Whisky PSA: Check yo samples before you wreck yo samples!

Achtung! And embrace the terrible title! This is a public service announcement for those who have a liquor sample collection.

I started my whisky sample stash about six years ago.  Less than two years into the bottle accumulation, I upgraded bottle caps.

The standard caps have a plastic ribbing and a foam or paper liner. When one first starts saving whisky samples, these seem perfectly okay. One may even choose to use electrical tape around the bottle neck to make sure the cap doesn't open.

When I upgraded caps, I switched to those with phenolic ribbing and the little polycone seal. These provide something much closer to an airtight fit. These are more expensive than the standard caps.

The thing is, though, I chose to use the better caps only on samples going forward. A year later, I decided to order a slew of extra caps to switch out the old ones. Then life happened, and I never did the big switchout.

I'm here to tell you that by not switching out the caps, I enabled a number of samples to spoil. The standard cap's cheap liner falls off within a couple of years, often adhering to the glass neck or crumbling into the whisky itself if the liquid is right up to the edge.

Even more troubling, the cap itself gradually buckles upwards. (You can actually see and feel this, as the top of the cap starts to get curved instead of flat.) Thanks to the buckling plastic and flimsy liner, the seal breaks and air comes in. Over five years, some of my samples experienced 1/3 to 2/3s evaporation. They're left with what I recently called a "swirling murk" throughout the liquid. The whisky loses most of its smell, while the palate goes flat, watery and nearly tasteless except for a really weird bitterness.

Luckily I lost only a half dozen samples to this issue. But all of them had caps that buckled on the top. This weekend, I replaced another fourteen caps on samples that showed no evaporation nor murk. Meanwhile, the little historical archive I started six years ago is probably mostly ruined. Can't bear to look at it right now.

If you have a whisky/brandy/rum/etc sample bottle collection going back more than three years, then I encourage you to check your bottle caps. If you've been using the standard tops, I recommend any option with a better seal. Swap out the old caps with better ones. Dump any sample that has experienced evaporation of 1/3 the bottle, or greater. I mean, you can sip it first to check its quality but then you've lowered its fill level and also contributed some bacteria to the mix.

In conclusion — never a great way to begin a conclusion — keep your samples sealed the best way you can. The extra ten or twenty cents per cap is worth it. (One method to buy extras is to add a bunch of additional caps to your next bottle order. I don't think Amazon sells the caps by themselves.)

ALSO, drink your whisky.

Thank you. This has been a Diving for Pearls public service announcement.

Whisky Storage: The Samples

I used to store my samples in these:

They work quite well, though you'll need to make your own dividers if you don't want samples bumping into each other.  In order to keep my bottles separated, I fashioned a number of grid-like dividers out of the cardboard boxes Amazon would ship these Snap-N-Stores in.

I had a few boxes of these and enjoyed them a lot.  Made me look all organized and stuff.  But then, last month, an alternative presented itself.

When the Long Beach Antique Market makes its monthly stop near our home, Kristen has been known to peruse it and find some great vintage furniture and decor at decent prices.  I join her, partially for some fresh air, partially to search for baseball cards that I will never buy, partially to look for old nudie mags that I (um) will never buy, partially for a big plastic cup of beer.  Without fail, I usually wind up going through sellers' tchotchkes more than she does.  But this time, I found these:

And these:

My ammunition boxes:

Loaded...

and stored...

...but not until after all the boxes were wiped down and thoroughly sanded.  Don't want to get a splinter under a fingernail when I reach for a Springbank sample.  This new sample storage serves me so well, I almost like it more than the whisky inside.  Almost.

Opening the family whisky

So.......there's this:

Immediate facts:
Johnnie Walker Black Label
1.2 quarts (1135 mL, 38.4 fl. oz.)
86.8 proof (43.4% ABV)
Bottled in Kilmarnock
Sold only through Duty Free
Unopened

Fact from research**:
Bottled in the late 1970s

Yes, that is whisky sediment raining down around the edges

Background:
As of last Christmas this whisky was the property of Robert and Wilma Perry, my wife's grandparents.  It had previously belonged to one of Grandpa Bob's cousins.  But for many years it sat in a cold Ohio basement.  This past December, Grandpa Bob, who is currently kicking cancer's ass, gave the bottle of whisky to me.

It's part of our family.

It was likely bottled around the same time I was born.

Oh, and one more thing.  When I first met Kristen, I discovered that this 20-year-old fox was drinking Johnnie Walker Black Label.  While men hit on her, they were drinking Sex on the Beaches, slamming Jager bombs, drinking Bacardi and Cokes.  Meanwhile, Kristen sipped Scotch.

