Wednesday Tastings!

[tanstaafl2]

A little quite the past couple of weeks. Last week illness by one of our key participants forced a postponement and a few things were folded into the White Elephant Party last Saturday. This week we used the time to arrange the plans for an upcoming private dinner (details to come soon I hope!) and then followed that up by attending a local distributors wine tasting. Not much of a wine guy although I do enjoy the few port selections that were available. That was followed by an evening at a local restaurant with a few cocktails and way too much food!

All in all I can't complain!

Much...

[tanstaafl2]

After an unexpected and undesirable delay we were able to get back to it yesterday. Will likely have to miss next week but we do have some other fun planned that I am really looking forward to! I will try to have a report of those festivities sometime next week.

But this week was of course all about the drinking of the green! Well more a honey amber gold I suppose but of course I mean Irish Whiskey. And some swanky whiskey at that. The featured whiskey this week was from Midleton with the Redbreast 21, Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy and the new darling of Midleton Irish Whiskey, the Dair Ghaelach or "Irish oak".

But first it was the new Metze's Select from MGP. This was first opened last weekend at the annual GBS Irish Whiskey extravaganza where it was generally met with less than stellar reviews. It was hoped that a few days might let it open a bit but alas this was not the case. Still has a decent nose and some initial sweetness on the tip of t he tongue but it never really seems to progress from there. The palate shows a decent bourbon but not something I would want to rush out to stock up on and certainly not at $70 or so. Not sure why the low rye mashbill was their preferred primary mashbill but this one seems to fall short.

 

Then it was on to the featured performers! First up was the Redbreast 21 and that may well have been a mistake. This is a lovely and very distinctive whiskey with its strong sweet "rancio" tropical fruit nose that is fully delivered on the palate in what I still describe as a juicy sweet almost but not quite over ripe mango note. Man that is good and the finish lasts 4 EVER! Even though this was a newly opened bottle it was at full strength from the start and it is quickly becoming my favorite Irish and maybe one of my favorite whiskies in general. Next up was the Legacy and this stately mature easy drinking whiskey was as good as ever but just never had a chance following the Redbreast for me. Still, it is a lovely and oh so easy drinking whiskey.

Finally it was time for the Dair Ghaelach which was a bit different as it was cask strength at 116 proof as compared to the more typical 92 proof of the first two and was a blend of 15 to 22 yo single pot still whiskey. This was tree number 6 as each whiskey had all its barrels made from one specific tree that was cut down in Grinsell's Wood for that purpose. Immediately I had the sense that this whiskey was the secret love child of the first two! There was just a hint of that mango note from the RB while it also carried some lovely caramel and vanilla notes on top of the mature spicy pot still whiskey that is the Legacy. Towards the end the toasted virgin Irish Oak began to assert itself with some wood and dryness that slowly developed through the finish. A drop of water may have helped bring a bit more of the fruit and sweetness out but it didn't really need it in my opinion. Reviews suggest each tree has a bit of its own  character so I suppose the next objective is to get a taste or two from bottles aged in barrels from a different tree. In the US (at least the East Coast) it is tree number 6. More than one "tree" came to North America so maybe the west coast or Canada got a different tree.

Quite the trio! unfortunately also quite the spendy trio.

Then we wondered away from Ireland for a bit with a taste of the new private edition from Glenmorangie called Milsean. Bottled at the typical Glenmo 92 proof the gimmick for this whiskey was aging it in retoasted Portuguese red wine casks from the Douro region (home of port). My first thought was to the recent excellent release from Abraham Bowman of Touriga and Merlot wine casks since Touriga is a prominent grape used in Portugal. The nose on this had the classic Glenmo floral component but I was not particularly overwhelmed with sweetness or wine notes. On the palate there was a bit more sweetness and some oily mouthfeel but I was a bit underwhelmed over all. It was dominantly sweet nor where there any spicy or dominant floral notes to grab the palate. This one seemed somehow a bit flat to me. It was newly opened so I don't like to pass judgment right away but at first blush it is not my favorite private edition release.

