Wednesday Tastings!

[tanstaafl2]

I got an email from a local offering the 10yr redemption BP at $150, and at first I thought they were gouging, but turns out that's the going rate. I passed.

Yes, starting to think Redemption belongs in the Willet XCF exclusionary zone! Not only not interested in the 10yo BP but it makes me less interested in Redemption in general. Not that I really ever was except for the 6yo BP (which I recall thinking also seemed absurdly high at around $60 when it first came out but now sadly seems to be getting to be the norm).

[tanstaafl2]

Couldn't let this week go by without a belated salute to St. Patrick's Day! So we repeated the blind side by side from the GBS Irish Whiskey night. Unfortunately we didn't have any delicious corned beef sliders to kick off the afternoon.

So first up was the three Tyrconnell single malts with different finishes, sherry, port and madeira.

Although this was blind I had the advantage of having just tried them. The sherry again had the most powerful nose but the favorite of the three was a bit of a toss up between the port and the madeira. The madeira won again for me with its nice but subtle sweetness on the palate and a much longer, drier, nutty finish as compared to the port. The port had more fruit but the finish just didn't hold up as well.

Next we slipped across the Irish Sea and over to Scotland for three different Mortlach offerings. The newly acquired Mortlach 86 proof 16yo "Flora & Fauna" bottling, a rare original distillery bottling of Mortlach before it got turned into a "superlux" bottling, was paired up with a Gordon & MacPhail 15yo at 86 proof and a single cask of 18yo from the Exclusive Casks line at barrel proof (108.6). The F&F was the darkest by far and it seemed likely that some coloring was involved (It is Diageo after all). This was not blind but it was immediately apparent that the cask strength offering was the superior whiskey which was not that big a surprise. A nice sweet but not overly strong sherry influence overlying a lovely mature tasting malt. The G&M was not far behind but a bit thin in comparison. Sadly it was the 16yo F&F that really failed to impress. Dull and tired tasting with none of the fullness and flavor of the other two. As the only newly opened bottle of the three I can only hope this bottle needs a little time to blossom but it was disappointing to be sure.

We then moved on to a few beers to include the new Sweetwater 18th Anniversary Belgian Tripel style (10%ABV). Adequate but nothing to really recommend it and a far cry from Karmaliet tripel or a trappist tripel like Westmalle or Chimay and just about as pricey. Next up was a side by side of the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine and the new barrel aged Bigfoot barleywine (12.2%). The barrel aged version was perhaps a slight improvement with some wood notes and a bit more caramel but not a big difference. Perhaps a little time will help this one improve. Finally we finished with an Innis & Gunn stout aged in Irish whiskey casks versus the stout aged with bourbon barrel "chips" (Seems like a lot of the I&G beers are going to chips as barrels get more expensive and hard to find). I preferred the Irish Whiskey cask version which seems a bit sweeter and yet more robust than the bourbon chip version. Both were at 7.4%ABV.

About that time the reps from Macallan and Highland Park wondered in and we had to force ourselves to drink a bit more whisky. But they didn't really have anything new or exciting (Mac 12, HP 12 and Dark Origin) which was a bit disappointing. Still, we were polite and drank their whisky!

All in all, another fine Wednesday afternoon!

[tanstaafl2]

Pictures are loading again!

Finally had a chance to delve into sake a bit as I have always been curious. We had a sake master from one of the distributors come out to our little Wednesday afternoon tasting group and went through a few. Mostly from Kikusui as the local sales manager from Kikusui also came along.

Very interesting but may have been a touch of sensory overload. My favorites were probably the three Nama or unpasteurized sakes.

A bit higher proof at 19% ABV (("cask strength") and had some real character to each. The gold can is the basic Honjozo version that is sealed as soon as it is filtered while the red can is "aged" in the cans for a year before being shipped apparently making it a bit unusual when most sakes or supposed to be drunk relatively fresh. An interesting fruit like flavor develops. Lychee perhaps? The green was a seasonal product made from the first rice of the harvest as I understand it. It is still has a bit of effervescent quality or tingle to the taste, especially in the finish.

Also tried the Perfect Snow (blue bottle next to the cans) that is an unfiltered “cloudy” sake. It is certainly on the sweet side and a bit gritty and milky. Somewhat dessert like I suppose but clearly seemed geared to the western palate as our sake master said these were not a big seller in Japan. I will take him at his word.

