10,000 views!? Whut?

Around the time I was composing Saturday's post, Diving for Pearls had its 10,000th pageview.
10,000 pageviews from at least 1,114 cities and 92 countries.

(Source)

Yeah, seriously.  And this was my reaction all weekend:

Ah yes, these two pics should garner me another 10K+ views...

Here's a quick statistical breakdown of the views:

The clicks during my first go at the blog in '07-'08 make up about 16% of the total.
During my 3-year absence, devoted readers and lost Google searchers nabbed 4% of the total.
Since I've restarted the blog, the last 7.5 months make up more than 79% of the views.

In fact, the views over the last 10 weeks alone make up almost 55% of the 10K+.

Russian spammers: 7%.  Thanks robo-comrades!  I've enjoyed all of your nonsense spam comments.

European continent (non-spam): 17%
African continent: 0.5%  --  Come on, Africa!

The Top Ten Countries by Pageviews:
1. United States of America (69%!)
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Brazil
5. India
6. Sweden
7. Poland
8. Germany
9. Australia
10. Netherlands
All of these are whisky-loving nations.  Coincidence?

Speaking of whisky, my whisky posts make up only 38% of the total views (or 45% since I restarted the blog), so I need to make sure Diving for Pearls doesn't get as obsessed as I with the usquebaugh.

---

Between now and the next 10K, I'll be adding a couple of items.  Firstly, before this week is over you should see a new Page on the right side of the blog page called Whisky Resources.  The page will list my favorite whisky sites -- blogs, journals, companies, and stores.  Online whisky resources have become vast; one just needs to know where to look, so I'll try to help with that.

Secondly, I WISH I could post more single malt reports, but they cost $$$.  Or rather, the whisky costs $$$.  At this point, I'll keep doing 2 reports a week -- unless I'm travelling or there's a special occasion.

Stay tuned for more home renovation posts this summer.  We've been in tear-down/build-up mode for two months.  Hopefully our pictures will be able to tell a good story.

Finally, the writer will likely need to get an actual day job since the screenwriting experience has been bit more pro bono than I would have preferred.  When that day comes, I hope to be able to share the experience here without torching every bridge I've built.

Until then...

There will be some whiskEy written up on the blog tomorrow.  And good cheap stuff at that.  The whiskey, not the writing, I mean.  The writing is expensive and hideous.  ;-)   And utilizes emoticons.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Single Malt Report Standings as of June 9, 2012

The attack of the blends has begun.  Lauder's and Famous Grouse pageviews are soaring.  The Chivas versus Black Label post has a huge debut.  And Tullamore Dew surges...

(My methodology uses pageview counts from three different sources in an attempt to suss out which posts are spammer heavy and which ones are getting the real clicky traffic.  Then I apply a very (not) sophisticated algorithm.  And from that I get a Top Ten.)

SINGLE MALT REPORT STANDINGS AS OF 6/9/2012 (out of 73 posts):

#10  Powers Gold Label (Blended Irish Whiskey) -2
A slow week for John Powers on the blog.  But not at home!  I finished off my bottle with two small sips last night.  What will replace it???  Possibly something I haven't yet reviewed......

#9  Millstone 8-year-old French Oak, Dutch Single Malt NC
No change for Millstone.  The Google image SEO for windmills has liked moved on to other sites, possibly the same ones that use the very images from this blog.  Just passin' the windmill love along.

#8  The Macallan 18-year-old Single Malt -1
"My cat's breath smells like cat food." -- Ralph Wiggum

#7  The Singleton of Glendullan Single Malt -1
This one used to be #2.  I wouldn't be surprised if this one gradually makes its way out of the Top Ten, unless there's a sudden burst of The Singleton excitement.  But "excitement" and "The Singleton" rarely appear in the same sentence.

#6  Lauder's Blended Scotch Whisky +4
I bought this $1.49 mini on a whim, so this one sprung up the list with more verve than I'd expected.  There's a deficiency of Lauder's reviews online.  I guess I'm glad I filled that gap......

#5  The Macallan 12-year-old Single Malt NC
A quiet week for Mac12.  At this rate, it may lose its spot to Lauder's.  How odd is that?

