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.

Let’s talk about Scotch, bourbon, and whiskey

There are a lot of different whiskies distilled around the world, prepared in slightly different ways, from slightly different ingredients that make them unique in their own way.  I received a great suggestion to try to highlight some of these differences:

• Scotch whisky – Made only from malted barley, the distillation and maturation (at least three years worth) must take place in Scotland.
• Malting refers to the steeping of a grain in water, allowing it to get just to the point of germination.  At that point, it is dried using heated air (this is where the peat comes in to play)
• All scotch is distilled twice, except for Auchentoshen, which is triple distilled (it’s a nice whisky too, if you’re interested in something smooth and lowland light, but I digress)
• Single malt scotch – the whisky used in a single malt scotch comes from only one distillery
• Cask strength whisky comes from a single barrel or “cask” from a distillery and typically contains a higher alcoholic content than most single malt scotches (cask strength whiskies will be labeled as such)
• Blended scotch whisky – the whisky used in blended scotch whisky comes from multiple distilleries
• Blends sometimes get a bad name.  And it’s true that there are many lower priced blends out there.  But keep in mind that Johnny Walker Blue Label is a blend.  Blends are what sustained the whisky industry for most of the 20th century.  Just think about the blender’s challenge as well – distilleries open and close every year.  Single malts’ taste change slightly from year to year, and even cask to cask.  Yet the master blender must balance all of those variables, and the changing ingredients at their disposal to create a consistent expression.
• Irish whiskey – conversely to Scotch, Irish whiskey must be distilled and matured in Ireland for three years.  Irish whiskey contains some unmalted barley, is distilled three times, and is rarely peated.  Better varieties of Irish whiskey are typically smoother than its Scottish cousin.
• Bourbon – must be made in America and is made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.  There is no aging requirement for bourbon, but it must be aged in new, charred oak barrels.
• Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark are well known bourbons
• Tennessee whiskey -  Bourbon produced in Tennessee is called Tennessee whiskey.   It typically goes through an extra step where it is filtered through maple charcoal before going in the barrel for maturation
• Jack Daniel’s is the most well known Tennessee whiskey
• Canadian whisky – has the same location requirements of the other spirits, without the grain requirements.  Historically, Canadian whisky had some rye grain added to the mash to add flavor.  While that rarely occurs in great quantity anymore (the primary grain is corn), Canadian whisky is still often referred to a “rye”.
• Crown Royal and Canadian Club are two common examples

I hope this quick outline helped highlight some of the differences and similarities among major whiskies of the world.  But there’s no substitute for trying them yourself!

Scapa Part Two–the actual drinking of a glass of Scapa

 

Scapa 16 year old

40% ABV

As I mentioned in a previous post, Scapa can be one of those “throw the cork in the fireplace kind of whiskies”.  Well, a few weekends ago, two friends and I scared the heck out of that cork.

Scapa is one of two distilleries on Orkney – the northern-most island of Scotland.  It’s located about two miles south of the Highland Park distillery, so it just barely misses out on that distinction.  Scapa is a good example of a moth-balled distillery that was brought back to life after ten years in 2004.  So what’s currently on the shelf was produced under previous management.  Now, on to the whisky:

Color – a nice, welcoming amber, with a little bit of noticeable oiliness

Nose – starts sharp, kicking your head back a bit, but after another sniff, you get some nice, fruity sweetness

Taste – a little medicinal, and a little oily with a thinner finish.  Malty and sweet.  I read another review that compares this one to an Irish Whiskey.  I think that’s a pretty good comment.

Overall – this one definitely acts like more of a Highland whisky than its island neighbor.  But it’s a good dram, outside of the top ten, but in the spirit of March Madness, maybe it’s “on the Bubble”.

Random, annoying complaint – this is a very tall bottle which doesn’t fit into my liquor cabinet standing up.  So I need to lay it down in an adjacent wine rack, something I don’t like to do (and my wife doesn’t like me to do either!)

Any Requests?

Are there any whiskies or topics that people have questions about?
If there's anything you'd like me to cover in this blog, please let me know either through a comment here or a post on Facebook.
A few topics I'm working on right now:

• A review of Scapa 16 y/o
• Good whisky reference materials (online or printed)
• Whisky regions I haven't covered (Speyside . . .)

Celebration Whisky and a comment on age

Lagavulin

Age: 16 Years
Proof: 86 (43% ABV)

Islay

My wife took me out for a celebration last weekend and all the while I was enjoying my dinner (and the company, of course) I was thinking about my after dinner whisky.  Typically, I pass on this temptation as 1) the prices are astronomically inflated over the price of a bottle and 2) I usually have a fun bottle or two waiting at home that I would prefer anyway.  But on this particular night 1) Vicki was paying and 2) they had Lagavulin 16.

I’m not going to spend a ton of time assessing the merits of Lagavulin 16 – it’s quite simply one of the best whiskies in the world and something every whisky enthusiast should try.  The color is a beautiful amber.  The nose was certainly of an Islay whisky, but not overly peaty.  The taste definitely had some of the sea in it, but it was extremely smooth, with a mild finish and hints of caramel to help you say goodbye.

But that brings me to the age.  Lagavulin 16, Ardbeg 10, and Highland Park 12 are all some of my favorite drams, regardless of the age.  On the surface, many people assume that the older the whisky, the better it is (within reason, of course).  But as my tour guide at Glenkinchie once told me, whisky is as old as it should be to taste the best it can taste.  The maturation process must be synchronized with the rest of the whisky making process to create the perfect dram.  So in the case of Ardbeg, that’s 10 years in the barrel.  Conversely, Lagavulin is perfect at 16 years old, which is part of the reason it is such a sought after bottle.  It’s more expensive since there are higher production and storage costs, plus the scarcity factor with fewer bottles produced. 

Would I say that Lagavulin 16 was empirically better than any whisky which took ten years to produce?  I would not.  Would I say that it is a fantastic whisky that everyone should try once?  That I certainly would.

Let’s do a Top Ten List

I find that I have a problem writing about whisky – I tend to like them all.  And, while it’s true that I’m willing to give just about every distillery that takes the time to lay down a spirit for around 7 to 12 years the benefit of the doubt, I also have my favorites (and less favorite whiskies as well).  So I decided to come up with a list of Top Ten essentials I would stock my liquor cabinet with.  I’m not talking about rare or unbelievably expensive bottles (so no SMWS bottles or 40 year old Highland Parks on this list – but I’ll still accept them as gifts).  These bottles are typically available at better liquor stores in the US and you’ll probably see a few of them in some nicer bars (or all of them if it’s Pipers Pub, I assume):

1. Ardbeg 10 year old
2. Highland Park 12 year old
3. Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
4. Laphroaig Quarter Cask
5. Glenkinchie 10 year old
6. Ardmore
7. BenRiach
8. Lagavulin (too much Islay? meh)
9. Oban
10. Balvenie Double Wood 12 year old

There you have it, a mix of Islay, Lowland, Highland, Speyside and islands.  Also a mix of finishes and maturation.

OK, well report back to me when you have them all in your liquor cabinet and I’ll stop by!

Scapa

Jim Murray (of The Whisky Bible) once referred to Scapa as a "throw the cork in the fireplace kind of whisky". I have a fireplace, I'm going to go get a bottle of Scapa. Report to follow.