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| Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | 11:03 am
[smaugchow]
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Nice Father's Day gift
At the end of a scavenger hunt, I found a bottle of Talisker 18 hidden behind the couch. My wife is the best! And my kid (5 years old) knows I like Scotch so whenever my wife asks him what he wants to get me, he says "Scotch!" I'm one lucky bastard. Anybody else get some good spirits for F-Day? In related news - is the Tally 18 getting especially scarce? I have not seen it on a shelf in well over 6 months and I know my wife had to get this one on-line (from California, I think.) Is there more on the way? And will it cost an arm and a leg once it arrives? Current Mood:  Scotchy | | Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | 12:00 am
[fudjo]
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Tasting notes from Pints Pub in Denver
Work had me out in Colorado for training, so I found Pints Pub, which boasts its own beer and the largest selection of single malt whisky outside of Great Britain. The current count is around 260 different bottlings. I was getting overtime pay for the time spent traveling, plus some extra OT for the training hours, so I decided to put that money towards some scotch explorations. The pub itself is very relaxed, and the staff is very friendly, conversational, and knowledgeable. The food is pretty good - I liked the Trencherman's Tuck (apple-smoked ham with mashed and gravy). Of their beer, I recommend the Bitchcraft - a blonde ale akin to Boddington's. I made four visits to Pints Pub over the course of my week in Colorado. If you're ever in the Denver area, make a point of going there. It's totally worth it. ( Here's what I tried: ) | | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | 11:38 pm
[fudjo]
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Whisky tasting in Montreal!
I was in Montreal for the Kinetik Festival - an electronic music festival - back on May 14-17. I got a bottle of the Arran 10-year with the goal of killing it off (with help) over the course of the weekend. Mission accomplished! It's a fairly nice Highland, light and sweet and malty, with a surprisingly long finish for a 10-year. There are better Highlands out there, but that isn't to speak ill of the Arran, as it's a perfectly fine dram. While at the festival, I met up with my friend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) farheavens and we had a long night of scotch-drinking. Here are the notes I scribbled down, some quick, some wordy: Glenmorangie Lasanta: light, fruity, nice. not "omg", but nothing wrong with it. very enjoyable. Aberlour a'bunadh Batch No.21: nose - wood, cherry, alcohol. faint vanilla, caramel, and smoky sweetness mouth - thich and rich, intense alcohol. dried cherry, some oak, a little spicy. salt on the back end. more cherry+honey than cherry+vanilla finish - salt and wood adding water... nose - dried cherry, honey and heather mouth - cherry, wood, less salty and less sweet finish - fruit and salt Glenfiddich 30: 40% alcohol on a 30-year?!?!? nose - herbal, juniper, bit of sour/stewed apple mouth - thin, herbal...this is WEIRD...doesn't taste like scotch - more like an herbal liqueur or a bitters. not very complex Bowmore Enigma: 40% alcohol, newb's guide to Islay (omg you could knock this stuff back) nose - light, sweet, faintly smoky mouth - light, sweet, coffee, smoke finish - a little bit of salt Port Ellen 24 - Third Release 57.3% alcohol nose - sweet, herbal (juniper?), floral, creamy, lightly campfire smoky, so not assertive like other Islays mouth - very smooth, light, sweet, campfire smoke, herbal/bitter notes, noticed the sweet before the smoke finish - very long and mild smoke, a little sea spray, bitter/juniper adding water... nose - light and floral mouth - alcohol and smoke resurgence, sweet and campfire smoky, a little iodine finish - long and smoey, a little sweet, faintly bitter Caol Ila 12 43% alcohol nose - sweet, smoky, floral and herbal mouth - sweet, smoky, but with a juniper bitterness Kilchoman New Spirit 63% alcohol light sweet smoke, iodine, juniper, wow it's young and medicinal. it was interesting to try a spirit this young, and i'm interested in trying the 10 when it's released I'm wondering about the persistent juniper notes...I made sure I washed my glass out. Was I imagining those? I also got a bottle of the Cragganmore Distiller's Edition (port-finished) while in Montreal. Very nice! | 8:04 pm
[surrealchemist]
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| | Sunday, May 17th, 2009 | 12:57 pm
[psychochicken]
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Extreme Ardbeg and some new kids on the block
