treat themselves in the new year?

[whiskycurator]

In Praise of: Cocktails

I've previously spoken of my respect for the art of cocktail making (see: http://whiskycurator.tumblr.com/post/59908879007/in-praise-of-the-manhattan) and with that in mind, I thought why not branch out from the classic whisky cocktails I've covered in previous posts and do something completely new? In the coming months over the winter the weather's going to get a chillier and the nights are going to get longer. And what drink is better suited to warming you up over winter than whisky?

So to warm you up over winter in the coming weeks I'll be experimenting with some whisky based libations you can make at home (depending on the size of your liquor collection). The first of these is one that I've been pondering for a while, as I've lately been fascinated with the use of teabags in cocktails; this one utilises chamomile tea to lift the herbal flavours of the chartreuse alongside the spicy rye component of the cocktail. I called it the chamomile manhattan... not sure if I like the name yet but I definitely enjoyed the cocktail.

This cocktail's had a fair bit of reworking over a couple of weeks, and I'm now finally happy with it, all except for the lemon twist garnish, I added it mostly for aesthetic reasons and whilst I stand by the decision to garnish the cocktail, I would recommend not expressing the oils over the drink, which is unnecessary because the drink is already sharp without it. Apart from that however, I'm a big fan of this cocktail now it's been refined, it's the sort of whisky cocktail I'd order in a bar, because in the same way I like to take my time enjoying a good whisky, I like a cocktail to be complex enough that it can be appreciated slowly over several minutes. Here's my recipe:

25ml Rittenhouse 100 proof rye whiskey

17.5ml Pedro Ximinez sherry

10ml Demerara syrup*

5ml Chartreuse

2 dashes angostura bitters

1 chamomile teabag

*I was a little bored, so took the time to make up some rich (1:1 sugar:water) demerara syrup, but you could substitute with normal gomme, just use ~15ml instead

Put the teabag in a boston shaker, add just a cm of boiling water and gently muddle it to get the flavours out. Once done, remove the tea bag and add the other ingredients and stir down to taste and double strain into a chilled martini glass.

If you want to garnish it (which I almost always do) I would recommend using something simple like a lemon twist, but don't express the oils over the drink, because the bitterness of the citrus will unbalance the drink.

If anyone makes one of these at home I'd love to hear your thoughts/variations on it, or alternatively find me on a quiet night (if there is such a thing at this time of year) and order one.

Enjoy!

[whiskycurator]

In praise of: Japanese Whisky

Japan is currently the 2nd largest producer of single malt whisky in the world. The first whiskies produced in Japan were around 1870 but it wasn’t till the mid 20s that commercial production began. There are 2 men credited as the founders of Japanese whisky; Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru. Torii was a successful importer and wholesaler of pharmaceuticals, moving into wine and liqueurs and founder of what would later become Suntory. He opened the Yamazaki distillery (Japan’s first) in 1924 and employed Taketsuru as a distillery executive.

Masataka Taketsuru’s family owned a sake brewery, and in 1918 went to Scotland to study at Glasgow University; the first Japanese man to study whisky production in Scotland. He studied chemistry at Glasgow and trained as a blender. Living in Campbeltown and working at the Hazelburn distillery, he eventually returned to Japan where he was hired by Torii where he worked before setting up his own (Nikka) distillery in 1934.

It is these influences that have really shaped Japanese whisky as we know it today. People like Taketsuru’s fascination with – and respect for – Scottish whisky meant that Japanese whisky was essentially an effort to recreate those Scotch whiskies but in Japan. Thusly, whilst Japan has none of the official laws governing the production of whisky, by and large the distillers tend to abide by them anyway. Japanese whisky’s recent success has been incredible. 2008 really marked the beginning of an era in this respect. At the 2008 world whisky awards, Japanese whiskies took both the top prizes: the world’s best single malt whisky and the world’s best blended whisky. Then in 2011 and 2012 it did the same again, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that Japanese whisky is a force to be reckoned with, not just a poor imitation of ‘proper scotch’.

