March LCBO Vintages Releases

 Well, another month and another list of bottles arrives on our shelves, but is anything worth your hard earned money?  Let's see what we've got this month, and should anything find its way into your basket while you're perusing the wares at your local LCBO.  This month is a bit slim on the bottles, but there is the usual St. Patrick's Day releases of some Irish gold.

March 02/2013:

So in the early month we've got a big name bottle!  Another Balvenie superstar, and another new bottle to our shelves.  This early release brings us the new model of Doublewood from Malt Master David Stewart.  The 17 year old Balvenie Doublewood is the older sibling of the standard Doublewood 12 year old bottling.  Finished primarily in Bourbon casks, this imparts the rich honey and floral notes that the Balvenie is known for.  The second finishing in "European Sherry Oak" (notice there is not specific Country or Sherry type associated to this), imparting the spice and depth to the whisky.  On the nose, there is no shortage of depth to this dram, loads of vanilla and rich red fruit honey (if you've ever had honey from a farmers field near a strawberry patch or a raspberry patch, this is what I'm thinking... there is a floral ester note of the fruit deep within the honey).  Next up to bat is the hard sherry nose (this part I'm not sold on), lots of sherry spice and oak come through with some very interesting fresh notes of tart apples and smooth cream.  The nose is quite elegant and composed, but a little overwhelmed with oak spice for my palate.  In the mouth we get a more robust burst of dry sherry influence and warm oak leading the way.  There are date squares, warm cinnamon apple cider and cardamom vanilla pudding.  A lot of spices as it seems that the oak takes the reins over the spirit, the background noise seems to settle down and come shyly forward after some time.  This isn't a shy whisky, but the finer Balvenie notes seem to take quite a while to develop and show themselves. Finally, after a long settling period, I'm seeing the more delicate floral notes and subtle honeycomb and stewed fruits, but they're really covered up by the sherry spice here.  There is still a lot of polished wood and vanilla cream, with some more wood spices (like cloves, cinnamon and mace), but there seems to be an overburden of oak here that I'm not crazy over.   The finish is all oak spice and vanilla/butterscotch cream, smooth and well composed.  Fans of the 12 year old will definitely like this; sadly though I'm not a fan of the Doublewood, and in this revision there is a bit too much oak in body and it sort of distracts from the subtle spirit. So we're looking at a pretty bottle of 17 year old whisky, served at 43% (little light in my books but I'll let it slide), and coming in at only $167.95..... wait, give me a second to check my notes... yeah, that's $170 for a bottle in the teens!  Okay, this one seems like something targeted towards their die hard Doublewood fans looking to indulge, and at these prices I don't feel it's worth it (so it doesn't get recommend).  Should you be a Doublewood fan looking for that next step up into the Balvenie range, this is your chance to check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

March 16/2013 Release - St. Patty's Day Pile-Up:

 Well another green day rolls around and another rush of Irish whiskies hit our shelves.  In this usual yearly review we see some Cooley bottles, a Jameson or two and the occasional oddity. This year we see a couple of Cooley bottles (one unlisted), and also the return of a grand Jameson bottling.

 First up is Inishowen peated Irish blend.  This Cooley blend is a delightfully peated blend.  Featuring a 30% peated malt, the nose comes across and sweet, fruity and smokey.  Lots of fruits show up on the nose like: peaches and apricots, also some sort of dried fruit blend (like a trail mix sort of thing).  The smoke wafts in and out of the nose, taking beautiful sweet cereals with it.  In the mouth this is a very soft and subtle dram.  Hold it in your mouth longer than you think you need to, and you'll be rewarded with a richer palate.  The fruits and grains are forefront in the blend and the soft peat smoke sort of builds the entire way through the dram, leading up to a smokey swallow. The finish is strong and short, lots of vanilla cream and peat smoke here, the fade is sadly all too quick on it.  The balance of this whiskey is excellent, and at only $35/bottle you're in for a real treat at this price.  I've reviewed this last year in the March 2012 release, and was still blown away by the quality for the price.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for you bottle.  I'd strongly suggest grabbing one before they disappear until next year.

