Tag Archives: Vanilla

Armagnacs, Kosher spirits

Passover booze 2011 – Chateau du Tariquet Bas Armagnac – “Classique” 40%ABV

France – 40%ABV – $35 | £22 | €25

WARNING & DISCLAIMER – For those who keep, this armagnac is not certified as “Kosher” or “Kosher for Passover” (I am no rabbi but I think, being that this is nothing more than distilled wine matured in European oak casks, that this may be “Kosher by Nature”, not to be confused with “Naughty by Nature“)

It’s that Passover time of year where I (and millions of Jews around the world) abstain from any food or drink that is grain-based.  That means, you guessed it: No whisky (in any form be it Scotch, Japanese, Irish, Bourbon, Rye, corn… nothing!).

So, what are my options?

Wine? Yes.  Tequila? Yes!  Calvados? Yes.  Beer? No.  Rum/Rhum?  I think so…  Cognac? Yes!!  Armagnac? YES!!!

My first choice for Armagnac this Passover is Chateau du Tariquet “Classique” which is an Armagnac aged at least three years but is also a blend of different vintages and made up of two grape varietals: Baco 40% Ugni-blanc 60%.  For more information on what Armagnac is, check out this wiki-page.

On the nose — Vanilla and honey right up front like they’re the teacher’s pet.  Simmer down guys, I’m a student here too…

Spicy here too and, get this, corn tortilla (let’s hope they didn’t slip any corn in the one or I’d have done messed up Passover right here and now).

White chocolate and crushed dried fruits (dates & raisins).

It actually noses like a lightly sherried whisky…

On the mouth — Oh, good G-d!  Delicious!  Truth be told, I don’t know what to expect from an armagnac so what I’m tasting may not what people look for in one.  But I’ll tell you this, what I look for in Scotch whisky is what Im tasting here and now: Warm and slightly toasted flavors of  vanilla and honeyed almonds.

A thread of smokiness, wood and a fruity compote.

The mouthfeel is not too thick, not too thin.

Finish — Dessert-like, scrumptious (think french vanilla bean ice cream and caramel topping).

In sum — I could easily sip on this in place of your every day whisky.  Very easy going, full-flavored, sweet and perfect for an after dinner treat.

To all of those who celebrate and observe Passover, Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday)!

A World of Discovery, Port Ellen, Summertime

Signatory Port Ellen 1982, Bourbon Cask #1202, 26 years old

Islay region – 54.1% – $339 | £? | €?

An out of the blue voicemal:

Marshall (this voicemail is completely paraphrased): “Hey Joshua, Marshall here, just checking to see if you might want a sample pour of some Port Ellen the LASC just got”

I was busy setting up a tradeshow booth so I sent a text:

Joshua: “As ‘The Dude’ would say: Does the Pope shit in the woods? Hell yes!”

The back and forth goes on from there but there are too many expletives and references to “Jewish English” that would make my reproducing of the entire transcript too risque for the JSMWS blog.  No shit.

Special thanks to Marshall and the LASC for the “bad-a$$ F&#$ing great pour” sent to me!

On the nose — Lemon soap suds & sweaty canvas sneakers.

Bright smoke.  Burning, salty driftwood.

Chamomile tea and a bushel of hay on a very, very humid summer’s day.

After a while the bourbon influence is very noticeable with scents of cinnamon and vanilla even fresh corn.

After this, it gets a bit dank and dewy.

On the mouth — The ABV is barely… wait a sec.  Wow, this is really…really heating up on me.

Oh crap!  This goes from oily, soft and sweet then onto being thin, hot and fiery in a matter of 6-7 seconds…

Let’s have another go at this:  Grassy, earthy, flinty, almost electric.

It starts off with freshly bitten plum then moves into pink lemonade.

This is evolving with every single sip.

Soapy, like on the nose and growing into sugary tart Sweetarts.

Honeyed teas and salted, baked lemons.

Finish — Lasting and evolving, hot, spicy and lemony sweet.

In sum — Nicely balanced.  I really dug the way the flavors exploded and evolved with every second.  A late summer’s night dram if you have a shit ton of cash to spare!  Very enjoyable.  For the $$ tag on this one, I can spend less on another whisky that can also be enjoyed on a late summer’s night.

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

Bruichladdich Black Art 2 – Whisky Reincarnate!

