Tag Archives: Dried Fruits

Autumn, BenRiach, Cold Winter

A single cask of BenRiach chosen by the fine chaps at caskstrength.net, bottled by BenRiach and sold exclusively through Master of Malt

Speyside region – 55.2%ABV –£55 | $87

Apologies for the mouthful-of-a-post-title!  Some fine details there though.

A sample of this whisky came to me out of the blue.  It was a nice little surprise that showed up on my door step and I have to thank the folks at Master of Malt for it.  So, thanks guys and gals!

A long time fan of BenRiach, I am honestly not a big fan of BenRiach from PX (Pedro Ximenez) casks.  (I like my BenRiach like I like my Torah, eye-opening, sweet and fulfilling.)

The truth of the matter , however, is that I find difficulty connecting with PX matured whiskies in general.  The PX casks can be so very dominating to the overall flavor profile that the spirit character is often lost (making the whiskies often very one-dimensional).  To be sure, there are exceptions to this broad generalization I just made.

Let’s see what the cask did to this 16yo BenRiach…

On the nose — What gets me from the go on this one is an unusual scent of pine needles.

Very fruity (dark fruits, dense scents) with some subtle peat (or so it seems).

Then a meatiness kicks in that is reminiscent of barbecutie beef ribs.

Fruit cocktail with bursts of cherry (skins and stones) ride the meatiness, just along the top.

Sugared malt.

On the mouth — Big ‘ol mouth feel.  Loads of berries!  Loads and loads of berries (heavy on Rainier cherries).

There’s something a bit dusty in here; old attics.

Zero meatiness on flavor (thankfully).

Very dense fruits and fresh tobacco/spicy unlit cigars.  Just a touch spicy.

Finish — Birch root/dark birch beer.  Long and spicy.

In sum —  All-in-all, pretty damned yummy!  The natural fruitiness of the BenRiach spirit shone through the thick PX influence.  No issues with uni-dimensionality.  If you like your whiskies big and powerful, you’ll find this one to be up your alley (and surprised by some of the fine fruits in it).

You might find Jason’s (of guidscotchdrink.com fame) review of this whisky interesting as well…

Arran, Autumn, Let's celebrate!, Springtime

Arran’s devilish new limited release: The Devil’s Punch Bowl

 

Islands Region – 52.3%ABV – $129 – this stuff is selling out quickly – limited to 6,660 bottles.  Yeah, that’s right.  6,660 bottles.

If I were giving out packaging awards today, Arran’s Devil’s Punch Bowl would win it in a heart beat.  Hands down, this is some of the coolest packaging for a whisky in a *LONG* time.  And it’s not absurd awesome, just awesome-awesome.

Dude!:

And in the open position:

All up close and personal-like:

Even closer and even more personal:

Booga-booga!!

And here is the whisky make up (which, to be honest, is the most important part of the packaging):

Have you fallen in love yet?  Yes or no, here’s my review of the whisky:

On the nose — Classic Arran components:  Fresh apples (though brighter here compared to other Arran whiskies), salty (though slightly less salty than many Arran whiskies) and a touch pungent.

Quite bright, punchy and alive yet a touch buttery.

A strange thought comes to mind: Not sure why but this reminds me a bit of the Macallan 15yo Fine Oak (I rather like that one).  Hmm…

Now a touch of peat sneaks up on me.  Burnt things hither and thither; all natural-like and woody.

Burnt sugar over medjool dates (the sherry components start to come through).  Hint of cherry stones…  A solid whisky so far!

On the mouth — Pow!  Bam!  Kaboom! and other 60’s Batman punch and kick sounds.

Bright and sharp yet not at all hot.

Firm peaty backbone.

Grilled apples, salted.  More burnt sugar.  Honied yet oh, so peppery.

Peppered apple sauce.  A nice mouthfeel.

Finish — One of my favorite Arran characteristics: a good, long finish.  This one is peaty and peppery with a bit of honey and sugar.

In sum —  Well, not what I expected.  Granted, I didn’t know what to expect as I chose to not read reviews or learn too much about this whisky.

On the rare occasions when they do peated whiskies, Arran doesn’t peat much beyond 20ppm.  Knowing this, I guessed correctly that this would not be a peat monster.  I had heard some off-comments about this whisky in that people expected “more”.  Maybe some (due to the whisky name and packaging) expected a fire blast or peat monster.

Me?  I think it’s a well constructed whisky that packs a wallop.  It’s deliciously tasty, invigorating and of great quality.

