Johnnie Walker Black Label

Goodness. It's been quite some time since I've posted anything here! I'll blame it on the summer -- despite Dr. Whisky's excellent warm-weather dramming advice, I've been in gin and tonic mode for the past few months. Now that autumn is upon us, let's get back in the swing of things with a very popular bottle that we're all very familiar with.

Johnnie Walker Black Label
Aged 12 years
Blended Scotch whisky
40% alc/vol
$27

I've mentioned before that I was never a big fan of Johnnie Walker. I tried Black Label, and decided I didn't like blends. Then I tried Gold Label, and was unimpressed.

Then my palate developed a little bit, as I branched out and tried different things. I decided to come back to Black Label one more time, and I'm glad I did.

The funny thing is, it's not really all that great. It's got a caramel sweetness to it, in direct opposition to the light smoke and just a hint of peat. It's nice and creamy, and the smoke lingers in your mouth after you drink it. Which is all well and good, but as far as flavor profile goes, Black Bottle does all that better.

So what is it about Black Label that makes it so drinkable? It definitely has some ethereal quality that makes me want to drink more of it once my glass is empty. And no, it's not just the alcohol! Some virtue of the combination of smoke, spice, and sweetness in these exact proportions keeps me coming back, despite the fact that there are many drams that taste better. And I suppose that's a much more desirable quality than mere tastiness.

P.S. I find that this is one of those rare Scotches that do not benefit at all from water. A few drops are okay, but don't dilute it. It just kills all enjoyment of the drink.

JMR's The Rich Spicy One

Jon, Mark and Robbo's
The Rich Spicy One
Vatted malt Scotch whisky
40% alc/vol
$28

No real story here, I'm afraid. I'd heard good things about the Jon, Mark and Robbo's brand. It's a vatted malt -- malts from various distilleries mixed together. I think it's being discontinued, so if this sounds good to you, go buy a bottle!

I have a hard time describing this malt. I'm just going to write whatever springs in my mind, even if it doesn't make sense!

Earthy, deep, and mellow. It smells purple. What does that even mean? Alright, digging down: I taste cinnamon, and cloves. It's very full in the mouth. A little bit of lime, too.

Anyway, seriously, this is one of the most unique Scotches I've ever tried -- it is so different from anything else I've ever tasted. Go try some!

Also, if you've got the whisky strain of the summertime blues, Dr. Whisky has the cure!

Old Pulteney 12yo

Old Pulteney
Aged 12 years
Single Highland malt Scotch whisky
43% alc/vol
$35

I'd heard a lot of good things about Old Pulteney's standard offering - mainly that it's quite good at its price point. It's also the most northerly distillery "on the Scottish mainland," for whatever that's worth. A few months ago, Binny's had a great big whopping sale, so I picked up a bottle (along with a couple of others), and am presently sharing the first glass with all of you.

The color is lovely - just a hint of red in it, showing the influence of the sherry casks some of the whisky is aged in.

The first thing I notice on the nose is citrus, opening up into an ethereal, nutty aroma, and finally a little bit of grass. Very nice.

It's slightly oily, but quite pleasant. Spreads out nicely on the tongue. It finishes dry, salty-sweet.

I can see why so many people like this.

Edit: Pear on the nose, too. How did I miss it?

Glenfiddich 30yo

Glenfiddich
Aged 30 years
Single Speyside malt Scotch whisky
43% alc/vol
$260

I bought this bottle to celebrate a particularly nice bonus I received at work a year or so ago. I was particularly taken with the idea of tasting a whisky that was older than I was -- and, truth be told, I still am. (Only a few months to go before I catch up to it, though.)

It's dark. Tawny. It smells wonderful; it's got that distinctive Glenfiddich pear scent, though there's some banana and sherry in there as well. It goes down very smoothly, with a vanilla finish that leaves me wanting more.

To be perfectly honest, $260 is rather a lot of money for this bottle. It's delicious, but comparable to the 12, 15, and 18 year old whiskies. That said, I'm not sorry I bought it, and I'll thoroughly enjoy the rest of the bottle -- especially since it's still spent more years maturing in the cask than I've spent maturing on this earth. :)

A Smorgasbord of Sumptuous Spirits - WhiskyFest Chicago 2008!

So, Friday night rolled around, and I found myself in the possession of a ticket to WhiskyFest Chicago! A VIP ticket no less; this means I got to enter an hour earlier than mundane ticket holders.

It was a blast. Showed up at 5:30 (an hour before the *sniff* non-VIP riff-raff) at the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Registered, picked up a canvas tote bag full of swag (pictured), entered the main area, and started tasting! Rough, quick, dirty notes below.

Attended one of the seminars they held – “The Incredible Influence of Wood at Glenfiddich,” with Ian Miller, the Global Brand Ambassador (how do you sign up for that job?) at Glenfiddich. We tasted samples of cask strength first-fill American oak aged malt (light and peary), as well as cask strength first-fill European oak aged malt (dark, syrupy, and sherried), both 12 years old. Then we compared them to a mixture of the two, and to the bottled 12 year old Glenfiddich malt. Then we did the whole thing all over again with 18 year old samples. It was really interesting to see how the different component malts tasted, and how the bottled malt compared to them.