Next up is an 8 year old pure pot still single malt, also from the Cooley distillery stables.  Locke's 8 year old is an excellent introduction to Irish single malts.  I also reviewed it last year in the same post (link <HERE>), but I feel like I failed to get across it's character.  The nose on this is malt-city if there ever was such a thing.  It's a super malt; loads of malted barley and bready notes.  There is also an oily component that is allover the front end that seems to go hand in hand with that pot sill character (something like machine oil).  Slightly subdued to the oily malt are rich fruits, golden fruits like nectarines, pears and the like dominate the nose.  In the mouth the smoothness is divine, with more malty syrup and fruits, that machine-y oil note hasn't disappeared, but is definitely subdued becoming more earthy/mineraly.  The finish still show cases that smoothness filled with vanilla and dried oaky fruits.  This is a heck of a dram to get you into the Irish mood, and should be tried if not grabbed at the first chance you see it.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your dram.  Unfortunately it's only 40% and looks to be coloured, but once you put it in your mouth I'm sure you'll forget all about that.

Last up in the releases book is Jameson Gold Reserve.  This is a sort of frankenwhiskey (I sort of consider all Jameson to be frankenwhiskey), as it has been blended and refined and blended again to create a smooth and luxurious mouth feel.  The Gold Reserve is a triple wood finished, with a high percentage of pot still whiskey in the mix.  So when I say mega blend let me break it down; Jameson is a mix of grains and malts, and a mix of pot distilled and column distilled, and a mixture of various cask finishes.  So this particular blend is a high percentage of pot still whiskey giving it a beautifully sweet rounded nose, it's also the only horse the Jameson stable to use virgin American oak (also Bourbon and Sherry finished casks).  This provides a unique variant in the mix of rich vanilla and honey into the final product.  On the nose there is a whack of wood notes, lots of fragrant wood with vanilla and caramel (kind of like caramel ripple ice cream good), loads sweet malt and subtle baking spices carry across the nose.  The palate is oily and rich, filled with yellow fruits, rich warm oak and sweet malty breads.  The finish on this is rich and inviting, but sadly short.  Big notes of caramel (salted), come off the palate and some pepper heat with a slight wood smoke note round out the finish.  This is a great dram, but sadly the price point is a bit exorbitant.  At only 40% ABV and $96/bottle you're looking at quite a pricey investment.  I happen to have the trio pack of the 12 Special Reserve, the Gold Reserve and the 18 Master Selection.  So I sort of lucked out at the tasting notes, and am quite excited now to delve into the 18 year old selection.  I've never been crazy of the regular Jameson blend, as it's about as interesting as the paint thinner it smells like.  So walking into this tasting expecting that, and coming away being more than pleasantly surprised, I'm more than pleased to recommend this to anyone.  The pricing is quite high for a blend, but you're going to get a great bottle out of it; I'd strongly suggest you try a dram from a friend or a quality whisky bar.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

The last release doesn't contain any whiskies sadly, but I've got a couple more recommendations that weren't published in the books.  These were the few bottles that were doled out to the shelves that no one noticed, expect the hardcore whiskiphiles (I think I'll coin that term).  There were a couple of Cooley bottles that caught my eye while I was wandering the shelves of my local liquor monopolies.

First up is Connemara Turf Mór, Gaelic for big peat, is the heaviest peated version of Connemara.  I wasn't sure how I felt about peating the sweet supple Irish whiskies, and my first introduction was a wallop!  Connemara cask strength set my palate in motion, with its rich sweetness and heavy peat smoke, it really caught me off guard.  I though the smooth Irish whiskies might not stand up to such a strong character but soon realized they themselves are quite a strong and robust character.  Two leading characters in the play tends to cause pandemonium or coherence, and in the case of Connemara, the coherence is sublime.  In the new addition to the small batch range; Turf Mór (big peat Irish style), is built of sweet and savoury notes and a finish that goes on and on like a rousing folk song, sung by the masses in a Dublin pub.  Served at a whopping 58.2% ABV and non chillfiltered with no colour added; well you can see where this is leading already. $86.70 will net you a ticket for this roller coaster ride of peat and I'd strongly suggest you check your local LCBO for this one <HERE>.  They also have the standard cask strength available for $96.70 <HERE> (same sort of stats: no chillfilteration, no colour, and 57.9%ABV).

Also of note from the Cooley stables is Tyrconnel Madeira finish.  Tyrconnel is a fantastically crafted single malt.  Their cask finishes have been real hits around here such as their port finish, the last one I recall a few years back, was excellent.  This one should bring more of the same; lots of rich fruits and sweet malt with a dangerously drinkable whiskey, makes for a bottle that tends to disappear all too soon from our shelves.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced at $79.95 and served at 46% ABV this is on the pricey side.  If I get my hands on one, I'll be letting you known about the tasting notes.  On the other hand, the same applies as the Jameson bottle above, once you have it in your glass you'll gladly forget about the overpriced bottle.


