Surpirse... It's a Whiskey Review!

     Okay, so it's not the article I had promised; that's still in the barrel awaiting some finishing remarks and pictures.  That's not quite ready to happen yet, but instead what I've got for you is a pair of tasting notes from a recent trip to the LCBO tasting bar.  I finally got to try my fair share of John Jacob Rye, and also a single malt from my favourite distillery Mortlach.

     First up, a small batch rye from Washington state.  Fremont Mischief Distillery is a new upstart distilleries in the Seattle area, producing a limited number of products, and successfully creating a name for itself.  Their backbone seems to be an 8 year old whiskey (coming from Canada; for the time being as they begin their own distillation with local grains), but they also produce a 2-3 year old rye named in honour of the master distiller's grandfather.  John Jacob Rye is listed as 'perfect for sipping with ice or as the base to your favourite whisky cocktail'.  Upon reading this I wasn't so enthused to get my hands on a glass.  At a recent trip to the tasting bar, I noticed the bottle and decided to tempt fate.  What ended up in my glass was far more than I expected.  Let me throw the notes below for you to peruse:

• Colour:  Rich amber bordering on a yellow/goldish highlight
• Body:  Thick and oily, not unlike good Canadian rye.  The drops seem to take forever to form and run slowly back into the glass
• Nose: The first note I got was super sweet butter cream frosting and vanilla ice cream.  Lots of rye pepper and fruits, making the nose densely thick.  The pepper seems very hot like white ground pepper, but has a bright black fruit note like really good Tellicherry peppercorns.  There begins a subtle waft of fruits and an interesting counterbalance of fresh motor oil.  A little water brings out dried mandarin peel. and a caraway rye bread-y note.  In the background there seems to be a grapefruit candy note.  With time it turns more into a wheat sugary note, or a something like a sweet-grass note.
• Palate:  The mouth feel is very smooth; luxuriously so!  The body does seem a bit thin here (showing its youth), but fruits abound!  Dried apricot shows up here, along with a peach brandy note too.  The pepper doesn't subside here, but instead turns into warmth through the dram.  Some baking spices are present here, but nothing really standing above one another.
• Finish:  This part is sadly short.  Lots of rye bite and oak heat come through.  Vanilla pudding drifts away into oak warmth and the ever present wood spices.
• Empty Glass:  This shows the age again, furniture polish and fresh oak (not so great), but behind all of it is dried pickling spices and dill (I think putting a few more years of age on this will bring out these notes more in the dram).

      All in all; I was very impressed with such a young whisky.  It's a really creamy and soft whisky with a reserved bite to it.  I did note an odd label on my bottle at the noting that the contents were actually 42%ABV, not the 40% listed on the bottle.  This leads me to believe the batches are pretty small and that this might be a bottle for the rye lovers to look for out there.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced at $57.95 is a little on the steep side, but worth checking out a dram at your local favourite whisky bar, should you run across it.

    Next up is my absolute favourite distillery... that is never bottled by it's owners (with a couple of exceptions).  Mortlach, the monster of Speyside with such notes as: aftershave, pork fat, double smoked bacon, and burnt car tires.  This is a backbone to Johnnie Walker blends in the blue and black range, typically heavily sherried, it provides that lip smacking and unctuous note in the black blend.  Sadly though, it will only usually be seen as an independent bottler' single malt as Diageo seems to not be willing to show off a tour-de-force type malt.  That being said, why would I review this now during the Summer?  Well the Dun Bheagan 12 year old bottling I ran across is anything but typically heavy sherry winter whisky.  This 12 year old hailing from cask #93392 and producing 907 bottles at 46% ABV, called to me on the shelf.  I'm a softy for this monster but, when I got it in my glass, the notes will speak for themselves.