Islay region – 49.7%ABV – $170 | £84 | €97

Truth be told, one of my favorite posts here on the JSMWS blog was for the 1st Edition of the Bruichladdich Black Art.  I was able to touch on some of the things that helped shape me as a kid: Black Sabbath, The Ramones, Lord of the Rings & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Hold please, need to push my horn rimmed glasses up the bridge of my nose…

OK, I’m back.

While I’m not sure I can top that previous post, maybe I can tell you what’s shaping me as an adult:  First & foremost, my kids.  It’s bloody f%$&ing amazing to be a dad to two wonderful little girls.  It beats any adventure I had slaying dragons (oops, see image above).  My girls are both life changing and affirming.  Also, I’ve got a great wife/life partner who I can share this adventure with.  She’s like me only smart and funny…  and has boobies.

Music helps shape me to.  You may or may not know that I am a musician in a band called Kimono Draggin’ – here’s one of our videos – here’s some of our music.

The music I play really has nothing to do with the music I listen to (for the most part).

The people & bands that top my list are: Bonnie ‘prince’ billy, Joanna Newsom, Dr. Dog, The Sparks, David Bowie, Jobriath, Neil Diamond, Slayer (and many other metal bands), Gentle Giant, Yes, John Fahey, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop.

Any recording with Jascha Heifetz!

And the list can go on and on…

Lastly, whisky has shaped me and continues to shape me.  If it weren’t for whisky I would not have met some many amazing people & new friends.  I’d not have this great society which is growing in ways I never imagined (most of which I can’t even talk about right now!).  It also helped me to change the way I approach the world.  I stop to smell the roses a bit more (hey, they could be a tasting note after all).  The subtleties of whisky have helped me to better appreciate the little things in life that often get missed.  It might sound stupid but, it’s true.  There are food & wine aficionados that will say the same thing.  The only difference here is that this is booze and not wine & food.

So, to broaden my horizons more, Bruichladdich has released a new whisky in their Black Art series: Black Art 2.  Thank you Bruichladdich!

On the nose — Crushed cherries and toasty coconut shreds.

I’m not sure of the make up in this whisky as it’s a closely guarded secret but there’s a sense of “new wood” here; like a freshly charred barrel which is offering up some of that coconut I got plus some vanilla and fried walnuts.

A spiciness which can be confused as effervescence (or perhaps vice versa…).

Pear drops, a touch of hay and an absolute thread of smoke…

Cranberries and fried banana.

With water: the focus is more on the banana but now with added custard notes.

On the mouth — Spicy, tannic and winey – think red raspberry, blackberry, fresh soil, black pepper, black cherry and cranberry (basically everything deeply red, dry and sweet).

Black cherry skins.  With water, like the first Black Art, all of the red fruits just got incredibly juicy.

Softer, less spicy but also slightly artificial.

An added note of watermelon – fantastic!

Finish — It’s all on slightly salted watermelon and spice.  Long, dry and fruity.

In sum — Surely this whisky is of the same “spirit” and genre of the Black Art version # 1.  Strong character, truly unique and inspiring.  It’s a whole new game that Bruichladdich and Jim McEwan have created here and I doubt anyone would be able to follow suit.  Kudos x 2 Mr. McEwan!  This is one to discuss amongst friends – a great way to start an intriguing conversation.

As an aside, I think I liked the 1st edition of Bruichladdich Black Art just a touch more than this.  Like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I will always love the Gene Wilder version more than the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version more.  PS.  That’s me with a full beard (and at least as full as this Jew will ever have) and Mr. Willy Wonka himself!

All You Need Is Love, Angry, Ardbeg

Ardbeg Supernova, 2010 Edition “SN2010”

Islay region – 60.1%ABV – $130 | £80 | €92

A couple of nights ago I mentioned to the folks in a post on the Friends of the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page that I finally got around to reviewing the Ardbeg Supernova SN2010.

What seemed like it could have popped up 2.3 seconds before I posted my announcement, my friend Jason from the Guid Scotch Drink blog commented saying “‘Bout bloody time. 2011 will be along here shortly!”

Point taken.  Yeah, I’m a bit late on this but there are reasons for that.   To be very honest with you, it’s taken me many, many tastings to actually appreciate this stuff.  I’m not sure if I had a series of “off nights” where my nose was not working correctly or perhaps I was not in the right mood… Not sure.  I can tell you this is intense whisky – and deserves 100% of your attention.

On the nose — Knock your socks off peat smoke, iodine and grapefruit or pomelo.

