The Monday after Peetin' Meetin'

The LA Scotch Club's annual Peetin' Meetin' commenced this past Saturday.  I was present and am still in one solid piece.  There was great PEATED barbecue, rockin' live tunes by the Brick Top Blaggers, cocktails mixed by the Seven Grand bartenders, sunshine, spring water, and large quantities of phenolic restorative.

Because many of the 80-100 bottles are of cask strength, the opportunity to get dangerously drunk is ever-present at the fest, but all 130+ attendees were quite responsible with their intake.  That's not to say that any of us were sober at the end, but it was nice to see folks enjoying the evening without getting stupid.  Whisky is meant to be consumed, not vomited up.

I will attend again next year.  I encourage you to do so as well.

Here's that pic I posted on Saturday:

I'm pretty sure there were a few additional bottles, but it was pretty difficult to tell once the fun had begun.  Independent bottlings of Laphroaig were everywhere, actually there were tons of indies around which always makes Thekrav a happy boy.  Diageo, Ardbeg, and Duncan Taylor were there, pouring their goods.  The only bottling that I wanted to try but missed out on was the Octomore 2/140.  That went very very quickly.  And, apparently there was a 27yr Caol Ila from Duncan Taylor that was enjoyed with alacrity before I found the empty bottle.

But I don't regret a damned thing from that night.  I tried 13 whiskies, received a shirt and a dram glass, sang along to "The Wild Rover", met some great people, and departed the ceremony on my own two feet.  THANK YOU again to Kristen for providing transportation.

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Here are my actual Peatin' Meetin' notes from my phone, only edited to fix damn-you-auto-correct, with post-Meetin' comments in italics.

Ardbeg Supernova 58.9%ABV - like the Ten but freaking enormous; salt, seaweed, black peat smoke on the nose; brown sugar with lemon zest and the peat hammer in the palate and finish.
Folks didn't seem to realize that this extremely scarce (in the US) bottling was there for the drinking, so I went back for two passes.  It felt like the Ten on 'roids, in a good way.  I would still choose Uigeadail and Corryvreckan over it.

Clear Creek McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt - young but calm, almost sleepy; forgot about it already; come on America!
I really want to like this three-year-old malt from Portland.  It's a from a small family business that imports peated Islay barley, then distills it and casks it in Oregon oak.  But maybe it just couldn't stand up next to the Supernova leviathan.  I understand that the aged spirits business is a tough one, but I wonder what the whiskey would be like if it had eight years in oak?  I'm willing to give this another try on its own someday.

SMWS 127.13 (Port Charlotte 8yrs) 65.7%ABV - medium-peat, hot, industrial tar and sap and smoke followed by a bright fruit explosion
A muscular crazy PC that would have benefitted from some added water.  Bruichladdich really has their peated spirit in good shape.

Longrow 14yr - farmyardy sooty on the nose, salted, smooth peat, i luv longrow
I do.  I love Longrow.  It can hold serve with the Islay monsters, but has a character all its own.  Serge V. found coal stoves and wet dogs in the nose; that I can understand.  On a side note, these aged Longrows are 30-40% cheaper in the UK and that's INCLUDING international shipping.

Lagavulin 16yr - cinammon brown sugar cognac sugared peat vanilla cake rubber tarry on the nose, smoke stronger on palate with some bright spices like clove, nice bitterness, soft texture, a little vegetal after some time, it's a little different every time I drink it
Lagavulin 16 is getting more mysterious each time I try it.  It's always enjoyable, but constantly reveals different palates with each tasting.  There were moments when the palate felt similar to Ardbeg, but that may have been a sensory hiccup.

Lagavulin 12yr 2009 release; 57.9%ABV - mint on palate, bourbon oak on nose, lots of oak but also lots of malt, lots of lots; vegetal peat, wood ashes, brown sugared peat, seaweed and coast on palate and finish
I really liked this one.  It had a significantly stronger ABV than the 16yr, but also had a more lively spirit.  A million miles from the welcoming soothing character of the 16, this whisky wants to pick a fight.

