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Hug A Hoodie: Quick Fire Ramblings: Highland Park Dark Origins & Bowmore Tempest Batch 5

July 14, 2014, 9:51 am
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Well, it's bloody hot today. At this time of the year in the UK, it's clearly impossible to predict any kind of temperature in advance. A day ago, I was sheltering from the howling gale and rain under a tree (wearing a hooded top) beside a tennis court, thinking why did I decide to peruse such a stupid outdoor pastime.  In an hour, I shall be slipping into the comfort (!) of a woollen dinner suit and bow tie for an evening event. Why?? Damn You Mother Nature!

Anyway, with such complete contradictions afoot, it's probably a good time to review some arguably un-summery whiskies that we have sitting in our office, probably waiting for a cold snap to take hold.

Recently Highland Park launched a brand new expression called Dark Origins, supposedly to celebrate the unorthodox working methods of the distillery's founder, Magnus Eunson, who operated his shady business as an illicit distiller largely in the shadows, away from the prying eye of the exciseman.

Dark Origins comes complete with a hooded chap on the label (who, if we're honest, looks a little more 'urban' than the likes of a Hebridean distiller) and the whisky itself is comprised of twice as many first fill sherry casks than the classic formulation of the 12 year old, aiming for a richer, darker and altogether more muscular whisky.  Have they succeeded?

Highland Park - Dark Origins -  46.8% - NAS - RRP £65

Nose: Certainly an abundance of full bodied sherry notes on the first sniff: caramel, chopped nuts, a little mustiness, molasses, all balanced with a waft of smoke.  It is reminiscent of the 12 year old, but has more depth. So far so good.

Palate: Very tarry, sooty and oily. The peat gives this a charred, slightly bitter approach, taking it away from the classic floral, honeyed sweetness of the 12 year old. There is lingering wood, a slight creosote and a bold menthol undertone, but one can't help but be overpowered by sootiness. The most smoky HP to date?  Very probably, but it will certainly take some getting use to. Given time, a sweeter note develops, helping to balance out the proceedings. 

Finish: Lingering wood, a little pepper and charred meat notes round out a very dry finish.

Overall: A hard to understand beast, this one.  The nose reveals a lot of real complexity, alongside all the clearly intended darkness, but the palate is full-on beat-you-about-the-head-and-neck-with-a-fence-post stuff.  Put it this way, it's like walking through Croydon late on a Saturday night.  In the shadows lurk danger: Terrifying, but just a little bit exciting at the same time. They should start producing hoodies at the distillery shop... 

Next up and the latest instalment in Bowmore's well received Tempest series. Now five batches in, the series sees no sign of slowing down, nor changing direction, short of the subtle differences between the batches.  It is bottled at 55.9%  and rocks up around £50 as a price point. Not too shabby considering what else lies at this price point. In terms of maturation style, this should be a sharp contrast to the Highland Park above, as it is drawn from first fill bourbon casks, giving a lighter, brighter note. Less hoodie, more boating blazer?  We reviewed the last batch here - and if this turns out any where near as good, Bowmore will have done it again. 


Bowmore - Tempest -  Small Batch - Edition 5 - 10 Years Old - 55.9% RRP £50

Nose: A subtle floral/fruity peat emerges first, alongside fresh sponge cake, golden syrup a touch of almond oil and marzipan. Dig deeper and you'll find ripe banana, a touch of plasticine and a surprising mossy/leaf note.  

Palate: The peat is kept in check by a zesty lemon note, some soft brown sugar, fudge topped muffins and very creamy coffee.  In fact, this could be the most confectionery- influenced batch yet. Another sip reveals more marzipan and a touch of menthol tobacco, the floral peat returning right at the end.  

Finish: Slightly dry, but with bags of underlying, lingering floral smoke.

Overall: Another tick in the 'excellent' box from this batch. Again, it offers balance, character and accessibility, but is robust enough for those who are looking for a peaty whisky to ooze additional character.  

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All Hail The Cooper: Glenfiddich Excellence Single Malt Scotch Whisky

July 18, 2014, 3:32 am
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The great author Jonathan Swift once wrote that “he was a bold man who first ate an oyster”. It is this sort of gastronomic experimentation which has given us such great delights as a human race, tickling our taste buds with incredible innovation.

I often wonder who it was that first invented the meringue; they must have been the Heston Blumenthal of their day, but probably didn’t get the fame their invention should have rewarded them with, let alone a Michelin star or even their own range of cookware.

And it is this need to create, to always push the boundaries, that man has been striving for ever since we had a sense of taste, a lust for flavour. Of course we all need to eat, drink and be merry. But the tastier the first two parts of that phrase, the greater the volume of merriment.

It’s a simple equation: Eat + Drink = Merry. Increasing the pleasure aspect of one, or both is like swapping the ‘plus’ symbol for a ‘multiply’ symbol. This is why we celebrate those who have the ability increase our pleasure, to change our +, to an x.

In the mix of master blender, the superstar bar tender (what an appropriate phrase to write with Tales of the Cocktail happening at the moment), the footballer-turned-whisky-maker... there is one person often forgotten, who is key to the final flavour of any aged spirit. And that is the cooper.

The origins of cask maturation have been long forgotten as the cask has, for centuries, been a fairly utilitarian tool for the transportation of goods. From coal and fish, to a variety of liquids, the barrel was the carrier bag of its day; developed into a sea container for special goods. But it is the people who first discovered maturation from a white spirit to a dark, delicious drink who should be celebrated as much as the man who first shucked and sucked an oyster. Long forgotten, these men are responsible for something very special, the ideal of the cask to cradle some of our most precious liquids from simple spirits to super single malts.

Already this year I have visited cooperages in Scotland, Spain and the USA and the results never fail to surprise me. Handmade, in the most part, casks are designed to absorb a small amount of their liquid contents, swapping spirit for spices, whiskey for wood influence. But not only do casks add flavour to their contents, they also breath; slowly letting air in and out, as if they are giant wooden lungs, taking in oxygen and breathing out lost spirit, a gift to the angels.

This conflicting purpose, to both store and give away, makes barrels almost biblical, following the guidance that the more you give away, the richer you will become; ergo, the more active the cask, the more condensed the liquid inside becomes, taking flavour from both the wood and the previous incumbent of the cask, and the richer the liquid gets. A truly spiritual experience.

In my journeys to see both sherry casks and bourbon barrels in production, to understand more about their role in maturation, I have learned a lot about the preparation that a cask must go through before it is allowed to mature Scotch whisky.

There are huge differences between American oak and European oak, between ex-sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels, between a hogshead and a puncheon. But all were, at some stage, the results of experiments by innovators, leaving a legacy for today and well beyond. 

Thank you to those people, whoever you are.


Glenfiddich – 'Excellence'– 26 Years Old – Matured 100% American Oak – 43% abv - £350

Nose: The casks which this whisky has been matured in have delivered a first class aroma of sweet vanilla, custard cream biscuits, malted milk and crème brulee. There is a hint of oak spice, but only to give body and provide a platform for the developed Madagascan vanilla and white flowers to build on.

Palate: A richer mouthfeel than expected, this is a buttery dram with a hint of heather, yet again some spices to balance out the palate. It is clearly American oak, ex-bourbon and takes in the butterscotch aspects of well matured whisky from these styles of casks, but sprinkles a small amount of cinnamon on top.

Finish: A brilliant balance of sweet and spicy, with that rich vanilla giving a super landing to a great dram.

Overall: This whisky was designed to reflect the style of cask it has been matured in. American oak, ex-bourbon barrels filled in the last century, have marshalled a spirit through more than two decades, resulting in a whisky which is the perfect ambassador for this style of maturation.


If it hadn’t been for those great cooper-innovators, inventing the cask, maturing and re-maturing spirit in it, we wouldn’t have a whisky like this today. So, cheers to those forgotten folk for giving us all something so special which will echo through the ages.   
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I Come From The Land Of The Ice And Snow: Benromach Single Malt Scotch Whisky

July 30, 2014, 9:32 am
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Snow Joke: My Trip To Benromach
One of the scariest drives I have ever done in my life was early one March morning from Perth to Forres, a small town near Inverness. It was a Monday and I was up around 4am with the aim of arriving at the Benromach distillery at 8am, to start a day working at the distillery to learn about how the distillery works and document it for an article in Whisky Magazine.

Benromach in the Snow
However, just after waking I threw back the curtains to see somewhere in the region of 36 inches of snow clogging up the path below. Scurrying outside, I quickly dug a path for my car to exit on to the well-salted main road and began the slow drive up the A9. As I passed Dalwhinnie distillery the thermometer in my car showed -15 degrees centigrade. To say it was cold would be an understatement.

After slipping and sliding all the way north from Perth, I arrived at Benromach just in time for a pre-work cup of tea to warm my frozen bones. The sky had tuned from granite to deep blue, and the white washed walls of the distillery shone like platinum, a chimney in the yard reaching high into the sky, providing a beacon for the angels to pop in and grab their share. I was glad to have risked the icy roads and the deep snow to make it for the start of the day.

The history of Benromach follows that of many other Scotch distilleries, closed by the previous owners, United Distillers (now Diageo), in 1983 after the first production started in 1898.

Ten years later, the local family business of Gordon & MacPhail (G&M) were looking to expand from bottling and blending into distilling and the opportunity to purchase the site came up. Sadly, the distillery was little more than buildings, as the equipment (including the stills) had all been removed.

Seeing this as an opportunity, G&M embarked on an ambitious programme of installing an entirely new operation inside, developing a new still shape and keeping all the production in a single, linear line.

The aim was to make Speyside whisky as it had been produced pre-1960’s- with a hint of smoke and this is what they have achieved in the newly repackaged 10 Year Old:


Benromach – 10 Years Old – 43% abv - £29.28 here

Nose: There is certainly a hint of smoke on the nose of this wee beastie. It is sweet, with a hint of orange citrus fruit (blood orange), some icing sugar and raspberry. A touch of sandlewood. Very well balanced and extremely inviting.

Palate: Banana bread, apricots in syrup and fig jam. The smoke is not as prominent on the palate, but tingles away under some tinned peaches, runny honey and vintage vanilla.

Finish: Rich rum cake and upside down pudding with a waft of smoke.

Overall: This is a fantastic whisky, it really it is. The hint of smoke gives this more of an island element, but really only on the nose and the finish; the palate is much more classic Speyside. How they can knock this out at under £30 is beyond me. A must for anyone looking for a quality single malt on a tight budget.


With production of the new style spirit starting in 1998, it would be a while before any new mature stocks were ready for the market. G&M were in luck however, as stocks of whisky from before the closure already existed, enabling them to create a range of vintage Benromach releases.



Benromach – 1976 Vintage – 46% abv - £415.80 here

Note: constructed from 1st Fill and Refill Sherry Casks

Nose: There is the Benromach DNA of orange blossom and red fruits, but age has given this a freshness of green fruits (star fruit, gooseberry) and cooking apple, dusted with cinnamon.

Palate: The orange blossom really flourishes here, with other red fruits (red boiled sweets) and a slight hint of chilli jam. Milk chocolate dusted with cocoa powder and praline coat the mouth as tropical fruits develop.

Finish: Sweet, with an abundance of red fruits.

Overall: A classic ‘old’ whisky, this gives you everything you’d expect from a 1970’s sherried Speyside whisky.