I recently did a Japanese whisky tasting, complete with home-made sushi pairings and I thought I’d share some tasting notes here.

We started off the evening with the Hibiki 12 year, which I've spoken about before on this blog, and the mind boggling level of commitment that goes into this blend. In Japan, as there is only really 2 major distillers, there is no cooperation between companies for blending, meaning that a Japanese blender has nowhere near the variety in their palate to create that someone doing the same thing in Scotland would have. So instead, for this particular blend, Suntory distil and mature over 30 individual whiskies, solely for the purpose of creating this blend. Just take a moment to think about the amount of effort there - 30 whiskies! - just for an entry level blend!

Every time I tell somebody about that, it still surprises me. The end result though, makes all that time and care well worth it, because this might be one of the best blended whiskies in the world, especially in its price range.

Nose: Tons of tropical fruits, backed up by citrus in the background. Hints of spices – cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice.

Taste: A very soft & light mouthfeel, honey and vanilla at the forefront with surprisingly almost no tropical fruit from the nose. Underneath there’s a subtle berry/peach note.

Finish: Long and clean. Initially a rather sweet finish, which after a few seconds gives way to a spicy, peppery taste which lingers.

We tasted this alongside some tuna, wasabi & pickled ginger Nigiri, the softness of the tuna meant that it didn't steal the show from the Hibiki, and the ginger matched up with the spices and tropical fruit pretty well, I was rather wimpy with the wasabi dosage as it turns out, but it's always better to be safe than sorry in that situation!

Next on the evening's line up was the Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt 12 year old, another top notch blend from the other big whisky company in Japan. Named after the distillery's founder and father of Japanese whisky, this has a lot to live up to!

Nose: Fruity and floral are the bulk of its nose, but very identifiable notes of vanilla and butterscotch permeate, with a hint of almond

Taste: Really fresh & sweet green apples and a little spice, making way for a little more malt and cereal character as it develops on the palate, accompanied by more of those almond and butterscotch notes.

Finish: Medium-long, dominated mostly by the apples and vanilla/oak tastes but with a pleasant salty hint towards the end.

A really good blend, although I sometimes feel it doesn't quite stack up against the Hibiki 12. We tasted this with tuna, chilli & spring onion makizushi. The hint of chilli in the sushi really helped cut through the cereal sweetness of the whisky, and the salty flavour from the seaweed played off really well with the finish.

For the halfway mark I brought out a Japanese whisky that I feel is often overlooked by many people - Hakushu 12. I don't really understand why, but very few people buy this whisky in our bar, perhaps because it's the same price as the far better known Yamazaki 12, or because at roughly £5 it sits in that odd bracket for most people of being above entry level but just shy of what you'd consider a 'premium' price point? For whatever reason, as I say, this single malt in sadly neglected by many, despite it's wonderfully unique softness as a result of it's altitude and granite/alpine water source.

Nose: Fresh and grassy with a little sweetness and nuts in the background.

Taste: Clean and crisp, loaded with orchard fruits at the forefront, but eventually making way for barley and buttery biscuit sweetness that blends superbly with the light smoky character.

Finish: A softly spicy and slightly sweet finish. Quite dry, but still smooth.

This came alongside everybody's favourite pairing for the evening which was a king prawn, cucumber, chilli & lemon zest gunkan maki. The flavours of the sushi were really well suited to the whisky, and I also think this was probably by best (certainly neatest presentation!) sushi of the evening.

Now we're onto the penultimate dram it's time to bring out the big guns, the Karuizawa Spirit of Asama. It's difficult to describe in words the feeling you get when you take your first sniff of this whisky in the glass, it's massive and it hits you straight away, eventually mellowing just a little, but it's a uniquely powerful whisky this one.

Nose: Some of the usual suspects for a sherried whisky, brown sugar, dark fruits etc. But with an earthy and almost leathery character. An interesting wine-like note in the background – a really intriguing nose.