She's my wife now.  And while she prefers barrel strength rye -- yeah, she pretty much rules -- she can smell a glass of JW Black from across a room.  So there's some actual emotional weight to this bottle of whisky.

And as the youngest whisky in this blend was distilled in the Johnson administration, some of that malt coming from distilleries no longer in existence, there's some financial value to it as well.

But I'm opening this whisky up.  And this weekend, I'm going to tell you why.

** - Many many many thanks to Joanne Bergstrom of whisky.com; Christine McCafferty, the Archive Manager (!) at Diageo(!!); and the handful of whisky collectors who weighed in at the whisky.com forum.

So, I bought a bottle...

Warning: This post may be a bunch of diary-style navel-gazing.  Or at least more so than usual.

I bought my first whisky bottle in five weeks.  The purchase didn't come easy.  Thirty-four days ago, I'd posted a little bit about my internal struggle with amassing whisky, so I wasn't going to break the fast easily.  I continued window shopping, but I always asked myself "Why?" each time a bottle drew me in.  Nothing stood up to that challenge until this past weekend.

There's been only one Lowland whisky I've actually enjoyed, and mostly because it was anything but a "Lowland Lady".  It was a weird earthy clay-grass-and-white-pepper malt bottled at cask strength by one of my favorite independent bottlers, priced far below anything else of its type.

So, I pestered six different employees at two stores about it.  Why did I pester?  One of the stores had an incorrect listing that was actually selling an older bottling at the same price.  Same distillery, same bottler, but a different cask type, different age, different year, different ABV.  A few months ago, I would have exclaimed, "Woo hoo!  I'll take both!"

But not now.  Despite having a chance at a great deal, I knew nothing about the older bottling.  Never tasted it.  No reviews of it to be found.  It wasn't the bottle I actually wanted.  Again, I'd tasted the one I was looking for and I liked it.  I was willing, for the first time in memory, to turn down a better bargain for a potentially decent whisky.  So, I did.  I turned it down.  And I called and travelled around, questioned and questioned and questioned employees (who are at the mercy of distributors) until I found my whisky.

I returned home with one bottle rather than two.  To me this is a victory.

During this very journey I also came upon three additional exceptionally priced whiskies.  Each are on my Someday list.  Previously, I would have returned home with those three in hand as well.  But they remain on the Someday list, not the Today list.  Today I'll have some great whisky to drink, and the whisky is already in my possession.

There's much less desperation for accumulation.  Though there are other purchases I'm considering, I no longer feel a rush to do them immediately.  And if I miss out on a limited or disappearing bottling, then so be it.  Hopefully a good whisky lover gets it, opens it and drinks it and enjoys it.

Do I believe that last paragraph?  Today, yes.  Tomorrow, I don't know.

A Time to Pause

With the recent ban on high-alcohol shipments to North America from the United Kingdom via non-freight airplanes, American whisky buyers have been left with a bit of a quandary.  Or a challenge.

We have many great Scotch whiskies here in The States, though the great majority of them are official bottlings.  The wider, varied, more colorful whisky world lay beyond, in the multitude of independent releases, most of which await our dollars in Europe.  But even their variety of official bottlings seem to be two- or threefold that of the selection here.  On top of all that, their pricing on many whiskies can be much better even when taking into account the price of shipping from the UK to the US.

That very shipping is now gone.  When it does come back, those freight prices will not be amusing.  But for now, it's quiet, aside from The Whisky Exchange.  Their US shipping rates, never the lowest to begin with, have gone up nearly 50%.  Why the Civil Aviation Authority thinks a few bottles of Ardmore is a safety risk, while their planes carry thousands of gallons of jet fuel every day, is a curiosity.  And how almost every UK online shop was caught without shipping options mystifies me.

But why doesn't concern me much right now.  The issue is present and we should think about it while it is.

---

Because, as Jean Renoir once said, everyone has his reasons, I will dispense with the "we" and talk about the "I".

Frankly, I'm uncomfortable with the state of the whisky market.  And I've been making many of my purchases based on that unease.

I've witnessed prices launch like a slew of bottle rockets.  Highland Park 18 was $80 in late 2011, then $100 in early 2012.  Yamazaki 18 went from $90 to $100 to $130.  Laphroaig 10 went from $33 to $40 at Trader Joe's in less than a year.  Glenfiddich 15 has done the same over the same period of time.  The Willett ryes went from $35 to $40 (a 14% jump, four times inflation, without anyone blinking) last year; I thought it was due to the ages going from 5 to 6 years, but now even the 4 year is at the higher price.