If you haven’t experienced Benromach before, you don’t need to get up at 4am and drive through thick snow, risking life and limb to see the distillery. Save yourself the petrol money and order a bottle of the 10 year old. I’m not sure that you’ll find a bottle of single malt Scotch for much better value. And once you’ve fallen in love, start saving for the 1974.
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I Can See Clearly Now: Kininvie 23 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

August 1, 2014, 2:56 am
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It was exactly one year ago today that I found myself hopping up to Scotland to take part in the Ardbeg Islay Half Marathon.

As you would expect from an event held on an island in the Inner Hebrides, in the 140 minutes it took me to complete the course I experienced pretty much every type of element known to man, save for a snow storm. From hail to bright sunshine, I have never seen such a variety of weather in just one morning.

Preparing for such an onslaught of elements required some pretty decent kit and I’d purchased some good trainers, comfortable running kit and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. My saving grace, the sunspecs were vital to keeping me going, as post-shower when the sun burst violently from behind the clouds, the glare from the roads would have been unbearable without the aid of the dark glasses.

On returning home and having invested not only in the running kit, but in the training time as well, I decided that it would be wise, what with all this professional drinking and suchlike, to maintain a healthy balance of drams and training: the odd half marathon to balance out the regular half measure of whisky. The ultimate ‘half and half’, if you will.

However, there was one improvement which needed to be made to my kit, correcting a error I had made in the lead-up to the Islay Half.

Being a proud spectacle wearer, when I took ownership of my Oakley sunglasses I didn’t have the lenses replaced with prescription ones. This meant that, as wonderful as the scenery of Islay is, I was unable to take in much of it and to really enjoy it. It literally passed me by in a blur. If I was going to do more running, I at least wanted to see where I was going!

And so I spent some of my 'hard-earned' on having the lenses replaced in my running glasses and it has improved my exercise experience immeasurably as I’m now able to enjoy the varying vistas of my weekly runs.

My vision has been enhanced by greater clarity and added perspective and it certainly helps to be able to see something in clear relation to something else.

When judging or critiquing single malt whisky, it also helps to have comparisons. Each distillery has a unique flavour profile which is carried through the core expressions and should be evident in the new make through to the mature product. Doing a range tasting, especially with a distillery’s ‘entry level’ products, is important as it can put into perspective both the flavour development of whisky in older (or in this day and age of No Age Statements- more expensive) expressions and also highlight how different cask-types work with the new make spirit to develop certain flavour elements.

So it is always slightly confusing when you encounter whisky from a distillery for the first time, and even more confusing when you have nothing to compare it to.

And this is where I find myself today, faced with a sample of Kininvie 23 Year Old. I have, once, had some Kininvie. It was supplied to me in form an ‘under-the-table’ sample at a whisky event. But it was one of those ‘drink and enjoy’ moments, not one for notes or scribblings, so (as whisky is designed to be) it was lost to the memory of time.

But not to worry, for the chance to try something new is always exciting and the parameters by which one should measure the quality of a dram, unaware of the distillery’s character, profile or range, remain unchanged: is there balance, complexity and an overall ability to hold itself in the crowded marketplace that is single malt Scotch whisky at the moment. 

Let’s find out:




Kininvie 23 Years Old – Batch 2 – 42.6% abv

Note: I have a small sample but this will come in a 35cl bottle when released in the UK. The bottle pictured is Batch 1.

Nose: Initial hit of banana (mid-ripeness), jute bag and rum cake. The sweetness develops in to fresh orange juice and pear drops with a backdrop of fresh leather. It’s quite a complex nose and really quite unique: if you gave me this blind it would be hard to guess what it was, other than being a Speyside dram.  Going back to the nose after a while it shows apple and blackberry pie with custard, plus a fair whack of vanilla.

Palate: Sweet tea at first, then a hit of dried apricot and raisins followed by red apple slices and some leather notes. Creme brulee with a summer fruit coulis then appear. The balance of red fruits and vanilla is excellent, with just a hint of spice to counterbalance the sweetness.  

Finish: Oak, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg on the death with a lasting zest of lime, thyme and some fresh mint.

Overall: This is quite an unusual dram, bouncing between vanilla sweetness and rich red fruits... but the balance works. It isn’t out of kilter but neither is this a sherry bomb nor a delicate bourbon barrel baby. I think I’d like to see how this would take in just the latter, with bigger vanillin and charred oak spice.


Not a bad start to the Kininvie journey and I’m looking forward to seeing how this might compare to other styles of whisky coming from the same distillery as well as to see how Kininvie’s core DNA differs from that of the other single malts (Glenfiddich, Balvenie) produced on the same site in Dufftown. Until such time, I’m running blind, but (as I was on Islay) running happy.
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Merry Christmas from Springbank. In August! : Spirit Of Freedom 30 YearOld Blended Scotch Whisky

August 15, 2014, 11:21 am
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It is yet another Friday on the global procession towards Christmas. For those of you who work in or around retail, you’ll be aware that around this time business start to propose their Xmas line ups to the world, in preparation for those magazines who need a good long run up at events such as this.

Thankfully, running a website means that we don’t have to write about anything until the very last moment it is required- but our other print outlets in the media, such as magazines and books, do require a fair amount of notice, so it is nice to see the odd email popping into our inbox with a nod in the direction to how we can help you spend your gifting pounds in December and I’m sure you’ll hear more about those from us, on here (and other places) when the chill reality sets in and the snow begins to fall.

However, in with some of the more Christmas-facing press releases and emails, there are often ones about products which have suddenly, without warning, appeared on a shelf somewhere. Traditionally a silly season for news (of all kinds- John Lennon 40 Year Old Scotchwhisky anyone?!) it can often be hard to pick out the good from the bad, or the good from the mad.

Here at Caskstrength.net we do receive press samples for review, sometimes for this site, sometime for books we are writing, or contributing to, and sometimes for articles we may be writing elsewhere or discussions we might be involve in. And of course we also buy booze- lots of it. A fair amount of brandy, gin, absinthe, rum, aquavit and other great potables were purchased as research (yes, research...) for our forthcoming book, but nothing gets us more excited, our wallets out faster, than an exciting new whisky purchase.

And last week that is exactly what happened, when I heard about a new release from J & A Mitchell, the chaps behind Springbank Distillery and Wm Cadenheads, when they announced a very limited edition (2014 bottles) 30 Year Old blended Scotch whisky.

All apparently exactly 30 years old (so all from 1984) and constructed from 75% malt and 25% grain, the chaps down in Campbeltown are known for having some exceptional old casks hidden away. So, what price on this 30 year old Scotch... just £75. Yeah, £75.


Spirit of Freedom – 30 Years Old - Blended Scotch Whisky – 2014 bottles only - 46% abv – 70cl - £72.95 hereand £74.20 here

Nose: A strong vanilla and fennel note rises with a butter back bone and just a delicate hint of smoke. Walnuts and honey mix well, to give some sandlewood. Peaches and green apple too and a hint of pine. Sea salt. This smells like a blend of old- those great value ones from the 1970’s and 1980’s you can pick up for such great value at auction sites nowadays.

Palate:  Very, very drinkable at its bottled strength, it sits on the palate with a good dollop of oil and pineapple juice. A hint of coal dust in the background, gives a great foundation to tropical fruits and big butterscotch from the grain. A classic blend.

Finish: Oddly, probably the best bit (quite a feat given the nose and palate) with juicy fruit tropical chewing gum, more pineapple, honey, syrup and cinnamon spices with just a hint of that coal dust again.

Overall: For £75 you just can’t go wrong. Not at all.

At this price, you can drink this neat by the fireside, in preparation for Christmas, or you can run headlong in the opposite direction and, while there is still some sunshine left in the sky, dodge the gathering clouds, head out to your garden and drink this in a simply stunning highball.

“What, with a 30 year old blended Scotch whisky?” I hear you cry?!

Yup. With a 30 year old blended Scotch whisky. Happy Christmas!
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Competition Time: Win a chance to Choose the Next Overeem Release!

August 26, 2014, 5:08 am
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As our regular readers well know, we like to cheer people up on gloomy days -  especially ones following a particularly tasty bank holiday break (despite the incessant rain here in South London)
This time round, we have a corking opportunity for you:  Ever fancied actually having a say in the next release that a distillery puts out?  Well, short of sending in a boring questionnaire to a brand, citing what you like or dislike, or making a ranting phone call, telling a distiller to stop making NAS whisky (true apparently) , we're giving you just that opportunity!

Casey and Jane really needs your help in choosing
the next single cask bottling 

The marvellous folk at the Old Hobart distillery in Tasmania are wonderful whisky makers, but are sometimes a little indecisive. Alongside his truly excellent sherry and port cask releases, Head Distiller and distillery owner Casey Overeem has - for the first time - filled a small number of specially re-sized bourbon casks with his wonderful single malt. The trouble is they all taste superb, so he's having a little trouble to decide which one to release first in the UK... that's where you come in.
WHAT CAN I WIN? Well... here you go.
Casey and co are offering one lucky winner a unique opportunity to join a select panel of whisky experts at a Central London location (travel within the UK will be covered) in late September to decide which is the very best from three different single casks. The selected cask will then be bottled and released exclusively in the UK later in 2015. Just 50 bottles of the 60% ABV bourbon cask release will be available and in addition to having your say as to which cask is finally bottled, you'll also receive a special personalised bottle of whisky taken from the chosen cask.
2 runners-up will also each win a bottle of Overeem Sherry Cask 43% for their efforts.

Hello... Tell me more...

HOW DO I ENTER? All you have to do is write a Tasting Note that Casey himself would be proud of...
The person with the best tasting note, as chosen by Casey, will win. The whisky they want you to document is the Overeem Sherry Cask 43%. Its huge rich, fruity and spicy notes have proved a hit with single malt fans all over the globe. All you need to do is take inspiration from the whisky itself and tell the guys what you think it tastes like by 10pm on Thursday 18th September (winner to be announced on Friday 19th September).
If you don't happen to have this expression to hand and don't fancy purchasing a whole bottle (you really should though, it's superb) you can of course grab yourself a 3cl sample dram from the product pageon the Master of Malt website:  Here's our review for reference... no cheating please... ;-)

Overeem Single Malt Whisky -  Old Hobart Distillery -  Sherry Cask Matured - 43%

Nose: Immediately, this is very inviting and open, with notes of spiced apple pie, vanilla ice cream some perfumed notes and a slight vegetative note (boiled sweet potato.) Given time some sweet, plump raisins come to the fore, alongside a little dustiness and some cracked black pepper. Extremely rich and complex, all said and done.  

Palate: Wonderfully spicy and sweet, with star anise, clove and cinnamon dusted apples coating the palate, alongside some dried fruits (apricot and date), soft caramel and some vibrant blood orange notes.  Balanced and very impressive indeed for a youthful whisky. 

Finish: Lingering notes of dark chocolate, orange zest and toasted malt give this a luxurious and very lengthy finish.

Overall:  What a flying start.  Make no mistake, this is high quality whisky making and what's clear is the care and attention that has gone into pulling this expression together.  Highly recommended if you're a fan of big, bold sherry monsters. 