#4  J&B Rare Blended Scotch Whisky NC
A renewed verve for Diageo's J&B pushed it far ahead of Macallan 12yr.  But the top three are so far ahead that this one has some work to do to catch up.

#3  The Glenlivet 15-year-old French Oak Reserve Single Malt -1
The 'livet is no longer just a bridesmaid.  It's a flower girl.  I don't know what that means.

#2  The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky +1
Are we looking at the future King of the Reports?  People REALLY desire Grouse images.  This week it averaged a click every 45 minutes.

#1  Glenfiddich 12-year-old Single Malt NC
So, last week I dared any report to try to unseat the champ.  At the current rate, The Grouse would do so by July.  I did not expect that.

---

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Chivas Regal 12-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky (aka Chivas 12yr versus Black Label) debuted at #17 this week.  I'm anticipating that this will be in the Top Five before the month is over.

BIG MOVERS

UP
Tullamore Dew Irish Blended Whiskey jumped 27 spots, from #46 to #19.  This one may float around the Top Ten some day soon.
Vegas 2012 edition (Part 2 of 4) hopped 8 spots, from #36 to #28.  All of those Vegas entries were a joy to write even though I was bedridden with a Vegas-inspired respiratory infection that week.
Hankey Bannister Original Blended Scotch Whisky jumped 8 spots, from #43 to #35.  Not sure how much higher this one will go.

DOWN
Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or Single Malt fell 13 spots, from #33 to #46
The Glenrothes 1998 Single Malt dropped 12 spots, from #32 to #44
Michael Collins Irish Blended Whiskey toppled 12, from #31 to #43
Though it appears as if the 31-33 rankings are just bad luck, the real culprit for the drops was ...... not a single view for these three reports.  That is certain to allow everyone else to push ahead.

BAD PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK

Other than Chivas, nothing else new will crack the Top Ten.  There's a healthy buffer between #10 and #11......unless anyone wants to click Willett 5-year (#14) a few extra times to screw up my system.  :)

---

Thanks again to all of you fine readers!  More to fun to follow on Monday!

Two Trailers and a Bunny wrestling a Kitten

Has your week been crap too?  Aside from the blog posts and news of my brother's big career shift (more to follow when appropriate), this has been a week I'd soon like to get beyond.

So first, Dr. Krav will deliver the fuzz.  Bunny versus Kitten, who you got?



Abrupt transition from baby animals to Denzel in Flight.  Robert Zemeckis takes a break from his CREEPY animated films to direct his first live action film in twelve years (Cast Away in 2000).  So, technically that makes two consecutive films about plane crashes.  The man is obsessed.



Now a Black-Guy Racial Racist transition!  Denzel to Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained.

I always go into a Tarantino flick thinking that I'm going to hate it, but he always does something to draw me in.  Bastard, or Basterd in his case.

And, damn it, I like this trailer too.  I think the James Brown music choice is silly -- the visuals, editing, and acting are enough to carry the piece -- you can take QT out of the '70s but you can't take the '70s out of QT.



The D is silent.

Now make your Friday night count.  You only get it once a week.

The Tilted Kilt Rant

This commercial has been playing non-stop on every sports channel.  At first it was once-a-commercial-break.  Then it started showing up twice at each break, which is annoying no matter how good the ad is.  Now they're running it twice in a row, back-to-back, and no one has fixed it all week.

If you're watching an NBA Conference Final game, then you'll see it 16-20 times.  Switch over to ESPN for 30 minutes of SportsCenter and you'll catch the ad six more times.  It's getting to the point that I'm starting to feel sorry for each of these girls, like I would for the pretty stripper at the club near the railroad tracks.

And the pub restaurant advertised is lamentable.  Yes, I've been there.  Tried two different locations.  The franchise dropped further in my esteem with each visit.

First the commercial, for those of you who haven't been exposed to it yet.



Some brief thoughts.

• Clearly these men were never breastfed


• The kilt is Scottish (Highlands, specifically)


• The accent at the end is Irish


• The Dropkick Murphys song is Irish-American

So, does Tilted Kilt even know what their theme is?

