Tag Archives: Chili Peppers

Octomore Feis Ile 2014 bottling will blow your mind!!

 

Region – Islay – 69.5% ABV – Price?? – a whole bunch of ££ but you can find this bottle for even more ££ on various auction websites.

OCTOMORE-FEIS-ILE-2014

While I’ve found myself in bonnie Scotland many a time now, I have yet to get my rear-end over there during the Feis Ile festival that happens every year at the end of May.  Imagine nine days devoted to the malts of Islay, on Islay and each distillery releasing a special bottling for the festival.

Sounds like a wee Bit o’Honey Heaven.  Thankfully, my good friend Matt L ventures out there every year and was kind enough to grab me a few festival bottles.

While I wanted a bottle from each distillery A) bottles are often limited to one per person and B) I don’t want to overload Matt with all of my requests and C) if I spend TOO much money, my wife will give me a “what for” that I’d never forget or recover from.

I had to be really choosey about which bottles to get so some investigation was in order.  I found out that Bruichladdich’s Feis Ile bottling just so happened to be an Octomore.  Once I found out this little detail, I knew I had to get one of those.  However, what I did not know was that this was a quadruple distilled Octomore.

Quad-distilling the spirit kicked the ABV up to insane heights!  After 7 years in first fill oloroso casks, the ABV ended up at 69.5%!  Sweet Fancy Moses!!  Now I was even more excited.  Word on the street was it was so powerful it could bring a tear to a man’s eye.  Matt asked me, “are you sure you want me to get you a bottle?”

How could one *not* want to taste this juice after hearing of the hurt it could inflict on those that dare drink it?!

IMG_4888Thanks to Matt’s good help and to the over-seas shipping gods, I am now the owner of some of those most powerful whisky ever produced on Islay.  Peated to 167ppm, quadruple distilled, matured for 7 years in oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 69.5% ABV… let’s see how this young lady is (and if I survive her).

On the nose Well hello yourself, little lady!  She’s both embracingly sweet and warmingly peat in the same lil’ sniff.

6a00d8341c571453ef0133eef5da66970b-320wiShe is a bag of pork rinds in hand with plastic bag to boot.

A host of cut lemons and ground green peppercorns over a plate of fresh shaved fennel, you are young miss!  “Pour some sugar agave on me and wrap me up in chilies” (to the tune of that crap ass Def Lepard song).

this-spinal-tap-movie-quotes-54419“Your body fits me like a fig skin tuxedo, I want to sink you with my pink torpedo” (to the tune of one of the best Spinal Tap songs ever).

You’re a really wild one.  I’m’a taste you now. (plus, I’m done referring to you as a person.  It’s sort of perverse sounding and I think I my have lost some readers along the way).

dune2On the mouth Ash trays and all things drying (alcohol, salt, hot air, dry-dry sherry, drier than Oloroso dry sherry, Desert Planet, Arrakis).

Must take another sip.  Now that my mouth has a chance to realize what’s happening, it’s starting to react and understand what exactly is happening in it right now.

97960-131216-penguinLet the laundry list begin:  Medium oils, very sherried but somehow not a sherry bomb, dried and sugared dates, cracked oat bran, new rubber umbrella (a la from the closet of The Penguin), chili powder with hints cooked, un-spiced pumpkin.

All in all, for 69.5% ABV, it’s nice to know that I’m not dead (yet).

Finish Long and now with hints of menthol and a bowl of those dried and sugared dates I tasted.

In sum   I love the size of Bruichladdich’s balls.

In this day of sought after, highly up-sellable, Feis Ile bottlings, Bruichladdich dared to release one that I would have thought many would be both afraid to buy and afraid to post on auction sites.  69.5% ABV, Quadruple distilled 7yo juice?!  I mean, come on…

Here’s the thing.  It sold out.  Heck, I bought a bottle (Thanks again to my buddy Matt).  It’s being sold on auction sites, too.

My hope is that these bottles do terribly on these auction sites.  Dudes, stop trying to make money and drink the juice because, I’ll tell you, it’s damn good.  Yes, you may lose the ability to reproduce after a dram or two but hey… it’s… ummm… Ok, I have nothing after that comment.  But if you sell your bottle, you’re missing out on good whisky.  For those that buy a bottle on auction, open it and do so immediately.  Open and and drink it with lots of friends.  You’ll be happy you did.

1996 Arran Premier Sherry Single Cask exclusively for the US market

Islands Region – Single cask limited bottling, 165 bottles total (and interestingly low number of bottles from a single cask…), first-fill Oloroso Sherry, Cask # 1785 – 56%ABV – $125 (or so)

Apologies for letting a week or so pass by with out a post/review.  It’s that busy time of year where I’m out on the road; sales calls, trade shows, training seminars, etc…

OK, enough with the apologies, let’s get talking about whisky.  One thing I’d like to call to your attention on today’s post is the title of today’s post.  More specifically, the last five words in the title of today’s post: “…exclusively for the US market”.  While many brands out there seem to focus on special releases for Duty Free, the French market, etc…  Arran seems to be doing a bang up job sending the US some special release stuff.  Most notably, single cask releases.  True, the US did not get any of the “Icons of Arran” such as the Peacock, The Rowan Tree or The Westie.  And no, we did not see the beautiful “Sleeping Warrior“.