We then finished up with a new and interesting Vermouth from he producers of G'Vine gin which had the rather unique addition of Pineau des Charentes along with a multitude of botanicals. As a lover of PdC and some one who will occasionally drink vermouth on its own as an aperitif I was intrigued enough to give it a try. It definitely started with a big sweet blast at the start but the botanicals quickly started drying it out and developing some interesting herbal notes and a bit of pleasant bitterness more like an amaro. Definitely worthy of further exploration!

Then it was off to do a little cocktail tasting in preparation for the big event next week! Yes, I am always willing to take one for the team. Or sometimes two or three...

 

[amg]

Great notes as always, Bruce!

I wonder if the re-toasting of the wine casks for the Milsean killed off the residual wine flavors. Re-toasting seems like a recipe for a dessert dram, at any rate.

I wish I could justify spending the money on those high end Midleton releases. They sound delightful.

[tanstaafl2]

The notion as I understand it with the Milsean was to bring the residual sugars from the wine to the surface of the barrel with the retoasting. It is getting some good reviews but just didn't seem to hit the "sweet" spot for me! Maybe it will open up a bit with time but it was a touch disappointing. I suppose I had it in my head that it would be really sweet and it definitely is not that.

Those particular Irish whiskies, as delightful as they are, are indeed painful to pay for and there is really no good way to justify the cost other than unbridled insanity on my part. So I generally choose not to think about it! Drinking more of the whiskey helps...

[tanstaafl2]

Or find your way to Georgia! I have been known to share when I am in a good mood...

[tanstaafl2]

A special Friday Evening addition for a tasting of the latest and greatest from WhistlePig and Hillrock lead by Dave Pickerell.

Interesting tidbits include the fact that Hillrock now has a Single Malt out in greater (although still limited) distribution in addition to their current "solera" bourbon that gets finished in sherry and the double cask rye that sees two charred casks. The single malt has some moderate peat and gets finished in both oloroso and PX sherry casks. Well that's one way to buff up young whiskey I suppose. Somewhat interesting but the price for a bottle is more than a little discouraging, even if the bottle is modeled on a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle.

Dave also indicated that Hillrock is now starting to use some 53 gallon barrels and making all their whiskey, the implication being they are not using anymore MGP bourbon to blend with. Of course the MGP is still going to be there for a long time in their "solera" system. Also he indicated the "average" age of the finished whiskey once it comes out of the solera process is about 9 years. Umm, ok. Might have to take that one with a grain of salt unless they started with 18yo MGP...

The bourbon was a bit sweet and other than the price was not bad, but not particularly noteworthy either. The rye was on the young side with a bit of tannic wood sneaking in. The malt was young but, umm, interesting...

Might try the malt again except that it is not likely something I would get at $80 a bottle (or whatever it goes for. I didn't even ask).

Whistlepig was represented by the standard 10yo, a store pick (from a local store called The Juicebox which sponsored the tasting (yeah, that name needs some work!) and the Old World blend of port, madeira and sauternes. The store pick was actually pretty darn good at BP (I forget how high, maybe 120ish) and the regular 10 was fine. The Old World MGP sourced Whistlepig is perfectly drinkable but just doesn't have enough finish to suit me. Dave says he likes a light finish to "accentuate" the whiskey rather than cover it up. Well ok, I can accept that. But at the $100+ price point I am glad to get to try it but just haven't felt a need to buy any more of it beyond what I already have.

Some interesting things that were mentioned is that Dave says Whistlepig is now distilling on site in Vermont since last fall. News to me but no reason to doubt him. They have also been "contract" distilling rye at 5 other unnamed distilleries for awhile now (these mystery distilleries of course insist that Whistlepig not say who they are...) and Dave says some are "craft" distilleries and some are big distilleries (MGP perhaps? Not as though MGP care if they are identified! Just saying...). Presumably that will eventually replace or supplement the Alberta source.

Also of interest was that there were other barrels sourced for finishing of the Old World MGP piggy including Ferrand XO cognac and Hungarian Tkaj. They were not used and may be auctioned off or given to stores that by barrels of Whistlepig. There was also some sort of club he mentioned they were starting but I don't recall the details. I was sampling after all...

Another interesting aside is that he also works with Belle Meade and they are now distilling. News to me! Last I heard they hadn't even gotten started. But the website does now show a still on site so I will take him at his word. Anybody in Nashville that gets down near Corsair should look them up and let us know! Green Brier Distillery/Belle Meade is located nearby and they do regular tours according to the website.

