It was on a typical spring day, the rain in Central London doing it’s best to keep our hopes of summer at bay, that a select few gathered in the basement bar of Central & Co. to taste, for the first time outside the distillery, two whiskies released by the John Distilleries, India. Paul John single malt whisky is produced in Goa and aims to be quite a revelation when coming to the competitive world whisky market. Interestingly, the company have devised a marketing objective which focuses on foreign markets first, to build a brand, then return to India where the domestic market will be eagerly awaiting its arrival. As Pritesh Mody of LFLD Amplified, who is tasked with creating the buzz around the launch into the UK, said “In the 80′s with the boom in city wealth, British people wanted German Cars, French wine and Italian clothes, it’s the same in the Indian market who want the luxurious foreign items rather than home produced.” With India being amongst the largest consumers of whisky in the world, it’s not surprising to find a company aiming for a share.
Pass the erm…whisky?
John Distilleries was established in 1992 and is one of the largest spirit producers in India. Most of the “Indian whisky” produced is actually from molasses rather than grain and is not allowed to be exported as whisky (it is actually rum, blended with a small amount of whisky). However, with many of the brands within their portfolio selling in excess of 1 million cases per month, I doubt John Distilleries are too worried about exports. Paul John single malt is very different.
As master distiller Michael John (no relation) explained, they have used Indian 6-row barley to create the mash for the “Brilliance” and “Edited” releases as well as the previous single cask releases. Double distilled in copper pot still after a 60 hr fermentation period, 20,000 litres at a time before being matured in ex bourbon cask. All very normal then. Michael went further to explain that in 30 degree heat they loose a massive 12% per annum of liquid and alcohol evaporation know as the angels share. Scotland, in contrast, looses on average just 1% and we moan enough about that! With this high heat and rapid maturation, Michael said they will not be able to produce a whisky older than 8 years old (minimum requirement for whisky is 40% abv) but this heat does help increase the flavour development, so there is little need to age anything for that length of time.
Paul John “Brilliance” single malt Indian whisky
Ex bourbon cask
46% abv non chill filtered
Non age statement (was told 4-5yrs)
RRP £38.49
Appearance: Pale rose gold
Nose: Fresh with an immediate coastal familiarity. The youthful nose has structured malt and honey which mingles with a floral overtone all seemingly pinned down by a cork-wood wrapped in banana leaf with a light drizzling of vanilla infused caramel.
Palate: At first quite creamy then quickly develops some good spice of mace and nutmeg mixed in with the honey found in the aroma. There is a tropical fruitiness mid palate which never becomes too prominent, instead being overruled by well structured vanilla and oak.
Finish: Lots of delicious vanilla and a final hint of sea salt caramels.
Paul John “Edited” peated single malt Indian whisky
46% ABV non chill filtered
Ex Bourbon cask
Non age statement (4-5years old)
RRP £42.49
Appearance: Warm rose gold
Nose: For a peated whisky, this is very light indeed. Soft distant peat smoke wrap around the nose of malted barley, pebble beach, quince, cedar and apple blossom. There is a general sweetness with spice turning to liquorice chews all wonderfully enveloped in the smoke from a dying beach bonfire.
Palate: The peat smoke shows itself far more now, but still restrained with a honey type sweetness behind it. Ash and cinnamon emerge in equal amounts which in turn create a salted nut element before returning to the smoke rich palate which we began with.
Finish: Lingering peat smoke with light ash and a sea salt edge.
Summary: If either of these superb examples were placed in front of me at a blind tasting, I would struggle (as I am sure many of my friends in the industry would) to know their origin let alone age. Both are superb examples of well crafted whisky, released with optimum flavour and character. The 46% abv allows you to release a little more softness but I prefer to keep them undiluted. I am sure both of these will be not just a talking point, but an active part in most whisky drinkers cabinets in the not too distant future.
I can see it’s going to be an Indian summer.
Tags: 4, 5, American, Amplified, barley, barrel, beach, best, blind, bourbon, brilliance, central, chill, climate, coast, distillery, dramatic, edited, filtered, Goa, hot, indian, John, light, limited, malt, mature, Mody, New, non, note, oak, paul, peat, Peated, Pritesh, rapid, release, rested, review, sample, Scotch, single, smoke, still, taste, temeperature, traditional, whiskey, whisky, world, Years
In preparation for this Saturdays World Whisky Day event, I have managed to gather quite an interesting line up of whisky from further a field than Scotland and I thought a quick introduction of each might be helpful. I’ve already posted about the South African examples Bain’s and Three Ships, so now it is the turn of the very special Ichiro’s malt, The Floor Malted.
When people talk about whisky, they often ask me about Japanese examples and are rather surprised to hear that Japan has quite a long history of producing whisky. One of the people accredited with being most influential in the Japanese whisky movement was Masataka Taketsuru. Studying and working in Scotland at the beginning of the 20th century, he later created a distillery in Japan in 1934, know as Yochi, part of the Nikka distilling company. Luckily, the Japanese already had extensive knowledge of brewing sake which helped secure a small movement of whisky distilleries across the country. One of these, the Hanyu distillery is linked to the review today.
