SmokyBeast: August 2015

August 31, 2015

First Loves & Summer Flings - Lagavulin 18-Year Distiller's Edition

First Love

Lagavulin - still our one true love. It was some years ago now that our torrid affair began. We saw you smoking at the far end of the bar. Your deceitfully smooth cologne beckoning us to come chat you up. That irresistible blend of maturity and strength. No matter how we may stray, we'll always return to our first flame.

We thought we had tried the 2013 Distiller's Edition. It was good. They're all good. It was the first year they moved to the green labels. We had some fun with that. A little hokey maybe but the juice was as good as ever.

Lag 101

For the uninitiated, Lagavulin 16 Year is about as good as malt whisky gets. It's a peat fire mellowed by the better of two decades in bourbon and sherry casks. Super warm, smoky, rich, and so incredibly balanced and smooth. A staple of our whisky experience if there ever was one.

Every year around Christmas, Diageo releases two special release Lagavulin bottlings. The unsherried 12-year cask strength is a monster. You have to open it and let it sit in the bottle for a month or two to really appreciate it. They also do a bottle for their Distiller's Edition collection (along with Talisker, Oban, and some others). The Distiller's release is double matured, first in the standard bourbon & sherry, and then in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The rich sweet fortified wine in those PX casks does wonderful things to Lagavulin. It's not necessarily better than the 16 (which might be impossible) but it's a mellower, fruitier, and marvelous variation on the theme.

The only mildly uninspiring thing about the Distiller's Edition is that while is technically "double matured", it's still 16 years old just like the standard release. This means that presumably they pull barrels early (after 14 years) and rebarrel them in the PX casks. This is cool and all, but wouldn't it be even COOLER if they let it finish its standard 16 year aging process and then did the "double maturation"??

Summer Fling

When the good folks at The Whisky Exchange broke out their Summer Whisky Offer (buy one, save 15 pounds on the second), it was too much to resist doing some impulse shopping. We'd been lusting after their new Laphroaig Signatory release. Just look at that cask strength sherry cask beauty. What can you do but buy one (and by that we mean 2!)?

Window Shopping

Now of course if you're going to pay to ship bottles over from the UK, you may as well get the most for those freight dollars, so we dutifully browsed the incredible selection at TWE for a few more choice bottles. It's easy to get lost window shopping in their incredible Old & Rare department. But we weren't going that crazy. Still have a kid to get through college and all that...

Shuffling through the rest of the Islay section, something else caught our eye. It looked like a Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 2013, but without the green label that was on our bottle.

On closer inspection we noticed something else strange about this bottle. That's right, it's an 18-year. Distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2013!

Could it be true? The corporate lords of Diageo had heard our humble plea and done a full 16 year run of Lagavulin followed by 2-year PX maturation? It looked that way, and it was also too good to pass up.

It turns out that this was exactly the case. There was a UK only special release of 2013 Distiller's Edition that was bottle at 18 years. Oh yeah!! A few weeks later a very auspicious package arrived on our door with a bunch of delicious looking international mail stamps. We saved this little treasure for a long overdue vacation, and happen to be enjoying it at the beach as we speak. So without further ado, the Lagavulin 18-Year Distiller's Edition.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Beautiful subdued smoke with a double dose of plum jam, raisins, bananas Foster, pink peppercorns, honeyed peat.

Palate: Sweet on the palate, with the smoke saving itself for the encore. The same as above, adding little nibbles of white chocolate, florals (heather? lavender?), and white grapes.

Finish: The smoothest Lagavulin we've ever had, still retaining that smoky peaty quality and all the things we love about it, but very extremely smooth. IT'S NICE.

Review

It's good. It's really friggin good. Maybe our only crazier fantasy would be for them to release this same bottle at 100 proof. But there's no way Diageo would be listening and make that happen, could they???? ;) Anyway it is that good, but can we condone you seeking this one out, buying it internationally, and paying all the shipping and customs charges to get it back to the US? YES! Yes we can. Especially with TWE's special where it's only going to run an extra 30 or 40 bucks. We can absolutely condone this type of behavior on your part. When else are you going to get your hands on an 18 year Lag? If you're feeling generous, while you're there pick up this little Talisker for us :).

