Kilchoman (which sounds more like a yiddish word than the name of a Scotch whisky…) is a newer distillery on the little island of Islay – it opened in 2005 (the first to open up on Islay in more than 120 years). While I can go on-and-on about the distillery, other people have already done that and have done a much better job than I could ever do. Rather, I will focus on the whisky itself – it’s aromas, taste, memories it brought to the forefront of my mind and what the best time/season/mood to drink it in will be.
A big thank you to G.G. for the sample!
On the nose — Bright and clean peat with strong notes of limes and ocean spray, bicycle tires, woody – like church pews.
You may be asking yourself how I, a shul-going Jew, would know what a church pew smells like. There’s a great story that goes with that. This is not something I am very proud of but hey, it’s a great story!
Back when I was 13, me and my buddies Rob and “Froggy” (ah, “Froggy”, you could have played “Froggy” in a broadway revival of The Little Rascals, your voice was that raspy) thought it would be good fun to start pulling fire alarms around our town causing our fire department to send out 2-3 fire trucks (toward different locations) for no good reason. I would say that in the course of 4 months we pulled a total of 35 alarms. We were assholes.
One day, a day I decided not to assist those guys in alarm pulling, a knock came to my door. Mr. & Mr. Police Officer came to my door to “bring me in” (as they say “in the parlance of our times”). Rob and Froggy were caught and ratted on me. We were charged with “X” amount of counts; “X” for touching the alarms and “X” for pulling the alarms. Our punishment?
Among many other things (and not including that ass-whooping I got from my parents), 40 hours of community service which included weekly cleaning of the pews at the local Catholic Church – St. Francis. At age 15 those “counts” were struck from my record and I’ve not gotten in trouble since.
So yes, I know all too well what Church pews smell like. Back to the nosing…
I like this nose, a lot.
Oh, now I’m getting a scent here that reminds me of a swimming hole I used to frequent with my old buddy Al – so, what is it? Very clean & super-cold water (with a bit of fresh-water vegetal growth – how nice) . This is when I was learning how to be an upright teenager – this nose is bringing back memories. I miss Al.
On the mouth — Quite viscous, children’s teething biscuits, canola oil, tannic notes, oily still but drying, some meaty/gamey notes (think lamb chops), figs – where’s that cleanliness I got from the nose? Some slight lemons pop up.
In sum — I think the age of this whisky is fairly apropos of the memories it’s pinging in my head – Youth and Young Manhood. There’s some nice complexity here but the balance is a touch off. I can see this Islay whisky evolving into an extraordinary dram. I can wait for the 10yr expression!
Man-o-Maneschewitz do I LOVE scotch whisky! I do, I really do. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m quite passionate about it. But even things you have a passion for, you need to take a break from, right? So, I decided to take a little break from Scotch whisky and go for some American whiskey.
Note: notice the addition of the “e” in American whiskey? Ever wonder what that was all about? Check out John Hansell’s, of Malt Advocate & WhiskyFest fame, explanation right here – it’s toward the center of the article which, overall, is a great read.
The good folks over at Master of Malt also have an explanation as to the differences between “Whisky” and “Whiskey” – this is a fine read.
Elijah Craig boasts their having the oldest single barrel bourbon in the whole world. Well now! That is saying something. Come to find out, many bourbons don’t stay in a barrel for more than 10yrs and few at all are single barrel like this one.
Actually, here is exactly what the folks at Heaven Hill have to say about the Elijah Craig 18yr Single Barrel bourbon:
“Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon is bottled solely from one barrel hand-selected by Master Distillers Parker and Craig Beam, not from the mingling of many barrels, which is the practice for standard and Small Batch Bourbons.
Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon is the oldest Single Barrel Bourbon available in the world. Only a handful of the millions of barrels of Bourbon aging in Kentucky have been allowed to mature this long.
The brand carries the name of Rev. Elijah Craig, the man who discovered the method of making true Kentucky Bourbon when he stored his wares in barrels that had been charred in a fire.”
Alright, are you ready for the review? I’m ready to taste. Let’s do this.
On the nose — Off the bat – #2 lead pencil & pencil shavings (get ready for a test later folks!), oak and buttered popcorn, fresh corn and caramel covered apples.
