Video interview with David Perkins of High West –Part II of II: wherein David continues to take us through his new whiskey “Campfire”(my review of Campfire can be found beneath the videos) we discuss peat, blending and he then gives us a virtual tour of High West’s Distillery and award winning restaurant.
On the nose – Spicy and bright nose. Hints of pine resin and toasted rye bread. Brown spices and a touch of shoe leather. Honey and chai. Approachable/easy. Joyful.
New charred-oak & subtle spice, jasmine & sandalwood. Some citrus spice laced with just a hint of smoke as a backbone.
Given the name of the whiskey, not as much smoke on the nose as you’d expect.
On the mouth – Forceful attack with big spice upfront. A nice mouthfeel. Toast and blueberry jam (notes I love to find with heavier toasted barrels).
Nutmeg, cinnamon and some orange zest. Floral with citrus spice, like a rye IPA.
Smoke all around the edges, like burning twigs mayhaps…
Wonderful toasty and vanilla spice (chai) on the sides of the tongue.
Finish – Long and spicy (with the spice staying toward the back of the tongue).
In sum — A warmer upper for sure. This is a whiskey with a very “American” attitude however the addition of the Scotch whisky to the blend offers depth and dimension that many bourbons can’t provide.
Kudos to David Perkins for putting in some extra sweat equity in creating a truly different whisk(e)y experience.
Speyside region – 55.8%ABV – Pricing is TBD. Will update this post as soon as I have more information.
One of the upsides to being a whisky reviewer is that now and again whisky shows up to my door. Cool, right?
Sometimes the whisky is in sample form, sometimes it’s my own purchase. Both scenarios do a fantastic job of setting my lovely wife’s eyes a’rollin. Oh boy, *more* whisky.
A common question posed by me to my wife: “Did the whisky fairy arrive today?”
I quite enjoy it when the answer is “yes.”
Occasionally, one of my daughters will tell me as I walk in the door, “Hey daddy. Surprise, surprise, more whisky.”
I love my daughters. They really know how to bust my butt with the snark of a 22 year old. You’d never think they were 3 & 5.
…so one day, not too long ago, I received a completely unsolicited sample of this 1975 Speyburn single cask from Lucas D saying: Enjoy! Let me know what you think.
In addition to the “enjoy the sample” bit, he gave me the following information on this whisky:
“The whisky comes from a single mature Spanish oak sherry butt acquired from Pedro Domecq – the oldest Bodega in Jerez founded in 1730. The cask was most likely used to mature Pedro Ximenez sherry. This helps to explain its exceptionally dark colour, at 20 Lovibond (45.9 EBC) it is one of the darker naturally coloured Scotch whiskies out there. The sample was drawn at the distillery in March 2012 and the ABV is 55.8% (!).”
Well, thank you Lucas for the sample. It’s much appreciated!
Here are my thoughts:
On the nose – The initial offering from the nose on this whisky is that of pen ink (from a ball point) and summer pool water.
Fresh pulled garden greens, a salty smelling nose.
Fired apples (granny smith) and cherry stones here as well. More apples yet in sauce-form with brown spices and burnt sugar.
It’s a wild nose here as it straddles the line between real and artificial (man-made) scents and does so fairly well.
With water some notes of a Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar say hello.
On the mouth – Whoa, this is a hot one!
Chocolate chunks (dark) and fresh black pepper. Cinnamon and walnuts, shells and all. Let’s add water. A bit too hot for me.
Much better with water – and a decent mouthfeel to boot!
Black strap molasses, drunken raisins and chocolates. Sugar cookies and sugary butter cookies.
Nutty – hazelnuts, walnuts, no salt, crushed into a paste and sweetened (with some vanilla added in for good measure).
Finish – Long and peppery (with lasting heat).
In sum – It’s nice to drink history. I was only 2 years old when this was distilled. That in and of itself is a bit mind boggling. All of the parts were there and in the right places. I think some of the heat detracted from the overall experience (even with water) but pair this with some nice Stilton cheese and/or 70%+ cacao chocolate and you just might find yourself in a little place I like to call “Heaven.”
Yes, you guessed it. Eight active distilleries on Islay, eight Islay/Rock Band comparisons by yours truly.
G-d damn. I am sad to see this series end. Such is life and all things must pass.
There were many Laphroaigs I could have chosen for this final Islay/Rock Band review and to be honest, I’ve got enough of the hooch in house for me to have chosen from. However, I’ve never had a single cask of Laphroaig from the Chieftain’s range so I figured I’d ask for a sample and if I were lucky to enough to get one then, cool, I’d review that.