Others included the Organic Junmai Ginjo in the black bottle which is "organic" (by US standards anyway) sake made with a California grown sake rice that is shipped to Japan to be brewed and then back to the US for sale. A bit drier with an interesting and distinctive vegetal nose and flavor which I rather enjoyed.

The small blue bottle was the regular Junmai Ginjo which was described as a sake intended for consuming with food where you might normally have white wine. This one had the most subtle (read bland for me) taste but I can see where it would not compete with food flavors.

Next in the small pink bottle and the small blue bottle were two the sake master brought. The pink had the lowest ABV and was intended as an introductory sake. The blue bottle was the sake masters own "barrel pick" with his name on the label and a painting done by his mother! It was quite flavorful with a lot of umami as best as I understand that flavor.

Next was a Kikusui Junmai Ginjo Hiyaoroshi that is made with rice harvested on the coldest winter days and then left to age until the following fall in stainless steel tanks. I didn't get much out of this one myself.

Finally we finished with the Sakamai (a rare type of sake rice apparently) Junmai Daiginjo that is polished down to 40%. An interesting nose that seemed most like an Argentinian Torrontes light white wine. Quite striking! The palate didn't really match the nose but it was a nice light fruity flavor.

A lot to take in but fun as well.

Of course we couldn't limit ourselves to just sake so we finished with a comparison of Lillet to the Lillet Special Reserve (as it happened the Kikusui sales manager suggested cocktails with sake like the Vesper and the Corpse Reviver 2 where the sake replaced the Lillet. May have to give that a try.). The Lillet Reserve is Sauternes based and quite lovely on its own.

I finally got a bottle of Blume Marillen, an apricot based Eau de Vie for cocktail mixing, and we decided to break that open as well before resetting the palate back to normal with a bit of bourbon. The recent Abraham Bowman Vanilla Bean finished bourbon finally arrived and we compared it to a particularly nice single barrel of Bowman selected by the Party Source (#45). Both were nice but not sure I could really appreciate what the vanilla bean finish brought to the party.

The random bottle of sake between the Lillet and the Blume was just something I brought in for the sake master to see.

[tanstaafl2]

This past Wednesday we continued with a tasting of something a bit different. This time it was a variety of ports (and a couple of port finished whiskies just for the heck of it).

The real treat here was a 1963 Colheita port from Burmester. We think it was aged for 20 years (Colheita usually requires a minimum of around 7 years but are often aged longer) before being bottled and then opened over 30 years after that. The long ageing makes it more like an aged Tawny port than a typical vintage port that usually only spends a couple of years in a barrel.

Dense syrupy mouthfeel with delightful vanilla, caramel flavors with a nutty undertone and dried red fruit flavors. This was an excellent bottle and a real pleasure to get to drink. Everything after this was a distant second. The 1997 Kopke Colheita, aged 15 years, was far less mature tasting for obvious reasons but certainly enjoyable in its own way.

We really struggled with the corks on Vintage ports from around 2000 (we tried to open several different brands) and it made us wonder if it was a cork issue from around that time.

The Jaden, a California made port style wine, did have a remarkably distinctive and pleasant nose and palate of strawberry jam.

The others had varying amounts of fruit flavor (I took no notes and my memory of the others is already getting a bit hazy) but it was hard to stop thinking about (and drinking !) that '63.

Just for the heck of it I also brought along a bottle of Brandymel, a honey based liqueur that uses a local white brandy made in Portugal from the fruit of the "Strawberry tree" (A local tree with an odd looking red fruit that to the locals apparently kinda sorta resembles a strawberry.

[tanstaafl2]

No tasting this week as I "recover" from the Sampler and the store barrel pick at Four Roses this Monday. But I never reported on last week so hopefully it is never too late!

Last week it was Bourbon, Rye and Scotch on the menu.

But the Bourbon and Rye came in the form of a SBS tasting of "old" and "new" Bourye. As a quick review the old Bourye mashbill to the best of my memory was reported on the HW website in the past to be:

10-year bourbon from Four Roses with an "E" mashbill that was 75% corn, 20% rye, and 5% malted barley. I am not sure of the yeast(s).

The 12-year rye was from (then) LDI and was the standard 95% rye, 5% malted barley.