So that's the lot for the month of March, April showers bring whisky flowers (does that really work here.... sure it does)?  Sadly though, leafing through the early April vintages catalogue doesn't inspire much hope.  Maybe the coming month will bring about a bottle review or two instead... I'll figure something out soon, but until then; keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

Robbie Burns Day [Belated]

   Happy Robbie Burns day (belated) to all.  As a special treat I shall recount my special evening with a few good friends at The Hunt.  I was cordially invited by a gracious couple (anuptowngal and wineguyTO), and their father-in-law to a special night with a tutored nosing and meal in honour of the Scottish poet Robbie Burns.

    The evening began with an address by The Hunt's very own Marcel Bregstein (the emcee for the evening and the club Sommelier), to the crowd.  Highland dancers followed, with traditional dancing and colourful outfits all lead in by a piper.  The piper then read the Address to A Haggis, and promptly had it distributed amongst the guests (small tastes only; sadly).  This being my second time having Haggis, I noted that this one seemed a wee bit on the dry side, but still quite excellent.  I am willing to admit that this is an acquired taste (and not one that I figured I would have acquired),  but it is quite delicious when prepared and splashed with a bit of Scotch.  Think of it like Kishka, a meat and meal sausage, made with heartier meat and a dash of blood.  Haggis is sheep's pick (heart, liver and lungs) mixed with onions, oats and spices all baked in a sheep's stomach.  Doesn't sound delicious?  If you think of it as eating a sausage, (a very rich and hearty sausage), it's quite delicious and makes for a very satisfying meal.

    The main guest was introduced next by the Sommelier.  Todd McDonald from PMA Canada, a 20 year veteran of scotch sales, on behalf of William Grants & Sons.  With him he brought a selection of Balvenie (12 Year old Doublewood and The 12 Year old Signature) and a selection of Glenfiddich samples (the LCBO available flight of 12-21 Years).  Being the proud owner of the entire flight (save the 18), this was not a blind tasting to yours truly.  We were treated to a visual tour of the Balvenie operation and explained how Scotch moves from grain to glass, through the distillation process.

  The beginning of the tastings started with the Balvenie 12 year old pair (Both the Doublewood and the Select Cask), which was to show us the difference in flavor between the two 12 year olds.  This expanded to include the Glenfiddich 12 to show the flavour comparison to it's sister distillery.  The 12 Select was sherry heavy casks, while the unique half and half maturation of both bourbon and sherry casks in the Doublewood was quite mild on the palate.  This was compared with the fresh and crisp flavours of the Glenfiddich 12 (lots of green apples, and sweet crisp malt).  We were enlightened to their particular methods of nosing whisky, some of which were a bit hard to wrap your head around.  Our speaker suggested that we water down the whisky to about 25% (oft called drowning a whisky), so that the aromas could easily escape the glass.  I let mine fly what was left of it's full colours (40% ABV isn't really much to call FULL colours).  Our taster was also an avid swirler, slightly teetering onto the aggressive hot tub swirling side.  I tried their method and ended up with one glass of wonderful aromas of honey and spice, but the spirit had become undrinkable as it was mostly water with a dash of whisky flavour.

    That aside, we carried on in our nosing class moving to the Glenfiddich 15 (the step up the line for those who seek richer notes than the 12).  This is a favourite of mine (having a wonderful blend of sherry, bourbon and fresh oak casks married together in a Solera vat), featuring a much richer malt note with lush sherry and honeycomb.  The marketing spiel of the Solera vat never being emptied was also dispelled at this time; noting that they build the flavour profile from the selected casks and then fill a vat; settle the whisky and bottle it all.  We then moved into the connoisseurs single malt (the Glenfiddich 18), which is comprised of 98% bourbon and 2% sherry.  An sharp whisky, not my favourite as the heavy wood notes dominate the palette, but still quite nice nonetheless.  Concluding with the 21 Year old Havana Cask (no longer called such in order to import to the US), which was a smooth and delicious finish to the tasting.  The demerara and rum notes sparkle through on the nose, and there is a fantastic scent of banana in the background which almost turn herbal (into banana leaf).  The smooth mouth feel and the long and sumptuous finish have made it a favourite of mine; so much so that I grabbed a bottle earlier this year.

  The dinner was fantastic; featuring spinach salad with a fantastic Glenlivet vinaigrette, Salmon in a champagne sauce with braised leeks, and finished with a whisky chocolate mousse and butterscotch ice cream.  Incredible evening with incredible friends, and a fantastic way to celebrate Mr. Burn's birthday.  I think I'll have to draft up some notes on the 21 year old in the future.