When I see one of my favorite malts holding its price for a long period of time, I start to anticipate that the price is going to go up 20-30% at any moment.  So I buy a bottle.  I see a sale that brings an overpriced bottle almost back to its previous year's price.  I buy a bottle.  I find the one liquor store that hasn't raised the price on a prized whisky.  I buy a bottle.

Then there are the whiskies that are disappearing.  Johnnie Walker Green and Gold Labels.  The Macallan Fine Oaks.  Longrow CV.  Talisker 18 (it's dead to me).  The old-style Glen Gariochs.  Wild Turkey Rye 101.  Bowmore Tempest.  I want to catch a bottle before it's gone.

And like the pricing issue, it has caused me to purchase out of fear.

Since I started my job four months ago, I have bought a lot of booze.  I love my whisky stash, probably a bit too much.  There are a lot more bottles than there used to be.  Sometimes, when I have the rare moment of clarity, I ask myself, "Am I anticipating the end of the world?  Because seriously, at maybe five drams a week, how long will it take me to drink this?"

It isn't just fear that drives me.  It's desire.  There are old whiskies, new whiskies, odd whiskies, rare whiskies, popular whiskies, famous whiskies, infamous whiskies, unknown whiskies, Irish whiskies, Japanese whiskies, Dutch whiskies, Indian whiskies, Welch whiskies, Oregonian whiskies, fancy finished whiskies, third refill whiskies, organic whiskies, cask strength whiskies, blended malt whiskies, East Highland whiskies, unchillfiltered whiskies, brash whiskies, soft whiskies, autumn whiskies, winter whiskies, spring whiskies, summer whiskies, experimental whiskies, and there are your whiskies that I can't have.

It's gorgeous and terrifying like any drug lust.  There really is no end, only mortality and credit card limits spell the boundaries.

Last year at this time, I posted this bit on my personal history of collection habits.  The paragraph near the end, on whiskies, is of particular interest as I look back.

Simply, I love collecting and I LOVE finding a bargain.  And I love whisky.  So I consume.  Not drinking so much, but absorbing massive amounts of information then purchasing and purchasing and purchasing.  If my life was full of spiritual joy, would I still be doing this?  Probably not.  In that pretend life, I would probably zero in on a whisky that pleased me unconditionally and keep that bottle on hand until it ran out.  That's what I used to do.  But not anymore.  In fact, I'm having an awfully difficult time stopping.

One of my most intense habits is scouring the many European stores, assembling the dream shopping cart gradually over a number of months, then pulling the trigger.

But now I can't.  So this is a good time for me to halt and gauge my next step.  I really love whisky, every part of it.  But perhaps the value of those 750mL bottles has gotten out of control.

Dusty Whisky Report: Windsor Canadian Whisky, bottled in...

Producer: Fortune Brands, with Beam Inc.
Brand: Windsor Canadian
Region: Alberta, Canada
Age: minimum 3 years
Blend: corn, barley, and grain whiskies
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Don't tell, show, bro.

I previously reported on Windsor Canadian here, last year, finding that it had a pleasant little palate but a harsher nose.  Windsor still has no online presence, aside from its single Beam Inc page.  Beam also bottles Canadian Club and seems to run with that more famous whisky in their marketing choices.

You can find Windsor down towards the bottom shelf in most liquor stores' Canadian selections, in black plastic bottles (whether 750ml or 1.75L).  As I highlighted in an earlier Canadian Club post, whisky doesn't hold up so well in plastic bottles.  And as Jordan (of Chemistry of the Cocktail) commented: "Alcohol should leech plastic much faster than water, being a comparatively non-polar solvent."  Yum.

Happily the handle of Windsor found in the Perry's liquor cabinet was made of the classic dark thick brown glass.  Had the whisky sat in plastic over these ages, I would not have risked a sip.  As I did with the previous two dusty discoveries, I attempted to get a bottling date on this thing.

This broken pink tax stamp affixed to the top of the bottle had the notations "TAX PAID" and "DISTILLED SPIRITS", so it was pre-'82.

I like these dark bottles since they allow for the best bottle pics.  Here, we can see the "79" on the bottom.  I don't know if the "55" means the 55th day of the year, but I'm relatively comfortable in saying that this Windsor was bottled in 1979......and has likely been open ever since. 

(The sources of my dating info are here, here, and here.  If anyone has any corrections to my assumptions/conclusions, please let me know!) 

