‘Waiting in Alta for a tiny charter flight to take me even further into Norway’s Arctic Circle, a chap sidles up to me and asks in a that hypnotic Scandinavian tone “Are you from York, in England? You look like a Viking.” I’m pretty sure he was just trying his luck, but his psychic chat-up line was bang on about my (then) home city. York, or ‘Jorvik’, still proudly celebrates its Viking history and even though I knowingly have not one drop of warrior blood flowing through my veins, this city is positively soaked in it. The city also now has whisky flowing through it courtesy of The Whisky Lounge (we try Zoe! Ed). Therefore, owing to both my TWL connections and my half-true Viking credentials, as sussed out by a bona fide Scandinavian, I seem to be the perfect choice to review a whisky with more Viking heritage than you can shake a drinking horn at: Highland Park’s Loki.

Highland Park is known the world over for producing a malt with the appeal of Munch’s ‘The Scream’: Punchy and powerful enough to forever appeal to a critic, colourful and playful enough to catch the attention of a beginner. The distillery’s two decades of whisky-making have resulted in traditional values and award winning expressions, and their impeccable wood management and preferred sherry cask maturation means their house style is deliciously well-balanced: An all-rounder. And one that I too was weaned on all those many whisky moons ago.

The distillery hails from the northern Scottish island of Orkney; a Norse settlement where Viking myth and legend is interweaved with island history. For their ‘Vahalla Collection’, inspiration has been drawn from Orkney’s Viking roots and four limited edition whiskies will be created to represent a different Nordic God. Last year saw the first release in this series, Thor (read Joe’s review here), and now Loki is here to cause a bit of a stir.

Loki has been personified as a 15 year old limited edition single malt, bottled at 48.7% abv, and matured in both traditional sherry casks and also some heavily-peated ones (perhaps from sister distillery, Laphroaig?.. Ed). The legend tells us that Loki is Thor’s adopted brother, God of Fire, and a notorious rascal: Mischief is left in his wake and his shape-shifting tendencies cause all kinds of delicious problems, especially for the taste buds, in the case of this new whisky…

Nose

Delicate, but with a curious suggestion of hidden depth: Vanilla hemp seeds, light smoke, dried apple chips.

 Taste

 Loki’s shape-shifting tendencies come to the fore: Smoke and spice. Citrus (orange peel, grapefruit). Waxy mouth feel. Then drying, with a slightly salty lick. Bitter lemon… Add water for liquorice rolling papers, aniseed and a hint of cinnamon bark.

 Finish

 Aromatic, sweet smoke tailing off to leave lemon peel and an end-note of vanilla rice pudding.

 Conclusion

Loki’s personality flits from one place to another with seeming chaos, yet technical wizardry. Each flavour is perfectly stand-alone good, but all together in the same glass means you’ve a complex malt to tease and play with your palate. With the sherry cask influence, Highland Park’s house-style is definitely evident, but the intriguing flavour shifts mean Loki is exciting enough to be a break from the distillery ‘norm’: Perfect for a limited edition.

In Viking legend, Valhalla awaits the brave warriors who die in battle. Loki however, was never destined for Valhalla. In the end, Loki’s life of crime ensured him an afterlife with a serpent dripping poison upon his face. He was however, the one responsible for challenging the order of the other Viking Gods and bringing about change, so in my book, a life well spent: Everyone needs to shake things up every now and again, and with this second release in ‘The Valhalla Collection’ Highland Park has managed to do just that. This is one hell of an interesting dram.

This is Zoe Toolan, Whisky Missionary, over and out!’

Highland Park ‘Loki’ is due to be released imminently and will be available from all good whisky stockists at around £130 RRP.

You can read more about Highland Park’s ‘Valhalla Collection’ at www.whiskyofthegods.com

You can follow Zoe and her crazy art/whisky mission in London on Twitter account @TWLZoe

The post Highland Park – Loki – Valhalla Collection No.2 appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

Some whisky drinkers we meet really struggle with the idea of countries other than Scotland and Ireland making whisky. It’s almost as if these new emerging distilleries have stolen the idea. This attitude drives me mad! I mean look at football, arguably invented in Britain, but now (needless to say) has been adopted by almost every country around world and played everywhere. “A Brazilian playing football!?! No no no, surely not?…”

Now I’m not saying that all world whisky is amazing, because it’s not, however there are some stunners out there and every now and again they slip into the spotlight. One such distilllery is Balcones from Waco in Texas, a tiny outfit who make small-batch corn whiskies and last year even released their first single malt. After a few appearances at whisky shows in 2012 and after cleaning up at numerous awards in the U.S and in the U.K, the word about this whisky is starting to spread.