Caol Ila distillers edition (I think 2010) - a lot of people liked this one, i didn't; weird bitterness in the smoked finish, an odd sweetie otherwise
A Moscatel finish.  My nose and palate seem to reject most non-sherry wine finishes, including this one.  My opinion is probably not to be trusted on this whisky.

Caol Ila 12yr - toffee and peat on the palate, honey and apple juice but also a little gaseous on the nose, very drying but short finish
I dumped half of this sample into the grass, I'LL ADMIT IT NOW!  It wasn't bad, but it really can't dance next to the Lagavulins.

Ardmore 19yr 1992 Whisky Doris 49.6%ABV - **WINNER** - loveliest nose of the night: flower blossoms and citrus punch with oaky red starburst candy; palate starts mild then goes to a fruit tart, boozy ladyfingers, the fruit explosion lasts through the finish: oranges & peaches
I'm considering buying this one if I can pull together the cash.  I nosed this Ardmore for 20-25 minutes before sipping.  I went back for a second round just to try to figure out how to describe it.  Probably one of the best noses I've ever experienced.  But it was also my ninth whisky of the night.

Stellar phone photography courtesy of Me

SMWS 127.19 (Port Charlotte 9yr) - 66%ABV thus hot and spicy, also peat
Holy moley, this was a heater.  I don't even understand how they're delivering a 66%ABV liquid after nine years in a Scottish climate.  Heading into George T. Stagg territory with that ethyl.  This needs serious water to flush out its mysteries.

The Corryvreckan - because
it was there

Penderyn Peated Welsh Single Malt - piney, bland peat felt added, a pipsqueak next to The Corry and PCs.
Also had this alongside my second Ardmore pour.  I'm rooting for Welsh whisky, but I would actually trust their wine finishes over this.  Or maybe even their regular malt.

Brora 1972-1993 G&M's Connoisseur's Choice - @40% ABV insanely drinkable, peat beautifully integrated w/ the rest, all malt almost no oak, but a bit weak
This one...well...I wasn't supposed to have this one as it was only for members (though I'll be one soon). But I had it anyway. I will break rules for a Brora. Gordon & Macphail just updated their Connoisseur's Choice line so that it'll be 46%ABV and unchillfiltered going forward. Had this one been 46% and UCF, it would have easily made my all time top five. Alas it was stretched thin at 40%. Will I ever have another Brora opportunity? I hope so!

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Because an event like this isn't the best atmosphere for full Single Malt Reports and ratings -- peat smoke, barbecue and food scents, cigars, cigarettes, fresh air!, and, you know, socializing.  But if I were to rank these, not including The Corryvreckan:

Ardmore 19yr 1992 Whisky Doris
Lagavulin 12yr 2009
Longrow 14yr
Lagavulin 16yr
Brora 1972-1993 G&M
Ardbeg Supernova
SMWS 127.13 (Port Charlotte 8yr)
SMWS 127.19 (Port Charlotte 9yr)
Caol Ila 12yr
McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt
Caol Ila distillers edition
Penderyn Peated

Yes, the Brora finished 5th out of 12.  Perhaps it was the 40% ABV, the chillfiltering, and almost twenty years in the bottle, but it felt like I was getting only a hint of the Brora spirit's greatness.

Otherwise, had I the $$$, I would purchase any of the top four.  If the planets align, I'd like to do proper reports at least six of the whiskies.  We'll see what the next year brings.

Happy Monday!

Peetin' Meetin' tonight

This appears to be what I am up against tonight.  Well, I and others.  A few others...

If you're looking for me, I'll be the guy passed out inside a bottle of Longrow.

Friday Ramblings

Let's lead with the happy.  My favorite Got Milk commercial.



Dogs and peanut butter.  Call me a simple man, but that's enough to keep me watching this commercial repeatedly, twelve years later.

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The Yankees traded for Ichiro Suzuki in one of the better WTF? transactions of recent memory.  Upon hearing the news, I immediately Facebooked that I was now going to watch a whole lot of baseball for the rest of the season.  The next day, Alex Rodriguez broke his hand and now I'm going to go back to not obsessively following baseball.  24 hours of intense fandom, over.

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Mark Gillespie of Whiskycast wrote a good clear commentary on the Bruichladdich/Remy deal.