WAYS TO ENTER... 
1. Enter your tasting note in the User Review section of the Product Page, at Master Of Malt (link here) including a twitter handle so they can get in touch with you if you win.
2. Enter your tasting note in the blog comments section at Master Of Malt, ensuring that you enter an email address in the field provided.
3. Enter your tasting note in a Comment on our Caskstrength Facebook page or the Master Of Malt Facebook page.
4. If social media isn't your sort of thing, then simply just send us your tasting note at info(at)Caskstrength(dot)Net

Usual T's & C's apply:  You must be able to attend the tasting panel in late September (date TBC very soon) and if travelling from outside of the UK, make your own way here.  Oh- and be over the legal drinking age in your country of residence.  

Good luck and get those thinking/drinking trilbies on.


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The A.L.S. Challenge (that's Ardbeg's Latest Supernova)

September 1, 2014, 6:23 am
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Miniature collectors mob the Ardbeg Promo Bus,
in search of a 2014 Supernova. 
'Hello Neil, my name is F*******'

Started the random Facebook message, as I was idly playing with my phone last Saturday. 

'Can you help me for obtain these mini only for bloggers please?' was the next, slightly garbled line.  
Fortunately, it was accompanied with a picture of a small miniature Ardbeg bottle, a sample of the latest  release from the Islay distillery -  Supernova.  

'Can you obtain one for me please?' 

'Please Neil.' 

'Help me friend.' 

'Please my friend.' 

'I'm desperate for obtain these mini for my collection minis whisky.'

'Is it possible obtain please?'

'??'

By now I was starting to get a little irritated and slightly unnerved by the persistence of said collector, but also, my sense of playful deviousness began to kick in.  I wondered how far and to what lengths this chap would be willing to go to get hold of a bottle.  

What proceeded was another 38 direct messages, increasing in desperation every time.  

'I Suplicate' (sic)

'I'm desperate'

'please my friend, help me'.

When I finally fired off what I thought would end the conversation, it only got worse:

'Sorry, F*******, it is not for sale -  I shall be opening it for review later today.' 

'You know any person in Ardbeg?'

'Please'

'??'

'Accept 150€?'

Having realised I had kicked the proverbial hornets nest, I decided to beat a hasty retreat. 

Now I daren't open my Facebook Messenger application for fear of how many more notes I may have received.


The smoky jewel, which attracted
so much unwanted attention.
What's highly surprising here is that no where had I previously published any notification that I even had a bottle, let alone that I would be daft enough to offer it for sale.
You see, Ardbeg have decided to follow the music industry's response to a similar scenario - which I am particularly familiar with.

On the side of the bottle is a sticker with what looks like a unique code. In my previous days as an A&R executive at Warner Brothers, we used to individually number each promo record to specific journalists (even going as far as to digitally 'watermark' each copy) so if in the event the promo made its way onto Ebay, or worse, onto the file sharing sites before it was released, it could be traced back to the culprit. 

I suppose one could simply peel off the sticker here, if one so desired (pretty lame 'security tag' Ardbeg, if this was your intension) but it is the concept itself of security tagging whisky promos that I find even more unnerving.


Is there such an inherent distrust of whisky reviewers these days? If that's the case, would it not be better to simply send out unsealed plain sample bottles, with no collectable value? 

in any case, let's just remind ourselves of some of the language used in the previous conversation:

'I suplicate' (sic) 
'I'm desperate'... 

Have we really reached a time in the whisky business where certain brands are no longer whisky companies; once selling a high quality, world class spirit to enthusiasts, Bon Vivants and social drinkers - now effectively becoming limited edition promo art dealers?  

I have no doubt that collecting is indeed a joy for the collector. I happen to have a collection of vintage Star Wars figures as a reminder of my childhood enthusiasm for the films (yes - I know it's slightly sad to admit this.) But when something scarce and highly desirable comes onto the market, people begin to display an almost addict-like level of desperation if they don't get what they want. Surely, that type of collecting really has no appeal at all. It certainly doesn't to me.  

With serial whisky collectors - particularly miniature collectors it seems, the liquid is no longer important; the simple ownership and possible residual value of the bottle (full and untasted of course) becoming the sole, all consuming pleasure factor. 

So here is my challenge to the whisky business and other writers/bloggers and journalists, (should you see fit to disclose your professional credentials): 

Let's call it the ALS* Challenge (*Ardbeg's Latest Supernova)

If you have been sent a bottle of this miniature- and you know who you are -  I challenge you to:

1. Open it.
2. Review it.
3. Publicly dispose of the bottle in the most imaginative way possible.

Hey presto. No Supernova miniatures to appear on auction sites and then make their way to dusty cabinets at absurd prices.

No more preposterously pleading messages on Facebook.

No more - 'well, can I just have the empty bottle then...' 

Oliver Klimek, who writes the very witty Dramming has already started the ball rolling with shattering precision, using a mallet. 

Now let's see what you can come up with...

Here's my attempt: Alas -  I started filming just after the damn thing decided to shatter, but you get the idea.... It's not like I have another one to destroy for a second take...




  So what of the whisky itself? Arguably more important than any of the above frippery.

Well, it's a real surprise.

Dr Bill Lumsden attempts the ALS Challenge. 
Ardbeg - Supernova - 2014 Edition - 55%

Nose: Surprisingly floral, with fresh pine, sweet golden syrup and a slight touch of medicinal peat.  It has a waft of youth about it, but not overpowering.  

Palate: Ok, there's the smoke.  It isn't monstrous, like the original version (that, or maybe my palate has become immune to heavily peated whiskies now) but there is an abundance of coal dust, more freshly sawn pine, a sweet candy floss note, some melted butter and white pepper. The youthfulness is there to see, but even at this strength, it is not total overkill on the palate.  That said, it is a smoky whisky in the extreme.  

Finish: A lingering dryness coats the tongue, with the dusty embers from a bonfire leaving their mark on the palate. You'll be tasting it for a fair old time, that's for sure. 

Overall: I think we once used an analogy about heavily peated whiskies being the hot curries of the whisky world:  Yes, it's all well and good trying to be a Vindaloo or a Faal, but when there's little substance (other than burn) underneath, what's the point?
Here, there's all the fun of the fair (and by that I mean one which has recently caught fire and burned to the ground) but there is some balance and method to the madness too.  

You can read what we said about the old Supernova here.

F******* -  this is for you.  If you do happen to get your mitts on a bottle- just open it FFS.  Maybe even get some friends round... if you have any.   









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A Quick Post: Spey Royal Single Malt Scotch Whisky

September 4, 2014, 7:59 am
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The Queen with a pint of Spey Royal Choice single malt whisky.
Or beer, we're not quite sure which.
It’s rushing towards the end of the week and despite the seasons taking a very clear turn from summer into autumn the sun has crept out again to warm our backs here at Caskstrength HQ.

With an early start this morning to send off some bits of work and generally get our house in order for the weeks ahead, we find ourselves with a rare moment of calm; a peaceful oasis in the middle of a busy few weeks. 

So while we have this comma in the middle of a long sentence, it gives us a chance to pick a sample off our review table and write a brief post on something that, quite frankly, probably should have been reviewed a while ago. Thanks goodness this isn’t a film blog, or some of the samples on our ‘To Be Reviewed’ list would have gone from the cinema, to DVD, to Netflix and then Channel 4 already...

The stand out offering on our table of drams is a rather unusual one; a quite majestic bottle from the Speyside Distillery. Bottled in limited quantities, it simply known as Spey Royal Choice and is only available for purchase at Historic Royal Palaces, which includes the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, the Banqueting House, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace.

Having decamped from my Central London apartment to the Royal Borough of Windsor late last year, I’m a little put out that this isn’t available at Windsor Castle (which does stock their own selection of wines and spirits), but the idea appealed to me nonetheless. 

The Speyside Distillery is a distillery that you don’t see a whole lot of malt from. Only starting production in 1990, it took from the early 1960’s to lay all the stones and install the stills. The bottle itself comes in a huge wooden and leather box, with a certificate of authenticity. Not styled to my taste, to be honest... but then their focus seems to be on the Asian market with a new partnership with ex-footballer Michael Owen, announced earlier in the year to promote their products in the Far East. 



Royal Choice - Spey from The Speyside Distillery – Single Malt Scotch Whisky – Bottle No. 92 of 3194 bottles. 46% abv - £150.00

Nose: The initial aroma on this screams youth, with some light notes of honey nut cornflakes and vanilla and rose petal marshmallow. Some ginger and herbal notes (green veg steamed) develop into oaty creaminess (think porridge with whisky on top).

Palate: A world away from the nose, which isn’t too inviting, this does give some honey, heather and ripe banana notes. It isn’t overly complex or powerful, and isn’t trying to be too clever. Rather large and mouthfilling, after the honey the herbaceous notes attack giving it a rather oaky tone. A pretty simple whisky but at least the palate isn’t following in the footsteps of the nose.

Finish: More herbs, honey and delicate spices (cinnamon/nutmeg) but a slightly bitter after taste.

Overall: This whisky feels youthful and over coloured. The construction has probably done the best it can using the whiskies available, but this might have been better as a blend and not a single malt. Not adventurous enough for me, this sits on the fence from a flavour perspective.

Time to move on, and move on quickly, we think.
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Yes Or No? Glenlivet Single Cask Scotch Whisky 1974

September 9, 2014, 3:43 am
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It is hard in a job writing about spirits, to not write regularly about Scotch. And, living in England and visiting Scotland on a regular basis, it is difficult to ignore the bagpipe-like noise of nationalism currently floating through the air, this time not coming from a kilt-wearing man standing on the corner of Princess Street in Edinburgh, but from the trunk of the rather large ‘elephant in the room’ that is the upcoming Scottish independence vote.

As I live in England, I don’t get an official say as to the outcome of the situation, as I don’t have a vote. But I have been watching with interest (as someone who holds a Norwegian passport, born in Oxford to an English father and Norwegian mother, I often feel Scotland is geographically my natural home) as the debate has unfolded. And something odd has happened...

For as far as I can make out, the ‘Yes’ vote is arguing that Scotland is a rich country, full of great natural resources and untapped potential. It is a ‘sleeping Norway’, if you will which can stand on its own two feet and create a utopia of a country with a huge oil fund. The ‘No’ vote seems to have taken the stance that Scotland is a country leaning financially and politically on Westminster; that it takes more money from the Union coffers for free university education and other luxuries, not to mention the skew of an ageing population who draw their state pension from a joint pension pot, that leaving the Union would be a bad idea, as ‘we’ (Westminster), fund ‘you’ (Scotland).

So what is it that is odd about these arguments for those of us living south of the border? Well, if you live in the other areas of the Union, you might be swayed by these headline ‘facts’ into the very strange political stance of supporting one side’s argument in the hope that the vote goes the opposite way.

For example, if you live in England and you believe the line of the ‘No’ party that Scotland costs Westminster money, then you might think “OK then, if we fund your lifestyle, then off you go” and want a Yes vote to win. On the other hand, if you live in England and think “Salmond is right, Scotland is rich in so many ways and makes a huge positive contribution to the UK finances, not to mention the political power having oil in any form brings” then you would want the opposite of what Salmond wants: a 'No' vote to keep the Union together.  

As a result, it is all very odd living outside of Scotland and watching the debate happen, with the divided idea that you may end up supporting the ideals of one side, in the hope the vote goes the opposite way. I’ve never known politics like it, in this regard.