• Colour:  Light gold with pink highlights (looks like a good sherry cask; and there is no colour or chill-filtration being done here)
• Body:  Medium-light with fast forming drips that run at a medium pace back to the pool below (wait a minute, this isn't seeming very heavy and brooding?)
• Nose:  Holy cow!  Hold onto your socks for this one.  There is a wave of sweet floral (like the little flowers in my mum's garden), and red berries all over the place.  Wait a minute, this isn't Mortlach like I know it at all... this is like summer vacation Mortlach! Red fruits and sweet malt abound with notes of overripe strawberry all over the place.  A little water gets added and the beast begins to emerge.  Strawberry pork roast (can you do that? if not I' going to be the first), that thick pork fat note comes with a sly hint of salt (like play-dough).  The nose remains berry sweet, but with a salty (not briny) tang, herbal notes begin to emerge.  The herbs seem very strong like pine needles or spruce tips, but also very shy and drawn back at the same time.
• Palate:  Sherry-berry sundaes.  The malt almost ends up a background player here, with wood spice rounding up the end.  The meatiness of Mortlach can be felt throughout the dram, but never over bearing.  There are hints of juniper and plum, with an almost mango undertone present.  With water it becomes richer, more earthiness and meatiness come forward now.  The wood spice sharpens and becomes a sort of all-spice note with a dried pine needles hanging about in the background.  Off in the distance amongst the pork roast and berries is a slight nod towards earwax.  This was one hell of a cask IMO!
• Finish:  This is medium and very satisfying.  Still floral and sweet but with a firm backbone of wood spice and a slightly creamy thickness (think homemade ice cream)
• Empty Glass: Strawberry jam and play-dough.  There is a surprising pop of spice tea and a hint of mint in the background.

    Well there you have it! I never though I'd see a Mortlach as a summer sipper; but the proof is in the notes.  The berry rich and sherry driven nose of this is intense and whimsical, something I could gladly enjoy over a Summer evening with good company.  This is a pretty expensive bottle for only a 12 year (coming in at a hefty $93), but the quality of the spirit shows itself an might be worth the investment.  You can find your own bottle at your local LCBO <HERE>.

     So there you have a pair of very interesting bottles.  The first being a very small batch produced rye with some very interesting rich notes.  The second being a fantastic summer whisky for anyone looking something sweet and easily approachable (which I find very difficult to say about Mortlach).  Much more to come for the blog.  I'm coming out of summer holiday mode, and getting back to writing; slowly.  Still to come, a meeting of bloggers, a spirits show, the remainder of the Vintages releases from the LCBO for the summer, and a few more articles too.  As always: Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

April/May LCBO Vintages Releases

    First off let me make the excuse of being very busy (even thought I can also say that's a lie), I've been fairly lazy.  I can't lie about that as this post has been in the barrel for about 2 months.  So it's not that I forgot to post something, although that has happened before... but rather I haven't gotten around to sitting down at my computer to write something.  I'll lay claim that I've been drinking too much wonderful whisky with friends instead of writing.

  Let's start with May.  The LCBO saw fit to not release anything interesting in April 2013, so we're skipping that month.  That being said, the LCBO in it's KGB like control of all the on-goings of the alcohol industry in Ontario seems to have forgotten about May too for the most part.  There is only a single bottle released this month (remember we're in May here), but the glimmer of hope dawns on the horizon, golden delicious hope no less.  Late in the month, a very special blend was released. A blend that has won some well garnered acclaim over the last couple of years, and an almost cult like following.

May 25/2013 Release:

    So what may you ask that has me all atwitter (HA, twitter pun... yeah that's kinda sad now that I look at it).  The blend in question is The Tweedale.  I've been hearing about this for a couple of years now and am really excited to get my hands on a glass of this.  It really is quite a special blend and I think the notes speak for themselves.