Was at Sprit of the West yesterday and tasting some nice whiskies. High on my list to try were the new Adbegs - Blasda and Supernova - both of which were on offer. I'd like to say I was impressed. Sadly I would be lying through my teeth. The Blasda first; billed as a 'lightly peated' Ardbeg, this is an extraordinarily pale example. Very light on the nose; there's green grass and light citrus aromas. On the palate, the taste is thin (apparently they've chill-filtered it, which is the kiss of death for any whisky, especially a light one); the grass is still there but the citrus disipates very quickly. Despite being a low-peat expression there is a very slight ashiness in the aftertaste, but it doesn't linger long. Water kills it stone dead. I put a few drops in to see if any un-noticed flavours would emerge. They didn't. My over-riding response was "what's the point?" If Ardbeg is too peaty then perhaps try one of a hundred other less peaty whiskies. I am certain they all have more to offer than this. I tried Caol Ila's unpeated expression a while ago and found it fascinating and enjoyable tasting what's behind the peat; here there appears to be very little hidden. Supernova is all buzz at the moment, at over 100 parts per million peat, I was expecting "stunt whisky", and to be fair to it, that's very much not the case. The masses of peat are expressed as an extreme version of the dry smoky ashiness that makes Ardbeg what it is, and this turns to a bonfire in the aftertaste. Pleasant enough actually, but not really anything else. Again, it was quite thin on the palate and besides the fire, pretty one dimensional. The drying throat kiln was a nice sensation, but I couldn't help but compare it to another peat monster, Edradour's Bellechin, which to my taste knocks this into a cocked hat. At £75 a bottle, I'd imagine it'll be collectors mainly buying this - those who want to drink Ardbeg at its best would be better advised to buy a bottle of Uigedail - an absolutely stunning dram - and something else with the change. Your mileage will, of course, vary wildly - I'd be interested in others' impressions of these expressions ;) A few better experiences; Tobermory's 15 year old expression - lovely and fudgey but still quite maritime; Longrow's stunning 14 year old bottling, and the 'work in progress' from the Glengyle distillery, Kilkerran. Also got to taste new spirit and the first actual official whisky from Islay's newcomer Kilchoman - interesting but will need to grow up a little for me. Definately potential there though. | | Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | 1:16 am
[fairbrook]
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| 12:06 am
[fairbrook]
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| | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | 10:42 pm
[fudjo]
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Aberlour a'bunadh Review
I bought a bottle of the Aberlour a'bunadh a few weeks ago, Batch No.23, and as luck would have it, a local friend has a bottle of Batch No.13. We decided to get together last night to open them up and compare. The a'bunadh is a sherry-casked, non-chill-filtered, cask strength scotch with no age statement. Each batch is made from several casks, of varying ages. To date, it's had 25 batches dating as far back as 1997. Trivia: "a'bunadh" means "the origin" and is pronounced "a-boon-arh". Also trivia: The town of Abelour is also home to Walker's Shortbread. Batch No.13 (59.8%, 2005) Dark amber in color, slightly redder than Batch No.23 Nose: wine, vanilla, dried fruit, wood, with spice notes appearing later Mouth: intense sweet wine, cherry, vanilla, with pepper on the back end. Finish: salty, woody, and sweet Adding water, we get... Nose: sweet cherry and vanilla Mouth: rich, fruity cherry, vanilla, wood, and spice A little more water, and it gets saltier and woodier, though my friend and I wondered if that was due to the scotch warming up rather than the added water. We felt it tasted more like a straight-up Speyside with the extra water. Batch No.23 (60.2%, 2008) Dark amber in color, slightly darker than Batch No.13 Nose: salt, wood, and fruit, but not as sweet as the 13 - more like dried fruit. More vanilla as it warms up, more salt. Rather subtle and dry. Mouth: definitely not the intensely sweet burst like the 13 had. The vanilla is more intense than the 13, with still some of the cherry. Definitely drier and woodier. A little bit nutty. Finish: salty, woody, with vanilla, but a shorter finish than the 13. Adding water, we get... Nose: spicy...Whoa! A resurgence of the alcohol. Now the nose is floral and herbal, then settles back down to vanilla, but still with a sweet spike of floral. Mouth: the salt isn't present, but is rather sweet and lightly fruity, light cherry, spice, and vanilla Finish: long light cherry, vanilla, and wood finish My friend and I both agreed that when comparing the two, it was like the difference between a sweet sherry and a dry sherry, and we were very surprised by how very different the two batches were. We really enjoyed the intense, fruity, winey sweetness of the 13. The 23 was definitely more interesting for its complexity (and still very enjoyable!), but didn't have the lip-smacking tastiness of the 13. [edit: it would help if I spelled Aberlour correctly... ;) ] | 10:42 pm
[fudjo]
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| | Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | 9:20 pm
[fairbrook]
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 just got a second bottle of the pc7 from hi times in costa mesa, have yet to open one...waiting for my day off....
