Easy steps to enjoying duty free

One of the only enjoyable things about spending time in an international airport is the chance to go shopping in a good duty free shop.  In London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 that means World of Whiskies (I think they’re in three of the other terminals as well).  It can be a little daunting with the foot traffic, the sheer volume of whiskies, and you’re probably jet lagged or in for an early morning flight.  But that doesn’t mean you should miss the opportunity to get a killer bottle of whisky.  These are a few steps I take to make the most from my trip to duty free:

• Narrow it down. Most of these shops are organized by region or type of whisky.  For me, that’s probably going to be an Islay or Highland.
  
• Make it special.  You are hauling a bottle (or two) of whisky on an overseas flight, and perhaps a connecting one as well, so don’t get a bottle you can get at your local liquor store.  Get something not available in your state.
  
• Ask questions.  Unlike many local shops, a good whisky store is manned by experts.  Ask questions about how a special bottling is prepared.  What’s similar?  Is it popular?  Which leads me to . . .
  
• Samples!  Yeah samples!  Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample.  At Heathrow, the salesman had 20 bottles out on his sampling table.  They’re there for a reason, so have a sample.  Better yet, ask a question about another bottle you see out on the table and have a second sample.  It’s a much better way to buy a bottle than by just going off of the label.

So after I followed my own advice, I arrived at an Ardbeg Corryvreckan.  This baby packs a wallop at 57.1% ABV.  This whisky is powerful on the nose, full of peat. The taste has all of the things I love about Ardbeg – the gold color, the peat, the seaweed, and dark chocolate flavors – but in spades.  And, man – that first taste on the tongue is a punch.  A good one.  This whisky was 2009 Scotch Whisky of the Year from the Malt Advocate with a score of 96 out of 100.   The whisky has replaced Airigh Nam Beist in the Ardbeg line.  And with no age or year on the label, Ardbeg can find casks to age appropriately for Corryvreckan for a few more years.  That’s good news – get your ticket and get some!

The most expensive whisky I’ve ever bought

I’m just back from a trip to England and Scotland for two weeks.  I tried a new whisky, got reacquainted with an updated brand, made my pilgrimage to World of Whisky in Heathrow, and bought my most expensive bottle of whisky ever.


NEW Tormore 12 year old, 40% ABV: This is a little know Speyside whisky.  I saw it in the grocery store and since I had never had it before, and the price was right (20  pounds), in the cart it went.  Tormore is full bodied and oily, with a little taste of orange peel.  Ultimately, though, it’s pretty forgettable.  I probably won’t go back for more of this one.


UPDATED Tobermory 10 year old, 46.3% ABV: Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, used to be the Ledaig distillery.  Now Tobermory is rebranded and Ledaig is the name of it’s peated expression.  Tobermory 10 in the meantime, is a delightful maritime whisky.  Light on the peat, high on grass, seaweed and gingerbread flavor, this whisky hit a lot of good notes and is worth picking up for something a bit out of the mainstream.

No trip to Scotland would be complete without a little links golf.  And that is where I found the most expensive whisky in my travels.  We played the Balcomie Course at Crail, a fantastic course laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1895.  It was a wonderful day on the course and I shot my lowest score ever in the UK.  Afterwards we went into the clubhouse for a sandwich and a pint.  It was there that I saw it – a commemorative airline-sized bottle of “A Unique Blend of the Finest Scotch Whisky Specially Selected for the Crail Golfing Society.”  Well, it was just a matter of time before I picked that one up.



After a nice lunch and a better pint, it was time to come to grips with the fact that I was about to buy a bottle of whisky I would likely NEVER drink.  And, with that, I walked to the bar, put down my 3 pounds 50 and walked away with my souvenir.    But the price was irrelevant - since I was never going to drink it, the bottle immediately became the most expensive in my collection.

As for my trip to Heathrow?  That trip yielded a special bottle of Ardbeg which will require it's own entry at a later date.

It’s just a see saw

Auchentoshen 7 year old

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Bottling

59.9% ABV (yeah, that’s right)

A good whisky is a lot like a see saw – a perfect balance of differently weighted pieces that somehow come together to create a complex, not overpowering dram.

A lot of whiskies use the maturity process to even out their whiskies.  The Lagavulin is a heavily peated Islay which which matures (and mellows) to the ripe old age of 16 before the flagship expression is ready for the world (and then, it’s really ready).  Others use special casks or finishes to impart that perfect balance.  Balvenie and Glenmorangie have taken these practices to a different level.

The cask strength Auchentoshen takes a different approach to the balance: delivering a powerful, strong, delicious, bold whisky.

How did that happen?  On the one side of the see saw, Auchentoshen has two “little kids” sharing the same seat:

• It’s a lowland whisky, imparting a lighter taste and color to the whisky based on traditional lowland distillery methods and ingredients (a la Glenkinchie).
• It’s triple distilled.  Auchentoshen puts its spirit through three separate stills, like an Irish Whiskey.  This, again, provides a lightness and clean taste to the whiskey.

On the other side of the see saw, there’s one heavyweight, fat kid: the Scotch Malt Whisky Society selected a kick ass seven year old cask for this bottling.

By balancing all of the light flavors and ingredients of Auchentoshen, with something more raw and unrefined like a seven year old casks, you get a delightful combination.  The color is still light, almost pale.  The nose is slightly floral with a mild spiciness.  But then you get that first taste on your tongue and BANG! this thing explodes on the palate.  I picked up orange and honey, but black pepper as well – something strong that really lingers in your mouth.  The second and third sips deliver the same punch, but in such a way that it’s absolutely drinkable.

With some whiskies, this combination of elements would throw off the balance of the see saw.  With this Auchentoshen, it’s different, and it works. 

I am going to see if they have any more bottles left from this cask, I’ll tell you that much.

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.