SMWS Cask No. 93.47 Campbeltown 59.7% ABV Distilled April 2002 $?? US Allocation: ?? Valentine’s 2014 Release
What the SMWS Says: The nose seemed unusual – salted almonds and rice crackers; seaweed, sushi, and Earl Grey tea; smoked sausage, tar, hospitals, garage workshops and farmyards. The unreduced palate was enormous – tar, smoke and ash – big time; also salty liquorice, menthol, Arbroath smokies and the seaweed found in Japanese rice crackers. Adding water brought the nuttiness and sweetness forward on the nose; we also identified flying saucers, soap and dried strawberries. The reduced palate was still interesting but more tamed – vanilla sweetness, tongue-tingling ginger and cured sausage with subtle caraway and mace flavourings. The distillery is owned by the Loch Lomond Distillery Company.
What Richard Says: Nose: Briny delight. Kind of reminds me of nori with light smokiness and a hint of heather. Palate: This drinks much easier than it’s proof would lead you to believe. There is a little more of that salty brine, very nutty, and a flavor that reminds me of overly strong black tea. Finish: This finish clings to the tongue forever. Tar like smoke and sea air. Comments: Exceptionally interesting. I might not make this a staple in my whisky cabinet but it makes for a very conversational dram. 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. 48.29 Speyside, Spey 61.0% ABV Distilled September 1999 $?? US Allocation: ?? Valentine’s 2014 Release
What the SMWS Says: Powerful sweetness hit the nose to start with. It became set honey, vanilla pods and toffee bonbons and then lavender freshness with herbal notes of thyme and cut grass. To taste it was hot and sweet. The herbal notes were there too along wit orange marmalade bitterness, tobacco and cooling menthol eucalyptus. A good length of finish too. With water the aroma becomes sweeter: baking (pastries, cakes & marzipan), sherbet, lemon icing sugar, rhum agricole, but also an earthy note that took us to summer gardens. Water calms down the taste and offers cake mixture dough, sweet tobacco and orange pith in the finish. From the distillery that is the closest to Grantown on Spey.
What Elizabeth Says: Nose: Vanilla covered cherry blossoms. Palate: Orange infused wooden casks wrapped around your tongue. Finish: Lemon tartness. Comments: Very refreshing! Rating: Stands Out
What Richard Says: Nose: Honey and Greek yogurt, vanilla, and herbal notes. Water brings out more of the herbal, grassy notes. Palate: Chewy and mildly sweet. Lovely flavor and mouth feel even at cask strength. Apricot and citrus fruit salad. Sweeter with more honey and mandarin oranges with water. Finish: Clean and very short. There is a quick hint that reminds me of Italian Proraso shaving cream. Comments: This is an absolutely lovely dram. The SMWS calls it “satisfyingly sweet” and it definitely is. This is the perfect balance of sweetness in a single malt. Rating: Must Try
Review sample provided courtesy of the SMWSA and is available to society members through their website or 800.990.1991.
Friday night I had some folks over to play cards. We usually play once a month or so. The group is made up of people I’ve known for many years. Whenever I have anyone over to my house that is inclined toward whiskey I try to impart on them some of my passion for all things whiskey. I share drinks with them and encourage them to sample things they haven’t tried before. During the many years I’ve drank whiskey I always had an open cabinet policy for guests. Most folks are timid but a few who know me and reciprocate hospitality are a little more comfortable. I don’t monitor my whiskey cabinet when guest are over. When I’m up I offer drinks and they come and go at the cabinet over the course of the evening. I think most whiskey inclined people who’ve drank at my house would consider me a generous host. I at least try to be. I’ve never had an issue with my open cabinet policy…….until Friday.