• Per their website, the Tilted Kilt is a "a modern American, Irish, Scottish and English sports pub".


• Because those things are so interchangeable to children.


• Just to clarify for the Tilted Kilt, those are completely different cultures, and NONE of them take kindly to people confusing their beverages, let alone their cultures since they've, you know, gone to war against each other on multiple occasions.


• Also per their website, "The Tilted Kilt concept originated in 2003, not in Ireland, not in Scotland, not even in England. Believe it or not, the Tilted Kilt actually came to life in America’s own city of sin, Las Vegas."


• You don't say.

You know, why don't I go ahead with my own bar idea.  It's Canadian-Mexican-Nebraskan.  Those places are all around the same general location.  I'll call it the Maple Tequila Cow.  Its logo will have a sombrero-and-bandolero-wearing brown heifer with syrup pouring out of its HUGE udders.

OR

You can come on down to the Tilted Kilt where you can get a pint of the same beers you can get at any non-American/Irish/Scottish/English bar and you can ogle knockers and knees......which you can do at Hooters or a half-dozen other start-up breastaurants.  At least Hooters had the honesty to name their establishment after the main attraction.  They're not pushing Ignorant Epcot Center.

Had the Twisted Kilt's whisk(e)y offerings been halfway decent, all my complaints would be forgiven.  But the selection is sad (yeah, congrats on the Dewar's and Jameson's).  The Americans, Irish, Scottish, and English would all be ashamed of this establishment.  Okay, maybe not the Americans.

Alright, I'm out.  If you're looking for me I'll be at Twin Peaks or Show Me's.

Single Malt Report: Springbank Spring Break (Part 2)

To continue from yesterday's report on the revelries...

It was going to be difficult to one-up those first two whiskies (Springbank Rundlets & Kilderkins and Longrow 10yr 1996).  So I decided to shift gears to a distillery whose whisky I'd never tried.

---

Glen Scotia 17yr 1991, Murray McDavid - Port Finished

Glen Scotia often sits in Springbank's Campbeltown shadow which is a pity because independent bottlers have been releasing a lot of well regarded whisky from this distillery.

They have a history of ownership switches, closings and openings.  From the Yearbook:

1832 - Founded by the Galbraith family
1895 - Sold to Stewart Galbraith
1919 - Sold to West Highland Malt Distillers
1924 - Duncan MacCallum buys the distillery
1928 - Distillery closes.
1930 - Duncan MacCallum kills himself.  New Ownership.
1933 - Production restarts.
1954 - Hiram Walker buys the distillery
1970 - A. Gillies & Co. buys the distillery
1979 - Reconstruction begins
1982 - Reconstruction ends
1984 - Distillery closes
1989 - Gibson International becomes the new owners.  Production restarts.
1994 - Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse Ltd becomes the new owners.  Distillery closed.
1999 - Springbank's management help restart the distillery.
2000 - Loch Lomond Distillers now run the place.

With all of these management switcheroos, it's probably difficult to maintain a consistent product or brand.  But with Loch Lomond Distillers running the shop, things are looking up as these newest owners are upgrading all of the production equipment.

Glen Scotia has outlived two dozen other Campbeltown whiskymakers, so proper respects on that.  Although their current production is about as small as Kilchoman's, but their potential capacity is just as large as Springbank's.  So I think we'll be seeing more good stuff from them soon.

Distillery: Glen Scotia

Owner: Loch Lomond Distillery Co.
Independent Bottler: Murray McDavid

Age: 17 years (1991 - 2009)

Maturation: ex-bourbon
Finished: Port casks

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 54%
Limited Release: 693 bottles

Because this was a Murray McDavid release, part of me hesitated before pouring.  Murray McDavid is an independent bottler that loves playing with finishing their releases in all sorts of unusual wine casks.  They call it ACE'ing or Advanced Cask Enhancement.  I had a horrid run-in with one of their Bowmores ACE'd in a Casket not a Cask (ooh, that one's good, I'm going to use that again).  But this Glen Scotia was ACE'd in Port, so......I was willing to risk it.