The Notes:

The color is the classic Canadian blend shade of amber-tinted urine.  The nose leads with vanilla and molasses.  Then there's something vegetal going on, along with a dose of balsamic vinegar.  A big charge of grain spirit trails along at the end.  Then it gets a little farty (or pharty, per my notes) after a while.  Nillas(!) are big on the palate, along with some brown sugar.  Otherwise it's pretty rough, with some coarse ethyl and a light bitterness.  The finish is spirity too and drying.  But there's a vanilla note that lasts for a long time.

When comparing to my notes on the contemporary Windsor, this oldie has a softer nose but a tougher mouth, while holding fast to the Nilla note.  I was already getting a bit queasy from the Mr. Boston piddle sampled earlier, so I don't think that the resulting stomach troubles were related to the Windsor.  On the other hand, just to be safe, the sink should drink the rest of this bottle.

To conclude:
J.T.S. Brown Bourbon (bottled in 1969) = Yummy!
Mr. Boston's American Whiskey (bottled in 1980) = Vile
Windsor Canadian Whisky (bottled in 1979) = Similar to current version, but getting strong on ethyl

The JTS Brown Bourbon (and also not getting poisoned) made it all worthwhile.  Who knows what treasures hide in old liquor closets everywhere??????

Dusty Whiskey Report: Mr. Boston's Blended American Whiskey, bottled in...

Brand: Mr. Boston's

Current Owner: Sazerac Company (via Barton Brands via Mr. Boston's)

Type: Blended American Whiskey

Distillery: Old Mister Boston Distillery (amongst others)

Location: Boston, MA; Owensboro, KY; Albany, GA

Age: Zygotic

ABV: 40% ABV

There's Mr. Boston, looking every bit like a young Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life.  If you've seen the movie, you know I'm not complimenting the man.

But who was Mr. Boston?  Per Modern Drunkard Magazine:

The Old Mr. Boston distillery sprang to life in 1933, founded by Boston natives Irwin Benjamin and Hyman C. Berkowitz. There was no real Mr. Boston, the icon is merely an artist’s conception of what a genteel 19th century Bostonian who liked a bit of liquor might look like. He was formally introduced to the drinking community in the inaugural 1935 edition of the Old Mr. Boston Deluxe Official Bartender’s Guide...

I really encourage you to read the whole MDM article on Alcohol Icons.  Hell, I really encourage you to read Modern Drunkard Magazine.  Bless their soggy hearts, livers, and minds.

The Mr. Boston company released very cheap flavored gins, brandies, and schnappses over 50 years or so.  At first the man was Old Mr. Boston, but then in the 1970s they dropped the "Old" (as if respect was what they sought with their Pineapple Gin).  In 1995, fake Mr. Boston and his regrettably real liquors were purchased by Barton Brands, who were in turn bought by Sazerac.

Yes, the company that releases George T. Stagg, also owns the rights to make this:

But they don't make it anymore.  THANK YE GODS.

Let's get to this bottle in particular.  Like I did with the scrumptious JTS Brown, yesterday, I did some snooping around to get a date for the bottle.

This broken pink tax stamp affixed to the top of the bottle meant it was from 1985 or earlier.  It was pre-1982 due to the strip having the notations "TAX PAID" and "DISTILLED SPIRITS".  And then there was the "80" on the bottom of the bottle.

My guess is that it was bottled in 1980.

(The sources of my dating info are here, here, and here.  If anyone has any corrections to my assumptions/conclusions, please let me know!)

I also noticed that Mr. Boston was determined to tell his buyers how grand his products are:

The "Finest" liquors of "Unequalled Excellence".  Right.

Let's go back to that last picture and zoom in a bit, shall we?

I admire the honesty.  I wish contemporary blenders were forced to show how much grain spirit fills out their blends.  Yet, I think there was considerably more than 70% grain neutral spirit remaining in this particular dusty bottle bottle of American Whiskey.

And when I say "Grain Neutral Spirit", I want you to think: "Cheap Vodka".  And when I say "Cheap Vodka", I want you to think watered-down ethanol.

No quotation marks on that last word.

The Notes:

The color is copper, with considerable floating debris.  The nose holds a little milk chocolate, a hint of sugar cookies, lots of imitation vanilla extract.  But mostly cheap vodka.  Vaguely nauseating.  The palate is ethanol heavy.  Maybe some corn syrup, light vanilla, sweat cream.  Starts sweet then ends (not vaguely) nauseatingly.  The actual finish is all ethanol/grain spirits/cheap vodka/whatever.  Perhaps the ghost of sweet cream and vanilla.

I couldn't finish 0.5oz of it, though I valiantly tried and nearly became ill.  The wallop of grain spirit was anything but neutral after a while.  The whiskey part was probably once made from corn and malted barley, barely.

Was this any better in the '80s?  Because, Jesus.