Thanks to the good folks at Impex, they’ve got a new Chieftain’s 14yo single cask of Laphroaig and they were nice enough to pour me a few cl to review. Special thanks to SF & EK from Impex for the sample!
Before I review this Laphroaig, let’s cover what’s been reviewed in this series to date:
Chieftain’s Single Cask Laphroaig, cask #4127, bottled at 46% ABV – $?? to be announced.
On the nose – Tell tale Laphroaig peat, somehow a bit less dirty but surely Laphroaig peat.
Scratch the surface and we find a good deal of unripened fruits (banana strings, hard peach, crab apple).
I also get the sense of an ashtray minus the butts but all of the ash.
All of this being said, though it might not sound it, it *is* a bit of a delicate nose.
I’d be scared to add water to this, there is very little alcohol punch.
On the mouth – Very sooty and stingy-like along the sides of my tongue.
Salted rhubarb and on hot linoleum counter.
Not-so-sweet star fruit and on the 2nd sip, I discover this has a really nice mouth feel.
Out of the blue, a floral/lavender-like note makes itself known (coming back to the nose and I discover it there as well).
Salted still and drying toward the finish…
Finish – Drying, a touch of citrus and decent length.
In sum – Not a bad little cask of whisky! Based on the light color at 14 years of age, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found a nice evolution from nose to palate to finish. It’s an easy going whisky for the peat heads among us. Not very challenging but very pleasing. I’d suggest this one right after a snow storm and right before you start shoveling your driveway (if’n that applies to you). ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Laphroaig – The Band!
Comparing Laphroaig to a band was perhaps the toughest one of them all, hence my saving them for the last. (Sorry grandpa, I know you always said to do the hard stuff first and save the easy stuff for last. Note to self: I should have listened to you.)
So many bands came to mind. I think of the dirty, gritty, filthy and delicious peat and I instantly think of The Melvins. But, most people don’t know The Melvins.
However, there’s more to Laphroaig than just peat. Their 30yo expression, a manly yet feminine and elegantly heavy dram makes me think of Into Another. Like The Melvins, chances are, you’ve not heard of their awesomeness.
In the end, I have to admit, Laphroaig is a powerhouse whisky. So, I’ve decided that you are Iggy Pop. And, not just any Iggy Pop but Iggy from his 1973 “Raw Power” Record. And not just any song on “Raw Power” but actually, Laphroaig, you are Iggy Pop’s “Search and Destroy”. But not just any version of “Search and Destroy.”
With the often salty/briny character, you are “Search and Destroy” as heard/seen on the “Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” during the gun fight seen.:
So, congrats Laphroaig – you are RAW POWER. You are Iggy Pop. Thanks for playing!
Being that I don’t know much about this whisky (the exception being that it’s single cask, cask strength, 47 years old, natural color and no artificial coloring added) or the full scope of what Sirius Whisky Purveyors is up to with their whiskies, I’m going to keep the preamble to a minimum.
What I do know is that Sirius is an independent bottler to the Nth degree. Pun is actually intended here as Sirius is owned and run by Mahesh Patel – the man responsible for a very unique whisky show – the “Nth” or, Universal Whisky Experience — THE ultimate whisky show with respects to it featuring only the oldest, rarest, high cost whiskies.
It’s no wonder that Mahesh has chosen this cask of Dalmore (in addition to many other casks soon to be released) – it screams premium! A 47 year old single cask of Dalmore? You know it.
Whisky shows as well as old and premium single malts aside, Mahesh is a heck of a guy. A total charmer. Personable, smart, sweet and, man, he knows his whisky!
I will release more information about Sirius Whisky Purveyors as soon as it’s available to me.
On the nose – Sharp and bright yet its age is made known. Notes of sugar cane and demerara rum.
Tiramisu and a big, boozy orange with traces of cloves and allspice.
Interesting note here – raw ramen noodles! For a 47yo whisky – this is very alive. Not at all tired.
Roasted nuts, pickled ones too.
A full humidor cigar shop (I’m thinking Corona Cigar Company in Florida).
The addition of water softens the whisky a bit and adds a “dusty” element and puts a focus on the tobacco notes.
On the mouth – Incredibly hot. I think it’s safe to say that some water will help to open this one up a bit – it’s quite, tight. The addition of water is like sending this to a whisky masseuse.
An interesting mix of what you’ve come to know and love from a sherried whisky (tobacco, prunes, cinnamon, cloves, citrus, etc…) but there’s a young, juicy quality here that I can only equate to Hi-C fruit juice – hey, I have kids. What do you expect?
A touch of brine and a good deal of spice.
Finish – Decent length with allspice and oranges.
In sum – This whisky not only holds up to water but shines with it. Without the water, I found it to be just too hot (for my tastes). With water though, it’s really lovely. No signs of its age from an over-oaked perspective. However, it’s age shows in terms of complexity. A touch off balance without water but spot on with.
I’m not sure what the cost of this whisky will be but my guess is a 47yo Dalmore will cost a pretty shekel so you’re most likely going to break this out for the “special times” in life or, this will make a great addition to your whisky collection (if that’s your bag).
Image shown is not of the actual bottle itself but shows you what the Glen Moray distillery bottlings look like.
Speyside region – 60.7%ABV – £60 (distillery only)
Many people in the states have not heard of Glen Moray or if they have, they only know of their 12yo whisky (a solid, solid whisky if you ask me).
Most people in the UK think of Glen Moray as the supermarket single malt. A bargain malt, if you will.
My initial experience with Glen Moray was quite different…
It started with a chance purchase of a single cask expression. While at the time I had not known much about the distillery, I was attracted to this single cask of Glen Moray as the whisky had spent its full 13 years of life in a new charred oak cask. Sort of like a Scottish bourbon, I thought.
Yes, obviously, nothing like a bourbon being that the distillate is 100% malted barley but perhaps a bit like an American whiskey in that the maturation took place inside a new charred oak cask (a very un-Scotch whisky thing to do, mind you). The cask choice intrigued me so I had to buy a bottle.
In four words: I fell in love.
After this my friend David B treated me to their standard 12yo and even at lower 40% ABV — I am usually an anti-40% ABV elitist-whisky-geek prick but often find myself enjoying the strength. A difficult position to be in… perhaps I’m a mystery broken into a jigsaw puzzle, wrapped in a conundrum, hidden in a Chinese box, a riddle — I found it to be robust, well balanced and had an amazing mouthfeel. Thanks again David, I am a convert.
Since then I have had my good share of Glen Moray whiskies.
During my last trip to Scotland I had the good chance to visit their amazing distillery which had, perhaps, one of the most beautiful distillery welcome centers (Iain, you’ve done a bang up job!) I had ever seen.
While at their distillery shop I had the chance to taste the following whisky: Glen Moray Chenin Blanc Distillery Only Single Cask bottled at 60.7% ABV.
At only 260 bottles and being a distillery only bottle… this stuff is like hens teeth!
On the nose — Earthy, pungent & sweet. This is big and bold – a powerful smelling 8yo whisky.
Fresh cut (green) tubers come to mind as I sniff this whisky as do white cherries but, and perhaps more so, white raisins make quite an impression.
(I’m fairly positive that the preceding sentence was grammatically incorrect in some way. Please forgive me.)
Golden birch, cinnamon sweetened fruit biscuits and the distinct smell of a burning cotton t-shirt.
On the mouth — Well, if I thought the nose was big and bold, it’s a veritable pussy cat compared to the attack of this whisky upon first sip. Massive stuff!
It let’s you know that it’s 60.7% ABV. It’s not hot, just *incredibly* forceful.
More (dark) birch beer, quite spicy and drying with touches of over cinnamoned french toast, maple sugar candies and honey reduction.
It’s almost like drinking hi-octane Chenin Blanc except that the malt content is quite obvious (yet so is the cask effect).
Finish — Very sweet and filled with boozy peaches. Long too. Let’s not forget that bit!
In sum — Sweet and puckering stuff. You might want to put on your big boy/girl boots before delving in! A little bit goes a long way. You’re going to want to spend time with this one.
Whether you choose to add water or not is up to you. I decided not to but a little bit might help (as you’ll learn from the review over at guidscotchdrink.com and another great review from Matt and Karen at Whisky For Everyone.)
Special thanks goes out to IA for the sample – cheers!
On the nose – Spicy and bright nose. Hints of pine resin and toasted rye bread. Brown spices and a touch of shoe leather. Honey and chai. Approachable/easy. Joyful.
Nutmeg, cinnamon and some orange zest. Floral with citrus spice, like a rye IPA.
In sum — A warmer upper for sure. This is a whiskey with a very “American” attitude however the addition of the Scotch whisky to the blend offers depth and dimension that many bourbons can’t provide.
