NOT Single Malt Report: Power's John's Lane 12 year old Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey

First off, a moment of admiration for the coolest sample bottle label ever created:

Proper respect to Eric Sanford.  Thanks to him, I can present an of-the-moment whiskey post!

A prelude:
I love Power's Gold Label blended whiskey.
I like Power's 12 year old blended whiskey.
I love single pot still Irish whiskey.
Power's John's Lane 12 year old single pot still Irish whiskey has found its way to the United States.

John's Lane has been available in Ireland and Scotland for almost two years now.  In fact I was in Heathrow in the Spring of 2011 when the PR push began for it.  Too bad I didn't know what the heck was going on at the time.  The rep at World of Whiskies trying to tell me about it and I was all, "Yeah, but I like Powers and it's $20 at home, why would I pay $60 for this stuff?"  (Just now I sighed aloud.)  Even though he didn't sell me on it, the whiskey has since sold itself and rung up many rave reviews.

Let's back up for two sentences of history:  After a bunch of Irish distillers banded together in 1966 to form, well, Irish Distillers, they moved their production into a single large distillery, Midleton (in 1974).  Midleton Distillery, in Cork, has since grown and grown and grown in a facility with a production capacity FIVE TIMES the size of Diageo's new Roseisle Distillery.

As the whisky-makers in Midleton strive to keep as many of their old whisky brands alive they create separate whiskies by establishing different cuts in the spirit, different maturation processes, different combinations of grains, and a bunch of other elements that they are much too happy to keep confidential.  One of those brands, John Power's and Sons, was always very popular in Ireland when it was being produced at its original home on John's Lane in Dublin.  Under Midleton's watch it has continued to be one of the best (if not THE best) sellers in its home country.

Beyond the big selling blends, Irish Distillers continued to produce pot-still-only (aka Pure Pot Still and Single Pot Still) whiskey in smaller quantities for the folks at home.  But they could only keep that secret in Ireland for so long, especially when that secret goes by the names of Redbreast and Green Spot.  After an international release, the critical and sales success of Redbreast 12 year old enabled additional varieties of Redbreast as well as expansion into other single pot still brands.

And this brand is the one I have been waiting for:

Label: Power's
Style: Single Pot Still
Distillery: Midleton
Age: at least 12 years (up to 14 years)
Maturation: mostly first* fill ex-bourbon barrels, along with some oloroso sherry butts (*though another official site says second fill)
Country: Ireland
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Likely

In order to get some perspective on the John's Lane whiskey, I sampled it alongside some Redbreast 12yr Cask Strength Batch 1 reduced to 46%.  I've also noticed there are two schools of thought on John's Lane.  One is that it is light bodied.  The other says it is robust.  My opinion sits with the latter.

The color is a dark gold, partially due to some sherry butts, partially due to some caramel e150a.

There's a bold density in the nose that proves to be a challenge to decipher.  Like a tall thick dark brown wall made of brown sugar and semisweet chocolate.  Beneath that are some overripe white fruits and maybe some figs or dates.  A new leather jacket, fresh apricots, and hay.  Scattered baked fruit floating in a caramel fudge lake.  That's the best I can do after spending an hour with two ounces.

With a nice thick texture, the palate is either more basic than the nose or I haven't figured it out yet.  I get baked bananas, dark brown sugar, and a tangy sweetness.  Plus there's an industrial note that one can find in body temperature Power's Gold Label.

The whiskey plants its roots deep, leaving an extensive finish behind.  Spiced baked fruits, caramel sauce, dried grasses and grains.  Maybe a little of that brown sugar too.

Water doesn't help it much.  Whatever mystique and density it had evaporates.  The wall topples and Power's Gold Label is what's left standing, as it gets grainier and blendy.

Like Redbreast 12yr CS (at its full strength), John's Lane is more of a brooder than a casual beverage.  It must be insane at cask strength.  Though, as I noticed when adding water, the Midleton folks have found a good ABV point here at 46%.  I'm firmly of the opinion that this is dense stuff, especially since the reduced Redbreast CS was so light in comparison.  At the same time, I agree with Ralfy's assessment that this is a modern heavily-produced whiskey rather than a lean mean old school whiskey.  But "modern" isn't necessarily a bad thing here since the Irish Distillers have built something sturdy with many levels.