The 16-year rye was from Barton Distillery and was 53% rye, 37% corn, and 10% malt.

The "new" Bourye is under "technical details" listed as a blend of a 4 different whiskeys:

9-year-old straight bourbon mash bill: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt Source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana (Presumably somewhat similar to the previous Four Roses bourbon)

10-year-old straight rye whiskey 95% rye, 5% barley malt Source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana

16-year-old straight rye whiskey 95% rye, 5% barley malt Source: MGP/LDI/Seagrams Indiana

16-year-old straight rye whiskey mash bill: 80% rye, 10% corn, 10% malt Source: Barton Distillery, Bardstown KY

These were tasted blind by our little afternoon tasting group of four. Both bottles were newly opened that afternoon. The previous Bourye was one I remember liking quite well and I fully expected to like it better again. However the opposite proved to be true as 4 of 4 chose the new Bourye as their favorite. The old mashbill had a somewhat acetone like note in the finish that really set it apart. I can only wonder if time in the bottle contributed to the taste. I have not tried the comparison again but both bottles made it to the Gazebo table this past weekend and at least a few people I saw trying them both did prefer the old Bourye to the new. I will simply have to try them again!

Next up was a a 4 way blind tasting of the Longrow Red series, Springbank's peated whisky at 11 years old and cask strength, finished in different wine barrels, plus a 14 yo cask strength Longrow finished in Burgundy.

Generally speaking the Shiraz (53.7ABV and finished 5 years) and Port (51.8ABV and a full 11 years in port) were the favorites followed closely by the Burgundy (56.1ABV and 14yo finished for 3 years). The Cabernet (52.1ABV and finished 4 years) tended to be a bit hot and was the least preferred although all were thought to be pretty darn good! Given the full 11 year port cask aging I had kind of expected that one to be the most dominated by the barrel but that didn't seem to be the case despite the label claiming that all finishing casks were "fresh".

Hopefully back at it for the next week or two before another hiatus for a couple of weeks at the end of May.

[AaronWF]

Generally speaking the Shiraz (53.7ABV and finished 5 years) and Port (51.8ABV and a full 11 years in port) were the favorites followed closely by the Burgundy (56.1ABV and 14yo finished for 3 years). The Cabernet (52.1ABV and finished 4 years) tended to be a bit hot and was the least preferred although all were thought to be pretty darn good! Given the full 11 year port cask aging I had kind of expected that one to be the most dominated by the barrel but that didn't seem to be the case despite the label claiming that all finishing casks were "fresh".

Hopefully back at it for the next week or two before another hiatus for a couple of weeks at the end of May.

In Ralfy's review of the Port-aged Red, he comments on the process Springbank uses to prepare their fresh casks:

At the 5 minute mark and then the 6:40 mark he mentions rinsing and other modes of preparation. When I first opened my bottle, it came off as quite sweet and I was missing the darker, more steeped fruit notes I have gotten from other port-aged whisky. Despite the 11 years, it seems to have a shallower port-aged quality. The whisky got more complex over time and by the end of the bottle I had nothing to complain about, but it came off a bit one-note for me at first.

[LCWoody]

Was the I.W. Harper not worth mentioning?

[tanstaafl2]

Was the I.W. Harper not worth mentioning?

Well, it was a week ago! I just kind of forgot we tasted it. Which sort of says all you need to know about it...

Not awful but tasted thin and really nothing that made it stand out. At sub $20 it might be worth a try but at $35 plus it isn't something I will buy again.

The other bottle I overlooked was a Cumberland Cask Ruby port finished self described Tennessee whiskey that isn't charcoal filtered. The NDP doesn't provide any details to my knowledge on source but the presumption is that perhaps this is from Pritchard (if in fact they are making a whiskey as I think they source a lot of their bourbon. Not a brand I follow very closely) or perhaps from Corsair by way of Collier & McKeel. This particular bottle is reportedly 6yo whiskey finished in California ruby port style wine casks for a "season" which presumably is a few months. No idea who could be making 6yo whiskey in Tennessee that isn't charcoal filtered so some big question marks there to be sure.

In any case it was also somewhat underwhelming as I recall and did not make much of an impact despite the touch of port finishing. It was also on the Gazebo table but I don't recall anybody making any comments about it.