Dusty Whiskey Report: J.T.S Brown 7 year old Straight Bourbon, bottled in...

Brand: J.T.S. Brown
Current Owner: Heaven Hill Distillers
Type: Straight Bourbon Whisky
Distillery: J.T.S Brown Distillery (possibly now Four Roses Distillery?)
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Age: minimum 7 years
ABV: 43% ABV

Enjoyed by great real and fictional gentlemen like Chuck Cowdery and Fast Eddie Felson, J.T.S. Brown bourbon is one of those bottom shelf bottles you've sorta seen but generally disregarded because your better angels tell you to ignore $8 bottles of whiskey.

Fast Eddie, not Chuck Cowdery.
Or is it??????
(pic source)

Chuck writes in his great blog:

J.T.S. Brown was an early distiller and the half-brother of George Garvin Brown, who founded Brown-Forman, the parent company of Jack Daniel's. The J.T.S. Brown Distillery was established by his four sons and later continued by one of his grandsons. The last distillery to bear that name is the one in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, known today as Four Roses. J.T.S. Brown Bourbon is still made, by Heaven Hill Distilleries...

I'll be honest, I'd never tried J.T.S Brown before and only knew about it from The Hustler.  But there it was sitting in the back of my father in-law's liquor cabinet, with no more than 100mL of liquid remaining.

I knew it was on the older side, due to the broken pink tax stamp affixed to the top of the bottle.

That tax stamp meant it was from 1985 or earlier.  It was pre-1982 due to the strip having the notations "TAX PAID" and "DISTILLED SPIRITS".

Measurement-wise it only said 4/5 Quart, so they weren't using metric liquid measurements at the time of bottling, so it was bottled before the '70s.

Finally, and it's difficult to see in the picture, but there's a "69" on the bottom of the bottle:

So, I'm guessing this was bottled in 1969.

(The sources of my dating info are here, here, and here.  If anyone has any corrections to my assumptions/conclusions, please let me know!)

Though no one knows how long the bottle has been opened (probably around 40 years), my father in-law, Steve, has been using three tablespoons of the bourbon in each of his awesome Chocolate Walnut Bourbon pie over the last several years.

What remained in the bottle was a very thick and cloudy orange fluid.  Of course I had to taste it.

Officially:

The color is a thick cloudy orange molasses.  Doesn't look anything like a drink anymore.  The nose leads with tons of milk chocolate, brown sugar simple syrup, orange zest, and vanilla ice cream.  Seems mostly corn and wheat whiskey.  The palate:  YUMMY!  Bourbon candy!  Corn syrup, brown sugar, a hint of rye spices, a little peppery zing.  Corn and rye reign high here.  It finishes on one enormous note of caramel sauce on vanilla ice cream.

WOW!  This the tastiest bourbon I've yet tried.  But is it still bourbon?

It was 43% ABV at the moment of its bottling.  Any hint of alcohol in the nose and palate has been oxidized into silence.  So I wonder if it's still over 40%?

In its current state, it's more like bourbon concentrate.  A bourbon liqueur.  All the edges and angles have been sanded down leaving the all the best parts in an dense syrup.  I'm bringing the last 2 ounces home with me.  Perhaps it could be poured on ice cream, drizzled on apple pie, or maybe just sipped neat, for breakfast.

What a lovely discovery!  Thank you, Steve!

The Two Whiskiest Weeks of My Life

Alright, get comfortable.  There's been a lot of whisky had.

The Glenmorangie Taste Off

To begin my recap of these whisky weeks, I should start with my actual blog posts.  The Glenmorangie Taste Off was as educational as any 'Off I've done.  I learned:

1.  I like the The Original a lot more than I used to.  I wish I would have had a bottle of it during our extended summer.  It would probably make for a better summer house malt than Glenfiddich 12.
2.  The Lasanta experience was disconcerting.  I'd enjoyed GlenMo's sherried whisky for years, but having now come back to it after two years of intensive whisky tasting, I no longer felt anywhere near the same level of joy or appreciation while drinking the Lasanta.  Will my palate shift back some day?  Or will the whisky change as consumers' palates and purchases make their own adjustments?
3.  Quinta Ruban mostly supported my continuing issue with port-finished whisky, as well as short-term wine-finished whisky.  I've only experienced one port-ed whisky that felt like an excellent convergence of wine, wood, and whisky (and I hope to report on it before the year is out!), but the rest of the port finishes I've had smell and taste like whisky + low-grade port.
4.  The Astar is an All Star.

A somewhat public whisky tasting

Two weekends ago, I attended an eight-part whisky tasting, mostly consisting of Ian MacLeod's products.