Now, I haven’t done the research into the facts on offer by both sides. I don’t need to, I don’t have the vote. But if I did have the vote I would make the time (I’m too busy working hard to pay off my University fees, but if you got your Uni education for free, you’ve got more time on your hands for this sort of thing...) to really dig into the ideals of each option, as this vote is simply too important to ignore.

So if you do have the vote, whichever way you think you might choose, just make sure you turn up on the day and use it.

Now, on to the reason we write this blog: whisky. And something which reflects the handshakes which happen regularly across the border: a single malt Scotch bottled by a non-Scottish company. In this case, Berry Brothers and Rudd (BBR), in London. Famed for their fantastic selection of whiskies, BBR consistently choose fantastic liquid to mature and bottle, mostly all single cask single malts.



Glenlivet – 1974 Single Cask 8211 – bottled 2013 – Berry Brothers & Rudd x The Whisky Exchange – 55.1% abv

Nose: Hot blueberry pie, plum chutney, blackcurrants and other summer fruits. There is just so much delicious fruit on the initial nose, which is underpinned with old leather, hazelnut and dark chocolate. Some wood spices of cinnamon and nutmeg appear, but not so as to overpower the fruits.

Palate: The mix of oak, fruit and spice is almost perfect. The three dance around the palate with the fruit becoming more vibrant the longer this sits, with blood orange developing as the dominant flavour. Of course there are the key touchstones of great old whisky in there too (some fruit cake, chamois leather, cardamom) but this shows that old whisky does not have to be tired.

Finish: More blood orange, strawberry licorice laces and a hint of vanilla, too.

Overall: At last year’s whisky show, a little beauty was on the BBR tasting stand. Bottled in conjunction with The Whisky Exchange, the combination of expert palates from BBR’s Doug McIvor and TWE’s Sukhinder Singh means that you simply can’t go wrong and indeed this turned out to be one of my top drams of 2013.

Having bought myself a bottle, which didn’t last very long at all, I returned to The Whisky Exchange shop in London Bridge earlier this year to restock my cabinet and came away with more than one bottle of this... something to eke out over the next few years.

Unlike the current level of political noise, this whisky is simple: a harmony of flavours from Scottish new make, foreign oak casks, bottled by two London-based establishments, which leaves me clear on my Yes/No decision: Yes, you can have a dram. No, you can’t keep the rest of the bottle.

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Objects of Desire: The Diageo Special Releases 2014 Single Malt Scotch Whiskies

September 15, 2014, 4:00 am
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There are many things in life that I’d like to have, but simply can’t afford. I think that must be true for all of us. But in my list of ‘objects of desire’, most are items that I already own. For example, I have a watch. I’d like a nicer one. I own a car, but would bite your hand off to trade in a seven year old Volvo estate for a Bentley Continental. Quite frankly, I can still tell the time as accurately as the next man, and I get stuck in the same traffic jams as the chap in the posh car next to me.

None of this quenches the thirst for ‘want’, however. And once again the carrot of desire is being dangled in front of the Scotch drinker with the annual release of Diageo’s ‘Special Releases’.

This year, eleven different single malts have been chosen from the rare stocks of casks across Diageo’s warehouses, some from closed distilleries, others from ones very much alive and kicking. So let’s have a look at the list of releases and, as we attended a pre-release tasting of all eleven single malts on offer last week, have a look at which of these are 9 carat gold and which are simply just 9 carrots...


DISTILLERY
AGE AT BOTTLING
YEAR DISTILLED
UK RRP
% ABV ON BOTTLING
VOLUME RELEASED (BOTTLES)
THE SINGLETON OF GLENDULLAN 
38
1975
£750
59.8%
3,756
CAOL ILA UNPEATED
15
1998
£75
60.39%
10,668
CAOL ILA
30
1983
£425
55.1%
7,638
CLYNELISH
SELECT RESERVE
1999* (apparently youngest whisky in vatting)
£500
54.9%
2,964
CRAGGANMORE 
25
1988
£299
51.4%
3,372
LAGAVULIN
12
2002
£80
54.4%
31,428
PORT ELLEN
35
1978
£2,200
56.5%
2,964
ROSEBANK
21
1992
£300
55.3%
4,530
BENRINNES
21
1992
£240
56.9%
2,892
BRORA
35
1978
£1,200
48.6%
2,964
STRATHMILL
25
1988
£275
52.4%
2,700


Quite a line up, when you sit back and look at exactly what has been chosen to go into glass this year. Turning up at the tasting was a mind-boggling affair, faced with 11 cask strength single malts is always a challenge, no matter how used to flights of that nature you are. But kicking off with a quick nose of the range, there were certainly some stars emerging from the pack.

The first one to call out, is the Cragganmore. At 25 years old, this carried an unusually buttery and sweet nose, with red apple, orchard fruits and popcorn. The palate was sweet with a big marmalade hit and the vanilla (from the new ends attached to the casks, perhaps?) gave it a vibrant finish for such an old whisky.

For those of you that love a heavy malt, the Benrinnes 21 year old was all Bovril and steak pies (not far off the one I had the night before) and delivering venison in a chocolate sauce on the palate. Very odd. Not for me, but I can see fans of this heavier style of whisky really going bonkers for it.

Of the rarest selection of closed distilleries, there was a return to Rosebank, with another 21 year old release, a step back in age from the 25 year old of a few years ago. This gave everything you want from a triple distilled Lowlander, matured in refill American oak casks: a palate of upside cake, vanilla marshmallow and candied orange peel showed well on the night, punching hard for such a light spirit.

There was the traditional Brora... a distillery over which an extreme fuss is always made, but personally, I just don’t know why. Like Morrissey and The Smith for me: I can see why people love ‘em, but I just don’t get it (oh, don’t let Morrissey anywhere near that Benrinnes by the way- too much beef in it for even him!) Yes, Brora is closed and yes, there have been some amazing releases from certain years in the 1970s, but overall, I’ve always felt my money (for my taste) could be better spent. This year’s Brora release will no doubt delight those Broraphiles, and I marked it down as one of my top drams of the night, but my two headline acts for the evening were...

...the latest Port Ellen release (of course) and the fantastic Caol Ila 30 Year Old. Let’s start with the PE. Oh, my it is good. We are finally seeing some increased use of European oak casks here, giving a wider flavour range than we have seen in the past. This is moving away from the peated grapefruit we know and love so well, to actually nodding in the direction of its ‘still alive sister’ Lagavulin, up the road. The nose was bacon bits, the palate giving almost light rum tones and mossy peat. Fantasy stuff, really.

But cracking on from the north of the same island is an amazing offering from Caol Ila. A 30 year old matured in refill American oak casks, the stock from 1983 is incredibly light with peat, toffee and peaches. One of the best for taking water, as well opening up to reveal that wonderful Caol Ila coal dust and bigger toffee notes. Simply wonderful.

The big question as always is over price and this year the big hitting single malts come with big hitting price tags (over £2k for the Port Ellen, for example) but they do have some for under £100, and you can pick up both the Caol Ila unpeated and the Lagavulin 12 for a combined cost of less than a flight to Scotland in the week of the referendum. I vote yes for staying at home with bottle of each.
As much as these are shiny desirable jewels,  with some absolute corkers in there, I just can’t afford the two I really loved. Never mind, my watch still works and it tells me it’s time for a whisky: someone pass the Johnnie Walker Black label. Bloody good stuff, you know. And less than £30 a bottle. What’s not to like about that?
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Indie, Indie, Indie Part 2: Master of Malt DARKNESS! Collection

May 12, 2014, 7:35 am
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In our second look at some indie releases from retailers, it is the chaps over at Master of Malt who yet again throw their creative brains into a cask, add in a bunch of spirit and leave it to infuse.

Having stepped up their game in terms of their own bottlings (crowing their releases with a 60 Year Old earlier this year), some of the most memorable ones being an 18 year old Ardbeg last year and a very floral Bowmore before that, they have now released a new mini-series of whiskies which have all been additionally finished in a small, first fill sherry cask (50 litres).

The series, known as Darkness!, features spirit from Ardbeg, Macallan and Clynelish distilleries as well as two from Benrinnes.





Benrinnes 15 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 53.3% abv: A nose of rich fruits and oak, linseed oil and fresh leather. The palate gives a firm oak note, followed by dark cherries, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fruity and spicy. The finish is oaky and fruity with lasting spices. A big tasting dram.




Benrinnes 15 Years Old, Oloroso Cask Finish, 52.9% abv: A more subtle dram with less big oak and more fresh pine (as you would expect from the different style cask), raspberry and white chocolate. The palate is again more subtle with cherry pie and apricot jam. The finish gives sandalwood and old leather.




Macallan 15 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 52.3% abv: Ginger and mint, this is the most closed of the five samples we have but over time opens up to reveal vanilla and cream soda. The Palate is sweet and rounded, the most easy drinking of the bunch and feels a lot older in flavour, with a hint of sulphur and red apple. Finish plays with spent matches and meaty pulled pork.




Clynelish 16 Years Old, Oloroso Cask Finish, 54.9% abv: Wood polish/wax, butter beer, some sweet cure bacon and ghee on the nose. The palate is hazelnut praline, walnuts and crunchie bar. The finish is chopped chilli and milk chocolate.




Ardbeg 21 Years Old, Pedro Ximenez Cask Finish, 40.1% abv: Well, this shows that no matter what cask Ardbeg spirit has been sitting in, you always ‘come home’ to Ardbeg when you stick your nose in a glass of it. Classic Ardbeg smoke, this isn’t a meaty dram it is quite delicate for a PX casked whisky and at 21 years old comes from their lighter production period (in terms of volume) of the early 1990’s.  Apple pie with cinnamon and warm custard on the nose, followed by a palate of very delicate smoke, apple sours, some sour cherry, vanilla and lemongrass.  


Of these initial samples, the two Benrinnes showed up the best. The biggest curveball was the Ardbegwhich we thought might end up somewhere in Lagavulin 16 territory but actually retains a huge amount of vanilla and green apple; a surprisingly easy dram to drink but not a ‘sherry monster’ like the others.

This range is due to spin off battings from other Scotch distilleries, including single grains (which we are personally looking forward to the most) and already has a North British, Dailuaine,two Aberlours, an Aultmore, a Glen Moray and a Tomintoul(all carrying age statements) in their stable. Obviously, coming from such a small cask, they are in 50cl bottles (the new ‘en vogue’ bottle size these days, don’t ya know) and bottled at cask strength.




   
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Distilled: Our New Book, Out Today!

October 6, 2014, 3:40 am
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Writing is a wonderful thing. But, as with the apocryphal ‘tree in the woods’, if no one reads your words, have you really written anything at all?

When, in 2008 we decided to start Caskstrength.net, it was to create a journal wherein we could keep a record of all the whiskies which had been shared with us, and we were sharing with other people... little did we know of the journey that it would take us on. The blog was not designed for mass readership nor praise, but a simple account of the joys of whisky, wrapped up in some irreverent ramblings.

As we approach our 8th year of writing this blog, we are constantly humbled by the figures we see when we check our stats. To have a monthly readership which would fill every seat at Old Trafford and still leave queues outside is always mind-boggling, and makes us want to dedicate our entire time to writing posts.

However, the rigours of everyday life always get in the way and, being self-employed and full-time in the drinks business, writing our blog (which carries no advertising and therefore no income) can often slip down the priority list, in favour of actual, real work.