TASTING NOTES!
The color was a bright but dark amber (I don't even understand that.)  The nose was lovely.  Fresh ocean air, caramel candies, cherry lollipops, and not a hint of that hefty ABV.  The palate was not as candied but kept some of the fruitiness: Cherry lollies, dark berries, cognac, and some hot hot heat.  It had the most epic finish of all the sampled whiskies, an extensive sensation of cognac and cherries.

Another success!  Usually my palate doesn't take to Port finishes, but here it worked well.  Nice crafting by Glen Scotia and Murray McDavid.  And at an excellent price too; a 17yr cask strength limited bottling cheaper than most watered-down official bottles at that age.

Availability - Online UK specialists

Pricing - Stellar at 60-65GBP with shipping

Rating - 86

---

I had a wee sip of the Hazelburn 8yr 2002 Sauternes Finish.  I didn't fully dram it for two reasons.  Firstly, I've never had a Sauternes-finished whisky that I actually enjoyed.  Hazelburn has a very light spirit due to its triple-distillation, so I didn't think it could stand up to the sweet wine.  Secondly, the bottle was almost empty.

The high ABV (over 54%) helped silence some of the sweetness.  Though it still felt like a dessert liqueur.  Its dark cherry wood coloring was my favorite feature overall.

---

So that leaves us with the Springbank 17yr 1994, Berry's Own.

From the folks who brought you Cutty Sark----

No, that's the wrong way to start.

Berry Bros & Rudd. DO own the Cutty Sark brand, but they also have their hands on Glenrothes.  Let not your opinions of those institutions affect your feelings towards their indie bottlings.  (Unless you like Glenrothes, that's cool.  But you do not like Cutty Sark.  Seriously.)

What I'm trying to get at is that Berry Bros. & Rudd releases great independent bottlings.

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: Springbank Distillers Ltd.

Independent Bottler: Berry Bros. & Rudd

Age: 17 years (1994 - 2011)

Maturation: ex-bourbon, maybe finished with ex-Sherry?

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 55%
Cask Number: 51

Let's get right to it.

Its color is almost mahogany.  Though the palate seems like it's quite bourboned, methinks the color betrays some sherry finishing.  Or artificial coloring (oh no!).  The nose is full of sticky bourbon and swimming pool, with a little salt (if that can be smelled) and red meat.  The palate is all big fruity malt. Very sugary sweet at the start then progressing to salt in the middle.  It finishes fruity sweet, yet the wood tannins dry out the tongue.

I couldn't find any peat in this one.  Maybe the age and wood mellowed it into silence.  Maybe I'm a sh*tty taster.

This whisky was the least sexy of the four, which isn't a bad thing.  Straight up cask strength Springbank is grand.  And I prefer when the spirit isn't hiding behind fancy finishes.  But where yesterday's Longrow 1996 showed its spirit's muscle and complexity, this spirit seemed to be mostly taking a snooze.  Not bad, but a bit quiet for something at its price.

Availability - Online UK specialists

Pricing - A bit much at 100GBP with shipping

Rating - 82

---

So whatever happened to this?

I don't know.  I left before the hazing began.

JUST KIDDING.

We buried the drunken watermelon on the 405.

JUST KIDDING.

I'll keep it a mystery...

Single Malt Report: Springbank Spring Break (Part 1)

It's impressive how much energy one gets from a combination of near psychotic rage and a lack of sleep.  (And if you tittered when you read "near psychotic rage" then you clearly don't know my family.)  This morning, I cranked up my workout to a new high and finished it easily.  In fact, I could go back for a second round.  I could workout and eat all damn day.  And not a drop of caffeine.

That was totally irrelevant to this:

Maybe you need a close up?

This can only mean one thing.  SPRINGBANK SPRING BREAK with the LA SCOTCH CLUB!

This was the second Scotch Club event I've attended.  I'd been looking forward to this one for some time because I loves me some Campbeltown Malt Whisky.