• The Colour:  I'm going to call this early fall gold.  Like a golden delicious apple, bright and shiny with hints of amber running through.  There isn't a lick of spirit caramel here; the bottle even tells me so.
• The Body:  A quick roll of the glass shows me a medium body.  The drops form slowly but run at a medium pace back to the glass.  Things are looking very up for this blend.
• The Nose:  Well now this is where we separate the men from the blended boys (ones by the names of Johnny and Jamie's Son).  The nose shows both youth and age quite well (subtle hint that there is some older whisky in here).  Lots of fresh notes, like fresh cut sweet grass (think fresh cut hay but a wetter sweeter note to it).  There is a barley sweetness here, sort of like breakfast cereal sweetness, and a slight hint of sulphur-y sherry.  This isn't bad sulphur, this is more along the lines of gentle distracting sulphur, that tends to turn up the sweet notes in the nose.  In the background I get hints of wood smoke (very subtle), and a dry rubber note.  There are also notes of camphor or minty/menthol drifting in and out of the far reaches.  I even get a note of sweet wine (like Madeira), on the nose after it oxidizes a bit.  This is a wonderful nose.
• The Palate: There is a sharp start to the palate, lots of pepper warmth with sweetness bubbling through.  There is a butter warmth and oat-y sweetness with a hint of mouldy barley (it's a sort of sourish sweet note that's not out of line, but in fact reflects nicely on the sweetness of the dram).  There is a slight peat smoke in the distance, but this is muddled by vanilla cream.  Towards the finish I'm getting a tartness like a fermented starch.
• The Finish:  The finish is a chameleon!  It starts short and sweet, but soon reemerges with Szechuan pepper and vanilla cream (if you don't know what Szechuan pepper is; it has a very distinct flavour and slight numbing sensation to the tongue.  This is a core spice of Szechaun cooking and goes famously with grilled meats and pork in any form).  There is a slight numbing sensation and more of the fresh cut sweet grass in the finish.  This time it seems like week old lawn clippings where they have started to ferment with a sweet and slightly sourish note.  Quite nicely summed up with hints of vanilla nd gentle wisps of smoke.
• The Empty Glass:  The empty glass reveals a whack of vanilla sweetness, custard-y and rich.  There is also a whack of sawdust, but it seems like soft woods, like basswood; reinforcing the sourish almost slightly bitter note that I found ran through the dram.

Okay, that's a lot to digest, and it might be worth reading over my notes again... but I'm going to say that The Tweedale Blend (Batch No. 3) is a cracker of a bottling.  This is definitely a bottling to look out for in your travels; I feel like this is one of the lost arts of the blend type bottles.  They just don't make them like they used to I guess is what I'm saying, but as it turns out someone is and is doing it with style and finesse.  I strongly suggest that you look out for this bottle at your local LCBO <HERE>.  Priced at $70/bottle for 46% NCF; it's a bit on the high side, but you paying for some excellent quality whisky in this dram.

Okay, what else have I missed..... well let's recount what happened.  Spirit of Toronto came and went and was a roaring success. The LCBO pretended to go on strike to sell out its shelves (or maybe that's just speculation on my part).  I finally got to meet some East Coast Whisky idols of mine.  I toured 40 Creek and Still Waters before the big Spirit of Toronot event (more on that to come shortly; with a very special set of notes).  I also sat back and learned to enjoy a dram with friends, summer arrived and blew us out with some heat.  Tamdhu reopened its doors as did Glen Keith, both of which I'm very happy to see operating again.  And then came Father's Day.... that bane of my existence with the LCBO.

  My mother told me if you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say nuthin' (That's a Forrest Gump quote for you there).  So I'm finding it really hard to do that about the LCBO's "selections" for Father's Day 2013.  Some good selections were made this year, such as the Bowmore Darkest 15, while others were questionable at best, like the typical Macallan 20-something-or-other for $1000+.  The only bottle that caught my eye was a little rye called John Jacôb from Fremont Mischief Distillery in Washington, but I still have yet to find and taste this.  Unfortunately it will go by the wayside as having 'peaked my interest' but not gotten any farther for the time being.  I'm going to still hunt it down and try it as I can't leave you wondering, so if anyone has samples that they'd like to trade out shoot me a DM on twitter @ScotchGuyTO.  For the time being I'm going to conclude this post and start the next one about Spirit of Toronto, 40 creek and finally meeting the Lassie.  Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass ladies and gents, and I'll see you shortly with a special presentation. In the mean time, enjoy  the kitty facepalm as my condolences for not blogging more often.

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.