Tag Archives: Peppery

A World of Discovery, Amrut

Amrut Fusion

India – 50%ABV – $60 | £34 | €39

A mixture of non-peated Indian barley and peated Scottish barley.  Bottled at 50% ABV, this is some smokin’ hot stuff.

I would have written something super fun and funny as a lead up to my review of this whisky but, Peter from The Casks beat me to it – a must read!

Perhaps what I can offer are some alternate fusions that are just plain silly: Christmukkah, George Lucas and Star Wars Ep 1, 2 & 3, L. Ron Hubbard & religion…

Can you think of anymore silly fusions?  My favorite one will win you a 5cl sample of Eades Islay Double Malt.  Leave your ideas in the comments section of this post.

OK.  Onto a fusion that I think may have actually worked out pretty darned well:

On the nose — Damp leaves of both the autumnal variety and teas (think Sencha green tea or perhaps Gyokuro).

Smouldering logs in the distance.

Also, very barn-yardy to me.

Beyond this we find a mixed fruit tin filled, mostly, with pineapple.

Butterfingers candy bar.

With water: Slight nuttiness and something creamy or, better yet, soft – like sniffing marshmallows with nutmeg on them.

On the mouth — Hotter than I expected!

Yes, it’s at 50% but I’ve had no issues sipping on cask strength whiskies (SMWS expressions come to mind) without this complaint.

Increasingly peppery.

Fruits are back.

With water: Still a bit hot on the edges of the tongue but down the center I get a creaminess.

Oranges & apricot jam (reminiscent of Sauternes wine).

Still very pepper-ladden.

Finish — Long, burnt, peppery, fruit.

Hints of dark chocolates.

In sum — A very nice dram that is well balanced and fairly exciting.  I’d love to taste this as part of a blind tasting.  Complex, no doubt.  I do have to say though, that of the five Amruts I’ve had their standard, unpeated 46% ABV whisky is my fave.

Special thanks goes out to Raj at Purple Valley Imports for the sample (also, thanks to Gal of Whisky Israel who sent me a sample.  Lucky me, I got to review and dissect this whisky as well as just sit back and enjoy a nice dram of it).

A World of Discovery, Autumn, Bowmore, Double Barrel, Highland Park, Need To Bundle Up

Double Barrel vatting of Highland Park & Bowmore

A vatting of Highland Park & Bowmore – 46% ABV – $60 | £34 |€39

Forging forward with reviews of  blended/vatted whiskies.  Today I present a Double Barrel expression by Douglas Laing.  A combination of Highland Park & Bowmore.

Douglas Laing is one of the more prominent independent bottlers who brings us the Old Malt Cask, Premium Barrel & Provenance bottlings.  They also are the masterminds behind Big Peat and, now, these Double Barrel expressions.

Similar to the Eades Double Malt expressions I recently reviewed, the Double Barrel whiskies are vattings (or blends) of two different single malts.  The difference being that these are not further matured in wine casks (like the Eades double malts are).  As far as I can tell, both the Highland Park & Bowmore are ex-bourbon casks with no extra finishing (very light in color!).

On the nose – A tricky nose here.  Bowmore whiskies are known for their soapy noses and I’ve found a few un-sherried Highland Parks to have the same quality.

So, at first sniff, it’s tough to tell which malt is stronger, or, which is which.

Let’s focus on the scents, shall we?

Garlic cloves and lemon zest.

Peachy, fruity handsoap.

Crispy tempura batter.

White pepper and turmeric.

On the mouth – Fresh lake water.

Orange zinger tea bags.

Exceedingly citrusy – vanilla notes are there but the citrus cuts right through.

Astro pop brand lollipops.

Very malty with traces of pears and honey.

Decent mouth feel, not thin, not oily.

Lingering smoke weaved throughout.

Finish – A lasting numbness on the back of the tongue.  Peppery finish.