Hope you're having a great summer! What are you drinking on your vacation? If you're a beast fan, please take a moment to FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! Cheers! /SB

August 25, 2015

Happy Hollow Oldest Reserve - Bourbon Past vs Present Part Two

For bourbon fanatics, you can't get better than a bottle that's been hiding on the back shelf of a liquor store gathering dust for thirty years. Why are these dusties so treasured? Are they really that good? This past Spring, we teamed up with Jim Parisi of Xavier Wine Company in Manhattan's Meat Packing District to find out. Bourbon Past vs. Present was born. Two new and two dusty bourbons fought it out including Old Taylor 86 from the late 1970's against the new EH Taylor Barrel Proof, and a 1973 Old Forester Bottled in Bond against the new Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. The winner, by a landslide, was the 1973 Old Forester BIB. For Bourbon Past vs. Present Part Two, we wanted to up the ante and find an even earlier bottle.

A Mystery

As Jim was putting the word out that we might be planning a sequel, a friend of his sent us a picture of a very rare old bottle of bourbon that he'd purchased at an auction some years ago. He volunteered to let this bottle go for our tasting and we accepted, not sure exactly what we'd gotten our hands on, but excited nonetheless. This is it:

Oldest Reserve

What we do know about this bottle (because it's written on the label) is that it was distilled in 1953 and bottled at 15 years old (presumably in 1968), that it's bottled at an interesting 101 proof, that it was distilled in Kentucky and bottled by the "Happy Hollow Distilling Company" in Lawrenceburg.

While this seems like some good information, it's not very much to go on. This bottle is not really a "dusty" since it was a special limited release and not most likely not generally available to gather dust in liquor stores. So none of our dusty hunter friends could help us identify the source.

Old Happy Hollow

There doesn't seem to be anything we could find called "Old Happy Hollow Distilling Company". This isn't unusual since just like today, many brands pop up and bottle whiskey from various distilleries and give themselves interesting names (see Black Maple Hill). The signature dripping red wax hints at Maker's Mark. So we explored connections between Maker's and Happy Hollow. And we found some...

Bill Samuels started Maker's Mark in 1953 (1953!) when he purchased the Burks Spring Distillery, which was originally named Happy Hollow Distillery because of its location in Happy Hollow, Kentucky. Here's an awesome picture of the reopening of the Burks Spring Distillery that also refers to the site as Happy Hollow. We found the excellent Maker's Mark collector site No Broken Drips (by the way we love seeing this kind of dedication to a brand! go guys!!). While they didn't have Oldest Reserve listed as a Maker's Mark bottling, they did note that Burks Spring Distillery used to produce a bourbon called Old Happy Hollow.

There's a lot of marketing hype about the origins of Maker's Mark. Supposedly Bill Samuels destroyed the old family bourbon recipe and (in lieu of doing a run of test distillations) took eight different mashbills and baked a loaf of bread with each one. (Hard to see how there's a grain of truth in that, but whatever). One of the recipes he'd borrowed from Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle, which substituted wheat for rye as the second ingredient. Supposedly this mix made the best loaf of bread and the rest is history. Meanwhile Bill's wife Margie was busy melting wax in the family's deep fryer and coming up with the signature bottle design.

Whatever truth or exaggeration exists in the history of the brand, we know that Bill did own the distillery previously known as Happy Hollow in 1953 and he was starting to establish a new company. However, if the above picture is accurate, they made their first barrel of whiskey in 1954, it's doubtful that Oldest Reserve was actually distilled by the Samuels Maker's Mark crew. In most cases when a distillery changes hands, part of the deal is to acquire existing stocks of whiskey. Is it possible that Samuels purchased old stocks of Happy Hollow / Burks Spring bourbon and then later bottled them? This theory does seem consistent with the statement on the bottle "from the few remaining barrels of a very rare stock distilled in Kentucky... by the Happy Hollow Distilling Company."