But writing is very much in our veins (along with a sizeable proportion of alcohol too, usually...) and about 18 months ago we decided we wanted to write a bookdedicated to the wider world of distilled drinks. After working up a concept we were commission by Octopus Books to start writing, and it gave us a wonderful opportunity to explore and visit some of the world’s finest spirits producers.


As a result we are pleased to announce that today is the official publication date of our new book, ‘Distilled’, a guided tour around the wonderful world of spirits.


Broken down into chapters on gin, vodka, tequila & mezcal, rum, brandy, whisky and a host of other spirits, the book is akin to a Lonely Planet Guide: think of distilled spirits as a city, and the different styles as the suburbs. The book gives a history of each of the different suburbs, as well as an idea of the production values involved. It references some of the major brands in the overviews, but focuses on smaller, undiscovered producers. Each section comes with an interview (or two) with a ‘maverick’, someone making interesting expressions of their chosen distillate, and a ’10 To Try...’ of unusual offerings from that category. Oh, there are also a few nice cocktails in there to make as well.

Out on MitchellBeazley, the fab publisher which also releases Dave Broom’s wonderful books, you’ll get change from fifteen quid in the UK for a copy, and you can buy it:

here, here, here and here

or simply head down to your local book shop where you should find it in stock. If you’re outside the UK, you can still order it from your local webstore, and do look out for it in the shops too as different territories have different release dates.

But we couldn’t leave it there. We like to try and do things a little differently here at Caskstrength.net so in the lead up to the release of the book, we made some short videos (very short...) of the magic of making drinks. From grain magically appearing as liquid in the glass, to ‘three click cocktails’, you can check out the videos here, with an example of one (magic maturation) below:


All that remains for us to say is ‘thank you’. If no one reads these posts, we might have well not have written them. And if no one reads our book, then the tree which fell in the forest to make it, might as well have not have bothered making all that noise. We hope you enjoy reading Distilled as much as we enjoyed writing it.

Cheerio,

Joel & Neil 


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The Sound Of Aberlour (or 'Aberlou(de)r')

October 16, 2014, 6:55 am
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Hey hey!  Both Joel and I find ourselves at an unusual point this month. Our new book, Distilled is finally out and we're really delighted with the reaction so far. It's been a hugely rewarding ride into the world of spirits and we look forward to many more years to come, writing about and enjoying great spirits in the company of great friends.  

Last week, we had a slight return to our roots back in the music business, albeit as part of a fun and engaging tasting masterclass for The Whisky Show. In fact, it was a superb opportunity to reminisce about 'the old days' of making records and generally revisit what was a fun chapter in our lives. 

Together with an old friend of ours, record producer Danton Supple, the man who produced Coldplay's X&Y album, as well as working with a host of highly successful artists from around the globe including Amy MacDonald and Natalie Imbruglia, we devised an experience for 30 passionate whisky and music fans, who were in attendance at the Whisky Show. For all three of us, there is an undeniable link between whisky and music. It has been said that whisky and rock ‘n roll are the ultimate bedfellows and that the creative energy flowing through many of the greatest and most enduring classic blues and Rock ‘n Roll songs can be attributed to the ‘spirit of the spirit’. From the raw emotion laid bare in Robert Johnson’s seminal recordings of the late 1930s, through to the hedonistic, hell-raising antics of Led Zeppelin and beyond, whisky, of some kind, seeps with abundance from virtually every pore.  

But not only is there a creative link. There are also parallels between the production of classic whiskies and the creation of classic albums and our tasting sought to highlight a number of these similarities. 


We chose the classic Speyside malt, Aberlour as a perfect example of a liquid laid bare, ideal for pairing with music. The concept was to find five unusual expressions of Aberlour, each with its very own personality to match with five similarly characterful pieces of music. Working alongside Danton,  we rattled through our combined record collections with each whisky in tow, until we felt confident that we had mirrored the individual nuances of the liquid. No easy feat, as it turned out, given that music - and tasting notes are so damned subjective. But our collective thinking was that certain styles of whisky have very distinct character traits and it was these that we hoped to highlight with each piece of music.  

Are you still with us?  - honestly, it will become clearer, we promise!

Assembling a fairly high-end stereo in the huge arched tasting rooms down in Vinopolis, the location of The Whisky Show, we laid out our plans -  and the whiskies. Had we succeeded in capturing the essence of each liquid in song form?  

First up was a real cracker: a 16 year-old single cask Aberlour matured in a wonderfully rich sherry cask, only available at the distillery and bottled at 59.1%. In fact, if you pay the distillery a visit, this is one of a pair of releases that you can bottle yourself, so a very special whisky indeed.  As a prime example of a characterful Speyside spirit filled into a clearly very active sherry cask, this whisky is powerful and brooding- rich in body and complexity. It has a mighty spiciness, which develops alongside a highly resonant fruitiness.  To us, a single cask whisky is about as near to completely immersing yourself in the spirit as possible and our idea was to pair this with a stark acoustic recording: something where you hear a song -  and the vocal - in its rawest form, with every nuance of the performance on show. After much discussion, there was only one artist who could truly take on such a mighty whisky and that was 'The Man In Black' himself, the late Johnny Cash.  

The song we chose was The Man Comes Around, taken from his beautifully recorded American IV album, released in 2002. Here, Cash's voice is arguably at its finest: As resonant and cavernous as a 300ft sinkhole, yet still in possession of a rich, spicy character. A voice that has truly lived, if you like. For us, this simple, honest recording was the perfect backdrop to the Aberlour sherry cask. We hit play and stood back.  

With our palates still tingling from such a complex whisky, our next pairing was almost the antithesis of both sherry cask maturation and the fearsome pipes of Johnny Cash. As mentioned above, there is a pair of single casks available at the Aberlour distillery and we were lucky enough to get a bottle of the sister to the brooding sherry bomb: A wonderfully light, zesty, fruity and buttery first-fill Bourbon Cask 16 Year Old Aberlour,bottled at 54.5%. Here, we wanted to try and demonstrate the contrasting lightness against the shade of the sherry release - the ethereal, soft, sweet vanilla/ tropical fruit notes of a first fill bourbon cask.  

This initially proved to be a little tricky. We were convinced that a simple, beautiful acoustic track sung by a timeless female vocalist was the way to go, but finding something uplifting and confident, yet syrupy smooth caused a few disagreements. In the end, after several reaffirming drams at Danton's studio in Shoreditch, we hit on the perfect match: Carole King and her timeless piano led classic, You've Got A Friend from the 1971 masterpiece, Tapestry. The warm, analogue notes of this recording really helped to counterpoint the unctuous notes of the whisky. So far, so good!

The third pairing was perhaps the most interesting to explore and gave Danton a chance to demonstrate just why he is one of the most in demand record producers in the world. Our task was to find a way of articulating the perfect balance of cask types found in an Aberlour 17 year old Double Cask release, bottled exclusively for the French market at 43%.  As we have previously seen, both first fill sherry and bourbon cask styles have very different flavour profiles and too much of either one can change the balance of light and shade- potentially in the wrong direction.  

It was here that Danton likened the practice of mixing a song to that of the whisky maker obtaining that perfect balance of flavours in a finished recipe and to highlight this, he bought along something you simply wouldn't get to hear every day: The multitrack recordings of one of Coldplay's biggest hits, Fix You. Using his laptop to highlight individual tracks he began with the song's simple organ part and stark vocal, building to a crescendo of instruments and emotions. Too much of one aspect (the organ and bass parts) gave the track a darker feel. Too much lead vocal and guitar, coupled with vocal harmony parts produced a mix that was sweeter and lighter, but lacked the solidity and foundations of the finished, balanced recording. In tandem, the 17 year old Aberlour hit that sweet spot of rich, darker notes, whilst building to a wonderfully balanced, sweet fruitiness. 

For the forth pairing, we wanted to really push the boat out and thanks to the almost archive-like inventory of the Whisky Exchange, we managed to locate a dusty bottle of Aberlour/Glenlivet 8 Year Old, bottled in the middle of the 1960's.  This time capsule of a whisky was unlike any modern whiskies on the palate and made us wonder about the difference of production methods back then. Today's whisky business centres on practices that deliver consistency, with a greater understanding of wood management and maturation, so you can pretty much guarantee that the bottle you open today will taste pretty similar to the one you open in a decade.  However, back in the 1960's things were a little different. Aberlour Ambassador Phil Huckle gave us some background on the distillery at the time, pointing to the idiosyncrasies that might affect the differing flavour profiles of a whisky, such as coal fired stills and less of a scientific approach to understanding the maturation process.   

For these reasons, we wanted to find a classic track made roughly around the same era, which despite the limitations of technology at the time, is arguably regarded as a groundbreaking piece of music. We didn't have to think too hard about this -  Pink Floyd's Breathe from their seminal Dark Side Of The Moon.  


With the room feeling particularly chilled out and no doubt drifting off into a dreamy whisky/progrock-induced haze, it was time to bring things back to life. Our final pairing was the most lively of all, a given, when you consider the whisky we decided to finish on. Aberlour A'Bunadh is arguably the distillery's most well known and highly regarded expression and has developed an almost cult following since it was first released in 1997. For us, this is the most extreme style of Aberlour (batch 48 is bottled at 59.7%) and our pairing needed to reflect this. In fact, it made us think of the concept of seeing your favourite band play live: You know the songs, but everything is so much more lively, loud, driven and direct. All in all, everything is turned up to 11, with everyone on stage delivering a visceral and incendiary performance. There was no disagreement as to which track would perfectly articulate this: Can't Explain from The Who's incredible 'Live At Leeds' album, rated by many music critics as the best live album of all time. The recording is brutally honest, leaving Townshend, Entwistle, Moon and Daltery no room to hide, each one at the top of their game and performing out of their skins. It's the sound of a band so accomplished, they can strip open the songs at ease and allow the listener to understand what each instrument really adds. 


Aberlour A'Bunadh has the same simplistic and powerful heart, but there are also layers of complexity amongst all the extremes. It's a whisky that transports you right back to the beginnings of the distillery with each passing sip (for those who don't know, it was a recreation of a very old bottle front he late 1800's that was found at the distillery)- much in the same way that listening to 'Live At Leeds' gives even those listening today that feeling of "I Was There'. 

What a way to finish. For those of you who would like to try and recreate the same experience at home, we've created a 'Sound Of Aberlour' Spotify playlist which you can listen to here.  

The Sound Of Aberlour

But why not try creating your own pairings? Of course, each listener and drinker has a deeply personal relationship with their music and whisky; this was ours and we're willing to bet that given half the chance, you can find your own perfect Sound Of Aberlour.  


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The Ardmore Legacy: A (slight) Return of the Unsung Smoky Hero

October 31, 2014, 7:25 am
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From Caskstrength.net

Everyone loves an underdog, don't they. Be it the minnows in the World Cup, or the most unlikely victors (recently Leicester City, known as the Foxes, beat the once mighty Manchester United 5-3, after coming from 3-1 behind) there's something to truly celebrate when a small time player comes from nowhere and trounces the competition.

Now, without patronising a clearly great distillery, The Ardmore, one of only a handful of malt distilleries on the mainland of Scotland to use peated barley in its production, never seems to be on anyone's radar when discussing the best smoky whiskies on the market.

