Tag Archives: Barbecue Sauce

Cold Winter, Kilchoman

Speed dating… with whisk(e)y! Episode 3: Kilchoman 100% Islay, 3rd edition

 

Islay region – 50% ABV – $89 | £65

Here I am, back on the dating scene!  My first two dates were with a couple of sisters from America – Koval Four Grain Whiskey and Koval Bourbon.

Today I am dating a smoking Scottish lass.  I hope she treats me right!

Kilchoman-marge-schottOn the nose (Date # 1) –  Ashtrays meet white pepper meets rice vinegar and wet cardboard.

Am I on a date with Marge Schott?  Did I mention I love her?  Marge does have a sweet side, you know…

Tinned fruits, brown sugared boiled apples and a butter crusted apple pie.

925959b98fa71b669d96a5046d29e853On the mouth (Date # 2, This girl seems to have a complex personality.  Let’s see how the 2nd date goes.  She could be blowing smoke up my @$$) – Heavy smoke upfront with lemon citrus spray.  Say it, don’t spray it!

Burnt apple skins – this I like!

Heavy on the white pepper but there are also notes of cherries in sweetened pear sauce.

Finish (Date # 3: The deciding factor)– Notes of re-opened barbecue grill, first time since last summer.  Distant smoke and old barbecue sauce…

In sum (The decision)– A fine 100% Islay expression from Kilchoman.  I did like her older sister (2nd edition) a bit more as it showed a truly unique character.  Still, this young lass is well worth another date…

Special thanks to the folks at Impex for the sample!

An everyday dram, Ardbeg, Cold Winter, Need To Bundle Up, Takin' It Easy

Ardbeg Alligator – A surprising little snapper!

Islay region – 51.2%ABV – $89 – $139 (big, dumb price variance.  Can you say price “gouging”?  I know some US retailers can) | £58 | €67

Man-o-Maneschewitz, was the cat let out of the bag on this one or what?!

That’s right.  On January 14th, 2011, it was prematurely announced that Ardbeg would be releasing a new whisky: Alligator.

I remember this day quite well as the whisky world was in a tizzy and the folks at LVMH were scrambling a bit (or so I heard).  Think of all the time, planning and money spent on marketing to help create the “buzz” and poof…  Oh well.

Cats out of bags or no, Ardbeg’s website/online shop was still temporarily shut down due to sales traffic when the whisky was finally released!

Initially released as a “Committee release” (see image on the left), this whisky sold out damn quick!  With only 1000 Committee Release bottles here in the US (and I think a total of 6,000 world-wide (please someone correct me if I’m wrong on that number), this $hit sold out right quick!

I was able to get seven of those committee bottles.  I sold four (at no profit mind you!) and kept three.

So, what is Ardbeg Alligator?  It’s a mixture of 60% Ardbeg 10yo and 40% Ardbeg 10yo (or so) whisky that’s been matured in heavily charred bourbon barrels.  The name “Alligator” comes from they type of charring that’s been done to the barrels.  The char is so heavy that it resembles alligator skin.  Fun!

Now, what I find interesting is that this has been bottled at 51.2%ABV and nowhere on the bottle does it say cask strength.  At 51.2%ABV and only being around 10 years old, cask strength should be closer to 58-60%ABV.  Ardbeg normally bottles their whiskies at either cask strength or 46%ABV so, why the 51.2%??

Yes, the whisky is damn good at 51.2%.  Maybe that was the driving factor – it was the optimum strength to meet the flavor and mouthfeel.  Or maybe, it was bottled at 51.2% so that they could bottle more whisky.  Or maybe, just maybe, there will be a cask strength version down the road…  Only time will tell.

Just so you’re aware, the ABV on both the Committee Release and the new standard bottling as the same: 51.2%ABV.  I am told from a few hi-ranking birdies that the juice is the same from the Committee Release to the standard bottling.

Let taste this schtuff:

On the nose –  Whoa, I like this one here!  Burnt and briny and lemony custard tarts.

Bacon – pure, unadulterated bacon (like walking into a mid-western diner on a Sunday morning?).  This smells wonderful.

Bonesucking Barbecue sauce, vanilla and pencil shavings in the background.

Ballpark hotdog mustard.

Rounded, balanced and oh so sniffable!

On the mouth – Big creamy attack full of vanilla then an assault of charcoal ash (with hot embers still in the center).

