Category Archives: Ardbeg

Ardbeg

Where I stand

OK, so if you’re like me, you read A LOT of whisky blogs.  Lots of reviews, great articles, opinions, news, etc…

One thing that’s come up as of late is us whisky bloggers feeling the need to tell you where we stand, ethically speaking, with respect to tasting samples we receive, trips offered to us, etc…  Part of me feels like we’re all just telling each other where we stand but, that’s OK.  Issues of ethics do need to be raised.  How can you to trust me (or any whisky journalist or blogger) knowing that we sometimes post reviews based on free samples given to us?

This is a fair point; one that needs to be addressed.

A while back I told you about my relationship with Master of Malt.  I wanted to be upfront about this relationship as my reviews are, and will remain to be, completely independent and not influenced in **any way** be it by free samples or payment [from Master of Malt in the form of commission if you chose to purchase through them to claim the “Drinks by the Dram” free whisky sample].

I went on further, stating: If I don’t like a whisky, I’m going to tell you.  If I like a whisky I’ll tell you.  My nose, my tongue, my reviews.  It’s this simple. – This statement still stands.

So, let me lay it out again and let me be clear[er]:

A) Yes, I do receive samples for review (both by distilleries and sample swapping with other bloggers) – in case you haven’t been keeping track of the prices I’ve been listing, this stuff is expensive!  I’ve got hundreds of whiskies reviewed (posted).  I can’t afford all this fluid on my paycheck!

B) Though I think I’ve been doing an OK job letting you know when I am reviewing from a sample, moving forward, I will make sure to clearly mark my reviews with some sort of a statement letting you know where I got the sample from.  Cool?

C) I have yet to be offered a trip or accommodations by any distillery or firm.  Would I pass up the offer?  Tough to say.  I’ll cross that bridge if it’s ever presented to me.

As I think about the subject of trip sponsorship, I am reminded of Mark Gillespie’s (of WhiskyCast fame) trips to Feis Ile and, more recently, WhiskyLive Paris, Ballantine’s lab and Midleton.  I really like his approach to the subject.

Before I made this post, to make sure I wasn’t mixing his words, I asked if he would clarify his stance on trip sponsorship and he was kind enough to do so.  I posed to him what I thought he said on the subject and here was his response:

Let’s clarify…I don’t think I quite said it that way…the trip [Feis Ile 2010] would not have been possible without the financial support of the distilleries, and that’s generally the way it is when I travel outside the US. In this case, each of the 9 distilleries paid an equal share of the costs to travel and produce the series. My policy is that if I receive financial support to cover the costs of producing an episode, I will always disclose it on the show. That’s what I did with this week’s episode from the Ballantine’s lab and the Midleton visit a couple of weeks ago. In addition, La Maison du Whisky and Whisky Magazine France invited me to Whisky Live in Paris last week, and covered my airfare and hotel bill…and I acknowledged that during each episode. In a perfect world, I’d cover all of my own expenses, but that’s just not feasible…and this is the most transparent option available.

Mark, thanks for talking with me and for your great response! I can personally identify with a statement such as this but again, this is not a bridge offered up to me just yet so I can not cross it even if I wanted to.

I hope that this spells it all out for you.   If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me: jewmalt [at] yahoo [dot] com

L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers!!

Joshua

Ardbeg, Balvenie, Field Trip!, Glenmorangie

A cause for celebration.

Ok, before I get started, I know there are a few things I owe you:

  1. More blended whisky reviews (including some Douglas Laing Double Barrel, Compass Box and Eades Double Malt expressions)
  2. A follow up to my Skyped-in Balvenie tasting with the London Jewish Chaplaincy.
  3. Reviews on the Master of Malt 30, 40 & 50 year expressions
  4. Anything else?

So, this is what I owe you and I will get to that.  Promise.

Before I do, however, I thought I’d do a quick post which actually is a follow up to the first contest I ever did.  I gave you a chance to taste a sample of the Ardbeg Rollercoaster if you gave me a good reason to crack open my Glenmorangie Margaux Cask.

I am happy to announce that I have finally opened the Margaux Cask Glenmo!  And though I am still striving for the goal and main reason I chose to open this bottle, I have made some headway.  So, you might ask “why, if you haven’t reached you goal, did you open up that beauty?”  Well, I’ll tell you.

Reason number 1 –

As you may know, before I started this blog, I ran a whisky society by the same name.  I still do.

Recently we enjoyed our largest tasting event hosted by Mr. Sam Simmons (with proceeds going to my synagogue’s social justice fund).  You guessed it, Dr. Whisky.  We had just over 30 people at the event and it was a total blast!  Sam did a fantastic job!

So, are we celebrating this big tasting?  Yes.

Is it enough for “Reason number 1“?  Almost.  However, I needed more.

What better component to “Reason number 1” than to celebrate Sam’s promotion to The Balvenie’s Global Ambassador!?

Sam, congrats!  After attending your tasting event, and seeing how you wowed and taught my group about The Balvenie and Scotch whisky in general, it’s quite apparent that your promotion is a well deserved one.  Cheers brotha!