[tanstaafl2]

In Ralfy's review of the Port-aged Red, he comments on the process Springbank uses to prepare their fresh casks:

At the 5 minute mark and then the 6:40 mark he mentions rinsing and other modes of preparation. When I first opened my bottle, it came off as quite sweet and I was missing the darker, more steeped fruit notes I have gotten from other port-aged whisky. Despite the 11 years, it seems to have a shallower port-aged quality. The whisky got more complex over time and by the end of the bottle I had nothing to complain about, but it came off a bit one-note for me at first.

Thanks. That probably explains it. I hope it does gain some additional complexity over time. Indeed I hope they all do!

[LCWoody]

Well, it was a week ago! I just kind of forgot we tasted it. Which sort of says all you need to know about it...

Not awful but tasted thin and really nothing that made it stand out. At sub $20 it might be worth a try but at $35 plus it isn't something I will buy again.

That's what I was assuming. Thanks

[tanstaafl2]

It all started so innocently...

The plan was for a few tequilas in recognition of Cinco de Mayo, albeit a day late, followed by the new Alberta Rye Dark Batch, a little top pig taste off including the Old World Madeira finish and then a touch of Laphroaig Cairdeas for "dessert"!

Where did it go so wrong??? Well now, I'll tell you!

First we learned that morning that our friend Koji from a few weeks ago, the sake master sommelier, wanted to stop by with his friend Ami, a shochu master sommelier from Japan by way of NYC, for a little follow on to our sake class a few weeks ago. Well, who were we to say no???

Then the new barrel of Dobel tequila (a joven that was a filtered blend of blanco, reposado and anejo) arrived and of course we had to try that. When we tasted the samples we couldn't find one that came close to the superb original barrel from last year but we thought we had found one that was still good. But in the bottle it had an interesting ashy, smoky note on the finish that nobody remembered from the sample. No idea how that got in there! Not the same as the first one, and in my opinion had more young tequila, but still interesting in its own right.

Then we somehow managed to get tangled up with an unplanned Partida blanco which we were comparing to the new Dobel single barrel which I thought helped prove my theory that the Dobel was a bit younger, at least in taste. OK, so far so good. Next it was on to the Espolon, a solid if unremarkable budget price tequila that had recently released an anejo to compliment the blanco and reposado that tend to be in many of the better bars across the country as a well tequila. The pretty well describes the anejo. A solid but unremarkable budget anejo that will likely find its way into cocktails for me.

Then as we were working our way through the Alberta Rye, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone and still with that strong sherry note poking its way up out of the nose, a small distributor shows up with a couple of wines, a little Pritchard rum, 2 young blended Islay IB's and 3 different blends of single malt from an IB called "The Lost Distilleries". Apparently someone decided they could recreate the malts produced by distilleries that had not operated for nearly a century or more.

The 3 distilleries were Auchnagie, Stratheden and Gerston (I was not familiar with any of them. Then again it had been nearly a 100 years or more since any of them made whisky!). At 46pf they were all OK but none of them really stood out but the Stratheden was probably the most balances.I somehow managed to forego the 80 pf blends that smalled mostly of smoke and decided at this point there was little point in trying the Pritchards when suddenly in swept our guest from Japan with nie, count 'em, NINE shochu bottles in tow! Yikes!

However like true professionals we soldiered on!

The first three were barley based, including an interesting but odd roasted barley malt version. The second three were sweet potato based including one made with sweet potato malt and one that was unpasteurized (one of my favorite)! Finally there were three rice based versions including one with about a year of barrel aging and one that had a hint of lime flavoring and smelled a lot like Sprite. The palate however did not taste like sprite. Indeed it had little taste at all to me. Hmm.

Truth be told a forgot my notes on the shochu's so I can't be too specific about them now. They are rerlatively low proof at around 50 pf and some were good and some less so but I think they would likely be best served with food rather than drunk on their own.

And speaking of drunk it was about this point that a wine distributor wondered in with about six different wines to try. Wine isn't my strong suit but no reason to let that keep me from having an opinion!

Finally, those three little piggies, The TPS barrel pick, the original Boss Hog, and the new Old World Madeira finish (as well as the the Laphroaig) continued to languish on the table. Any sane person would of course have stopped by now but nobody has ever accused of us of that! We did decide the tide had turned on getting any value from trying the Laphroaig so that went back in the briefcase for another day.

