Tag Archives: Chinese Food

Laphroaig 30yr – a goddess of a dram!

Islay region – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $220-750 (holy spread!!) and up | £350 | €459

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m Jewish.  I am a kosher keeping (mostly “kosher by nature” seeing as I’m a vegetarian), whisky drinking, rock-n-roll playing, cigar smoking Jew.  A proud one at that.  Additionally, I keep Kosher for Passover which means I do not eat leavened bread during this eight day holiday.  Nor do I drink beer, eat waffles, pancakes or, drink whisk(e)y.

As much as I’ll miss whisk(e)y (starting on Monday and ending the day before WhiskyLive in NYC), it makes me feel quite good to not drink the stuff and it gives me that chance to experience more Wines, Tequilas and maybe Mead (if I can find a “K” for “P” Mead).

This being said, over the next few days, until Passover, I will be reviewing some of the more top-shelf  drams I have (or have samples of).  During Passover (or Pesach, using the Hebrew word for the holiday), I will be tasting & reviewing some of the aforementioned non-whisk(e)y adult beverages.

So, here’s the the first in 3 top shelf whisky reviews.  The Laphroaig 30yr.  A special thank you goes out to the Scotch Hobbyist again for the sample trade!

On the nose Meaty & musty though quite fruity, Necco wafers, chalky & waxy, nutmeg, mustard seeds, sea salt, I am smelling antiquity and not sure I am mature enough for this stuff – I sort of feel like a 5th grader that has a crush on his English teacher (I had a big crush on my 5th grade English teacher.  We called her Mrs. Huge Tits because it rhymed with her real last name and she was well endowed toward her upper chest area… if you catch my drift), dried spices and bay leaf – there’s a ton here!  Wow, the bay leaf is quite prominent after the 3rd whiff

Palate Chocolatey and a good amount of pepper – very spicy (not black pepper spicy, more like hot pepper spice), soup, stewy and salty, slight smoldering, clementines, extremely mature and delicate peat, pungent, soy sauce & veggie dumplings – I am most happy right now.  This is my kind of peat!!  Mature & sexy.

Finish Medium long, salty and a bit spicy (think soy sauce and ginger on a nice sushi roll).

In sum I can see why this is a coveted dram.  The balance & profile is near perfect.  This is oh, so special.  I am no expert.  I’m only 3 years into this whisky tasting business and even I can see that there is something quite amazing here.  If I had a full bottle of this stuff and my house were burning down, I’d run back in to save my wife & kids, grab my cats and this bottle.  This is a desert island dram and I am very happy to be tasting this on a special night such as this — Shabbat!

Connemara Cask Strength Peated Irish Whiskey

Ireland – 58.5%ABV – 750ml bottle – $54 and up | £42 | €47

What an interesting whiskey this is!  Many of you who know me or a regulars of this blog know or can see that I, for the most part, stick to Scottish single malt whiskies and will, on occasion, dabble in the American whiskies.  I tend to steer clear of Irish whiskies.  Not because I do not like them or have a prejudice toward the Irish, I plum just don’t know much about Irish whiskies or what to expect from them.  I aim to change this and I’ve got to say Connemara is helping me!

When I think of Irish whiskey, like many Americans, I just think of Jameson (the standard entry level stuff) right away.  Dr. Whisky, by the way, actually has a nice post on Jameson which can be found here.  It’s nice enough but nothing to cry home about and certainly not an every day dram (at least not for me).

So after reading a few reviews of the Connemara, realizing that it was St. Patty’s day and hearing some nice stuff about it from my friends Gal & Kfir over at Whisky Israel, I decided to pick some up.

A peated Irish whiskey [you say]??  Yes, a peated Irish whiskey indeed.  This, unlike most Irish whiskies is distilled only twice (as with most Scottish whiskies); the vast majority of Irish whiskies are distilled three times. Connemara whiskey is matured in ex-bourbon casks (not sure if they are first fill, 2nd fill, etc…) which also adds in the overall flavor.

So, here’s how it all went down:

Initial whiff Huh… Chinese food, Lo Mien perhaps?  Very floral (salted celery?) but quite sooty.  The peat is so strange here, not smokey at all.  Like soot on a steel pipe from a barrel stove (I used to have a barrel stove in a wood fort my old buddy Jason and I stole.  I tell you the story some time.  Funny stuff.  Ah, the things 13yr olds do…), honey and very grassy.  Strange though, I can’t shake the Chinese food…

On the mouth Even at almost 60%ABV, it’s not that hot (though I’ve got a fairly high threshold).  What a mix of flavors!  Again, the peat is not a really smokey peat, more vegetal really.  With some water, this stuff is quite creamy, not sweet however.  Its all about various types of root veggies with chocolate, unsweetened mind you.

Finish Long, sooty again and some honey comes back.  Not sure how old this stuff is but I am not getting a ton of oak.  Peppery and maybe a little white chocolate.

In sumYou know, after a few minutes, there’s an after taste that’s a bit odd.  Not bad but not super pleasant either.  I guess the best remedy for that is to drink more!  Actually, I did, the very next day and started off with water.  In so doing, I did not get that after taste — could have been something I ate the day before…  This is a good one.  It’s a contemplative dram, lots to discover here, though, maybe I’m digging to deep…

Check out what others are saying about it:

Dr. Whisky

For Peat’s Sake