I’m going to try to keep this blog as PG rated as possible. That said, I’m really pretty pissed off. Matt and I were talking about our new “Gateway” series of reviews over the weekend and we thought a good way to save money would be grabbing some miniature bottles of some the regulars like Jim Beam, Bushmills White Label, etc. It seemed more cost effective that going out and dropping $300. So yesterday I headed out to Total Wine in Dunwoody. I’ve spoken before about this particular establishment. It’s well laid out, has a broad selection, and best of all it has a wall of miniatures to buy from. The selection of these is nice but what I really like is the fact that they aren’t buried behind the counter where you can’t see them. That’s one of my major pet peeves with liquor stores.
So I go in last night and notice that they’ve moved things around. No big deal. Or so I thought. By the time I’d walked through the store I noticed that they were missing something. LIQUOR! It was all wine and beer. I asked one of the guys working there and he said that they were told by the state that they couldn’t sell liquor anymore. The reason? The way the blue laws are written in Georgia to prevent gas stations and grocery stores from selling spirits is written ignorantly broad. Apparently, in Georgia if a retail company owns two or more store locations then it is prohibited from selling spirits. Because Total wine has two locations, they can no longer sell spirits. How F—–G stupid is that?
I accept the no sales on Sunday because I grew up here. I accept that a restaurant has to wait until 12:30 PM on Sunday’s to pour because I figure I can wait. But this is just stupid. Maybe one day we’ll pull ourselves out of the dark ages. Until then, I’d like to formally raise a middle finger to Blue Laws of the great state of Georgia.
There has been a flurry of excitement here at Whisk(e)y Apostle. You can now be a fan on Facebook and follow my (Matt) adventures through Twitter (WhiskeyApostle). Maybe I can drag Richard out of the dark ages for a tweet now and then. Furthermore, we are hard at work designing a questionnaire to aid our readers in finding the perfect dram. This should launch in a rather rudimentary version, with each one being handled directly by us, in the coming weeks. Eventually, we hope to automate the process. Yes, we know there is other whisk(e)y software out there, but it is much too complicated for a novice. Our mission is to introduce whisk(e)y to the uninitiated, after all.
To make things more exciting, we are launching our “gateway” series this week. In this series we will be reviewing some of the most readily available and easy to find whisk(e)ys. When we started down the road to becoming whiskey apostles, we found it quite irritating that we could find ten reviews of some $100 bottle only available at Duty Free, but never anything we could afford or find. Therefore, we are going to review some of the “gateway” and “well” whisk(e)ys. This way, the true novice will have a way to make educated decisions on their first dram.
To top things off, I just found out that we will have whiskies from both India and Australia (specifically Tasmania) here in the US around Labor day. Both Amrut (India) and Sullivan’s Cove (Australia) have tested well in blind tastings against Scottish single malts. I read about Sullivan’s Cove a while back and I’m all aflutter with excitement. The folks from Sullivan’s Cove will also be attending WhiskyFest in both San Francisco (Oct. 16) and New York (Nov. 10).
Normally, Balvenie is not a brand that inspires me to great oration. To my palate, the young Balvenies are so uninspiring that I have never made it to the end of a tasting table. Richard tells me the 20yo is quite nice and I will make an effort to try that in the future. However, what whisky geek could pass up the opportunity to blend their own single malt? I approached this event with unadulterated schoolboy glee and I was not disappointed in any way.
The class took place at Astor Center in NYC and was lead by Dr. Whisky (Sam Simmons, US brand ambassador for Balvenie) and David Mair (Balvenie’s global ambassador). When I take my seat on the front row, I am greeted by a lovely young woman who offers me some prosecco to “get [me] started.” Then, as I admire the Balvenie branded tasting diary and the various glasses, bottles, and droppers at each station, both Sam and David come over to introduce themselves. This is already looking like a good event.