But truth be told I could not resist trying the Old World piggy. And that is when I got a bit of a shock! Well a double shock really. This is 12 yo rye finished for an unknown time in Madeira as I understand it. But in addition to its usual but still remarkably hefty and annoying price tag it is 90 proof rather than BP or even 100 proof and it is MGP rye. To WP's credit it clearly says so on their website. I had not done much research on it so both of those came as a surprise to me. Even the label seems a bit cheap! Instead of a separate label they list all three finishes on the label and you know which it is based on where the percentage is filled in.

As for the taste, well, I think it will require another less active day to make anything approaching a fair assessment.

(I must correct myself. The Old World IS a mere 90 proof. The 100% on the bottom presumably means it is 100% Madeira finished. That also suggests that the intention is to further milk this MGP cow by introducing bottles that are finished in some combination of the three. Unless this one is mighty good it is possible it will be my last of the Old World. Maybe. :skep:)

Edited May 7, 2015 by tanstaafl2

[dcbt]

How do you feel on Siete de Mayo?

[tanstaafl2]

How do you feel on Siete de Mayo?

Remarkably good! Then again I am part Irish...

[dcbt]

Remarkably good! Then again I am part Irish...

If that was Cinco de Mayo I shudder at the thought of St. Patty's day then!

[tanstaafl2]

If that was Cinco de Mayo I shudder at the thought of St. Patty's day then!

Heck, that was just a more or less typical Wednesday afternoon!

[Paddy]

Dear Bruce,

You suck.

P

[BigRich]

If that was Cinco de Mayo I shudder at the thought of St. Patty's day then!

We didn't do too damn bad for St Paddy's either!

[The Black Tot]

From a bleak office on a dry vessel, this was a fantastic vicarious experience. Counting the days to next Wed.

[tanstaafl2]

From a bleak office on a dry vessel, this was a fantastic vicarious experience. Counting the days to next Wed.

Hopefully we will be able to have one this week as I will be out of town and unable to have one for the following three weeks. Don't know if my liver will be able to handle the layoff!

Although one week will be vacation at the beach so I may be able to have cobble together something a bit more impromptu.

[The Black Tot]

Sometimes those are the best! Sounds like a good and productive palate-rest.

[tanstaafl2]

An abbreviated tasting today as I was invited to attend a trade show by one of the local distributors. It featured beer, wine and spirits although the spirits they carry where a bit limited. Did get to try the CR Northern Rye and a wheat whiskey of some sort. The rye seemed decent. Michter's was there along with Angostura rum (where I ran into a fellow GBSer in the industry) and Cooper Spirits (L,S & B rye, Hochstadters Rock & Rye) who noted that the R&R may be going back to its original 98 proof. Don't know if it would also be going back to the age stated 6yo rye as well.

Anywho, the tasting beforehand to get warmed up for the trade show featured a reboot of the Whistlepig blind tasting. I elected to go with a standard 10yo/100 proof and the original Boss Hog 12yo cut down to about 100 proof along with the Old World Madeira finish. IO was able to identify each one successfully and I think the Boss Hog was probably the most enjoyable with Old World second (clearly a different profile from the Canadian rye but with a nice earthy flavor presumably from the madeira barrel.

Old World tasted fine but there wasn't enough for me to want to look for more at $120+. At $60-70 maybe I would consider it.

I do think I am finding a bit of bitterness in the finish of all three, especially the regular 10yo, which I think may be possibly related to a medication I am taking. Need to get rid of the medicine and try again to see if it makes any difference!

[The Black Tot]

Since I don't have any of these, when you have a chance, I'd like to know where you think the TPS pick sits within them.

[tanstaafl2]

Since I don't have any of these, when you have a chance, I'd like to know where you think the TPS pick sits within them.

As it happens I bought one before I left KY so I can check. But my recollection is it would be superior to Old World, especially given it is cask strength, and certainly better than the standard 10yo but I will need to go SBS with the Boss Hog to see how that plays out. May prove to be a "both good but in different ways" kind of thing!

[tanstaafl2]

Last few weeks something seems to have prevented the Wednesday tasting. We did do a blending of Angel's Envy for a store pick on June 3rd so I look forward to the arrival of that one. Finally got back to it this past Wednesday although even this one had to be a bit abbreviated as I was double booked with a scotch tasting that same evening. Good thing I have lots of training! And especially a good thing that Atlanta has Uber...