 

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by tanstaafl2

[tanstaafl2]

A special Thursday Evening edition of the Wednesday tastings! This one was a special dinner featuring John Glaser from Compass Box where i had the opportunity to serve as co-host.

The picture of the menu is perhaps a tad blurry unfortunately but it featured two cocktails made with Compass Box whisky and a third "secret" cocktail if you knew the right person to ask (that would be me!). This was followed by a five course dinner with Compass Box whisky pairings that was concluded with a pour of "This is Not a Luxury Whisky" with dessert.

It appeared a good time was had by all. And if they didn't then too bad because I had a marvelous time!

A few of us hung around afterwards and had an additional dram or six of other whisky delights and John produced a special sample bottle that we tried! A little something he is going to call "The Circus".

Somehow the bottle ended up in my pocket at the end of the evening. No idea how that happened...

[Harry in WashDC]

I am envious.  I'm not really a scotch person but was fortunate enough to try a few Compass Box offerings at the WhiskyFest WashDC poured by John Glaser.  I am now at least a blended scotch person if it is CB I am drinking.

SO, for those of you skeptics who "hate" scotch, check out "Hedonism".

[GaryT]

Thursday night was awesome!!  Looking forward to your thoughts on The Circus (because there have been . . .  wait, has there been a CB LE that I didn't like yet??)

[tanstaafl2]

16 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

I am envious.  I'm not really a scotch person but was fortunate enough to try a few Compass Box offerings at the WhiskyFest WashDC poured by John Glaser.  I am now at least a blended scotch person if it is CB I am drinking.

SO, for those of you skeptics who "hate" scotch, check out "Hedonism".

It was great fun for me as I got to sit next to John all evening and talk whisky. Hedonism is lovely. Older batches of Hedonism are even lovelier! I recently acquired one from 2009 that has 29yo whisky and one from 2010 that has some 39yo grain whisky in it! John says he just can't find good quality older barrels at an affordable price like he could just 5-6 years ago. Sadly the secret is out on first fill older grain whisky.

[tanstaafl2]

6 hours ago, darylld911 said:

Thursday night was awesome!!  Looking forward to your thoughts on The Circus (because there have been . . .  wait, has there been a CB LE that I didn't like yet??)

I fear the first tastes of The Circus that night were a bit wasted on me because of all the preceding food and drink that evening. Fortunately I still have a little left to try again and form an opinion on a much "fresher" palate!

And while there might have been one I certainly haven't had a CB Limited Edition I didn't like yet. I liked some more than others but I have liked them all!

[amg]

10 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said:

It was great fun for me as I got to sit next to John all evening and talk whisky. Hedonism is lovely. Older batches of Hedonism are even lovelier! I recently acquired one from 2009 that has 29yo whisky and one from 2010 that has some 39yo grain whisky in it! John says he just can't find good quality older barrels at an affordable price like he could just 5-6 years ago. Sadly the secret is out on first fill older grain whisky.

I have a bottle open from 2010, but I haven't been able to find any info about the batch. Their website has a pdf with information about a couple of 2014 batches, but not much else, and I had to dig to find that one. I'm guessing this is because of the SWA cracking down on transparency?

[tanstaafl2]

1 minute ago, amg said:

I have a bottle open from 2010, but I haven't been able to find any info about the batch. Their website has a pdf with information about a couple of 2014 batches, but not much else, and I had to dig to find that one. I'm guessing this is because of the SWA cracking down on transparency?

I asked John that very question. They recently updated their website to include their new transparency campaign and John says they haven't gotten all the pages back online. But at some point the information that used to be there about older bottlings will be available again, to include older batches of Hedonism and that 2010 bottling in particular.

Is your bottling number the H39MMXB? That is the one with 39yo whisky in it. There may also be a bottling that ends in MMXA as well but I don't remember for sure.

[amg]

19 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Is your bottling number the H39MMXB? That is the one with 39yo whisky in it. There may also be a bottling that ends in MMXA as well but I don't remember for sure.

I think mine is just H39MMX. Whatever is in it, it's tasty stuff!

