Category Archives: Springtime

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, An everyday dram, GlenHatton, Let's celebrate!, Refreshed, Springtime, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

The GlenHatton dregs blend, take one, pt. 2 of 2

GlenHatton – glen · ha · tton\’(g)len · ha · tän\n\ A “luck of the draw, pour the dregs of a shit ton of whiskies into one bottle” whisk(e)y blend.

Yesterday, as you might have read right here, details of the GlenHatton were finally revealed.

As a quick reminder, I created a dregs bottle of whisk(e)y called The GlenHatton.  It is made up of the following whiskies (in no particular order or quantity):

After creating this dregs bottle I sent a message out to friends via the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page asking if anyone wants to get a taste of the stuff.  I had enough for 8 samples and got a taker for each one!  Based on the quick response and people’s seemingly burning desire to taste the stuff, I thought it’d make for a great post!

What would people think of it and what did they think might be in it?  With the exception of the Malt Impostors, no one knew that the dregs sat in a Hibiki bottle.  And, with the exception of a few other things, none of which had to do with the make up of this whisky, this is all I told people about the whisk(e)y:

“Dear Guinea Pig, I mean, participant…

You are one of eight people to join the GlenHatton inner circle.  Congratulations.

It took me a long time but I finally filled (for the most part) a full bottle with the dregs of whiskies from many, many different samples & countries.  There are over 26 different whiskies in here from all over the world: Scotland, Japan, Sweden, USA & Taiwan!

I’d say more than 95% of this is malt whisky but there is some grain (in the form of bourbon & and grain content from a blend or two I dumped in there).

The rules:

Rule # 1 — There is no Fight Club

Rule # 2 — Enjoy.  It’s an odd duck.  I didn’t go about creating this dregs fluid in the attempt to design some master blend.  No, this is all random stuff.  Solid!

Rule # 3 — Aside from enjoying it, try to taste it as if you were reviewing it as best you can and PLEASE, write down your notes.  I’d love to get the standard Nose, Palate, Finish notes.

Additionally, when I do post this up, I will reveal the contents of this dregs sample.  Go ahead and try to take some guesses as to what you think may be in there (you don’t have to try and guess all 26+ whiskies).  The person (or people) who get more than 7 correct will get a surprise whisky sample.

Hmmm, 7 may be a high number.  Ok, the person who gets the most correct will get a surprise sample.  Sound cool?  Cool.

Thanks again for your participation!

All the best!  L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers/Kampai!”

So, who are the participants in this grand experiment and what did people think of the GlenHatton?  Well, here are the final 4 guest reviews (as a reminder, here is a link to yesterday’s reviews from the first 4 tasters):

Review #5

Ewan Morgan – Diageo Master of Whisky

Bio: Ewan is a third generation “whisky man.” In Scotland, Ewan spent his childhood living within the grounds of a large distillery. Both his father and grandfather worked their entire careers in the business before retiring as distillery manager and brewer, respectively. When he was of age, he inevitably began working there as a maltman himself.

Ewan was chosen to become a Master of Whisky due to his in-depth working knowledge of the industry as well as his extreme, unrelenting passion for whisky. He has traveled the world giving presentations and tastings to large audiences in Asia, Europe and North America. If you asked Ewan what he loves most about his job, he’d tell you, “there’s no other job like it, you get to travel, meet interesting people and have the opportunity to educate and enthuse about something that’s very close to your heart – that makes me a very lucky person indeed!”

Nose: floor polish, hubba bubba, sweet latex rubber, rhubarb compote, plumy, young green oaky vanilla, leather

Palate: cardamom, bitter crab apple, minty panacotta, fruity mid palate, burnt caramel and plum sauce, white pepper.

Finish: dry, short and sweet.

Caspar the whisky ghost.

Review #6

Malt Impostor(s)

Bio: Variously and unmentionably employed during the day, Bill, Stephen, and John are full-blown Malt Impostors by night.  From the bowels of their Malt Cave, the Impostors endeavor to drink out the words they feel certain are already there in the expression–it is an expression, after all.  They got their start making fun of some of the more pretentious tasting notes they saw out there on the web.  Now, The Malt Impostor has evolved into a site providing highly idiosyncratic tasting notes for your favorite malts–preferably in miniature form.

This dregs dram, a composite consisting of a plethora of whisky expressions, is the creation of a budding master blender, a crazy genius, or a truly lucky bastard.

