The Famouse Grouse Malt Whisky Aged 12 Years 40% ABV/80 Proof $35 to $40 Website What the Distillery Says: Try something a little different, with this rare balance of soft oak and citrus. The Famous Grouse 12 year old malt whisky is created from the finest single malt scotch whiskies including the world renowned The Macallan and Highland Park. These whiskies are left undisturbed to mature for a minimum of 12 years. The result is an invigorating spirit with a long, rewarding finish.
What Richard Says: Nose: Floral integrates with treacle and brined meat. Malt-o-meal, there is a little orange citrus not too. Interesting characteristics, I just don’t care for how they mesh together. Palate: Rich, nutty, and surprisingly sweet. Not bad. Much improved over the nose. Finish: More of that citrus and oak. It’s clean and clears out quickly. Very short finish. Comments: I wanted to like this. I really did. I love Highland Park and Macallan and they are both in here. However, this one just doesn’t do it for me. Some folks love it. It’s a “Wine Enthusiast 95/100 Best Buy” if that means anything to you. I find it very unappealing. There are many better dreams for the same price. Admittedly, I bought this because it was on sale for $20 but even at that price I wouldn’t buy it again. Rating: Average
Parker’s Heritage Collection Sixth Edition: Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 65.8% ABV $85-$90 What the Distillery Says: Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the country’s largest independent family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer, announces the September release of the sixth edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection, a limited annual series of rare, aged American Whiskeys that pays tribute to 6th Generation Master Distiller Parker Beam. The 2012 release will feature select barrels of 11 year old Heaven Hill rye-based Bourbons, used for such renown brands as Elijah Craig and Evan Williams, mingled with select barrels of the wheated mashbill Heaven Hill uses for the Old Fitzgerald line, also aged for 11 years. Bottled at cask strength, this bottling, much like the highly acclaimed “Golden Anniversary” bottling of 2009, showcases not only the individual whiskeys, but also the skill of the Master Distiller in selecting and marrying them together in the right proportions.
The rye-based Bourbon was pulled from the 4th floor of Rickhouse “R” in Bardstown, while the wheated Bourbon aged on the topmost 7th floor of nearby Rickhouse “T”. Like previous Parker’s Heritage Collection releases, the “Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills” will not be chill-filtered as is the custom for many Bourbon brands, thereby helping to maintain the natural esters and compounds which provide a rich texture and mouthfeel. The release will comprise of 3 “dumps”, with each having a slightly different barrel proof. The first dump will carry a proof of 131.6, or 65.8% alcohol by volume.
This year’s release of Parker’s Heritage Collection promises to be a worthy successor to the previous five releases, which, having won multiple awards from Whisky Advocate Magazine (formerly Malt Advocate Magazine), Whisky Magazine and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, stand as some of the most critically lauded American Whiskeys in recent memory.Past bottlings have won awards ranging from “Best North American Whiskey” to “American Whiskey of the Year” to “Best of Show, Brown Spirits.”
“It is always an enjoyable challenge to plan out the annual releases of the Parker’s Heritage Collection, and this year’s was no different” noted Heaven Hill’s Parker Beam. “We’ve always traditionally used a rye-based Bourbon mashbill, but we’ve been making wheated Bourbon for over a decade now, and the way they blend with each other has always intrigued me. We’re very pleased with the taste and finish of this year’s edition, and releasing it at barrel proof allows consumers to have some say in how it presents itself. ”
The 2012 Parker’s Heritage Collection Master Distiller’s Blend of Mashbills is a very limited release, as all of the previous five have been. Only about 7,500 bottles are available for national distribution and limited international sales, and as always, once these are shipped from Bardstown, no more will be made available. What Richard Says: Nose: Shortbread cookies, honey glazed ham, honeysuckle, and jasmine. Palate: Caramel crisps, cinnamon, and a sweetness that starts off very subtly and stays mild. Not overpowering at all. Finish: White pepper, mint, and very light hints of oak. The finish turns dry, a little chalky, and lingers. Comments: When is one of the majors going to make a production four grain? Both Woodford Reserve and Heaven Hill show that four grains can really be something special. Woodford had a great recipe and Parker Beam has great skill as a blender. This is a great bourbon you should experience if you get the chance. Rating: Must Try
Cragganmore Highland Single Malt Aged 12 Years 40% ABV/80 Proof $50 Website What the Distillery Says: Speyside today is widely revered for its sublime malt whiskies and for its fine salmon fishing. It is here, in this fertile triangle of land between mountain and sea, long been known as the Garden of Scotland, that Cragganmore single malt whisky is distilled.