Hanyu distillery, situated in the town of Chichibu, was established in 1626 by Isouji Akuto and was a sake brewery. Akuto began distilling malt whisky with his son after purchasing a pair of stills from Scotland in the 1980′s but unfortunately at this time demand for single malt whisky was not where it is today and the Hanyu distillery was sold in 2000. Distillation of whisky was not continued by the new owner and the stills were dismantled, the stock sold on. Isouji’s grandson, Ichiro, managed to secure some casks of the old stock and established a new distillery in 2007 on a new site in Chichibu. ‘Ichiro’s Malt – The First’ was, as the name may suggest, the first whisky to be released by the distillery in 2011 (distilled 2008). The distilleries second release, ‘The Floor Malted’ was distilled in 2009 and bottled in 2012.
This particular release has been made using traditional floor malted barley turned not just by hand, but by the hands of the team from the Chichibu distillery at the Crisp’s malting in Norfolk, England, before shipped back to Japan for the fermentation, distillation and eventual maturation process. Matured in American oak barrel and puncheon as well as Mizunara (Japanese) oak for 3 years and released at 50.5% abv, it is said to have ‘mild and soft’ character. Let’s find out.
Ichiro’s Malt – The Floor Malted
Chichibu distillery, Japan
50.5% abv
Bottle 6081/8800
Distilled 2009 Bottled 2012
RRP: £58 but good luck finding it!
Appearance: Pale straw, yellow gold
Nose: Soft and floral with a sweet note of honeysuckle. Deeper elements of vanilla fudge with soft fruits turning almost toward pineapple in the end. There is a good warm cedar structure overall.
Palate: Richer than expected from what the nose promised. Good full creamy texture with sweetish fruit and balanced spice of rolling tobacco and hints of cured leather which became more pronounced and nutty with the addition of water.
Finish: Lingering cedar wood/cigar box spices and nutty vanilla fudge.
Summary: Well worth trying if you can find a bottle as there are very few available. Its a delicate whisky, perhaps more suited to pre-dinner than post to fully appreciate the complex yet light character.
Tags: Akuto, American, Bain's, brewer, brewing, chichibu, company, crisps, Day, distilled, distillery, dram, drinks, england, fermantation, first, floor, hand, Hanyu, history, Ichiro, Japan, Japanese, malt, malting, Marcin, Masataka, mature, millar, Mizunara, Nikka, norfolk, notes, number, oak, Old, One, Puncheon, quercus, review, sake, Scotch, Ships, single, south africa, Suntory, Taketsuru, tasting, Three, tradition, turned, whiskey, whisky, world, Years, yochi
Recently I stumbled upon an article about “The worlds most luxurious whisky” which turned out to be a decanter covered in precious stones retailing for $6.2 million. I was obviously intrigued by this and started to look a bit further into the idea behind the “Isabella’s Islay Malt” . Sadly, I wish I had never started.
Firstly, the website itself looked like it has been created by someone who has a good understanding of Microsoft paint, but little else. The “original” decanter, more at home in a rap video than a stately home, is simply awful and if one wasn’t enough, there is a “special edition” for those who won’t warm to their whisky with so many “rocks”.
But it is the page on the whisky itself that had me grabbing for my laptop.
For a serious whisky collector, knowledge and provenance is key but this offering seems to have forgotten that there is any need for the whisky at all. Here is the actual copy of the tasting notes from the website:
For the whisky aficionado the tasting notes for our whisky are;
Nose: Sweet, fruit, light peat with some candy & eucalyptus.
Taste: Sweet, floral, fruity and peat.
Palate: Smoke, bacon, fruits.
Finish: Eucalyptus and peat.
Now, can someone please explain where taste and palate differ as they are not referring to mouth-feel here? These are the notes I would expect from the back of a bottle of standard supermarket offerings- in fact, most are far better written. This is being touted as “A truly stunning piece and the most luxurious alcoholic beverage in the world today.”
Anyone, never mind an aficionado, may be forgiven for expecting a little more effort in the description of the decanters contents, but then again they probably don’t expect that anyone every actually open the stopper and that’s my point. Why bother putting a whisky in it at all? It’s just another example of riding the tailcoats of the current rise in popularity of whisky and quite frankly I think that’s a bit of a poor show. Decanters are not a good place to store a spirit of any type anyway unless you will be drinking the entire contents in under a year (ABV taken into consideration) and especially when the pouring of a whisky from bottle to decanter only assists in the introduction of even more oxygen to the liquid, increasing the chance of spoiling the contents more rapidly. Clearly the whisky is an afterthought as there is not even an explanation to the name, although I do have an idea about a certain Isabella who was involved with an Islay distillery.
If you have a spare 6.2 million kicking around, drop me a line. I’ll source a great whisky and we can roll an old Irn-Bru bottle in Swarovski crystals and have a great night on one the change.
By the way- from what I can tell, the whisky is from Bowmore. At time of going to press, I have not been sent a sample.