On the nose, we found Hibiki flowers (perhaps because we knew it had been blended in a full-sized Hibiki 12 bottle–damn, the power of suggestion!), sherry, a hint of smoke, and light varnish on light wood—we were thinking a varnished sorority paddle.  Bill also thought he detected notes of a Dremel tool playing roto-rooter in a robot’s aluminum nostril.

On the mouth, if the core or center isn’t bourbon, at least one of the inner concentric rings must be.  It’s very smooth, but also electric on the tip of the tongue, like tiny catfish heads with barbs dipped in Hoisin sauce.

Overall, the GlenHatton sports a deep, rich mouth:  we thought we detected some Macallan in here, but also some Gran Marnier, though we split on where we think the latter actually showed up:  Bill’s vote was in the foreground, Stephen’s was in the background, and John’s was underground—a dissident Gran Marnier, if you will, moving fluidly amongst the occupying forces.  The finish boasts loads of pepper—think GMO scotch bonnets injected subcutaneously, thereby bypassing direct contact with nerve endings—along with cinnamon and hints of corn silk.  Add a little water, and the nose softens significantly, imagine that same sorority paddle making contact with a clothesline-dried cotton skirt on its way to making contact with its ultimate target.  With water, on the mouth, it’s also predictably watery-er, but it does little to undermine the cinnamon and lasting spice on the finish. Overall, this dram is incredibly complex, but also very tight:  there’s no clear single vector here, but rather a series of distinct vectors continuously turning in on themselves.  If M.C. Escher were to blend a whisky, this’d be it.

On the scale of notable amateur (or semi-amateur) efforts, the GlenHatton is The Malt Impostor—unexpectedly well-received by discerning experts and subtly (or not so subtly) self-promotional, this dram creates its own singular niche—and does so admirably.

Review #7

Anne Benner

Bio: My name is Anne Benner, I’m 27, from Lake Constance in the south of Germany and have been a student of English and Spanish linguistics and literature in Heidelberg, Germany for quite a while now, actually 🙂 I love listining to music, mainly indie and alternative stuff (The National is my current favourite) and, apart from that I love travelling. I lived in Argentina for half a year and also spent 9 months in Scotland, working as an assistant teacher. On my last trip to Scotland in September 2010, I fell in love with some of Islay’s whiskies which made me think of writing about whisky in my master thesis. I’m currently doing this and writing about „The Language of Whisky Tasting Notes“ in English linguistics. Hoping to finish it sometime soon since my backpack’s been feeling quite lonely for the last couple of month, longing for some new adventures…

Beautiful light golden colour. But don’t trust it. It’ll lure you into some fairytale, looking innocent and pretending to be the wonderful princess of the Light sitting on its unicorn and not giving away what it really contains. Nose it and taste it and it will tell you a completely different story of what is actually to be expected 🙂 Bring it on…

Taking a first nose you will get hints of wood and nuts, accompanied by whiffs of sherry (and/or sherry cork?) and a smokiness that starts faint but then hits your nose with hot and persistent whiffs of smoke. On the second nose there are notes of marzipan and even fruit cake that are then chased away by a more fierce pepperiness that makes you want to sneeze the hell out of you. After having let it breathe for some minutes it will become a lot sweeter, more sherry, lots of sherry, more sweetness, more berries and sweet wood. Not only hints of wood that float into your nose, no it’s more like a light wooden board shoved up your nasal cavity (in a very good and painless way). Nosing too intensely, however, will make your eyes well up with tears, perceiving hints of vanilla at the same time. But hey this is crying in a good way.

Chewing the first sip makes this odd duck jump around like Darkwing Duck on your tongue. Ouch! Tongue to brain: “…please let me roll over!” But then … then it becomes worth while savouring: Its body is quite oily and heavy but successfully heaves itself to bringing out the sherry and wood notes from before, now even more persistent. This is hot stuff and not for feeble taste buds. Makes your facial colour go rather reddish. After having let it breathe you get more of the woodiness, apples, green I think, and lots of fruity hints, berries and cherry even.

