Gary

Managing apostle and whiskey enthusiast

Lazy River Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Lazy River Kentucky Straight Bourbon

45% ABV
$30
Website

What the ??? Says

So this is a product of Frank-Lin Distillers Products (although it isn’t acknowledged on their web-site, but they are on the TTB label application). That’s it. That’s all I could find.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Vanilla, caramel, subtle cinnamon and a hint of oak.
Palate:  Sweet, caramel with vanilla, a hint of milk chocolate.
Finish:  Short to moderately long with a bit of pepper spice at the end.
Comments:  This was the 3rd 50 mL bottle I bought at Total Wine (the Winchester Extra Smooth Bourbon and Winchester Straight Bourbon being the other two), and I tasted all three of those at the same time over a period of days. This was by far the best of those three, which doesn’t say much. With no age statement, as a straight bourbon it has to be at least four years old, and that’d be about my guess. Nothing objectionable about this pour – other than the price. This one might give Evan Williams Black Label a run for its money. I sorta wish I had done a blind side by side of those two, but not enough to invest the couple bucks in another 50 mL. And certainly not enough to buy a whole bottle. Even if it were close, to be priced at $30 – unless you really dig the bottle/label, I would highly recommend buying the 50 mL first. Maybe it will blow some folks away and be well worth it, although I can’t imagine why.

Rating: Average

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Compass Box Juveniles

Compass Box Juveniles

46% ABV
$120-140
Website

What the Blender Says

For over 30 years, Juveniles Bistrot à Vins in the 1st Arrondissement of Paris has been a crossroads for winemakers, spirits producers, writers and various sorts of affable hedonists from all over the world. Tim Johnston opened the restaurant in 1987. And in 2014, his daughter Margaux and her husband Romain joined him.

Compass Box and Juveniles share a similar approach to great food and drink, seeking out integrity and not taking things too seriously. Both our businesses are obsessed with quality and provenance. Both like to do things in their own way.

These common traits have made Compass Box and Juveniles good friends since the very first meeting between Tim and myself years ago. We have collaborated with Tim on Juveniles whiskies several times.

For this limited edition, Tim asked us to create something “…bright, smooth, not smoky…an assemblage perhaps between 12 and 15 years old…”. We’ve tried to give him all that and much more. This assemblage (we love Tim’s use of this wine word to describe whisky blending) is comprised of single malt whiskies from four distilleries, each bringing a distinctiveness to the whole.

However you choose to enjoy it, Tim and I say… Slàinte!
JOHN GLASER — Founder & Whiskymaker

FLAVOUR DESCRIPTORS
You’ll find notes of barley sugar, pear drop and vanilla, complemented by an ethereal underlying herbal character.

AVAILABILITY
Release of 14,894 bottles worldwide. Bottled September 2018.

RECOMMENDATIONS
This is a whisky that would be a delight served with ice or slightly chilled before a meal, with a cheese course, or on its own after dinner.

BOTTLING DETAILS
Bottled at 46%. Not chill-filtered. Natural colour.

LEAD BLENDER
John Glaser

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich, floral honey over perfumed malt, hay, almond essence and over-ripe pears.
Palate:  Sweet creamy mouthfeel with vanilla and honey; sharpens with a hint of ginger and tart peaches over pepper spice.
Finish:  Long and delicately drifting with a subtle spice note trailing.
Comments:  Another really great whisky by the fine folks at Compass Box. Lovely, sweet, rich yet delicate, and dangerously drinkable.

Rating: Must Try

NOTE:  Their web-site has downloads with the breakdown (image below), as well as a link to request more information.  Per their request, I won’t publish the additional details here, but they are happy to provide them if you inquire.  We here at Whisk(e)y Apostle are BIG fans of their transparency (oh – and their whisky is pretty great too 🙂 )

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Rock Oyster

Rock Oyster Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

46.8% ABV
$50
Website

What the Producer Says

Prise open a rock oyster and you’d be lucky indeed to find a pearl. The real treasure though is the hidden, tasty delicacy inside, rich with the flavours of the sea. Bottled at 46.8% alcohol strength and traditionally without colouring or chill-filtration, this Small Batch bottling has a truly maritime and oceanic character of sea-salt, sweet peat, smoke, honey and pepper. Containing the finest Malt Whiskies from Scotland’s Whisky islands, including those distilled on Islay, Arran, Orkney and Jura, it’s no wonder our Master Blender Fred Laing says “If I could select just one dram to transport the Whisky enthusiast to the Islands of Scotland, it would be this Rock Oyster.”

