The Best Kind of Homework

I'm working on a review of seven year old Auchentoshen bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.  If you want to see if my opinion of Auchentoshen matches yours, get to the store and pick up a bottle!  Try the Classic or the 12 year old.  Check back for a full review next week.

Lessons from the Golf Trip

I just got back from a golf trip to central/southern Pennsylvania.  Twelve guys, three nights, and 90 holes of golf.  The number one question I got from people leading up to the trip was, “are you bringing whisky?”  Of course I was bringing whisky!  I think the majority of the group ended up trying a little bit of the bottle and receiving it well.  It made me think of a list of rules for bringing a bottle of whisky on a road trip:

1. Get a GOOD bottle – You don’t need to break the bank on a 40 year old Highland Park for a trip to Chambersburg.  Just a good bottle, representative of the distillery’s products will do.  I chose the 10 year old from Ardbeg.  Avoid the plastic bottles for the trip.  Get something people will actually enjoy.
2. Bring a full bottle - There’s always less whisky left in an open bottle than you remember, so make the trip to the liquor store and get a fresh bottle in the box (easier to travel with anyway).
3. Share it – This is a great opportunity to expose whisky to friends who may not be familiar with it.  Give them a small sample and see what they think.  It’s a nice, risk free way for them to try something new and you’ll be spreading the word.
4. It’s a golf trip, not a whisky tasting – Not everybody needs to bring a bottle on a road trip.  We’re not doing a tasting event, we’re enjoying a drink.  Figure out the people who are bringing the bottle(s) ahead of time so the rest can take care of other supplies.
5. Bring your own glasses – For the first time, I packed up a bunch of glencairn glasses and packed them with my whisky.  Not relying on the “complementary” plastic cups from the Sheraton Four Points ended up being a good call.  The glasses added to the experience, discouraged mixing the Ardbeg with Diet Coke and made us feel more like grown ups than over-sized college students.
6. Finish it – You don’t want to drag a bottle back with you from a road trip.  Make sure you’re generous enough that it doesn’t come home with you.  If no one wants the last dram, I’m pretty sure you’ll know what to do.

So, that’s it. Follow these rules and a bottle of whisky will add a nice touch to your road trip or golf trip.  Enjoy.

Best of the Web

I thought I’d include a list of some of my favorite recent whisky articles and some good links for useful information on whisky:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6667949/pappy-van-winkle – just to prove to you that I’m not only interested in scotch, this is a really enjoyable article about a hard to find bourbon and why people love it.

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/how-the-world-fell-in-love-with-whisky-20110618-1g8i8.html – An explanation of the current scotch phenomenon.  Not living in the UK, I was surprised to has learn that its popularity was on such a steep incline there as well.

In addition to the occasional article, I use these websites regularly to research purchases and this blog:

http://www.scotchwhisky.net/ – this is my go to reference site on the internet.  All of Scotland’s distilleries, organized alphabetically, as well as regionally, to give you a nice overview.

http://inebrio.com/thescotchblog/ – this blog, from Richmonder Kevin Erskine, while not adding content since 2010, is a good reference for articles and information.  I also recommend Kevin’s book, The Instant Expert’s Guide to Single Malt Scotch.  I correctly answered a trivia question on Kevin’s blog a few years ago and he sent me a Johnnie Walker hat, so there’s that.

http://maltmadness.com/ – one of the best reference sites on the web.

http://www.whiskymag.com/ – yes, there’s a Whisky Magazine.  It’s a wonderful magazine which covers all of the world’s whiskies, and has articles from some of the world’s greatest whisky writers like Dave Broom, Dominic Roskrow, Jim Murray, and the late, great Michael Jackson.  The website also contains a wonderful database of information and reviews.

http://www.maltadvocate.com/ – yes, there are two whisky magazines.  This one is published in America by John Hansell.  John’s blog, “What Does John Know?” is a must read.