The finish lasts. And lasts. It is very dry… still dry… A bit bitter on the palate, but the bitterness  fades to the back parts of your tongue after some moments. It then disappears and leaves you with notes of sherry and wood, even mint. More dryness. Even a sip of water cannot downplay the dryness. Oral cavity’s de-numbing, notes of sherry and wood still on. And on. And on…

WOW! A real ferocious duck this is. Change of facial colour: check. Scared the hell out of tongue: check. Tears in your eyes: check. Even a sip of water cannot really smooth down this duck’s temper. Funniest whisky I have tried so far, extremely strong in alcohol (would be interesting to know how much it actually is) and one that hits you in the face. I have no idea what you put in this, but there is much wood and sherry. Too sweet to not have sherried whisky in it. Might be some port as well. A bit of peat smoke definitely brings in Islay but I might be wrong on this one. Its hotness reminded me a bit of the Tomatin range (especially the 12yr and 15yr) I tasted some time ago. Woody notes from some light oak I’d say but I think I haven’t tasted enough different whiskies to actually tell.

Review #8

Richard Barr

Bio: I am a member of Whisky Israel. Love Whisky with a passion.  Wish I could be paid to travel the world promoting a whisky brand as a global brand ambassador.

I want to Thank Joshua Hatton for sticking with me. He sent the sample not once but twice, allowing me to, at long last, try his “dregs bottling” I’m sure somebody in either the American or Israeli Postal System enjoyed the first sample as much as I enjoyed the 2nd one that ultimately arrived.

Glen Hatton Vol. 1

Color: Gold, pure gold.

Nose: It starts off with a bit of smoke & peat, moving on to crisp green apple. This is quickly overshadowed by the sublime smells of buttery, rich buttery, really rich buttery toffee. It’s the same rich buttery aroma I get when making the toffee sauce for sticky toffee pudding (that sauce contains butter, brown sugar, vanilla & cream) only with an extra helping of butter – yum! Powering through the rich buttery toffee, I catch red candy apple. You know the kind of red candy apples one buys at a county fair. Oh, did I mention the rich buttery toffee?

Palate: The Glen Hatton starts off slightly sweet on the palate and the BAM!, it snuck up & smacked me with pepper, first white pepper, then black pepper, and finishing up with green bell pepper.  Starting off just as the nose would suggest and then that surprise attack of spice.

Finish: Long, really long starting with a warmth in the chest and working its way up to the nose and remaining there ever so long. Tapering off to leave the smoke the whole show started with. That smoke lingers in an afterglow for a minute of two, reminding me of what just happened.

Overall: A wonderful dram for an experiment. This test subject was glad to be a part of it. I’d give it 88/100

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Ewan – I love the pic of your handwritten tasting notes.  I’d hand write my notes but I don’t think I’d be able to read them back to myself.  Yeah, my penmanship is THAT bad.  Very cool style of notes/descriptors as well.  An interesting take on this experimental dregs bottle.  This is one of the things I love about whisky – everybody’s taste & smell receptors are different and we can all come away with something unique.

Stephen, John, Bill… You guys never cease to amaze me.  I find I have to read your notes over and over and over again just to make sure I’m understanding and taking it all in.  Like a good Umberto Eco book, or perhaps an onion, there are many layers to what you guys write.  Thank you for being you.

Anne – Nice highly details notes.  You really picked up on a lot of the other elements people got: Vanilla, apples, spiciness, etc…  That and you mentioned Darkwing Duck?!  Fabulous!

Richard – While I won’t be posting my notes until Monday, I will tell you that we found some similar notes in there: Toffee, vanilla, more toffee.  Your tasting notes were deliciously fun and told a damn good story.

So, if you’ve been keeping track, you’ll notice that it is Jason Johnstone-Yellin of guidscotchdrink.com who ended up getting the most number of correctly guessed whiskies (see yesterday’s post for Jason’s review of the GlenHatton).  Congrats Jason!

Be sure to check in on Monday as you’ll finally see my notes on this “masterpiece” as well as a reveal on what Jason’s winning sample will be!

A World of Discovery, GlenHatton, Let's celebrate!, Springtime, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

The GlenHatton dregs blend, take one, pt. 1 of 2

GlenHatton – glen · ha · tton\'(g)len · ha · tän\n\ A “luck of the draw, pour the dregs of a shit ton of whiskies into one bottle” whisk(e)y blend.

As you might have guessed, should you be a frequent or daily reader of the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society blog, I get a good deal of whisky samples; buy more whisk(e)y than I should of whisky and yes; I taste, review and drink a lot of whisky.