UPDATE: so my pals at Master of Malt saw the above and having a similar viewpoint wrote about a £29 million pound bottle (rather annoyingly, in a far more amusing way )
Tags: 29, 6.2, aficianado, America, bling, Bowmore, bru, collector, crystal, decanter, description, design, diamonds, dram, edition, expensive, expert, irn, irn-bru, isabella's, island, islay, malt, Master of Malt, million, most, notes, rap, review, rich, richest, rip off, ruby, Scotch, Scotland, special, swarovski, tasting, tat, where, whisky, world
Take a glance around a supermarket spirit shelf in any good sized town and you will be faced with quite a selection of whisky including offerings from outside the UK. In fact, as Gin, tequila and other spirits have seen a massive rise in popularity and therfore shelf space which has fortunately been driven by the 
consumers “thirst for knowledge” we see a general increase across the categories. Go back just fifteen years and your choice of gin would be perhaps three in total with 100% agave tequila almost unheard of in anything other than top London destinations. Today you can buy some of the best tequila and boutique gins from distillers such as Sipsmith and Chase from your local supermarket whilst stocking up on dragon fruit and edemame. Consumers are understanding these categories more and seeking out the more unusual offerings, but only after careful research gleaned from every available source. Consumers have all the information they require to hand from the enthusiastic bloggers post reviewing the latest releases, lifestyle magazines that scratch the surface a little deeper to tell the reader not only what to drink- but where and how to order (and what to ware whilst ordering!) to experience events such as the hugely popular GandTeatime and Dont-shoot-tequila which offers educational tasting events across the categories all across the UK (just like us at Dramatic Whisky). Yet there is still a need for an element of trust when a bartender or shop assistant is recommending a product which is only gained if the right knowledge is shown.
Whisky has always help a fair proportion of the shelf space- mostly due to the range of blended whisky that has always been available, but the current success of more premium spirits has undoubtedly lent a helping hand for whisky and in particular single malt. Blends have always outshone single malt, contributing to about 90% of all global whisky consumed, and not only the standards blends but as we see premium blends such as Black Grouse and Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve start to jump over the sales targets set- although some premium blends are beginning to tag themselves with prices around that of a 10 or 15 year old single malt, the choice for the consumer is at an all time high. There is without doubt, an opportunity to up-sell in a recession stuck country such as our- people may be going out less and certainly watching what they are spending their money on, but when they do venture out its value for money and an experience they seek no matter what their status or budget, And as staying at home becomes more common place, people are choosing more premium products to recreate a “better than normal” experience at home. Unfortunately, far too often the UK hospitality sector and the high street retailer are seriously lacking the skills to deliver the right service or information, failing to capitalise altogether.
A few years back, when I managed The Lobby Bar at One Aldwych, London hit a tough time for tourism as 9/11 was a recent happening. Most of the five start establishments had slashed room prices as occupancy dropped to an all time low with some of the grandest of London’s establishments only reaching 20%. One Aldwych stuck to her guns, kept rates as standard but didn’t lay off a single member of staff. I witnessed this risky approach in action one evening as the then time C.E.O. of a certain orange budget airline, who was a regular, asked the owner directly why he was paying the rate he was when he could pop over the road to another five star and stay there for a third of the price. My boss’s response will stick with we forever- “Would you like me to arrange for our luggage porter to take your bags over because they have had to let theirs go”. Basically, if you can still offer value for money and deliver the perfect guest experience every time, you can maintain your price when all around you are loosing theirs.
Emerging markets outside the UK such as India, Russia and China have certainly helped boost the numbers in terms of whisky exports and sales over the last coupe of years and no doubt will continue to do so for some time, but surely we need to support the foundations in the UK to ensue we are not left behind- and here is where the problem lies.
To most people, a bottle of single malt is a pricey investment when buying at the supermarket as many still choose by age and with age, rightly so in many cases, comes a hefty price-tag. The consumer is left with a bewildering choice with little guidance other than the marketing departments best attempt to stand out from the crowd with a well crafted introduction to the whisky on the label- few though, actually tell the customer what the whisky actually tastes like. I’ve tried to ask members of staff for help, and even in large high street retailers, unfortunately the response is rather laughable.
Pubs in the UK don’t fare much better in my view. Most stock whisky, a blend at least, or have a carefully selected range which unfortunately is selected for them by the brand manager and therefore the bar staff think the job is done. They don’t need to actually learn about the range, it has “something to cover all palates” as the rep told them. Now of course this is not always the case- there are venues out there who do take care and consideration over the stock they invest in and support the choices with good staff training ensuring they can sell through the range and keep customer satisfaction at a peak. After all, with whisky on such a rise, there is great profits to be made on a large dram of liquid gold.
But the above is a minority, too few and far between a dram to bother seeking out. Even in my home country of Scotland I am shocked to find such a lack of knowledge and enthusiasm for our national drink which you would think would be the first place to start. Yet sadly, it is venues such as these, which are filled on a daily basis with customers who are interested in trying something different, moving up from a blend to a premium blend or a single malt, who would gladly spend that little bit extra if only the bar staff had the training and knowledge to deliver trust to the customer that they knew what they were offering and could recommend well.