i am a big fan of the pc5, more than the pc6 which is still darned good...
i have one sealed bottle of the pc5 and have drained my second bottle, i wish i had another..anyone know where i can get one? i am in california... | | Monday, April 27th, 2009 | 4:00 pm
[psychochicken]
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Advice : Linkwood-a-likes
Advice required! I was looking to send a bottle of Linkwood to a friend in Canada, but a quick look at the customs website suggests that this is a complete nightmare. I've also noted that a few mail order places such as Whisky Shop and Loch Fyne Whiskies either discourage or refuse to export to Canada. So instead I'm looking for something similar that's already available over there and having someone source it for me. My thoughts are: - Glenfarclas - 15yo
- Balvenie - 17yo Sherry cask
- Balblair 1997
...all of which I'd imagine would be similar in character to the Linkwood, but I've only actually tasted the 'farclas which is very nicely sherried but not as smooth. Anyone have experience of the others who could comment on how it stands up to a 15yo LInkwood? Cheers! | | Sunday, April 26th, 2009 | 2:20 pm
[psychochicken]
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Current Stash
Since folks seem to be putting up their collection, here's mine. I'm not very good at tasting notes but happy to try and describe any of these if anyone's interested. The bold bottles are 'staples' - i.e. the ones that just get replaced when they die. The rest varies : Bruichladdich – Infinity (2nd Edition) Bruichladdich – 10yo (old style) Edradour - Signatory editionEdradour - straight from the cask Edradour - straight from the cash (port wood finish) Glenfarclas – 105 Glenfarclas – 21yo Glengoyne - 17yoGlengoyne - Glenguin Shiraz finish Glenmorangie - 1974 vintage (bottled 1995) Glenmorangie - Traditional Style Glen Moray – 12 yo Highland Park – 12yo Highland Park – 18yo Laphroaig – Quarter Cask Linkwood – 1988 vintage Linkwood – 15yo Littlemill – 1990 vintage Penderyn (Welsh) Scapa – Gordon and MacPhail bottling 1993 vintage (bottled 2007) SMWS – Toffees rolled in ash (Glen Keith) SMWS – White Chocolate and Ginger (Glenrothes) SMWS – Leather and Chocolate (Arran) | | Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | 5:10 pm
[fudjo]
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Current contents of my shelf
A while back, smaugchow posted a list of the whiskies he has, so in the interests of keeping discussion here going I figured I'd do the same. :) Aberlour A'bunadh (Batch No.23) - not yet opened Ardbeg 10 - smoky, but with a nice sweet balance Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist (2006) - smoky, sweet, floral, oddly gentle and my favorite scotch Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist (2007) - as above, but slightly more gentle Ardbeg Uigeadail (2004) - not yet opened Ardbeg Uigeadail (2006) - smoky, sweet, and rich Ardbeg Supernova - great stuff, read my notes hereBowmore Darkest - smokey, rich, and winey Bowmore Dusk - also smokey, rich, and winey, and I prefer it over the Darkest Laphroaig 10 - I very much enjoy it, but I can't have it two nights in a row :) Laphroaig Quarter Cask - nicely complex, taught me the importance of glassware Bladnoch 15 - grassy, cerealy, oily, perfumey, and one of my favorites Bladnoch 15 Sherry Finished (#178 of 550) - nice, but the sherry is a bit much Bladnoch 18 - nice, but just a bit too much wood Bladnoch 13 (The McGibbon's Provenance bottling) - similar to the 15, but saltier and not as well-balanced Talisker 10 - cerealy, salty, rich, good depth - another of my favorites Talisker 18 - smoother than the 10 and quite nice, but I prefer the flavor of the 10 Glenmorangie Madeira - light, sweet, and melony Glenmorangie Burgundy - light and sweet, but get the Madeira instead Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or - sweet yet peppery, rather nice though not quite worth the price Glen Ord 30 - not yet opened, found it for $126 Lagavulin 16 - campfire smokey, with a very long finish Longrow Tokaji - read my notes here, and I _must_ try the Arran Tokaji cask finish Isle of Jura Superstition - yeah, I got it because of the ankh on the bottle :) Old Pulteney 16 (Gordon & MacPhail bottling) - watery, finish of anchovies, stay away (a shame 'cause Old Pulteney original bottlings are quite nice) Knappogue Castle 1992 - light and fresh Irish whiskey, peachy and melony, highly recommended Knappogue Castle 15 (#382 of 600) - not yet opened Penderyn Madeira - light, sweet, melony, and woody. The Glenmorangie Madeira is better, but this one's still nice Michter's US-1 Bourbon - smooth, rich, complex. Excellent sippin' bourbon Arriving at the end of June, when a friend from the UK visits: Ardbeg Blasda Ardbeg Lord of the Isles | | Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 | 12:42 pm
[smaugchow]
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Bruichladdich
