SmokyBeast: March 2014

March 31, 2014

Review: Michter's 20-year - A tête-à-tête of three impossible beasts!

Sometimes it's good to be a beast. Like tonight as we sit in front of three impossible glasses of bourbon...

3 Glasses, 3 Impossible Whiskies

On the left: Michter's Celebration. Coming in at over three thousand dollars a bottle, this redonkulous beast was snagged recently by Josh Feldman of Coopered Tot and ended up being donated to the beast. Last week's review left us less than amazed by this bottle, so we called in some reinforcements for a Michter's redemption...

Source? Rumored to be a mix of Michter's 20-Year Bourbon, 25-Year Rye, and some of the newer expressions, designed to mimic the historic Pennco Michter's Whiskey.

In the middle: Michter's 20-Year Bourbon Batch 13H-216. A very affordable :) five hundred dollar per bottle 20-year bourbon brought over by The Amazing Jasinski during one of the more outrageous whiskey nights in recent memory.

Source? Hotly contested. This is last year's batch of Michter's 20-Year (2013). Many think it's from the same stocks of Stitzel-Weller from which the original and now legendary Michter's 10-year bottles were sourced. Others argue it's old stock of Heaven Hill or Brown Foreman.

On the right: Michter's 10-Year Bourbon batch 7k-3. Remember that legendary original Michter's 10-Year we were just talking about? Yup, this is it. At the original retail price, these bottles went for around $70 (so you could have bought around forty of them for the current price of Celebration).

Source? Somewhat less contested, this one is widely agreed to be the first run of Michter's 10-year, sourced from an early 1990's run of Stitzel-Weller before the distillery closed.

Nose to Nose to Nose

Celebration: Again this smells like Old Forester bourbon with a touch of rye thrown in. It's good but a little sharp, some bitterness, and just not blowing out minds.

20-Year: Whoa now! Hold the phone. This is the bomb! Huge buttery brown sugar bourbon explosion. Like melted chocolate bars floating in vanilla extract topped with fresh whipped cream. Forgive our french, but this shit just makes you want to dive in and swim around in the glass for a few hours.

10-Year 7k: Interesting. Similar to the 20-Year, except a lot more subtle. Granted this one is 94.4 proof, versus the monster 114.2 barrel proof on the 20-year.

Victor: The Michter's 20-year totally dominates the nose, really not even close.

Body to Body to Body

Celebration: The same reaction as last week. It's like a decent brown-foreman whiskey crossed with a young barrel proof rye. Spice and heat and some alcohol kick.

20-Year: Again this is just everything we look for in a bourbon. We'd be pretty shocked if this wasn't Stitzel-Weller. It's just got that huge bourbon-ness that made Pappy famous. From the Old Fitzgerald that Pappy distilled back in his day, to the greatest of the pre-Buffalo Trace Van Winkles, this is what bourbon is all about.

10-Year 7k: Again it's very good, but the 20-Year has ruined us for all other whiskey forever. The old 10-year is really nice, it's round and rich and next to many other bourbons, it probably kills.

The Clear Victor

Michter's 20 is by a large margin the supreme victor in this battle. And aside from that it's among the best bourbons we've ever tried.

Bravo! /SB

March 17, 2014

Review: Redbreast 21 Year - Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the king of Irish beasts!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sadly this time of year both hubby and wifey are head down in our respective corporate caves cranking out work for the end of Q1 - the first quarter of the year for those lucky enough not to know what that means. So, unlike our younger days when we'd be several pints in by lunch, Paddy's day basically means we pass a few disoriented green-clad tourists on the subway during our ride home. Well surely that's one of the small costs of getting old. If we drank twenty beers now we'd probably end up in the hospital anyway.

To alleviate our sentimental angst for younger (& drunker) days, we are pouring ourselves a rare treat: some rare 21-Year pot still Irish whiskey. Evidently there are also some perks to growing old!

We've been making up for lost time in style the past few weeks with our reviews of Green Spot and Midleton Very Rare. Both were outstanding. Redbreast 21 is another new release from Midleton, hitting the shelves this month in select stores. It's coming in hot, with Whiskey Advocate's award for Irish Whiskey of the Year, and a price tag to match at $220-250 retail.

Redbreast 21 Year

Nose: The nose is considerably sweeter than both the Green Spot and Midleton. Instead of the fall fruits - ripe pears and apple cider - we got from those two, the Redbreast 21 has a powerful peach scent - like those gummy peach slices. It's not cloying, but distinctly sweet and slightly perfumy. The peaches fade slightly as it opens up and it goes into a little more of a bourbon bouquet with some creaminess, butter, and vanilla.

Palate: Wifey's first reaction is "Wow! It's really really delicious!" Hubby finds it quite impressive as well if a little bit on the sweet side. The palate goes back to some of the apple cider with some sweet cream and little bursts of the stone fruits - peaches and mangos, green grapes, and ending up on a little bit of white chocolate and wedding cake.