In reality the local pub actually has it quite easy as they should know the clients well and therefore have the opportunity to sell a single measure of a new whisky, allowing them to try something without investing in an entire bottle from the supermarket. So why does this not happen more often? It seems to me that venue owners are as much to blame being fearful to invest in whisky. Yet the numbers are clear, whisky is on the rise. From the entry level blend through its premium big brother on onto the guidy heights of superstar single malt. You don’t have to be brave to bath in its glory- just clever and understand that with a little investment in training staff or even further – inviting the customer to partake in tasting events such as Dramatic Whisky, then whisky sales across the bar will increase. What I fear is that venue owners, upon hearing the good news about the growth in the category will simply grab an extra couple of “on offer” brands when next at the wholesaler and hope they chose well enough. Its not as if the tools are not out there on offer either. Every whisky brand manager will happily spend an afternoon at your venue training staff on the virtues of their brand. Or you can bring us in.
Try my little technique to work out if a bar knows its whisky- scan the back bar of whisky, find something you know well then think of an alternative but similar brand. Tell the bartender you want a whisky and normally drink the brand you are thinking of, then ask for a recommendation of something similar. Hopefully the bartender will offer you the brand you picked out but trust me on this- it works maybe 2-3 times out of 10. In fact, I have said at times I normally drink Glenlivet 12 in the hope they will offer me the Glenfiddich 12 but I have in the past been offered Laphroaig as a substitute because “Its really popular”. Eh, HELLO? Great news for the brand manager of Laphroaig, but I’m one unhappy customer if I don’t like Islay whisky and I’m afraid that all important confidence i was hoping to attain as a customer has just left the building.
Recently I was asked to consult at the bar for a two michelin star restaurant- a very well respected establishment with a great reputation. Apparently the whisky shelf was a little tired and they had asked that I come in to help revive things a little. I visited the venue and yes, it was clear not much love had been placed there with Jack Daniel’s the only American choice on offer and the usual suspects making up the numbers. However, being a French restaurant the Armagnac and Cognac range was outstanding but on closer inspection it turned out that they didn’t actually sell much of any of it. My plane was set out in three parts:
Train the staff on the current stock of whisky- highlighting “duplicate” styles and training them on how to push the up sell to these to clear the shelf of them.
Introduce replacement stock, again with another training session to ensue the staff had the correct tools to not only continue to sell the existing range but also the new additions
Return to the venue in 3 months for a refresher training course and to analyse how the sales have been.
Two page proposal, all aimed towards increasing whisky sales and maintaining a healthy GP, fee set low as it would be a fun project with a great bit of kudos attached. Result was a “Thanks but no thanks, we will leave it as it is”. I checked the proposal again and I hadn’t put too much in there for them to carry the project through themselves, the fee was below market value considering the gains from the end result and yet no, even a restaurant with a per head spend in excess of £100 could not see the value in whisky.
What ever happen to the “Auld Alliance“? Somethings will never change.
Tags: 9/11, Aldwych, Alliance, Armagnac, Auld, back, bad, Bar, bartender, best, Black, blend, Blended, blue, bourbon, Box, Cask, China, cognac, Daniels, diageo, distillery, dram, dramatic, easyjet, educate, education, France, french, gain, Gin, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, gold, GP, Grouse, hospitality, India, islay, Jack, Johnnie, label, Laphroaig, learn, lifestyle, Lobby, London, magazine, malt, maxxium, Michelin, One, premium, pub, rant, Reserve, respond, restaurant, revenue, Russia, sales, Savoy, school, Scotland, shoot, single, Sipsmith, staff, star, supermarket, superstar, Tea, teach, tequila, training, venue, waitrose, Walker, whiskey, whisky, world
Those lovely chaps (and lasses) at Wemyss Malts are at it again with the second release of those splendid single cask whiskies. This time a selection which tempts the autumnal tastebuds with titles such as “Beach Bonfires” and “White chocolate torte” perfect timing as we see the last of the suns warm rays give way to chilly blue skies and crisp leaves underfoot. Get the fire on, grab a good book and settle in to these three delightful drams.
“Autumn Berries” – 26 yr old Blair Athol distillery.
Distilled: 1986 46% abv
268 bottles Ex Hogshead
Appearance: Palest straw with white gold
Nose: Apple blossom, chesnuts and conference pears. Buttery vanilla helps balance the bright fruits with a slightly waxy undertone.
Palate: Warm apple and pears drizzled with the lightest maple syrup and earthy spice.
Finish: Roast chestnuts and mocha coffee make up the drying finish.
Summary: Wonderfully complex and intriguing dram. Well balanced and integrated with dry fruit and rounded buttery vanilla.
“Sugared Almonds” – 30 yr old. Aultmore distillery.
Distilled : 1982 46% abv
272 bottles Ex Hoghead
Appearance: Light honey with rose gold
Nose: As the name suggests- sugared almonds is right in there. Hints of artists oil paint and linseed oil, red apple skin, marshmallows and white chocolate raisins.
