Tag Archives: Spicy

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Laphroaig, Springtime

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!

A World of Discovery, Nikka, Refreshed, Springtime, Summertime

Nikka Yoichi 12yr Japanese Whisky – Holy Complexity Batman!

Japan – 45%ABV – 700ml –  £72

So, in case you haven’t guessed it already, I am not a whisky blogger/reviewer for a living.  I have passions and this is one of them.  I am also a musician; I play bass guitar in a rock band called Kimono Draggin’.

In real life, I am a traveling salesman.  Most of my time away from home (Connecticut) is spent in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, etc…  Occasionally, however, I do get to go to some really cool and different places (not knocking Chicago, New York or Milwaukeee, I love those towns) such as Montreal.

I was in Montreal this past Sunday & Monday.  What a cool and vibrant city!  First off, everyone in Montreal is a model.  I don’t know how they do it but every one is hot out there.  Very cool.  My extra 15 pounds made me feel like the fattest American in the world.  Additionally, while I was out there I ran into Kirsten Dunst on her way into a vegan restaurant, which was uber-cool.

I ran in to Kirsten (though, admittedly, she didn’t give me this fancy look.  I think she may have been scared that I was paparazzi or something…) on my way to The Whisky Cafe which boasts 150+ malts in stock.  They also have a cigar bar.  I had to go; come on, right!!!  While I was there I got the chance to try a whisky not available in the US: Nikka Yoichi 12yr (actually, Nikka, regardless of age or expression, is not available in the US; a total bust if you ask me)

So here’s my thoughts on this Japanese whisky:

Initial whiffs — Really fruity!! Strawberries, lots of them, pepper, vanilla (it almost noses like the Glenfarclas 15yr, perhaps it’s the spicy pepperiness of it all).  With a dash of water caramel comes through, big time, chocolate & old wooden furniture.

On the mouth – Very thin palate, more like Grappa, effervescent (little bubbles and fast ones at that), plastic shopping bags and white grape soda (if there were a thang).  Again, with a dash of water, it get quite earthy, almost a damp earth quality to it and less thin

Finish – Tannic, very drying, the effervescence remains but with that water, the creaminess carries through.

In sum — There is a lot here – a whole hell of a lot here and each level of tasting had something new to offer.  You could drink this and not think about it but if you set out to taste it rather than drink it well… you’re in for one hell of a fun ride.  Well done Nikka!!

Autumn, Cold Winter, Glenfarclas, Need To Bundle Up, Takin' It Easy

Glenfarclas 15yr – Spicy, fruity…damn good dram!

Highlands – 46%ABV – 70cl – Not available through US stores – Master of Malt has it for £36 | €42

One thing that really bugs me is UK only or, better yet, non-USA bottlings of whisky.  My anger is not directed toward the UK in anyway, it’s directed at US law.  Specifically when it comes to the US *NOT* accepting foreign bottles which are 700ml (or, 70cl). They have to be 750ml.  Why?  It seriously does not make sense to me.  If you can clue me in, please, do!  Email me – I have to know what the dumb-arse reason is.

People in the US are missing out on so many good whiskies (or paying too much in shipping from the UK/EU to get them) due to US law regarding 70cl bottles.  One of the many drams us yanks are missing out on is the Glenfarclas 15yr.

The Glenfarclas 15yr is one of the better sherry finished drams out there – it benefits from all of the good things about sherry (rich fruits & spice) without being too winey, though, there is wine there for sure.  Many folks in the UK/EU refer to this as the ultimate Christmas Cake dram.  Jason over at WHISKYhost gives an excellent description of what Christmas Cake is actually like (if you’re a Jew like me, who has never had Xmas cake, you’ll benefit from this post).

Initial whiff – Wine soaked raisins, cinnamon (lots of it, almost like the smell of Big Red Chewing Gum), white pepper, extremely fragrant & masculine (in a very feminine, perfumey kind of way…)

On the mouth – Rich & decadent, oily, coating & spicy, very spicy.  Chewy, like chewing on taffy, malty sweet

Finish – Like the energizer bunny, it keeps going! A bit tannic, wine from the nose returns, the sides of my tongue have been tingling for some time now.

In sum – This is the first and ONLY Glenfarclas I’ve had.  Here in the US we have the 12yr, 17yr, 21yr and (I think) the 25yr.  And there are, of course, many others in the ‘farclas line but of all the Glenfarlas’ out there, this is the one I’ve read about the most so I went for the dram toughest to get in the US and I did not regret it one bit!  I prefer to enjoy this on a colder night.  Perfect for Christmas or, maybe good for the eighth night of Chanukah 😉  Nice cold weather stuff.