Jura 16 Year Old

Isle of Jura Single Malt Scotch Whsiky

Diurach’s Own 16 Year Old

40% ABV

I’m on a little streak here with whiskies of the Scottish Isles other than Islay.  We’ve looked at Arran, Highland Park, and Scapa.  With 790 islands off the coastline on Scotland, it's not surprising that more and more are waiting out there:  Talisker (Skye), Tobermory, which used to be known as Ledaig (Mull), the soon to be bottled Abhainn Dearg (Lewis) and Jura.

I’m reviewing the 16 year old Jura today, known as Duirach’s Own, from the Gaelic name for the inhabitants of the island.  Jura is an island of the west coast of Scotland.  It’s separated from Islay by less than a mile.  Before you even crack the bottle, you notice something different – the bottle.  I love the shape of the bottle.  You’ll see the silhouette on the box in the store and it is distinctive.  Along with Glenrothes, I think the bottle of Jura is the easiest to recognize at any far away restaurant bar.  And that’s important, right?

When you open it, you may expect the peat ladled into your glass.  But, while the smokiness is there, it’s much more subtle than Jura’s Islay neighbors.  The color is lightly golden, and the aroma has a pretty complex combination of slight smokiness, sea air, and flowers.  The taste was something very different for me.  I tried to figure out how to describe it for the longest time.  I finally settled on the taste of those old candied wax lips we had when we were kids.  Kind of sweet, but with a slight waxy dryness.  Maybe a reach there? 

Putting words to the taste of these whiskies is definitely the hardest part of writing this blog.  I’m always amazed at how the great ones like Jim Murray and the late Michael Jackson (no, the other one) can do it so well.   Mr. Jackson has an excellent summary of Jura with which I completely agree, “For an islander Jura is often thought to be something of a lightweight, but it has hidden depths.”

Overall, I can’t say this is a great whisky, but it’s safely on the very good list.  It is something different.  It defies categories.  I have noticed something slightly different every time I’ve tried it.  I’ve learned something.  And most of all, I’ve enjoyed it.

Try some Jura.  It’s a good addition to the cabinet.  And the bottle looks sweet.

You know what would go with this?

Ah what whisky to have right now? Always a good question, and never really a bad answer. But, there are certain whiskies that lend themselves to certain times of day, or the year, certain experiences, or even meals.
I’m not ready to go down the whisky pairing route. There are whisky experts (and gourmet chefs) doing great work in the development of pairing specific whiskies with specific meals. Many distilleries now offer four course meals to their visitors, complete with an expertly paired whisky for each course. And there are chefs who are starting to develop delicious, elaborate, gourmet dishes with whisky as a key ingredient (which would be my favorite episode of “Iron Chef” ever).
No, what I’m thinking about are specific whiskies for specific occasions:

• The outdoor barbecue dram – I’d go with something lighter for this one, probably a Glenkinchie 10 year old. A nice Japanese Whisky, like Yamazaki, would also go well here, and would be a good conversation starter.
• Tailgate flask – let’s go with the late fall version of a tailgate here. Crisp, fall day, waiting to go into the stadium – this is the time for Highland Park 12 year old. Honorable mention: Bowmore.
• Golf course – if you don’t bring your own, and you're asking the cart girl, pick the Dewar’s over the Red Label, and add a lot of ice. If you’re bringing your own, one of the lighter Glenmorangies, like a Nectar D’Or or the original is the way to go.
• 19th hole – you cracked 100. Well done. If the clubhouse has a single malt, it’s probably Glenlivet. Enjoy it.
• Dessert (restaurant) – Lagavulin 16. Shut the dessert menu briskly. Hand it back to the waiter. When he asks, tell him you want it neat. Try not to laugh. You’ll be smiling soon enough.
• Dessert (home) – you have time to kick back and savor the flavor. Pour a Jura or Dalmore here.
• The evening, crackling fire – something beefy and a little smoky. How about we say Oban, here? Scapa’s always a nice option in this spot as well.
• Showing friends your whisky collection – give them an Ardbeg
• Someone likes the peatiness of the Ardbeg? Show them the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, or better yet, the Compass Box Peat Monster.
• Christmas whisky – A few come to mind for this special occasion. I mentioned in my last posting that Arran had a Christmas pudding nose, so that’s certainly a possibility. But two others stand out as truly special for a special day – the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban and Macallan 18.
• Wetting the baby’s head – A nice tradition of having a dram to toast your newborn baby. In my case, I chose the Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist for both of my kids. I still have a bit of my son’s bottle left! But just choose your own memory here.