After reading it, yesterday, I came to a realization: The financial windfall for the distillery employees (who have been working their asses off for ten years for probably lower up-front pay) and their families is considerably more important to me as a human being, than a whisky brand losing its "independent" label.

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Happy 10th birthday to Whiskyfun!  Serge writes my favorite whisky reviews, so I hope this is the first decade of many.

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Jordan at Chemistry of the Cocktail just published an excellent post on the rising prices of the non-chillfitered higher-ABV single malts.

The rising single malt prices are beginning to aggravate me.  More to follow soon, as my full complaint is still in development status...

Happy Friday!

The Artist or Singin' in the Rain? Singin' in the Rain.

(Source)

My Mac's Dictionary app has this entry for "trifle":

trifle |ˈtrīfəl|

noun

1 a thing of little value or importance : we needn't trouble the headmaster over such trifles.

• [in sing. ] a small amount of something : the thousand yen he'd paid seemed the merest trifle.

2 BRIT. a cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly, and cream.

Those are separate definitions.  The British definition (#2) can be for something that is very rich, delicious, and memorable.  The first (U.S.-specific) definition has a disposable connotation.

(Source)

When we popped The Artist into the DVD player, I thought the film was going to be Definition #2 Trifle.  But instead it was a Definition #1 Trifle.

Though I am a silent film fan who hates musicals, I must say if you want to watch a film about a Douglas Fairbanks-type silent film actor who struggles with the transition to sound film while the perky ingenue he bumps into seems more suited than he to the new movies, rent Singin' in the Rain.

Also, Cyd Charisse

Singin' in the Rain is funny, very smart, post-modern before post-modernism, and always entertaining.  The Artist is about a man deeply blinded by his own misery and the woman who supposedly loves him but is at best a creepy stalker and at worst a succubus.  Without the cute dog, it would have been a melodrama, not a comedy.

Jean Dujardin's George Valentin goes from Fairbanks to self-pitying alcoholic John Gilbert so fast, that I'm not sure who "the artist" is actually supposed to be.  We see so little of Valentin's actual craft and so much his life's ruination that I'm not really sure if he's the artist in question.  He's also a thoroughly passive character allowing failure's quicksand to swallow him whole.  Singin' in the Rain's Don Lockwood is an active character; he may mull his failure for a bit and need a friend to give him a push, but he works to figure out how to salvage his career.  Thus Lockwood's art becomes the focus of Rain, while Valentin's emasculation is the focus of Artist.

Is Berenice Bejo's Peppy Miller supposed to be "the artist"?  As mentioned before, she ultimately comes across as uncomfortably pathological in her relationship with Valentin.  She watches his life fall apart, up close at times, then buys up ALL of his belongings and his right-hand man, Clifton.  And we're supposed to accept that as signs of human love and devotion?  Valentin's reaction to this unnerving discovery is completely understandable (though overly melodramatic with an inappropriate Hitchcock score theft).  I won't spoil what Valentin does, but let's just say it's not an act of loving acceptance.  So we know Peppy's a psychotic stalker, but is she an artist?  Her aggressive career advances lead her to superstardom, but -- because her screen performances are brushed by in quick montage -- we don't if she's devoted to her craft or just an excellent opportunist.

Ultimately, the Artist, or rather Artists, are the craftspeople behind the film.  The camerawork shines, the sets and costumes look lovely, the old Academy Ratio is much appreciated, the editing is solid, the symbolism (though occasionally heavy-handed) is enjoyable, and the music (aside from the Vertigo steal) is great silent film stuff.  It's very difficult to make a feature-length silent film in an age of noise, it's even more difficult to get something like that distributed widely, so big kudos to The Weinstein Company for putting their considerable heft behind it.

But when it comes to story and character, The Artist isn't a luxurious pleasure.  Peppy's obsessive fanaticism and Valentin's self-destruction are never reconciled and instead get wallpapered over with a quickie final scene that tends to no loose end.  Thus it became disposable to me once it was over.

Singin' in the Rain has a quickie ending too, but amongst all of the tremendous insider humor throughout the film, Don and Kathy scramble to address their challenges thus revealing layer upon layer of complex character traits.  And because they actually care about each other, they assist one another and work together when struggles befall them.