Palate: Rich malt, roasted chestnut, liquorice root and brandy butter all combine with red berry, cracked peppercorn, yellow capsicum and hint of spearmint woven through cool autumnal smoke.
Finish: Wonderfully rich with drying roasted notes and lightly spiced, the lingering palate keeps delivering.
Summary: Took a while for me to actually get the words out for this- its such a fabulous whisky. Oodles of character, plenty to say for itself but quietly sophisticated with it. I’ve fallen for this one BIG time.
“Lemon Smoke” – 16 yr old. Caol Ila distillery.
Distilled: 1996 46% abv
380 Bottles Ex Hogshead
Appearance: Pale ochre with hints of hay.
Nose: Light carbolic note with samphire, stewed rhubarb and gooseberry fool all wrapped up in dying embers from a seaside campfire. Gentle vanilla creeps through supported by fresh pine sap. Black pepper on strawberries right at the end.
Palate: Calmly assertive with a creamy, buttery beginning, quickly becoming laced with wood oven smoke and a brine edge to control things. Well integrated all round with a perfect balance of sweet fruit, salt and smoke.
Finish: Delightfully lingering edge of salty smoke and nutty wood.
Summary: Another superb example of a well balanced Islay, not overly phenolic and with plenty of other elements going on to keep you coming back for more. Would make the perfect introduction to the first timer for a smokey dram- if they could get their hands on a bottle in time!
Overall, in my eyes these guys can do no wrong (ok, maybe not perfect) as each release is timed to perfection and showcases the very essence of the distilleries they were born from of course, it does help when you have the guru that is Charlie Maclean putting his tuppence worth into the selection as we saw earlier this year with the first single cask releases. Estimated to retail between the very reasonable price of £75-£105, I doubt we will see these last very long.
Put me down for the Aultmore please 
Tags: American, Athol, Aultmore, autumn, best, Blair, Bonfire, bottle, bottled, Cask, Charles, chill, chilled, chocolates, chrlies, Coal, cosy, dram, filtered, fireside, guru, Highland, hogshead, isla, islay, limited, lowland, Maclean, malt, malted, non, oak, peat, Peated, rare, regions, release, review, Scotch, Scotland, single, slippers, smokey, welcome, Wemyss, whiskey, whisky, Winter, world
It is no secret to those who follow this blog that when a new release to the ever growing whisky world makes it to my desk, festooned in mock highland regalia and images of old Scotland, that my shoulders drop and my enthusiasm wanes. That is not to say that I don’t ever give the liquid a fair and unencumbered review. It’s just the packaging that sets my teeth on edge. So, as the newest release from The Arran distillery came to me, I immediately adopted said pose and mindset.
But wait, Sometimes there is a reason beyond that of trying desperately to hook those in search of the old misty hills of the homeland in the bottom of a glass. And so to The Arran “Robert Burns”.
Since 2000 The Isle of Arran Distillers have been granted life membership of the World Burns Federation – an organisation based in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire which is dedicated to the life and works of our national poet Robert Burns.
Born in 1759 , the Ayrshire boy’s links to the isle of Arran are well know and although he never set foot on the isle, it is certainly visible from Ayr beach. Apparently, to release the daily grind of working on his fathers farm, Robert started to write and in his mid teens produced his first poetry which was dedicated to the main subjects which dominated his life – whisky and women! I think we would have gotten along quite well. Although, during his life Roberts link to whisky was not always favoured as he took up employment for his majesty as a customs & excise man- a post about as popular as a traffic warden in today’s terms. However, he kept writing and his love of whisky remained true. By the time ill health saw his to an early grave at just 37, he was well known, but his work had not yet gained the attention and respect that it has today.
The isle had around 50 illegal stills in operation at the time Robert first put quill to paper and the quality of spirit produced there was claimed to be very high leading to many fine gents “taking the Arran waters” for health purposes. Fast forward a few decades and we have just one distillery in operation.
Independently owned and run, The Arran distillery opened in 1995 on a site picked out for maximum benefit of the microclimate offered by the Gulf Stream and the purest water supply in all of Scotland at Loch na Davie, high in the hills that overlook the village of Lochranza on the North coast of Arran. Using traditional wooden wash backs, dunnage warehousing and choosing to use no additional colourings and many of the releases are non-chil filtered, they are staying true to the natural spirit.
The Robert Burns expression is a marriage of varied years, from both American oak ex-Bourbon casks whith a smaller proportion of ex-Sherry hogsheads and bottled at 43% and is the “Official Robert Burns Whisky”
The Arran Distillery “Robert Burns” single malt
No age statement
43% abv
Colour: Pale yellow gold with light straw
Nose: Vanilla ice cream with slices of granny smith apple with turns to stone fruit and light oak. Malty notes remain and a freshness of New Make lingers in the youthful nose.
Palate: Creamy butterscotch at first, rounded with delicate spices of nutmeg and cinnamon towards the mid palate. Light in its character yet well balanced elements of youthful vanillin, dry wood and warming light spice help build a lingering palate.