Think Smoke - Think Laphroaig/Ardbeg/Caol Ila/Lagavulin/Bowmore etc and you begin to see a very clear picture of just how Islay has a major stranglehold on the world of peated Scotch whisky (not forgetting Skye's Talisker of course)

All this is fine and whisky makers, marketeers and everyone connected with promoting whisky likes to play on the obvious relevance of 'terroir' when it comes to peated whiskies.  The harsh island climates, the lonely peat bogs - in essence -  it's all encoded deep into the DNA of every Islay/Island whisky story.

But in all the swirls of mist, bottomless black lochs and 110 year-old peat cutters, we seem to have forgotten that great peated whisky can pretty much be made anywhere - not even just in Scotland- look at the mighty Hakushu in Japan and Connemara in Ireland for a global picture. 

Ardmore is one such distillery who has been making a whisky unlike any of their Highland neighbour’s wares. Ardmore Traditional Cask has long been on our list of undiscovered gems and a whisky that we often use to highlight the breadth of flavour when considering a 'peaty' whisky. It very much has its own style and as a result, counterpoints some of the more medicinal beasts from Islay.  

Recently, Ardmore Traditional Cask has been retired, in favour of a brand new whisky, The Ardmore Legacy, taking its place as the Highland challenger to the Islay-dominated smoky crown. 

Legacy continues on a fairly lightly peated trajectory, but don't let this put you off, if you are a fan of the bolder stuff. There's something unique about this whisky that allows it to sit comfortably next to its more medicinal Island brothers, highlighting a whole different world within the concept of peat.  What's more, it sits nicely at under £30 here in the UK....


The Ardmore -  Legacy -  40%

Nose: Fresh pine wood shavings, a hint of coal tar soap, some dry coal dust embers and then something altogether more floral: a sweet, incense note, candifloss and freshly laundered cotton sheets. It's fresh, youthful, but still full of complimentary aromas.  

Palate: A touch of dry oak, some creamy toffee, before the smoke delivers a fresh, almost fruity flavour -  think slightly smoked/charred citrus fruit and you're on the right way. There's a good helping of something a little dryer too, with a woody/bonfire note developing, but any overly dry notes are kept nicely in check here. Given time, some more floral, lavender notes develop, with a milky coffee note. Very well balanced indeed.

Finish: The slightly smoky/creamy coffee notes linger, with a hint of lemon zest returning as your palate dries.

Overall: A cracking introduction to peat if you are new to whisky, but with enough complexity going on to still put a smile on any peat head's face too. At under £30, it also represents a departure to where other whisky companies seem to be heading at the moment, so much so that we'd consider this a cabinet essential. 



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Salud! TequilaFEST Is Coming To London - Win Tickets!

November 7, 2014, 6:00 am
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Wow, what a month for spirits November is turning out to be...

This week has seen us already attend the launch of a brand new gin from French masters G'Vine, (more on this next week) as well as the expansion of Sipsmith, one of London's finest craft gin distillers.  

In addition we had our whisky hats on for the launch of Diageo's Special Releases (which you can read about here) and Neil was in action on the BBC's International News programme, discussing the state of world whisky making today. You can watch the broadcast below if you haven't already seen it. 

Neil Discussing World Whisky On BBC World News from Caskstrength Creative on Vimeo.



We're also especially pleased to announce that later this month we're partnering with the organisers of TequilaFEST for what is the UK's very first expo of Mexican spirits. TequilaFEST will be running over two days on the 22nd and 23rd of November at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London and promises to be a great way to explore the changing face of Tequila, as well as lean more about the rustic brilliance of Tequila's brother-in-arms, mezcal.  

For both of us, Tequila and mezcal have been flying high on our spirits radars over the past year and feature heavily in our new book, Distilled, which has plenty of suggestions for great expressions to try, alongside interviews with a number of highly passionate spirits producers. Tequila and mezcal are truly vibrant spirits and TequilaFEST will be a unique opportunity for anyone passionate about spirits to begin to understand their different personalities and try some exceptional examples of both. 


Alongside the line up of leading brands, food pairings and cocktails there will be seminars and masterclasses on both spirits and we'll be hosting a discussion each day with renowned bartenders and brand ambassadors on the main differences of Tequila and mezcal, so keep an eye out for more details on the complete programme, by clicking here: 

But that's not all! We're giving away three pairs of tickets to the event.  

All you need to do is simply send us a Tweet to @weheartwhisky with the hashtag #tequilafest and we'll enter you into a prize draw to win a pair. The competition will close at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 19th November and we'll be notifying the winners shortly afterwards. If you haven't got a Twitter account, you can simply email us your details (name, age and location, plus contact details) to Tequilafest@Caskstrength.net

Usual rules apply: Only enter if you're over 18 and can definitely attend on the 22nd and (or) the 23rd November. Also, UK residents only please. You'll need to make your own way to the event too...

For more info about TequilaFEST, visit the website www.tequilafest.co.uk and hope to see you there!

Follow TequilaFEST on Twitter:  @tequilafestuk On Facebook On Instagram: TFUK2014






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The Ultimate Christmas Spirit - Part 1

December 1, 2014, 2:57 am
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Apologies for the lengthy absence. Both of us have been travelling extensively, all in the name of Spirits Exploration and we have come out the other side, blinking in the December sunlight, filled with knowledge from the world of fine, well crafted spirits. 

As it’s the first of the month (assume you all have your Master Of Malt Advent calendars… if not, get cracking and play catch up!) we’ve decided to take a leisurely look at the spirits you should be drinking this Christmas. 

We start off with a definitive winter warmer; something to ease you into the month helping banish any chills you may be experiencing and set up your palate firmly for the numerous log-fired, lazy family filled holiday dates that are coming later this month. 

The spirit in question is a whisky. It’s name is Glendronach and for those in-the-know, it’s a distillery that in recent years has begun to excel at producing hugely powerful-yet complex sherry cask monsters - but for a fraction of the price of a 'Marque' brand like Macallan. This particular bottling was selected by our friend David Margulies, owner of the Grapevine retail website and it’s an absolute cracker…



GlenDronach – 1994 Vintage – Pedro Ximinez Sherry Puncheon – 52.1% - Cask No: 279 (£80)

Nose: An initial hit of rich caramel toffee, some woody spice and then a syrupy fig/raisin laden fruit cake. The spices are amplified with a little water and the sherry notes become slightly sweeter – more like bonfire toffee, with a Manuka honey topping. 

Palate: Much like the nose, the dried fruit, spice and drying oak come through on the first wave, with a very sticky, unctuous mouthfeel.  With water, the sherry becomes more dominant and the spice a little more pronounced, but for us, this is absolutely superb straight, at its full 52.1%.

Finish: Lingering notes of toffee, oaky spice and raisins.

Overall: A stellar sherry cask choice, highlighting that for the money, there’s plenty more options out there than just diving in with the big bucks for a massively well known brand costing twice the price.  
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Guest Post: The Science of Drinking and Shopping this Christmas by Tim Ridley

December 4, 2014, 7:31 am
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Hello festive friends. This week, our good friend Tim Ridley (no relation) has penned this superbly constructed discussion on the science of flavour and the psychology of choosing the right thing to buy this Christmas. Tim has made considerable waves in the artisanal coffee world is a founder of Department of Coffee and Social Affairs.  If you have yet to explore the world of coffee like you have your spirits,  Tim is your sherpa through the world of beans, blends and single estates.  

QUALITY AND ALL THAT CARRY ON: A GUIDE TO CHOOSING YOUR CHRISTMAS DRINKS

As the festive season arrives we’re preparing to eat, drink and be merry. Regular readers of Caskstrength quite possibly pride themselves on choosing their whiskies on the basis of ‘quality’. While this is potentially true, I doubt it. I think something else is driving our decision-making. Here’s why - as well as my ideas to help you be merry this Christmas.

Before presenting some attributes that I think are now shaping our beverages choices, I want to start by dissuading you from the notion that quality is the driving factor in your drinks decision-making. It’s become so commonplace to say that it’s the sole criterion, it’s now offensive or a risk to one’s reputation to voice otherwise. I can already hear the sound of sharpening knives from people who are going to question my commitment to quality! Read on before you judge...

So let me start with this challenge. If you benefit from exquisitely developed whisky taste (buds), the quality criterion forces you to apply the same stringent criteria to other spirits, for example, tequila shots or Irish cream. Or other beverages, such as tea and coffee. And what about food? How was that lamb kebab you enjoyed on the way home at the weekend? Or that High Street sandwich you had for lunch? The reality is that even the best tasters I know don’t apply their skill set far beyond their area of expertise. I’ve eaten greasy chicken wings with winners after spirits awards ceremonies, know brilliant sommeliers who drink instant coffee, baristas who drink builders tea, and chefs that heat ready meals at home.

Some of you will be prickling already. But calm done laddie, there’s no criticism here, it’s just an observation. However, it seems to me that we actually understand these choices to be inconsistent if we pay creed to the idea of ‘quality’ being the driving criterion, so we sweep the crumbs of our takeout dinners under the mat or worse, us foodie types go out of our way to be outright condescending of mass-market food and drink. Furthermore, all the tasters I know have at least one unrefined food or drink indulgence. Mine is Pringles. Buy me a can, I’m yours.

BUYING THE BEST WE CAN AFFORD?
Moving on, I also need to unpick the notion that people buy the best that they can afford. To do this, I’m going to cantankerously propose that judging beverage quality is actually quite easy. High quality beverages are those that are deemed to have 1) many distinct and clearly identifiable flavours, 2) those flavours have plenty of reach, life or depth and, 3) the flavours and tastes - salty, sweet, acidic, bitter and umami - have ‘balance’. Accepting that the contentious bit is the consistent assessment of these attributes, I’m just going to move on and point out that these attributes have traditionally been the basis of pricing. And here we introduce the concept of ‘value’. It works out nicely that good ingredients (which are costly), made carefully (by skilled people, who are expensive) and left to mature (time is money) typically benefit from the above flavour attributes and command a corresponding price point. This has become so ingrained that even uneducated consumers accept the logic. Just say something like ‘quality ingredients’, ‘skilled craftsmen’ or ‘maturation’ and people nod their heads with an appreciation of the price. Of course, quality and price don’t always match, and where there’s a gap, we blame marketing.

Now many of you have sufficiently good enough palates to taste through marketing. If you can do this (and I’ve kinda made the assumption that most Caskstrength readers can), I’m primarily talking about consumers like you. I’ve got no market data to support my idea but I’m inclined to think that we’re probably not the largest market segment, nor are we probably the highest spending, but my observation is that there are a significant, informed and quickly growing number of us and if you’re like my friends you’re rather vocal about your opinions. Caught between super-premium luxury products and commodity grade, we’re the ‘squeezed middle’ of beverage Britain. I also think that we’re a really interesting demographic because we’re the early and middle stage adopters and our opinions end up shaping the trends that go into the mass market. If you know what I am talking about, then you’ll also know that buying the best you can afford is a desperately disappointing experience. In short, you’re too well informed about what’s out there to be satisfied with the thing that is a pale comparison of the original or the best.

So if quality, price and marketing are not driving our decision-making, what is?

