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Oakley and The Macallan's "The Flask"

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:36:00 -0500

What’s jarring about requiring a facebook login on a tumblr blog to win a flask co-produced by Macallan and Oakley?

http://usmacallan.tumblr.com/post/44172338629/whisky-worth-going-to-great-lengths-to-protect

a. Everything

b. The jumping of the shark

c. A $1200 flask that doesn’t come with whisky

d. all of the above

fucking amateurs.

-StrongLikeCask

Sometimes we improve details that no one ever thought were...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:09:45 -0500

Sometimes we improve details that no one ever thought were needed. Why? Why not. http://bit.ly/V8Uef8

Sometimes we improve details that no one ever thought were...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:08:55 -0500

Sometimes we improve details that no one ever thought were needed. Why? Why not. http://bit.ly/V8Uef8

Two execs walk into a bar… find out what happens next at...

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:08:16 -0500

Two execs walk into a bar… find out what happens next at http://bit.ly/WhC8JA

Vicker Brothers South Carolina Backwoods Recipe: Tasting Notes

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:59:43 -0500

Much like the Violent Femmes, I like American music. And of course, I like American Whiskey. When I was sent the sample for Vicker Brothers, I was intrigued. It’s not whiskey, though part of its mash bill (if you want to call it that) is corn. Though I am not a huge fan of “flavoring” whiskies or spirits, the whole premise behind the spirit intrigued me. Vicker Brothers make a spirit out of “cane and corn.” They then patented the process by which they age that spirit. This aging involves some combination of temperature, filtration, barrel and chip aging for 2 years, and adding the aforementioned “honey mixture.”

The company seems scrappy - like they’re putting out product against all odds. And I like American music. I like American whiskey. And I like American scrappiness

Vicker Brothers South Carolina Backwoods Recipe

ABV: 45%

Legs: Large, slow, somewhat sloppy

Color: Translucent gold

Nose: icing, stone fruit, some antiseptic notes

Palate: Initially very light - there is a gentle honeyed sweetness that sits on the tongue before being taken over by the finish. There is also some acetone flavor in there.

Finish: Long and spicy. you do get the honeyed sweetness still, but in general there’s more spice. It reminds me of rye.

Overall: This is a really interesting spirit. I want to call it sweet, but it has too much spice on the end to do that. It is extremely reminiscent of whiskey, but one that is both simple (the flavors are simple), and one that is complex (the timing of the different opposing sweet and spicy flavors is crazy). I would recommend it - worth a try for sure. It lives up to the “smooth” claim, and does bely its 2 years of aging.

For a good time, make it Suntory time.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:57:26 -0500

For a good time, make it Suntory time.

Weller 107. Captivating, and fit the amount of birthday money I...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:17:44 -0500

Weller 107. Captivating, and fit the amount of birthday money I had left to spend. I like venturing into the world of 40+%, and this really works, particularly iced a bit. Compares favorably with WT101, which I like for another set of reasons.

Down glass shot. #beer #abita

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:29:03 -0500

Down glass shot. #beer #abita

At Ruth’s Chris for a company dinner. They have an Oban...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:45:43 -0500

At Ruth’s Chris for a company dinner. They have an Oban 15! Must be the shit.

You would think that a chain steakhouse would both know their selection and be able to spell Nadurra.

Laphroaig 20 (SMWS 29.104): Tasting Notes and Review

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:21:12 -0500

Laphroaig 20 (SMWS 29.104), or Not for wee boys

Distilled October 1990, Price of $140

ABV: 58.2%

Cask: Refill sherry butt

Color: A gold that wouldn’t have made me guess it was refill sherry

Nose: Lemon and light dark fruits with grain. A nice sherry with only a slight hint at a Laphroaig iodine

Taste: like the nose promises, this is sweet. There’s definitely smoke that surrounds it, but it’s a nice sweet grain with a bit of sharpness to finish

Overall: This is a Laphroaig that hits more at the beginning than at the end. I always love sherried Laphroaigs, but this honestly tastes more lik e a refill barrel with only a hint of a sherry. You taste the grain and the Laphroaig here, uncomplicated from the sherry, but a lot more going on than the standard bottlings. Nice job, SMWSA