Now Corn Whisky certainly isn’t the norm over here. If you live in the UK and have been drinking Corn Whisky for years, it’s fairly safe to say that you are definitely in the minority! In fact, unless you spend a lot of time hanging around specialist shops and bars, you’re unlikely to see it at all, and if you do it’s normally a far cry from what Balcones are making. Generally these Corn whiskies are simple, un-aged spirits, which for those of us who are used to drinking malt whisky, are unlikely to get the senses jumping – although they may cause something else to jump. But this is set to change…

Before we go delving into the four whiskies in this review it’s probably worth taking a moment to look at Corn Whisky and how it differs from Bourbon.

1. Corn Whisky must be made with a minimum of 80% Corn in the mash-bill (Bourbon, corn = 51% minimum)
2. Corn whisky needs no minimum age to be called whisky, this means it can be sold straight off the still! AKA New Make, White Dog, Moonshine.
3. Corn whisky can be aged in casks, but they must be second-hand, charred or un-charred (Unlike Bourbon, which must be aged in brand-new, charred casks)
4. Corn whisky can be made using either a column still or a pot still (same for Bourbon)
5. A ‘STRAIGHT’ Corn Whisky must be aged at least two years (in second-hand, un-charred or otherwise casks)

That’s basically it in a nut shell, but why is it that we don’t see much around? Well…..

Corn Whiskey was the earliest American spirit and in its hey-day was the spirit of choice in the southern states during prohibition. Corn was plentiful and the spirit could be produced cheaply and quickly by illicit distillers (AKA Moon-shiners). After prohibition Bourbon became the king of American whiskey and pushed the bulk of Corn and Rye whiskies off the main stage and into the background. Until recent years many people had regarded Corn Whisky as a forgotten spirit. But thanks to a revival mainly driven by the Craft Distilling movement, Corn Whisky is beginning to once again fill the glasses of the whiskey-curious.

Okay, so before we forget, the distillery at the focus of this review is Balcones. Here’s a handful of distillery facts

• The distillery was built and founded in 2008 and takes it’s name from Balcones fault line which runs through the state.
• Balcones is the first Texan whisky to be made (legally) since prohibition
• Balcones are the first distillery in Texas to make a single malt whisky
• Balcones are the only distillery (that we’re aware of) that is operated by the same people who built it. The whole operation has been built from the ground up with even the stills being hammered out and fashioned by the distillery team.
• The main spirit running off Balcones stills is made from corn, but not the normal everyday corn. They use a Blue Corn which is indigenous to the north of Mexico. This Blue corn is ground and roasted and transformed into a kind of flour called Atole. This unusual type of corn is the source of a noticeable nutty character in the whisky and creates a fuller flavour than your average corn. But this flavour-full grain doesn’t come cheap and costs roughly ten times the price of the typical corn used in mainstream distilling.
• For maturation, a combination of different casks are used varying in size from the 200-litre ­­­­ASB (American Standard Barrel) to custom-made 20-litre casks. The majority of these are all American White Oak but a small percentage of French oak is used in the make-up of the custom casks. These smaller casks are worth mentioning again, these are coopered in secret and are made using oak which has dried naturally for 12 years.
• Balcones don’t chill-filter any of their whiskies

So that’s quite enough facts and info, here’s the whiskies currently available in the UK. Starting with the award winning single malt.

The Single Malt, 53%

Balcones have imported Golden Promise barley from Scotland and aged the whisky in American oak for three years.

The nose is incredible, like spicy sweet baked toffee apples with vanilla ice cream and a little citrus. It’s like approaching the cake counter in a patisserie.

The palate is really feisty and full, It has a big mouth feel which wraps your tongue in plenty of oak and sweet spice and juicy fruit.

The finish stands strong with vanilla and a toasted marshmallow.

At only three years old this malt is incredible, definitely up there, can see why it has been cleaning up in blind tastings. Ain’t cheap but delivers a really fantastic flavour and experience.

Baby Blue, 46%

Corn Whisky (The starting point in the Balcones range)

The nose is like buttery buttery popcorn and Battenberg cake

The palate is soft and silky with caramel and vanilla, Baklava springs to mind

The finish is lengthy with a distinct nutty character.

Overall, a good place to start if you’re looking to try a Corn Whisky and a strong start to the range.