It was here that I had my first sip of the Isle of Skye 8 year.  I was sold on it, quite literally.  I purchased it, promptly, and it awaits its turn as a potential Johnnie-Walker-Black-Label-Killer.  There will be an official Taste Off between the two before the year is out.

We tried a few Chieftain's bottlings, my favorite being their Ben Nevis 13yr 1999 bottling.  It appears as if I wasn't the only fan, as it has sold out at Hi Time Wine Cellars, while K&L has only 5 bottles left.  It had a bit of citrus, white fruits, and flower blossoms in the nose and mouth, along with significant vanilla and brown sugar notes.  My single issue with it is the pricing: the 75-80USD range for a 13yr non-cask-strengther.

We also sampled three Arran single malts, my favorite being the 14yr, full of toffee and honey.  It's priced at $70 at all of my usual haunts.  The price is neither terrible nor super, but the quality is definitely there.  Also, to quote Serge V.: "excuse me but with this kind of quality, I guess they could now start to drop the wine finishes."

The winner of the night was probably Kilchoman Machir Bay, already lauded on this site.  But those above three whiskys (all different styles) provided some good competition.

A flurry of crazy purchases

So, yeah, let's get down to the meaty part.

Two weeks ago, a bunch of carefully planned purchases fell into place.

While my dear Kristen was in the UK for business, I just happened to find a little shop in Yorkshire that sold the now dead-for-eight-years Ledaig 15yr bottling for a reasonable price.  The shop agreed to ship it to Kristen's hotel.  And she couriered it back to me.  I have it!  Woo hoo!  My wife rules.

Pic courtesy of Wright Wine and Whisky Company
my source for this great bottle.

That same day, a shipment of two out-of-production peated whiskys arrived from The Netherlands.  I had been working on getting those to me SINCE AUGUST and now they are in my possession.  I'm keeping them a secret for now, but they've both been mentioned in passing on this site previously.  And I hope they'll be mentioned again soon...

Then, three days later......

Well......I'll just list the text I sent to Kristen:

Your husband drove to Boyle Heights at 9am to rescue two dusty whisky bottles from neglect at a corner liquor store.  And got to work ten minutes early.

I still can't believe I did that.

I can't believe I got to work ten minutes early.

That marks the end of my whisky purchases for the calendar year......

......okay, aside from the bottle of Thomas H. Handy rye I just discovered at a place that shouldn't have had it, at a price they probably shouldn't have been charging if they're hoping to turn a profit.

This past weekend

The whisky continues.  I met up with a bunch of old buddies, including one of my original Scotch mates from the East Coast.  There was a bottle of 2011's Talisker 18yr that had been burning a hole in my whisky cabinet since August '11.  I'd been waiting to open it until my friend (a fan of Talisker 10yr) visited the West Coast.  Open it we did, and a bunch of us did some damage on Saturday night.

On the afternoon before the Talisker-ing, I met up with Florin, a brilliant whisky man and a frequent commenter on this site.  And Oh My Whiskey, we drank some goodness!  We have similar palates when it comes to Straight Rye Whiskey, so that must have inspired him to share a magnificent Virginia Whiskey.  HOLY ABRAHAM BOWMAN AND HIS PIONEER SPIRIT!  People, I am not exaggerating when I say that THIS is the best American whiskey I have ever tried.  It was over 68% ABV, but a very delicious 68% ABV.  Sour Mash Manifesto has a review of it here, SKU has his review here.  Thank you very much to Florin for this and all of the grand whiskies (including a very impressive house vatted malt)!

Now I sit here...

...on Sunday evening, a little tired, a bit under the weather.  My senses have been compromised.  Sleep depravation, un-wise dietary choices, abrupt weather changes, and an almost excess of liquid pleasures have gotten the better of me.  I regret not a thing.

So many more opportunities out there.  I want to be in shape for them.  Thus it's time to dry out and recharge.

Did I mention that I also tried my first Rosebank?

Las Vegas, Day 2: The Pinball Hall of Fame

Running Tally:
Video Poker - DOWN $60.  Curse you, video poker!  Actually that $60 lasted for about 40-50 hands on a $1 ($5 max bet) machine.

Vegas tip:  If you choose to leave The Strip to drive around town, make sure you plan your travel carefully.  Roads change names, end abruptly, and seem to have existential crises near the highway.  When returning to The Strip, if you find yourself on Desert Inn Road, GET OFF OF IT IMMEDIATELY.

None of us (Jason, our pal Claire, and I) slept much on the first night.  Does anyone ever sleep well on the first night in LV?  I powered through the day without a nap and without lunch.  Yes, I forgot to eat.  That happens in Vegas sometimes.  That's usually due to a good run at the tables.  But for me, it was due to

THE PINBALL HALL OF FAME.