So this week I had a couple of Arran's that I had not gotten around to so this was a good time to bring them out. One was an Amarone (Italian Dry Red wine) finish and one was a Sauternes finish. Both were NAS but were 100 proof. Didn't have a great comparison for the Amarone finish (If anyone knows where I can find a Glenmo Artein I am all ears!) but I did bring the Glenmo Nectar d'Or along for comparison.

In addition to being NAS there was no clear indication of how long each of the Arran's had been finished. The Amarone finish had a rather peculiar orange appearance rather than more red like some port finishes (there was a port finish in this series as well but that wasn't available, at least not to me!). There had been a previous release of an Amarone finish in 2010 but this was a newer version. Something about it just did not quite work. I found little wine influence despite the fact that an Amarone uses grapes that are practically a raison when it is finally made into wine. The palate was OK and the finish was quite peppery. it was also a bit hot overall. A touch of water helped a little and alsp perhaps brought a bit of fruit to the palate and extended the peppery finish. Overall OK but not one I would seek out again.

The Sauternes finish was a different story. The malt created a nice balance to the very evident sweetness of the Sauternes finish which had that lovely touch of rancio for me that extended into the finish. This was quite drinkable at proof and while water didn't hurt it really wasn't needed. Next time I suppose I should reverse the order and see if that makes any difference. The GlenMo was the typically smooth pleasant whisky with solid mouthfeel you come to expect and seemed much more refined. That was expected as this is a 10yo with 2 additional years of finishing while the Arran is most likely a bit younger. While I still enjoy the Glenmo it is a bit more of a one trick pony while the Arran just seemed like a bit more aggressive with nice interplay between the malt and the Sauternes finish. This one I would get again.

We then moved on to a couple of beers including a new arrival from Terrapin called Maggie's Blackberry Cobbler Imperial Farmhouse Ale allegedly with a bit of graham crackers in it for good measure. I had high hopes for this one but Terrapin has been a bit hit or miss of late. According to the label this beer was "reminiscent of the smell of Granny's kitchen on a Sunday morning". Well, I think Granny must have been sloppin' the pig's that morning and then took her boots off when she started making this one. Any blackberry in there was hard to find and while the farmhouse smell wasn't hard to find the taste failed to really deliver. I don't know what they were going for but this one wasn't for me. It was weak and unremarkable. Another big miss for me.

Then we finished up with another local brewery called Wild Heaven. This was their Heights of Civilization and the base was their Civilization Barley wine that had been finished for four months in Dulce Vida tequila casks. It just so happens that I have a bottle of Dulce Vida Anejo from their first release so naturally I had to bring it along! The beer was reportedly made with dried Prussian lemons, Iranian hibiscus, tart cherries, cranberries, and cocoa nibs that have been re-hydrated in Four Roses bourbon. The cocoa nibs led to a burst of chocolate on the palate this was truly surprising and delightful. I didn't really get any tequila influence nor did I expect to but a side of Dulce Vida anejo (a lovely tequila in its own right) really went nicely with this beer. Definitely worth looking for both although as I said the tequila was the inaugural release and the bottle appearance has since changed. Whether the tequila has changed I can't say.

My work done here it was time to pack up and head for the scotch tasting which included a some very interesting bottles. We started with a Bruichladdich Legacy series 1 36yo (another low barrel proof whisky at 40.6 ABV that was very good), a 1977 26yo Fettercairn "Stillman's Dram" (so so), 1978 22yo Cadenhead bottling of Glengassaugh at 48.8 ABV (DENSE sherry from 22 years in a first fill sherry cask, practically tasted like sherry), a 1991 16yo Mannochmore at 56.3 ABV from Signatory, a 1984 22yo Convalmore from G&M at 52.2 ABV (quite nice but allas a dead distillery sine about 1985), an 11yo Longrow by Cadenhead (a bit incestuous!) and finally a 1998 8yo Ardbeg "Still Young" from the Young Ardbeg series (better than I had expected).

The things I have to do on a Wednesday...

Although you can probably understand why it took until Friday to post it! :cool:

Edited June 19, 2015 by tanstaafl2

[gooneygoogoo]

Last few weeks something seems to have prevented the Wednesday tasting. We did do a blending of Angel's Envy for a store pick on June 3rd so I look forward to the arrival of that one. Finally got back to it this past Wednesday although even this one had to be a bit abbreviated as I was double booked with a scotch tasting that same evening. Good thing I have lots of training! And especially a good thing that Atlanta has Uber...