[tanstaafl2]

A bit of a mish mash yesterday as I am still working my way through some of the new Irish Whiskey I purchased recently. But first it was time to go to The Circus as we tried the sample John Glaser kindly provided on a fresh palate. There was also a sample of a barrel pick of Stranahan's which was ok but not likely to do that pick after all.

 

So it was on to The Circus! Who doesn't like The Circus? Certainly not me! The sample was noted to be 49% but the TTB label says 55%. Of course that could just be a placeholder and I forgot to ask John when I saw him this morning signing the last of the bottles from the dinner last week. In any case this blend of blends has a nice full mouthfeel with a fair amount of sherry influence although perhaps not quite as much as I was expecting. Although noted on the label I am afraid I couldn't find any hazelnut in there though. It did have a touch of heat but was easily subdued with a drop or two of water. I look forward to this one in spite of what I am sure will be a substantial price tag.

Next up was a retaste of the Hautes Glaces French whisky that was fully matured for at most 6-7 years in a Condrieu region viognier wine barrel. We managed to track down a sample of this typically fruity floral white wine to taste right before trying the whisky. Not sure I could taste the heritage directly but this was a really big full flavored wine and whisky. The whisky was almost sherry finish like in nature. There was also a surprising but pleasant touch of oak in the substantial finish. Indeed perhaps we should have done this one last in retrospect! A touch of water increased the sweetness but seemed to eliminate that oaky taste in the finish. But it didn't really need any water despite the 110+ proof.

This was followed by a new single barrel of Teelings that was 12yo single malt, probably from Cooley, that had been finished for a year or so in white port barrels from Carcavelos, Portugal.  That was one of the few barrels the shelf version of the single malt had not been finished in. It brought a nice honey character to the front of the palate that gradually turned into a lovely rancio sauternes like sweetness in the finish. Easy to drink despite its proof of 111.7.

Next up was a SBS of Green Spot and a special Green Spot finished in Leoville-Barton Bordeaux casks that was clearly darker with a red overtone. The Green Spot was lovely as always but the finished whisky added a new and very different dimension, pretty well burying the apple characters of Green Spot and bringing out big red fruit notes that made this drink very easily. Of course it was lower proof at 92 which made it seem a touch thin compared to the other whisky we had tried so far. Didn't think that one through very well!

Just for a change of pace we finished up with a Four Roses store pick of an OESK and my Four Roses Frankenstein made of all the leftover whiskey at Jat's last barrel pick in 2015. I think it had everything but the two Q's in the mix at around 9-10 years of age but how much of each I couldn't say. The OESK was a pleasant typical Four Roses profile but as it was just opened it might welcome a little time to "breath". The Frankenstein was as dry as a bone. Actually quite surprising at just how dry it was. Not quite sure yet if I liked it or not.

We finished up with several beers including the new Creature Comfort Cosmik Debris Double IPA (too hipster hoppy for me) and a couple of Heavy Seas Yule Tides, one from 2013 and the more recent 2015. I had not notified before but they were two different base beers. The 2013 was an Imperial Red style aged in rum barrels but sadly had peaked and was on the downhill side. The 2015 was a Gingerbread Weizen Doppelbock also aged in rum barrels and was much better.

At some point a distributor rep showed up with some new tequila from the makers of Masterson's (used to be 35 Maple Street but now called "3 Badge Mixology". Whatever...) called Pasote that was a very average typical 80 pf spirit in an artsy fartsy bottle at what I thought were very high prices ($50 for the blanco? Umm, no). I tried a little just to be nice of course but it was pretty underwhelming. Apparently Pasote means outrageous or exaggerated. Well the price seemed outrageous and the value seemed exaggerated so I suppose that fit...

That seemed like enough for one afternoon! Unfortunately next week Jat is abandoning me to go to the Master's with one of the distributors so no report next week.

 

Edited March 31, 2016 by tanstaafl2

[tanstaafl2]

Slow getting the report in but we did manage to fit in a Wednesday tasting this week. A bit of a hodge podge this time around featuring a couple of new and interesting whiskies I was able to acquire recently. And one interesting non whiskey as well!

I couldn't resist getting a different "tree" from the recent Midleton Dair Ghaelach release and so tree #9 is now here to keep tree #6 company. Tree #9 is a UK release and is a 700ml bottle. If you look closely you can see the "punt" in the bottom of the bottle that makes it a 700ml while still keeping the overall bottle size/shape and fill line the same.