Source

Yeah, that's right, baby.  The Pinball Hall of Fame is a Must Stop for me every time I'm here.

She may not look like much on the outside, but she's got it where it counts.  [One of the many Star Wars quotes that goes seamy out of context.]

Their new facility is huge!  There are so many pinball games that......

......

......

......Sorry, I got lost daydreaming about the place again.

Source

Here's the game list.  Oh, there is indeed 150+ pinball games.  But here's the kicker:  They're in perfect working order.  Probably in better shape than the tables you played 15-45 years ago.  The place is a non-profit, using its proceeds for the upkeep and overhead, then donating the rest.

Yeah, it's freaking sweet.

$12 lasted me THREE HOURS.  Three hours of bliss for the same price as one ugly blackjack hand.

Two of my all-time faves (Addams Family and Jurassic Park) were getting fixed.  Had they been up, I'd still be playing right now.  But it was all good.  So many of my old favorites were bumping like they were shiny and new.

Star Wars - Got reamed on it like always do.
Twilight Zone - Killed it!  Played at least 8 games.  Hands went numb early.  REPLAYED.  Possible all time favorite?
Attack From Mars - A super table.  Forgot how awesome it is.  Didn't forget how bloated the scoring system is.  I was at 6 BILLION points when I was all, "The hell's the replay at?"  8.7 billion.  Five balls!  MATCHED ONCE.
Black Knight 2000 - There were 2 credits sitting on this oldie.  So I gave it spin.  Odd and not entirely intuitive double-leveled gameplay.  But it was free pinball.
Eight Ball Deluxe - A little older than the previous table, but very enjoyable.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Incredible how quickly the gameplay all comes back.  This is a modern pinball classic.  REPLAYED TWICE IN A ROW.  Yeee-ay-ah.  MATCHED ANOTHER ONE.  Seven games of this.  "Q, we don't have time for your games."
Bad Cats - Awesome.  Haven't played this one in about 15 years.  It's an uncomplicated but oddly addictive table.  I don't even remember how many games I played.  MATCHED TWICE.
Jack Bot - By this point my wrists were locking up and my mind was mush.  I think I played three rounds of this.  Scores were embarrassing.
Theatre of Magic - But I got my second wind here.  Must have played it for an hour, thanks to another two matched free games.  Got 92% of the way to the replay on my last game.  Then I just had to put down the pinball pipe.  My natural instincts were groaning for sustenance and hydration.

I have actual HD video footage of this experience.  It's terrible and terribly mint.  I'll edit one minute recap of this as soon as I'm able.

If you enjoy pinball, please go to the Pinball Hall of Fame.  It will refresh your pinball soul.  The games are all 25-50 cents.  The sounds will transport you to the arcades of the '80s and '90s.  And it's non-profit too!

The Tuesday Loop

This is a very intense writing week for me so I might be a little more scattered and schizo with this week's postings.  First let's talk w--

I've got this song stuck in my head.  Its chorus keeps running over and over and over again.  I can't stop it and I don't know how it got in there.

Hey, Blue Text, it's difficult enough to focus right now even without interruptions.  So, if you could hush for a few minutes, then you and I can discuss offline later.

I'll try, but this song is driving me crazy.

First, let's talk whisky.

The Dram Quest

As you'll notice, a new list has popped up in the right frame of the page.  These are whiskies that I most desire to sample.  None of them are outrageously expensive.  No 30+ year olds nor 1960-somethings.  Most aren't easily obtainable, but I desire the chase.

I'll cross 'em off as I try them.  I'll add new ones from time to time, but I'll keep the list below 20.

The Whisky Library...

...has grown considerably in recent months.  I'll be updating the Sources on the Whisky Notes page this week with this whole list:

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch, 6th Edition - I recommended this in the whisky gifts post.  It really is one of the great all-time volumes on whisky.

Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible 2012 - A zillion (or maybe 4500+) whiskies reviewed by a gentleman who seems to be a bit of an unconventional character in the whisky scene.  Though I agree with him about half the time, each of his reviews are insightful and full of whisky love.  Also recommended in that whisky gift post.

101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die by Ian Buxton - GREAT book.  I reviewed it here.

Single Malt and Scotch Whisky by Daniel Lerner - A gift from an old friend.  My first whisky book.  The binding is totally shattered.  A good early intro whisky book.

Whiskypedia by Charles MacLean - Similar structure to the "Complete Guide", sans reviews, but every page packed with oodles and oodles of distillery info.  MacLean's a great writer and this is a great reference book.