Taste: A big punchy mouthfeel with more of the winey and dry sherry tastes; plenty of the classic fruitcake flavours with a bit of ginger and subtle peppery notes after a few seconds.

Finish: Long and extremely satisfying oak, but without the dryness. Makes you want more and more.

We tasted the Karuizawa alongside a Lapsang Souchon smoked salmon Makizushi, with ginger, chili and spring onion. These went great with the whisky, the smokiness of the salmon was lessened just eough by the other ingredients that it didn't overpower the malt, whilst the heat from the ginger and chili complimented the whisky's bite nicely.

Last... but quite the opposite from least was the Yamazaki 18. This might be one of the best whiskies not just out of Japan, but ever. It is absolutely stunning, and has picked up double gold awards at most major spirits competitions since 2008, with very good reason!

Nose: A very soft, rich and pleasantly woody nose with hints of orchard fruits, sherry and citrus all beautifully balanced.

Taste: Wonderfully complex, the palate has a medium body which starts out earthy and dark, developing to dark chocolate and sherry before revealing flowery citrus and fruit towards the end.

Finish: A good, long finish full of ripe fruits.

For this last whisky, being so special, I tried to make a bit of an extra effort. We drank this with a morsel of cured mackerel nigiri. The mackerel was cured for 36 hours in a mixture of sushi vinegar, rice wine and sugar before being sliced, brushed with wasabi and laid on a cube of sushi rice. This was probably a close second of the evening for my favourite sushi pairing, the saltiness of the mackerel was balanced by the sweet vinegar of the rice, which created a great balance to really taste both the fish and the whisky together beautifully.

All in all, we had a great evening, and I would thoroughly recommend having a dram or two next time you get a sushi takeaway, but I would under no circumstances suggest that you attempt to make your own sushi. The 5 dishes for this tasting took me a total of 7-8 hours to make, and cost roughly the same amount as buying twice as much from a restaurant!

But if you're feeling adventurous and you'd like any tips or recipes for the sushi mentioned in this post feel free to get in touch!

Sayōnara.

[whiskycurator]

'Tis better to have loved and lost

It's about that time of week again, when the weekly food shop yields only eggs, bacon and a bottle of great value single malt. This week's is from a slightly less prominent distillery, but one that I and many others hold in quite high esteem: Fettercairn.

I'm not sure how to feel any more. Just six weeks ago I was lamenting the phasing out of Fettercairn's Fior bottling, which is a wonderful whisky packaged in a very elegant bottle. When I first saw this new expression on the shelves I decided I disliked it for no particular reason, assuming it stood no chance of being as good as the Fior.

I stand corrected. Named for the country estate that the distillery is built on, this is their latest unpeated regular bottling and it is absolutely superb. I've long been a fan of Fettercairn ever since I first tasted the Fior at work over a year ago; then at the whisky show in 2012 I had a chance to try a 40 year old expression, which to this day remains one of the best whiskies I have ever tasted. So I'll take this opportunity to apologise to owners White & Mackay for not trusting their new release to be just as good. Another no age statement whisky, there's definitely some well aged whisky in here but a good youthful component adds a bit of exuberance.

Nose: The nose is rich and treacle like at first, but after a moment or two in the glass begins to reveal a more subtle spicy character reminiscent of the Fior, with orange peel and toffee. What sets it apart is a more prominent aroma of espresso coffee.

Taste: A good full body to this, with a smooth and chewy mouthfeel. The palate is all about subtlety and complexity. At first it’s full of dark chocolate and spices; cinnamon and nutmeg in particular. Then after a few seconds on the tongue it develops orchard fruits and citrus, ripe pears and orange with lemon zest. Finally, that rich espresso coffee the nose hinted at wafts in towards the end to provide a bitter balance to the fruit and toffee.

Finish:  A good long aftertaste on this, as it evaporates off the tongue leaving behind sweet vanilla and toffee with a spicy kick.

Purchased on offer from Tesco for £25, this normally retails around £33.50, but having tasted it I can say I'd happily pay full price for this whisky. I'll be sad when the Fettercairn Fior is eventually phased out of existence, but fortunately I'll have something to drown my sorrows with!