This is a no-holds-barred nose, in your face, great stuff! Again, going back to bourbons, I am always a bit surprised (and not sure why I should be) as to how “in-your-face” everything is. Nothing extremely subtle but yet, it all works.
On the mouth — Like a bee, you sting me right on my tongue. Creme brulee with extra burny parts, sweet and spicy (amazed as to how spicy it is being that it matured in a single cask for 18yrs!), chewy mouth feel, caramel and vanilla ice cream – who needs desert, just drink this!
Finish — Lingering, like the perfect cuddle after “baby-makin'” sex. This is a finely balanced whiskey and a well chosen barrel. Thank you Mr. Beam!
In sum — When I went to Whisky Live this past April, I had the good fortune to meet Craig Beam – Master Distiller at Heaven Hill who owns the Elijah Craig whiskey line. I had such a good time talking with him and his brand ambassador Rob H. It was VERY apparent that Mr. Beam is proud of his whiskeys and I can see why. This is quite a nice bourbon and at the price — an 18yr single barrel/cask whiskey… can you go wrong? No, me thinks.
Ok, before you begin to read my post on this dram, you may want to hit play on the youtube video below (so as to set the mood):
Is it playing? Good. Just keep it sort of quiet and in the background. Umm, a little lower in the volume… there. Good.
When I was young, about six years in age, my uncle started feeding me music from all sorts of great bands. Bands he loved and wanted me to love in kind. Two of the bands stuck out and I still love them to this day. The Ramones and Black Sabbath. In fact, the first album I ever owned was Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album.
Let’s put the Ramones to the side for now and focus on Black Sabbath. Here I was six years old, listening to Black Sabbath and… was I scared? A bit (I mean, listen to this song for “Peat’s” sake – you do have the video playing, right?). But mostly, I was entranced. Even at six, I knew that these guys were on some level beyond any other band I’d ever heard.
As I got older, I became more obsessed with the music of Black Sabbath and (here comes a crazy geek moment) Dungeons and Dragons. There, I said it. I was into D&D big time. D&D, Lord of the Rings, you name it, I was into it.
You must be thinking “Hey Hatton, where are you going with this?” or, “Dude, D&D… seriously!?”
The point I am coming to is that I saw something mystical and magical in this music and those role playing games and sipping on this whisky took me back there.
Yes, nearly 31 years later and I came across this interesting and new Bruichladdich expression called Black Arts and I’m taken back to those things that got me interested in the “strange”. But, come to think of it, it was not just strange. It was new, different, unique and artistic – something I think this expression is.
What is Bruichladdich’s Black Arts expression? First, let’s take a look at their bottle:
You’ll notice a matte black finish on the bottle and cylinder. This, as I understand it, is a follow up to Bruichladdich’s “Blacker Still” expression. Just looking at it and I get a creepy-cool feeling. It’s the type of feeling you get when you’re around a campfire telling ghost stories – the good creepy. You want more.
And yes, I wanted more. I wanted to open the bottle right away but, before I did, I took a closer look at the bottle and saw a Star of David on there. Wait a sec. Hold you’re horses. What does this mean? I don’t know any Jew that works in the Black Arts – What’s going on here!?!?
I did some reading up on what this star meant and found that Bruichladdich says the star is actually “two triangles that represent the reconciliation of the opposites of fire and water”. In fact, here’s the full quote from Bruichladdich’s product sheet: “Alchemy, the black art, the eternal search for rejuvenation and immortality, gave us whisky. Gebber the Arab is said to be the first distiller of al-iksir, the water of life, in Persia around 790 AD.” (or, CE and I prefer to say. C.E. being the Common Era) “The spirits Eau de vie, Aqua Vitae, Vodka, Aquavit, Uisque Beatha all share that same original meaning. Geber understood that precious metals were hidden in alloys and ores. By the rearrangement of base metal’s qualities, via elixir, it could be transmutated into Gold. Elixir also existed as a dry, red powder made from Philosophers’ stone. If it could turn poor metal into gold – it could give eternal life. The two triangles that represent the reconciliation of the opposites of fire and water.”
Cool stuff, right?