However, being that more and more single cask product (E.G. Single Ex-Bourbon, 8yo Sherry Cask bottling and today’s topic, the Premier Sherry Cask) is being sent our way, my guess/hope is that we’ll also start seeing more of the other “limited” releases sent our way – at least a small portion of the bottlings.  Fingers crossed!

A wise man once told me that the Arran spirit is perhaps too light and delicate to do well in a first fill sherry casks for an extended period of time.  This whisky is 15yo and was matured for that entire length of time in a first-fill Oloroso sherry butt.  Hmmm, let’s see how the spirit held up:

Color Really dark – perhaps the darkest I’ve seen in an Arran whisky.  Dark yet translucent, deep brown fluid.  Like an Oloroso sherry.  The picture of the bottle shown above does not do the liquid justice in the color department.

On the nose  Sticky cherry sauce followed by green apples – super fresh and very prominent.

Caramel and coriander notes are found here too.

Sherry soaked angel food cake (if there were such a thing).

Very hot and alcoholic nose.

Celery leaves then something slightly acrid (highly browned fruits perhaps) but yet… fitting and very pleasant in the context.

Water balloons (sans the water) – nice little rubbery notes.

On the mouth Chocolates and chilis and loads (loads!) of stewed prunes and chocolate sauce.

Assorted dried fruits and even a little banana.

Sugared and sweet black plums.

More apples and way in the back, some saltiness and even some notes of plum pudding (and… tobacco??).

Ooey melted caramel.  Really quite scrumptious.

Finish  Lasting warmth and just the right amount of drying.  Salty yet sweet.

In sum There’s a reason Arran has been making headlines and headway within the community of whisky drinks but this is not it.

Actually, this takes Arran in another direction but it only helps to show that the Arran spirit can do well in sherry casks — it can hold its own as a heavily sherried whisky.

I’d suggest this whisky as an after dinner treat.  It’s an indulgence – grab the bottle and a glass, hide yourself away with a book, maybe a warm fire and a little plate of turkish delights and, enjoy some YOU time.

Top notch stuff.  Arran, I tip my hat to you.

Special thanks goes out to Andy H for the sample!

Ardbeg 10yo single cask – bottled by the SMWSA – Cask number 33.91

Islay region – matured in a puncheon cask – 64.4%ABV – $95 (no longer available – only a few hundred bottles available)

Over the next few days I’m going to focus on whiskies by distilleries I’ll be visiting while in Scotland.  I’ll be in Scotland from August 12th – 20th (as part of a tour led by Jason Johnstone-Yellin of GSD and the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society) and I’ll be visiting:

  • Arran
  • Ardbeg
  • Bowmore
  • Lagavulin
  • Talisker
  • Glenmorangie
  • The Balvenie
  • Glenglassaugh
  • plus others…

During the tour I plan on taking lots of pictures, videos and keeping a tour diary that will be made public and will be made available as soon as humanly possible.

So, today’s whisky is one bottled by the SMWSA.  A young peaty Ardbeg.  Let’s see how she fares…

On the nose  VERY young smelling stuff!  Fruity new make spirit.

After a couple of minutes to get past the newness of it all and we’ve got notes of barbecued pulled pork (or what I remember of it).

Lime & agave (think silver, unaged tequila).

This is a very aggressive whisky and not the most complex but not unpleasant.

On the mouth Much softer than expected.

Pussycat attack with honey and burnt sugar.

Some lemon pledge furniture polish.

Salty iodine, fresh sea air.

More like a smoky Mezcal, really.

Those agave notes are really present here.

Finish A touch of milk chocolate with chili peppers.  Medium long.

In sum Not what I’m after in an Ardbeg.  Even young Ardbeg (the ones I’ve had) seemed ready.  This one, on the other hand, seemed like it could have used a few more years in the cask (or maybe even to spent some time in another cask).

Special thanks goes out to Chris Kent for the Sample!

Yamazaki 18yr – wonderfully sherried

Japan – 43%ABV – 750ml –  $80-100 | £60 | €73

I’ll get right to the point here, I loves me some Japanese whisky.  Yamazaki 12yr?  Loved it.  Nikka Yoichi 12yr?  Can I have more?  The Yamazaki Sherry cask?  I will sin for you.  Nikka Yoichi 20yr 1988 vintage?  Sweet fancy Moshe!!

This is the tip of the iceberg.  Here’s my next new love – The Yamazaki 18yr – a fine sherried whisky.

On the nose Delicious sherried nose. Spicy as all hell with bursts of cinnamon.

Hot pepper peanut butter.

Red grapes and grappa.

Underneath some great notes of prunes.

That high sweet note that I just love from the Yamazaki whiskies.

A salty note is here – celery salt?

Finally, new leather and pipe tobacco.

On the mouth Chili pepper chocolates.

Crystalized ginger.

Caramels, poached pear (slight).

Fresh lawn mulch.

The mouth feel is so chewylicious….  Not a super winey sherried malt (thank you Suntory!) just, nice.

Finish Cheyenne peppers and breakfast cereals – Kellogs mini-wheats (sans frosting).

Oak and tobacco.

Lasting & lovely.

In sum I haven’t met a Yamazaki I haven’t loved.  A finely balanced whisky perfect for the fall time.  Watch the leaves fall, throw on a sweater, get ready for the new year (I’m talking Rosh Hashanah here, folks).