Whisky Party

It’s been a good Thanksgiving here in the states.  I’ve had some great food and great whiskies – Mortlach 17, Lagavulin 12 (2007 release), and SMWS Laphroaig 11 year old cask strength to be precise.  How about you?

Tasting Notes from Bloggers You Trust:

• Whisky Notes tries a Port Ellen 1982 from Old Bothwell.
• Whisky Intelligence tries some off-the-beaten path malts: Poit Dhub, an 8 year old unchillfiltered Gaelic whisky and McCarthey’s 3 year old Oregon single malt (which gets a great rating).
• Back to our regularly scheduled programming, here are notes on Laphroaig 10, Glenfiddich 12 “Caoran Reserve,” and Tamdhu 42 from Dewar Rattray.
• Whisky Host has a side-by-side tasting of Talisker 175th Anniversary Edition and Talisker 57′ North.
• Whisky For Everyone reviews Big Peat, a vatted Islay malt from Douglas Laing that includes single malt from Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila and Port Ellen.
• Edinburgh Whisky reviews Pittyvaich 20.
• Whisky Fun tastes three Port Ellens and three Lagavulins.
• John Hansell reviews three Islay Mist blended scotch whiskies.
• Drink Hacker thoroughly enjoys an (expensive!) Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 year old bourbon.

Whisk(e)y News on the Web:

• Earlier this week I reviewed three expressions of Connemara, a peated Irish Whisky from Cooley Distillery.  Cooley was just named European Whisky Distillery of the year.
• Whisky Intelligence has more from the recent rare whisky auction at Bonham’s.
• The latest Whisky Cast reviews the new Scotch Whisky regulations.
• Edinburgh Whisky informs us of Whisky Gold, a new online whisky show featuring Charles McLean.

The talk of the town (er, whisky blogs) this week is Kilchoman. The first official bottling has shipped, and tasting notes are in.  The bottling is three years old with a sherry finish, and reviews indicate potential that has not yet been reached.

• Whisky Intelligence thinks it is quite mature for its age.
• Scotch Hobbyist was only slightly less impressed with the youngster.
• Ruben at Whisky Notes is even less generous, but thinks it will hit its stride in a few more years.
• Singlematl.tv has video of the official product release.

Tasting Notes From Bloggers We Trust

• Whisky Notes reviews the Dalwhinnie 15, calling it a “good middle of the road dram.”
• Whisky For Everyone samples Clynelish 10 from Provenance.  The verdict is “lovely but less rich” than previous expressions.
• John Hansell has notes on the insanely priced Gold Bowmore.  I kind of don’t care how good it is – I’ll probably never have the opportunity to taste it.
• Less out of reach is this 42 year old Strathisla.  For only $205, that’s actually affordable.
• Whisky Intelligence reviews the new Dalmore 12, calling it a “grand” and “different” dram.  They’ve also got notes on a Ben Nevis 8 year old from Duncan Taylor’s Battlehill line.
• Whisky Fun has a go at four old expressions of Mortlach, including two official bottlings.
• Drink Hacker takes a shine to the Hibiki 12 year old.
• Edinburgh Whisky has a roundup of the Benromach range.
• The Malt Imposters sink their teeth into a tiny bottle of Macallan 12.
• Whisk(e)y Apostle tries Crown Royale blended Canadian whiskey.
• Cask Strength has a roundup of Glen Grant tasting notes.
• Finally, Drink Hacker enjoys some Deanston 12, calling it a good scotch for any novice.

Whisk(e)y News on the Web

• John Hansell has a video of his visit to the Maker’s Mark distillery.  Some pics as well.
• Get an online preview of the latest edition of Malt Advocate magazine.
• Douglas Laing is releasing new bottlings in both its Provence and Old Malt Cask lines.
• Compass Box is relaunching their Spice Tree expression.  It will hit the US next month.
• SingleMalt.tv is the place to go for coverage of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
• In the shadow of Kilchoman, Benromach 10 also saw its offical launch recently.
• John Hansell got his tasting notes listed on the back of a single cask bottling of Bowmore.  Pretty cool.
• Four Roses Bourbon is doing 10, very unique single cask bottlings.

Drinks conglomerate Diageo has taken a beating lately – both for closing the Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock, as well as their super high-end single cask releases, which caused an uproar in the whisky blogosphere.  But the parent company of Johnnie Walker seems like they finally hit upon a decent online promotions campaign.

First they released the Man Who Walked Around the World video, which has gone viral on YouTube:

Following on that campaign, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Johnnie Walker Black, the folks at Johnnie Walker are distributing blending kits to be used in tandem with a live training in the art of blending, webcast from New York City’s Brandy Library.  It’s an invite-only event, and so far the only people I know who have been invited are whisky bloggers.  I’m guessing that a fair amount of bartenders and mixologists got an invite too, but that’s just a hunch.

Anyway, maybe I just got bought off by Diageo, because this package is pretty bad-ass, but this seems like an awesome promotion to celebrate 100 years of Black Label.  My only wish is that they either change the event time, or make the webcast recording available after the fact.  3pm on a workday is a damned awkward time to hold a live blending event that requires so much work on the part of participants.  Myself, I’ll be at my day job and won’t be able to participate. Fortunately other bloggers here at Whisky Party have more flexible schedules, so you will see more coverage, but my own participation is contingent on being able to view the event after the fact.