Barley is naturally a major crop, and the presence of Scotland’s fastest flowing river – together with peat from the uplands to the south – was the reason original Cragganmore owner ‘Big’ John Smith felt that it would be the perfect place for the perfect distillery.
And who could argue with his genius? Successive managers of Cragganmore have strived to continue his vision to deliver the sweetest, most complex of malt whiskies. Fruity, honeyed notes are often found and many a taster has talked of fruitcake and toffee flavours.
NOSE – A combination of sweet floral fragrances, riverside herbs and flowers with some honey and vanilla. BODY – Firm, rounded, light to medium. PALATE – A strong malty taste with hints of sweet wood smoke and sandalwood FINISH – A long, malt-driven finish with light smoke and hints of sweetness.
What Richard Says: Nose: Treacle tarts jump out initially but quickly mellow to a more subtle earthy sweetness. Meaty and herbal with a honey sweetness. Palate: It starts off very soft and mellow. There is a light floral sweetness to it as it picks up steam toward the finish. Finish: Dry and spicy. It is a little brawny compared to what you might expect from the palate. Comments: Why doesn’t Cragganmore get more love? It’s an enormously pleasing dram and stands above the likes of it’s more popular 12 year old brethren like Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and Macallan. I actually know the answer to my own questions. Diageo prices it out of popularity. At $50 a bottle it’s well above the three Glens and near $10 more than the perennially overpriced Dalmore and Macallan. The value proposition makes it hard to tell you to seek it out over other drams but from taste alone I find it to be a benchmark 12 year old. Rating: Stands Out
SMWS Cask No. 3.184 Islay 61.0% ABV Distilled October 1996 $115 US Allocation: 60 bottles December 2012 Outturn Release
What the SMWS Says: This nose was complex – perfumed smoke, candles, black tea, vinegar on coal and buckets of brine – but sweet (barley sugars, sherbet lemons, cinnamon sweets, pineapple cake) and floral (lavender, geranium, jasmine). The taste swung from sweet (Edinburgh Rock) to savoury (smoked pork loin, honey glazed ham); also charcoal and witch hazel. The reduced nose had fragrant vanilla, lemon, roses, soap and White Linen perfume sprayed on driftwood. Flavours now danced around the tongue with leaps of liquorice, lavender and lemon, whirls of white pepper, arabesques of ash and high kicks of coal. 1779 distillery at the centre of whisky island.
Drinking tip: Perfect ceilidh dram – or as a reward for some other strenuous achievement
What Richard Says: Nose: A very nice brined smokiness and Big Red chewing gum. Water makes it more fruity and floral. Palate: Smoky, honey sweetness, a little vanilla, and astringent. Finish: Old polished wood furniture. Water tames to wood and makes it a little more peppery. Comments: This is all around very nice Islay. It has nice smoke and brine notes with a depth and complexity that will keep you coming back. Rating: Stands Out
Review sample provided courtesy of the SMWSA and is available to society members through their website or 800.990.1991.
SMWS Cask No. G9.1 Grain 57.8% ABV Distilled September 2000 $100 US Allocation: 48 bottles December 2012 Outturn Release
What the SMWS Says: The nose balanced toffee, marzipan, glace cherries and lemon puff biscuits against some spritzy, slightly acidic sherbet; we also found waxed paper, hazelnuts, greenery and geraniums. The unreduced palate had sharp, tropical fruits and lemon peel; also new wood and then something spicy and savoury. The reduced nose suggested peaches, cheesecake, woodland paths and a ruined castle by a lily-pad loch – quite a landscape. The reduced palate seemed a reasonable mixture of sweetness and astringency – a sweet and sour melange of toffee, pineapple, green sappy wood with some white pepper spicy heat in the finish. Captain Haddock’s favourite dram, apparently.
Drinking tip: While watching (or reading) Tintin
What Richard Says: Nose: Brown butter, marzipan, and fresh baked scones. Water makes the nose very green. Lots of fresh grass, wet forest floors, and your mom’s flower garden before the flowers bloom. Palate: Ooooh yum! At only 11 years this is one tasty grain. Richer that you wold expect. Lots of polished wood and spicy peppers (black and white). Water adds a little lemon zest. Finish: Dry with lots of fresh cut raw wood. The finish is my least favorite part. I guess you will just have to keep drinking it. 😉 Comments: Very lovely. You don’t often get access to single grain scotches and they are usually really good or really bad. This is a good one. Rating: Stands Out
Review sample provided courtesy of the SMWSA and is available to society members through their website or 800.990.1991.
