Tag Archives: Apricot

All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Bunnahabhain, Cold Winter, I'd not drink this one if I were you...

Two VERY different Bunnahabhains, both from Feis Ile 2010

I’m going to leave the preamble to a minimum here as I’d like to let the reviews speak for themselves.

I will tell you — last year I got caught up in all of the online hoopla about Islay’s 2010 Feis Ile festivial (thanks be to many blogs and Mark Gillespie’s fantastic coverage through his WhiskyCast Feis Ile Podcasts).  It was addictive.

I was Sofa King jealous of all those who got to go to the Feis Ile festival last year!  Thankfully,  my friend Shai Gilboa (frequent guest blogger on Whisky Israel) was able to go to Islay last year during Feis Ile and he was kind enough to pass some samples onto me – thanks Shai!!

Bunnahabhain bottled by “Queen of the Moorlands” for the Islay Feis Ile festival, 2010 – Heavily Peated – 53.2%ABV – £60

On the nose — Earthy and filled with man-sweat; salty and slightly… off.

Burnt asparagus, salty green leafy vegetables, dead autumn leaves and mountain air fill the nostrils.

Moving on to things a bit more man-made (artificial, not the sweat)…

Think rubber bands, paper bags and the plastic strips that were once attached to Fruit Roll-Ups (the addition of fruit makes an appearance here).

Pared pears, baked to perfection.

With water, the nose dies out.

On the mouth — Very tight and thin.

Less complex in flavor as compared to the nose.

Very rubbery and smokey with a bit of salt and dead grass.

With water the mouth feels gets super creamy but really doesn’t do anything to the flavor as far as adding complexity.

The exception being the addition of vanilla and a touch of pine.

Finish — Smokey and full of salty fizz.

In sum — The nose was really interesting and complex but sadly this one fell flat for me on every other level.

Bunnahabhain’s own special bottling for the Islay Feis Ile festival, 2010 – Pedro Ximenez finish – 51.4%ABV – £150

On the nose — Heavy sherry influence and I’m somehow reminded of sticky, wine influenced fudge.

Dried bananas and spiced black plums (heavier on the spice note than on the plum note).

Cinnamon coffee cakes with some cherry and blueberry jam.

A fantastically fun and gets-you-hungry kind of nose.

On the mouth — Sweet fruits of the dried variety.

Watery mouthfeel yet not thin (perhaps like Jell-o water before it thickens).

Spiced fruit leather and vanilla bean.

Apricots, dates, dried cherries, nutmeg, cloves, a fruity fall-mix compote.

While this is all there and fun is seems to lack a robust power to it.

I guess I was hoping for the flavors to blast.  Instead, they are merely presented to my palate (yet perfectly balanced).

Finish — Every taste bud is pinched and squeezed of all its moisture (read: dry/tannic).

Long with the addition of fresh berries.

In sum — A wonderfully rich and balanced Bunnahabhain.  A perfect evening dram to enjoy amongst friends and good conversation.  This one is a win for me.

All You Need Is Love, Edradour, Let's celebrate!, Refreshed

Edradour 10yo – 1999 Sauternes finish bottled at 57.6% ABV

Highland Region – 57.6%ABV – £43 | €50

I’ve seen many bottlings of Edradour whisky on the shelves here in the US.  I’ve always liked the packaging and the fact that many of the bottles I saw were bottled at cask strength and seemed to be somewhat experimental in nature with many different types of wine and barrel finishes.

It wasn’t until my interview with Mr. Alan Shayne (President of the US chapter of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, SMWSA) that I really began to consider a bottle.  When Alan mentioned that one of his uncles was once an owner of the distillery, I instantly wanted to try some.

Being a lover of Sauternes finished whiskies, when Master of Malt offered me some free 3cl sized samples I chose this as one of them.  A big thanks goes out to Master of Malt for the sample!

Sadly, since writing up this post, MoM is out of the full bottles…

I expect this whisky to be delicious (Sauternes finish, cask strength… what’s not to love or look forward to?) Let’s see if this whisky lives up to my expectations:

On the nose — Big warm, sauternesy nose loaded with apricot, walnuts, honey and white grapes.