Lemony sweet and tart – really affecting the sides of my tongue!

More of the pencil shavings I got on the nose (focus on the wood rather than the graphite).

Grilled and burn asparagus.

Tough to get past the creaminess on this one until we get to the finish…

Finish – Drying and medium in length

In sum – Balanced quite nicely, this is a whisky to just drink and enjoy rather than to pick apart.  I found this absolutely delectable to sit and relax with and that’s what I suggest here.  Work hard then relax with a nice glass of this fine whisky.  I can easily drink this every day.  Though at $99/bottle (or $139 at some places), it might break the bank…

Penderyn

Penderyn Peated Welsh Whisky

Wales — 46%ABV — $70 | £36 | €55

Penderyn is a new distillery in Wales.

Sometimes I feel like a dumb American.  I’m feeling like one right now as I can not tell you anything about Wales; nothing.  All of the geographical and societal information regarding Wales that I learned way back in high school went through my brain like a sieve.  I hope the Welsh people do not take this personally.

“Every time I learn something new it pushes some old stuff out” – Homer J. Simpson

I decided to learn a bit about Wales before I posted about this whisky and was lucky enough to find this great informational video from Ali G:

I hope this video helped you as much as it helped me!

On the nose — Quite light on the nose – difficult to pull out the scents.

Let’s give it a few minutes to open up here…

Fruity and flowery on the nose (but as if you’re downwind of the orchard and flower garden).

Still, a very light & restrained nose.

A slight smokiness is revealed here along with some flinty & grassy notes and touch salty.

On the mouth — Surprise!  This is a much bigger whisky than I would have expected from the hints the nose was giving me!

Very youthful with tones of juniper and even a bit of sage.

The peat here is very understated, practically minute.

Barbecue sauce.

Finish — A sea breeze finish that lasts a good while.

The peat becomes more clear here and there’s a peppery quality to it.

In sum — This is the off beat, odd duck, alt-country indy rocker of whiskies.  Don’t go into this thinking you’re going to get a Scotch-type like whisky.  Don’t go into this thinking that, if the label says it’s peated that you’re going to get a smokey whisky.  This is a whisky all its own.  That aside, and as much as I enjoy a young whisky, I think this would have gotten some benefit from a bit more time in a cask (or perhaps to another type of cask to add other elements).

Special thanks goes out to Luke O’Mahony for the sample!!

Arran, Kosher Spirits (not for Passover), Let's celebrate!, Loch Chaim, Springtime, Summertime, Whiskies

Loch Chaim Arran, Single Cask, 13yr old – the Bar/Bat Mitzvah dram

Islands region – 43%ABV – $84

Being that the Jewish New Year began last night (L’Shanah Tovah to all of my Jewish readers — health and happiness to all of my readers), I figured I’d begin a new limited series focusing on kosher certified whiskies.

Loch Chaim whiskies are Single Malt, Single Cask whiskies (not cask strength, all taken down to 43% ABV) specifically bottled for kosher keeping Jews (but happen to be completely delicious for anyone who loves good whisky).

Being single cask, you can imagine that the availability of these whiskies is limited.  You can find this line throughout New York, New Jersey and in pockets of Washington DC & Los Angeles.  You know, the Little Israels of the US. 🙂

All of these single cask expressions are matured in ex-bourbon (or, at least non-wine influenced) barrels.

I’ve got five different Loch Chaim whiskies and I thought it’d be good to start with the 13 year old Isle of Arran:

On the nose – Big bourbon fresh nose!

Salted green tomatoes.

Browning lemons (perhaps the largest component here) and pear notes.

Rhubarb preserves.

Light and inviting.

Not the most complex nose but…nice.

Something slightly earthy about this nose too…

On the mouth – Very peppery.

Barbecue sauce and sweet ketchup (where in the blue F did this come from!?).

Fruit jams comprised of slightly more bitter fruits.

Cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of cardamom.

Finish – The pepperiness continues.

There’s a decent length here.

In sum – So while I was trying to figure this one out (what with the strangeness from the bourbon light fresh nose to the family barbecue pallet), I realized what’s happening here.  This is, after all, a 13yr old whisky AND a kosher whisky.

What happens to Jewish boys & girls at age 13??  You guessed it, the become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.  This whisky became an adult!  It became a Bar Mitzvah in my mouth.  Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right…