True Blue, 50%

Corn Whisky (super-charged Baby Blue)

The nose is BIG really woody and oaky with caramel and vanilla in spades. If Nestle start selling mars bars in oak boxes they would probably smell something like this

Palate, a heavy oily mouth-feel it’s really big and woody with ginger cake and plenty of oaky spice, the distinct Balcones nuttiness emerges as you hold it on your tongue and begins to push the big oaky character aside

Finish, Flapjack and really nutty, like a snickers bar made with burnt nuts, this intensity then trails off to a gentle caramels and vanilla

This stuff is MASSIVE, it’s a big whisky with bags of character, awesome.

Brimstone, 53%

Brimstone is an unusual creature and is quite unlike any other whisky. Most smoky whiskies from around the world achieve their smoky character through drying their grain over a peat fuelled fire. With Brimstone however the smoke flavour is introduced at another stage in the production. Where and how this smoky character is applied isn’t known by anyone except for Chip and his business partner and giving the runaway success of this stuff they’re unlikely to share this information. The smoke itself we do know about though, it comes from scrub oak. This is young oak that grows out on the planes and is considered by ranchers to be a weed. Essentially anything growing on land used for grazing cattle (other than grass that is) is using up valuable water and needs to be removed, so this young pesky oak is collected and put to good use in the making of Brimstone.

The Nose, first thing you notice before anything else is a big bold smokiness, but it’s not smoke as you know it, from say an Ardbeg or Laphroaig. It’s quite seriously like smoky bacon, it’s hard to get past it, it really isn’t like any other whisky I’ve ever come across. Behind the smoke some of the characteristics of its siblings begin to emerge, the toffee, the vanilla, the oak, but the big player here is undoubtedly the smoke.

The palate is rich and oily, with a sappy resiny character as it coats your tongue some fruit emerges for a moment followed by the smoke which begins to creep around your senses.

The finish, Smoke, bacon, smoke, bacon, smoke, bacon, smoke, bacon, smoke, bacon, fruit cake, toffee and then smoke, bacon, smoke, bacon, this could go on for a long time! I mean a really long time.

Overall, this is the seriously the strangest stuff I’ve ever tasted and that’s not just applying to whisky. It’s bizarre but one things for sure you want more! If you like smoke in any form you need this whisky!

It’s easy to see from trying this lot why this distillery is creating such a buzz at the moment. It’s a really strong range and to be honest is stronger than some distilleries who have been working for decades. The trick is approaching it in a different way you might a Scottish single malt. I think the combination of what is essentially an alien spirit to most palates, the small casks and the Texan heat, make for such a full-on experience it could be too much for some, without some preparation. But this is unique, there’s no doubt about it.

Heard the phrase it’s bigger in Texas? well they’re not wrong. Most malts wouldn’t go more than a couple of rounds with this heavyweight. If you like big flavour and big, weighty whiskey, there’s no doubt you will get on with Balcones like a house on fire…

Cheers,

Joe

PS If you want to find out more about Balcones, they have just updated their website which is well worth checking out – www.balconesdistilling.com

The post Balcones Review – Corn is the word… appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

Well no sooner do we put the word out that we’re heading to Islay in June for a ‘backstage’ trip to the whisky isle, then it sells out!

Call us opportunists, call us whatever, but we thought it made sense to add a further set of dates, so are now running another trip back-to-back with the first. The second ‘sitting’ will be from the 19th to the 22nd June and will include all the things you might have missed with the first trip.

To take a look at what is on the cards for the lucky few, click here…

The post Islay Trip, June 2013 – New Dates… appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I had started a write-up of our whirlwind and action-filled (!) trip to Islay in November, but then I realised that it sounded a bit monotonous and not that exciting. So, I thought, what is the best way for you to get across the magic of Islay to anyone who hasn’t been there?

The medium of sound and vision of course! Some of you are aware of my fondness for music, and particularly blues, and I think that nothing is more evocative and atmosphere-creating (or more enjoyable) than the conjoining of good music, rich images and great whisky.

Of course, the music here is as personal to me as the images or the whisky. I have been going to see and have developed a friendship with ‘Catfish’ over the course of 15+ years. He is an incredible guitar-player, an entertainer par excellence and even more importantly, a gentleman and a soulful individual with a good heart.

The two pieces he plays here are historic and certainly have a mystical quality for me. ‘Dark Was The Night,…’ was written by the classically named Blind Wille Johnson and recorded by him in 1927. Many people will recognise it as the music that Ry Cooder based his soundtrack of the Wim Wenders film, ‘Paris, Texas’ on. Such has been the influence and ongoing fascination of this piece, that in 1977 it was selected to musically represent human loneliness and sent into space via the Voyager probe, along with 26 other pieces of music, greetings in 55 languages and sounds of nature on Earth. Whichever beings pick it up first are in for a treat!

