NOT Single Malt Report: Dewar's 12 year Special Reserve

Cigars and I don't get on like we used to.  The last two stoges I've puffed have resulted in toilet worship.

Last night, courtesy of Cousin Jon, I enjoyed Oban 14, Dimple Pinch, Isle of Jura 10, Highland Park 12, Dalwhinnie 15, and Macallan 12 -- over a four hour period.  Whisky is the one booze in which I can overindulge with confidence.  But then the lovely Opus X cigar arrived.  I got about one hour into the two-hour cigar when the abyss took me.

I stumbled outside, hugged a tree, and proceeded to forfeit the Oban, Dimple Pinch, Isle of Jura, Highland Park, Dalwhinnie, Macallan, dessert, dinner, lunch, and breakfast.

(Many thank yous to Jon for providing the means to indulge and also for hauling me up the stairs, postscript.  And thank you to Kristen, period.)

Thusly I'm slow today.  And the best thing for it is a little Hair of the Blog.

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John Dewar & Sons, currently a subsidiary of the liquor behemoth known as Bacardi, opened for business in 1846.  The whisky maker merged with other brands to form Distillers Company in 1925.  Distillers Company was bought by Guinness in 1986, then Guinness became part of Diageo in 1997.  Then the following year Diageo jettisoned Dewar's into Bacardi's lap.

Dewar's owns five malt distilleries: Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, MacDuff and Royal Brackla.  They officially bottle Aberfeldy as single malts (12 & 21 years).  Independent bottlers have released singles from all five distilleries.  But the vast share of their malt (along with 30+ malts from other distilleries) goes into their bestselling blends.  Dewar's White La......whoa, almost lost my lunch there......Dewar's Wh......there it goes again......Dewar's White (gluh) Label and I don't get along.  Dewar's Signature is their premium blend.  I've seen an 18 year Founders in some liquor stores this year.  And Dewar's 12 year Special Reserve is their mid-pricer.

The whiskies in the 12 year are married.  With a rabbi and everything.  Or maybe after they're combined, they sit in an oak cask for some time in order for the flavors to merge before bottling.

I've had the White La......okay I'm not even going to type it.  I've had their cheapest blend.  And I'll leave it at that.  I've been seeing the 12 year everywhere recently, so I thought there should be a Report.  Kristen's parents keep a bottle of it at the house because one of their friends likes it on the rocks.

So I gave it a try.  The sacrifices I make for you people...

Distilleries: Around 40, including Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, MacDuff and Royal Brackla
Producer: Bacardi
Brand: Dewar's
Age: minimum 12 years
Blend: single malts and grain whiskies
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Firstly, I tried it neat.  The color is classic whisky gold.  I would not be shocked to discover that's due to added carmel coloring.  For a 40% ABV, it has a very strong alcohol burn on its nose.  Once the ethanol passes the sniffer it's mostly vanilla and varnish.  And a tiny bit of brown sugar.  It's hot and lively on the palate.  It tastes of nuts and vanilla, some malt and grains.  But mostly, it tastes like notebook paper.  And I know that flavor well, having eaten a number of sheets in my childhood.  The finish is warm and of a decent length.

Adding some water brings out the oaks, bourbon and sherry, in the nose.  There's some molasses and cheese too.  But also, there's something else, weird and rotten meatish, in the distance; as if there was a dead animal in one of the casks.  There's no dead rat in the palate, thankfully.  It tastes a little like a light Irish whiskey.  My notes say "Nuts + caramel + nothing".  The finish has vanished altogether.

It's not the worst blend I've had and it's in a good price range.  And I didn't vomit.  A ringing endorsement!

Pricing - Appropriate at $20-$25

Rating - 67

Single Malt Report: The Yamazaki 12 years old

First, some history in a heartnut shell:

Japan’s introduction to whisky directly corresponded to the opening of its culture to The West.  Commodore Matthew Perry was said to have brought over 100 gallons of whisky with him upon his arrival in 1854.  Western trade then brought European booze to the their shores and Scotch Whisky became very popular to those who could afford it.  Chemists and wine makers began trying to recreate Scotch to varying levels of failure.

Between 1918 and 1920, Masataka Taketsuru received a thorough apprenticeship at distilleries in Speyside and Campbeltown, then returned to what would later become Suntory distilleries in Yamazaki.  From this wealth of knowledge, the Japanese whisky industry began legitimately.

In the 1930s, Japan’s Imperial Navy was drinking at such an incredible rate that the whisky industry had to grow exponentially in order to meet the demand.  Postwar, the whisky love spread throughout Japanese society, at first with the upper classes then slowly down to the working classes as the whisky supply grew and the prices dropped.  Seventeen separate distilleries arose over the years, most of which are still running.

Today, Japan is the fourth largest whiskey producer in the world and the largest non-European consumer of Scotch whisky (per-capita) in the world ^{[citation needed because author is frequently full of sh*t]}.

All of the paid published whisky experts agree that Japanese whisky is delicious.  But don’t take their word for it.  Take mine.  Japanese whisky is delicious.

(For a full Japanese whisky education please visit the excellent http://nonjatta.blogspot.com/.)

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For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.

Suntory is one of Japan's largest whisky producers and their Yamazaki brand is one of their most popular single malts inside and outside Japan.  Like many of us, my introduction to Suntory was via Bob Harris.

A ring-a-ding-ding.

(Inconvenient fact: The whisky that Bob was shilling for was actually Hibiki, Suntory's big blend.)

Upon my departure from my previous job, about four months ago, my wonderful co-workers held a going-away happy hour for me at a nearby swanky sushi restaurant.  When the menu arrived, my eyes were instantly drawn to The Yamazaki 12yr.  'Twas love at first taste.  Two months later I bought a bottle for my birthday.  That bottle is now empty.

(Source)

Distillery: Yamazaki
Producer: Suntory Whisky
Age: 12 years
Maturation: Bourbon / Sherry casks (?)
Country: Japan
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

The flavors in Japanese whisky can be very bold when sipped neatly.  That's because in Japan, more often than not, whisky is enjoyed on ice.  In fact, one of the classic afterwork drinks is the Mizuwari: Water + two large ice cubes + whisky, stirred 13 1/2 times.  The drinker still has to be able to taste the drink underneath all of that cold water, thus the intense flavors.

But let's start with it neat and naked, as I prefer it because I'm a gaijin.

Neatly:  The color is a very dark amber, almost mahogany.  The nose is lovely.  Ginger, crème brûlée, heavy vanilla, fizzy malt, prunes, bourbon toffee, and bananas.  I believe the technical term is "yum".  The palate is thick and buttery.  The ginger in the nose becomes gingerbread on the tongue.  There's some granulated sugar, dried apricots, and fresh cherries.  It has a medium-length finish, with some continuing cherry and sugar cookies.

Yeah, it's a big delicious dessert whisky when tried neatly.

Adding some water (1 part water to 3 parts whisky) and lowering the ABV to about 30%:  The nose becomes herbal, very gin-like, so maybe that's juniper?  It's a little peppery.  Some maple syrup.  Then ginger has now become ginger ale!  I actually like the nose better this way, with more subtlety.  The palate becomes very creamy.  Smooth, moreish, light.  Vanilla wafers that stick around through the mild finish.

For relaxing times indeed.

Now, let's fix up a Mizuwari:  All of those bold scents and flavors go to sleep, or are suffocated (depending on one's opinion of whisky on the rocks).  What remains are strong notes of vanilla and maple syrup in both the nose and palate.  It's an undemanding social drink, probably good during the summer, definitely appropriate after work.

The Yamazaki is a very versatile malt.  It works neatly, with water, as a Highball, or as a Mizuwari, depending on the drinker's preference.  The price is quite right.  I definitely recommend it as an introduction into Japanese whisky.

Pricing - Good at $38-$48
Rating - 87

Dulles Layover

My wife is great to layover with.  I mean, in the airport.  I mean, nothing is better than laying over with my wife.  I mean...

I'll start again.

Due to our early flight, my alarm was set for 3:20AM this morning.  You can always count on that being a restful sleep.  So, after laying in an anxiety swamp for four hours, I crawled into the car with my wife.  We did a sweet beeline up the empty 405 in the dark.  Parked, bussed, checked, securitied, and got to the gate with time to spare.

We got upgraded to first class.  Wife versus Trip, 1-0.