[whiskycurator]

The whisky show 2013

Well well well... where to begin? This show is one of the highlights of my year and I suspect a lot of other people's year; where the best and brightest of the world of whisky gather at The Whisky Exchange's impressive Vinopolis centre in London to show off and sample their wares. 

I was one of the lucky people to get a ticket to go down and drink an awful lot of delicious whisky at the show, which there just isn't time or space on the internet for me to write about it all, but I do have a few highlights of the show. I apologise in advance for the sub-par phone photography that follows, although it's a good game to guess which order I drank these in based on how blurry the photos get!

My first stop of the evening was a happy little accident, I was intending to make a bee-line for Number One Drinks' stand to try some special Karuizawa's, but on my way there I happened upon a barrel with a couple of Americans showing off some whiskey - one of whom turned out to be Ralph Erenzo, one of the distillers at Hudson whiskey! This is a brand I've been interested in ever since it arrived in this country a couple of months ago; the first legal distillery in New York since prohibition, and the first ever in Manhattan, their baby bourbon is cracking stuff and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a taste of the Rye and 4 grains as well:

Manhattan Rye

This is a lovely example of how good a small batch, 100% rye whisky can be. Packed full of that distinctive rye spice note, alongside biscuits and ripe fruit that provide the sweetness to balance it... Very nice, I can see why it's Ralph's favourite!

Four Grain Bourbon

Another top notch bourbon! This time made up of a mash bill of wheat, corn, rye and malted barley. There's a definite rye presence on the nose, with a cereal sweetness too and on the palate it's very dry and spicy for just a moment before a toffee sweetness washes over to bring balance. It also takes water really well, bringing out the sweeter fruit and vanilla flavours.

Right, I thought, let's not mess about here because I don't want to miss out on those Karuizawas...

...so I ended up at the Diageo stand, and I'm immediately intrigued by this weird gyroscopic bottle of Johnnie Walker Odyssey

Sadly I'm struggling to get the video of it spinning from my phone onto this blog, but I think you get the idea. With a price tag of £600, I do have to wonder how much the actual liquid itself is valued at! While I was in the vicinity, I felt it would be rude to leave without trying a few of their offerings wouldn't it?

Johnnie Walker Odyssey

Well.., while it's here I suppose! The first thing that strikes you when you nose this is that there is definitely a lot of age in this blend, that unmistakable scent of soft green apples and a great balance. On the palate, the mouthfeel is incredibly rich and creamy, and flavours of delicate sherry notes are perfectly integrated. A really brilliant blend, but probably aimed at the yacht-owning classes rather than us!

Linkwood Cask Sample - 13 year

Diageo brought three of these cask samples along this year, which aren't going to appear anywhere except for being used for training so I was quite excited to try these. Sadly, as we went down on the final day of the show, all but the Linkwood had gone. This had a huge nose to it, rich christmassy fruits and cinnamon. On the palate it was all sherry, but that's not a criticism.

The trouble with Diageo's stand, is that there's A LOT of whisky here, the older Talisker 35, was fantastic as always, as was the 25 year old Caol Ila. I was pleasantly surprised to see a 25 year old Knockando, a distillery that doesn't often get represented at the show, but the real star of the line up for me was this:

Auchroisk 30 year

A distillery that not many people know much about (pronounced Oth-rusk if you were interested) I've never had a chance to try an older expression, and I'm so glad I did! On the nose it's very fresh and fruity at first, but in the background there's a deep sherry note. The palate contrasts well with the nose, revealing big oak spices to accompany the fruit, but then these are beautifully balanced by a soft malt sweetness, but all of this pales in comparison to the finish; an often neglected aspect of tasting a whisky, more of an afterthought for most drams, this had a very long finish, with even more complexity than the palate! Sweet, mellow with an interplay of fruit and spice that lasts for ages.