Finish: Slightly chewy malt with vanilla cream coats the mouth as the light spice remains.
Summary: A very light whisky, well balanced and offering just enough to be interesting. Doubtful it is close to anything the bard would have drunk back in the late 1700′s as it’s light style was not in particular fashion back then, but I doubt he would complain if a fine lass handed him a glass of this today. He would also be pleased, as a Scotsman, to discover the very reasonable retail price.
Tags: age, American, arran, bard, barrel, Burns, Cask, distillery, dram, eagle, ex, filtered, girls, Glasgow, golden, Highland, history, hogshead, island, Isle, Kilmarnock, lassie, lines, malt, marriage, maturation, mature, museum, national, oak, official, peot, poems, region, review, Robert, Scotch, Scotland, Scottish, Sherry, single, stills. illegal, visit, western, whiskey, whisky, world
Normally my postman curses me because none of my parcels fit through the letterbox, those being well protected bottles of whisky to review. I doubt he was any less impressed when he attempted to deliver my latest acquisition but i’m sure he knew this time it wasn’t a bottle as the parcel contained a fabulous book from those lovely people at Cutty Sark. The title of the book was Travel Photographer of the Year and is a superb collection of images based around various categories of travel photography.
Cutty Sark are one of the main sponsors and in particular of the award for Spirit of Adventure photographer of the year which went to Franco Banfi. Franco is renowned for environmental, wildlife and most famously underwater photography the latter winning this this year’s award. UK photographer Martin Hartley took the runner up prize with his images shot during the Catlin Arctic Survey in Canada.
The book, which contains the best images from the 2010 and 2011 awards including the winners’, is a fascinating pictorial map capturing the everyday, the sublime, the familiar and the other worldly. Find out more about Travel Photography of the Year and purchase the book for yourself.
Of course, there was a bottle of whisky along with the book and it made a welcome companion whilst losing a few hours within the pages but it almost sent me on my own little adventure. I wanted to find a little more and the reason for the link to The Spirit of Adventure.
We take many of the whisky brands on the market for granted, forgetting the heritage and provenance behind them as new brands emerge with tentative links to the past to create an interesting back story. Cutty Sark is a little different. In 1923, the partners of Berry Bros. & Rudd in London were discussing, amongst many other things, the opportunity to create a new type of blended Scotch with a lighter style to appeal to their wine based clientele. At the time, most blended Scotch was of a rich and heavy style giving the new Berry Bros. & Rudd blend a unique selling point with its light, pale style. Of course, they needed to call this new whisky something and looked to current affairs for inspiration. The world’s fastest tea clipper, the Cutty Sark was very much in the news and following a suggestion from Scottish artist James McBey Berry Bros. decided this would be an appropriate symbol perhaps representing both the strength and ground breaking qualities of this fresh new blend. The whisky was launched to great applause and instantly became a success.
Cutty Sark is based around a core of grain from North British and select malts such as Glenrothes, Macallan, Highland Park, Bunnahabhain, Tamdhu and Glengoyne. Despite these weighty players, and many others which you wouldn’t instantly think of producing light spirit, Cutty remains light and filled with fruity character and was clearly a revelation and rather adventurous advance in the blended scotch market at the time of its launch.
I’m rather ashamed to say that It had been many years since I last held a bottle of Cutty in my hands. The first notable thing for me was the new slender, almost feminine pale green bottle and that unmissable yellow label which is rather smaller than previous but still stands out. I couldn’t wait to crack it open and get the review under way.
Appearance: Pale straw, with white gold
Nose: Immediately oily malt with citrus fruits and buttery macadamia nut. Hessian drizzled with pale honey and white grapefruit zest. A handful of green hay mixed with crisp autumnal leaf.
Palate: Orange barley sweets, light golden syrup and a bite of fruit and nut mixture. Lots of lovely citrus elements (Seville orange marmalade and roses lime marmalade ) mingle with the slightest hint of roasted chestnuts in the background.
Finish: A delightful finish of lingering citrus, toasted vanilla, delicate malt sweetness and a hint of drying nuttiness.
Summary: I am a big fan of both Highland Park and The Glenrothes so it will come as no surprise that I find this whisky rather delicious and if, like me, its been some time since you tried some Cutty Sark then I suggest you change that situation immediately and have a wee adventure of your own.
Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, adventure, amazon, Arctic, award, awarded, Barfi, berry ros, blend, Blended, book, British, Bunnahabhain, camera, Canada, Cask, Catlin, Cutty, Edrington, environment, explorer, Franco, Glengoyne, Glenrothes, Hartley, Highland, image, james, Macallan, malt, Martin, maxxium, McBey, North, Park, photographer, photography, postman, Rudd, Sark, Scotch, single, spirit, Survey, Tamdhu, underwater, whiskey, whisky, world, year
I have never been a book lover, not that I have anything against them, I am sure they have their use, but I was never a kid to bury my head in a novel and sit quietly in the corner for hours. Alas, as my mother found out, I was more interested in dismantling the radio alarm clock to make a lazer gun or tying chunks of bread to fishing line and trying (in vain) to catch birds in the back garden. These are just two examples of the manic projects I would give myself that distracted me from books. That’s not to say I don’t have a small collection of the classics which I decided to force myself into reading. Turns out I actually quite like Hunter S Thompson, F Scott Fitzgerald and a number of other novelists who have random single letters in their names.