Ok well enough theory, we still honestly have no idea what this stuff is, who cares let's drink it.

Tasting Notes

Nose: This doesn't have the mustiness that we associate with old bourbon. Perhaps due to the pristine condition the bottle was in? Maybe is was cellared for many years and not exposed to a lot of heat or sunlight? In any case it gives the nose of a nice high-rye bourbon. Definitely not a wheater. Well we knew that since they didn't start making wheated bourbon until 1954. Maybe it was some of the old stock of Burks Spring / Happy Hollow. Ok back to what we know: the nose has a very nice combination of spice (high-rye bourbon) and sweetness. There's buttered corn, there's anise (black Twizzlers?), there's Worcestershire Sauce, rose water, fresh wet grass, char, cayenne pepper, a hint of brine - pickled okra, cologne. A lot of layers coming out of this nose which at first seemed straightforward. With 15 minutes to open up, (how did we not notice it before), there's that musty old bourbon quality. Skunky, funky, roll-it-up-and-smoke-it nose that we get from certain beloved bottles...

Palate: Very lovely. It stays perfectly balanced coming in on the tongue with rye spice, meeting the sides of the mouth with sweet green apples, and giving a hint of dry wood and the top of the throat.

Finish: Dry finish, punchy and delicious. You can still taste the spirit for sure, but there's a great drinkability here and a deep integration of heat, spice, sweet, and wood that all come together. Again it tastes nothing like a wheater, but like some of the great traditional bourbons that we've tasted from this era. There's a touch of oaky bitterness on the end of the finish that's maybe technically a flaw but still enjoyable. Very unique bourbon that would be tough to confuse with modern day sauce. What a treat!

Thanks to Jim for hosting another great tasting! Do you have any ideas / requests for Past vs Present Part Three? Let us know and we'll try to make it happen. Cheers/SB

August 11, 2015

Review: Abelour A'Bunadh - Batting a Thousand

Batting a Thousand

We get asked pretty frequently to recommend a whiskey. Sometimes this is at a dive bar. Do you think people take Robert Parker to Chili's and ask him to recommend a bottle of wine? You know what, they probably do. Anyway, even at a decent liquor store, recommending whiskey is hard.

You have to know things about the person. Intimate things. Do they know whiskey or are they just getting started? Do they like spice? Sweet tooth? Do they like to be tied up and spanked by a smoky monster? (Yes!!)

Do we go for one of our favorites (like a big cask strength Willett or Smooth Ambler)? Or is that going to be too much for the poor soul who just wanted a tasty approachable dram? Do we try to pick something universally accessible (Talisker or Glenmorangie)? Or do we throw in the towel and pick something we don't even really like, but we think they'll like (Macallan)?

We've tried and failed all these approaches, but there's one recommendation that seems to be batting a thousand: Aberlour (pronounce it like there's an "hour" at the end) A'Bunadh (a-boo-nah).

There are so many great things about this bottle. It's off the beaten path. This is something most people will not have heard of, which makes it a great gift. It's a whiskey drinkers whiskey - you'll see this on the bar of many hardcore malt enthusiasts as a staple pour. It's cask strength, around 60%, so it will hit the mark for serious whiskey aficionados who have a taste for the strong stuff. But it's also incredibly smooth and complex, so add a few drops of water and it won't overwhelm a more novice drinker. It's 100% first fill sherry cask, so it masks the high proof with an incredible richness and complexity of flavor. It's not chill-filtered and it's uncolored (more brownie points for malt-heads), giving it a natural creaminess and rich mouthfeel. And finally it's around $70, which makes it a nice generous gift, but not over the top crazy. We've recommended a ton of these bottles, and never gotten a single complaint. Like we said - batting a thousand!