Sam starts by telling us a little about Balvenie Signature 12yo Batch #1 (voted “Best Speyside” in a blind tasting for the New York Times, etc.). We taste Batch #1 (no longer available, btw). Sam then hands proceedings over to David for a little history about whisky in general and Balvenie specifically. I’m not going to get too technical, but a few things stand out about Balvenie as a distillery. First off, Balvenie is the only Speyside distillery that malts their own barley on a traditional malting floor. Not all the barley they use is from these maltings, but a good portion. The fuel for these maltings comes mostly from anthracite (smokeless coal), but they add a small amount of peat for flavor. Additionally, a portion of the barley used is grown on the premises. Throw in custom copper pot stills and you have a truly handcrafted product.
“So what does it taste like,” you ask. Patience, my friends. Sam somehow convinced the master blender (David Stewart for those taking notes) to part with a few bottles of whiskey that he uses to blend Balvenie Signature 12yo. This was a real treat, since these whiskies are not commercially available. Balvenie Signature is comprised of three 12yo single malts: one aged in bourbon casks, one aged in sherry casks, and one aged in refill whisky casks (casks that first held bourbon, then Balvenie whisky). Although from the same source whisky, each of these spirits have distinctive characteristics.
The bourbon cask produces an amber-colored whisky. I really enjoyed this. If Balvenie bottled this, it would be my whisky of choice more often than not. With a heavenly nose of malt, vanilla, and caramel and a palate that replicates the nose plus maple syrup, this is one for the books. When comparing it to the Signature, I can find where it lives in the blend. It seems to be responsible for most of the flavor profile.
The sherry cask gives the Signature most of its color. This whisky is deep and dark, almost a jewel tone. The nose is complex. Notes of black pepper, cloves, tamari, bacon, and celery fill the nose along with a touch of sweetness. The palate is very powerful and tastes of roasted hazelnuts, Christmas spices and sherry (of course). On it’s own, this one is a bit much, but it sits nicely in the back of the blend.
Finally, the refill whisky cask is very pale in color. The nose is remniscent of fresh fruit and licorice. The palate is overwhelmed with licorice. Unlike the herbal licorice of an Islay malt, the licorice of this dram is more like a classic Brach’s black jelly bean.
After sampling all this, we had the opportunity to blend our own Balvenie Signature. You can see mine in the photo above. This was great fun. We compared ours to Batch #1, but the intent was to come up with our perfect blend not necessarily to match David Stewart’s creation. I was feeling pretty good about mine, thinking I could be a master blender some day. Then, Sam brought out Balvenie Signature 12 yo Batch #2 (available in June for $52.99). I have to bow to the superior skills of Mr. Stewart. Mine was good, but his impeccable ability to create a multi-layered masterpiece was awe inspiring. I could taste the elements of the construction. Even the candy licorice flavor floated across the palate like a thin sheen of oil on clear water. However, Balvenie Signature is greater than the sum of it’s parts. I for one, will be standing at the door when this hits the shelves.
In conclusion, this is the best whisky event I have ever attended. I gained a greater appreciation for what blenders/distillers go through to create all this wonderful whisky. Thanks to Sam, David, and the folks at Astor Center for putting this together. I would love to see more classes like this.
It’s that time again. It’s time for me to highlight another growing fad or trend within the whiskey industry. We’ve discuss rampant peating levels of scotch and the explosion of wood finishes across the industry. Today I want to talk about strength. Not strength of character but rather the alcohol strength at which whiskeys are bottled.The level of alcohol content in a bottle of whiskey is measured in one of two ways. The most straightforward is using “ABV” or “alcohol by volume” measures. If a whiskey states that it is 43% ABV that means that 43% of the liquid content of that bottle at the time of bottling is alcohol. What’s the rest? Mostly water.
“Well then, what’s this ‘proof’ I see on some of the bottle?”
The term “proof” comes from 18th century Great Britain. The idea being that a “proof spirit” was the minimum level of alcohol in a particular spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. The term originated when the rations of rum to sailors were “proofed” by seeing if gunpowder would still light when doused with the rum. This made sure the rum wasn’t watered down. In today’s terms the proof of particular spirits is twice the alcohol by volume. For example, a 90 proof spirit contains 45% ABV.
