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

Single Malt Report: Springbank 10 years old 100 proof (part 3 of 4)

The Springbank Taste Off continues!

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.
Today, I'll report on Springbank 10yr 100 proof

The 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.

Springbank's Springbank brand is their largest and most popular.  One of their bottlings can be found at any decent liquor store in California, unlike the more limited Hazelburn brand.  Springbank's malt is distilled two-and-a-half times, is lightly peated, and remains unchillfiltered and undyed, keeping the resulting whisky in the style of the old Campbeltown bottlings.  Their regular 10 year is bottled at 46% ABV.  But this is not their regular 10 year.

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PROOF*:  As you'll see by the subject heading, the particular whisky that I'm tasting is labelled "100 Proof".  Alcohol Proof in the UK is different than in the US.

In the US, when alcohol content was first tested in a lab, it was done so per 200 parts of the liquid.  If 80 parts of the liquid was alcohol, the liquid was thus 40% alcohol.  So US "proof" equals twice the Alcohol by volume.  Thus 100 proof = 50% ABV.

In the UK, it's much sexier.  Back when British sailors were allowed to bring aboard rations of rum, they would test to see if it had been diluted.  To do this, they would submerge gunpowder in a portion of the rum.  Then they'd light it on fire.  If the rum had been watered down, then the gunpowder wouldn't ignite.  If it remained flammable, then it was good to go.  Because they didn't have sophisticated scales, they set the undiluted standard (proof of quality, if you will) at 100 proof.  Later studies discovered that the amount of alcohol necessary for this flammable balance was 4:7 or 57.14%.  Thus 100 proof = approximately 57%.

Because Springbank is from the UK and because they wanted to label the whisky in the classic (pre-1980) fashion, they appended the name with "100 proof".  And it is thus 57% alcohol by volume.  It's a strong drink.

(Update: It turns out that the US bottling is in fact 50% ABV, thus 100 US proof.  The UK bottling is 57% ABV, which is 100 UK proof.  Not sure why they chose to change it for the American market.  To prevent confusion, perhaps?  The "105" in Glenfarclas 105 refers to its UK proof, which equals 60% ABV, yet the distillers bottled it at that same strength for the US and the UK.  BUT, no worries, the US bottling of the Springbank 10yr 100 proof is also delicious and will get its own report in the near future.)

* - Though copious interent research went into this "Proof" information, it was still just internet research.  I welcome all corrections.

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Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Springbank

Age: minimum 10 years

Maturation: Mostly bourbon

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 57% (100 UK Proof)

Like the other two drams, I obtained my taste of Springbank 10yr 100 proof from Master of Malt's Drinks by the Dram samples.  The little bottle held 3cL (30mL) worth, perfect for a taste off.

Here's how I structured the Taste Off:

Hazelburn (neat), Springbank (neat), Longrow (neat), then...

Hazelburn (w/water), Springbank (w/water), Longrow (w/water)

So now, in the second slot, Springbank 10 years old 100 Proof.  First, neat:

The color was a light gold, but a bit darker than the Hazelburn.  The nose on cask strength whiskies can be tricky, full of alcohol burn.  But not this one.  Much less of a burn than I had anticipated.  Instead it was very oceanic, salt and seaweed.  Then plastics, dyes on old baseball cards, a little toffee at the end.  My notes say, "a seaside carnival".  The palate immediately felt like a mild Islay.  A little bit of Bowmore-style peat.  A nibble of Johnnie Walker Black.  Then more wet peat.  Apricots.  Sweet on the tongue but not sugary.  The finish was red hot and very lengthy!  Full of band-aids and ocean mist.

Then I added two tablespoons of water, bringing the ABV down to 35%.

The nose was now "almost Lagavulin".  Nice peat, with cinnamon, pastries, band-aids, and a little citrus.  The palate was reminiscent of my great Bowmore 16yr from Signatory.  Also reminded me of a lightly-fruited Lowland wrapped up in peat.  The finish was "cinnamon on a peat pillow".

Adding the water turned it into completely different experience.  That's what I love about these high strength whiskies.  They allow you to choose your own adventure.  This one turned an industrial oceanic ass-kicker into a compulsively drinkable anytime malt.  I liked them both considerably.

A note about the bottling:  The good news is that this whisky is stellar.  The bad news is that it's no longer in production.  At some point this year Springbank replaced it with the 12yr Cask Strength.  That new heavy hitter is getting good notices, though some reviewers miss the big baby from this report.  The large online UK whisky sellers no longer carry the 10yr 100 proof.  But if you do some good detective work, you just might find a US seller with a bottle left.  I did.

Pricing - Excellent at $70

Rating - 92

Tomorrow: Longrow CV!