I will study further, with a bottle of my own.

Availability - Starting to arrive in the US now...
Pricing - $65-$75 in US and UK (w/shipping)
Rating - 90 (with an Irish bias)

NOT Single Malt Report: Compass Box Eleuthera

Finally, a throwback Compass Boxer: Eleuthera (the feminine form of the Greek word for "free", thank you Wikipedia).

One of the first of their wide releases (2002-2005), the Eleuthera is vatting of 15 year old Clynelish and 12 year old Caol Ila, both matured in recharred hogsheads.  When their supply of the 15 year Clynelish ran out, Compass Box ended production of Eleuthera. (On a side note, there appears to have been an early version that also included some older Glenlossie.)

Unlike Oak Cross and Spice Tree, this one has some peat in it, thanks to the Caol Ila.  Glaser matched that Islay-er with what appears to be his favorite blending malt, Clynelish (also in Oak Cross, Spice Tree, both Great King Streets, Flaming Heart, and Double Single)  My favorite part of the Eleuthera is, unlike Oak Cross and Spice Tree, it focuses much less on oak creativity and more on the merging of two elements into one.  I'm not necessarily saying it is better than those two, but the focus on the malt is much appreciated!

Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt (formerly known as Vatted Malt)

Distilleries: Clynelish and Caol Ila

Age: 15 years (Clynelish) and 12 years (Caol Ila)
Maturation: recharred ex-bourbon barrels

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No

NEAT:
Color -- Light amber (courtesy of the refill casks)
Nose -- A nice hit of Limes and freshly cut grass, along with some vanilla cake, and almost fruity peat in the background.
Palate -- There's the soft peat TCP as expected, but there's also a strong belt of cilantro and BBQ sauce. Seaweed, honey, and mint make cameos along the way.
Finish -- More of that cilantro and BBQ combo, then cinnamon, and honeyed peat.

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Peat comes to the foreground, along with a strong gin-reminiscent herbal note.  A little more ocean rolls up as well. The aforementioned limes linger in the back with some Red "fruit drink" (cousin of Purple).
Palate -- Much simpler now.  Veggie peat rolled up in, honey, malt, and cinnamon.
Finish -- Gets sweeter.  Combines the nose and palate resulting in peat, herbs, and cinnamon.

I had twice the amount of Eleuthera to survey (thank you, Florin!), compared to Oak Cross and Spice Tree.  So I lined the first 30mL with the ST and OC in a Taste Off, then enjoyed the second 30mL casually the next day.  As I'd mentioned above, I like how solid and well-merged the Eleuthera was.  I would have thought this was a single malt if I hadn't been told otherwise.

Though Eleuthera isn't in the current Compass Box rotation, it isn't completely gone.  There are at least a dozen online US stores that claim to have it in stock, and most haven't raised the price.  At the same time, it does take some doing to hunt down.  But if you like Caol Ila, Eleuthera will please.

Availability - Getting scarce
Pricing - $50-$70
Rating - 84

NOT Single Malt Report: Compass Box Spice Tree

Yesterday, I was late to the party for Oak Cross.  Today, I'm catching up with Spice Tree.

In 2005, John Glaser's first release of Spice Tree was deemed illegal by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA); "illegal" meaning he could not call it "Scotch Whisky".  Inspired by his background in wine production, Glaser had the idea of doing what many winemakers have done, lining the inside of casks with new French oak staves in order to bring more spicy notes into a product, but within whisky maturation casks instead.  The SWA said this practice did not follow traditional whisky production methods, thus the product could not be Scotch Whisky.  They also said quality was irrelevant.  This sort of ingenuity and adaptation is not allowed, while caramel dye and teaspooning (adding a trace amount of one single malt to another in order to prevent other companies from releasing certain whiskies as single malts) is embraced.  Anyway, Glaser and company had to go back to the drawing board to find another way to get the same result in their Spice Tree whisky, but in a legal fashion.  They did so -- using toasted French oak cask heads instead -- and released new batches three years later.

Similar to Oak Cross, Spice Tree's malts spend the first part of their lives in American oak, a mix of first-fill and refill ex-bourbon barrels.  But Spice Tree's second maturation, more of it occurs in Compass Box's specially designed casks of American oak staves capped with toasted French oak heads:  80% of the maturation casks with this wood combination, the remaining 20% in first-fill former bourbon barrels.  The malts themselves are the same as Oak Cross's: Clynelish, Dailuane, and Teaninch.