Scotch Whisky, A Liquid History by Charles MacLean - Speaking of super reference books, holy moley!  This is going to take a while to get through, but I'm working on it.  So much good stuff!

Malt Whisky Yearbook 2012 - The pictures!  The articles!  The stats!  This is THE annual must-have.  There's so much great news about the state of the industry and the fine brown liquor itself.

Whisky by Aeneas MacDonald - Tremendous.  It is literature.  And that is by no means exaggeration.  Beautifully written.  Lyrical, even.  Originally published in 1930, it was the first book written by and for the whisky drinker.  There's tons of history and distillation instructions, but the pseudonymous writer crafts such a lovely homage to the beauty of whisky, that I'm going to have to cover this in its own post.

Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo, Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo.  Damnit, the tune's still there!  Where did it come from?

Hey!  Hush, the post is still going.

The Bro is in Town

Jason arrives in LA today for business reasons.  On Thursday and Friday we're going to visit at least two great drinking establishments.  More on that once it's done.

Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm Hmmm--

And I'll be taking the Metro!  I've lived in LA County for over 11 years and I've never taken the Metro.  Largely because it never is where I am nor where I am going.  But now it is where I am and where I need to go.  Hopefully that experience is uneventful and won't need its own post.

Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo, Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm--

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

I've always been a big fan of Abbey Road, but now that I've given Sgt. Pepper's another go I think it may pull ahead as my favorite Beatles album.  Technically, it's astounding.

It would be Exhibit A for why psychedelic drugs are good, but I don't think most mortals can hold the clarity and vision together enough to create such a complete piece of art--

Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo--

It destroys The Beach Boys Pet Sounds as far as innovation and song structure--

Oh no!  I can't stop the song!

Yes, you can!  Just a few more min--

It's burning through my defenses!  Oh f--

I want your loving
And I want your revenge

Oh dear.

You and me could write a bad romance

I'm going to---

I want your loving
And I want your revenge
You and me could write a bad romance

We didn't need to hear that a second time.

Oh ohhhh whoaaaa ohh ohhh
Caught in a bad romance

Whew.  I feel so much better now.


Hello?


What happened to Black Text?


Hello--

For the benefit of Mr. Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo Fanques Fair-what a scene
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!

Now, on to work.

Single Malt Report: Bidding Bye-Bye to a Bowmore Bottle

My favorite new single malt that I tried last year was the Bowmore 16yr 1994 Signatory bottling that I'd purchased at Royal Mile Whiskies (London) last May.

I completed the bottle on Friday to celebrate the end of a crummy week.  There was one (sizable) drink left in it:

Because the bottle had been open for about eight months, the whisky had plenty of time to settle and because it was less-than-half-full for at least three months, there was a chance for oxidation to set in and change (some say ruin) the whisky.  So, this final drink would also be a chance to document the flavor changes caused by these chemical reactions.

Here is a recap of my notes from early October:

Color - between ginger ale and chardonnay
Nose - (neat) softly peated, medicinal/band-aids (but less so than Laphroaig), cowhide leather; (w/water) peat and medicine fade, but menthol moves forward
Palate - (neat) Peaty but smoothly so, light cream and sweet potatoes; (w/water) Peat smoke
Finish - (neat) hot stuff, cayenne pepper hot, lingers and lingers and lingers; (w/water) cools down, black peppery

I enjoyed it because the elements were so well integrated into the whole.  It actually taught my taste buds how to like peat.

---

Now at the tail end of the bottle, eight months after it was opened, it had clearly transformed into a whole new creature.  Now keep in mind, I only drank it neatly, but did so over a period of 60 minutes.

The color remained the same.  Thank goodness.  I'd be worried if that had changed.
The nose had grown, if you will.  It was spirity and grassy.  Sea air had joined the soft peat and band-aids.  It was oakier, some burning paper.  Around the edges there was some rotting fruit sugars as well.
But all of that did not prepare me for the flavor.
The palate was enormous.  Barbecued peat and barbecued seaweed were massively upfront.  Something like salted pork, too, and maybe maybe some weed (if I knew what weed tasted like...).
The finish was sweeter than the palate.  Some of that BBQ lingered, but there was regular peat smoke too.  It was very dry, very vegetal.

Wow, it had really changed!  It's not just my developing taste buds.  The nose was softer.  The palate was rougher.  The finish was drier.  It had developed a completely different character than any other Bowmore that I've tried.  It was like an Arbeg, but barbecue as opposed to soot.

Very complex and enjoyable.  It was an excellent final act.

(ratings remain the same)
Pricing - Bargain at $70
Rating - 93