You might wonder what happens to the drips and dregs left over from sample and purchased bottles; the stuff left over that’s too little an amount to drink…  What happens?

The GlenHatton happens.

I used a base whisky to start the whole thing (about 15% of the Suntory Hibiki 12yo) then dumped 21+ dregs of various whiskies into the bottle and “wham-bam-thank-you-shmuel” the final result is a tasty little dregs bottle of whisk(e)y I call: The GlenHatton.

So, what to do with all of this dregs blended-whisk(e)y??

Well, if you’re me, you send a message out to friends via the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page asking if anyone wants to get a taste of the stuff.  I had enough for 8 samples and got a taker for each one!  Based on the quick response and people’s seemingly burning desire to taste the stuff, I thought it’d make for a great post!

What would people think of it and what did they think might be in it?  With the exception of the Malt Impostors, no one knew that the dregs sat in a Hibiki bottle.  And, with the exception of a few other things, none of which had to do with the make up of this whisky, this is all I told people about the whisk(e)y:

“Dear Guinea Pig, I mean, participant…

You are one of eight people to join the GlenHatton inner circle.  Congratulations.

It took me a long time but I finally filled (for the most part) a full bottle with the dregs of whiskies from many, many different samples & countries.  There are over 26 different whiskies in here from all over the world: Scotland, Japan, Sweden, USA & Taiwan!

I’d say more than 95% of this is malt whisky but there is some grain (in the form of bourbon & and grain content from a blend or two I dumped in there).

The rules:

Rule # 1 — There is no Fight Club

Rule # 2 — Enjoy.  It’s an odd duck.  I didn’t go about creating this dregs fluid in the attempt to design some master blend.  No, this is all random stuff.  Solid!

Rule # 3 — Aside from enjoying it, try to taste it as if you were reviewing it as best you can and PLEASE, write down your notes.  I’d love to get the standard Nose, Palate, Finish notes.

Additionally, when I do post this up, I will reveal the contents of this dregs sample.  Go ahead and try to take some guesses as to what you think may be in there (you don’t have to try and guess all 26+ whiskies).  The person (or people) who get more than 7 correct will get a surprise whisky sample.

Hmmm, 7 may be a high number.  Ok, the person who gets the most correct will get a surprise sample.  Sound cool?  Cool.

Thanks again for your participation!

All the best!  L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers/Kampai!”

So, what’s in The GlenHatton?  A LOT! In no particular order and in no specified amount, the whiskies are:

So, who are the participants in this grand experiment and what did people think of the GlenHatton?  Well, here are the first 4 reviews:

Review #1

David Blackmore

Bio: Global Brand Ambassador of The Glenmorangie

Initial impression on the nose: subtle, mild and well balanced with plenty of tropical fruit – bananas and pineapple. Strangely reminiscent of Hibiki 12yr!

On further nosing: distant hints of chili peppers with more tropical fruit and hints of corn whisky.

Tasting neat: Sweet vanilla and tropical fruits – pineapple and mango(?). Finish is dried with more corn notes, biscuity with a suptly hint of peppery smoke…

Nosing with water: Distant tarry smoke(?) Water definitely amplifies the smokey notes more than the fruit notes. More of those sweet corn whiskey notes as well.

Tasting with water: Soft, easy drinking with vanilla, honey and tropical fruits. Later, hints of American whiskey on the breath.

My guess for (some of) the whisk(e)y components:

Glenmorangie Astar / 18yr, Hibiki 12, Makers Mark, Bruichladdich, Dalmore, Stranahan’s…

ABV seems to be approx 43%

Since blends should be all about balance and ease of drinking I think you really hit a home run. Very drinkable!

Review #2

Jason Johnstone-Yellin of GuidScotchDrink.com

Bio: Born and raised in Burns country (Ayrshire, Scotland), I have lived in the US since December 2001. I founded the Single Malt Whisky Society of the Palouse in 2004 in order to share my love of single malt with friends who were interested in learning more about the hallowed spirit and we’re still going strong. I also lead private whisky tours of Scotland and would love to show you around my native country.

Color: New motor oil

Nose: Fruity to begin (more like artificial fruit flavoring, though, with a sherry nudge coming in from behind), developing black pepper and soft, fragrant spice (a red spice like paprika comes to mind), overripe bananas poke around the edges of the spice (reminiscent of an Indian bazaar). 

