Tag Archives: Carrots

Autumn, Glenburgie, Need To Bundle Up

Speed dating with… whisk(e)y! Episode 4: Chieftain’s 14yo Glenburgie 1998

 

Speyside region – 56.9% ABV – $120Chieftain's Glenburgie

Hey!  It’s been a while since I went on a whisk(e)y speed date!

I guess Kilchoman’s 3rd edition of 100% Islay took up a good chunk of my time.  You will be missed, baby.  But, onward and upward.

It wasn’t meant to be, you and me.  I have a date with this here Glenburgie.

The shadchanim told me they have cask strength Speysider with lots of promise and I just “need to meet her!”

Let’s see… are we meant to be?

GlenburgieOn the nose (Date # 1) –  Wow, what a mixture of scents hitting me from all around!  Let’s start off with a light toastiness that is verging on lightly peated with hints of almonds.

With a burst of pumpkin spices (cardamom, nutmeg and ginger), this is quite autumnal.  Add to this some boiled and baked apples with a dash or three of cinnamon, for good measure…  Who needs a sweater when you have this whisky?

GlenburgieWow, I just thought of a term I haven’t thought of since high school: sweater melons.  Jeez, young boys comes up with the silliest of terms…  Sorry ladies!  It’s the kind of term that makes you cringe a little, isn’t it?

There’s a lovely pungency that seems to be sherry cask driven.  Also, salted licorice.  So far, so yum.

Ah, sherry, what a lovey girl she be!

GlenburgieOn the mouth (Date # 2 This girl is intriguing and she has yet to tell me “hey buddy, my eyes are up here!”) – Big and spicy, verging on hot but I do not see a need to reach for water.  Quite salty with anise seed and damp licorice root.

Jalepeno pickled pineapple and a hint of clean pool water.  Great mouth feel (in case you were wondering).  Barbecued and stewed carrots.

Finish (Date # 3: The deciding factor) – Long and spicy with a gooseberry burst-type tartness.

In sum (The decision) –  I enjoy her spirit and over all, am overjoyed to have dated a fall-type whisky that wasn’t over-sherried or over oaked (read: totally full of herself).  We shall date again.  Now to find a theater that is showing The Goonies…

Special thanks to the folks at ImpEx for the sample!

A World of Discovery, Refreshed, Tuthilltown

Happy America Day! (plus a Tuthilltown Hudson single malt whiskey review)

Hey y’all – I thought I’d wish my American compadres a Happy Forth of July!  And, in a strange way, wish our northernly neighbors a belated Happy Canada Day.  How are the two connected?  Well, they are connected in many ways, I’m sure, but the only one I care about right now is whiskey!

Recently, I tried Tuthilltown Spirit’s Hudson Single Malt Whiskey.  A single malt that uses 100% Canadian malted barley.  That’s right, the US and Canada joining schwartzes is the best way I can think of – to make great New York whiskey.

Straight to the review now:

Upstate New York, USA — 46%ABV — 375ml bottle – $40 (no non-USA distribution that I am currently aware of though the Tuthilltown Spirits group is now a proud member of the William Grant & Sons family)

On the nose – There’s a huge damp quality to this nose; almost like damp laundry (clean cotton notes for sure).

Sweet honeyed carrots and parsnips.

It actually almost has a corn like quality to it though this IS a single malt with no grain influence.  Must be the interaction with those cute small barrels they use.

Cinnamon (hot cinnamon, like big red chewing gum, not cinnamon as with apples or pears) and candied nuts.

On the mouth – Big cinnamon attack!  The final notes I detected in the nose ramped up with a Big Red freshness that lasted right through to the palate.

Brown sugar sweetness and orangey Jaffe Cakes.  Clove cigarettes.

Finish – A blast of oak and biscuits, quite numbing even at 46%.  My mouth usually only gets this way after a cask strength whisk(e)y (50% or more).

In sum – This is a pick-me-up sort of whiskey.  A nice way to start the day (if that’s your sort of thing) but, most importantly, a nice way to say Happy Birthday America; you sweet & spicy thang you!  And, Happy Canada Day (albeit a few days late) to my kanuckian brothers & sistas to the north!