So this week I had a couple of Arran's that I had not gotten around to so this was a good time to bring them out. One was an Amarone (Italian Dry Red wine) finish and one was a Sauternes finish. Both were NAS but were 100 proof. Didn't have a great comparison for the Amarone finish (If anyone knows where I can find a Glenmo Artein I am all ears!) but I did bring the Glenmo Nectar d'Or along for comparison.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21069[/ATTACH]

In addition to being NAS there was no clear indication of how long each of the Arran's had been finished. The Amarone finish had a rather peculiar orange appearance rather than more red like some port finishes (there was a port finish in this series as well but that wasn't available, at least not to me!). There had been a previous release of an Amarone finish in 2010 but this was a newer version. Something about it just did not quite work. I found little wine influence despite the fact that an Amarone uses grapes that are practically a raison when it is finally made into wine. The palate was OK and the finish was quite peppery. it was also a bit hot overall. A touch of water helped a little and alsp perhaps brought a bit of fruit to the palate and extended the peppery finish. Overall OK but not one I would seek out again.

The Sauternes finish was a different story. The malt created a nice balance to the very evident sweetness of the Sauternes finish which had that lovely touch of rancio for me that extended into the finish. This was quite drinkable at proof and while water didn't hurt it really wasn't needed. Next time I suppose I should reverse the order and see if that makes any difference. The GlenMo was the typically smooth pleasant whisky with solid mouthfeel you come to expect and seemed much more refined. That was expected as this is a 10yo with 2 additional years of finishing while the Arran is most likely a bit younger. While I still enjoy the Glenmo it is a bit more of a one trick pony while the Arran just seemed like a bit more aggressive with nice interplay between the malt and the Sauternes finish. This one I would get again.

We then moved on to a couple of beers including a new arrival from Terrapin called Maggie's Blackberry Cobbler Imperial Farmhouse Ale allegedly with a bit of graham crackers in it for good measure. I had high hopes for this one but Terrapin has been a bit hit or miss of late. According to the label this beer was "reminiscent of the smell of Granny's kitchen on a Sunday morning". Well, I think Granny must have been sloppin' the pig's that morning and then took her boots off when she started making this one. Any blackberry in there was hard to find and while the farmhouse smell wasn't hard to find the taste failed to really deliver. I don't know what they were going for but this one wasn't for me. It was weak and unremarkable. Another big miss for me.

Then we finished up with another local brewery called Wild Heaven. This was their Heights of Civilization and the base was their Civilization Barley wine that had been finished for four months in Dulce Vida tequila casks. It just so happens that I have a bottle of Dulce Vida Anejo from their first release so naturally I had to bring it along! The beer was reportedly made with dried Prussian lemons, Iranian hibiscus, tart cherries, cranberries, and cocoa nibs that have been re-hydrated in Four Roses bourbon. The cocoa nibs led to a burst of chocolate on the palate this was truly surprising and delightful. I didn't really get any tequila influence nor did I expect to but a side of Dulce Vida anejo (a lovely tequila in its own right) really went nicely with this beer. Definitely worth looking for both although as I said the tequila was the inaugural release and the bottle appearance has since changed. Whether the tequila has changed I can't say.

My work done here it was time to pack up and head for the scotch tasting which included a some very interesting bottles. We started with a Bruichladdich Legacy series 1 36yo (another low barrel proof whisky at 40.6 ABV that was very good), a 1977 26yo Fettercairn "Stillman's Dram" (so so), 1978 22yo Cadenhead bottling of Glengassaugh at 48.8 ABV (DENSE sherry from 22 years in a first fill sherry cask, practically tasted like sherry), a 1991 16yo Mannochmore at 56.3 ABV from Signatory, a 1984 22yo Convalmore from G&M at 52.2 ABV (quite nice but allas a dead distillery sine about 1985), an 11yo Longrow by Cadenhead (a bit incestuous!) and finally a 1998 8yo Ardbeg "Still Young" from the Young Ardbeg series (better than I had expected).

The things I have to do on a Wednesday...

Although you can probably understand why it took until Friday to post it! :cool: