Whisk(e)y at Home

It has become increasingly apparent to me that a lot of you good folks have substantial volumes of whisk(e)y at home.  My own selection has quadrupled since last year at this time.  Employment has its occasional benefits.  Though I now have an Official Whisky Cabinet (yay!), this rapid growth has now been curtailed.  It's time to enjoy what I've got.

Everyone has his own way of approaching his whisky.  Some folks open everything upon purchase.  Some keep a couple dozen in going at once.  Some say they'll only keep 2 open at a time, but are totally lying.  Not naming any names, Guy In The Monitor's Reflection.

The collection used to fit in our general liquor cabinet.  But then it grew.  Before the Official Whisky Cabinet arrived, I stashed my bottles in a sunlight-free corner of our condo.  In the process of collating the whiskys, I started ordering them not by distillery name or age, but by when I would drink them.  A tier system started, and continues today with bottles segregated in The Cabinet.

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Here's my system:

Tier 3 - Tumbler Whisky
This is the anytime stuff, the whiskies that can be opened without reservation, poured generously at all times, enjoyed without guilt.  I also call them the House Whiskies.  For instance, Power's Gold Label is the House Irish.  Buffalo Trace is the House Bourbon.  Currently, Bank Note is the House Blend.  Other Tumblers have been Glenfiddich 12, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Tullamore Dew, Jameson's, and Isle of Skye 8.  I call them "Tumbler" whiskies because I can dump a splash of it in a tumbler (rocks glass), even over some ice(!), and settle into an evening or a lunch or a game on TV.

Tier 2 - Weekend Whisky
These are limited to the weekends or after great (or terrible) work days, in order to not burn through the bottles so fast.  Think Glengoyne 17 or Bruichladdich Bere or oh my friggin' gosh I don't have any indie bottles open.  Weekend Whiskies are opened per the season.  When we had an insane heat spell last year, I found the cask strength heavily peated stuff really did not cater to the weather.  But when the cool evenings came back, so did the Islays.

Tier 1 - Event Whisky
These are to celebrate achievements, friends, beauty, and life.  Or sometimes just the existence of whisky itself.  I remain hush-hush on the sealed Event Whiskies, but I'll discuss 'em once they're open (see the birthday Balblair from last year).  I look forward to a lifetime full of Event Whiskies.

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Though price partially plays a role in determining a bottle's tier, cost does not get the final say.  For instance, Sullivan's Cove is an expensive whisky but due to its mild quality and impressive performance in club soda, it has become my current House Malt (Tier 3).  I have a bottle of Johnnie Walker Green Label stashed away to be my final one (*sob*), and though its price would make it a Tier 2, the event of its demise qualifies it as a Tier 1.

On that note, I have noticed some sub-tiers which come close to drifting between the levels.  For instance, Collectible Whisky.  First off, I'm drinking all of my whisky.  None will languish for eternity.  BUT, I recognize the short supply of certain bottles and thus will take that into consideration when determining the tier.  For instance, I have Kilkerran bottles that are out of circulation.  Their price would make them look like Tier 2s, but I put in some sincere footwork (or mileage on my Accord) to get them, so I ain't opening them just for gits and shiggles (thus trending towards Tier 1).  But once they're open, I will be drinking them for gits and shiggles.  Ultimately, they will be Tier 2s.

Another example of a sub-tier is American Whiskey.  I tend to find bourbon to be a Tier 3, always.  This may change once I delve into more barrel strength behemoths.  I also have yet to find a bourbon that I'd spend typical Event Whisky-level cash on.  I've tasted Pappies and a number of famous dusties, but none of them have inspired particular devotion (financially or otherwise).  Maybe if a Stagg falls into my hands someday, it would get a Tier 2.  For safety purposes.  On the other hand, I am LOONY about barrel-strength rye.  I want to make them Tier 3, but I would run out of money and white blood cells much too quickly.  They're Tier 2 in name, but Tier 3 in my heart.

There are other borderliners, like Redbreast 12, that I would love to make Tier 3s, but for financial purposes will remain Tier 2s.  Plus with whiskies like Redbreast (and Willett rye), I do not want to tire of them, nor do I want to get used to them.

So how do you guys (and gals) choose to open your whiskies?  Have you determined a tiered system?  Is that nomenclature based on tangibles or passions?  Do you find your system changing with time?

A little blog Spring Cleaning

I'll be doing some mild tinkering to the blog here and there this Spring.  For instance, there's a clickable list of whisky labels (distilleries, etc.) now in the lower right column of the page.  The labels used to be shown in a clumpy pile.  And those distillery "labels" are new.  I added them today to each whisky post.  Thinking it would take at most a half-hour, I was quickly reminded how many freaking whisky posts I've done!

I've also updated the "Whisky Rankings" page, splitting the whiskies up into different categories.  In fact, I'm on the fence about even keeping the rankings.  The more whiskies I review, the more obtuse it is to try to compare apples to hubcaps.  So, for now at least, whiskies are ranked within their types.  If y'all prefer that I continue to compare apples to hubcaps, let me know, and I'll mush all of them back together.

And that Dram Quest is moving along well.  Does anyone know where a whisky brother can get him a single toot of Loch Dhu?  My sources have all run away screaming upon hearing my inquiry.  It must be some amazing stuff.

Single Malt Report: Goldlys 1991 Bourbon Wood Belgian Single Malt

After Australia and South Africa, our whisky trip brings us to Europe and...

Belgium!

Woo hoo, Belgium!!!

When I'm buying samples for these reports, I usually do what I can to pick up whiskies that are obtainable for the folks who read these posts.  But sometimes, I'm just a big arsehole and I buy weird hard-to-find samples to soothe my nerdy inclinations.

The Belgian Owl Distillery is the largest and best known of the whiskymakers in België.  Their malts can be found in a number of European countries and even in the US if you know where to look.  But today's whisky is not from Belgian Owl.

It's from the folks at Filliers who, in addition to producing a wide range of jenevers, also make Goldlys single malt whisky.  The 'Goldlys' name comes from the nearby River Lys which can take on a golden hue from the flax rotting in the water.  Though Filliers's website says "Barrels of Goldlys Whisky have been ageing in our warehouses in Bachte-Maria-Leerne for hundreds of years", it also notes that in 2007 Goldlys "wrote history when it launched the first whisky in Belgian bars".  So, I guess they had kept those ancient whiskies to themselves for centuries?

Normally, I do not like posting a report when all I have is the official website from which to glean whisky facts.  Normally, I go through my library of whisky books and then some reliable online sources.  But this ain't Normally.  There isn't a word about the Filliers Distillery among my sources.  If anyone has additional reliable info about Filliers and Goldlys please let me know and I'll update this report!

Here's what I have seen online:  Filliers used to have a 3 year old Goldlys Double Still malt which has been given some brutal online reviews (Jim Murray liked it though, natch).  That whisky appears to have been replaced by an Owner's Reserve.  There are also currently four limited edition malts with wine barrel finishes.  They've released a number of other limited editions over the past four years.  One of those editions is the first release of a 1991 20 year old malt that was aged in former bourbon barrels.

Sorry for the crummy pictures today. :(

Distillery: Filliers Distillery
Brand: Goldlys

Type: Single Malt
Region: Flanders, Belgium

Age: 20 years old (1991-2011)
Maturation: ex-bourbon American oak barrels

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Limited release: 1100 bottles
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? No

I really had no idea what to expect of this whisky.  And that was kind of thrilling.  I was anticipating something unspeakably terrible.  I was wrong.

Sampled neatly from a 30mL whiskysamples bottle:
Color - Light gold
Nose - Must have been refill oak because, though the spirit has been softened, the whisky isn't oaky.  It walks the fine line between pleasant and muted at first.  Vanilla toffee, a little peach (maybe), biscotti, and some malt in the background.  With time peach schnapps, caramel, and hay sneak out.
Palate - Gentle black cherry varnish at first, softly textured.  Then fresh stone fruits, a little spice (cinnamon and pepper), hazelnuts, and sweet apples arrive.
Finish - Stewed cherries, flower blossoms, peach candy, and peach crumble with some caramelized brown sugar.

Goldlys 1991 Bourbon Wood is the opposite of The Corryvreckan.

It has taken me years to appreciate subtler, gentler whiskies.  I love to be socked in the face with outrageous tones, but this Goldlys is as soft and breakable as tissue paper.  They probably had to release it at 46% since it would evaporate into vapor at 43%.  It's likely a little rougher while younger, so maybe their four fancy finishes work at 12 years of age.  But at 20 years, this (likely) refill American oak prevents the delicate nature of the malt from being wrecked by sweet wine.  Their site recommends it for warm spring or summer days and I'll second that.  I'm not sure if it would taste like anything on ice (their recommendation), but served neatly it's a wispy little Lowland malt cloud.

I saw it had once been selling for $45 on one international site.  If you can find it via a Belgian seller, it'll likely be going for $60-$70 before shipping.  In the meantime, whiskysamples.eu still has samples left at a very reasonable price.

Availability - Happy Hunting!
Pricing - probably in the $60-$70 range (before shipping)
Rating - 81

Single Malt Report: Three Ships 10 year old South African Single Malt

Next stop on the whisky voyage...

South Africa, specifically the Western Cape, where James Sedgwick Distillery (JSD) has been producing Three Ships whiskies since 1977.  The JSD remains the big whisky dog in South Africa right now.  The other distillery, Drayman's, has been better known for their microbrewery.

JSD makes a trio of Three Ships blends, one of which, the 5 year old, has been bringing in some international awards (World's Best Blended Whisky 2012 from WWA and Gold 2012 from IWSC).  They also have a young grain whisky, Bain's Cape Mountain, and a number of cheaper budget-priced blends.

The Three Ships 5 year old blend is a combination of South African and Scotch whiskies.  But their one single malt, this 10 year old, is 100% South African.

Distillery: James Sedgwick Distillery
Brand: Three Ships
Ownership: Distell Group Limited

Type: Single Malt
Region: Wellington, South Africa

Age: at least 10 years old
Maturation: Likely mostly ex-bourbon casks, but also possibly some ex-sherry or french oak casks as well (okay, it's obvious I'm guessing on this one; if anyone knows JSD's oak facts please let me know, cheers!)
Batch: 2011

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

The first batch of this single malt arrived in 2003 -- see Serge pan the hell out of it here.  The next batch didn't come out until 2010.  Once that sold out, batch #3 was released in October 2011.  Here it is:

Sampled neatly only, from a 30mL sample
Color - Rosy gold
Nose - Restrained nutty sherry and pencil shavings first.  Then cigarette butts, followed by orange creamsicles, peaches, apricots, and brown sugar.
Palate - Toasted almonds, citrus, a tiny bit of sweet wine, and mellow malt.  There's some nice soft rich American oak that gets chased around by some distant persistent phenolics.
Finish - Here comes the citrus again, mostly limes this time.  Brown sugar, faint dried fruits, and a hint of pepper.  It's actually kind of rummy.

Firstly and most importantly, this is very tasty stuff.  Compared to the Sullivan's Cove, there seems to be less of an attempt at complexity.  But that's not a problem because this South African single malt achieves success in its simplicity.

Secondly, there have got to be some former wine casks worked into the maturation.  If I am wrong, I will eat some Marmite. (Take that, Vegemite!)