Books for me are points of reference I choose to dip in and out of when in need of research or ones that have lovely arty pictures of naked women (oops, I mean bikes)..such as Rouleur from Rapha – the most beautiful cycling magazine in the world. Of course I have my fair share of whisky titles upon the shelves. Thing is though, there is only so many times you can read about how big your mash tun is, how many litres your washback holds or the strain of yeast you use. “You make whisky right? Tastes good does it? Brilliant, I will try some thanks.”
The trouble with most whisky books is that they are either aimed at a certain individual who perhaps have a good knowledge of whisky and will lodge that piece of information about the worm tubs somewhere in the back of their mind to recall at an opportune moment with some equally geeky enthusiasts. Or, are so basic and lacking in any real content that they are best used as a door stop or coaster for your dram.
It was with great delight then, when yesterday a copy of Ian Buxton’s new ’101 World Whiskies to try before you die’ dropped on my desk. The nicely sized book (it will fit on your shelf) is the follow up release from Ian’s 101 Whiskies to try before you die which as the titles suggests is, oh you get it!
So why another book? Well, as Ian says in the prologue, the world is changing and the “world” of whiskies is just that – worldly. So this edition has a tiny proportion of scotch and is more concerned about what’s happening outside of Scotland.
On my first flick through I was surprised to see Johnnie Walker Jubilee staring at me. Oh oh, here we go again, another book filled with unobtainable drams and overly priced bottlings….but upon closer inspection the index of the whisky said “Distillery: What do you care, you’re not getting any” Brilliant! I am hooked.
I have always known that Ian and I share a similar view on whisky collecting and limited releases kept high in price or created just for the collectors market- basically we don’t like it. You can read my viewpoint in this earlier post. And he pushes this point home at the beginning of the book.
As I mentioned, the book is a nice size to flick through, the bottles are big and clear on each left hand page for ease of visual indexing and the descriptions are short, punchy and to the point. There are the odd detailed entires scattered here and there about production and maturation, but they certainly do not take centre stage- instead, the book is a fun and lighthearted collection of annectotes peppered with facts. It’s Ian’s blunt, no nonsense approach that helps make this book a welcome addition to my shelf. Oh, and the honesty- for example when reviewing the German whisky Slyrs, Ian happily admits that having not been to the distillery, he looked up all the notes online and says “So, apart from the fact I’ve tried it and you almost certainly haven’t, with a few minutes research you could know as much as I do. No need to bother though, just read the rest of this entry for enlightenment.”. Why can’t more whisky books be like this?
The book is available from Amazon from July 5th but you can pre order it here. And I suggest you do. This is just the kind of reference book I would have loved to write, but given my inability to self-edit my version would surely be filled with profanity. Not sure that would sell so well as I suspect Ian’s will.
Title: 101 World Whiskies to try before you die
Publisher: Hachette Scotland
Available: July 5th
Pre order: Amazon
Price:£12.99
Format: Hardback, ebook
Worth it: hell yeah
Tags: 100, 101, amazon, art, bikes, book, cycling, distilleries, ebook, f Scott Fitzgerald, food & drink, German, hatchet the, hinter s thompson, hunter s thomson, Ian Buxton, jubilee, kindle, lists, magazine, malt, photography, published, publishing, rapha, reference, review, rouleur, single, slyrs, titles, top, top trumps, try before you die, whiskey, whisky, world
So, quite often, I find myself thinking about new things to write and more often than not I start something, read it over, decided it’s rubbish and bin it. And of course, I always try to find a new angle to write about, otherwise it bores me. So, during a conversation this morning on twitter with the very talented Katie Antoniou who had posted her list of most admired women after the controversial FHM award to Tulisa Contostavlos for being the hottest woman in the world with which, by the way, neither of us agreed. We swiftly set about putting the wrongs to right. It seems we have quite similar taste in beauty and despite the Megan Foxes of the world and the Giselles, it was pretty straight forward. We think its intelligence and talent that makes “hot”. Just to make it a bit more interesting, I though I would add a whisky to salute the selected few…so here goes in no particular order:
Liv Tyler – A dazzling woman and smart to boot. It would have been easy to start listing connections to The Lord of the Rings or Stealing Beauty but I thought the fact that she is the daughter of legendary rock king Steve Tyler, who no doubt has seen his fair share of bourbon during his career would be better. So, to Liv I raise a glass of Hudson “Baby” bourbon from the small distillery at Tutthilltown, new, exciting and cutting edge it is a perfect accompaniment to Livs otherworldly beauty. A rich and spicy bourbon, first since prohibition to be made in New York. If you need more info, I reviewed it here
Penelope Cruz - Well what can you say about this Spanish firecracker. Never one to keep her Mediteranian passion at bay, this hot and spicy, full on woman surely makes you sit up and take notice. Like a charging bull at a matador, every inch of her is Carne Trémula. So, what to choose? what matches the fire of Penelope? the full on personality and Spanish richness? Well, I choose the Aberlour A’Bunadh.