On Saturday, we all met at one of the members' snazzy houses in Sherman Oaks.  There was swimmin' and eatin' and talkin' and drinkin'.  For me there was also a lot of hydratin' since I had an hour long freeway drive back home at the end of the night.

There were six malts on hand:
Longrow 10yr 1996
Longrow CV
Springbank 17yr 1994, Berry's Own
Springbank 10yr 2001, Rundlets & Kilderkins
Hazelburn 8yr 2002 Sauternes Finish
Glen Scotia 17yr 1991, Murray McDavid - Port Finished

I'll report on these per my sampling order.

---

Firstly, Springbank 10yr 2001, Rundlets & Kilderkins

I've been salivating like a dopey dog over this since I'd first heard about it.  It was a somewhat experimental Springbank release that they'd bottled this year.  It wasn't released in The States, so I'd been trying to Force Power it from my browser window onto my kitchen table for months.  Without luck.  Then I attempted to figure out the math for getting it shipped here and how I'd pay for it.

But Andy, Prez of the Club, came to the rescue when he brought this to the event.  I went directly to it, ignoring all other bottles.

So what makes this one different?  The Rundlets and Kilderkins.  And what are those cute sounding things?  They're tiny casks.

Approximate Cask sizes:
Tun - 955 litres
Port pipe - 528 litres
Sherry Butt - 491 litres
Hogshead - 250 litres
Bourbon barrel - 200 litres
Quarter Cask - 125 litres
Kilderkin - 80 litres
Rundlet - 60 litres

Smaller casks mean more spirit-to-wood contact which can effect (usually speed up) the whisky aging process.  Plus it brings all sorts of intensified flavors.  I've LOVED the two Quarter Cask whiskies that I've tried in the past.  Y me gusta Springbank también.

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: Springbank Distillers Ltd.

Age: minimum 10 years (9/2001 to 1/2012)

Maturation: Rundlets and Kilderkins!

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 49.4%
Limited Release: 9000 bottles

Its color is a lovely dark clover honey shade.  The nose doesn't betray too much of the oak contact, that comes later.  It smells of creamy coconut (coconut cream?), vanilla, brash fruity malt, and is very floral. Its thick texture provides a rich sticky sweet palate full of almost rye-ish spices, honey, cherry sauce, and cough syrup (in a good way).  It finishes BIG with cinnamon, vanilla custard, toffee, and vegetal peat at the very end.

This grown man says, Yummy.  That has to be the dessertiest Springbank in history.  It's certainly the most rye-like Springer I've ever had.  To be more exacting, it's like Rye + Honey + Whisky.

Availability - Online UK specialists

Pricing - OK at 65-70GBP with shipping

Rating - 90

---

Next up was the Longrow 10yr 1996

Longrow (Springbank's heavily peated brand) put out a 10 year bottling each year from 2001 to 2006 with a birthdate listed (1991-1996).  Since then their 10 years have been bottled without the vintage listed.  This likely gives them the ability to provide the 10 year as needed (perhaps combining vintages) which is important since they're a tiny operation compared to Big Whisky.

I adore Longrow and the 10 year was on my Dram Quest, so here it goes:

Distillery: Longrow (Springbank)

Owner: Springbank Distillers Ltd.

Age: 10 years (1996 - 2006)

Maturation: ex-bourbon and ex-sherry (probably more ex-bourbon)

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Its color sits somewhere between light honey and amber.  The nose starts with a quenched peat fire, then oaky coconut, mint, lots of citrus, salt, and maple syrup.  The palate is full of toffee, caramel sauce, wood smoke, vanilla, earthy peat, fruit cocktail juice, and brown sugar.  It finishes strong with that fruit cocktail juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and light peat.

It starts with the juicy, peaty characteristics; then, if you wait a bit, the maple syrup and brown sugar.  For all that though, it's not as much of a sweetie as the Rundlets.  Instead, the mint, smoke, and peat add dimensions to the fruit and sugar notes.  Another great one from the Longrow brand.

Availability - Some US specialists

Pricing - OK at $75-80 (don't pay $100, you can get it shipped from UK for less)

Rating - 91

---

I did not sample the Longrow CV because I have a bottle of my own!  And also I had that drive ahead of me.  But I do recommend the Longrow CV.  It was my favorite officially-bottled single malt I tried last year.