Palate: More of that soft spice with building wood (makes me think about dark chocolate with dried chili peppers), chewy with long toffee notes, some spicy ginger followed by thick, woody, cumin notes, red fruits in a summer crumble. 

Finish: Lots of black pepper and charred wood with ground cumin that just keeps going and going and going. 

Overall: Given Joshua’s fascination with Glenmorangie this is likely 25 different expressions from Glenmo and one Japanese blend!  With that said, however, I’m thinking there has to be some Amrut in here.  I’m also getting elements from port finishing with the red fruits on the palate, so maybe there’s Kavalan ‘Concert Master’ in here, and maybe some Balvenie and Springbank Port finished dregs, too.  Could I be tasting Mizunara (Japanese oak) in here?  That always throws me for a loop… Hibiki for sure.  He has very international tastes, you know!  Needless to say, very interesting stuff (although I think I’ll still be tasting cumin a week from now).

Review #3

David Bailey Jr.

Bio: I am a native resident of Brooklyn, NY. I have done freelance sales/marketing for some high end single malt scotch brands in the NY Metro Area, and now also work for Christie’s as a Wine Inventory Controller. I have a huge penchant for reading, working out and all sorts of geeky, nerdy things but adore spirits, especially scotch.

Color: a rustic, chestnut color. Takes very well in the glass, with nice, flowing long legs!

Nose: sea salt & brine followed immediately by roasted coffee bean & burnt rubbers (Starbucks in a speedy Jag perhaps?), dampened oak, vanilla & toffee with slight hints of oak throughout, and touches of warming peat.

Palate: sweet perfume-esque entry, hints of vanilla & milk chocolate, more coffee bean with lots of spiciness, light peat now emerges followed by more sea salt. Very lingering finish.

Nose (w 2 drops of water added): much sweeter, now honey & maple syrup emerge, caramelized coffee beans with light sprinkles of sea salt & brine, followed by dampened oak.

Palate (w water): creamy & a bit oily, sweeter, vanilla & milk chocolate again, spicy notes now appear more prevalent, then drop. Interesting. Medium finish.

All in all a pretty good dram. Surely opens up a bit with just a slight splash of water. Review was done utilizing a 2 oz pour. Was tempted to try this alongside a nice glass of Guinness and a medium bodied cigar, but I’ll save that for the next dram, hahaah.

Review #4

Blair Bowman

Bio: Foreign Secretary of Aberdeen University Whisky Society, currently residing in Barcelona. Just returned on Monday from Judging at The International Whisky Competition in Chicago – of heated discussion. Assisted at Taipei Whisky Live last year and many other whisky related events. Works as Online Community Manager for a Webinar Company in Barcelona.

Disclaimer from Blair: Sorry I’ve got a bit of a lingering cold – think its the sudden change in temp here in BCN – anyway, I’ve given it my best shot! This is all from my right nostril 🙂

Nose:  Pink grapefruit an peaches (very ripe ones) then kind of cured ham/meats, chorizo-esque meatiness appears.

Palate:  Vanilla and creamy texture at first. Then quite a sharp sweetness of sherbet lemons and a bit of turkish delight. High amounts of ground black pepper.

Finish:  Fairly long finish with Parma-Violets (if you know what they are!) and the pepperiness and cured meats linger with a hint of cigar smoke.

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David Blackmore, you nailed it when you detected the Hibiki but as you saw from the list, that’s the only whisk(e)y from your list in there.  However, your detection of the tropical fruits (pineapple, banana & mango) speaks to the amount of 1991 Balblair that’s in the GlenHatton – You’ve got a killer nose!

Jason, you are correct.  I LOVE, and am a proselytizer of, Glenmorangie (music to Mr. Blackmore’s ears, I’m sure!) and Japanese whiskies however you’ll notice there’s not one drop of Glenmo in there and only one Japanese whisky in there (the Hibiki, just as David Blackmore had detected).  You nailed the Balvenie and the fact that there was something influenced by port in thee – the SMWS 123.5 is an 8yo Glengoyne from a port pipe.

David Bailey, your notes made me hungry as hell!  I think you nailed it when you detected the toffee on the palate (that was one of notes my tongue and brain held on to).

Blair, sorry that your nose was all jacked up for the nosing & tasting of the GlenHatton.  Your notes are most interesting and upon a 2nd review of the GlenHatton I can see what you mean by the pepperiness to the whisk(e)y as well as the over-ripened peach notes and cigar smoke (delicious cigar smoke indeed!).