Well... that was exciting but we must stop procrastinating and go find some Japanese whisky now

Some very pretty looking whiskies there, a 31 year sherry matured and 30 year bourbon matured Karuizawa. By the time I'd woken up in the morning both of these whiskies had completely sold out! These are big whiskies however, and before blowing our brains out, we took a moment to try the latest offerings from the very exciting new Chichibu distillery.

Chichibu Port Pipe

First up was a port pipe matured expression, which I am always wary of. Done well, port maturation can give really great results, but done wrong, I've had some pretty crap whisky made this way... this is one of the former, for sure. On the nose, the port is immediately apparent in the form of grapes, blackcurrants and berry fruits which lead into a delicately sweet palate of rich fruits, plums and damsens dusted with icing sugar. For something so young, you really can't tell.

Chibidaru

This is the other example of Chichibu here today, which is matured in casks of the same name which are shortened hogsheads made from the staves of broken down American oak but with cask heads made from Japanese Mizunara oak. It's another young whisky at around 3 years but exhibits great complexity for that age with a nose full of malty toffee and over ripe fruits and a similar palate but accompanied by a gingery spice that dries out the finish. A really lovely whisky and more evidence that this is definitely a distillery to watch in the near future.

Karuizawa 30 & 31 year old

The moment was finally here, and these two did not disappoint! We tried the 30 year old bourbon matured expression first, which is an intriguing prospect (and a great investment too) because almost all of the output from Karuizawa distillery went into sherry butts, so to see a bourbon matured example is rare, and at this age showed what could have been. The nose was clean and light with notes of fresh fruit and citrus and on the palate there was more of the same but with surprisingly little sweetness which suggests a refill cask. What's fascinating with a dram like this is being able to see the different character of the distillery's spirit and the wood it's aged in. 

To that end, we move onto the classic sherried example. I'm a big fan of this distillery and it's unique flavour, and this is one of the best examples of that. At first with the nose there's heavy sherry influence, which makes way for lighter fruit notes but with a cheeky kick in there. On the palate, the story starts out the same, but the sherry influence tips in favour of spices rather than fruit after a moment, followed by that uniquely brilliant almost wine-like tannic note that cuts through everything and ties the whole thing together... absolutely fantastic.

After those two powerhouse whiskies, I needed something pretty big to follow it... maybe something cask strength?

I think I died and went to cask strength heaven. This table right here may have been my favourite of the show, and it's going to have it's very own entry some day soon, because the last chunk of this round up is dedicated to the show's own bottlings:

left to right: Ledaig 7, Caol Ila 18, Linkwood 16, Dailuaine 29 & Longmorn 22.

The show bottlings are usually a surefire hit each year, and this year is no exception. Choosing to go with a retro labelling this year for the range these are certain to get snapped up quickly (at the time of writing the Caol Ila and Longmorn had both already sold out!) so if you get a chance I recommend getting in there soon and grabbing a bottle.

For me, those two that have sold out were the best, but a close third (and cheapest of the lot at £49.95) was the 7 year old peated Ledaig. From the Tobermory distillery on the Isle of Mull, this young whisky blew us away. Even after a whole day of tasting whiskies, this still made a massive impact on the palate. With a nose full of warm sugary spices and a dry, almost acrid smoke followed up by thick, cloying sweetness over peat bonfires on the palate I'd recommend this to fans of sweet smoky drams like Talisker.

What a day! I could write more but I fear you'd all get bored sooner or later. Roll on next year! Hopefully see some of you there.

[whiskycurator]

The Sound of Islay

This week's supermarket bargain comes from one of my favourite places in the world - Islay. This beautiful little island, whose geese population more than triples the human population is home to 8 (soon to be 9 then 10) distilleries, famous for their deep peat and smoke flavour. One of these distilleries is Caol Ila (pronounced cull-eelah) which is the largest on the Island by quite a margain. Situated on, and named after, the Sound of Islay, which is the narrow stretch of sea between Islay and nearby Jura, the location is incredibly picturesque, with the still room's huge glass wall looking out onto the sea. The distillery itself however, is... how shall I put it?... Ugly as sin. Rebuilt in the 1970s with a view to increasing its capacity, it looks like one of those horrible 70s office blocks that local councils all over the country are trying to demolish as fast as they can. 