A friend of mine who I’ve known for almost ten years is the offender. During the game he would get up in between hands and head off to the liquor cabinet. Midway through the evening I got up to get another drink and I heard him snickering to someone else about “not letting Richard know we’re drinking the good stuff” as I came around to the cabinet. When he saw me he jumped and clearly reacted like someone “caught” doing something they shouldn’t. I looked and he was pouring from the most expensive bottle of whiskey I own. I’m not a man flush with cash but I have a few nice bottles. This one was a single malt my wife got me for my birthday a few years ago. It didn’t bother me that he was drinking some. It bothered me that it was nearly 3/4 full the last time I had some a few days ago and was now almost empty. My response was something along the lines of “holy crap man, leave me some of that.” No apologies or excuses were rendered, just a smartass comment about “not letting your friends near your liquor cabinet.” Well, if you can’t let your friends in your liquor cabinet then they probably shouldn’t be your friends I would think but I left it alone and the night continued.
Later in the evening he comes back and tosses me $40 saying “I guess I owe you a bottle of Glenlivet 12 year old or something.” I asked what he was referring to and he said he’s finished off that bottle he’d been hitting all night. I must have gone pale because all conversation at the table stopped. His wife asked him how much was the bottle he drank. “About $150” he said. I quickly corrected him that it was a $400+ bottle of scotch. His wife was appalled, my wife was looking at me waiting to see my head explode, and I was speechless after that. However, my friend was less than concerned and not apologetic in the least.
I tried to let it go and not ruin the night for the other guests but it was hard. This was a grown man in his forties, not an unrepentant teenager. I couldn’t and still can’t believe that 1) he so grossly abused my hospitality and 2) he showed no remorse. It was very clear that he purposely dug deep into the cabinet to find the most expensive stuff I had and killed most of a bottle of it. Unfortunately, this incident caused me to reassess my whiskey policy when people are over at my house. I’m sharing so you can help me feel better about my situation by sharing horror stories of your own. What is the worst abuse of your hospitality that you’ve suffered?
Parker’s Heritage Collection Golden Anniversary Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 3rd Edition 50% ABV $150 Website What the Distillery Says: The third edition honors Parker’s Golden Anniversary. Parker hand-selected Bourbon from each decade of his illustrious career and married them together. The undeniable smooth taste of this small batch Bourbon is a true representation of its namesake and while this brand, Parker’s Heritage Collection, is a tribute to him, this specific edition celebrates his 50 years of Bourbon making.
Parker’s Heritage Collection Golden Anniversary was awarded “2010 American Whiskey of the Year” by Malt Advocate Magazine, “2010 World’s Best New Release” by Whisky Magazine’s World Whiskey Awards, “2010 Bourbon of the Year, No Age Statement (Multiple Barrels)”by Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2010.
What Elizabeth Says: Nose: Dried cherries in a barrel. Palate: Vanilla and wheat fields in a fierce wind. Finish: Delightful. Comments: I really like the whole package of this one from start to finish. Rating: Must Try
What Richard Says: Nose: Honey drizzled fruits, vanilla extract, hints of yeast rolls, and brown butter sauce. Palate: Banana’s Foster, caramel ice cream,polished oak furniture with leather accents, and cherry pie. Finish: Long and lingering with wood and pepper. Comments: Good God Damn! This is amazing. Top…five…bourbon…ever! Delicious, approachable, and layers of complexity to keep you busy on multiple visits. Rating: Must Buy
Parker’s Heritage Collection Promise of Hope Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 7th Edition 48% ABV $85-$90 Website What the Distillery Says: For Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the fall release of the annual Parker’s Heritage Collection bottling is always a labor of love, but this year’s release could more accurately be described as a labor for love.
Heaven Hill Master Distiller Emeritus Parker Beam, who has recently been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and for whom the acclaimed series is named, has selected special barrels of Bourbon for this year’s edition that mirror his own personal preference for age, proof and warehouse location. Called the “Promise of Hope” bottling, this seventh in the acclaimed series will feature a remarkable cause-related component—for each bottle of the “Promise of Hope” edition sold, Heaven Hill will contribute $20 to the Parker Beam Promise of Hope Fund, a fund established through the ALS Association in honor of the legendary 6th Generation Master Distiller (www.alsa.org/ParkerBeamPromiseofHope). Heaven Hill is estimating the overall contribution to the Promise of Hope Fund will be in excess of $250,000.