Reason number 2 –

Dag nambit, if I don’t LOVE the internets!!

Over a year ago I started chatting it up with Jason of guidscotchdrink.com (for those not familiar, formally WHISKYhost).  We would twitter quite a lot and I was, and continue to be an avid reader of Jason’s blog.  Heck, I’ve even done a couple of guest posts on his blog where I reviewed whisk(e)y infused chocolate bars: Talisker Scotch Bonbon Bars — George T Stagg Bourbon Bonbon Bars.

Recently, and for a variety of reasons (Sam’s Balvenie Tasting being one of them), Jason took many-many hours out of his life to fly out to Connecticut for a visit.

Even though I’ve hung out with Sam before, this statement goes for both Sam and Jason: How cool it was to finally meet someone you’ve been interwebbing with for so long!?

Jason, it was great having you as a guest and hanging out with you!  Sam, see above. 🙂

Reason number 3 –

Well, I still can not give this away but I will be sure to announce what this reason is when that time comes.

So, how’d the stuff taste??

Looks like I owe one more thing – tasting notes!

When we opened it, we drank to enjoy and celebrate !  Tasting notes to follow.  However, as a preview, I can tell you that it is some amazing fluid!

Sam, Jason, thank you!  Until the next time our path cross again (which I know will happen soon and repeatedly)…  I wish you both the very best!

L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers!!

Joshua

Ardbeg, Big Peat, Bowmore, Caol Ila, Port Ellen

Big Peat (or, what you’d get if you mixed Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila & Port Ellen in a really smart way)

A vatting of Islay region whiskies – 46%ABV – $80 – $100 | £30 | €35

Continuing my week of vatted/blended whiskies, I move onto “Big Peat”.

Not sure about what it’s like where you are but, it’s getting colder around here (Connecticut, USA).  Especially at night.  I’m seeing temps at 40 – 55deg fahrenheit (about 4.5 – 13deg celsius).  To me, based on my patent pending Mood-And-Season-O-Meter™, this means peat season!

I love a good smokey Islay malt in the fall & winter time (heck, I’ll take a heavy/smokey Campbeltown or a peated Highland malt too).  Mood will affect what you reach for in a whisky and season will affect your mood.  It’s the triple “S” effect.  No, not Shit, Shower & Shave.  Stupid, simple science.  Light & fruity whiskies (and wines) for the warmer months, heavy (and/or peaty for whiskies) and big for the cooler months.  Stupid, simple science.

I’ve been hearing a whole heck of a lot about the cost of this whisky accompanied with complaints of: “why so much for a… blend?”  Many folks see that this is, and is labeled as, a blended whisky so they wont break out their wallets for it because of the higher cost (especially in America).

Statements such as these make me break out my soap box so I can scream to the world “MORE THAN 90% OF SINGLE MALTS ARE BLENDS PEOPLE!!!”

Yes, it’s true.  That Glenfiddich 12, Highland Park 18 or Caol Ila 18 you love so much is a blend of many different barrels which could (and do) contain whiskies that are, 12, 15, 18, 25 years, etc… to create a flavor profile that the distilleries are comfortable labeling as their 12, 15 or 18 year old product.  Single Malt simply means that the whiskies were malted at the same single distillery.  The age statement tells you what the youngest whisky is that blend, I mean, single malt.

Update: In years past, if you mixed different malt whiskies from different distilleries it was OK to call it a “vatted malt”; if you mixed malt whisky with grain whisky it was then called a “blend”. Even though this is a vatting of four different single malt whiskies, the SWA has deemed that a mixture of whiskies from two or more distilleries (be it malt or grain) is now to be called a “blend”.  While I’m not sure I agree with this move, thems the breaks when it comes to labeling Scotch whisky!

OK, off of my soap box.  Let me review this fluid to see if  it’s worth its weight in whisky:

On the nose – Well, there is big peat in here for sure!   A nice peat blast upon initial whiff.

Very briny and a blast of lemon zest.

Do I detect a bit of sherry influence here (mere hints of dried fruits)?

Well used canvas sneakers (rubber, canvas and salty perspiration).

A little flinty (maybe the Port Ellen rearing it’s head).

The smoke is a dirty one.

On the mouth – It’s all about the mouthfeel here folks.

Lush, chewy and coating.  Yum!

Stewed root veggies.  Salty, salty, salty.

Less of a smoke attack on the mouth here.

Teas galore: Chamomile, Sencha, Black Oolong and Rooibos – it’s all there and a bit over steeped.

Finish – Sweet carrots and singed tea leaves, all in the back of the mouth.

In sum – Tough to tell which whisky is strongest here.  The Ardbegian lemons are out there for sure but so is the flintiness of Port Ellen and the mouth feel of many Bowmores I’ve have.  I’d be happy to enjoy this on a hot summer’s day.  Seriously.  It’s bright and refreshing (even with all of that peat smoke) like a nice Caol Ila.  Kudos to the people who made this blend.  Well done.  Take a bow (more)!  Impressive.