The Artist's characters don't.  She pities him while simultaneously building a shrine around his former self.  And he just pities himself.  So the happy ending either doesn't work or it's just another step in her obsession.  It's a mystery the film doesn't attempt to solve.  If the filmmakers treat this crux as "a thing of little value or importance", then this viewer will do the same with their art.

Single Malt Report: Cragganmore 20 year old 1991 Single Cask (Master of Malt)

Continuing with yesterday's theme of tastings gone awry, I present to you:

Product Link

Distillery: Cragganmore
Owner: Diageo

Independent Bottler: Master of Malt

Age: 20 years (March 1991 - March 2011)

Maturation: refill hogshead

Type: Single Malt

Alcohol by Volume: 54.2%
Cask: 1157
Limited Release: 274 bottles

This is likely a case wherein the whisky was fine, but the drinker's taste buds were not.  So, I'd best do some disclaimers here:

1.  Cragganmore distills a great spirit.

2.  Master of Malt is one of the best online whisky retailers.  Their Drinks by the Dram options have helped grandly expand my whisky world.

3.  Their own bottlings have been quite good so far and I hope they keep it going!

4.  Candidly, I probably flubbed this one.  No one else's reviews show the quirk that I experienced.  There just was a sensory misunderstanding between the malt and I.  My only defense is that this was about a year ago, before I'd even started the Single Malt Report postings.

Ruben of WhiskyNotes has a good review of it here.
The Casks has an in-depth write-up on it here.
Gal at WhiskyIsrael also has a very positive post on it here.

Compare their notes of malt, mint, flowers, juicy fruits, ginger, green tea, honey, and apples with.....um.....this:

NEAT
Color -- Straw with a gold hue
Nose -- Alcohol-forward, apples, actual wood planks
Palate -- SALTY SALT, perfumed, caramel, salted caramel
Finish -- Alcohol heat on the gums, spicy and long

WITH WATER
Nose -- More sugary, caramel chews, dried apricots, cherries, maybe a hint of vanilla?
Palate -- Oak, SALT
Finish -- Still hot and spicy, but now there's SALT in the finish

Water brought out the better nose characteristics.  But I had a difficult time finding the palate because...

(Source)

I felt like a cow at the salt lick.

This isn't one of my prouder malt moments, but I want to make sure that I share both the clarity and confusion in my whisky journey.

As this tasting was done over a year ago, perhaps I can chalk it up to a newbie tasting fail.  I remember sitting there, staring at my Glencairn glass thinking, "Crap, I can't taste anything but table salt.  Is that vanilla?  No, that's more salt.  Fruit?  Nope, salt."  And because no one else online has noted sodium chloride...and the bottler does consistent good work...and the distillery makes good stuff......that leaves one party with the issue.

This sort of thing happens from time to time.  We aren't always in our best tasting shape, just like we're not always in our best biking shape or our best dancing shape.  A stuffy nose, allergies, exhaustion, or just lack of focus can effect how receptors transmit information to the brain.

So, this was probably a decent dram.  I encourage you to read the positive reviews that I linked to above.  The 700mL bottles are sold out, but the samples are still for sale here.  Master of Malt also put out a second Crag 1991 single cask release here.

I'll be reporting on another Master of Malt single cask release next week, and it's likely to be something quite different than this.  We can all hope, right.  ;-)

Availability - Master of Malt only, samples only

Pricing - Bottles have sold out, samples are 4.50GBP plus int'l shipping

Rating - 78

NOT Single Malt Report: Slane Castle Irish Blended Whiskey

Sometimes one's senses don't cooperate during a tasting.  Sometimes one gets a bad sample.  Sometimes the whisk(e)y was stored improperly or has been sitting at the bottom of a mostly empty bottle for years.

These variables often result in a less than optimal set of tasting notes.  There have been times that I've tasted something and went "What?"  Then I compare my notes to those of others who have tried the same drink......and it's as if we've tasted completely different whiskies.

Though the tasting experience is subjective, if I try a dram of Glen Garbage and discover notes of rotten milk and mercury while everyone else finds characteristics of dried fruits, chocolate, and mint, it's fair to say that I've experienced some level of a whiskey fail.