AN EXAMPLE FROM COFFEE
Before I take a stab at answering this, I’m going to shift to a beverage that I know more about: coffee. While I largely select coffees on the basis of the breadth and vitally of the flavours, you might be interested to know that ageing provides no benefit to coffee; in fact, it’s a flavour killer. Once coffee is harvested and processed, everything is in decline. This is true for pretty much every aspect of a coffee post-pick. Few coffees last well more than 12 months; all last just a few days after roasting (or around 16 days for espresso); and just seconds after grinding (despite what those hawkers of ground coffee might tell you). This is depressing news for the coffee professional as well as the enthusiast. I’ve long been jealous of (and inconvenienced by) my spirits friends who crack open a good bottle and fill my glass. It has been necessary to reciprocate their generosity by demonstrating the intricate coffee- making process at a location where I have sufficient equipment to precisely weigh the coffee, measure the water temperature, filter the water and time the extraction. Making coffee is delicate and hard work (oh, and this is all for a cup of coffee that retails between £2.50 - £3.00 compared to pouring a dram at £8 plus. Well done whisky, you have the margins and the ease of service sorted. Coffee has a lot to learn, but that’s another story).

Having had the privilege of walking a number of incredible people in the spirits industry through the coffee-making process, my observation is that they’re all bored to tears - until they actually get to drink some coffee. At this point, I have their full attention. The strange thing is that despite having some of the best tasting palates in the world, they can’t definitively say that the coffee is good as it’s typically outside of their reference points (this ties in with my point above about the transferability of tasting skills). However, so far, they’ve universally been won over and I want you to understand that while initially they can’t judge it accurately, they’re sold because the beverage gives them a sense of ‘it’s just right’ or ‘something interesting is going on here’. And this is where I introduce my concept of ’pleasure’. A google search defines pleasure as ‘a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment’.

PLEASURE
To further test my theory and demonstrate my point, I presented the awarded and qualified owners of this site with a modification of the Desert Island Disc conundrum: ‘Which single whisky would you take to a solitary existence on a desert island, of course, along with your eight music tracks, the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare?’
Interestingly, both responded with a shortlist of two and they both had a whisky in common. Neil Ridley (for the sake of clarity, no direct relation of mine) chose a Lagavulin 16 or White Horse blended whisky and Joel Harrison also selected Lagavulin 16 or Balvenie Double Wood. These are whiskies you can pick up at a good bottle shop. If I could only have one coffee for the rest of my life it’d probably be
a high-grade Kenya or high-altitude Colombian coffee. Neither are cheap, but similarly they’re regularly available and far from luxury products.
Now, truth be told, I could have used pretty much anyone with a half-decent palate for the above two examples. I just wanted to bolster the credibility of my argument by referencing your captains of industry and the Caskstrength crew.
My thesis is that despite all the talk amongst us foodie types about quality and how it is achieved, we are more fundamentally hardwired to pursue and choose ‘pleasure’. My theory is that people don’t move from mass-market to quality, they move from commodity and brand, with the help of knowledge, to hedonism. If this is the case, how can we have a clear framework for judging a beverage’s quality, but not its pleasure-inducing attributes.

DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK TO JUDGE THE PLEASURE-INDUCING ABILITIES OF A BEVERAGE

So, here’s my starting point for developing a framework for what makes beverages pleasurable, and therefore what we should be buying this Christmas to be happy:

They are made for you
I can make better coffee than most, but my favourite coffee of the day is usually the one made for me. The same goes for food and is part of the reason why restaurant dining can be so enjoyable. There is a difficult to define but easy to recognise ‘generosity of spirit’ that has to be at the heart of good hospitality and food and drink, whether that’s in a commercial establishment or at home. Creators of beverages need to make them for others to enjoy, not just for themselves or at the dictates of their production line. If you’re in doubt, go talk to the producer and hear their motivations. Also, you can show generosity of spirit and lift someone else’s enjoyment by serving them a beverage.

A shared experience
Drinking should be a social experience. I like to point out that pretty much all beverages are historically made in volumes to serve a group of people. A one glass wine cask? A Chinese tea ceremony for one? It sounds wrong, and for good reason. Drinks should bring people together. I think that you should choose drinks that the entire table can enjoy.

A true and simple story
Of course, most simple stories are not true, but the point is we need straightforward narratives to be able to grapple with unfamiliar things. The details of the coffee-making process are too intricate for even inquisitive beverage professionals from other sectors. So, I’ve learnt to serve first, pique interest and then explain. I’m still looking for a simple, but true, story on coffee-making.

There are way markers
There is a trend in art galleries for less information to be provided about the artworks because the idea is that people should be free to experience whatever the art speaks to them. I’m all for this, but many of us lack the vocabulary and framework to explain - and therefore meaningfully share or understand - our experience. If you’ve ever felt lost standing in front of a painting, then apply this feeling to how many consumers feel about beverages. We need to provide the right level of information, background, context whilst retaining sufficient room for individual discovery and personal preference.

It’s difficult, but not too difficult
I’m sure you all know the story about Betty Crocker’s failed introduction of instant cake mix and subsequent success once the formula and marketing was amended to require “women” (sorry, their story not mine) add an egg to the box mix before baking the cake. Adding effort is rewarding. We need to find ways to get involved. Start with something basic like serving your drinks at the right temperature.

Knowing when to serve clarity, comfort or complexity
I have an idea that people default to one of three camps when tasting for pleasure. Some people like clarity, which I define as a clear expression of flavours, ideally showing a correlation between production and palate. Some people default for beverages that provide a sense of reassurance and comfort. And some people lean towards drinks that emotionally energise and excite them. I can think of malts in each of these categories. A slightly more nuanced approach is to say that it depends on the occasion, but my experience suggests people have deep-seated defaults. I generally prefer complexity and clarity. I ideally want to be inspired by what I drink and if it’s less than inspirational I at lease want to be drinking a clear expression of the style. Know yourself, know the room and serve accordingly.

It’s of quality
I’m not trying to reduce the importance of quality, rather I’m saying that it’s not enough and nor is it the sole driving factor in the selection of beverages for an important and growing section of the population. Not everything I enjoy is technically brilliant, and neither is everything that scores high points enjoyable for me. I can already hear a debate about whether Scotch or Japanese whiskies are more enjoyable.

Is good for you
I have all sorts of ideas about various forms of production, the use of pesticides and chemicals and how beverages are stored. This is not the place to impose my ideals, but it is fair to point out that food and drink should nurture, not damage, our bodies. Do your own research, get your own ideas and choose things that your body responds well to.

Think that it’s expensive
You’ve probably seen Benjamin Wallace’s TED talk on super-premium items and how our bodies actually register greater pleasure from items we believe to be expensive. It’s yet more evidence of just how fickle we are as a species, but it’s good news if you turn the logic on its head. Just thinking it’s good can lift your enjoyment. You could even do the Christmas dining table a service by giving them the impression that the beverages are more expensive than they really are. Just be wary of using the ‘was’ price at the wine merchant or supermarket as your reference point over the festive season.

The retention of context
This is tricky in a globalised world both because of the variety of what’s available and we are quickly losing our reference points for traditional and seasonal pairings. Living in London, I drink coffee from the Americas, wine from France, tea from Japan and whisky from Scotland on a regular basis. However, something magic happens when food and drink that evolved together are paired together. That said, I’m not against fusion, but throwing things together - no matter how good they individually are - never works.

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A SEMI-SCIENTIFIC FORMULA FOR CHOOSING A DRINK
With a framework in development, we now need a formula to help us rank and choose the most pleasure-inducing drinks. I propose:



Where:
P = Pleasure. Scores between 1 and 100 are possible. You should aim to be higher than 5 and things get really interesting over 10.
Calculate P by giving values to:
Ip = Individual pleasure. Estimate the pleasure you’d get from a particular drink, using the above framework on a scale of 0 to 10. (e.g. a bit below average is a 4 and above average is a 7)
Gp = Group pleasure estimate. Estimate the pleasure the group would get from a particular drink, using the above framework on a scale of 0 to 10. (e.g. above average is a 7 and below average is a 4)
Pr = Rank the beverage’s price on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 is free and 10 is expensive* (e.g. an average price is 5 and slightly expensive is 7)
* Obviously, free drinks are off the scale! 

Using the examples:



So, you’re better to buy a drink that the group moderately enjoys that you don’t like so much at a middling pricing than buy something you really like that the group doesn’t like (unless it’s cheaper).
But if this theory is any good, then you already knew that right? And that’s my point, there’s definitely something going on here - and we all know it. May you have a very Merry Christmas. 



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Party Like It's 1985

January 1, 2015, 10:15 am
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An Orville Piñata, shortly before his celebratory new year thrashing 

Hello one and all. We're back from our relaxed Christmas breaks now, heading into all manner of excitement in the new year. 

We look back fondly on 2014. It was a year that bought some truly exceptional spirits, many many journeys and friendships:  From Baijiu in China, Cachaca in Brazil, Armagnac in France and some wondrous drinks in-between, both of us can definitely say it was an enlightening year.  

2014 also saw us bring out Distilled, our first book together which is shaping up really nicely for 2015. Expect to see us popping up in a few unusual locations next year, as we travel around, hopefully continuing our spirits exploration around the globe. 




However, there is a new year and a new dawn coming (keep your eyes peeled here folks...) so let’s kick off with our predictions for 2015: 

Joel:

The Continued Growth of Grain 

We already tipped grain as a new category in its own right back in 2012 and 2014 saw the launch of Haig Club, a single grain Scotch whisky developed in partnership with major drinks producer Diageo and megastar ex-footballer David Beckham. There aren’t many other single grain whiskies on the market, with just one other official global release, three expressions from the Girvan distillery in the Lowlands of Scotland. However, grain whisky has always been highly sought after by connoisseurs and experts, who know that the lightness of the spirit gives excellent flavours of vanilla and lemongrass, making it ideal for mixing or sipping with acouple of blocks of ice. With only Haig Club and Girvan available around the world at the moment, and the considerable weight that a celebrity such as David Beckham adds to this category, expect to see others jumping in and wanting to be part of the grain whisky party. 

High Value Brands Offering Experiences:
 
As we see more and more highly valued single malts and blends, such as The Macallan and Johnnie Walker pushing their prices up with rarer, older and more extravagantly packaged items, the focus will shift onto 'experiences'. They could be high-end, exclusive trips to the distilleries, more branded ‘houses’ (like The House of Johnnie Walker) or shops. Either way, we think the immersive experience of taking consumers on a literal journey will become more of a focus in 2015. Look out for more bespoke blends from big whisky companies too, for those who can afford it. 


My Top Tipple From 2014: The Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso

We haven’t got around to reviewing this one, yet but the new Nadurra Oloroso offering from The Glenlivet at 60.7% is stunning and priced at a bonkers £45. Take Aberlour’s A'bunadh and soften it slightly and you’ve got this. It packs a punch and is worth every penny.  




Neil: 

Craft: This Party Is Getting A Little Crowded... 

The term ‘craft’ has taken over in the world of spirits, particularly in whisky. In the USA, ‘craft’ distilling is a huge movement with small producers making tiny amounts of their own rye, bourbon and single malt. As these distillers gain more sales, they’ll be able to afford to export their products and see them (if they are good) take hold in markets far from where they are made. 