Official Tasting Note:

A big nose with lots going on. Carbolic soap, sticking plasters, treacle, hot smoked salmon, burnt heather and liquorice root added to the anticipation. Then a youthful woody spiciness together with jerk chicken sauce (rosemary, thyme, cloves, honey). The palate was massive with concentrated flavours and bitter woodiness. Water brought out prunes, raisins, lemon juice and old campfires. A musky aroma accompanied some lighter floral notes. A brief hint of struck matches to taste gave way to tannins, burnt heather, liquorice sticks and lots of sweetness. It benefitted from some water to calm it down. Of the three Kildalton distilleries, this is the one closest to Port Ellen.

Thanks to SMWSA for the samples

-StrongLikeCask

ianbrooks: Single Malts by Danilo Agutoli Prints available...

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:21:19 -0500

ianbrooks:

Single Malts by Danilo Agutoli

Prints available at Society6. I just want to marry all of you beautiful malts. Why wont the government acknowledge the very special relationship I have with alcohol?

Artist: Behance / Flickr

First glass out of my Van Winkle 12 year old. One ice cube.

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:17:32 -0500

First glass out of my Van Winkle 12 year old. One ice cube.

Cardhu 27 (SMWS 106.18): Tasting Notes and Review

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:06:58 -0500

Cardhu 27 (SMWS 106.18), or Bottled essence of summer

Distilled November 1984, Price of $175

ABV: 52.6%

Cask: Refill hogshead

Color: Light greenish gold

Nose: Wood and a little soap. Clean forests, I guess. A hint of sweetness, but nto much.

Taste: Waxy toffee, green and vegetal. The soapy forest is still there, but it’s pleasant with only a reminder of soap – not soap itself. Sweetness and bitterness paired extremely well. With a little fizziness on top.

Overall: This is a sipper. A contemplative whisky that begs for conversation. I’m not sure about the price point, but it’s a damn fine dram.

Official Tasting Note:

Our noses found poignant floral perfumes, shrubberies and pine tree freshness. We also detected ripe fruits (apple, mango), candles, cinnamon, clove and honey on buttered toast. The palate was chewy and delicious; fragrant wood, flowers and tropical fruits (lychee, apricot, passion fruit) mingled with sweet toffee flavours to draw sighs of contentment from the panel. The reduced nose, with tutti-frutti ice-cream, lime, sawn wood and aromatherapy oils made us think of warm summer nights. The palate now carried rose and lemon-flavoured Turkish Delight with stem ginger spicy warmth in the tail-flick. The distillery houses the spiritual home of Johnnie Walker.

Thanks for the samples, SMWSA!

-StrongLikeCask

Rosebank 21 (SMWS 25.63): Tasting Notes and Review

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:04:27 -0500

Rosebank 21 (SMWS 25.63), or Poire et poivre

Distilled November 1990, Price of $145

ABV: 59.8%

Cask: Refill hogshead

Color: Moonshine with a wisp of yellow

Nose: Crayons, yeast, cinnamon and a bit of citrus

Taste: Cinnamon buns with a slow warming floral note. Basically sweet and a slight spice that last for a bit.

Overall: This is a nice whisky. It’s not overly complex, but it’s a really beautiful example of what a lowland is capable of. It’s reminiscent of the long gone Rosebank 21 from last year, though perhaps with a bit more heat.

Official Tasting Note:

The nose suggested fermenting beer – still life on the lid of a washback – green apples, a pear, a peach, some lemon puffs, a stone bowl containing sweet pipe tobacco and a bunch of fresh spring flowers. Pears again on the palate (riper now), also some fizzy fruit (sherbert lemons), more flowers (this time from high summer) and definite peppery spice (‘poire et poivre;). The second nosing had mild liquorice (sherbet dib-dabs) tobacco leaf and pear and nettle sorbet. The reduced palate gave light, pleasant flavours of bergamot and floral perfumes; a mild tingly finish. From Falkirk’s sadly now defunct distillery.

Thanks to the SMWSA for the sample.

-StrongLikeCask

Penderyn 5 (SMWS 128.3): Tasting Notes and Review

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:52:47 -0500

Penderyn 5 (SMWS 128.3), or Chestnut puree and new hiking boots

Distilled October 2006, Price of $85

ABV: 61.3%

Cask: First-fill barrel

Color: Moonshine with a whisp of gold

Nose: Sugared plums, with not much heat for that ABV. A little sour varnish note, but a lot of frosted vanillin

Taste: Rum tum tigger. A lot of flavors, and a lot of them are rum. An initial burst of heat followed by sour sweetness, leathery and warming. A ton of oak resin for how young it is. Numbs the tastebuds a bit. Water brings out some oily viscosity to the dram and brings out that sweetness from the nose. Still stonefruit. But it also simplifies the dram.

Overall: This is tasty. I haven’t had great experiences with Penderyn, and this actually shows promise once it quiets down a bit. It’s still not what I would reach for most likely, but I appreciate the opportunity to try a young dram.

Official Tasting Note:

The nose was sweet and fruity – macerated raspberries, Kirsch, cherry jam, Dr. Peppers, chocolate-coated cranberries and Haribo mix, but with fudge, toffee, hints of swimming pools and ‘brake pedals in an ambulance’. The palate held something deeply rewarding but hard to describe – sweet woodiness: hot but also smooth – sumptuous flavours of vanilla slice, banana ice lollies (right to the stick) and milk chews. The reduced nose had evident vanilla, Berwick Cockles, prunes, plums, peaches, chestnut puree and new hiking boots. The palate now delivered exotic fruits (passion fruit, star-fruit) like some long-matured single malts. From the only distillery in Wales.

Thanks to the SMWSA for the sample

-StrongLikeCask

Glenturret 10 (SMWS 16.32): Tasting Notes and Review

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:24:53 -0500

Glenturret 10 (SMWS 16.32), or Leather Armchairs and Old Wardrobes

Distilled March 2001, Price of $95

ABV: 57.2%

Cask: Refill port pipe

Color: light rusty yellow

Nose: waxy red vines, though more wax than sweet, vegetal heat and varnish.

Taste: Salty, but very drying and a little cloying, hard to pick up much more than heat without water. Water brings out a burnt quality, almost ashtray like and sour. Very leathery and polished. I now know what an old person’s mouth tastes like.

Overall: I’m struggling with this one. All I’m getting is scorched earth, and not in a satisfying Islay way. I can’t pick up the sweetness from the port pipe. And after reading through the official tasting notes, I watered it down to try and find them, and I got a little of the icing found on those iced oatmeal cookies, but nothing like below.

Official Tasting Note:

The nose was certainly savoury (salty bacon, roast parsnips, beef in red wine reduction) but also sweet (buttery croissants, marmalade, toffee) with hints of cake embers, engine rooms, tobacco, struck match, floral notes, and ‘old wardrobes’. The palate was rich and substantial, oozing unctuous sweetness, but with balancing spiciness – maple syrup, treacle and a Jamaican Christmas cake. The reduced nose offered zesty citric peel, candied fruits, salty toffee, leather armchairs and coffee. The reduced palate was an amazing dessert, combining lemon meringue pie, sticky toffee pudding and icing sugar-dusted biscotti dipped in espresso. The distillery houses the Famous Grouse Experience.

Thanks to SMWSA for the sample

-StrongLikeCask

Late for the 2012 election, but words to live by. Hat tip to The...

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:45:55 -0500

Late for the 2012 election, but words to live by. Hat tip to The New Yorker.

-StrongLikeCask

Louis XIII - No tasting notes, you just have to enjoy this one....

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 08:28:10 -0500

Louis XIII - No tasting notes, you just have to enjoy this one. Amazing Thanksgiving digestif from curtesy of my Dad.

This is how you make a guitar out of a barrel of whisky....

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 21:10:49 -0400

This is how you make a guitar out of a barrel of whisky. Commissioned by Bushmills and Bon Iver, built by Gordy Bischoff.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America Extravaganza - San Francisco

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:49:00 -0400

I love the SMWSA. I remember fondly the first time I had some whisky from SMWSA - it was a young Laphroaig called a “tongue-curling wrestler’s armpit of a dram,” and it was delicious. I had purchased memberships for Mike F. and Mike C. and several friends from school - it was a big present for me but one I was proud to give. The whiskies we got from it were truly great, and I have a Port Ellen stashed away for a very special night. And not only were the whiskies great, but I love the detailed tasting notes, the totally not secret numbering scheme, and the exclusivity.

But I am no longer a member. Though the whiskies are great, my budget would not allow me to continue to be a member. Value is something that gets discussed quite a bit in our whisky world, and there is no answer but a personal answer unique to every whisky lover. The SMWSA was kind enough to send us a few samples (many thanks), and I hope that we can contribute to informing people’s decisions so they can get the very best value for the money that they spend. My picks of the ones below, my value-buys are the Auchentoshan 12 (SMWS 5.35) and the Glen Scotia 9 (SMWS 93.47).

Incidentally, the SMWSA puts on an “Extravaganza” and as Mike F. has posted about here and here, it is a doozy. Absolutely wonderful in every sense of the word. My only critique would be that for San Francisco it’s on a Wednesday, and people who travel for work like me can not attend. The SMWSA Extravaganza visits San Francisco on Wednesday, November 14th. Tickets and other city dates can be seen on their website.

Auchentoshan 12 (SMWS 5.35), or Laundry in the Bakery

Distilled June 1999, Price of $105

ABV: 54.7%

Color: Fresh gold straw

Nose: Dr. Pepper, sweet dessert wine, flowers

Taste: Sweet flowers are still there, but this is sharper and less sweet. You can taste the strength. There’s a saltiness to this as well, but it matches well with the sweetness. Water brings out some berries - cerealish (think literally fake berries in actual cereal), and the taste the nose promises is there. The bite disappears but the finish is short.

Overall: The nose is exceptional, and the taste is an easy sipper. This is a whisky for those who don’t want to think about it too much - who want to come home from work and share something sweet with friends.

Official Tasting Note:

Initial nose is fresh and light, elderflower cordial, green apples and lemon puffs. Deeper and dweeter notes develop quickly, giving homely and warm feeling, like baking bread of jam doughnuts. Quite hot and lively to taste, strawberries with black pepper, turning fruity and fizzy like strawberry creamola foam, also creamy similar to a raspberry milk shake or Macchiato coffee. That creaminess carries on when adding water and aromas of apple toffee, rice pudding, butter icing, strawberry jam and dough bread emerge. The taste is that of dark hot chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon and blackberry jam. And to finish, from this distillery known for distilling three times, cold peppermint tea and fresh slightly soapy laundry.

Glen Elgin 12 (SMWS 85.23), or Burnt Granary Toast with Bramble Jelly

Distilled September 1999, Price of $105

ABV: 59.4%

Color: Deep yellow chicken stock

Nose: Fresh sneaker rubber, hints of fresh italian herbs, and there’s the dried fruit from the refill sherry butt

Taste: Burnt fruit with some sea salt added. It’s a bit of a sickly sweet oaty taste. There’s some distinct sourness, but it’s oily and warming. Water brings out some grassiness and barnyard smell, and really hits home on the burnt sourness. It’s a little like sour milk (in a good way) with a warming sweet aftertaste that sticks in your mouth.

Overall: A good drinker, though one for which you need to be in the mood. This is the whisky that Mad Men used to drink with a couple of rocks. It’s got a little of the sherry flavor that comes through mainly in the aftertaste. There’s some sourness, some bitterness, and some taste that lasts.

Official Tasting Note:

The first notes are typical of ex-sherry wood maturation: lightly sulphury, with struck matches, or as one put it ‘home-made egg mayo with granary bread.’ The sulphur notes soon blow off, leaving yeasty, sour pumpernickel bread and baked pecan pie. At natural strength the taste is very sweet, burnt and aggressive. Water re-introduces the sulphur notes, which linger behind burnt toast spread with butter and bramble jelly or plum jam, and later treacle toffee. In the mouth, the texture is thick and smooth, the taste very sweet and slightly bitter, with raw brambles and redcurrants.