So far so good.

Oranges, cloves and warm cream.

Fruity yet savory liquid hand soap.

A whisper of rosemary.

Toasty rye bread, dry.

On the mouth — A very soapy entry.

After that, more of the same from the nose.

This is a good thing as the sauternes finish compliments this whisky very nicely.

Apricot jam and sour/sugared apple lollipops – very puckering.

Finish — Shortish yet, warming, mouth watering and savory/sweet

In sum — An instant favorite for me.  Of all the finishes for a whisky, sauternes is my favorite.  When done right, it puts me in heaven.  Save this whisky for some YOU time.

All You Need Is Love, Arran, Summertime

Arran Machrie Moor Peated Malt Whisky (plus a way to win a full bottle for yourself)

Islands Region – 46%ABV – £39 (soon to be released in the US this March, 2011) – Limited to 9,000 bottles for this first release.

I’m going to skip some of the preamble today as I think the most important parts of today’s post is the review (of course) and the details of an exclusive giveaway below!

Special thanks to Andy Hogan for the sample and for working with the JSMWS on this great giveaway!

While I did say I’d be bypassing some of the preamble, that still does imply that there will be a little of it for you to read.  Just what is the story behind Arran’s naming of the Machrie Moor??   Here’s what they tell us:

“On the west coast of the Isle of Arran lies a windswept and mystical peat bog called Machrie Moor. Bronze Age stone circles and standing stones are strewn across its barren, undulating terrain. One of the stone circles is known as Fingal’s Cauldron Seat, where sits a stone with a carved hole. The legendary warrior giant Fingal is said to have tethered his favourite dog Bran to this stone. This peated expression of the Arran Single Malt perfectly captures the rugged beauty and lore of the landscape. Unleash the legend that is Machrie Moor.“

Well, roar (or, woof)!!  Let’s try this stuff:

On the nose — Salted & sooty chimney pipe (chim-chimney-chim-chimney-chim-chim-ka-booze).

Root-like vegetables and very grassy.

Perhaps even a little salted fudge – YUM!

After a minute of so, the peat is not as sooty.  Rather, it’s adding a really nice earthy tone to the whisky – sort of like a brackish stream snaking it’s way through a field of wild-flowers.

Additional notes range from lemon zest to shortbread dough (unbaked).

Very salty/coastal nose.

On the mouth — Oh yeah – just the right amount of peat gives a great brush-fire flavor in the mouth.

Baked apples, even apple-sauce.

I can’t shake the feeling of campfire/brushfire out of my head as I sip this.

Very comforting and bringing me to my childhood happy place.

Lemons galore – lemon marmalade and cream custard.

Salted and a touch peppery (just a touch).

Chewy mouthfeel and, as we get into the finish…

Finish — There’s a superb butteriness here, salted butter that creeps up and does not wish to leave you.

Added to that are hints of apricot, warmed margarine and bread.

In sum — I don’t often talk about color or how the whisky looks in the glass (E.G. legs) but I have to say, the legs on this whisky are gorgeous!  A wonder to look at.  For me, I encounter the same wonderment when watching a Guinness form it’s head – that beautiful head!

This whisky has legs and knows how to use them.

A thoroughly enjoyable treat.  Very salty stuff!  I’d imagine chocolates would go wonderfully with this whisky giving you that salty/sweet goodness many of us seek out.

Peated to a level of 14ppm, the folks at Arran knew what they were doing!!  Enough peat to add some dimension to the whisky, enough to give the peat/smoke-heads something to get excited about yet not so much so as to overpower all of the natural beauties of Arran Malt whisky (Apples, butter, lemons & a superb saltiness).  A nice late summer, near dusk type dram.

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The fun part – a way for you to win a full bottle of the new Arran Machrie Moor and signed by the Master Distiller – James McTaggart!! –

Yes, thats right.  We here at the JSMWS worked closely with Arran and they were kind enough to partner up with us on a very exclusive giveaway.  A full bottle of Arran Machrie Moor peated whisky signed by none other than James McTaggart, Arran’s Distillery Manager!!