But that makes little difference to the whiskey inside! These are similar proof (116 versus 116.4) and were tasted blind. Although very similar there were some subtle differences which was to be expected given these are 2 different small batches of whiskey. General consensus was that the US Tree #6 was a touch better but it wasnot clear if that is the whiskey or perhaps the difference between a previously and freshly opened bottle. More experimentation is called for!

Next it was on to the newly arrived CEHT Seasoned Wood. reviews on this one have been a bit scattered with some calling it bitter and overly peppery. It was tasted blind with Weller 12 and Larceny for comparison (I brought the BTEC Extended Stave bottle but that is a rye bourbon and the other three are wheated, a first for CEHT, so we decided not to include that one). General consensus was that none of them were particularly unpleasant but none stood well above the others either. Once revealed it was apparent that the Weller 12 was thin to me and surprisingly was my least favorite. Everyone was pretty impressed with the Larceny again. A solid wheater at a decent price (for now).

As for the Seasoned Wood it had a bit of an unusual nose when opened (sweet/floral) but dissipated quickly. There was also a touch of sweetness to open the palate followed by a bit of pepperiness. Not particularly bitter to me though. At the back of the palate I began to pick up that favorite note of the GBS, a bit of anise, along with some other herbal characteristics. Still no bitterness but perhaps a touch dry as the moderate finish progressed. Perfectly serviceable if not a particularly overwhelming bottle. Cured Oak was better as I recall but that is a very different whiskey it would seem.

Finally we finished with a collection of moderate oddballs.

Spirit of Hven Sankt Claus is from a Swedish craft distillery (PDF Here) and was named the Whisky Advocate World Whiskey for last year. This is a single cask, cask strength bottling, one of three released by the distillery for the holidays in 2014. Made with a mix of pale malt and peated malt and flly matured for nearly 4 years in a French merlot wine cask it is quite the oddity. But an enjoyable oddity to be sure! Interesting reading the comments in the Whisky Advocate post about it!

The Devil's Bit is the 2016 release from McMenamin's this year with a 4yo Hogshead of whisky presumably distilled from their Hammerhead IPA beer mash that is then finished in their Black Widow Porter for 6 months. It can get very confusing with these guys! The whisky has a nice creamy mouthfeel which I presume is from the beer barrel aging. I don't get any hop overtones but then again I am not sure I am supposed to...

Finally, we went completely off the reservation with a special limited edition of Chartreuse MOF. Definitely less sweet than standard Yellow Chartreuse with a really interesting herbal profile that I think would make a lovely after dinner drink.

Fun stuff!

[maybeling]

You didn't make it to the Caol Ila?

[tanstaafl2]

This week I believe we proved that more age is not necessarily better. Then again my knees prove that on pretty much a daily basis...

 

Once again a bit of a hodge podge. We started with some craft whiskey from Berkshire Mountain. A craft distiller from New York that uses an odd shaped pot still and ages in mostly smaller barrels although they reportedly are trying to move towards more large barrel againg. The base whiskey definitely has some of that baby barrel twang to it to me. But they have also been doing some beer barrel aged whiskey using local Terrapin barrels, among others, and we had a chance to try both the Hopzilla and the Brandy Ryne. The Hopzilla wasn't that hoppy but did have a somewhat dry character that finished quickly. The BrandyRyne (This one has me confused as I am unfamiliar with a Terrapin BrandyRyne. Closest I can come is BarleyRyne) was a bit more to my liking with more body and an earthy richness. The third was not bourbon but rather a whiskey made from Cinder Bock, a smoked beer from Sam Adams, that was finished in Utopias casks. There was no smoke to speak of that I could taste but it definitely had a big port/wine character that made it interesting. Sadly, they were all bottled at 86 proof and they all could use a good bit more.

 

 

Next the rep from Berkshire Mountain had expressed an interest in Compass Box Eleuthera and Lost Blend so a little blind side by side was in order. It was close but the general consensus was that the newer Lost Blend had a touch more body and mouthfeel and was preferred over the original Eleuthera by a nose (and a palate!).