Well done, Mr. MacTaggart, you devilish dude you!

Special thanks to the good folks at ImpEx for the ample sample!

***But, can I have your whisky? Please?!***
Autumn, Cold Winter, High West, Interviews, Takin' It Easy

An interview with David Perkins, the man behind High West Whiskey – part II of II

 

Video interview with David Perkins of High West – Part II of II: wherein David continues to take us through his new whiskey “Campfire” (my review of Campfire can be found beneath the videos) we discuss peat, blending and he then gives us a virtual tour of High West’s Distillery and award winning restaurant.

You can see Part I of this interview here.

I think the above intro basically tells all.  I hope you enjoy the balance of this interview as much as I enjoyed interviewing David:

And now the fourth and final video:

And finally, my review of High West’s Campfire whiskey – a blend of Bourbon, Rye whiskey and peated Scotch whisky:

High West Campfire – 46%ABV – $50

On the nose –  Spicy and bright nose. Hints of pine resin and toasted rye bread.  Brown spices and a touch of shoe leather.  Honey and chai.  Approachable/easy.  Joyful.

New charred-oak & subtle spice, jasmine & sandalwood.  Some citrus spice laced with just a hint of smoke as a backbone.

Given the name of the whiskey, not as much smoke on the nose as you’d expect.

On the mouth – Forceful attack with big spice upfront.  A nice mouthfeel.   Toast and blueberry jam (notes I love to find with heavier toasted barrels).

Nutmeg, cinnamon and some orange zest.  Floral with citrus spice, like a rye IPA.

Smoke all around the edges, like burning twigs mayhaps…

Wonderful toasty and vanilla spice (chai) on the sides of the tongue.

Finish – Long and spicy (with the spice staying toward the back of the tongue).

In sum — A warmer upper for sure.  This is a whiskey with a very “American” attitude however the addition of the Scotch whisky to the blend offers depth and dimension that many bourbons can’t provide.

Kudos to David Perkins for putting in some extra sweat equity in creating a truly different whisk(e)y experience.

Thanks, too, for the sample!

Autumn, Cold Winter, Speyburn

Speyburn Clan Single PX Cask from 1975

 

Image shown is not of the 1975 bottling

Speyside region – 55.8%ABV – Pricing is TBD.  Will update this post as soon as I have more information.

One of the upsides to being a whisky reviewer is that now and again whisky shows up to my door.  Cool, right?

Sometimes the whisky is in sample form, sometimes it’s my own purchase.  Both scenarios do a fantastic job of setting my lovely wife’s eyes a’rollin.  Oh boy, *more* whisky.

A common question posed by me to my wife: “Did the whisky fairy arrive today?”

I quite enjoy it when the answer is “yes.”

Occasionally, one of my daughters will tell me as I walk in the door, “Hey daddy.  Surprise, surprise, more whisky.”

I love my daughters.  They really know how to bust my butt with the snark of a 22 year old.  You’d never think they were 3 & 5.

…so one day, not too long ago, I received a completely unsolicited sample of this 1975 Speyburn single cask from Lucas D saying: Enjoy!  Let me know what you think.

In addition to the “enjoy the sample” bit, he gave me the following information on this whisky:

“The whisky comes from a single mature Spanish oak sherry butt acquired from Pedro Domecq – the oldest Bodega in Jerez founded in 1730. The cask was most likely used to mature Pedro Ximenez sherry. This helps to explain its exceptionally dark colour, at 20 Lovibond (45.9 EBC) it is one of the darker naturally coloured Scotch whiskies out there. The sample was drawn at the distillery in March 2012 and the ABV is 55.8% (!).”

Well, thank you Lucas for the sample.  It’s much appreciated!

Here are my thoughts:

On the nose –  The initial offering from the nose on this whisky is that of pen ink (from a ball point) and summer pool water.

Fresh pulled garden greens, a salty smelling nose.

Fired apples (granny smith) and cherry stones here as well.  More apples yet in sauce-form with brown spices and burnt sugar.

It’s a wild nose here as it straddles the line between real and artificial (man-made) scents and does so fairly well.

With water some notes of a Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar say hello.

On the mouth – Whoa, this is a hot one!

Chocolate chunks (dark) and fresh black pepper.  Cinnamon and walnuts, shells and all.  Let’s add water.  A bit too hot for me.

Much better with water – and a decent mouthfeel to boot!