Here, the tune, in my opinion anyway, really encapsulates and helps describe the sweeping landscapes and places of beauty and significance on the Island. It can be a lonely place, if you want it to be. Perhaps serene and calm would be a better way of putting it as I have never felt lonely on Islay, but I have enjoyed the quiet and tranquility of the place.

The toe-tapping ‘Bye and Bye…’ that follows is the perfect antidote for me, and goes on to help characterise the dynamics and energy created by the islanders themselves and, of course, the distilleries.

Like other areas of Scotland where there are multiple distilleries in a small area, Islay is whisky. Without whisky there would be no Islay and without Islay, there would be no whisky. Okay, both would exist without the other, but they would certainly not be so intriguing or beguiling. Think of other great partnerships through the years such as Lennon and McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel or…Cannon and Ball…

Anyway, enjoy y’all and please feel free to comment on your favourite moments or your own experiences on Islay.

Please help support good, real music by visiting Catfish’s website here. If you’re thinking of buying a CD or downloading from iTunes or elsewhere, my favourite albums are ‘Cherry Ball’, ‘Sweet Pea’ and, the album these tracks were taken from, ‘Live at The Half Moon’. He tours the UK every year from September to November usually, so go support and say ‘hi’!

Slainte,

Eddie

PS. As the video mentions, we are planning a return trip to Islay, probably in early May or June. If you are interested in coming along for the ride, then drop us an email at info@thewhiskylounge.com

The post TWL Islay Trip November 2012 appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

I’m @crosskeysleeds @twlzoe is in the big smoke @twleddie in Brighton follow all the peaty goings on using #IslayBlindFury @thewhiskylounge

— Joe Clark (@TWLJoe) November 28, 2012

The tasting itself featured 6 whiskies from the amazing island of Islay and was done completely blind, with each whisky being revealed right at the end of the tasting after dram number 6. If you’ve never tasted whisky blind you should give it a go – when you remove all the age statements, the branding and clever marketing you really level the playing field and allow the whisky to do the talking, not your preconceptions or the marketeers. You’ll nearly always be surprised at the results and it’s a great way to discover or rediscover whiskies that you might otherwise overlook. Having just got back from a backstage trip to Islay the day before the first tasting in Liverpool we were heavily loaded with bags of peaty info (and peat) and with the memory of the fantastic trip we had fresh in our minds we were more than prepared and ready to share the peaty preachings across the land. Here was the line up with some choice comments tweeted out about each, Berry Brother’s Bowmore 1994, 46%

#IslayBlindFury Whisky no.1 Fresh first aid box, Tcp, lemon peel, grass, dried chili @twlzoe @kristy_kristy twitter.com/TheWhiskyLoung… — The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 27, 2012

  Kilchoman 100% Islay, 2^nd release, 50%

#IslayBlindFury smokey bacon, licorice, butterscotch, detergent (not unpleasant!). Rupert’s bonfire of the peatily. twitter.com/TheWhiskyLoung… — The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 17, 2012

  Laphroaig 18yo, 48%

#IslayBlindFury Whisky no.3 licorice, intense, smoked hazelnuts, cranberry sauce, salty bread & butter pud. Nice. @twljoe @twlzoe — The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 27, 2012

SMWS, 53.171, Strangely fascinating, 21yo, 52.7% (from a distillery starting with ‘C’, second word ending with ‘a’)

“@markgriffiths42: No. 4 = Jaffa Cakes eaten out of Tupperware at a maritime museum #IslayBlindFury” Love it!!

— The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 17, 2012

Laphroaig 10yo, Cask Strength, batch 4, 58.3%

#IslayBlindFury Whisky no.5 butterscotch, toffee, Werther’s Original, open fire in a slate-floored living room. twitter.com/TheWhiskyLoung…

— The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 27, 2012

#IslayBlindFury Whisky no.5 @twljoe ‘With great strength comes great responsibility ‘… twitter.com/TheWhiskyLoung… — The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 17, 2012

Ardbeg Uigeadail, 54.2%

#IslayBlindFury Whisky no.6 tobacco, vanilla, Xmas pudding, crunchie nut cornflakes, rosemary, dried fruits. Great tasters here tonight!