TASTING NOTES
NOSE: Anticipate wave soaked rocks and a salty oceanic, fresh influence. A hint of peat smoke, and an enticing sweetness.

PALATE: An initially subtle palate that carries soft and rather sweet peat paralleled with smoke, honey, damp ash and develops with liquorice and late pepper.

FINISH: The maritime is neatly replicated on the long, moreish finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Strolling along a Scottish coast; soft sea mist with iodine, subtle peat, damp hay over a hint of dried fruit.
Palate:  Soft and smooth entry with honey and barley sugar that builds in intensity; sweetness evolves to a citric, sour candy note as peat and pepper spice join in.
Finish:  Moderately long with lingering peat and freshly cracked pepper.
Comments:  I really dig the nose on this whisky; while there isn’t anything I dislike in the palate – this is one where I enjoy nosing more than drinking. If you’re a fan of that medicinal, peaty, salty Islay style – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed..

Rating: Stands Out

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The Arran Malt Single Cask Sherry 2014 Spring Release

The Arran Malt Single Cask Sherry Cask
2014 Spring Release

53.2% ABV
$100 – $120
Website

What the Bottle Says

This was a single-cask bottling that Richard picked up in Tennessee in April 2015, and Gary is now kicking himself for not picking up.
Cask #217
Bottle 183/562
Bottled 2/5/2014
Distilled 2/17/1997

What Gary Says

Nose: Damn this nose is thick! Full of BBQ sauce, molasses, smokey oak, tangy dark fruit with hints of balsamic.
Palate: Promised & delivered – lovely thick, chewy mouthfeel, rich with sherry sweetness, bitter chocolate, and nutty spice.
Finish:  Long, with the dark fruit memory slowly fading while dropping pepper spice along the way.
Comments:  Wow this is a fabulous bottle! I remember when Richard picked it up, and now tasting it REALLY wish I’d have grabbed a bottle. I don’t get BBQ sauce that often, but on three different tastings I noted (and underlined) it here. Unfortunately as a single cask, likely no chance of finding this bottle – but if I stumble upon some bottling of aged Arran in sherry, I’ll definitely give it serious consideration.

Rating: Must Try

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“I love bourbon, but can’t get into Scotch? Why?”

First, while both bourbon and scotch are “whisk(e)y”, they’re very different products. Expecting to enjoy one just because you enjoy the other would be like expecting to enjoy grapefruit juice because you enjoy apple juice (I mean, they are both fruit juices, right?)  Sure – there are loads of folks who happen to enjoy both (including me!) but a fondness for one isn’t a strong predictor necessarily of how one feels about the other.  I know plenty of folks who love one group intensely, and scratch their heads over what the fuss is all about over the other.

I believe this question may come from a misplaced expectation that they’ll be somewhat similar. If you love bourbon and are hoping to find what you love about bourbon in a scotch – you’re probably setting yourself up to be disappointed. The opposite is just as true; someone who loves a delicate, fruity, smokey single malt and is looking for that same profile in a bourbon is likely to have their expectations fall short.

Let’s cover some of the major differences between these two broad categories of whisk(e)y:

1. GRAINS
  • Bourbon includes by law a minimum of 51% corn in its mashbill.  Typically it is higher than that – 60-70% corn – with the remainder consisting of other grains (such as wheat or rye, and barley). Each of these grains have different purposes, characteristics and impart different flavors. Compare products that are a majority of one grain (like Mellow Corn BIB, Bernheim Wheat or Rittenhouse Rye) with Evan Williams and you get the idea. The proportion of these grains in the mashbill provide unique character to different bourbons (along with a bunch of other factors).
  • Scotch (single malt at least) is made with barley – period. No other grains involved. Blended scotch or single grain scotch whisky may use other grains, so let’s set those aside for now.  While barley is often a grain in many bourbon mashbills, it is typically the smallest grain component (like 12% or less).
2. WOOD
  • Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak containers (almost always a barrel, but the regs state “container”). This is a critical point, as the charring of that new oak leads to the caramelization of the natural sugars in the wood. As the spirit moves in and out of the wood during the aging period, it is picking up flavors from that caramelization, such as vanilla and caramel. It also gets its dark color from moving in/out of the charred oak.  This is why a 4 yr old bourbon will almost always have more color than any 4 yr old scotch (assuming no artificial color is added – which is allowed in scotch but NOT in bourbon).
  • Scotch is rarely aged in new oak and is typically aged in used barrels. This makes a huge difference in terms of how quickly the spirit takes on color and flavor, as well as what flavors. Yet another facet is how those barrels were previously used. Because bourbon requires the use of a new barrel, there are a LOT of barrels which previously held bourbon on the market, and a lot of them wind up holding scotch. But scotch can also be aged in barrels which once held sherry, port, and other products. These products each impart different flavors and characters on the spirit. For example, sherry casks give a lot of deep color and dark fruit flavors (and whether it is the first fill of a sherry cask vs a second or even third fill will have an impact).  While these used barrels are charred again to ensure there aren’t ugly baddies taking up shop in the wood, this won’t have the same affect as when the wood is new (the sugars were already caramelized the first go round, and have given up some portion of what they have to offer).  Oh – and a “single malt scotch” may consists of whisky aged in different containers blended together in the final product.
3. CLIMATE
  • Bourbon has to be made in the United States by law, and the overwhelming majority of it is produced in Kentucky – which sits between 36th and 39th parallel (the entire continental US runs from the 25th to the 49th parallel). Bardstown, the “bourbon capital of the world” (just ask anyone from Bardstown; they’ll confirm this is THEIR title), sees average high temps ranging from 43°F in January to 87°F in July, with a typical swing of 20-25 degrees between the average lows and highs each month. What that has to do with bourbon is how much that spirit goes into and out of the wood. Keep in mind that within those rickhouses, the summer temps get considerably hotter in the summer (and vary based on location within the rickhouse), and maintain more steady temps in the winter – but let’s set that aside for the sake of a more direct comparison to scotch. Besides going in/out of the wood, the temps (along with some other factors like humidity, etc) tend to drive the proof of the whiskey up in casks aged higher in the rickhouses.
  • Scotch has to be made in Scotland by law, and the mainland all sits between the 55th and 59th parallel – only a slightly larger zone than Kentucky (but much further north!) Just for the sake of comparison, let’s look at Glasgow’s climate. Their average low temp is also 43°F in January, but in July their average high is only 66°F – about half the jump that Bardstown sees! As important as that, they see a typical swing of only 7-12 degrees between their average low and high temps. This all means that the spirit is interacting with the wood a lot more slowly. Besides taking longer for the cask to impart flavors, it provides for more of an impact from oxidation and good ol’ time. Coupled with humidity and other factors, the proof tends to go down in the whisky as it ages – which is one reason you don’t see a lot of “high proof” scotch compared to bourbon.

Now there are absolutely other differences between these two (notice how I’m avoiding peat entirely?)  In fact, if you’re curious about what other variables impact a whiskey, Richard did a great job of listing many more here.  When you start combining just the three mentioned above – hopefully it is clear why these whiskies are so different. In my opinion, those differences aren’t a disappointment in any way/shape/form.  They’re wonderful and should be celebrated!

At the end of the day – it is perfectly OK to not like one or the other (or either, although I’m not sure why you’re reading this if that’s the case). It shouldn’t be a chore to “like” something for crying out loud (in-laws and co-workers excluded). But I hope you’ll continue to try new things because that’s the only way to learn what you will or won’t like. Keep an open mind going in, and most importantly – have fun. A wise old man once told me “If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right”. I’m not sure exactly how wise he is, but on that note I think he got it exactly right.

Cheers!
Gary

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