Speaking of “red powder”, after I poured a dram, I wondered if Bruichladdich found this Philosophers’ stone and put a wee bit into each cask. The reason I wondered this….well, take a look at the color of this whisky (on your left – click on it for a larger image).
While it may be tough to see here in this picture. I will tell you that, in person, this fluid is red. Red whisky. I’ve never seen anything like this before and, just like when I first heard Black Sabbath, I was entranced. Just a note here: this is the natural color of the whisky; no color added.
How did they get this whisky red? Is it the red powder from the Philosophers’ stone? If you think the answer is “yes” then I suggest you check yourself into an insane asylum. While you may think the good folks at Bruichladdich are alchemists with all of those great expressions they come out with, this is the real world and they’re using real science here, not alchemy.
So, how did they get it red? A little birdy told me that this whisky was finished in three red wine casks, one right after the other. Awesome.
OK, I think it’s about high time I get to the tasting:
On the nose — 51.1% alcohol be damned! I can sniff this all night with no issues. Big red fruits! Raspberry, strawberry, cranberry and some fruit of the more tropical variety — passion fruit & papaya (all of these berries makes me think of my daughter’s book called “Jamberry”). Wow. Some nail polish remover notes here, something a bit sour and some over steeped green tea… I’m in love with this nose! This is just the right influence of wine on the whisky. Some spiciness on the nose and a bit of honey (which I did not expect here). With a few drops of water the fruits get very juicy smelling – almost over ripe.
On the mouth — Great entry here and I’m a bit taken aback. What a balance! The fruits are big but dry – like a good & fruity cabernet. Grassy, fresh hay. Quite grapey, quite winey. The mouth feel is nice nothing too special about it though. Let’s add a few drops of water. With water the mouth feel evolves into something completely different and beautiful. I feel like an alchemist turning dried fruits into re-ripened fruits. There’s something deep in the background that resembles the faintest whiff of smoke but, I dont think this was at all peated.
Finish — Longer and slightly burning. Wow, increasingly burning and getting stronger by the second. Cool stuff.
In sum — This is a true artisan’s whisky. And while some folks thought this dram crossed the line a bit between wine finishes and whisky; to me, the extra finishing was something of pure genius. What a great marriage between wine and whisky. While the two whiskies are nothing alike, the mystery surrounding the Bruichladdich Black Arts reminds me of the mysteries around the Glenmorangie Signet. Two very different whiskies; two very great whiskies. My hat’s off to the folks at Bruichladdich. They’ve created a magical dram here.
Did you know that all of us Jews know one another? Oh sure, it’s mostly true! And if we don’t know them, we came pick them out of a crowd – I call it “Jewdar”. “Jewdar” is a radar for Jews just as Gaydar is a radar for Gay folk.
Ok, I’m really just kidding. It is true, however, that Gal Granov from Whisky Israel and I do know each other. He and I are good whisky buddies (even though we’re thousands of miles away from one another). Gal and I started doing some whisk(e)y sample trading and on our last trade we thought it’d be a good idea if we each sent over a “Mystery Dram”.
A dram that A) didn’t cost a whole lot of money and B) is something that neither of us have had before. The idea is to try and figure out, at the very least, who distilled the mystery dram in question. No hints, no nothing. We had to uncover the mystery using only two tools – our nose and tongue.
As you can see below, we tried to make this as mysterious as possible (you’ll note that the Glencairn shown below has a Glenmorangie logo on it. This is not giving away and hints. It’s not a Glenmo. I just love Glenmorangie whiskies so much, I had to have my very own Glenmorangie Glencairn glass. Seriously.):
So again, no hints, no nothing. Let’s see how I did:
On the nose — A very floral nose, house-planty if you will… Soapy scents and some orange, perhaps a little strawberry too. There’s a nice little peat backbone here but it’s not overwhelming by any means… Some curried tomatoes (man… now I want some Indian food!).
Well, I already have an inkling as to what it is but I may want a to chose a Life Line before I blurt out my answer, I better taste it…
On the mouth — The peat is much larger here and it’s a bit dirty. The mouth feel is quite nice. Oily, just as I like it. Sweet. Simple syrup, salty, green tea… I’m not sure of the ABV but, the attack is not huge here so I’m guessing 43%.