Originally, whiskey was sold by the barrel. You’d go to your local merchant and fill up your bottles from the barrel. The whiskey you get then was always barrel strength. (Unless the merchant water it down!) Over time distilleries and merchants began bottling the whiskey themselves. For the larger part of the 20th century whiskeys on both sides of the Atlantic were commercially bottled near 40% ABV. Mostly because this was the minimum legal alcohol content allowed if you wanted to call your product whiskey. If you’re trying to maximize your profits then you want the least amount of alcohol in the bottle as possible. That way the alcohol coming out of your barrels will go farther, thus allowing you to sell more bottles and make more money. There were some obvious exceptions to this. Wild Turkey 101 is probably the most well known.
In the last 15 years or so we’ve seen this trend change. More and more bourbon, and scotch distilleries are bottling at higher and higher strengths. They’ve determined that the flavor profile loses something in the process of watering down. This varies by whiskey. Some lend themselves more to higher strengths than others. The most prevalent example in my mind is George T. Stagg. Stagg is an uncut and unfiltered barrel proof bourbon that is part of Buffalo Trace’s annual Antique Collection releases. It’s never hit the bottle at less than 64% ABV. Despite the high alcohol content this stuff is scary smooth. Matt bought a bottle of Stagg for me a few years back and he, my wife, and I dusted off half the bottle that night. It didn’t seem like much at the time but the next morning we were all feeling it.
While Stagg is quite wonderful, if you look at the numbers, it can be pretty scary. The lowest proof release was in 2004 at 129 proof/64.5% ABV. There have been four releases that topped 70% ABV. These were referred to as “Hazmat” releases. They were called this because anything 70% ABV or higher can’t legally be brought on commercial flights and is deemed Hazardous Materials. The Hazmat releases culminated n the 2007 Hazmat IV release. It was bottled at a whopping 144.8 proof/72.4% ABV. That’ll wake you up!
Unfortunately, not all whiskey is George T. Stagg. I’ve found none that are as smooth at that strength. In my opinion, bourbon tends to hold up better at higher proofs than other whiskeys. Scotch, Irish, and Japanese seem too subtle and delicate of flavor and balance in most cases to drink above 50% ABV. So what do you do? You add water. Which really gets us back to the 40% or so ABV that the whiskey used to be bottled at. There’s nothing wrong with bottling at 40% to 43% ABV. Some of my favorite whiskeys are bottled in that range.
There are arguments both ways. On the one hand I like being able to pour something from the bottle and drink it. I don’t like having to monkey around with water to get it to an enjoyable balance. On the other hand, you get more for your money when you buy at higher strengths. The whiskey lasts longer.
Then there are those that want it at cask or barrel proof for the “purity of the spirit”. The easiest example I can think of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. They buy and store their own barrels and always bottle uncut and unfiltered for their members. More power to them. It’s just not my thing.
It’s really up to you to decide what you prefer. If you like to drink it from the pour like me, then the ever escalating proof can be annoying. If you want the value or the barrel purity then it’s a boon for you. Either way, you should drink, enjoy, and proselytize.
Some of you may be thinking…”Aren’t there two guys that run this site?”
Yes, you are correct. I’ve been pretty derilict in my duties lately. Matt has been picking up my slack admirably but I’m way overdue for some contributions. I’ve got a few blogs on tap that I hope to post soon.
But what about the other missing apostles? Confused? I’m talking about all of you out there. Matt and I run this site for the love of the dram but we’d also like to know that we’re being helpful, informative, amusing, or whatever. To do that we need feedback from the readers. We’ve got a few enhancements and resources in mind for Whisk(e)yApostle.com but we’re always brainstorming for new stuff. What do you folks like? Dislike? What types of resources and content would you like to see added?
Drop us a line. Comments to the posts or emails directly to us are always welcome. Let us know what you think.