 

 

Then we moved on to the main event. The recent acquisition of the Bowmore 1989  101.6 proof 23yo fully port matured whisky led to a blind side by side of it against a 1991  106.2 proof 16yo fully port matured Bowmore. I don't typically have a "favorite whiskey" but if I did this 16yo would be a top contender! The relationship between these two whiskies was clearly identifiable from the start and if I had never had the 16 then the 23 would certainly be a favorite as well. Both drank beautifully at cask strength and have a nice balance of sweet red fruit and smoke that carried lazily through to the finish and lingered for quite some time. But there was a lovely light sweetness that balanced the smoke on the palate with the 16 that was missing in the drier 23yo.

 

 

And then for something completely different. A rep brought by a bottle of Feni which is rather peculiar specialty spirit from the Goa region of India that made from the fruit of the cashew tree. 

 

On its own it is, well, peculiar not to mention rather hard to describe. Local forms are often rather bitter but this one had almost certainly had some sugar added. in addition it had a somewhat oily fruit character is the best way I can describe it. It was being marketed as primarily a cocktail ingredient so naturally we had to give that a try as well.

 

Most of the suggestions were fruit juice based drinks but there was a section on the flyer that gave a few "boozy" cocktail options so we whipped up the first one with rye, yellow chartreuse and curacao. I thought the chartreuse dominated the Feni in spite of the fairly strong flavor of the Feni. Perhaps it works better in the fruit juice based cocktails but not something that really resonated with us.

 

Finally we finished with a few beers.

 

 

The Pumking and the Heavy Seas Great Pumpkin were both aging experiments gone much too long and terribly wrong (both were from about 2012) and so expectations were low. Both of them lived down to those expectations and were way past their prime by about 4 years... Oh well, now we know!

 

It wouldn't have been 4/20 without a little Wicked Weed right? But this "Double Red" IPA (whatever that means) was a typically hop forward creation although I think it too had faded a bit even though it was only a few months old. But just not my style.

 

The best of the lot, which is not saying much, was the Red Brick "Hibiscuwit" and even though was a bit plain, rather like a Shocktop or a Blue Moon with perhaps a little more malty-ness than those two.

 

The new-ish to me at least Chimay Gold or Doree was also a bit disappointing. Very light in character and not much in the way of interesting flavor.

 

Definitely not our best group of beers we have tried recently. But more than enough for one day!

[tanstaafl2]

Have been on the road the past couple of weeks a the Sampler and then out to the Left Coast so it was past due for a Wednesday tasting. This week had a bit of a Dissociative Identity Disorder with a bit of rum followed by a bit of whisky. 

 

 

First up was a Rhum Rhum Blanc at 112 pf and a Rhum Rhum Liberation 2015 at 116.8 pf. Both are made at Bielle distillery in Marie Gallant, I don't know too much more than that. The Blanc had that lovely pure vegetal fresh squeezed cane juice smell and taste and was pretty drinkable at proof. Perfect for a Ti Punch! A bit like the older Dilllon Blanc from Smugglers Cove but perhaps not quite as pungent. The aged version had no age statement but guessing maybe 4-5 years. The vegetal cane juice quality had been toned down and this was a tad more whiskey like in character but still had a predominant vegetal quality. A touch water seemed to help open this one up a bit.

 

 

The Duncan Taylor Bellevue was a "rhum industrial" made on a column still and was a single barrel aged in Scotland for 14 years, It was bottled at a cask strength of 104.6 pf. Website tasting notes described dry spices, mustard, earthy smoke, campfire, pure sugar, maple, and dried bananas. I didn't get any mustard or dried bananas but there was clearly a spicy character followed by a smoky undertone and it seemed to evolve with time in the glass.

 

 

Next it was on to a blind tasting of three recent Caol Ila upeated special releases from 2012, 2014 and 2015. I left out the Stitchell Reserve which was a blend of different ages of unpeated whisky in 2013. The 2015 17yo at 11.8 pf is easily recognizable as the most peated of these "unpeated" bottlings. It is by no means heavily peated and is at a level I find really enjoyable. As the peat ages it begins to get a bit rounder and maybe even "sweeter" which I really like. I think it is also my favorite of the three. The other two are closer together in proof at around 120 each with a similar but lower level of peat. Both take a bit of water nicely, especially the 15yo.  Not that any of them are bad by any means. Three very nice whiskies!

