Category Archives: Cold Winter

All You Need Is Love, Bruichladdich, Cold Winter, Need To Bundle Up, Port Charlotte

Port Charlotte 8yr Single Cask – Bottled by the SMWSA – Cask number 127.1

Islay region – 66.5%ABV – $85 (no longer available – only 231 bottles available)

Years ago, my father (now divorced from my mother) did something crazy.  He gave up his apartment, bought a 25′ foot sail boat, rented a spot at a local marina a lived life on the water.

He cracks me up.  He could live in a pick up truck in a parking lot if he had to/wanted to.  This is a man who lives the saying “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”.  What a man!

Back to the boat and marina:

Growing up, I’d see my dad every weekend.  When he lived on the boat I had the great opportunity to experience the ocean air, the beach and a shit ton of dead horse-show crabs, fish, seaweed, etc….  The sights, the smells, the water, it was a great time and I looked forward to every weekend.

Tasting this whisky brought me back to that time in my life; in his life.  I’ve said it before – one of the most beatiful things about whisky is that it can transport to back in time through smell and taste memory.  A wonderful, wonderful thing.

On the nose — I’m instantly transported to a hot summer day at the beach by the docks – salt air fills my nose as does engine exhaust (though mild).

Brine and soot abounds.

Sweet vanilla and even some citronella.

Hints of baby sick.

With water: those baby sick/sour milk notes are much more prominent (almost makes me wish we had a little baby in the house again).

A touch soapy now too.

On the mouth — Like squeezing a hot pepper and lighting the oil spray on fire.  In my mouth. Sweet fancy Moshe, this is some hot stuff!

An extra tiny sip before I add water unearths some peat smoke and a sooty exhaust pipe (and a dash of sweet  honey & jam).

With water (bringing it down to about 58%ABV): Oof, that’s better!

Berry jam from the start then some cooked butter.

Creamy vanilla and a soft mouth feel (it was tough to tell the mouth feel before… when my mouth was on fire).

Finish — Long finish with an odd mix of briny green olives and honey – two layered flavors.

In sum — This one will put hair on your chest or make your boobies bigger (for the ladies out there).  While I’m not sure either is a good thing, my point is that this is some powerful, powerful stuff.  However, it’s right up my alley.  Even though drinking this reminds me of summer days on the shoreline of Connecticut, it’s thoroughly enjoyable in the wintertime and man, do we have a winter here in CT in 2011!!  The snowiest January on record!!

Cold Winter, Four Roses, Need To Bundle Up

Four Roses Limited Edition, 2010 Small Batch

America – 55.05%ABV (sample ABV – actual bottle ABV is 56.2%, I think) – $90

Today I am taking a much needed Bourbon diversion.  Four Roses whiskey is a new experience for me and I’m very thankful to Nick Clark for the sample!

Thanks also goes out to Stephen of the Malt Impostor for turning me on to the stuff!

One of the things I love about American whiskey is that, tasting & drinking the stuff makes me feel like a bad-ass American!

American whiskeys are bold, confident and generally provide a great in-your-face experience.

Being a lover of all things sophomoric, I can’t sip on a bourbon without thinking of this song:

Now that you’ve watched the video/listened to the song, we can review this whiskey!

On the nose — Surprisingly restrained nose for the high proof.

Like smelling warmed & salted butter with cooked sugar and cinnamon.

Marble rye and after a couple of minutes a nice spiciness begins to tickle my nose.

On the mouth — Big heat and as thick as sterno gel.

The heat is not my first experience however…

The initial assault is by a massive rush of of flavors – delicious toasty bread and butter.

Sugared fennel seed and over steeped orange pekoe tea with a good deal of honey (albeit burnt).

Dried apples.

Cinnamon.

Finish — The finish is very long.  I’m overjoyed.

In sum — Very impressive – pleasing in many ways.  Complex, robust and a total joy ride on the tongue.  I wish the nose offered a bit more but the reward was actually tasting the stuff.  For snowy days and hanging out by a fire or in your own little homemade igloo.

Angry, Bruichladdich, Cold Winter, Need To Bundle Up, Port Charlotte

Port Charlotte PC7 – Bruichladdich’s 7yo Cask Strength Peaty Goodness!!

Islay Region – 61%ABV – $90 | £63 | €73

Here in the Northeast; beautiful picturesque (mostly picturesque; I’m traveling through northeast New Jersey right now…) Northeast/New England we just encountered a massive, massive snow storm.  The second large storm in a two week span.

While normally I’d love this, it just so happens that I am trying ever so hard just to get home so love turns into hate & frustration.  As I write this review I am sitting on a train back to Connecticut that may not make it all the way there.  I left Chicago yesterday afternoon (luckily) and got to Philadelphia around 3:00pm or so expecting to hop on a 5:55 train back to CT.  I decided to pass on that train as US Airways told me that my flight to CT was still on, leaving at 5:40pm.

The flight was canceled at 5:38pm.

My wife was good girl and she found a super-duper, over-priced hotel (perhaps the only hotel with vacancies due to the cost) for me to stay at.  Thanks babes!!

Last night I “enjoyed” vegetarian food at the steakhouse which is adjacent to the hotel.  Ha!  Accompanying my dinner was some Glenmorangie Original and Talisker 175th Anniversary (no complaints there).

This morning I walked to the 30th street train station and picked up my train tickets and hoped onto the train back home to Connecticut.  Yay!!

My wife texted me to let me know that there was no service to CT but I didn’t believe her.  Amtrak told me there were no issues… until I got to the gate.  Then they announced there would be no service to CT. Ugh.  Note to all the husbands and/or life partners out there: LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE!  SHE KNOWS HER SHIT.

So.  Here we are.  Here I am – now on a train which will stop in NYC hoping on a wing and a prayer that the tracks will be cleared and this locomotive will be allowed to get me back home!

It’s situations like this and weather such as we’re experiencing here in the Northeast that make me want to reach for some Port Charlotte whisky!!  I reviewed the PC6, 6yo whisky here.  Today I am reviewing the PC7:

On the nose — Soured milk.  More soured milk – in a surprisingly good way.

Rich & creamy butter.

Honey, yogurt and salted caramel.

Peaty but not very smoky.

Bruised apples.

New cotton.

Some youth showing through (in the form of pears), but hey, this is only 7 years old.

On the mouth — Mustard seed and other savory herbs.

Smoke, Eeyores thistles and pricker bushes.

Salty and buttery.

The apples from the nose are here.

More sour milk.

Mostly big & smokey but there’s a good deal of licorice in there too – and maybe a touch of vanilla.

Finish — Long with burnt sugar and Kiss™ brand licorice rock-n-roll dresses (as if you’ve never had one!?).

In sum — I’m a fan of the Port Charlotte.  This one is nice but the PC6 was a mammoth.  Looking forward to trying more of these.  A winter dram for sure.  This stuff will light you on fire from the inside out.

Cold Winter, Glen Scotia

Glen Scotia 17yr Single Cask – bottled for the SMWSA – Cask number 93.37

Campbeltown Region – 64.30% ABV – Go here to gain access to bottles from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Glen Scotia is one of three distilleries located in Campbeltown, Scotland.  This was actually the first Glen Scotia I’ve ever had – Glen Scotia whiskies are hard to come by and, to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a non-independant bottling of Glen Scotia (with the exception of one 8yr old & a 14yr bottling).

As I write up this post I’m looking out the window at what will be the first big snow of the season here in Connecticut.  Staring out at the trees as their branches collect snow & watching the squirrels scurry across my lawn with acorns in their mouths… there’s something near perfect about it.  Even though it’s a bit of an odd duck (as you’ll see below), this particular whisky is perfectly suited for the cold weather and contemplative times such as this.

If only my four year old weren’t watching the original Benji movie while my two year old begs for Monsters Inc instead.  The arguing is really getting in the way of the mood I’m trying to stay in.  Maybe I should pour a wee dram of this SMWSA 93.37…

On the nose — Tough to tell what’s going on here – I’m up to the challenge though.

Initially some spiced vanilla and hot pepper honey.

Fresh soil and barely ripened bananas.

Some mango and a shit ton of pepper!

For some reason I’m reminded of an old friend & girlfriend.  She was actually my first friend (not first girlfriend) ever and I’m reminded of the way her hair would smell after she was working on one of her VW bugs.  Engine oil, perfume and cigarettes.

On the mouth — What the?!  Nothing like the nose.

Carrot juice and splenda.

Firey, hot as hell!  Fried foods without the oil – thin mouth feel yet, enjoyable.

Parsnips and hot pepper/cayenne candy (if there were such a thing).

Dirty 70’s jeans with knee patches (and the glue that burns a bit when you’re ironing the patches on).

Finish — Oak on fire, slight bursts of coconut.

Long and increasingly hot.

Vanilla creeps up after a minute or so and leaves a bourbony flavor in your mouth.

In sum — One of the strangest whiskies I’ve had to date.  This one, like some others I’ve reviewed, is up there with weirdo drams.  Not for every day drinking but great to be used in a tasting of strange drams.

It’s also a damn good warmer-upper!

A big thanks to Aron Silverman for the generous sample!

A World of Discovery, Autumn, Cold Winter, Springbank

Springbank 12yr Cask Strength, Claret Finish

Campbeltown region – 54.40%ABV – Limited to 9,360 bottles – £38 | €45

Did you ever have one of those “WOW” moments?  A time, perhaps, when you were stopped in your tracks by whatever it was you encountered for the first time?  Perhaps it was the first time you saw the ocean or the first time you hiked to the top of a mountain.  Perhaps it was the day your first child was born.  Those moments stay with you for a good while and can be building moments or moments that shape you in some manner.

The first “WOW” moment in memory for me was when I was 6 years old.  My uncle had gotten me Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album.  I had never heard anything like it.  Yes, I was only 6 years old but I had already become a fan of music – mostly show tunes that grandparents would play or the folk records my dad would play (Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, etc…).  Black Sabbath blew my mind.

Another big “WOW” moment for me was also music related.  About 20 years ago I discovered The Kinks album entitled “The Village Green Preservation Society”.  I remember that moment quite well.  Here I was, with my band mates, coming back from a show on Virginia Beach.  I was the driver, it was 1:00am and I was falling asleep at the wheel.  The singer of the band at the time threw “The Village Green Preservation Society” in the tape player and this was the first song I heard (and man, did it wake me up!):

One of my whisky “WOW” moments was when I had the Springbank 15yr (review soon to follow) for the first time.  Springbank is quite unlike any whisky out on the market today – such balance & character and really, quite peculiar.  I fell in love.   In a long line of what I’m sure will be Springbank “WOW” moments is this expression, the Claret Finish:

On the nose – Top notes of light peat (a bit woody, almost like burning white birch tree bark) and toasted marshmallows.

The nose then gets strange in a very good way.

The scents split up evenly between the classic Springbank grassy, vegetal (actually, more like a weed filled field on a humid summer day), flinty, salty notes then that of a nice, you guessed, Claret wine (though not overwhelming in anyway).

Let’s break the Claret notes out a bit:  Tannins are apparent (very dry).

Hints of cranberry.

Some notes of a horse stable the day after a rain storm.

On the mouth – Spice & citrus.

Big and creamy upfront then very drying after the swallow (and into the finish).

Veggie samosas.

Very herbaceous.

Some bitter coffee notes (Luzianne with chicory).

Cherry cola.

Finish – Long with dried fruits (figs) and spice.

In sum – This is a powerful dram.  I’m amazed as to how well the Springbank whisky goes with the Claret finish (and for three years in a Claret cask, the wine finish did not overpower, instead it added/augmented to the greatness that is Springbank).  When should you enjoy this?  I’d say right now being that there were only 9,360 bottles made available; I’d start enjoying this ASAP.