“How do I win a bottle!?” you ask.

“Easy.” says all of us at The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society.

We’re looking to reach 1100 followers on our Facebook page.

If you’re already a fan, cool.  You’re currently in the running.

If you’re not yet a fan, click here to join and get in the running.

Do you know someone who loves whisky?  Ask them to join The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page.

The quicker we get to 1313 people, the closer we’ll be to announcing, perhaps you, as our winner of this great whisky.  The lucky person will be picked at random and named on the Facebook page.

Welcome to the Facebook group and good luck!!

An everyday dram, Summertime

Arran 9yr Single Cask – Bottled for the SMWSA – Cask number 121.32

Islands region – 56.3%ABV – $90 (no longer available – only 312 bottles available)

The Single Cask, Cask Strength goodness of Arran Malt whisky brought to you (me) by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

One of the beautiful things about whiskies that are drawn from a Single Cask is that they are 100% unique whiskies, never to be repeated again (the adventure seeker in me LOVES this).

Also, you can find whiskies from a single distillery that will often times be quite different from that distillery’s standard offerings.  Some good examples of this is this Macallan I tasted here, and these Bowmore whiskies I’ve had here.

So, what will we find with this SMWS bottling of this nine year old Arran cask?

On the nose — Fruity nose filled with lemons & a good helping of pineapple in a light syrup.

Strong nose – it’ll git ya!

Toffee cremes & salted butter.

Birch beer.

Vanilla bourbon goodness!

Buttered corn, creamed corn, corn grain.

On the mouth — Insanely creamy mouthfeel.

Like drinking caramel (there’s a sting with it, however – it’ll git ya!).

Malty, bread-like.

Apricots & warm apple pie.

Tangerines.

Very tannic – a drying sensation throughout the mouth.

More toffee tones.

Finish — Long and creamy with lemon lozenges.

Apricots galore!

In sum — A big bourbon influenced dram.  Another win for the SMWS if you ask me.  Insanely approachable, fruity and yum-yum-yummy.  Enjoy in good company.  Share this with close friends on a nice summer’s day.

Arran

Arran Malt finished in a Sauternes Cask

Islands region – 50%ABV – £37 | €44

Tasting Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran after Arran, etc… has been lots of fun but I’m no where near done!  For a company that’s only 15yrs old, they’ve had a lot of different bottlings.

While I don’t speak German, just looking at the pictures on this Arran collector’s website, shows me just how many whiskies this distillery has put out!  Check it out here.

Today I’m going delve quickly into something Arran does quite a bit of – special cask finishes.

Currently, Arran has 5 different special cask finishes in their range: This one which is from a Sauternes cask, a Port cask, an Amarone cask, a Moscatel cask and then their 15th year anniversary whisky, an Amontillado Sherry cask finish.

Sauternes is a dessert wine and the first dessert wine I ever had was Sauternes.  When it comes to whiskies, I enjoy various wine finished casks.  It’s always a treat to try new ones out.  Let’s see what this one offers us:

On the nose — Quite unlike some of the other Sauternes finishes whiskies I’ve had.

Spent matches.

Very grassy and notes of soured milk.

Lemon zest and walnuts.

Dandelion jelly & Crab apple jelly.

Apricot in the distance.

The taste of unripened pears which is offset but something meaty in here.

Man, this is an odd one!

Salted biscuits.

On the mouth — Like a mirror of all I discovered on the nose.

Additional notes of apple pie crust.

Quite the viscous fluid!

Red bitter berries.

Baked apples wwwaaaayyyy in the distance.

Abundant salt… Better yet, salty tomato juice.

Finish — Moves on to more nuts – salted cashews.  Very long.

In sum — Complex and balanced but not up my alley.  Warming and with just the right mouthfeel but the meatiness of this one was just too much (for me).  Some will LOVE this one.  I respect it (really, a well constructed whisky), I don’t love it.

Special thanks goes out to Andy Hogan for the sample!