— The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 17, 2012

@twlamanda @twljoe @twlzoe #IslayBlindFury Lovely, dried fruit, dark chocolate, toffee, bovril, reminds of Xmas cake and fruit.

— The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) November 28, 2012

As you can see this was a big line up which yielded some very surprising results. Before the big reveal of the whiskies we asked each venue for a show of hands for whisky of the night, here’s what came out on top.

1^st place Laphroaig Cask Strength, Batch 4 £41.35 laphroaig.com

2^nd place SMWS 53.71 around £70 (now unavailable) The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

3^rd place Ardbeg Uigedail £49.75 The Whisky Exchange

4^th place Laphroaig 18yo currently £63.95 (£8.54 off!) The Whisky Exchange

5^th place Kilchoman 100% Islay £58.95 The Wright Wine Company

6^th place Berry Bros Bowmore 1994 £58.95 The Whisky Shop Dufftown

This to me shows the advantage of blind tasting. In a line-up of drams where the price and age varied massively, not only did the cheapest whisky come out on top, but it was also one of the youngest. The CS Laphroaig very nearly didn’t make it onto the line up too – we picked up this batch 4 at the distillery only the day before the first tasting. We nipped in quickly after a warehouse tasting at Lagavulin, bearing in mind the warehouse tasting involved 5 cask strength drams, here’s how our conversation at Laphroaig transpired…

Joe – Can I try the cask strength Laphroaig please? WOW! Eddie you need to try this.

Eddie – Jesus, that’s incredible!

Joe – You’re not wrong, this is far better than I remember. Awesome, just awesome.

Eddie – This is on top form, do you think we should bash it on the line-up for blind fury?

Joe – Can we use two Laphroaigs? Actually you did use a Jura prophecy two years ago

Eddie – Got to have a red herring in their somewhere

Joe – Enough talk, get it! Buy it, quick, before we change our minds. Get it on that line up – do it!

Unfortunately this batch 4 Laphroaig is only available in the U.S or at the distillery, however if you’re a friend of Laphroaig you should be able to pick it up on-line from the distillery site.

Each whisky was received well but that cask strength Laphroaig was the clear winner across the series.

The second and third places were tight with the SMWS Caol Ila, Uigeadail and Laphroaig 18 neck and neck with only a couple of votes between them at each venue.

All in all the tasting was a storm and I’ve no doubt that Islay Blind Fury will return next November for it’s 4^th year.

Cheers,

Joe

The post Islay Blind Fury – The Return, 2012 appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

Bain’s – Single grain, 43%. South Africa

Sullivans Cove – Double Cask, 40%. Tasmania

Kavalan – Port Cask, Concertmaster, 40%. Taiwan

Mackmyra – Moment, Skog, 54.4%. Sweden

Hakshu – Bourbon Cask, 48.2%. Japan

Amrut – Fusion, 50%. India

This is by far one of the most interesting line ups of whisky I’ve ever had the fortune of tasting and taking around to you all. In the history of all The Whisky Lounge tastings (which is a lot of tastings, around 100 a year!) this was the first to not have a single Scotch or Irish whisk(e)y involved and the first (as far as I know) without an age statement in sight!

Each and every whisky featured was outstanding and if you come across any of these they’re all well worth trying. After each tasting we asked for a show of hands for whisky of the night, here’s the results….

1^st place… Mackmyra taking large majorities in Sheffield, York and Leeds

2^nd place… Amrut taking large majorities in Newcastle and London

The Hakshu was very popular in all cities but cleaned up in Manchester

The Kavalan and Sullivans Cove were very well received and very much enjoyed but seemed no match for the stronger and cask strength offerings.

In terms of value for money, worth mentioning the Bain’s was the winner throughout the series.

What surprised me the most throughout this run of tastings is just how many people had never tried a World Whisky! I suppose when we have such an abundance of amazing tried and tested Scottish single malt available then this makes sense. However I think the audiences biggest surprise was just how good World Whisky can be and that they’re well worth exploring and tasting.

If it weren’t for this run of tastings we were all (including me) fairly unlikely to try any of these whiskies, by providing a stage for these drams to shine means everyone can get a chance to try these illusive drams.

The main lesson displayed in this line up, I think…..

It’s not about where and it’s not about age. It’s about skill and passion, it’s about quality of spirit and the quality of wood that’s what makes great whisky.

Of the 250 people reached throughout this series, after tasting this line up everyone was in agreement. Hope you are too.