In sum – A very enjoyable nose here.  Lots for the foodies out there.  While I enjoyed the flavor it seemed a bit off balance and the play by play between the vanilla notes and the citrus notes was uneven.  Overall, I did enjoy this expression and am curious to see what else the good folks at Douglas Laing will come up with next.   Perhaps it’s the mood I’m in now but, I’ like to sip on this again soon (in other words, this is a nice Autumnal whisky)

Special thanks goes out to Aron of the SMWSA for the sample!

Compass Box

Compass Box Asyla

Blended Scotch whisky – 40%ABV – $35 | £24 | €29

Last week (and for a couple of days the week before) I focused on kosher certified whiskies.  This week I will begin a series of blended whiskies.  I will touch on Compass Box whiskies as well as a few Double Barrel expressions.  It’s going to be a week or more of crazy mix’em ups (pun intended) here on the JSMWS whisky blog.

So, Compass Box.  Who are they?  Is this a distillery?  No, Compass Box is not a distillery.  Compass Box is a brand of blended whiskies and is the brain child of John Glaser – master blender extraordinaire.

A couple of months ago The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society hosted a whiskey tasting with Hudson American Whiskeys and something their owner said stuck with me after his seeing a bottle of Peat Monster on the host’s kitchen counter.  He picked up the bottle and said (with me paraphrasing here and him referring to said bottle and the blender of the fluid contained within): “what we at Hudson do is apply skill to making whiskey, what John does is pure art”.  That’s a compliment and a half!

So, let’s see if Ralph is right:

On the nose – A light and bright nose with a fight.

Oh, you’ve got a wee bit of spunk to yeh!

However, with a touch of time to breath you reveal to me hints of fresh butter and white corn.

Unripened fruits (think pear mostly).

A touch of nail polish.

Perhaps plastic shopping bags.

Lemon meringue.

A saltiness that I can’t shake.

On the mouth – Two words: Mouth Feel.

This is some thick, chewy-ass stuff!

Very soft like ‘almost-jello’ soft.

Slightly salty and a bit peppery now.

Hints of light biscuits, honeyed and delicious.

The grain influence is fairly obvious – adding a light, almost bourbony sweetness.

Finish – Nothing to complain about.

Some maltiness and medium-ish in length with a lasting fizziness toward the center back part of the tongue.

In sum – This is something to simply relax or, as my friend Steve of The Whisky Wire would say, Dramlax with.  Very light in style, very approachable and, actually, one to help lure in your non-whisky drinking friends into enjoying one of the finer things in life – whisk(e)y!!

Angry, Bruichladdich

Bruichladdich X4+3

Islay region – 63.5%ABV – 700ml bottle (not available through US stores) – £49 | €58

E=MC2 | a2 + b2 = c2 | ei∏ = -1 | Ax = b <—– what does it all mean?  Perhaps Bruichladdich’s X4+3 can help us solve problems such as these (or at least get us tipsy enough so as we just don’t give a rat tuckas about it…).

The Bruichladdich X4+3 is a damn interesting… whisky?  Hmmm, let’s see.

Ok, before I begin, please know that I am not one for the technicalities.  Actually, scratch that.  I LOVE geeking out on all of the technical ins-and-outs of…pretty much anything, but, ESPECIALLY whisky (oh yeah, and guitar effects pedals).  I just don’t like writing on these subjects.  Too many damn words.  I will, however, try to summarize some techy stuff for you and hope that I get it all right[ish].

Most whiskies (be they Scotch, American, Japanese, Welsh, Swedish, etc, etc…) are distilled twice, two and a half times or three times.  That’s just how it is folks.  Almost all Scotch whisky is distilled twice (The Campbeltown whisky “Springbank” is distilled 2.5 times and Hazelburn distills 3 times).  The Irish, for the most part distill 3 times and it’s a bit of a mixture here in the US.

The good folks over at Bruichladdich thought that they’d go and one-up everyone by quadruple distilling their spirit (unpeated spirit) then age it for 3 years in both ex-bourbon and French oak barrels.

So, 4x distilled, aged three years (X4+3… get it?  Good.).

On top of this, the spirit that goes into the barrels is corked at 90%ABV (feck!).  The average is in the 60’s (63.5 – 67% – average.  Though, some may say otherwise).