I DID drink a couple more of these Campbeltowners.  Stay tuned tomorrow for more......

Fèis Ìle and Ardbeg Day

Once a year, in late May / early June, the Islay distilleries host a massive whisky and music (but mostly whisky) festival called Fèis Ìle.  This year it ran from 5/25 to 6/3 with distillery events from the 26th through the 2nd.  And along with all of the events, every distillery released a very limited whisky bottling in honor of the festival.

There are games and music and tours and demonstrations and classes, but the bloody lucky so-and-sos who attend Fèis Ìle mostly report back about the whisky bottlings.  The rest of us have to experience it secondhand.  We'll see those bottlings priced exorbitantly on UK retailer sites or in auctions starting this week.  I've developed a bit of bitter jealousy about such limited whisky, so I ignore the blogs' tasting notes and prefer to read about the drunken idiocy.

But this year, the Ardbeg distillery did something a little different.  Their honorary Fèis Ìle bottling came in a release at least 20 times the size of everyone else's.  13,000 bottles rather than 600 or so.  It was to mark Ardbeg's day (6/2) to host the festival.  And they named it Ardbeg Day.

AND they held events all around the world to allow folks an opportunity to try and buy it.  These events have games and eats but it's really just a big marketing ploy.  Yet there's free whisky involved, so I was willing to apply myself.

This past Saturday afternoon, I went to the Ardbeg Day release-fest at Hi Time Liquors (OMFG, this shop is awesome, go there now and leave your credit cards at home) in Costa Mesa.

There were pipers.

There was this guy.

There were all sorts of happy whisky lovers.  Some games to play and great food -- including Scotch eggs and mac&cheese made with Ardbeg 10yr.

Oh yeah, and there was whisky.  They were doing mini-pours of the 10yr, Uigeadail, Corryvreckan, and the brand new Day.  The pours were small (this isn't the cheapest whisky), but hypothetically one could go back for seconds (of Corryvreckan, hypothetically).

Some quick thoughts on the whiskys:

Ardbeg 10 year (46% ABV) - I did a report on this back in October, but I hope to do an updated review this month.  I'm a fan of this one -- and it's their only bottling that fits into my budget.  A lot of peat soot and lemons.  Love it.

Ardbeg Uigeadail (pronounced Oo-geh-dahl) - This was my first sip of Oogy.  I foresee another sip very soon.  This is Ardbeg's critical darling (especially with Jim Murray), and understandably so.  There's a nice honey sweet body holding a raging peat bonfire in check.  It weighs in at 54.2% ABV, so it's best enjoyed slowwwwwwly.

Ardbeg Corryvreckan (57.1% ABV) - I have deeply unclean feelings about this one; thoughts that would make the dead blush.  I do not back down from the praise I heaped on it three months ago.  What I'm saying is, I like it.  It's less immediately friendly than the Uigeadail, less sweet, more fresh tar and salt and seaweed and evil.  Me wants.

Ardbeg Day (56.7% ABV) - Since the Corry basically razes the palate, time is needed for recovery.  I hung out with cool people, chatted, hydrated, ate.  After nosing this thing for a half hour, I gave it a go.  It was honeyed like the Oogy, but a little fruitier, a bit salty and very more-ish.  It was pretty good, very bright.  But I may have gone back for seconds of the Darkness.

And, nope, I didn't buy a bottle of the Day as it was out of my budgeted price range.  Here's, more or less, how their pricing goes:
Ten Year - $50-$60
Uigeadail - $60-$70
Corryvreckan - $70-$80
Day - $80-$90

I recommend the Day to those who enjoy the Oog and the Ten.  Or if you need something with more levity than the Corry.  There are still some bottles out there at specialty retailers, but you'll need to do some hunting.

Good on Ardbeg for sharing the joy of Fèis Ìle with a wider audience via the larger release.  I know they didn't do it just out of their good little hearts.  There will be about a million dollar gross from this bottling.  But thanks anyway for the freebies!  I remain a devotee.