Cheers, Joe

The post Worldwide Whisky Review – How it all shaped up. appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

This review is looking at one such distiller, a couple of gents that on a fishing trip essentially decided between them to start a distillery. The Dry Fly distillery began its journey three years ago with a view to making a superior quality spirit and was the first distillery to open in Washington in over a 100 years. It’s not unusual for new starting distilleries to make their bread and butter with unaged spirits such as Gin. This essentially means once you have everything in place you can fire up production and start to make a living. Whisky of course takes a little more time and although we often exude the virtue of young whisky there’s a lot to be said for just a few years in oak. Dry Fly currently make Vodka, Gin, Bourbon and a Wheat Whiskey. As the years tick by I’m sure we’ll see an interesting portfolio of whiskies emerge from these guys and on the basis of what we’ve been trying here I’ve no doubt  there’s going to be some awesome stuff in the pipe line.

Before we get stuck into the whiskey it’s worth just taking a look at one of the main differences between these styles of whiskey and our usual and much loved staple of scotch. Some of the main elements of character in whiskies of this style are set early on, not by malting or the still shape or design, yes these play there part here just as they do with our malts but the big difference is the mash bill. Bourbon for example will use a backbone of Corn balanced out with Rye and other grains. Different distillers will play with the percentages to create the style that they’re looking for. This simply isn’t a factor with single malt as there is the only one grain, malted barley. Corn creates a light spirit and flavour whereas Rye will give you a richer and bolder spirit. In the case of this first whiskey reviewed here the only grain used is Wheat. This is unique and certainly isn’t the norm, as far as I know there’s only one other wheat whiskey on the market. So testament to the smaller outfits breaking the mould and producing something different, even the bottle isn’t sitting in what would be regarded as a traditional design for a whiskey.

Washington Wheat, 40%, 2yo (so far)

Nose,

Toasted sweet pastry, buttery hot cross buns, bounty bars and vanilla ice cream.

Palate,

Incredibly light and soft and doesn’t behave like any whisky I’ve ever tried before. It’s really quite bizarre but a welcome change. Reminds me of weetos cereal and the thin layer of rice paper I used to find on the back of coconut macaroons.

Finish,

Creamy, sweet with oak spice and plenty of vanilla

Overall,

A really interesting dram, and you can really taste the grain, maybe having grown up with so many wheat based cereals is the reason why I find this whiskey quite distinctive. Really unique and will reward the whisk(e)y adventures who aren’t afraid to take a plunge into a brave new style.

Continuing the thread of new and unusual is this new and slightly experimental whiskey. This is as far as I’m aware a first. Here we have a hybrid whiskey made from 50% rye and 50% wheat. Now Rye whiskies are seeing a revival at the minute and with good reason, they have a bit more guts than your average American whiskey and before Bourbon took the helm as Americas spirit Rye was there as the whiskey of choice. By combining this hardy grain with wheat and slamming it in some good wood the result has to be interesting and hopefully tasty because it’s all well and good being unusual and experimental but what’s it all worth if your whiskey isn’t great to drink.

Triticale, 50%, 2yo

Nose,

A far bigger and far richer nose than the Wheat whisky. Offering up ginger bread, cinnamon and dried fruit, you have all the subtlety of the wheat with the harder rye character fighting back.

Palate,

Plenty of oak and spice, ginger nut biscuits, apple strudel and a distinctive flavour that I only get with well, Rye. Not quite as refined as the wheat whiskey, the rye is dominating the overall character with the subtle wheat charm losing out. The extra strength gives the mouth feel some real oomph.

Finish,

The gingerbread comes back into the picture and a big hit of oak, spice and vanilla.

Overall,

An interesting dram and would appeal to the whisk(e)y drinkers in pursuit of stronger flavour. Those of you who read these posts will know I’m very much of a peaty persuasion and although there’s been no peat anywhere near this whiskey I really like it. Maybe it’s not quite as refined as the wheat whiskey before, but it’s got more guts and that ticks the boxes for me, whiskey you know you’re drinking.

So with only good words to say for both these drams what could possibly be the bad news??? Well unfortunately these whiskies are currently unavailable in the UK and unless you’re heading state side you’re going to struggle to find them. To make matters worse the Triticale hasn’t even made it to bottling yet and isn’t even available over there! So what’s the point talking about whiskey that no one here can get? Well this is the only the beginning of what will soon be an avalanche of craft distilling and in the next 5 years these kind of whiskies I believe will be more widely available. Anyone who made it along to one of our World Whisky tastings throughout September will have witnessed how new distillers all over the world are producing some really great whiskies. It’s very easy to pick up the same old whisk(e)y you know and no one would blame you for putting your money into trusty Scottish single malt. But don’t forget whisk(e)y is the most diverse spirit in the world, so why not have a change of pace and try something new. In my opinion it’s not about where and it’s not about age, it’s about quality of spirit and quality of wood. Dry Fly have got them both.