 

Indeed, not a bad bottle in the bunch, if all a bit different. Out of town again next week so not sure when we will get another one in. But there is some plum Unicum just crying out to be tasted...

[maybeling]

Next time can you get a closeup of that bottle of Pappy Van Windex Pappy Van Windex's Streak-Free Reserve I keep seeing in the background! 

Edited May 13, 2016 by maybeling

[tanstaafl2]

1 hour ago, maybeling said:

Next time can you get a closeup of that bottle of Pappy Van Windex Pappy Van Windex's Streak-Free Reserve I keep seeing in the background! 

 

That is to clean the palate if we get something really, really bad!

[tanstaafl2]

After a month long absence the Wednesday tasting is back! At least for this week. Things are in a bit of flux at the moment so it may remain inconsistent for the foreseeable future unfortunately. But when the opportunity presents itself I certainly hope to take advantage of it!

 

This week featured a release of a rye whiskey that came out to little fanfare recently. I am of course referring to the Booker's Rye in the gold plated bottle with a box made out of wood from a 5000 year old Bristlecone pine. Once you know all of that of course then the price is certainly justified!

 

But how is the whiskey inside the bottle? 

 

 

We decided to try it blind with three other ryes. But finding three ryes with some age that are barrel proof or at least higher proof is more difficult than it might seem. We ended up with the first Boss Hog at 12 3/4 years and 134.2 pf, Michter's NAS (but presumably much younger) rye at 109.2 pf and LSB at 13years and 101.3 pf. All but the Bookers (at 13 years and a rather warm 136.2 pf) had been open for some time prior to the tasting although none of them seemed to be any the worse for time to me.

 

Admittedly the WP and the LSB were from a similar source although they have never tasted that similar to me for some reason. Other options considered were an MGP Redemption BP rye at 6yo/122pf, Pikesville at 6yo and 110 pf, HW 16yo rye from Barton but only 92 pf  or perhaps the best alternative, an MGP/Old Scout store pick at 9yo and 123.2 pf.

 

In retrospect I whish I had substituted the Old Scout for the LSB. Oh well maybe next time!

 

It was immediately apparent which two were the higher proof (and both of those benefited from a touch of water to me) but one of those two had a lot more caramel sweetness that was well balanced with a nice touch of woody influence from the barrel and for me that was the superior whiskey. I guessed (hoped?) that was the Bookers and it proved to be the case. So, for better or worse I have to admit it is very good and the best of these four (dammitalltohell).

 

I must also confess that I still find the Michter's (at least this batch) to be very good as well and has less need for additional water. For reasons I still can't quite put my finger on the LSB is still a distant fourth.

 

Next we moved on to a blind side by side of two MM private selections. Both were at about 110 proof and the Barrel 2 bottle had been opened for a couple of weeks while the Barrel 1 bottle was newly opened.

 

In the case of these two bottles the staves used were fairly distinctly different. And it was interesting to see that the staves created fairly distinctively different tasting whiskies. While both were enjoyable it was the bottle on the left that was preferred by everyone (a predominance of roasted French Mocha and toasted French Spice staves). We did not have one with us but I think based on past memory it was preferable to a standard MM46 (although I have not had the MM46 at cask strength as these bottles were).

 

We decided not to go to the Circus this week (which you can see peeking out on the right in the first picture) and instead will save it for another occasion. Instead we moved on to a couple of beers.

 

First up was a side by side of Westbrook Mexican Cake from May 2015 and may 2016. The bottle states to "Drink Fresh!". So naturally I decided to age one. The newer bottle was the one with the slightly more yellow lettering on the label. These both are at 10% ABV. We started with the newer one and were surprised to discover it had almost not pepper in the finish which is the one thing that sets this apart. Otherwise it is a pretty basic chocolaty stout. In fact the 2015 version, despite being a year old, had more pepper in the finish and the stout itself seemed richer as well. Not sure what happened to the 2016 but it was definitely underwhelming.

 

 

Finally we finished up with this little number. I so much wanted to be impressed with this. Alas...

 

No smoke to speak of that I could find. A bit sour which was fine which was kinda sorta balanced with a citrus age presumably from the zest and not hops as the bitterness was minimal. Adequate but not a must have for me and if it had not said tequila barrel-aged on the label I am not sure I would have been able to tell it had been aged in a barrel at all, tequila or otherwise.