Thirdly, if you were scared away by Serge's review, I just want to remind you that he was covering the first batch from 10 years ago.  Though I haven't tried that batch, I really do think JSD has made some leaps in whisky production in order to compete internationally.  If am I wrong, I will eat some Marmite.  (I'm going to regret these promises.)  Here's a link to Oliver Klimek's positive review on the recent batch and here's a link to whiskybase's decent reviews on it as well.

Finally -- here it comes -- the price.  You can get Three Ships 10yr via UK retail shops; with shipping it can run up to $80.  BUT, this same whisky sells for $30-$40 in South Africa.  To me, that's the perfect pricing for it.  This is what $30 whisky should taste like.  Lively with a little zip, it drinks well.  You're not going to write a thesis on it, but it's amicable for all seasons.  I'm always on the search for whiskies like that.  Anyone going to South Africa soon?

Availability - some UK retailers, many more South African retailers
Pricing - $50-$80 if ordering from UK, $30-$40 in South Africa
Rating - 85

Single Malt Report: Sullivan's Cove Australian Single Malt

Now that considerably dark clouds of discontent regarding the scotch whisky industry have set in...

Now that Bourbon whiskey market is likely about to go down the same path (see this, then this)...

I've decided that right now is the best time to take a little (figurative) whisky voyage away from the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Japan, and Canada and towards a few of the countries newer to the whisky world.

First stop: Australia.

Australia (specifically Tasmania) actually has quite a buzzing, burgeoning whisky industry.  Companies like Lark and Sullivan's Cove lead the way in size and media coverage.  Meanwhile Bakery Hill, Belgrove, Hellyers Road, Limeburners, Nant, Old Hobart, and Timboon are growing, cranking out more whisky every year.  Though the distilleries follow most of the classic Scotch/Irish distilling methods, they're using local barley and water.  And they've been experimenting with the maturation process.  For instance, Bill Lark has been aging much of his whisky in former port pipes split up into smaller barrels.  Also, the local peat is made up of different vegetation than that of Scottish peat, so when any of these companies smoke-dry their malt, the phenolics are unique.

The one on the right is the Sullivan's Cove.
Maybe we'll explore the bottle on the left this summer?

Thanks to two of Kristen's coworkers (Chris for purchasing and Connor for couriering), I have a bottle of Sullivan's Cove Double Cask.  As mentioned above, Sullivan's Cove is one of the major players in the Australian whisky industry.  And, as of very recently, some of their single malts have been showing up at American specialty liquor retailers.  AND, for some good P.R., Jim Murray raved about their Single Casks in this year's Whisky Bible.

As for the Double Cask, there's some ex-bourbon American white oak cask-matured whisky in here, along with French oak casks that had previously held port.  According to their site, they turn it out in small batches: one French oak cask to two American oak casks.  It is married together for four months, then is bottled at 40% ABV, non-chillfiltered and uncolored.  But how does it taste?

Distillery: Tasmania Distillery
Brand: Sullivan's Cove

Type: Single Malt
Region: Tasmania, Australia

Age: at least 10 years old
Maturation: 1/3 ex-port French oak casks + 2/3 ex-bourbon American white oak

Chill-filtration? No
Caramel colored? No

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

NEAT
Color - Amber
Nose - Fresh out of the bottle there's a subtle smoke (somewhere between wood and vegetal), then there's some fudgy chocolate.  Lots of fresh bananas.  Notes of sugary oak, sweat, varnish, and baked goods bounce around.
Palate - Kit Kats!  Lots of 'em.  Plummy dessert wine spilled onto notebook paper.  Some cracked pepper floating in urine (What? Don't act like you haven't drunk your own pee.  And someone else's.  In college.  For $12.)  A little bitterness arrives after a while.
Finish - Decent length for 40% ABV.  Malt and red wine.  Very tannic.  Floral notes meet vanilla notes.  Some bitterness shows up after a while.

WITH WATER
Okay, water really does not help matters.  Here are my notes anyway:
Nose - Toilets overdue for a cleaning (use your imagination).  Glade Plug-In floral scent.  Some French oak.  Sugary dried fruits and perfume.
Palate - Goes quiet, though the texture is pleasantly soft.  All caramel and vanilla.
Finish - Bitterness increases.