Bruichladdich confuses the hell out of me. I have been interested in trying some for a while, but I can't tell what they are trying to sell me. Just today I see 3 or 4 new expressions in my liquor store, and I'm no better informed now than before. 3D series, Blacker/Redder Still, Rocks, Links (at least 7 different ones,) Infinity, Peat (Ok, thats pretty straight forward,) Waves (a little less descriptive,) the Resurrection Dram, the Yellow Submarine....WTF?!?! I don't have the budget to just dive in there and buy one of each to figure out what I like, nor do I have the inclination to buy something completely anonymous. Am I just out of touch, or are these guys going berserk with the marketing voodoo? And does anybody have a suggestion for a middle of the road 'signature' Bruichladdich product that would be a good palce to start? Current Mood:  confused | | Sunday, April 5th, 2009 | 12:03 am
[fairbrook]
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earlier today when i got off of work: one tall bottle stone ruination one tall bottle deschutes hop henge 2nd ed. one bud one coors lite one finger each of the following: ardbeg 10 gordon and macphail's mortlach 11 yr compass box flaming heart 2nd ed. glenmorangie lasanta brora 24 yr - signatory port charlotte 6 geo t stagg 144.6 - 07 van winkle family reserve bourbon | | Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 | 11:26 pm
[fudjo]
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Ardbeg Supernova Review
I happened to be one of the lucky few in the US who got a Committee bottling of the Ardbeg Supernova in its US release and figured I'd share my tasting notes with you all. While the Ardbeg 10-year is 24 parts per million (ppm) phenol (the "peaty" chemical), the Supernova reaches 100ppm phenol. It was bottled in 2000 and 2001 at a very heady 58.9% alcohol. Given the crazy peatiness, the young age of the scotch, and the strong alcohol content, I was expecting to be overpowered by a smokebomb of peat. What I got was rather surprising... I opened the bottle, expecting smoke to burst out of it. Instead, it was very much under control and earthy. I poured out a dram each for me and my roommate and checked out the nose. The nose was strangely subtle and deep, smelling richly of tobacco and damp wood. As it aired out a bit, the alcohol became very prominent, but gave way to scents of tar and salt. I gave it a taste and...WHOA! Very strong peat and smoke, oily and salty. Further in, there were vegetable and earth notes, and a little bit of floral and herbal notes. I let it finish a bit, with tastes of salt and leather. Adding a splash water, the nose turned to dark chocolate with salt and heather, followed by honey and flowers, and continuing with a rich oiliness. Another taste and...BOOM! Very smokey! Very campfire-ey! Salt and honey flavors were there, as well as rich tobacco and chocolate. I let it finish for a bit again, and it was rich, oily, salty, with tastes of tobacco and leather. One more splash of water, and the nose was strong with honey, flowers, oil, and tobacco. It then became even more floral, with a really nice honeysuckle sweetness. Tasting it again, and it was gentle, with flowers and oil, much less saltier than before. Smoke started to emerge, with more vegetable flavor. The salt showed up again, and then the smoke became much more prominent. The finish was very long and very smokey. It took me about an hour to absorb this dram, and my palate was spent afterwards. Halfway through, I said, "omg there's so much left". This is definitely not a lounge around scotch. This is a stick your nose in it and ruminate scotch. It's definitely a conversation piece. The floral and sweet notes very much reminded me of the other Ardbegs, and I think they do a good job of tying the Supernova to the rest of the Ardbeg line. It's also very heady with the alcohol. The Supernova will have a wider - though still limited - release starting in May. It's unclear as yet whether it'll be a Committee bottling or whether it'll have a run of a few years like the Airigh Nam Beist (due to be discontinued in September, to be replaced by the Corryvreckan, according to Loch Fyne Whiskies - http://www.lfw.co.uk/). I definitely recommend it, as I had a lot of fun drinking it, and I look forward to taking it off the shelf once in a while and sticking my nose in it. ( The bottle )( Front label )( Back label ) | | Friday, January 30th, 2009 | 10:25 am
[1_big_grizz]
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If you had a $200 +/- budget and were giving an informal class on single malt scotch in a historical context, what bottles would you buy to demonstrate the different flavor profiles of the different regions and aging styles? Most of the participants are casual/occasional scotch drinkers. EDIT: Questions were left intentionally vague. I already have an idea what I want to do, just looking for some brainstorming ideas... Current Mood: curious | | Thursday, January 29th, 2009 | 7:31 pm
[henman]
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Large map
Does anyone know where I can find a large (or hi-res so I can enlarge it) map of the Scottish distilleries? A few friends are getting together next week for a belated-Burns night), some of whom are novices so I thought it would be fun to map out the different bottles as we try them. I've found lots of sites with maps but they have places names not the actual distillieries - they tend to have links to info about the area/distillery, but that's not going to be any help when I print it out :) | | Monday, January 19th, 2009 | 4:04 pm
[smaugchow]
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The liquor cabinet groans...