Finish: This one is 46%, so it's the strongest of the three Irish whiskeys we've reviewed. The strength definitely helps in the finish, making it the most memorable of the bunch. It fades slightly longer (still a relatively light finish compared to single malts) drifting out with raisins, wood, and a little spice (cinnamon stick? nutmeg?). The wonderful smoothness we've come to expect is there in spades.

Review

We have to give unbelievable points for value and flavor to Green Spot. It's a great place to start in the realm of pot still Irish whiskey, and you will certainly be able to tell if this is a sweet spot for you or not. Wifey and hubby diverge on the next two: Hubby preferred the Midleton Very Rare - all the smoothness of the others, with slightly less fruit and a lot more wood. Wifey loved the Redbreast 21 with it's big full palate of stone fruits and sweets. You might want to try them in this order. If the Green Spot gets you going, try the Midleton Very Rare for a special occasion. And if you're still yearning for a really unique Irish, the Redbreast 21 definitely fits the bill.

Thanks to Martin Brothers for introducing us to some great new releases and Happy St. Patricks Day all!

Cheer/SB

March 10, 2014

Review: Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskey - Part Two of SmokyBeast's St Paddy's Day Irish Whiskey Fest!

Last week, after discovering an inexcusable lack of a single Irish whiskey reviewed in almost a hundred bottles on the Beast, we kicked off our March with the beginning of a St. Patrick's Day marathon of incredible Irish whiskies. Green Spot Pure Pot Still, just released in the US after many years of anticipation, scored big. It's a great representation of what Irish whiskey has to offer: very smooth and balanced with flavors of fall fruits - apples and pears, and just a surreal level of drinkability.

Since Beastie is still decked out in his version of a Leprechaun senior prom, we might as well continue our greatest hits of green. This week we're privileged to be drinking perhaps the most seminal and well-regarded Irish whiskey in history: Midleton Very Rare.

Midleton

Sketch of Bow Street Distillery
(courtesy of Ireland Whiskey Trail)

In 1966, the three top whiskey producers in Ireland (John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son, and The Cork Distillery Company) merged to create Irish Distillers Group. They closed the historic Bow Street Distillery in Dublin that had been founded by John Jameson in 1780. Production was consolidated to a larger facility in Midleton, Cork nearby Jameson's other historic Old Midleton Distillery.

In 1984, Irish Distiller's Group launched Midleton Very Rare, a limited edition (50 casks per year) blend of choice vintages aged 12 to 25 years. Each bottle is dated and numbered, and comes with an invitation to register its ownership in a special ledger at the distillery. (Very cool in a sort of Willy Wonka meets Rock & Roll Hall of Fame milieu.)

Sketch of Old Midleton Distillery

The Midleton Very Rare is limited, but it's still pretty widely accessible and is around at most well-stocked liquor stores. It runs anywhere from around $115 to $160.

The bottle we're enjoying tonight is the 2012 release. We discovered Midleton back in 2009 and remember being absolutely floored by the balance of rich and smooth action going on. We're hoping the 2012 version measures up.

Tasting Notes

Nose: We're in the same general territory as the Green Spot here with distinct apples and ripe pears, however there is noticeably more oak. The oak and the fruits combine into a what can only be described as really good men's aftershave. There's some oily/waxiness to it, some sandalwood type aromas, and a little musk. Very very alluring nose.

Palate: On the tongue there's a nuttiness that comes out, like cashew oil. Again the wonderful balance is immediately apparent. It's not sweet, it's not overly woody, definitely not smoky, and it's incredibly drinkable. Also there a lot of flavor, especially at the 40% ABV.

Finish: The fruits come back big-time in the finish, adding to the apples and pears some lemon candy, cherries, and honeycomb. The spirit is quite refined. You can taste the maturity and the finesse of this blend that has the richness of a younger whiskey well-married with the smoothness and warmth of an older barrel.

Review

It's easy to see why Green Spot is such a runaway hit. The two bottles are similar, but Green Spot has way more out-front fruit. It's like a brilliant punch of green pears in the bouquet and warm apple cider on the palate. But the Midleton Very Rare is a much more refined beauty that just reeks of quality. This is a special occasion bottle. It's very smooth and won't overpower any situation from a light dinner to an after dinner drink by the fire. This is a particularly perfect gift if you want to buy a very special bottle of whiskey for someone who is not a big scotch or bourbon fanatic. It's virtually impossible not to be impressed by Midelton Very Rare, whether you're a veteran whiskey aficionado or are having the treat of your first great bottle. We'd recommend drinking them in this order. Grab a bottle of Green Spot, and if you find yourself in love with Irish whiskey (which is more than likely) take the plunge with Midleton Very Rare for a birthday or some such special evening.

Come back next week for the Paddy's day crown jewel: Redbreast 21 Year.

Cheers/SB

March 3, 2014

Review: Green Spot Single Pot Still Whiskey - The Beast Goes Green!

The best whiskey store on the Upper West Side is Martin Brothers Wine & Spirits (sorry everyone, we bought the last Port Ellen but there's plenty of other goodness going on!). We found ourselves there at an auspicious moment a couple of weeks ago as the owner Liz and manager Dan were sitting down with some folks from Midleton to sample two new Irish whiskies that would soon be available in the US: Green Spot Single Pot Still and Redbreast 21 Year. Liz, being the rock star that she is, pulled in SmokyBeast for an impartial opinion.