David, Jason, David & Blair – thanks so much for participating and for your great tasting notes.  So far Jason is in the lead with the most number of whiskies guessed.

Check in tomorrow as we’ll see notes from 5 other people (including my own) and the big winner of the surprise sample will be announced.

Arran, Autumn, Springtime

Arran 8yo Single Sherry Cask #1536, bottled by Arran

Islands region – 59.3%ABV – Somewhere around $75

Spring is here, spring is here!!

G-d damn it if this winter didn’t beat the crap out of me (and anyone else living in the North East of the good ‘ol US of A).

I kid you not when I tell you that at one point this winter we had a snow bank at the end of our driveway that was higher than 10 ft (for those folks who use the metric system, that’s a shit tonne of centimeters!).  Storm after storm, foot after foot of snow, shovel after shovel, vertebrae after vertebrae breaking work… Oy.

Thankfully, the storms of 2010/early 2011 are now a not-to-distant memory and we can (I can) finally move on.  Passover, for us, brought about a good deal of spring cleaning (inside & out of the house) which is still going on but, it feels fantastic!  The warm sun hitting this t-shirted bloke feels right good!

The flowers are popping, there’s a new scent in the air brought about by the various flora that surrounds my woodsy/swampy area.  A combination of scents, really — Wafts of skunk cabbage, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, dandelions, pollen (times a gazillion), chainsaw oil, armpit sweat, sunblock… it’s all in the air and it’s LOVELY!

Spring has a good way of making one feel anew.  I don’t know about you but all winter long I felt as if I was just doing what I could to survive through it.

Like a snake, the spring time allows you to feel as if you can shed the recent past and start again with new skin.  Maybe this year will be different, somehow better than last year.  That, of course, is not something you can just hope on.  You have to work to make that come true.  But perhaps the feeling of this new season might help to give you that strength.  Forge ahead, embrace life and cling on (Klingon) to the unexpected for it’s what helps us all to live.  Not survive but live.

Arran single sherry cask #1536:

Color — Oversteeped tea with a slight ruby hue to it.  Lighter than expected given the fact that this has spent all it’s life in a sherry cask (2nd fill perhaps?).

On the nose — Fragrant, flowery, salty and slightly dusty and woody (sort of like an old church pew type note).

Actually, the more I nose it the more dust I detect.  Really dusty stuff…

Fruity too (think red plum without the tart).

Chocolate covered raisins.

On the mouth — Very juicy entry, nice hot attack without losing the flavor.

Think of a red fruit and, it’s in there.

This is insanely sweet and fruity.

None of the dust I got on the nose.

Notes of lime and even a touch of mint (a fun little combination of flavors).

A very different sherry matured whisky profile.

Finish — Lots of lime of the finish – like a lime ricky.  Very long.

In sum — The fruits and raisins on the nose were nice but I found the dusty element to be almost overpowering.  It’s all about the taste and finish with this one.  Flavorwise, this was delicious; one to enjoy with an assortment of desserts.  If you’re going to go sweet, go all the way baby!

Let's celebrate!, Mackinlay's, Springtime, Takin' It Easy

Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky (Shackleton’s Antarctic whisky replica)

A mixture of Speyside & Highland region whiskies – 47.3%ABV – $165 | £99 | €111

I understand and fully appreciate that what I am about to taste here is history.  Actually, I’m getting a preview of the history that you all out there are about to taste (should you go out and pick up a bottle) and I thank all those involved for sending me a sample to allow me this opportunity.

I could say a lot about this whisky – much of is has been reported by the major (and minor) news outlets.

Rather than throw in my $0.02 in a poor attepmt to expand on the historical aspect of the Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky, I’ll let this video do the talking (then review it, as shown below):

On the nose — Very grassy and flinty, a fist full of hay and a full jar of sea salt.

Untoasted & freezer burnt English muffins.

Then the fruits, nuts and saltier treats lay on good and thick – -pineapple, assorted nuts and unripened peach drizzled with melted toffee.

Threads of smoke from ocean grass and and driftwood.

Sea glass and a long walk on the beach (high tide).

An empty box that once held Nilla wafers (wow, that sounds pretentious but, I’m smelling it; the pretentious bastard I am…).