A lot of similarities between Oak Cross and the Spice Tree.  So, what are the differences between them that have necessitated two products with two characters and two price points?  Spice Tree puts more focus on Compass Box's specially designed casks.  There are three different toast levels on these new French oak cask heads, a greater quantity of the final product has been influenced by these barrels, and the secondary maturation time is longer.  Plus the bottling has three more ABV points (46 vs. 43).

Let's see how it turned out.

Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt (formerly known as Vatted Malt)

Distilleries: approximately 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuane, and 20% Teaninch

Age: at least 10 years old
Maturation: see above

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
Official product fact sheet PDF

NEAT:
Color -- Light gold
Nose -- Cardamom and nutmeg lead the spices.  Lots of fruit juices and orange candies, maybe some ginger too.  Strawberry jam, bananas, and toffee pudding with caramel sauce.
Palate -- Mostly sweet with some savory, and a thick texture.  Toffee with cracked black pepper.  Swirls of caramel, cinnamon, and brown sugar along with a subtle whole wheat toast note.
Finish -- Peppers and tannins. An extensive floral peppery buzz in the fore with vanilla beans aft.

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Cardamom with caramelized sugars, citrus fruit, and basil leaves in the summer sun.
Palate -- Vanilla, cracked black peppercorns, honey roasted nuts, brown sugar.  Very rich.
Finish -- Honey, vanilla, and balsamic vinegar.

Indeed, there's more spice in this one.  But also loads of individual fruits in the nose.  It's thicker and richer than Oak Cross, though this one sung better without water.  Oak Cross is a bright all-weather whisky, while this one is more of a brooder......though I'd drink in the summer anyway.

I'm going to conclude by talking about Diageo for a moment.  (Sorry!  But this is constructive!)  As I am working out my Diageo boycott occurring later this year, there are some high quality products for which I'd like to find replacements.  For instance, it'll break my whisky heart to abandon Talisker, but I have glorious (and I don't mean that lightly) independent bottlings of Ardmore to ease that transition.  But what about the Johnnie Walkers I used to adore?  In yesterday's comments, Jordan mentioned he'd be happy to go with Oak Cross instead of Black Label.  Yet what about the great Green Label?  I think Spice Tree is the closest thing I've found as an alternative.  It's not peated, but its lack of filtration and higher ABV give it a denser texture, plus all this fruit and spice are a treat.  And finally, Compass Box is a small business, while Diageo is the largest of them all.  John Glaser is doing an excellent job and I'd rather give him my business.

Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $55-$70
Rating - 89

NOT Single Malt Report: Compass Box Oak Cross

I'm going to do a trio of Compass Box reports this week.  I think I'm the last blogger in the whisky world to try some of these.  But that's what makes me such a hepcat: arriving after the party is over......amirite?

There are (at least) two great sources of online information on Compass Box.  Firstly, the company's website has data sheets on most of their products and some tasting videos led by the owner, blender grand alchemist John Glaser, wherein some extra details are divulged about the specific whiskies within.  Secondly, I recommend the K&L Spirits Podcast that co-starred Mr. Glaser in a conversation with David Driscoll.  Glaser shares so much info that I've had to do a second and third pass at it.

Aside from their Canto series, Compass Box makes blends.  They have blended grains, blended malts, and high-quality blended whiskys.  Oak Cross is their lowest priced blended malt (usually $10-15 less than Spice Tree).  As it's a blended malt, all three of its ingredients are single malt whiskys.  In fact, if my googling is accurate, they're all Diageo malts -- Clynelish (Highland), Dailuane (Speyside), and Teaninch (Highland).  Glaser's previous job with Diageo must have earned him some fantastic supply connections because I doubt Diageo parts with casks easily......though he does mention in the podcast that by keeping the distillery names off the product he has an better time at securing malts.

For Oak Cross, all of the malts spend the first part of their lives in American oak, then they are married together -- 60% in first-fill Bourbon barrels, 40% in American oak casks with new French oak heads (thus an oak cross) for up to 2 years.

Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt (formerly known as Vatted Malt)

Distilleries: approximately 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuane, and 20% Teaninch

Age: at least 10 years old
Maturation: see paragraph above

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
Official product fact sheet PDF

NEAT:
Color -- Amber
Nose -- Peppery orange candies, tropical fruit Skittles, fresh ginger (does ginger smell like it tastes?), and toffee pudding.
Palate -- Big vanilla and apple juice at the start.  Then a little burnt toast and cocoa, followed by apricots and cereal grains.
Finish -- Cherry juice, more of those soft grains, a slight (but very palatable) bitterness.  Mid-length, a little drying.

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Ooh, this did it.  Swims like a champ.  Loads of butter and butterscotch.  Orange Tang, limes, Smarties, and caramel sauce.  Yum.
Palate -- Sticky sweet butterscotch pudding.
Finish -- As often happens when water is applied to whisky, the stamina gets knocked down here.  It's still malty with the tannic drying, but there are also some stone fruits floating around.

As much fun as Oak Cross is when served neatly, I actually enjoyed it more with a few drops of water.  After applying the drips, I gave it 10 minutes to mingle, then it blossomed.  This isn't a dense sophisticated whisky.  That's not the purpose it serves.  Instead, it's a bright soft springtime whisky.

I didn't catch as many spice notes as others have, but I found a whole basket of fruits and candies.  Though I'm still working on the whisky-food-matching thing, Glaser (who knows better than I) recommends it matched with cheeses.  Sounds good to me.

Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $45-$55
Rating - 85  (water gave it an extra couple of points)

Single Malt Report: Hammer Head 20 year old 1989 Czech Single Malt

HAMMER HEAD!

Not this:

This:

Czech barley?  Check.  Czech water?  Check.  Czech oak?  Check.  Forged in communist Czechoslovakia?  Check.  Over 20 years old and only $60?  Check.  THIS IS AWESOME.  Seriously, this one rides alone in the whisky world.

There's a story that Churchill wowed Stalin with a bottle of scotch back in the late '30s.  Stalin wanted the Soviets to create something to match it.  Then, apparently, the Nazis became more of a priority for the nation.

Almost 50 years later, while Vaclav Havel was still a poet, Czechoslovakia's communist government distilled the Hammer Head spirit in Prádlo, Pilsen.  Twenty years later, in the midst of the iPhone Era, the world was given Hammer Head when the privatized Prádlo Distillery (owned by Stock Spirits Group - SSG) bottled the single malt just before it dropped below 40%.  The name is derived from the nickname of the old Czech mill that had ground up the malt barley.

(source)

They say the whisky sat in the casks forgotten for those 20 years.  Well, it's time to remember it...

...especially since it is not a bad drink.

Distillery: Prádlo Distillery
Ownership: Stock Spirits

Type: Single Malt
Region: Prádlo, Czech Republic

Age: 20 years old (1989-2010)
Maturation: Czech oak casks

Alcohol by Volume: 40.7%
Limited release: 80000 bottles

Sampled neatly from a 30mL whiskysamples bottle:
Color - Yellow gold
Nose - Smells much younger than 20 years, by that I mean there's lots of malt and very little oak.  Creamy tropical fruit zing, oranges, cardamom meets sage, and celery seed are the highlights.  But mostly it's a little dirty: dust, dirt, old coffee grounds, cigarette butts -- romanticized proletariat stuff.
Palate - Straightforward without much flourish:  wood embers, dusty vanilla, a little spicy buzz, and a soft thick barley blanket.
Finish - Mild and gets slightly sweeter. It has some dusty vanilla, black pepper, malt, and soil.

This singular whisky made my day.  Mostly it was just the anticipation.  But then it turned out to be a friendly dram.  True to its nature, it isn't a polished flawless bourgeois whisky.  Since the Czech oak had little effect on the malt, the whisky isn't prettied up.  I think one is mostly getting something close to the original spirit.

There are still some European stores that have Hammer Head in stock.  Many of them are selling it in the $55-$70 range.  Of course that's without shipping, and a lot of the stores won't ship to The States.  But with some effort you can swing the Hammer.  (I'm sorry, that's terrible.)

Availability - Happy Hunting!
Pricing - around $60 before international shipping
Rating - 82

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.

---

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.

---

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.