Finish — Sort of a short and thin finish with some orange soapiness coming back.
In sum — Well, my guess on this (which is mostly based on the nose with some of the palate elements to help me fill in the some of the clues) is that this is a Bowmore. It’s not the 12. This I know. But it’s got to be a Bowmore.
I liked it but didn’t love it. This, to me, is the type of whisky that I’d keep on my shelf (and yes, I’d like to have a bottle of this on my shelf – at all times really) for those moments when you just didn’t know what to pour. “It’s just a Thursday night so, I’m not going to pour my Glenmorangie Quarter Century” or, “It’s way too hot out, there’s no way I’m breaking out my Lagavulin 16yr DE”, etc… This is that whisky that can always fill the void. You don’t need to decide to grab it. You just grab, open, pour, sniff, sip, swallow, repeat.
I did contact Gal to see if I was right about it being a Bowmore. Lo and behold, I was right (Woo Hoo!!). So, which one is it?
Another great Bruichladdich came my way. This time in the form of a sample from my friend “O.K.” Bruichladdich is one of these lesser known whiskies here in the states – especially when going to a bar (unless it’s a really good one like The Daily Pint that I just went to with a new friend – a post on that later with details of a new reader challenge issued to yours truly!).
A run of the mill bar in the US just does not carry a good selection of Scotch whiskies (or American whiskeys for that matter). Most bars have the token Jameson, Dewar’s, Johnnie Walker Red & Black label, Chivas Regal 12yr and maybe a 12yr Glenlivet or Glenfiddich. I’m not knocking these whiskies – they’re all nice and very drinkable. But, nothing super special.
I would love to start seeing some (at the very least) entry level Highland Park, Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, Glenmorangie, Balblair, Cragganmore… the list can go on and on. I’ve been trying to edu-m’cate my local watering holes but, I can’t do it everywhere I go. Your average red-blooded American does not have access to the finer Scotch whiskies and it’s a damn shame.
Let me get on to my review of the whisky at hand: Bruichladdich 3D3!
On the nose — Sweet peat, honey, green apples, something a bit bitter (can’t quite place it), baby vomit, latex gloves, cheddar cheese (or more like salty cheese crackers, think Gold Fish) – came back for another nosing and found some nice flowery notes popped up and slight grassiness – perhaps lemongrass – Loving this nose – very complex!
On the mouth — Nice peat attach right up front – quite good, I like this at 46%, briny and a little like cocktail sauce (or the lemons from it),
Nice chewy mouth feel, celery salt. This is really done well – Kudos ‘laddies!
Finish — Long, peaty, smoke, honey and rubber. The peat has violated every part of my mouth (wow, that sounds a little…dirty) – a Bruichladdich done quite right!
In sum — There are so many great Bruichladdich expressions and while all of them (at least the ones I tried) are quite different from one another, you know you’re going to go on a great ride with these malts. This being said, you can, for the most part, always count on a delicious fruitiness to be your driver through the Bruichladdich journey. While I normally go for the peatier stuff during the cold seasons, I would have no problem reaching for this at any time of year.
For those confused by the “Baby vomit” descriptor, check out Guid Scotch Drink’s “Say What!?” post to better understand what I’m really smelling when I say “Baby Vomit”
On the nose — Bright and clean peat with strong notes of limes and ocean spray, bicycle tires, woody – like church pews.
Oh, now I’m getting a scent here that reminds me of a swimming hole I used to frequent with my old buddy Al – so, what is it? Very clean & super-cold water (with a bit of fresh-water vegetal growth – how nice) . This is when I was learning how to be an upright teenager – this nose is bringing back memories. I miss Al.
On the mouth — Quite viscous, children’s teething biscuits, canola oil, tannic notes, oily still but drying, some meaty/gamey notes (think lamb chops), figs – where’s that cleanliness I got from the nose? Some slight lemons pop up.
In sum — I think the age of this whisky is fairly apropos of the memories it’s pinging in my head – Youth and Young Manhood. There’s some nice complexity here but the balance is a touch off. I can see this Islay whisky evolving into an extraordinary dram. I can wait for the 10yr expression!