Full Spanish sherry cask and at cask strength, I reckon it has it all.
Scarlett Johansson- It’s the husky voice, plump lips and classy, sassy attitude that makes Scarlet stand out. You can imagine her out till the small hours, a speakeasy somewhere. Obvious whisky choice was Suntory to follow her Lost in Translation role, but decided to go for something a bit different from the norm, as she definately is. Balvenie 15yr old single cask, , delivering a surprise every time, just like Scarlet.
Kate Winslet -Now, I’ve met Kate, and I can tell you, she can command a room with her looks and personality. A strong woman with a funny, tender side she is quite the complete package. Again, there is an obvious link with the movies, and since its not been too long since the centenary of the Titanic sinking, it simply has to be a glass of single cask, Glenrothes Titanic limited edition. no ice of course!
I recently reviewed this dram and would like to think Kate would find a lot to enjoy in it.
Selma Blair- Associated with a sort of preppy geeky ness in most movies, and shooting to fame with “that kiss” in Cruel Intensions, Selma has only gone and grown up! her last role, in HellBoy II sees her smouldering with sexiness and brimming with confidence. Yet, you still cant help feel that she would be the perfect girl to take home to your parents and get approval. Still an American sweetheart. That’s why I chose the Glenlivet 18 to toast Selma, an all rounder and definitely the whisky which everyone can nod with approval for.
Eva Green- Well HELLO! Here comes trouble. Eva doesn’t smoulder, she is a full on inferno. Careful of those Medusa like eyes for they will turn you to jelly with a single look. Such a chameleon of character, but never quite able to shake off the sense of forbidding and danger, thank goodness! With her goddess like figure and dark sorceress image I can imagine conjuring imagine her sipping a Bowmore Tempest.
Stormy, dark, and mysterious. We salute you Eva.
Maggie Gyllenhaal- Oh Maggie, with those doe eyes and full lips beneath plump cheekbones, you are really spoiling us. It’s the voice also, could lull a tiger to sleep. Yet it’s not all about looks, this girl is razor sharp too, educated, cerebral and non-conformist she was renowned for picking out independent classy films to work in (ok, forget Batman).
So, which dram? Well, got to be independent, little known and as with Maggies surname, tricky to pronounce- BenRiach 18 it is then.
Kelly Brook – Ah Kelly, the English rose. Always smiling, always bubbly and thankfully not ended up part of the stick thin brigade…Kelly has curves like a woman should. She reminds me of a pin-up from the 50′s, when girls didn’t need to get naked to be sexy. OK, so she did playboy,page 3 and topped FHMs hot list, but we can forgive her right?
It also goes without saying that one English rose deserves another so we raise our glass of The English Whisky Chapter 6.
Juliette Lewis – Can you see a pattern forming here? Sultry dark eyed hell raisers? Juliette first caught our attention in Cape Fear, but it is her career since that seems to have suited her style best-Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia for example? plus her rock band Juliette and the Licks isn’t known for love ballads. Could have gone down the bourbon route again, maybe a spicy rye heavy version, but no.
This one was easy. For Juliette, it’s Compass Box Headonism.
Eva Mendes – really? I mean you really need an
explanation! Despite her casting and looks, she was born in Miami to Cuban parents. Safe to say her early acting career wasn’t a trail blazer (mostly B movies) but she has become a household name after roles in Training Day and Once upon a time in Mexico.
Staying firmly on the Cuban theme, we opted for the Dalmore Cigar Malt and a fine Partagas no.4 cigar.
So there it is, the Dramatic Whisky list of our top ten women. It’s not complete, and will no doubt change again in a year or two, but at least we now know which bottle to reach for if ever they come round to the DW offices!
Oh, and Sienna, if your reading this, we still love you.
Tags: 10, 18, A'bunadh, Aberlour, American, baby, Batman, Benriach, Blair, Born, bourbon, Bowmore, Box, brook, Cape, Chapter 6, cigar, Contostavlos, Cruel Intentions, Cruz, Cuba, Cuban, Dalmore, distillery, English, Eva, Fear, FHM, film, Flesh, Fox, Giselle, Glenlivet, Glenrothes, Green, gyllenhaal, Headonism, Hellboy, Hottest, independant, Johansson, Juliette, Kalifornia, Kate, kelly, Killers, Lewis, Licks Compass, Liv, live, Lord of the Rings, Lost in Translation Actress, Madusa, maggie, malt, Megan, Mendes, Miami, Miller, Natural, neat, New, Partagas, Penelope, playboy, prohibition, rose, Scarlet, Scotch, Scottish, Selma, Sherry, Sienna, single, Spanish, Stealing Beauty, Steve Tyler, Suntory, Sweetheart, Tempest, ten, top, Tulisa, Tuthilltown, whiskey, whiskies, whisky, Winslet, women, world, York