Slept for 30 minutes, had a free meal, finished a Film Comment mag, and was too batty to take advantage of the free booze.

Got to Dulles Airport on time, which means a 3-1/2 hour layover.  First thing we always do in this situation is hit the Potbelly in Gate C.

Here we enjoy some Potbelly sandwiches and Yuengling, neither of which are available in LA.  A song about LA plays on the speakers as Mohammed (that's what the receipt says) serves us.

After this, we walk past two Duty Free shops where I complain, as I always do, that it's ridiculous that I can't buy Duty Free-only whisky bottlings while flying domestically.  Kristen pretends like she's never heard me complain about that before.  I feel self-righteously correct.

Now we sit in a United Club.  Free internet, free shortbread cookies, comfortable seats, and Glenlivet 15 French Oak(!).  Wife versus Trip, 2-0.

I am spoiled today.  Had I been travelling alone, I'd be laying on the floor at my next gate, complaining to strangers about my earache and crappy seats as I chew antacids for lunch.

Thanks, K!

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

I am probably somewhere in the sky at this moment, sleeping restlessly.  Look, Blog, no hands!



If you haven't seen the new The Dark Knight Rises trailer yet, here it is.  Are we getting some politics in this movie?

The Honey-Do List for the Holidays

Happy Holidays, folks!  I hope that everyone's vacations begin soon.  The Industry began its holidays on Friday; as a result much of the machine has slowed down.  But there's no rest for the creatives, though maybe a brief break from development emails.

I just returned from Arizona and am now prepping to leave for New York and Ohio.  I have some entries lined up, so as long as I have the interwebs I strive for blog diligence.

Whiskies - I have a tremendous Taste Off lined up while I'm in New York.  A lot of the classics will be involved.  If I live to tell about it, then you'll see it posted here.  I also have a very exciting whisky situation that may present itself in Ohio.  I dare not say anymore about it.

Once I finish some further research, I'd like to continue posting some Whiskey 101 posts.  You know, some (borrowed) wit and (stolen) wisdom about the sauce.

I happily found a bottle of Black & White, an old-school dirt-under-the-fingernails whisky blend.  Why so happy?  Well, this is the stuff I cut my whisky teeth on when I wandered the British Isles nine years ago.  When one's a broke backpacker, one drinks the whisky one gets.  Black & White is what I gots.  Seeing the (liter!) bottle on the shelf at Pasadena's Mission Liquor was genuinely surreal.  I'm waiting to open it in 2012, after which you may see me do an about-face on highballs and whisky & ice.

Movies & Music - In doing all of these whisky posts, I haven't had a chance to finish Chapter 5 of the George Herman Hitchcock Project.  Regrettably, my general film flow (terrible word choice) has been at a trickle for months.

But I've been listening to tons of new (though, actually old) music.  Back in this blog's youth, there were music posts every week.  I would like to do at least a couple per month.

The Condo - January will bring some new projects.  I will provide before-and-after pics when it's all good.

Politics - Just saw the Kim Jong Il news.  2011 continues to be The Year It Sucks to Be A Dictator.  And for that I am thankful.

I'll be back on Wednesday!

A good man of great spirit, Christopher Hitchens.

Christopher Hitchens died last night, due to complications from esophageal cancer.  He was the most enjoyable spitfire in international journalism, a spectacular essayist (even when one doesn't agree with a single word), and a world class drinker.

Andrew Sullivan shares hours of thoughts on his blog.
Christopher Buckley writes about their unlikely friendship.
Slate has a collection of his columns.
Here's a lecture he gave on drinking correctly.

I'm travelling right now with family and am struggling to access words that will capture my sadness at his departure.  The last of his essays has been written.  Thank you, Christopher.  If there is another life, I'm sure you have gotten over that surprise and promptly taken to causing trouble and drinking well.

Single Malt Report: Longrow CV (part 4 of 4)

The Springbank Taste Off concludes!

From left to right we've got Hazelburn 8yr, Springbank 10yr 100 Proof, and Longrow CV.

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On Monday, I gave a little intro into the Campbeltown region and the Springbank Distillery.
On Tuesday, I reported on Hazelburn 8yr.
On Wednesday, I reported on Springbank 10yr 100 proof.
Today, I'll report on Longrow CV, the final dram in the Springbank Taste Off.