I'm almost halfway into this bottle and I'm still having a difficult time figuring it out.  There are some notes that don't seem to jive, like a homemade blend that's not quite right (see any of my posts on my own failed blending attempts).  It makes me curious about their Bourbon Single Cask, as perhaps that lets the spirit run free?  But the Double Cask isn't bad for a starter malt.

BUT due to the expense behind relatively small distilleries producing whisky in a country enforcing considerable taxes/tariffs, Australian whisky is very expensive.  Lark's whiskies run $150-$250 for 9 to 11 year-olds.  This Sullivan's Cove Double Cask is usually $90.  Had it been in the $20-$30 range, I would recommend it as an intriguing alternative to the Glens 'Livet, 'Fiddich, and 'Morangie.  At $40, I'd say it was borderline.  But at $90, Double Cask leaves me without much to say.  At that price range it is up against some of the most spectacular spirits ever designed by humans.  It can't compete, and I'm not sure it is meant to.  Perhaps the Single Casks (priced near $150) can flex their muscle some more.

If you buy the Double Cask, then you're supporting a growing whisky industry.  But that industry would flourish much more if their government (which has let its wine industry avoid certain excises, thus all the cheap Yellow Tail) gave their spirits industry some tax help so that the whisky companies can lower their prices.  And I mean, right now.  The whisky industry is in a state of explosive growth, growth that may not last forever.  Catching this comet would benefit Australian exports.

My rating below ignores these financials.  So, digging through the two previous paragraphs, the important whisky point is that Sullivan's Cove makes for a challenging starter malt.  In fact, the way I like to serve it best is as follows:

5 shakes of Angostura bitters
2 fl oz of whisky
2 fl oz of club soda
Several ice cubes

This allows cinnamon and nutmeg notes to emerge, along with a mouthful of vanilla.  It's a refreshing Spring weekend drink.

(And yes, I did consume the Vegemite from the first picture.  It tasted like yeasty creamed barbecued bird feathers.  Never has something that looked so much like chocolate not been chocolate.  It could lead a man to drink his pee whisky.)

Availability - A couple dozen liquor specialists (US)
Pricing - $80-$100 (US)
Rating - 76

The Irish Are Coming

With many thanks to Sku of Recent Eats, I am now addicted to checking for TTB's (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) newest registered COLAs (Certificates of Label Approval).  Here's the site: https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/publicSearchColasBasic.do.

It's all public info, so there are no secrets.  But what can be found on the site are approvals for labels of new liquor products before those bottles ever hit the shelves.  Seriously.  Have at it.

Here are some recent discoveries of the Irish sort:
1.) Redbreast 21 year old.  Yup.  Sku found it and tweeted it.  I exclaimed, "WOO HOO!"  May I naively hope they keep it under $100?
2.) Tullamore Dew Cask Strength.  56% ABV.  Looks like it starts out in bourbon casks, then spends its last 2 years in sherry casks.  What most interesting is that it appears to be a blend.....
3.) Power's John's Lane Single Pot Still.  This one made me squeal.  Like a pig Like a Belieber Like a grown-ass man.  Whiskycast scooped the news first on Mark's April 28th episode.  Interestingly, though John Ryan from Irish Distillers said that this SPS will have no age statement, there was COLA registered last September for the 12 year old version.  Perhaps the demand was anticipated to be too large to for the actual amount of 12yr available?  Either way, I'm pretty geeked about this one.
4.) Power's Gold Label.  As per the same Whiskycast episode, the whole Power's range is getting refreshed.  My favorite go-to whiskey is getting a new label, and (via a COLA from last month) it's getting bumped from 40% to 43.2% ABV.  I will drink it.