Cheers,

Joe

The post Joe’s Whisky Review #10 – Dry Fly appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

AnCnoc 1998, 46%

From the Knochdu distillery founded way back in 1893 in Speyside and part of the Inverhouse group who also bring you Balblair, Old Pulteney and Speyburn. Producing a more contempary malt than some, Ancnoc is almost certainly aiming at a younger audience. I can remember recommending it to many whisky drinkers of an older generation, gents who had been drinking Dalwhinnie and Cragganmore for years. They’d take one look at it, then look at me and quickly retreat to the old-style looking whisky they were used to. Of course truth is they would most likely get on with it and 90% of the time if I had some open and they tasted it they were sold. Goes to show though how something so simple can affect people’s opinions.

I always think it’s funny how companies pitch there whiskies – how some focus on tradition, some on innovation, others on other styles of spirits. I think AnCnoc get a good mix of the three. Packaging is almost irrelevant to me. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to buy whisky in a cardboard milk-style carton or a plastic bottle. If all of a sudden they started bottling the iconic Pulteney in a dumpy square bottle, I wouldn’t necessarily approve. But for me, and a lot of other enthusiasts, it is all about the whisky and not the lacquered box or the velvet bag which can bump up the price and take up valuable whisky shelf space.

AnCnoc’s whikskies for me are a great example of a nice easy-going malt, perfect for the whisky-phobe, but with still more than enough flavour, spice and guts to keep the enthusiast satisfied. The range represents good value for money and should be fairly easy to find in your nearest specilaist whisky/spirit shop, or of course on-line.

This release is a small batch vintage bottling which AnCnoc release each year. This one uses a combination of ex–Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks and it is also un-chillfiltered with natural colour. This release was bottled in February 2012 and maybe a little trickier to find than its 12 and 16yo brothers.

Nose,

Light, candied and clean.

Palate,

Softer than most AnCnoc’s I’ve tried and offering more complexity and depth than say the 12 or 16. A really lovely, soft, delicate fruitiness with an almost creamy and slightly honied flavour.

Finish,

Really good length and full of sweet spice.

Overall a great whisky, clean and really well balanced, neither the Sherry or the Bourbon showing dominance and easily slips down, offering up some really tasty malty flavour and very good to drink. A Winner.

The post Joe’s Whisky Review #9 – AnCnoc 1998 appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.

As far as I’m aware this tasting was the first all American line-up we’ve seen in York for 5 or more years. It was met with open arms by the Bourbon enthusiasts that had long been asking for a tasting focusing on their favourite style of whiskey. When Kev (manager of the Brigantes) said he was laying on an all American weekend, the opportunity/excuse was there to lay on an all American tasting.

A huge step away from the normal Scottish malt whiskies we play with, the line up consisted of:

Buffalo Trace White Dog, 62.5%

Buffalo Trace, 40%

Jim Beam Rye, 40%

Rittenhouse Rye, 50% Single Barrel (Whisky Exchange exclusive)

Knob Creek 9yo, 50%

Eagle Rare 10yo, Single Barrel, 45%

Each dram was well-received in its own way, even the new-make spirit from Buffalo Trace. The Knob Creek proved to be the most controversial dram and whiskey of the night went to Jim Beam Rye. It’s always interesting to see a show of hands at the end of a tasting as it can often reveal some unlikely results. If anyone had asked me prior to this tasting which whiskey I thought would have come out on top, it would have definitely been the Eagle Rare. But there we go – it just goes to show you never can tell.

I’ve always enjoyed a glass of Bourbon or Rye and I’ve always approached it with the view that it’s something to get stuck into and not be to precious about (with the exception to things like George T Stagg and what not). You can often pick up a decent bottle of Bourbon around the £20 mark which will offer a ton of flavour and can be planted on the table at a party without the concern of it being overly abused like, say a bottle of 1982 Caol Ila or something. In fact I think you would be hard pushed to find an example of a Scottish malt at this price point that is as accessible and as drinkable.

Big bold American whiskey can be a real breath of fresh air especially if you’re into big heavily-peated or heavily-sherried styles. A bolshie 100 proof bottle of Rye will give you plenty of big flavour and although a different set of flavours, it is on a similar page when it comes to being a big hit of intense, rich tastiness.