On that note, wouldn’t it make sense to turn the whole event public, rather than invite-only?  Obviously they can’t send blending kits to everyone, but I’m guessing an online video lesson in blending would do pretty well even without the kit – especially when promoted by drinks and whisky bloggers.

The Package

The Bottles

Chemistry Set

Will It Blend? Pt. 1

Will it Blend? Pt. 2

The Whole Set

Welcome to the Bourbon Edition of Best in Blog.  We’ve got some single malt news too, but lots of Bourbon notes coming out of the whiskysphere this week.

Tasting Notes from Bloggers We Trust:

• We’re kicking this roundup off with Dr. Whisky who says “fuck scotch” and wants to taste a spate of bourbon and ryes.  First up he tries Old Weller Antique “The Original 107 Brand” (Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey). It’s a “wheated” bourbon from Buffalo Trace.  The verdict isn’t good . . .
• Dr. Whisky also tries an Indian “whisky” and finds it “better than he expected.”
• John Hansell has thoughts on Buffalo Trace’s new “Antiques” collection.
• Here are his tasting notes for BT’s “Double Barrel” bottlings.
• Whisky for Everyone has notes on Tobermory 10 and Ben Nevis 10.
• Whisky Fun tastes two young Highland Parks (High Dark Plan and Hjarta).
• Whisky Notes had an eclectic week, tasting Port Charlotte (Nadi Fiori), Amrut Black Adder, Highland Park Hjarta, and a 1979 Port Ellen from Old Bothwell.
• Whisky Intelligence reviews Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, a Glenrothes 13 year old from Signatory, the Black Grouse, and Black Bull 30 year old blended scotch.

Whisk(e)y News on the Web:

• Whisky Cast interviews Elmer T. Lee.
• Macallan is now the second best-selling single malt in America.
• A 60 year old Mortlach is going up for auction this week.  Expected price is ₤10,000.
• Get the list of whiskies available at this years Whisky Fest (San Fran and New York).
• Scotch Hobbyist wants to know, “which stage of malt fanatic are you?“
• The Glenlivet Nadurra Triumph 1991 is headed to the United States.
• So is a 25 year old Rittenhouse Rye.
• Evan Williams is releasing a whiskey liqueur.
• Irish whisky distillery Tullamore Dew is releasing a 10 year old single malt.
• Whisk(e)y Apostle has a list of new US whisk(e)y releases.
• Following an 80% surge in sales over four years, Highland Park is making some substantial upgrades at their distillery.

It’s tough economic times, and whisky can be an expensive habit. Now more than ever it’s important to be able to find a good dram on the cheap. To help you in that endeavor, we’re launching a new series here at Whisky Party: 40 Under $40 – tasting notes on single malts and blends that can typically be found in a local grocery or liquor store (depending on where you are) for under $40.

These are not miniatures or quarter bottles – these are full-sized bottles of 750 milliliters to full liters. That kind of bottle that’s going to sit on your shelf for a month, but won’t make you feel guilty or drain your pocket book if you and your friends decide to kill a bottle during a late night session.

I’m a huge fan of Islay whiskies, so to inaugurate our new series I thought I’d crack open some Black Bottle – a blend of many of the single malts of Islay. In 2008, Black Bottle finished second in the Drammy Awards in the “Best Bang for the Buck” category.  Unlike most Islay whiskies, this isn’t a peat monster. The base of the blend is composed mostly of Bunnahabhain, one of the least peated of Islay whiskies. This proved to be a little jarring to me as it bucked my expectations, which admittedly might have been high since I’ve heard some buzz about Black Bottle recently.

Black Bottle, no age statement: 40% ABV

Cost per bottle: ~$25

Black Bottle - an Islay blend

Color: golden

Nose: Honey sweet. More reminiscent of a speyside like Balvenie than a Laphroaig or Ardbeg.

Taste: It’s a very light, almost thin whisky, and again the honeyed sweetness comes through upfront and seems to dominate the dram. There is a hint of smoke at the end, which is not quite as “clean” as the honey upfront. The more I drink, the more pronounced this smoke on the end becomes, but the dram is gone almost as soon as it is consumed. There is very little taste lingering in the mouth, which adds to the elusive quality of the smoke on the finish.

Overall: A little disappointing – I was expecting a much more smokey, peaty dram than what I got. I’m not too familiar with Bunnahabhain, the base Islay of the blend, which I’ve only sampled once or twice. I’m much more familiar with Ardbeg and Laphroaig, both much more smokier, phenolic, and salty scotches.  Those tastes were not in evidence to the degree I desired. That said, it’s still a tasty scotch and certainly a highly drinkable whisky, and I think it still lives up to it’s “bang for the buck” reputation.  Definitely worth the time to try once or twice, but don’t expect Black Bottle to become your cheap, go-to bottle when you are craving that traditional Islay taste.

Note: There is also a Black Bottle 10 year. It costs about $10 more, but also generally receives better reviews than the No Age Statement Black Bottle. That might be worth checking out.

Other Opinions:

• Dr. Whisky
• Whisky Mag
  
• Malt Advocate