Tasting Notes

Nose: Very unique. This is one you could easily pick out blind because of its distinctive combination of fruits, nuts, and wood. It's very sweet (but not cloying) with honey, oak, and stone fruits (plums, raisins, & apricots) playing equal roles. The sherry is very well integrated and adds richness while diminishing the strong alcohol presence.

Palate: A lot of citrus comes out on the tongue. Sweet tangerines, more honey, It's a good thick mouthfeel, with lots of warmth and richness. More oak though never bitter, lemon cakes and walnuts and chocolate covered cherries.

Finish: This is one of the best and strongest finishes in a non-peated malt that we can remember. There's little burn (none with a splash of water), but a relatively long finish of sweet fruit and charred oak. It's a nice chest-warming sensation that leaves you very satisfied.

So, yeah, we like it.

Get yourself a bottle of A'bunadh, a bottle of Talisker 10, and a bottle of Lagavulin 16 and you'll have yourself a malt section that any whisky fan will nod at with respect. Give one of these bad boys as a gift and you'll likely have a friend for life!

Cheers/SB

August 7, 2015

Four Roses Private Barrels Part 3: Bourbon Crusaders

For the finale of our Four Roses private barrel selection week, we've got an interesting pick from the "Bourbon Crusaders" an anonymous collective of whiskey enthusiasts hailing from Kentucky, who seem to have some deep connections to the local distilleries. Does this insider knowledge allow them to list "and Jim Rutledge" (Four Roses recently retired Master Distiller) on their label? Does it score them one of the older barrels in the private barrel program at just shy of twelve years? We don't know, but it's a compelling label to be sure.

Nose: Juicy Fruit gum. It's definitely not spicy, but it's not mellow either. There's a lot of upfront sweet fruity fruit punch type stuff going on here. It's sugary in its sweetness, dried apricots floating in honey.

Palate: Four Roses really makes some highly drinkable bourbon, you can't argue with that. Three bottles all up over 107 proof and all with little burn neat. With water some more vegetal / herbal things come out like fresh thyme and oregano, and some anise / black licorice. Middle-weight mouthfeel and well rounded approachable palate.

Finish: Really nice balance of honey, mint, and spice on the finish here.

Review

What an enjoyable week tasting these awesome Four Roses private barrels. Once again each barrel was so unique and showcased completely different aspects of what makes Four Roses such a diverse and deep brand. The Crusaders bottle was a very nice balance between fruit and spice, bold and distinctive, yet not at all overpowering and going down so easily at cask strength.

Who are these crusaders & why does bourbon need to be crusaded for? We may never know, but they have good snouts for bourbon that's for sure.

Have you tried any local Four Roses barrel picks? Where were they from and how were they? There are so many of these awesome bottles floating around, please share your notes in the comments!

Cheers/SB

August 5, 2015

Four Roses Private Barrels Part Two

Moving on in our Four Roses private barrel goodness, today we've got this beauty.

Wine on 59 - Four Roses Barrel HW 32-4 D
OBSF Barreled on July 30, 2003 Bottled on June 16th, 2014

Nose: "Red Hots candies swimming in a mint julep!" Well this is the opposite of the last bottle. A very sharp nose with a lot of cinnamon - like cracking a handful of cinnamon sticks in half at once. Then there's the frontal spiciness, not the deep chipotle type of spicy, but an upfront dry cayenne pepper spicy. The mint tastes deeply muddled and hides behind all the sweet and spice. (with water) With water the mint comes to the fore, and some lovely richness and char make an appearance.

Palate: For such a bold nose, we get a very drinkable palate which is remarkably smooth for the monster proof on this one. Another dangerous drinker here. (with water) We liked what water did to the nose so much that we paid the most attention with about a teaspoon of water in a one ounce glass. There's more mint and a nice molasses bbq sauce thing going on on the tongue.

Finish: Lovely finish here, again just wicked smooth watered down to maybe 110 proof and warm leaving more baking spices (cinnamon, brown sugar, fluffy eggs & flour) some nice spicy heat and staying solidly minty.