With more and more small craft distillers cropping up all over the U.S, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more interesting and tasty offerings in the next few years. Not just Bourbon and Rye and not just whiskies confined to American white oak casks either.

If you’ve never explored this category before and you’ve been drinking Malt Whisky for years then give it a go. There’s a good chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Cheers,

Joe

Special thanks to the lovely Kay at Maxxium and James at Hi–Spirits.

More information on the whiskies on tasting can be found at their respective websites;

buffalotrace.com

jimbeam.com

heavenhill.com

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Any independent distillery are almost duty-bound to push interesting releases and really give their malts everything they’ve got to make sure that they can firstly compete with the bigger brands and secondly satisfy the malt whisky enthusiast and let’s not forget make a living along the way. Here we’ll be looking at three wood finishes and a single cask, cask strength expression.

No Age Statement, Sauternes Finish, 46%, Around £32

Nose

Sweet, Madiera cake covered in that chunky citrusy sugar, lemon toffee. A slight tropical fruit flavour reminiscent of Um Bongo.

Palate

Mr Kipling Lemon Slices, cream soda. Pink grapefruit with a generous dusting of sugar.

Finish

A clean crisp feel and almost refreshing.

Overall

I’m trying this on a warm sunny evening and it’s ticking all the boxes. Light, fresh and full of light sweet fruity goodness. A mid-summers nights dram.

No Age Statement, Galateo Banyuls Finish, 46%, Around £32

This is a first for me and if I’m right it’s also a first for the whisky industry. Galateo Banyuls is a fortified wine from the south of France and in this case has been made with hand harvested Grenache Noir. Certainly not the norm when you look across the wood finishes that can be found now.

The colour of this whisky is superb – it has an almost pinkish orangey hue to it. Really weird.

Nose

Sweet, creamy, raspberry tarts.

Palate

Zesty and lively with loads of full sweet berry flavours. Jammy and intense but light a creamy in texture.

Finish

Quite short and drying with hints of vanilla and oak.

Overall,

The big hit of flavour really comes in the middle of this whisky – the nose and finish I find are a little restrained but when this stuff hits your tongue you get a real blast of flavour. The unusual cask behaves a bit like a port finish if you’ve ever tried one it’s on that kind of thread.  Really moreish stuff and around £35 offers a very interesting and tasty dram indeed.

No Age Statement, Rum Finish, 46%, Around £32

Why? Why take perfectly good whisky and stick into a syrupy sticky rum cask it’s totally beyond me. For whatever reason, me and Rum just don’t get along and believe me I’ve tried to get on with the sweet vanillery b*stards but I’ve yet to try a rum I can genuinely say I like and that I would buy, some are okay but I nearly always find them massive overkill in their 2nd flavour profile of sweet and vanilla. On the whole however rum cask whiskies are growing in popularity and they provide a good stepping stone into whisky for some people, in fact I’ve even used them in the past to convince a few I don’t like whisky types into seeing the light (they don’t drink rum anymore).

Anyway Rum rant over………. for now.

Nose

Custard creams, vanilla and toffee the rum cask is really apparent here.

Palate

Soft and light a dark sugary thing oak and spice.

Finish

Sweet with some oak to chew on and plenty vanilla.

Overall

Really not my bag. To my mind the rum cask overpowers what is a good spirit and overshadows any complexities and subtleties that would otherwise be present.

I do however have every belief that many people will really like this and respond well to the strong rum-esque characteristics that shine through. It is a question, as always, of horses for courses and this just wasn’t mine.

John Black Single Cask 1993, Bottled 2011, Bourbon Cask, 55.1%, £Price TBC

More like it! Back to a good honest Bourbon cask…

This release is part of a run of single cask bottlings that are selected by Tullibardine’s master distiller John Black. This range seems to be where you’ll find the older expressions from this distillery and go well back into the 60’s.

Nose

Honey and lemon sauce over vanilla ice cream,

Palate

Clean and fresh with a tingly mouthfeel, hints at green apple and boiled sweets, malty

Finish

Crisp and refreshing with long lasting waves of vanilla and buttery toast.

Overall

This is by far the best Tullibardine I’ve tried on a technical level it delivers. I suspect if you dived into these single cask expressions you’ll find some real gems.

Some interesting and tasty offerings by Tullibardine but if I was going out to buy one of these it would have to be the Sauternes finish – really tasty and hitting the mark tonight.

Cheers,

Joe

The post Joe’s Whisky Review #8 – Tullibardine appeared first on The Whisky Lounge.