The obligatory historical recap:  Though just a tiny town, Campbeltown was a serious whisky producer in the 1800s.  A major downturn in the 1900s decimated over 90% of their distilleries.  The strongest remaining producer of in the region is the Springbank distillery which makes a number of completely unique whisky brands, all separated by different distillation methods.

Longrow is the second most prevalent of Springbank's brands in the US.  It also has been around the second longest and has the second most bottlings.  (The original Springbank brand is first in all of those categories.)  But Longrow is a considerably different whisky than its brothers.  While it is also not chillfiltered and not dyed, it is distilled but twice like a classic malt and is heavily peated in a similar fashion to Islay whiskies.  And it also has some curious finishes.

Longrow CV doesn't have age, proof, or cask appendages.  So what is it?

CV, for the Americans out there (I had to figure this out back when I was applying for film jobs in Ireland), stands for curriculum vitae.  It's very similar to a résumé.  It's a concise listing of qualifications, achievements, and skills.  Everyone in the UK who's job searching has one.

Springbank put a neat spin on this idea by creating CVs for each of Hazelburn, Springbank, and Longrow.  They took a number of different casks from different years in their warehouse and combined them into single whiskies.  Because these combinations are all from the same distillery and brand, they are still considered single malts and not blends.  They're sort of an overview of what the brand has to offer.

The Longrow CV is a particularly odd little space cadet.  Take a peek at the info below:

Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Longrow

Ages: between 6 and 14 years (likely 7, 10, & 14 years in this specific bottling)

Finished in: sherry, port, bourbon, and rum casks

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

The age ranges are broad, everything from a very young malt to a well-aged mid-range.  And look at all of those finishes:  Sherry, port, bourbon, and rum.  I actually didn't know this information going into my purchase of this dram.  I found this out just before the Taste Off.  On the surface it seemed like a bizarre goulash of things that don't really seem to belong together.  These were unknown waters, of the whisky sort.

As this was the final dram in each of the tastings (neat and with water), I had an excellent opportunity to compare and contrast this with the other very different (Hazelburn and Springbank) single malts.  Though I was now uncertain of how this one would turn out, I was looking forward to a bigger peater....

Longrow CV, neat.

Though it wasn't dark, the color was the darkest of the three.  In fact, my tasting wound up going from lightest to darkest, unintentionally.  The nose had the most upfront alcohol kick of the three.  But behind it was a calmer version of the hefty Springbank.  Full of rum sugar and peat smoke, very pleasant.  For the palate I will defer to my tasting notes: "Different than an Islay, like a caramel candy with a peat smoke center.  Some mild salt.  Never tasted anything like this.  Tremendous."  The finish was mild but deliciously honey sweet.

Let's get back to that "never tasted anything like this" comment.  I found myself bereft of adjectives.  There was some crazy alchemy involved in this mixing of malts.  To give you an idea, here's a list of descriptors provided by several professional tasters:

Tobacco smoke, smoked fish, lively brine, honey, grain, tangy flavors of spiced rum, vanilla cake frosting, cocoa butter, milk chocolate, sweet oak, grain, cheese, dried fruit, brown sugar, marshmallows toasted on a campfire, soft billows of smoke from the kiln, peppery, big citrusy notes, vanilla fudge, orangeade, and dried ginger.

I had struggled to describe it because it has everything.  And it doesn't feel like a blob.  It works.

Then I added a tablespoon of water to lower it to 35% ABV.  The nose became plastic and peat up front.  Some of the sherry snuck out.  The Springbank band-aids.  Wet peat soaked by the ocean.  Now the palate was big and bold, becoming both sweeter and peatier.   The finish was "even better than before", peat with fruit sugars.

I sat there, looking at my empty glasses, genuinely thrilled having enjoyed the entire thing.  And tipsy.

Bravo to Springbank for having sculpted these three unique whisky brands.  They are linked by an oceanic character, but then diverge into separate dimensions.  I look forward to expanding my knowledge of all things Springbank.

I'll leave you with some good news.  No disclaimers about this bottling.  You'll need to find a good liquor store (US or UK), but once you do, they should have this.  I recommend it.

Pricing - Bargain! at $50-$55

Rating - 92