But you should never judge a book by its cover, because inside this hideous shell, is produced an absolutely world class single malt whisky. What I find interesting about Caol Ila is the complete lack of romanticism that the whisky world is rife with. Owned by drinks giant Diageo, this distillery produces millions of litres of spirit per year, most of which goes into Johnnie Walker, with just around 5% reserved for bottling as a single malt; what many refer to as a 'workhorse' distillery. In terms of staff, there's only around a dozen people working at the distillery, the majority of which work in the gift shop and doing tours. When I first visited the distillery I found all of this rather disenchanting, it even put me off drinking Caol Ila... for about 6-7 minutes.

The reality is that there are loads of Scottish distilleries doing exactly this, and then putting words like 'craft' or 'tradition' all over the tiny percentage of their whisky which hits the market as a single malt. Most of these whiskies still taste great, to the point that you'd never know just by tasting, and Caol Ila is one of these, with such vast production it means that a whisky like this 12 year old, which Jim Murray once scored 94/100 (ranking it one of the best in the world) can be found on offer in the supermarket for just £25!

And if you enjoy a good smoky whisky, you really need look no further than this. 

Nose: A very light and herbal smoke to this nose with hints of mint, grass and tobacco leaves.

Taste: A nice oily mouthfeel which gives it a bigger body than you would expect from the nose. On the palate, it’s initially a quite rich and almost savoury smokiness that dominates but after a moment on the tongue you begin to taste the more subtle citrus fruit and sherbet.

Finish: The finish is long and peppery with coastal smoke through to the end.

All in all, the Caol Ila 12 year old enjoys a good reputation for its light and elegant smoke character and you can see why. In this price range, it's one of the best peaty whiskies you'll find.

[whiskycurator]

Better late than never

I say that, because by now I'm sure most people with their ear to ground in the world of whisky have already heard the news... there's a new 9th distillery coming to Islay!

Yep. That was news a week ago or so... sorry about that. The reason I didn't bring you this news straight away, is that it's not actually as big a deal as it sounds; in fact, it's actually very probable that this distillery will be the 10th distillery on the island, as things are well under way at Bruichladdich's new venture at Port Charlotte.

This got me thinking about all the other new distilleries that have been rumoured to open, and how many of them have successfully produced whisky. At my last count, I reckon there's about 15/16 distilleries that are supposedly being built, and another half dozen that have started producing whisky in recent years. So today's post is an all too brief round up of just some of these (hopefully) up and coming distilleries.

Gartbreck

I thought I may as well start off with the distillery that sparked this whole idea, which is Islay's latest newbie - Gartbreck. Named after the nearby farm (above) just down the road from Bowmore, details on this distillery are still hard to come by to the point we don't know yet if it will be located inside the farm or in a separate purpose-built building. What we do know, according to Dominic Roskrow's source who leaked the story initially, is that the distillery is definitely going ahead. We also know that it is owned by the same company as the Glann ar Mor distillery in France - Celtic Whisky Company. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Islay whisky and the prospect of seeing another 2 distilleries pop up here in the coming years is very exciting!

Port Charlotte

Which brings us neatly to the next new distillery hopefully opening up soon on the Island - Port Charlotte. Not to be confused with the whisky being produced at Bruichladdich under the same name, which is just a precursor to the new distillery's style. The distillery is owned by Bruichladdich (itself owned by Remy Cointreau) who officially broke ground on the project in 2007. Located in the village of Port Charlotte (directly opposite the hostel I stayed at last time I visited the island), the distillery used to be known as Lochindaal. The ethos behind the project is one of green and ethical whisky production; all of the malt will be grown and malted on the island, and the electricity will come from sea power. If Bruichladdich's PC releases are anything to go by (which we assume they are) then this is definitely one to watch, with a heavily peated style in homage to the original distillery, it's definitely going to be a proper Islay distillery!