I'm bored today so I'll detail my liquor cabinet. Sometimes I like to take stock of what I've got and why, and right now I've got a bunch. Lagavulin 16 - Just got it...and then I got a cold so I can't freakin' taste it! The cold is almost gone.... Longrow CV - got it with the Laga. Same story. Glenfarclas 17 - Very sherried and grapey, a little musty or fungal, though not as nasty as that sounds. I wouldn't get it again, but I enjoyed the 12 year I had a while back. Cragganmore 12 - Birthday present, old favorite. The nose on this one is outstanding. Talisker 18 - I'm glad I tried the 18 before the 10. The 10 year was too much for me, but the salty bacon smell on the 18 is wonderful. I have also noticed that I enjoy the Talisker contribution to Johnnie Walker Green. Are there any other Taliskers or derivitives out there I might try (that don't cost an arm and a leg?) Glenlivet 21 - a gift from a friend. The oldest Scotch I've tasted. The oak starts to muscle in on the taste and that's a good thing. Other Glenlivets have tasted bland and dull to me, but this one has some character. It's still very laid back and demure. Johnny Walker Swing - bleh. Neat gimick with the bottle, not worth $50. Crown Royal - I like to keep a bottle of cheaper stuff around. After I wipe out this Canadian import I'm getting some Maker's Mark. Old Pulteny 12 - Just finished it recently. Ok, I guess. Highland malts don't find a place in my heart for some reason, aside from Dalwhinnie 15. There just seems to be very little character, very little for me to latch on to. It didn't reward further inspection. Highland Park 12 - I do love this malt. If I had to name a single favorite (which I would hate to have to do) it would likely be this one. I almost want to hurry up and finish my current bottle so I can buy a new 12 year with a mini 18 year in the package. I've had the 18 but I'd love to contrast them together. I like the gentle peat without the medicinal quality of the Islays. Glenmorangie 12 year - madiera finish. I gave this one away as a present, though I figured the recipient would pop it open and share. Alas, it didn't happen that way (not his fault.) Good thing I got a screaming good deal on it. I've had it before and I enjoyed it, though I couldn't tell a great deal of difference among the wine finishes (port, burgundy, etc.) I've still got the novice nose, I guess. Macallan 18 year old, distilled in 1974. This one is still sealed. I wrestled it out of my father's hands and now I don't know what to do with it. Part of me says send it to Ebay because I can get three good bottles for the bounty on this one. Part of me says to keep it for a long time and maybe open it when my son turns 21. I've got too much of my father's sentimentality about things. I feel like I have an embarassment of riches right now. But i still want another Balvenie 12 year double cask....and maybe some of that new Longmorn 16 year I haven't tried yet....oh, and more Ardbeg....and a Glenfidditch 18.....Oh, sorry, don't wait up for me...I'll be at this for a while.... :-) Current Mood:  Scothcy | | Friday, January 16th, 2009 | 6:03 am
[fairbrook]
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talisker 18 - 45.8%
nose of sugared sultanas, lemon, vanilla
mouth of custard, vanilla, cocoa, lemon, demerara, wet tobacco, fresh warm yeasty bread caol ila - 18 yrs - 43% -
nose of lemon and olives, grass
mouth - pepper and peat, grapefruit and corn hair
this is a nice night for sipping:
signatory - ucf collection - bunnahabhain distilled 97 - 9yr...46% - peated - bottle 526 of 707...cask 5268...matured in refill butt..heheh..heheh.hheheheh......
nose of candle wax...lighter fluid...campfire
mouth - struck matches, wood...mmm..steak...corn milk....starch...
gentle peat and tang on the finish
bruichladdich - port charlotte pc6 - cuairt beatha - 61.6% - scotch whisky - heavily peated
nose - b read and peat and peat and peat and hope and glory
mouth of ohlord bold peatpeatpeat....fire and peat...potatoes... something vegetal in there..asparagus?.....this is a monster..
SAVEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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