But there won't be room for everyone. It feels like 'Craft' is a term that is thrown around without prejudice now, with some distillers -  be it big or small, exhibiting little or no craft. There are some genuinely brilliant well-crafted products out there: be it well-known Scotch blends (hey -  blending is the original craft, when you really start to think about it) or tiny distillers with equally small spirit batches. But when corporate boardroom decisions interfere with the distillation process (i'm looking at you, Balcones) you kind of get the feeling that the money-making-machine and the sound of the cash registers are the predominant sounds echoing around a few distilleries, whose reputations are now damaged as a result.  In 2015 and beyond, we think craft will become less about being handmade, more about using technology in new and innovative ways to create or 'craft' new products.  Think less wicker chair, more MacLaren F1.  

Other Spirits Stealing Whisky Drinkers:

The idea of ‘occasion’ is going to be focused on more and more in 2015. Why drink a fairly boring vodka, when you can enjoy a grain whisky before the party really kicks off?  Similarly, do you really need to be paying  through the nose for super premium aged single malts, when you could be getting the same after dinner experience with an extraordinary Armagnac, vintage Tequila or rum for a fraction of the price? Whisky still has an enormous cache internationally, but there are signs that other spirits -  particularly Armagnac and Mezcal are beginning to draw a few connoisseurs away from whisky.  

My Top Tipple from 2014:  Chateau Laubade 1983 Vintage Armagnac

As I mentioned above, Armagnac is perhaps the most underrated and unexplored spirits category in the world at the moment, (aside to that of Cachaca and mezcal) with some exceptional expressions available for a fraction of their equivalent Scotch vintages. Having explored the Gers region in November during La Flamme De l'Armagnac (an amazing experience when all the distillers light their stills to mark the start of the distillation season) it reminded me of the Feis Ile experience on Islay, before it became a too overcrowded and commercialised. It was here at the Laubade estate where I discovered their 1983 bottling: a rich, resinous and spicy beast-of-an-Armagnac, full of tannic oak, liquorice and anise, alongside some sweeter vanilla notes and juicy citrus fruit.  All this complexity for around £75.  

We're very much looking forward to tackling 2015 and all the intriguing spirits on offer.  Expect to see a fair few changes here over the coming months-  we'll be focusing on a much broader scale of drinks, rather than just whisky, so here's to a cracking vintage year! 

Don't forget to follow us at @WorldOfSpirits on Twitter.

Neil & Joel
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The First of The Last Great Malts: Craigellachie Single Malt Scotch Whisky

January 26, 2015, 4:08 am
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The relationship between beauty and functionality is one I struggle with. I'm Scandinavian and subscribe to the ideal that, as far as you can make it, everything should be "both beautiful and functional".

There are plenty of excellent examples of this, from coffee makers through to oyster shucking kits, but every so often in life there is an example of extreme functionality without beauty, and the embodiment of this has to be a certain Mr Dean Windass.


A builder by trade, Dean Windass is what we humble chaps in the pub would call 'an ugly f*cker'. Dean signed as a professional footballer for Hull City (a place itself of questionable beauty...) before moving to Aberdeen where he became somewhat of a legend.

Moving back south to English football, Windass signed in 1998 for Oxford United at a sum that is still counted a club record fee for the University city team, and when he arrived in the City of Dreaming Spires he came with a warning- for Deano, as he was known, had been much loved by the supporters of the football clubs he had played for previously. But a genius on the pitch, he was also dogged by a fierce temper and Oxford United fans received warning of this via our weekly football fanzine (kids- this was like a blog but in paper form, before the Internet existed).

The story goes that Dean, the man with the face of a boxer but the feet of an angel, had once been sent off THREE TIMES in one game, whilst playing for Aberdeen: firstly for some on the pitch footballing offence; secondly for verbally abusing the ref who sent him off and thirdly (and brilliantly in my eyes) for "using the corner flag as a weapon".

Wow. Just wow.

In what would be considered a long career on the pitch, Windass’ final act was a simply amazing goal, which you can watch here, while back at his home town club of Hull City in a match which is still the biggest financial prize in sport- scoring the winning goal to take Hull into the Premier League. At Wembley. It must be noted that Dean Windass was nearly 40 when he performed this piece of utter magic.

As you can see from the footage (if you've bothered to watch it) Dean Windass has cropped bleach/blond hair, looking like a washed up D.J. in a local nightclub, trying to relive his days as a headline act in Ibiza.

But whatever his look, his ability shined through.

Speyside (local club: Aberdeen) is a forest of beauty and functionality. Distilleries such as Aberlour, The Balvenie, and Benromach stand as stunning examples of architecture, churning out some of the best single malt on the market. Top this off with The Macallan, which is about to go under the surgeon’s knife with a £120m new distillery, this should make their site as beautiful as the liquid in its bottles.

But there are some distilleries where function takes over from form. We recently visited a 'new to market' distillery, which has been churning out malt whisky for a long time, but due to its long history is now somewhat of an ugly child of mid-1960’s architecture, but with a result that would grace the grass at Wembley stadium.

Craigallachie Distillery sits in a wonderful location, just down the hill from Dufftown before the banks of the Spey river rise to meet the Macallan, Knockando and Cardhu distilleries. The spawn of mid-century architecture, aside from a quite stunning walk along the top of their worm tub cooling vessels, is a functional production facility, part of the team of distilleries producing whisky for the Dewar’s blend.

The team behind the malt distilleries (owned by Barcadi) have decided to have a go at replicating the umbrella group of malts that Diageo successfully launched under their 'Classic Malts' banner in the 1990s.

Using the term ‘The Last Great Malts’ it covers Craigellachie, GlenDevron (the distillery known as MacDuff), Aberfeldy, Royal Bracklar and Aultmore - all well regarded juice  in their own right.

The Last Great Malts; an odd name. It comes across as something of a final sigh from a collection of excellent distilleries, not a new collection of vibrant malts. It seems almost like an acknowledgement that there is a wave of newer distilleries to take their place, steal their crown and melt it down into cooler jewellery for a new generation- like the Rolling Stones doing a 'last great tour' before giving way to Jack White or the Arctic Monkeys. But instead of £450 a ticket, it is £330.00 for a 23 year old whisky...

But enough about the marketing, let’s look at the distillery itself. A wonderful still room, housing four large pot stills, despite its utilitarian feel has one very unusual aspect: a large window which can be opened to let in the natural Speyside air. If you’ve been to Caol Ila, you would feel very much at home in this still room, save for the view which isn’t of the mist covered Paps of Jura but of the A941.

In terms of production, Craigellachie is one of the few distilleries left in Scotland to use Worm Tubs as their method of condensing, something to applaud. And it makes for a wonderful spirit (show me a distillery using worm tubs, that doesn’t...).

Their new range encompasses Craigellachie bottled at 13, 17, (a sneaky 19 year old for Duty Free) and 23 years old the maths geeks among you will notice that these are all prime numbers. Aside from that one fact, all these releases are quite excellent, with the real stand out being the 23 year old.



Craigellachie - 23 Year Old – Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 46% abv –  £330.00 here

Nose: A real depth of complexity with large dose of oak spiciness, some candied orange zest and just a hint of blood orange. There are red apples and pear drops too. Very inviting. Not over oaked but a wonderful balance of spice and meaty, oily tones.

Taste: Blood orange develops on the palate with an addition of toasted marshmallows and a hint of lime pickle. Big and unctuous, this has the age to give it good body, but still maintain as vibrant and energetic flavour profile.

Finish: Long and oaky, but without being too dry, this has a great balance of wood in it.

Overall: An excellent dram which has seemingly lasted well in cask given the meaty nature of the spirit. It’s a shame it can’t all be at this age, but with a lower price point...!

All round, this is a great start to The Last Great Malts which, I think, should be given a far more positive name if they are all this good...
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Great Odin's Ravin'

February 21, 2015, 12:29 pm
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The history of 'Truly Great Limited Edition Whiskies' is few and far between really. 

Odd ones pop up getting consumers frothy and excited, then every other brand decides to follow suit in some way, before we all end up gazing forlornly at an overpriced Whisky Auction Site: either regretting missing out on a sold-out purchase, or regretting drinking and finishing a matured investment. Sad really.  

It's like the words 'Landfill Indie', a phrase that we bring with us from our time in the music business. One band would spring out of nowhere, redefining a stagnant music scene.

Then every company would rush out something that sounded similar and looked vaguely the same.  Arctic Monkeys?  True Game Changers.  Milburn... Hmmm maybe not so much.  


But when it comes to a limited edition series, the search for excellence becomes even more difficult.  

The difficulty faced by whisky companies is keeping the attention of the whisky consumer.  Balvenie and the Tun 1401 series started off rather splendidly, before a few fans and collectors began to trail away, disappointed they either couldn't afford or find the editions they wanted, as they were spread across the global network of off-trade and Global Travel retailers.   

Magnus Series. Pic courtesy of The Whisky Exchange
Conversely, when Highland Park released the Magnus Trilogy, they got everything right:  The liquid was excellent, the price points spot on and the outturn, not too outlandish to make fans feel like they were being taken for a limited edition ride.  

Then came the Valhalla Collection: Four whiskies, over four years, each one representing a different norse god -  the liquid being tailored to the supposed personality and character of the god or goddess.  

The initial release, Thor, was quite a stunner. Bold, powerful, smoky and muscular, it was a whisky that had everything you could want in a bottle of HP. 

Next up was Loki: the trickster, the shapeshifter. Unusually fruity and fragrant upfront, with a totally different profile on the palate, which lived up to the unhinged genius of its namesake.

The fairer, more gentle side of the brand was explored with Freya:  Etherial, light and floral. It perhaps didn't have the same impact as the first two releases from a liquid perspective and in our opinion, was the least likely Highland Park to be recognised as a true HP.  Still, it adhered perfectly to the character profile.

This week saw the release of Odin, the conclusion of the series. As the leader of the gods, Odin demands respect -  especially given that he supposedly fathered the mighty Thor. Will this be a reflection of his namesake whisky?  

Highland Park - Odin -  16 Year Old - 55.8% - £180

Nose: Initially a little closed and quite one sided, but given a few minutes in the glass, you're immediately in HP territory:  Fragrant fruity smoke, honeyed malt, some citrus notes and a little waft of dry sherry wood.  So far, so good.  It's powerful and the you can definitely tell that the palate will be quite a challenging experience.  

Palate: Super lively and spirity -  in fact as fiery as they get at this strength.  But then it dies down and you're into lemon and lime zest, a wonderful malty backbone, a little rubber note (not that off-putting though) and a huge swathe of smoke.  Not perhaps as smoky as the last Hp release, Dark Origins, but certainly bolder than any of the regular expressions.  

Finish:  The finish sees lingering notes of sherry, some very dry sherry cask wood and a little sweet honey, but a surprising absence of the smoke... as if the great god himself has disappeared in a majestical puff of the stuff.  

Overall: A solid conclusion to the series.  In our opinion, the bar was set stupendously high with Thor and as a result, it's hard to outshine that particular expression purely from a liquid perspective, but what this proves is that once again, Highland Park are the real thought leaders in presenting innovative, creative bottlings. A fond hurrah to a great, consistent series.  

Mere mortal companies would have fallen hard and fast after the first two, but HP?  Well, they must have Valhalla on speed dial, with Gerry Tosh and whisky maker Max McFarlane sitting in a car with the engine running, waiting to kidnap another unsuspecting member of the Underworld. We look forward with excitement to the next series.  
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