Black strap molasses, drunken raisins and chocolates.  Sugar cookies and sugary butter cookies.

Nutty – hazelnuts, walnuts, no salt, crushed into a paste and sweetened (with some vanilla added in for good measure).

Finish – Long and peppery (with lasting heat).

In sum – It’s nice to drink history.  I was only 2 years old when this was distilled.  That in and of itself is a bit mind boggling.  All of the parts were there and in the right places.  I think some of the heat detracted from the overall experience (even with water) but pair this with some nice Stilton cheese and/or 70%+ cacao chocolate and you just might find yourself in a little place I like to call “Heaven.”

Be sure to check out Gal’s (of Whisky Israel) post on this whisky.  It’s a great read and he seemed to like it as well.

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, Lagavulin, Let's celebrate!

Islay distilleries explained thru Rock and Roll comparisons – Part 7 – Lagavulin and my review of their 30yo expression

Islay distilleries and their whiskies explained through Rock and Roll – Part VII (of VIII)

One of life’s true treats – Lagavulin Islay single malt whisky!

Lagavulin was actually my gateway whisky.  G-d bless him, one of my synagogue’s congregants (recently turned rabbi and now leads his own congregation) used to take whisky bottles to services quite a lot – usually for our “Kabbalat Shabbat” Friday evening service for our post-worship “oneg.”

Well, one night he brought a bottle of Lagavulin 16yo and damn, if I didn’t fall in love straight away!  The sweet smoke, the campfire… I loved it and, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am, that set me off on my whisky adventure and I never looked back.

I was going to hold this review as the final Islay/Rock review but decided to do it now because, well, it’s my blog and I decide to make an executive decision.  Also, I reviewed the below whisky nearly a year and a half ago and I should have posted it… a year and a half ago!

We’re nearly there.  Six down and today is the seventh Islay/Rock review and then only one more to go (can you guess which one that is?).  Here’s what’s been reviewed in this series to date:

  1. Part one:Bruichladdich as The Sex Pistols
  2. Part two: Ardbeg as Slayer
  3. Part three: Caol Ila as The 80′s (They get their very own decade!)
  4. Part four:Bowmore as David Bowie
  5. Part five: Kilchoman as the Jackson Five (somewhat fitting, in retrospect, with them both bearing the number five).
  6. Part six: Bunnahabhain as R.E.M.

Today we’re reviewing:

Lagavulin 30yo bottled at 52.6% ABV – You can find a bottle here at The Whisky Exchange for £1295 or here for €499 (now sold out at the €499 price).

On the nose — Well, I smelled the stuff from two feet away (I ordered this whisky at a bar in Seattle – can’t remember the name of the bar, sorry).

Jamming my nose into it further and yup, no doubt about it, it’s Lagavulin!

Floral, smoky and even fruity.

Notes of peach and rhubarb.

Salted caramels and a touch waxy.

Fragrant oils.  The smell of a well used wood panel study.

Rolos – chocolatey.

Less campfire smoke than what I’m used to with the 16yr.

On the Mouth — Hot fire-fueled fruits.

Think golden raisin and apricots.  Golden fruits abound.

Waxiness from the nose translated to the taste however, the mouth feel is not as supple as the standard 16yo expression.

Light & fresh green herbs and lightly honeyed.

The wood is well integrated adding layered notes of vanilla and coconut.

Finish — A wild flower field on fire.  More coconut and lasting vanilla.

In sum — The Balance is superb!  Not what I expected (of course, I was expecting some sherry influence as with the 16yr but then again, I knew *nothing* about this whisky before it was put in front of me).  However, it was just plain lovely.  Well worth the $$ I shelled out for the ample dram.

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Lagavulin – The Band!

Is it any surprise that Lagavulin is the Led Zeppelin of Islay whisky?  The rock band powerhouse is the Islay powerhouse.

Like Led Zeppelin (the “Coda” album and the song “The Bridge” excepted), I can not think of one release that didn’t wow me in some way.

Think of the very successful Distiller’s Edition (some of which are legendary) and their great, 12yo cask strength yearly release.  Again, cracking stuff!  Lagavulin rocks and seems to have hit after hit after hit.

Is it the quality spirit, the cask choices… both?  Who knows.  But, like Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham, when you mix the spirit of Lagavulin and mature it in their chosen casks, it’s pure magic.

Good work, Lagavulin.  Like the unparalleled Led Zeppelin, there is no whisky like you!