Lemon custard and buttery pie crust.

I am reminded of the show Alice with the head “chef” Mel cooking bacon while, and perhaps this is just a false memory, smoking a cigarette – match those two scents and that’s what I’m getting here.

Also salted pork and nori wraps.

On the mouth — Soft and oily mouth feel with a strong bite of alcohol.

We’ll keep this to tiny sips… A bit tough to get past the heat, peat and lemons (strong with the lemons) but, it is a bit spellbinding.

Some red berries are in there as well.

Dry, dry cardboard and sugared rhubarb.

More on the lemons and a bit on the grapefruits – marmalades and candies rinds.  Yum!!

Wet ropes, fishing rubbers and salted caramels.

Lively yet not “young” – this seems to be bottled at maturity.

Vanilla now and a good deal of it.

Finish — Long, hot and filled with a new note of plums (think slivovitz).

In sum — The good news is: I loved this whisky.  Bright and energizing and balanced wonderfully between the fruits, drying qualities, salt and smoke.

The bad news is, as mentioned above: it’s taken me 66% of my bottle to come to this conclusion.  Is it me or the whisky… tough to tell.  It’s highly upfront and potent.

Overall, insanely enjoyable but it was hard to break through and unravel all of its many joys…  One to drink when you’re pissed off!  Its a mood changer for sure!

Let’s pray Jason is right – let’s hope there is a 2011 version of this whisky.

One of my favorite reviews of this whisky was given by Sarah Bergfeld (long time guest contributor to Guid Scotch Drink) – her review of the Supernova SN2010 (plus other Ardbegs) can be read here.

A World of Discovery, Kavalan, Takin' It Easy

Kavalan Solist “Vinho” Taiwanese whisky

Taiwan – 58.8%ABV – 200ml (special thanks to Ian Chang for the generous sample!)

The Kavalan range of whiskies, by the King Car Whisky Distillery out of Taiwan, are being churned out in short order but are not being done so in a way that would compromise quality.  I’ve been pretty impressed with most of their whiskies that I’ve tried so far.

I asked Ian Chang of King Car what the make up of the “Vinho” Solist was and I was surprised and impressed by the depth of Ian’s response:

“Indeed, the Vinho is part of our Solist series, which is a cask strength, single cask single malt whisky of course. The most special thing about it is that Vinho is fully matured in used American oak wine barrels that have been toasted and recharred in a way that brings out fruity vanilla notes from the whisky and wood overlaid on a delicate background of complex fruitiness.

The oak casks are made from American oak that has been seasoned in the open air for at least 24 months. The oak is slow grown that results in a greater release of flavours into the whisky. This reduces the astringent effect of tannins and releases more vanilla spiciness and hints of herbs such as dill and lemon grass. The result is softness and added complexity.

The casks have (deliberately) been used to mature both red and white wines which eventually will contribute the background complex fruitiness to Kavalan / Solist Vinhos.

After their use for wine maturation the casks are carefully shaved inside then gently toasted over an oak chip fire for a strictly controlled period of time and temperature. This converts wine residues into a complex mixture of fruit flavours including lime, berry fruits and peaches. Then the casks are charred for a short period of time to release lashings of flavours such as vanilla, ice cream and caramelised sugars.

The result is a more complex whisky than is possible than with whisky casks alone!”

The process sounds very interesting.  Let’s see what it does to the taste…

On the nose — Incredibly bourbony; that is to say, strong and sweet notes of vanilla and spice – this does not “taste” like bourbon.

The color, which is like a deep brown mixed with blood red, suggests heavily charred casks and some of the wine influence Ian mentioned.

Musty and heavy with cinnamon and burnt sugar.

Notes of papaya and paper bags.

Blackberries and fresh starfruit.

…an interesting interplay of scents.

Watered down tomato based alphabet soup.

On the mouth — Drying and a bit meaty.

For 58.8% ABV, it’s not as hot as I had expected.

Notes of a nice Malbec wine, soft and slightly tannic.

Dark berries and red-wine-soaked raisins.

Left-over fried grizzle and super-sour green apples.

Slightly nutty and again, drying; like the way walnuts can dry your mouth.

Finish — Long finish that’s increasingly peppered and a bit caramely….

In sum — This is perhaps my favorite Kavalan yet. Very complex and nicely balanced. Sometimes wine finishes can be too complex and lacking balance… not the case with this one.

Perfect for after dinner kibitzing with friends.