Ardbeg

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) will be launching something very cool on Friday

This just came across my desk here at the JSMWS HQ:

“Subject: Sneaky peek at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Spirit Cellars whisky selection engine (launches on Friday)

It’ll not be launched until Friday Sep 10, but if you log on to www.smws.com/the-spirit-cellars just now you’ll see how widgets like Moodbot, Flavour Bandit, Phrenology Lab and Palate Equaliser will help users select the right, single cask, single malt whisky for them. It’s just got bottles available to UK members at the moment but will be rolled out across the world in due course.

As you probably know, the Society has an Outturn of around 20 new bottles a month and an ever-changing catalogue of available whiskies. Even the most dedicated malt whisky enthusiast is going to need some help finding their way round this incredibly diverse collection, so The Spirit Cellars was born.

It’s a bit of fun, but it’s got some serious technology and research running it. The complex tasting notes of each of the Society bottles are run through advanced algorithms developed for the computer dating industry and this is the first time the software has been used in the UK. The Spirit Cellars also runs using live stock data so users can buy their matches should they wish.

The Spirit Cellars is an organic beast and will evolve at the suggestion of its users. If users can think of a widget that’ll help them, the Society will look in to developing it.”

Not only am I a whisky dork (and a big fan of the SMWS) but I am a technology geek as well.  I’ve fiddled around with some of these tools (after having visited www.smws.com/the-spirit-cellars) and I was pretty impressed by what they’ve got going on so far.

As you know, I focus in on suggesting malts by mood or season and to have access to cool widgets that do the same thing for the SMWS bottles???  Very cool.

A World of Discovery, Ardbeg, Autumn, Cold Winter, Springtime

The Great Space [Ardbeg Roller] Coaster

Islay region – 57.3%ABV – 750ml bottle (70cl outside of the US) – £100 | $80-$115 | €120

G-d bless Federal Wine & Spirits out of Boston, MA!  If it were not for them, I’m not sure I would have had my bottle of Ardbeg’s Committee Release of their Rollercoaster.

Those poor folks.

They announced that they were going to be getting some bottles early and was taking some pre-orders for it but did not know how many people may be calling them.  Harassing them for a bottle of this fine whisky.  I, good readers, was one of these people but I did my very best to be as *unharassy* as possible.  They told me they had “X” amount of bottles and “XXX” amount of people looking for one.  To make matters worse, their number of bottles went from a couple of cases down to 18 so now they had the hard job of telling even more people that they could not help them.

Those poor folks.  I hate saying no to anybody.  I feel sorry for them having to say no, to, my guess, a couple hundred people.

Luckily for me I was one of the first 18 people to call so, I got a bottle.  It took them a while to get through it all (my guess, about 3-4 weeks) but they eventually did get their bottles out and made 18 people (including myself) extremely happy.

While I was waiting for my bottle I made an agreement with Gal of Whisky Israel that I would hold off on opening the bottle so’s we could do a live Twitter tasting.

Well, Gal had issues of his own that I’m sure he’ll post about but let’s just say that waiting another 3-4 weeks to open my bottle just sort of… happened.

People who know me know that I am a patient guy.  So, no worries here.  But shit, I wanted to taste this nectar more than the folks who waited in line to taste New Coke way back when.  Thankfully Ardbeg’s Rollerocaster is FAR better that that short-lived shite!

While I did get around to tasting seven Ardbeg whiskies back in May, I only recently had a chance to taste the stuff as a stand alone whisky.

Let’s ride the coaster, shall we?

On the nose – Part of me wishes that this is what oxygen smelled like all of the time.  However, if it did, then nosing this whisky would not be as special as it is.

A very, very sexy nose filled with mature-for-its-age-peat-smoke, a salt lick and olive oil.

Peel the smokiness away and I am now confronted with some strawberry jam and those delicious Ardbegian lemons – the salt carries through the entire nose-capade.

On the mouth – A great entry here filled with savory bacon bits, tarred ropes and chicory.

Oily, like real olive oil in my mouth here, salted pie crust, onslaught of smokey peat, strawberries return and the citrus fruits evolve into something a bit bigger – pomelo!

Charred wood, cherries and tobacco.

Finish – Medium long.  Lovely burny bubbles stay in my mouth for some time and then out of the blue some nice green tea notes.

In sum — Well worth the wait.

A fantastic dram that, although amazingly smokey, is so very fruity for me (Lemons, Pomelo, Strawberries, Cherries).

Also, the peat seemed less of a direct attack on my tongue that I could enjoy this one in the late spring (winter for sure) and the autumn time.

A cracker of a dram that I hope Ardbeg will bring in as a standard expression.

One of the things I love about whisky is that everyone can take something different from them.  Chicory to me may be chipotle to another.  This being said, check out Jason from Guid Scotch Drink’s notes on this beauty – a world a difference but I would still drink the stuff if I got what he wrote in his notes.