Amusingly, with the 18 year old samples, I thought the American oak aged malt tasted very much of sherry, like the European oak sample of the 12 year old. That didn’t make any sense to me until the woman sitting in front of me asked why the mixed sample looked lighter than both of the component samples. As it turns out, the mixture had gotten switched with the American oak sample – a pouring mix-up. Funny, and also nice to know that I can taste the difference. :)

Anyway, I strongly recommend that you check out WhiskyFest if you get the chance. I had a great time, learned a lot, and got to try a lot of new whiskeys. Well done!

Tasting notes:

Bushmills 1608 – sweet, caramel. Very good. I see that Binny’s carries this now, which is excellent.

Bushmills Malt 21 – fresh, like the Malt 10, but a little sweeter and less harsh. Quite nice.

Oban Distiller’s Edition – bananas. Sweet, malty. Excellent.

Johnnie Walker Swing – sweet, smoky, and tasty.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label – smoother nose than the Swing, but smokier and spicier. Very good, but not $200/bottle good. I’d recommend the Swing over this, for the price.

Antiquary 12yo – a blend, and my first real encounter with peat smoke! It’s faint, but recognizable. Creamy. I like it.

Tomatin 18yo – mint and malt. Smooth, citrusy, and very much a Highland Scotch. Good!

Greenore 8yo – this is a single grain Irish whiskey. It’s been hard to get in the US, but Binny’s has it now! White chocolate and coconut. Very, very good.

Four Roses Small Batch – bourbon. It tasted bourbonny. I’d need to drink more bourbon before I could taste this stuff properly. Good, though.

Four Roses Single Barrel – ditto.

Balvenie 21yo Port Wood – fruit; pears and melon all the way. Delicious!!

Balvenie 17yo Sherry Oak – not much to say except fruity, in that sherry kind of way. Very good, but can’t compete with the 21yo.

Scott’s Selection Auchentoshan 1983 – this is interesting, as my only other Auchentoshan experience is with the 10yo, which is very peanutty. This dram is cask strength, and it was flowery and perfumy, with a strong flavor of broccoli on the finish. I’ve never had anything like it. Not sure if I really liked it, though. :)

Scott’s Selection Glenlivet 1977 – also cask strength. Roses, spice, and vanilla. Good, but by this time my nose and tongue were getting tired, so it seemed unremarkable to me. If I tried it again now, I’d probably enjoy it a lot more.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask – my first Laphroaig, and my first true peated Islay, if you don’t count the Bunnahabhain 12. Heavy peat smoke was about all I got out of it, but I thought it was really quite tasty. Makes me look forward to the bottle of Ardbeg 10 I’ve got sitting at home.

Famous Grouse Malt Whisky 18yo – a vatted malt. This was one of the last I tasted, so I couldn’t get the full taste of it. It struck me as being decent, but nothing to write home about, and not nearly as tasty and the excellent standard Grouse blend.

Laphroaig 10yo – about the same as the Quarter Cask. I should try it again sometime when my nose and tongue are fresh.

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey
Aged 2 years
Rocky Mountain straight whiskey
47% alc/vol
$60

Stranahan's is one of a very few single malt American whiskeys. Unlike bourbon, Stranahan's is made solely from malted barley, just like Scotch is. Only this stuff is 100% American -- the barley and water come straight from the Rockies. It's only aged for two years, which makes me wonder how it can be so dark. This stuff almost looks like a Macallan or an Aberlour. Caramel coloring, maybe?

The first thing I notice is solvent on the nose. Like nail polish remover. It's hard to dig past it to get to the malt. It tastes sweet and a bit sharp, and finishes with...with what? More sweetness, maybe a little vanilla...

Adding water helps. Now I can elbow my way past the nail polish remover to get to the banana and vanilla that were ducking down behind it. Still sweet, all the way through.

It's not my favorite, but it is nice. Eccentric, too: the label tells you in handwriting not only when it was distilled and what batch it's from (#7!), but also who did the distilling (all I can make out are the guy's initials, J. N.) and what he was listening to at the time (Bob Wills). And if that weren't enough, the cork-sealed bottle is actually capped with a tall metal shotglass. I'm not sure who's hauling around an entire bottle of whiskey without proper glassware, but if you should find yourself in such a position, you'll be good to go if that bottle is Stranahan's!

St. Patrick's Day Special: Bushmills

Today, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I've got notes on a couple of Bushmills offerings. Binny's had all things Bushmills on sale last week, so I figured, why not? Now's the time! :)

Bushmills Malt 10 notes are here.


Bushmills Original
Blended Irish whiskey
40% alc/vol
$16

Smells of white chocolate and toffee, thick and insistent. Sweet and creamy on the palate, with a dry, bittersweet finish. This feels like Bushmills Malt 10, except sweeter and softer. I think that's a good thing. And at this price, it's tough to beat!




Bushmills Black Bush
Blended Irish whiskey
40% alc/vol
$30

The Black Bush is fully aged in Oloroso Sherry casks, and, as you well know, I'm a total sherry freak when it comes to whiskey. You can see the sherry in this dram right off the bat, in its characteristic deep russet color. It's very evident in the nose, as well, sweet and spiritous. Like its non-sherried cousin, it's nice and creamy, but the Black Bush has a bit of cinnamon in its long, dry finish. Like the Original above, I think it's a fairly uncomplicated whiskey -- or is it just my mood? -- but I like it very much, indeed, to the great surprise of no one at all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! And on that note, Guinness is lobbying to make this a national holiday in the U.S. Why not sign the petition to make it happen? The country -- and, indeed, the world -- could use a few more simple, easy-going holidays like this one could be.