In addition to being the first cause-related bottling in the Parker’s Heritage Collection series, the Promise of Hope bottling will mark the first time that a single barrel American Whiskey has been offered in the collection. Parker Beam, a past recipient of Whisky Advocate’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a charter member of the Bourbon Hall of Fame who is in his 53rd year at Heaven Hill, painstakingly sampled and selected Bourbon barrels that met his own personal “wish list” criteria. From among Heaven Hill’s nearly one million barrels in storage, Parker selected approximately 100 barrels of ten-year-old rye-based Bourbon from one of his favorite warehouses, the tiered 80-year-old Rickhouse EE in Deatsville, where they sat in high storage for 40 seasons. Each of the chosen barrels was dumped and bottled, with no chill-filtering, in 750ml bottles at Parker’s preferred bottling proof of 96° (48% alcohol/volume). The 7th Edition Parker’s Heritage Collection Promise of Hope will be available on select retail shelves and at fine bars and restaurants nationwide starting in mid-September at an average retail price of $90 for the 750ml bottle.
This year’s release of Parker’s Heritage Collection promises to be a worthy successor to the previous six 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.”
Packaged in the same upscale 750ml bottle as the previous six editions, the Parker’s Heritage Collection Promise of Hope bottling is part of a number of cause-related efforts Heaven Hill and Parker Beam have recently taken on to help in the fight against ALS, a neurological disease which affects approximately 30,000 Americans at any time. Also part of this effort is the recently announced Master Distillers’ Unity, a special crystal two bottle set of Bourbon from all the major Kentucky heritage distilleries blended together which will be offered at the Bonham’s Whisky, Cognac and Rare Spirits auction in New York City on October 13th. All proceeds from the auction of this one-time bottling will also go toward the Promise of Hope Fund.
“I, my wife Linda, my son Craig and all my family are honored and enthusiastic about our efforts toward helping those affected by ALS”, stated Parker Beam, “and the new Promise of Hope edition of my Parker’s Heritage Collection represents a great way for Bourbon fans and even novices to enjoy a great single barrel Bourbon while helping make a real difference in the fight against ALS. I enjoyed developing the profile and selecting these barrels that represent ‘my favorite things’ in a Bourbon, and I feel sure that anyone who purchases a bottle will get an outstanding single barrel Bourbon and the satisfaction of knowing they are helping with this worthy cause.”
The 2013 Parker’s Heritage Collection Promise of Hope is a very limited release, as all of the previous six editions have been, but Heaven Hill will be releasing more cases than in the past to maximize fund raising. And as always, once these are shipped from Bardstown, no more will be available.
What Elizabeth Says: Nose: Melon with beads of honey dripping onto oak. Palate: Sharp and deadly golden fruit. Finish: Smooth and more subtle. Comments: It is sharp but strangely addictive. You hope to keep on sipping it. Rating: Stands Out
What Richard Says: Nose: Pipe tobacco, old leather, caramel apples, dusty old books like in a boarded up library. Musty right after opening the bottle. The nose opens up as it sits. Palate: Caramels, vanilla cream, viscous and mouth coating. Nice wood back bone. Finish: Hot, in your face, and no nonsense. A quick flash then a long fade to oak with vanilla hints peaking around the corners. Comments: This is supposedly “how Parker likes his bourbon” in that the selection comes right from his sweet spot in terms of age, location, proof etc. This isn’t changing anybody’s religion on drink but it’s damn good. It is very “bourbon-y” in all the right ways. I could only drink this for the rest of my days and be perfectly content. Just like eating where the locals do, I guess tailing the Master Distiller to his sweet spot pays dividends too. Rating: Must Try