 

Lately not finding much in the way of craft beers that seem to have a real strong interest for me.

 

[tanstaafl2]

A lighter day today after a day long sake class the day before. Somehow after spending 8 hours in a class and sampling sake all day and then taking a 100 question test whilst trying to remember a gazillion Japanese word doesn't seem like the best plan...

 

Any who, this week we started with my newest addition to the oddity collection, followed by a whiskey or 5!

 

 

The Double Zero Eau de Vie started off with the big crisp apple nose that had been promised. There was still some apple on the palate but no where near the intensity of the nose. It was very dry, as Eau de Vies tend to be but nothing that suggested tartness or sour character. Nor did I get much in the way of cinnamon although perhaps a little pepper. A touch of water helped a bit but the finish remained more yeasty than apply for me. A bit of a let down. I will give it another go as I try to do with any newly opened bottle but I am not optimistic (well, to be fair I am not typically optimistic in general!). Oh well.

 

 

Next up we took another run at the CB Circus. I first had this one from a sample given to me by John Glaser when he came to town for our whisky dinner last March. I had kept a bit of the sample to try when I had a bottle of my own. The bottle was opened at the recent GBS International Whisky night about 10 days ago so both were ready for another taste under more "clinical" circumstances. I was curious if there would be any difference between the two but I could not really find much. This was a blind tasting but they were f course very similar. One seemed to have slightly less sharp edges so I presumed it to be  the big bottle and that proved to be the case. But it was really just a guess. As for the whisky it has a nice "mature" nose (a bit musty, in a good way, perhaps?), the opening mouthfeel was solid but for all the sherry component I did not get much sherry character. Towards the end of the palate it seemed to get a bit lighter if possible, the grain component perhaps? The finish was moderate but still a paucity to me of sherry or fruit character. I confess I liked Luxury a bit better. Of course that is a different whisky with peat and more sherry influence to me.

 

 

With then moved on to another new addition to the "collection", the Springbank Local Barley 16yo. It didn't seem like it was going to get to Georgia so I decided to pick one up on line. Reviews seem to have been a bit mixed on this one. We paired it with a SB 12 CS in a blind taste but color pretty much gave it away and if that hadn't I think the flavor would have. The 16 had a nice moderately peaty nose (smoky bacon anyone?) but the palate started a bit hot and peppery. The peppery spice carried well into the finish. A touch of water did open it up quite nicely and I found it much better with the heat tamed and perhaps a touch of  almost barnyard "funk" wafting through the top of the palate. The 12 was far more subtle with the typical SB light peat but was not hot at all and drank easily at proof, as it always has.

 

Then we messed things up by breaking out a 2 oz sample of SB 12 that had been finished for 3 years in Claret (the box in the background of the first pic is part of my sample collection). That sucker stole the show! Better than anything else we tried that day. If anyone has a bottle they don't want...

 

We planned to finish up with a vertical of Heavy Seas Greater Pumpkin with a 2012, 2013 and 2015. But the 2012 was surprisingly still pretty good (some nice bourbon barrel sweetness notes and a touch of the pumpkin spice still clinging to life!) so we decided to finish it off and then a wine rep wandered in and it all went down hill from there...

 

The 2013 and 2015 will leave to see another day!

 

 

[Kpiz]

Thanks for the fun write up as always, Bruce. Too bad that the palate on the Cyril Zangs Double Zero eau de vie didn't hold up to the nose...I'm still tempted to get a bottle just for the smell!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tanstaafl2]

11 hours ago, Kpiz said:

Thanks for the fun write up as always, Bruce. Too bad that the palate on the Cyril Zangs Double Zero eau de vie didn't hold up to the nose...I'm still tempted to get a bottle just for the smell!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

A personal preference thing to be sure. SKU really seemed to like it. So maybe it was just my palate or something I ate that day. Although two others tasting with me also weren't quite sure what all the fuss was about either. I do find Eau de Vie to be a bit tricky. They are essentially a white dog after all.

 

The only way to know for sure is to try it yourself. I can send you a sample or maybe even bring it along if I decide to head out that way again in September. Still haven't decided!