All posts by Jewmalt

SuperJew, Husband, Father, Scotch aficionado, Musician, Whisky Society President
Stories/History

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 2: “The case of the grain well spent”

This story  from Islay concerns an overly ambitious distillery manager and a few members of the islay farming fraternity and serves as an example of greed and its consequences.

Now this particular manager considered himself worthy of promotion to the board of directors and was using every opportunity to impress the powers that be of his worth to the company.

He had hatched a master plan to increase the profitability of his distillery almost immediately and with little actual effort on his part…..increasing the cost of one of his waste products, in this case draff (what is left of the grain after fermentation). It is used for animal food, and thus squeezing more money out of the farmers who depended on the draff to supplement their animal feedstuff.

The farmers were less than pleased with this move and decided to resist such overpayment by boycotting the distillery.

The manager was certain that, given time, they would return begging him to resume supply.

After some time of stalemate between them, the draff began to accumulate until it completely filled the distillery courtyard to the height of a man and channels had to be dug between departments. The manager refused to budge.

Then disastrous news was received at the distillery office: the directors were arriving by plane in 2 days time with VIP’s to tour the site.

Action stations were sounded and all hands were employed to remove the draff to a safe haven up the hill. The mess was cleared with the use of hoses and with brushes and the anticipated visit was declared a success by one and all.

Soon afterwards the farmers were forced into submission and agreed to the manager’s harsh terms.  He told them the secret location where they could collect their animal feed and they set off to do so.  When they arrived at the spot the draff had vanished like snow off a dyke.

The island’s deer popuation had scoffed the lot.

Which just goes to show that THE FURTHER YOU TRY TO CLIMB THE TREE THE MORE YOU SHOW YOUR BACKSIDE!

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A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this funny story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.

Field Trip!

Better late than never. My review of one of my favorite shows – The Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza

Over a month has past since I went to the Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza in Boston.  And although a month and a half has past, I can tell you I often think about that night.

Is it the whisky served at the tables that have me thinking?  Not really.  Don’t get me wrong.  There are some fine whiskies poured at the show.  Personally, I got to taste some very interesting stuff like Glen Spey 21yo, Cragganmore 21yo, new to the US Hakushu 12yo, The Balvenie’s new Tun 1401 Batch 3, and many, many other whiskies including five new SMWS bottings (coming up in the next few of weeks I will have reviews of all five of the SMWS bottlings).

What got me from the get go?  I think it’s Alan Shayne – the President of the SMWS in the USA.  A warm and personable guy who was more than happy to give me a preview of what to expect for the night:

After my talk with Alan, and still before the show got underway, I saw David Blackmore of Glenmorangie/Ardbeg and he gave me an early preview of what he’d be pouring that night:

As mentioned in a previous review of this show, the best part of it all is the Whisky Panel which is something completely unique to any of the other shows I’ve been to.

A few of the chaps from the whisky panel - Gardner of Suntory, Ewan of Diageo, Ian of Bowmore-Morrison, Ross from The Glenrothes/BBR and David from Auchentoshen

The Whisky Panel is a one hour session before the show starts where about 10 or 12 Brand Ambassadors take questions from the audience.  It’s fun, HIGHLY informative and a total wild ride to see all of these guys and gals up there busting one another (in a very light-hearted way).  For a whisky anorak like myself, I can pass on all the whisky in the room just to be a part of a conversation with other whisky folk and just totally geek out.  Seriously… whisky and fine food (even some insanely good stuff for vegetarians like me) aside, the Whisky Panel is worth the trip to Boston.

For the majority of the evening, I popped in and out with my friends, the geniuses at Malt Impostor; John, Bill and Stephen (and Stephen’s friend Kim).  When I go to a show, it’s usually alone so it’s times like these when having friends there pays.  A pleasure hanging out and talking with you guys!

After the panel and eating some great food (as previously mentioned), trying this whisky and that, I ran into Gardner Dunn of Suntory and he gave me the low-down on the latest Suntory whisky being imported into the US:

After this, I went over to the Diageo tables and ran into my friend Ewan (who you might remember was one of the good folk that reviewed the GlenHatton blend).

He not only provided good cheer and great jokes, he poured me some of those Glen Spey and Cragganmore 21yos I mentioned earlier (they were not just for press, mind you, that super-fancy stuff was for all attendees).

And quickly over to the Usquaebach table (perhaps one of my favorite blends – especially the 15yo pure malt) to sip on some of their whisky and have a laugh or two with my friend Noah Goldstein (as you can tell by the name, a nice Irish boy).

Speaking of Irish, I spent some time at the Bushmills table just long enough to fall in love with their 16 & 21yo whiskeys.  I was taken through the entire line and with the exception of the entry level whiskey, I found their line to be quite good (especially, again, the 16yo & 21yo whiskeys).

As the old saying goes, time is fun when you’re having flies.  The night ended a lot quicker than I expected.  I always leave this (and other) show(s) wondering where the time went.  I will say, however, that due to the smaller size of the show I was able to do everything I wanted to do and talk with everyone I wanted to talk with.  The Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza is a show I look forward to every year.

A big thanks goes out to Gabby Shayne for the press pass and samples for review (again, those SMWSA reviews will pop up in the next few weeks).

Dark Corner, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

Dark Corner Moonshine – A review with one part Corn Whiskey and a few parts Americana

America – South Carolina – 50%ABV – $38 – currently sold at the distillery only.

It’s that time of year again (well, at least is was a few days ago…) when we Americans all get together as friends, families, congregations, etc… to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I do my best to not think of all of the horrific historical stuff that ties into this holiday or the countless, flightless gobble-gobblers that get gobbled up in the form of legs, giblets, sandwiches, stews, etc…

Instead I focus on what matters in life.  Not the football, not the food or the drink.  It’s the friends and family.  Thanksgiving is a wonderful time when (at least in my family) everybody gets along and shows love for one another.

It’s also a time when we as a nation come together and listen to Alice’s Restaurant over and over again.  Or perhaps we’ll watch The Wizard of Oz together.  Maybe even a listening of some Bonnie ‘prince’ Billy while you hang out by the fireplace sipping on cheap merlot and riesling.  Thanksgiving is all about togetherness.

America has a long history of making whiskey – predominantly rye and/or corn whiskey.  Being that my favorite American/secular holiday is just behind us, I thought I’d review an American whiskey/moonshine.  That Moonshine is from Dark Corner out of Greenville South Carolina – “South Carolina’s First Legal Moonshine”.

Dark Corner has a single small still that’s really quite beautiful to look at (to your left).  I had a conversation with Joe Fenten (one of Dark Corner’s two founders – the other gentleman being Richard Wagner) and he gave me some insight into how they distil their moonshine:

“We do what I like to call a 1.5 times distillation. Since we have an 80 gallon pot (very small) we do 5 beer stripping runs over 5 days. We make a very conservative hearts cut on these runs and collect the hearts for later use. We then take the heads and tails from the 5 runs and re-run them through the still for a spirits run on the 6th day. We then make a precise hearts cut and blend that with our hearts from the 5 previous runs. Essentially you are mixing 100 proof hearts (15 gallons) with 150 proof hearts (15 gallons). You get full flavor lows plus smooth highs and the end result is like cool mountain creek water.

Keep in mind Greenville was voted best tasting water in America this year and beat out sources of water in the Rockies! We are very proud to use this water in our hand-spirited whiskey. The Dark Corner is home to 1/3 of the water provided to the whole upcountry of South Carolina. It’s named the North Saluda Reservoir and is one of the most pristine bodies of water in America.”

Good water, small batch, attention to distilling detail, let’s see what comes of it.  Let’s pour some:

On the nose –  Huge (!!) corn on the nose accompanied by a nice amount of spice.

Very light citrus note (etrog?).

Various crushed pepper seeds.  Am really enjoying the movie popcorn quality to this nose on this moonshine.

On the mouth – Warming and buttery – buttery movie popcorn (or buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans).

Decent mouthfeel.  Some nice viscosity.  Not super chewy but very satisfying (making me want to sip more and more).

The spice stays on the tip of the tongue and the mouth starts to dry out a touch.

Finish – Nice, long and drying finish with lasting notes of buttered popcorn.

In sum – A simple, and somewhat one-dimensional, yet satisfying whiskey.  Something that can be sipped on at anytime but I suggest it as a late summer weekend dram after you’ve worked on your lawn all day – it’s very easy going and smooth even at 50% ABV (and you should use the finger hole provided to sip it straight from jug!  Once you’ve finished the bottle, you can use it to start your own jug band with Emmet Otter).  This is a solid new make spirit/moonshine that would work magic in a new charred oak barrel.

Special thanks goes out to Joe Fenten for the sample!

Master of Malt

Master of Malt just released St. Isidore (aka The Bloggers’ Blend)

Announcement!!  You may have tracked the Bloggers’ Blend contest that the JSMWS took part in (along with 9 other whisky writers/bloggers from around the word).  Well, the final product is now available.

Read below and, if you want to get some, Click here to buy a bottle and don’t forget to use the term “JSMWS sample” in the delivery instructions portion of the shopping cart – Master of Malt will ship you a free dram of whisky if you do.

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Master of Malt announce St Isidore – a blended whisky created by bloggers

Master of Malt is proud to finally announce the release of the blended whisky, St Isidore, created entirely by whisky bloggers. To make this blend, the spirits retailer called upon the great and the good of the whisky industry including names such as Whisky Magazine, Edinburgh Whisky Blog, CaskStrength.net and Whisky Cast.

Master of Malt started by sending blending kits to 10 prominent whisky bloggers, and asked them to create the best blended whisky they could using the ingredients provided, whilst maximising its value for money. The bloggers’ recipes were made up and sold in sample sets, and Master of Malt asked the public to vote for which recipe should be made into the brand’s next whisky.

The votes were counted (using the AV system) and a rather smoky, Islay-inspired blend was chosen as the winner, before the bloggers agreed on a name for the blend, calling it St Isidore after the patron saint of the internet. For the final stage, Master of Malt called on graphic designers to submit label designs for the bottle, which summed up St Isidore, the blend, and the whisky blogging community, making them as creative as possible.

The winning designer, who was awarded a £250 spending spree at Master of Malt, was English artist Ben Sowter, who created a psychedelic, larger-than-life depiction of St Isidore enjoying his namesake blend. The label features numerous computer and internet in-jokes, for example a monitor lizard represents a computer’s monitor, and there is a bag of coins, representing a “cache”. In total, there are around 20 different hidden internet-related jokes and Easter Eggs!

You can buy a bottle of St Isidore from Master of Malt.

Tasting Notes for St Isidore (as provided by Master of Malt)

Nose: Sweet creamy aromas that meld well with a cool, oily, almost coastal wood smoke. It instantly transports you to Islay, whilst offering just a hint of plum wine, wood shavings and lapsang souchong tea. Time in the glass brings out notes of guava, warm custard and rhubarb crumble.

Palate: Thick, warming and balanced as it hits the tongue, it offers notes of really good vanilla ice cream, black pepper, and rum spices, whilst retaining a solid backbone of sweet woodsmoke and freshly-sawn timber. Hold it on the tongue for just a touch of salty popcorn and crème caramel.

Finish: Beautifully warming and spiced. It fades away on freshly grated cinnamon and sugared peels. A faint flutter of pear juice on the very tail.

Overall: A perfect smoky blend. This is a very old-school whisky, combining the smoke of Islay, and the rich, honeyed tones of the Highlands. A superb winter fireside dram if ever there was one.

The Bloggers:

– CaskStrength.net
– Dr. Whisky
– Edinburgh Whisky Blog
– Guid Scotch Drink
– The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society
– WhiskyCast
– Whisky Connosr
– Whisky Magazine
– WhiskyWhiskyWhisky Forum
– Whisky for Everyone

About Master of Malt:

– Established in 1985
– Master of Malt is one of the UK’s leading Online Whisky & Spirits Merchants, with a huge range of whiskies, rum, brandies, gins, cocktails and many other fine spirits.

An everyday dram, Glenfarclas, Summertime

Buy good whisky at a great price while donating to a charitable cause? Could it get anymore “feel good ” than that?

Highlands region – 53%ABV – £39.99

There’s something really good about feeling really good about… stuff.  You see, I do not believe in altruism.  Mother Theresa was an AMAZING woman that did so many wonderful things for the needy.  But no one can tell me that she did not feel good about all of the work she did; or perhaps feel motherly toward many of the people who counted on her and those that worked with her.  It feels good to do good and there’s nothing wrong with that.

So… do you want to feel good about helping people (and get some good whisky in the process)?

Master of Malt teamed up with Glenfarclas to choose two ex-oloroso sherry casks to marry up (mix together), bottle up and then sell.  This 9yo whisky, bottled at cask strength (53% ABV) is selling at Master of Malt for only £39.99 and £10 of each sale (basically 25%) goes to Movember who fund The Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong as well as help to create awareness on Men’s Cancer Issues.  You can read more on Movember’s Global Action Plan here.

This being said, I did my part by purchasing a couple of these “Movember” Glenfarclas bottles from Master of Malt.  Thankfully, the whisky inside the bottle is pretty damn good (and a steal at only £39.99!)

On the nose –  Out of the gate the nose is hot and sharp; angular (if you can apply that to a scent).  Not the soft sherried nose you’d come to expect from most Glenfarclas whiskies.

It is a very “sherried” nose however…  Think sugared prunes, potting soil, gingerbread men and a shit ton spice and spice cakes.

Some rubbery notes in there too (party balloons).

With water the scent becomes… inviting, round, big and plump.  Sort of like all of those butts Sir Mix A Lot always raps about.

On the mouth – Hot in the mouth with a big spice attack.  Let’s try this again… Yeah, still hot, will add water in a sec.  Let’s talk mouthfeel though:  Sort of thin but flavor packed (almost like a barrel proof bourbon attack – very strong in heat and flavor).

Waiter, may I have some water please?  Just two droppers full.  Thanks.

As I suspected, water is the key.  Still a bit hot but much more tolerable and the mouth feel gets nice and big.  Water is to this whisky as a fluffer is to Ron Jeremy (that’s it with the sexy stuff, promise!).

Orange and spice and everything nice.  Vanilla is huge here.

Finish – Very dry finish, long with spice drops.

In sum – It’s a whacky/wild little ‘farclas. It’s sort of like the “cool” kid in the room that’s maybe not as cool as everybody thinks he is but because everybody thinks he’s cool, he’s just that much cooler…  Maybe like Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Ok, enough with the tangent.

At £40, this cask strength whisky is a total steal and just the fact that £10 of that goes to Movember for men’s cancer charities… THAT’S cool!  A bit of Tzedakah and Tikkun Olam all in one!  Get a bottle or two before they sell out.

Click here to buy a bottle and don’t forget to use the term “JSMWS sample” in the delivery instructions portion of the shopping cart – Master of Malt will ship you a free dram of whisky if you do.

I can’t believe I mixed Mother Theresa in with Sir Mix A Lot, Ron Jeremy and Jeff Spicoli.  My apologies if I offended anyone.

Special thanks to Master of Malt for the sample!  I’m now working on bottle #1 from the two I bought 🙂