As we stood there chatting away and comparing notes on these two beauties from the Emerald Isle, we realized that SmokyBeast had a grave and serious flaw. With over a year of blogging and almost a hundred bottles reviewed, we had yet to cover a single Irish whiskey! Oh for shame... Well building up to St Patrick's Day, we are going to address this grave oversight and do so in true SmokyBeast style! We're getting dressed up in our best beastly greens and reviewing three incredible and quintessential Irish whiskies.

What's Different About Irish Whiskey

Courtesy of www.singlepotstill.com

Since this is our first foray into Irish Whiskey, let's cover some basic ground before we jump into tasting notes. What do we look for in a stellar Irish whiskey and what makes it different from Scotch, Bourbon, etc?

Unmalted barley - Malting is a process that mimics the conditions of planting barley by soaking it in warm water. This causes the barley to begin to sprout and increases the sugar content. Heat is then applied in order to stop the malting process at the desired state.

Irish Whiskey (unless it's designated a "single malt Irish") tends to include both malted and unmalted barley into the mix. Scotch is made of 100% malted barley, bourbon is made primarily of corn with wheat or rye as a common secondary ingredient. The use of un-malted barley is mostly unique to Irish whiskey. Unmalted barley has less sugar and hence less sweetness, and results in a more earthy and neutral flavor.

Triple-distillation - Irish Whiskey is almost universally triple-distilled. Whiskey is typically double-distilled, going through a "Wash Still" which produces the first run called "Low Wines" and then a "Spirit Still" which produces the final distillate for barreling. Their are exceptions: Auchentoshan is a triple-distilled single malt scotch, Woodford Reserve is a triple-distilled bourbon. But triple-distillation is a characteristic trait of Irish whiskey. Triple-distillation adds a third "Intermediate Still" between the wash and spirit stills. The additional distillation typically removes more of the oils and "impurities" in the distillate resulting in a smoother spirit with less of the bold and envelope-pushing flavors of some whiskies.

Single Pot-Still - Irish whiskey's equivalent to the "single" in single malt scotch is the "single pot still" designation. This means that the whiskey is not blended and comes exclusively from the stills of a single distillery. The single pot still tradition was mostly lost in terms of export during the twentieth century in favor of the popularity of blended whiskies like Jameson, however it's now being revived by brands like Green Spot and Redbreast.

Flavor - So these ingredients and techniques define a specific desired flavor profile for Irish Whiskey. The lack of peat in the process means that the whiskey is not smoky like an Islay scotch. The presence of unmalted barley means it's generally not as sweet as scotch (and not nearly as sweet as bourbon). And the triple-distillation means that it's very pure and smooth. All these attributes combine to make Irish whiskey a very distinctive taste: incredibly smooth and somewhere in the floral / fruity category without being very sweet or spicy.

Green Spot Single Pot Still

Leading the resurgence of traditional pot still Irish whiskey is Green Spot. Green Spot was one of the first and still one of the only independent bottlings of Irish whiskey. Mitchell & Sons was a wine merchant outfit that started buying barrels of pure pot still whiskey around the turn of the century. By the twenties, Michtell's was buying over a hundred casks of pure pot still per year. The casks themselves varied between darker sherries like Oloroso and lighter varieties like Fino.

Irish farmers use a method of identifying their livestock with dabs of paint. Each farmer has a different color, and this way the animals can roam around the countryside and graze without getting mixed up. Here's a picture we took on a trip to Ireland of a sheep with a blue spot...

Blue Spot Sheep

Michtell's used the same technique to mark the age of their barrels. One group of casks would be marked with a green spot, one with a blue spot, etc. so that they could tell them apart in the warehouse. They carried on the naming technique to their bottles. Green Spot contains 7 to 10 year whiskey. Mitchell's also had Blue Spot (a 7-year variety), Yellow Spot (12-year) and Red Spot (15-year). Yellow Spot is still produced in limited quantities for the UK. Red and Blue Spot have been discontinued.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Wonderful nose of fall fruits coming out of the bottle with intense apple cider and then opening up into ripe green pears. You can note the Fino, if perhaps not the Oloroso, and a whiff of the white oak behind it.

Palate: All the big sweets sort of disappear for a nice warm and perfectly balanced palate. Just some touches of green grapes, a little oaky age, and some very mellow grain.

Finish: Just miraculously smooth. There's not even a whisper of alcohol burn. It's not a very memorable finish in terms of lingering flavors, but this stuff is just so amazingly drinkable, you're thinking more about your next sip than about the finish of the last one.

Review

Green Spot is hitting the shelves at $49.99. It's an awesome deal, well worth the premium over typical Irish blends. Since it just came out in the US over the weekend, most people still haven't tried it. Grab a bottle as a gift or to bring to a party, or just for yourself. We bet you won't be disappointed.

Happy March everyone, tune in next week for SmokyBeast Irish Whiskey Bonanza Part Two: Midleton Very Rare.

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