Is this the best example of “mine is bigger than yours” or what?

Truth be told, this process is nothing new and the Bruich’laddies are not trying to one-up anybody.  This process of quadruple distilling goes back hundreds of years but has not been mimicked until present date.  The earliest mention of it was back in 1695 by Martin Martin.  He explained the drinking of this type of spirit as such: “…The first taste affect all the members of the body.  Two spoonfuls of this last liquor is a sufficient dose; and if ANY man should exceed this, it would presently stop his breath and endanger his life.”

G-d, I’m getting thirsty!

So, is this or is this not whisky?  Re-cap: traditional whisky is 2-3 times distilled, poured into barrels at 63.5% ABV.  The X4+3 is quadruple distilled and poured into barrels at 90%ABV…

Eh, screw it.  Let’s just taste this stuff.

On the nose – Powerfully strong and filled with limes, grapefruit, strawberries and rocket fuel.

I’m actually getting some grape lollypops and cranberry juice here.

Not as chemically as I expected but powerfully spirited!  Candied fruits.

With water — Peppery (think scotch bonnet – sweet and feckin’ hot as $hit), gooseberries, toy model glue.

On the mouth – Bent plastic superheroes, He-man toys and Transformers (More Than Meets The Eye™).

**Loads** of poached pears with touch of cinnamon.

With water — All of the focus is on those poached pears.  Straight forward but now getting duo-dimensional as some malty notes reared their head(s).

I liked it more without water when I got those plasticy notes along-side the pear notes.

Great mouth feel with water.

Finish – The first three layers of skin in my mouth have been removed but, I’m cool with that.

In sum – This is one to bring out to parties to say, “Hey guys/gals… check this out!”.  It’s beats huffing glue, that’s for sure!

All joking aside, I would never reach for this.  However, the X4+3 is a damn interesting dram and one that may work quite well with the mixologists out there (what, with all the fruits and high alcohol content).  Also, kudos to Bruichladdich for doing something that has not been done for centuries, bottling it and marketing it.  That’s brass balls baby!

A World of Discovery, Autumn, Highland Park, Springtime

MacKillop’s Choice Highland Park Single Cask 1981/2006 – Independent bottling

Islands – 56.3%ABV – 700ml bottle – Price ?? I could not find this bottle available at any of the shops I frequent – Thanks to “O.K.” for the sample! (Note: the picture shown is for the 1985 version, not the 1981 as I had tasted)

This will be sort of a shorter review today.  Or at least, the lead up to the actual tasting.  Truth be told, this one took a lot out of me.  The whisky (specifically, the nose) was quite demanding and I’m not sure I was up to the challenge.  Yes, I think I gave it a fair shake (or maybe I gave myself the shake) but it took a while for all to be revealed.

They say good things come to those who wait.  Maybe I was too impatient.  You can decide for yourself…

On the nose — Man, this whisky needs some time to open up.  A few minutes and some nice cherry notes are revealed along with an overall saltiness to it – quite oceanic but at high tide, not a fishy low tide type ocean scent to it.

The nose is brisk and has just a mere hint of smoke (think pipe tobbaco – fragrant).  A few extra minutes and the nose opens more giving me some nice orange notes (Mineola to be exact, very tart).  With a few drops of water some buttery notes come out and it get ever so floral.  I love this nose but I had to dig and wait quite a bit for the scents to show themselves.

On the mouth — Hold on here, this is quite a departure from the nose.  The flavors are not subtle here, you don’t have to work quite as hard – fresh grassy notes and bitter fruits, a good amount of pepper (think cayenne with out the burn).

I think I need to add some water here (it did wonders for the nose) — the mouth feel gets chewy and some white pepper comes out as does something quite sweet thought I can’t put my finger on it.

Finish — A long finish.  The orangey notes remain as does the pepper.

In sum — Part of me felt like a paranormal investigator here.  I knew I had a “spirit” nearby but the nose made me want to scream “Show Yourself!!”  Thank G-d for the palate and finish though, it really came through.  In the end, a nice single cask whisky but I’m not sure it was worth all the trouble.