Glen Scotia 9 (SMWS 93.47), or Seaweed, Sushi and Arbroath Smokies

Distilled April 2002, Price of $90

ABV: 59.7%

Color: light gray yellow

Nose: jordan almonds, fresh apple air heads right out of the package

Taste: whoah. there’s smoke, there’s tar, there’s that apple. i just swallowed an ash tray and someone popped in a wintergreen lifesaver. water takes down the smoke and brings out some fruit and sweetness.

Overall: this is one of those interesting whiskies - where the nose belies the taste, but both are delicious in their own right. the taste is a sweet smoky whisky - a rare malt where they achieved a great balance without the use of a sherry butt. I like.

Official Tasting Note:

The nose seemed unusual - salted almonds and rice crackers; seaweed, sushi and Early Grey tea; smoked sausage, tar, hospitals, garage workshops and farmyards. The unreduced palate was enormous - tar, smoke and ash - big time; also salty liquorice, menthol, Arbroath smokies and the seaweed found in Japanese rice crackers. Adding water brought the nuttiness and sweetness forward on the nose; we also identified flying saucers, soap and dried strawberries. The reduced palate was still interesting but more tamed - vanilla sweetness, tongue-tingling ginger and cured sausage with subtle caraway and mace flavourings. The distillery is owned by the Lock Lomond Distillery Company.

Ardbeg 8 (SMWS 33.113), or Sweet, Peaceful Dreams

Distilled July 2003, Price of $85

ABV: 60.4%

Color: pale yellow

Nose: some sweet gingerbread, campfire, a little banana and some soap

Taste: charred oak, pepper, and a lot more saltiness than I would expect from the nose. the finish is long and peppery. it’s young, but think of an in your face Talisker. Water brings out bitterness and even more pepper. There’s slight red fruit on it, but it’s peppered.

Overall: This is a spicy whisky. It’s hot black pepper, in your face, no holds barred. I hate when people call a whisky ‘young,’ but this tastes like it may have been brought out of the barrel early. It reminds me of PC7 without the sherry influence. I don’t find anything sweet or peaceful about it.

Official Tasting Note:

You’re in a fabulous pavilion - soaking in a bubble-bath - sweetly peaceful. Nearby, a platter of exotic fruits (pineapple, papaya, lychees) and a dram of this. Across the room there’s a fire of fragrant pine cones. Outside, the eighteenth green of the world-class golf course that you have just completed way under par. The door opens and another serving girl appears with poppy seed biscuits, Italian fennel-flavoured salami and a beaming smile. You are tired but still feeling strong and proud of your achievements. Everything is in balance and harmony - the dream, the feeling, and the evocative scents and flavours from this ‘small headland’ dram.

Clynelish 21 (SMWS 26.84), or Moorland after rain

Distilled August 1990, Price of $145

ABV: 49.1%

Color: pale black gold

Nose: parsley, spearmint, slightly rotting apple, orange citrus

Taste: starts with wax, and melts into a minty leather. Real smooth. Real oily. The mint is still there and the finish is warming. A little water (doesn’t need much) brings out everything more. The wax flavor heavies, the citrus appears, and the minty leather becomes stronger in the finish.

Overall: tasty, interesting, and a good clean finish. the balance between the contrasting flavors is impressive, and it’s a great contemplative whisky.

Official Tasting Note:

We immediately notes a lightly mentholated effect, then a complex of fruity and woody scents: artificial peach, fruit syrup, varnish, natural liquorice, stripped wood, sawdust, beeswax. The taste, unreduced, is sweet, herbal and fruity (‘lime pith’), with light waxiness and white-pepper spiciness. It takes a while to open up with water, then becomes very fragrant (patchouli and vanilla, meadowsweet and elderflower) and fruity (fruit salad chews, fresh pineapple, rhubarb), with a whiff of snuffed candle. The taste is sweet and waxy; the floral note is now jasmine, and the fruity element Juicy Fruit chewing gum and orange pith. The distillery stands adjacent to another of the same name, overlooking the North Sea.

-StrongLikeCask