So, did I miss any occasions? Was I way off on any of my recommendations? Let me know . . .

An Island Whisky, But Not That Island

Arran (SMWSA 121.38)

7 Year Old, 61.6% ABV

Color: Dark deep sherry
Nose: Sweet, but in a dark chocolaty kind of way. I read something that compared it to Christmas Cake (fruit cake) and I like that analogy
Taste: Pretty strong, full flavors for a seven year old whisky. Sweet again with some cherry fruitiness.
Finish: Short finish, more what you would expect from a young one
Overall: A wonderful surprise with both the color and the palate, both of which bely this Arran’s age. The tasting notes from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society included this perfect drinking tip: “Find an excuse as soon as possible”. Thank you, I will.

So what about this Isle of Arran? Well, up until the 18th century, every island in Scotland made whisky. When the exporting of Highland Whisky was banned, bootlegging took over. But oddly enough only one legal distillery emerged on the island, Lochranza, even though Arran is located just off the Southwest Coast and not far from Glasgow. But that distillery closed in the 1830’s. It took until 1995 for a legal distillery to return to Arran, at Lochranza.

To help raise funds for the new distillery – and falling into the ultimate “wish I was there” category of a story – the owner issued $750 bonds to the public which would entitle them to five cases of whisky in 2001. The distillery face challenges. Every whisky must be aged at least three years, and even at that age, it’s typically only used in blends. However, Arran couldn’t the right party for their blends, so they had to wait. And wait. So, they opened visitor center, attracted tourists, and eventually bottled my sample (among others).

You may have noticed that the terms, “peaty” and “smoky” were not in my description of Arran, which is very unusual for an island whisky. That’s the route Arran has taken so far, and that makes it stand out a little bit among island competitors. For its distinctiveness, and it’s taste, Arran is worth a try.

Suntory Yamazaki

Yamazaki – 12 year old

When I try a whisky for the first time, I usually have a pretty good idea what it’s going to taste like – generally. I may be familiar with the distillery or the region. I may have read about it. You can also pick up some clues from the label.

When I poured my first class of Yamazaki, I had no idea what to expect . . .

Since the United States Navy steamed towards Japan in 1853, the country had been opening up to Western trade and Western tastes. Soon, Kirin beer popped up. The Japanese became fascinated with rugby and Sherlock Holmes. But attempts at making whiskey frustrated the country. Until the 1920’s, when Masataka Taketsuru attended the University of Glasgow and later worked for several Speyside and Campbeltown distilleries. He returned home to help Suntory establish its first distillery and later his own, Nikka at Yoichi.

For about 60-70 years, these distilleries, and several others, stuck to blends, even including some scotch in their expressions. About 20 years ago, Suntory finally decided to distribute some of its own single malt, from it's Yamazaki distillery. In 2001, Taketsuru’s Yoichi, won the coveted “Best of the Best” award from Whiskey Magazine. Japanese whiskey had arrived.

Back to the Yamazaki. The color was not surprising to me, pure gold. The nose was honey and vanilla. But the taste, was a very pleasant surprise. It was a very smooth taste, like sweet butter. But it’s not at all thin, like a weaker whiskey. Yamazaki has a nice long finish. It’s a lot more complete whiskey than I ever imagined.

I see this one as a summer whiskey, something for the deck after the cookout. Do a little investigating, try some pairings, and let me know what you think.