I feel like I'm mostly alone in my judgement of Hakushu 12yr.  I really wanted to love it, almost bought a bottle of it blind.  All the tasting notes I'd read online sounded quite nice.  But instead of nosing and tasting hints of citrus, lemongrass, licorice, vanilla, pepper, and flowers, what did I find?  Salty-beefy-cheesy farts.  And per my notes: "a watered-down Laphroaig 10 meets Glenfiddich 12 infused with a kitchen gas leak."

So there was a fail in there somewhere.  Maybe it was the sample.  Maybe it was me......or rather my senses -- I did not smell like salty-beefy-cheesy farts, I think.

I'm humbly posting two reports this week that I believe were examples of whisk(e)y fails.  Today, it's Irish, tomorrow it's Scottish.

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Slane Castle
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey (single malt + grain)
Current Owner: Beam Inc.
Age: at least 4 years
Maturation: first fill ex-bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Slane Castle is one of the several indie bottlings produced at Cooley Distillery.  With the recent Beam Inc. takeover, all or most of these indies will stop production as the new owners want to keep as much juice as possible for their major brands (Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell, and Connemara).  At the moment, Slane Castle is still for sale all over the US and their website is still active.

Drinkhacker liked it quite a bit.  John Hansell of Whisky Advocate wrote a pair of very positive reviews for this whiskey. He noted that it was full of "honeyed vanilla, soothing caramel, lively summer fruits, golden raisin, subtle date, and butter cookie" and that it was very drinkable.

Sounds yummy, right?  Especially for this blogger who loves him some Irish whiskey.

So I was able to get my hands on a pour of it while in San Diego this year.  Here's what I found:

NEAT:
Color -- Medium gold
Nose -- Clean oak, minerals, grain-HEAVY, ethyl, light manure, stale, (wife says it smells like tar fumes)
Palate -- plastic toys, both sugary sweet and vegetal, edamame, grassy
Finish -- Saccharine sweet

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Wet cardboard, fleshy, dirty underpants
Palate -- hay, paper, cream, light oak, cheap wine, weak
Finish -- hay & manure, zoo-ey, old moldy basement, Please will it ever stop?

Where are those butter cookies?  Lively summer fruits?

I'm a firm believer that a plastic toy or manure note can actually work well in a whisk(e)y or wine.  But whatever was going on here was just funk when integrated with my nostrils and tastebuds.  Looking at other reviewers' notes, it seems like we'd tried different booze.  They spoke of pleasurable drinking experiences and I (who have had more Irish whiskey than I can ever quantify) found the worst Irish porta-potty distillate I've yet tried.

Was it just me?  I don't know.  I'd had a Powers 12yr an hour earlier and that tasted fine.  Could the Slane bottle have been sitting open on the shelf since the whiskey arrived on US shores in July '09?  Possibly.

Either way, something went awry.

Availability - Some liquor specialists
Pricing - $25-$35
Rating - 65 (low rating may or may not be due to old stale bottling)

Bruichladdich-Rémy agreement completed

The Rémy Cointreau / Bruichladdich acquisition agreement is now official.

Mark Reynier, the financial saviour of Bruichladdich in 2000, and now the man who has taken the most abuse (by the always patient online vox populi) for being a sellout during the Rémy Cointreau negotiations has posted his explanation of the goings-on of his company's financial history.  It was up on the Bruichladdich site, then pulled "for clarifications".  It's an objective but bittersweet post.

The sale for 58M GBP is significantly more than most online guesses had been.  At $90,000,000, it's the highest amount ever paid for a Scotch whisky distillery.  Rémy says they won't cut any jobs.  In fact they're hoping to double production, thus creating local jobs.  Per Mr. Reynier's post: "As with other Rémy businesses, Bruichladdich will continue to be a stand-alone company, operated from Islay, with Islay maturation and Islay bottling."

Additionally, per the most recent Whiskycast, the distillery employees had been receiving company stock as part of their compensation; many stand to make six figures when the sale is complete.

Finally, Mr. Reynier, who has taken the brunt of the online "sellout" complaints, was the only board member to vote against the sale.