If this post seems just like a bunch of Irish whiskey industry cheerleading......well......I'm cheering for the whiskey.  I have a soft spot in my liver for Irish whiskey.  Thus more variety and new experiences are good things.  And maybe I'll be able to bring some of you over to my side someday...

Single Malt Report: Laphroaig Triple Wood

I was going to save this report for later this month, but after reading Oliver Klimek's recent excellent post on wood usage, I figured the Laphroaig Triple Wood would (sorry) be one example of the whisky's industry's current mania over oak.

The Triple Wood (which has its own site) is essentially Laphroaig Quarter Cask with additional maturation time in oloroso sherry butts.  In more detail, per the video with John Campbell on the official site, the distillery takes their usual single malt that's been aging in refill bourbon barrels for 5-13 years, then ages it for an additional 9 months in 125-liter quarter casks, then ages it for 9 months in first fill oloroso butts, THEN ages it again for 21-24 months in refill sherry butts.  So, according to that video, it's a quadruple maturation.  Quadruple Wood doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Triple Wood started out as a Duty Free-only release for a year or two, then entered the larger markets around 2009.  It is priced higher than the Quarter Cask, likely due the additional maturation expense.  Or because Laphroaig is trying to market it as a more premium whisky.

My notes below come from two tastings.  The first is from the enormous Laphroaig Vertical I attended in December.  The second tasting was done here at home last month as I lined up my 30mL sample with a dram of the Quarter Cask.

Distillery: Laphroaig

Owner: Beam, Inc.
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay

Age: 8 to 16 years
Maturation: refill bourbon barrels --> quarter casks --> refill oloroso sherry butts --> first fill sherry butts (see above)

Chill-filtration? No
Caramel colored? Possibly

Alcohol by Volume: 48%

NEAT
Color - Very bright gold
Nose - At first it's Frosted Flakes and overripe stone fruits sitting on a peat pillow.  Then there's a bunch of nondescript dried fruits and mango.  After a while cinnamon, sweet lemons, and rotting apples arrive.  The sherry has shorn off all the spirit's rough edges.
Palate - A much softer entry than the Quarter Cask, sweeter too.  Smoked dried cherries, chocolate, lavender flowers, and creme brulee.  In the far back hides sooty tobacco and a slight bitterness.
Finish - The peat strengthens here as does the bitter note.  Beyond that there's some vanilla, peated molasses, along with some farminess.  It's more tannic than the Quarter Cask, and has a snuffed cigarette note.  The sweetness carries the longest.

W/WATER
Nose - It dries out a bit.  Only a little sherry left, and the American oak takes over.  There's also some grass, hay, and soil, along with lemon rind.
Palate - Goes quiet.  There's still lots of soot & soil, though it is creamy soot & soil.
Finish - Remains lengthy with the peat soot and bitterness hanging on.

As per the notes above, with a quadruple maturation, this is one of the increasing number of modern malts with tons of woodwork.  But it's debatable why Laphroaig needs all this woodwork since its malt is so strong on its own.  Here, the whisky is beginning to stray away from the Laphroaig character.  The oceanside peat, seaweed, iodine, band-aids are gone.  As a result it's probably the most approachable of the Laphroaig line, for those who aren't big Laphroaig fans.  So perhaps that's the reason for the four maturation rounds.

But it still tastes and smells great, and that cannot be completely discounted.  I would be more than happy to drink this again (note the 48% ABV!).  As mentioned above it does carry a premium ($10-$15) above the Quarter Cask, so one is trading cash for the extra fruits and sherry.

For me, a Laphroaig fan, it sits a full step below the Quarter Cask because I love that whisky's bold intensity, its ramping up of the Laphroaig character.  I also would prefer both the regular Laphroaig 10yo and the 10yo cask strength over the Triple Wood.  But again, that's my palate.  Ultimately, the Triple Wood is a decent whisky that delivers the Laphroaig spirit cloaked in a series of barrels.

Availability - most liquor specialists
Pricing - $60-$75
Rating - 86