Review

We definitely went back for another pour of this one, adding a little dollop of water right out of the gate, and letting the glass open up in the water and air while we sliced up a fresh juicy summer peach to accompany it. (Peaches and bourbon go amazingly well together if you haven't tried this!) It's a great whiskey balancing spice and heat and smoothness. This is a mighty enjoyable bottle, a very pleasant surprise coming from a local store with great taste in barrels. Nice job.

On Friday we conclude our 4R Private Barrel serious with the mysterious "Bourbon Crusaders" pick.

Cheers/SB

August 3, 2015

War of the Roses - Private Barrel Edition!

You're like totally uncool if you don't have your own barrel of whiskey these days. All the hipsters in Billyburg have their whiskey barrels strapped to their backs as they ride around trying not to get their enormous beards stuck in the spokes of their fixie bikes.

We've been tooting our own horn on our stellar barrel of Smooth Ambler all week. We're sure you're ready to puke if you have to read one more review of it. That's ok, we're done. But since private barrels are just so the rage right now, we're going to bust out some of our friends' private barrels and have a taste of those. As you know, we're big nuts for Four Roses, so this week we present...

War of the Roses Part Three, The Private Barrels

If you read our second War of the Roses, we explained that Four Roses creates ten distinct recipes that they blend together to produce their small batch bourbons. Half the recipes, labelled "OB", are "high rye" with 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley. The other half are "high corn" "OE" barrels with 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley. In theory the high corn "OE" barrels should be sweeter and mellower, and the high rye "OB" barrels should be spicier. The two mashbills become ten different recipes because of the five different types of yeast they use at Four Roses, "F, K, O, Q, and V". These all have different characteristics from fruity to minty to herbal to creamy.

Choosing a Four Roses barrel seems like it's all kinds of fun since you can get familiar with these different recipes, and then taste several examples of that specific recipe across different barrels until you find your favorite. The Four Roses barrel program is prolific, and so you can find a lot of these private barrel picks around the country. When you do it's hard to go wrong picking one up. They're cask strength, come in at a pretty reasonable ~$60 price point, and are usually very high quality. Pick them up while you can before this whole thing goes crazy too!

The three barrel picks we're tasting this week come from:

Nasa Liquors, who recently treated us to an awesome SAOS choice, bottled a 10 year 2 month OESF at 55.5%. Wine on 59, a local New York State store that's had a huge run of great barrels, chose an 10 year 11 month OBSF, coming in at a chest-hairy 61.4%. And finally the mysterious and anonymous "Bourbon Crusaders" (with a little help from Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge) who come to the table with a promising 11 year 9 month OESK barrel 54.3%.

Without further ado, our first bottle...

Nose: Wow this is an extremely mellow nose for 111 proof hooch. You can really put your nose into the glass and there's only the tiniest bit of burn. If you've ever had Mario Batali's olive oil gelato, this is pretty close. It's super creamy and vegetal with thick sweet milkiness dominating and little pops of mint, rosemary, and sour apples hiding around the corners.

Palate: The palate remains incredibly smooth and moves in a more citrus direction, very much like lemon sorbet. Adding some water removes even the small amount of burn that might have been there originally.

Finish: Really this bottle is pure smoothness. Dangerously so. It's definitely not a spice or vanilla monster like some of the high rye bottles we love, but it gets you in a completely different direction. You could drink a whole glass of this neat, and the only way you'd know it was a cask strength bourbon would be from the warmth that comes up from your chest a minute after you finish the glass.

Review: Be careful drinking this one because it might be easy to go through a few glasses and end up on your ass without knowing what you're doing. It's not a flavor bomb but it's very delicate and well put together. Think of this as sort of like the white wine drinker's bourbon. Very smooth, light bodied and sweet with some nice little pops of fruit and herbals. Nice job as usual Nasa!

Tune in Wednesday for bottle #2! Cheers/SB

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