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Need To Bundle Up, Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, Takin' It Easy

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey Batch 29

Denver, Colorado, USA– 47%ABV – 750ml bottle – $45 | £64 | €78

I first had the pleasure of tasting Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey at WhiskyFest in NYC.  To see my review of that event, please pop over to Whisky Israel (then pop back here to read this grand review!).

At WhiskyFest last year I was hopping around from table to table; so little to do, so much time… scratch that, reverse it.  Carrying on — I had a boatload of tables to visit during the event!  I’ll be quite honest in stating that, while I had interest in visiting the Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey booth, if I missed them, I missed them.  This was not because I didn’t have the interest, I was simply more focused on Scotch whisky rather than American whiskey.

So there we were, going from this table to that, from that aisle to this aisle… our heads were spinning – it was quite an experience!  We were on our way to the Old Pultney/Balblair booth when my buddy Jeff stopped me and said “Josh, you’ve got to try this $hit!!”.  I saw that he was at the Stranahan’s booth and I said to myself that I could at least scratch these guys off my list (and then get to Balblair already!!).

The nice man at the booth poured me a wee bit and I sniffed… Wow… This is not like any other American Whiskey I’ve ever nosed before!  I continued with the next step (umm, the tasting of course) and wham-o!! My friend Jeff said exactly what I was thinking: “Dude, it’s like liquid banana chips!”  And it was.  Absolutely delicious, these guys nailed it and made something so very unique from all the other American whiskies I’ve every had.

This being said, by hook or by crook, I had to get a bottle.  And that I did.

Now, before I go on I will tell you that I do not know what batch number(s) were being served at WhiskyFest NYC but I can tell you that what I bought was very different from what I had at the fest.  Not in a bad way — at all (though I do wish I could find the banana chip batch.  I’ve got an email into them already so once I find out, you will find out).

Initial whiff – Berries, off the bat.  Some cinnamon, a little banana peel, spices (for my Jews out there, reminded me of Havdalah spices).

On the mouth – Quite spicy but wildly smooth.  Mouth coating, banana (whole banana, not chips), vanilla, lots of vanilla and a little oak which surprised me as this stuff only stayed in barrels for two years.

Finish – Here’s where it gets really interesting and a bit… “R” rated (but hey, we’re all over 21, right??). Directly after the swallow, the most interesting taste came up on the back sides of my tongue.  I asked the drummer of my band to corroborate… we both got the amazingly strange taste of Marijuana in our mouths!  As if we were with Bill Clinton, not inhaling, and taking a hit off of a pipe (or “bowl”, to use the parlance of our times…).  So odd!  It brought me back to the good ‘ol days…  The finish made my mouth felt like it was at a Whitesnake concert circa 1988

In sum – This is quite amazing stuff and I liked the fact that my batch was so very different than the batch at WhiskyFest.  It’s like trying single cask scotch whisky, every cask tastes very different.  That being said, for this batch, I think I would suggest to drink it in a relaxing type mood or when cuddling up with a book, a wife, a husband, etc…  Enjoy this year round but try it in the late fall time when the leaves are changing (if that happens in your neck of the woods).  L’chayim/Slainte/Cheers!

All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Balvenie, Cold Winter, Takin' It Easy

Balvenie 17yr Madeira Cask – Like a sexy cougar, you come to me

Speyside – 43%ABV – 750ml – $95 – $140 (another HUGE spread!) | £64 | €75

I have been a huge fan of madeiras for some time. Madeira, ports, nice hearty dessert wine…

I loves me a port finished dram but never had a madeira one.

Initial whiff — Spiced dried fruit (imagine a fruity pot pourri), big grapes (not like sherry.  Sorry sherry heads, this is MUCH better than a sherry bomb (I.E. A’bunadh) for me), honeyed oakiness and a side of Kim Chee. Yes, there’s a slight sour & spicy cabbage smell here that I get upon the 3rd whiff. Somehow, it works and it’s nice.

On the mouth — The nose tells you what you’re going to get. I like that. The spice is pronounced here. Grapey but not overly so. It’s chewy too, almost like a spiced gum drop (an orange one, much like the High West Rendezvous Rye I tasted the other day – there’s a little citrus here).

Finish — Honeyed oak with a long spicey vanilla type deliciousness.

In sum — One thing I’d say is, as nice as this drop is, it would benefit from from a higher abv, perhaps 46%? Just to add to the spice,  maybe add a bit more bite…  I liken this dram to a sexy 40 something cougar. Voluptuous, sensual, spicey. This dram knows what it wants and it wants you to drink it. Seductive. Dare I say, even more so than the 21yr portwood. This dram is a hot MILF (Did I just say that?! Yes, yes I did).