The mix of scents and over all balance is so nice, part of me is refusing to taste this stuff.  But, I must move on.

On the mouth — Smoky, bright and crisp.

Lots of flavors here, all of them have burnt edges.

A touch of meatiness here (not in an offensive way, it’s subtle).

Lemon rinds, pears, bruised apples and a high malt influence.

Smokey, malty goodness.  Really, a good deal of malt.

Salty but not nearly as much as what I detected on the nose.

Nice mouthfeel over all, a good mix of light viscosity and zingy, fizzy effervescence.  I’m sure you know this but, when I say fizzy, effervescent, etc… I’m not suggesting that this (or any other whisky I describe as such) whisky is carbonated.  No, I’m describing the feel/sensation one gets from a fizzy drink.  Cool?  Cool.

Finish — Fizzy pop rocks minus the “POP!”, long, salty

In sum — My initial thought was that this resembles a nice Springbank mixed with some bourbon cask Port Ellen (due to the coastal, flinty, mineral, smokiness).  If this replica is exact, Mackinlay knew what he was doing and Shackleton was drinking some fine fancy juice!  Well balanced, composed and thoroughly delicious.  I’d save this as a treat for yourself or perhaps to impress your friends with.  There’s a fantastic story to accompany this one.  Lots of great conversation can started with this whisky.

Special thanks goes out to Jill of Whyte & Mackay & Andy H for working your magic to get the sample to me!

Del Maguey, Kosher spirits, Let's celebrate!, Mezcal, Springtime, Takin' It Easy

Del Maguey Single Village “Tobala” Mezcal

Oaxaca, Mexico – 45%ABV – $113

WARNING & DISCLAIMER – For those who keep, this mezcal is not certified as “Kosher” or “Kosher for Passover” – I am no rabbi but I think, based on their meticulous process and the fact that this Del Maguey Mezcal is made of 100% Wild Mountain Maguey, a type of agave, that this may be “Kosher by Nature”.

Crystal clear Mexican goodness.  That is what I am about to review here.

I’ve been a tequila drinker for a good long time now.  I never suffered the college-tequila-shot-binging that turns most people off to one of Mexico’s national drinks.

We are, however, not discussing tequila today.  We’re discussing Mezcal.

What are the differences?

Spoken in broad terms, most tequilas are made from blue agave (at least the better ones).  Sometimes 100% blue agave, sometimes a mix of different agave varietals.  Tequila is also twice distilled.

Mezcal is made from Maguey Agave (of which there are many different types) and is usually distilled only once.

Maguey Tobala (Wild Mountain Variety)
Maguey Espadin, what with the sword-shaped leaves. Do not fall on one of these plants people!

The Maguey Tobala (or wild mountain agave) is different than the Maguey Espadin (which has leaves shaped like long swords). It is smaller and broader leafed. It takes about eight Tobala hearts (the part of the plant that gets mashed, liquified and distilled) to equal one heart from the more commonly propagated and cultivated Maguey.

“Yeah but, how does it differ in taste?”

Tequila is known to be sweet and fruity.  Mezcal is similar but has an intense smokiness that one might equate to the smokiness of an Islay Scotch whisky like an Ardbeg or Laphroaig.  Yeah, they can be that smoky!

On the nose — A tire shop after a recent shipment, burning rubber bouncy balls and smog.

Interesting that the label shows a line of traffic… this sort of smells like that.

Butter and rye seed.

Pulling my nose back a bit from the glass and I’m getting really nice notes of vanilla.

Lying ‘neath those heavy-heavy traffic and rubbery/smoky scents I’m finding mint sprigs, fresh mango (heavily sugared mango, that is) and dandelion flowers.

On the mouth — Fruity and juicy tropical melons, a plastic fire and marjoram (?).

Such a smoky sweet tang to it… amazing really.  Cinnamon ribbon candy.

So oily, chewy & ooey…  I really can not stress how delicious this stuff is.

Finish — Cinnamon finish, long and really lovely.

In sum — This mezcal is made for those of us who love the peaty/smoky whiskies.  Smokiness aside, I find this mezcal to be a true treat.

I drink this on Passover because I can’t drink a grains based spirit but I also drink this on Passover because Passover is a time to celebrate and tonight, I’m celebrating.

To life, to family, to freedom.

Special thanks to Andrew of Liberty Bar in Seattle for introducing me to this gem.