Glengyle

A new Campbeltown distillery owned by nearby Springbank, Glengyle is already producing whisky, but the rights to the name Glengyle is actually owned by Loch Lomond Distillers, so the malt whisky produced here is bottled under the name Kilkerran. Having opened in 2004, they're not quite ready to release a fully fledged 10 year old but have been keeping us all interested with a series of young bottlings called 'work in progress'. We stock the Work in Progress 4 on the bar at the moment, and I have to say it is absolutely fantastic stuff! The stills at Glengyle are currently not being used, similarly to Springbank, because the owners believe that they are over producing their range of single malts, and so have temporarily stopped production. Fortunately, this means there's plenty to go around for now, and based on the whisky currently available from Kilkerran, it's definitely one to watch in the future.

Daftmill

Daftmill is one of the most intriguing new distilleries, operating very much below the radar compared to some other projects' approach of marketing campaigns to drum up interest. Instead, brothers Francis and Ian Cuthbert, have been quietly getting on with it. From a farming family, and owning a nearby quarry, the brothers financed the operation themselves, and have been making steady progress. According to Francis  himself they laid down their first spirit in 2005, and don't plan to release anything younger than a 10 year old, so we're still a few years away from seeing any whisky from them, but with such a small (20,000 litre) capacity one's mind harks to places like Bladnoch, Kilchoman, Edradour etc. Places with small outputs which allows them to put a lot of care and attention into what they do and all of which produce some fantastic whiskies. Although I can't say what it tastes like yet, I will definitely be first in line to see how their 10 year old turns out!

I think that'll do for today, I'm already salivating slightly at the thought of all these exciting new projects, and looking at the recent successes of Kilchoman, Arran and others, there seems to be plenty of room in the market for more of these smaller scale craft distillers to produce quality single malts and consequently be blogged about.

In the meantime, I'm off to see if I can get put my name down for some of these new whiskies!

[whiskycurator]

It's Peat Jim... but not as we know it

Continuing on the path we set off on last week, today I've got another great value whisky that can be found in most supermarkets - the Highland Park 12 year old.

This is a whisky a lot of people have heard of, as it gains more and more followers of the brand. When I'm asked about this whisky by a customer, the first thing I tell them about it is this: If you search the internet for something along the lines of 'Top Ten Whiskies', alongside the Yamazaki 18s, Talisker 25s etc. you will more than likely find the Highland Park 12 included in all of those lists. This really is a great single malt whisky, with a wonderfully unique character. In a similar way to the Laddie Ten I wrote about last week, part of the reason for this is that neither distillery contributes towards big blends, and that means although the distillery might not be massive, it is able to put out more single malt whisky than most.

Highland Park is Scotland's northernmost distillery, located on the Island of Orkney, which has just 2 distilleries on it; the other being Scapa. Of these two distilleries, only Highland Park produces peated whisky (although Scapa have recently experimented) but before your mind and palate drift south-west to Islay, take a look at the peat on Orkney:

It's much nearer the surface, much drier and much lighter than peat from the Highlands or other islands, full of heather. Scapa's decision to produce unpeated Orkney whisky means that Highland Park produces a totally unique whisky on the Island, with that special peat smoke at the forefront of it.

Nose: Honey and heather abound at the start and then the peat character comes in; a delicate, floral smokiness with just a hint of marmalade and spice.

Taste: A big, full palate with a thick and creamy mouthfeel. There’s still flavours of honey, orange and subtle spice notes, and the smoke develops on the tongue into a more herbal, floral note that balances nicely with the malty sweetness.

Finish: Quite long, ever so slightly peppery, but the sweet malt flavour carries through from the palate along with that signature smoke.

Exactly as with last week's Laddie Ten, I picked up a bottle of this for just £25, although if my memory serves me correctly I may have been in Waitrose for this one. This is an absolute must have for anyone amassing a whisky collection at home. Whether you want something easy going to unwind of an evening, or something complex to appreciate slowly, the Highland Park 12 year never disappoints.