SmokyBeast: Lagavulin

Lagavulin

Showing posts with label Lagavulin. Show all posts

February 19, 2017

A Genuine Smoky Beast Whisky Review! Lagavulin 8-Year

Hello beasties,

Today I have the luxury or writing a bona fide whisky review. I know these have been few and far between this year. I, along with my partner Ben and the wife, have been putting more time into whisky than ever before. And I want to sincerely thank everyone who has supported Beast Masters Club. It's a real labor of love, and it's really starting to take off. In the next few months we've got three private barrels coming out (WhistlePig, Elijah Craig, and Four Roses) and some amazing interviews including WhistlePig master distiller & all-around whiskey legend Dave Pickerell leading a tasting for us in March. Anyway thanks to everyone who has joined the club, sent amazing emails and social media posts, and showed up at our events. It's been amazing meeting so many of the people that I only knew online as readers of this blog and fellow whiskey fanatics.

Anyway, on to the matter at hand, one legitimate, non-podcast format, review! For the President's Weekend, the family headed up to the Berkshires for a long overdue quiet several days of fires, Netflix cartoons, and of course a little nip before bedtime. I went to a random liquor store near the Stop&Shop, and lo-and-behold they had an awesome selection. I saw a bottle that I've been meaning to try, the Lagavulin 200th Anniversary 8-year sitting there for under $60 and couldn't say no. So now by the fire I'm popping it open and enjoying some warm peat on a cold night. (sure it's 60 degrees in Manhattan, but it's still in the 30's up here!).

So what do we know? We know Lagavulin was founded in 1816 and for its 200th anniversary they released a few special bottlings. One is the 25 year old which is frankly too expensive to casually pop, President's weekend or not. The other is this interesting 8-year. We've seen it cost more than the 16 year and sometimes less, so let's say it's about the same price. It is offered at a higher proof, 48% instead of Lag16's 43%, so 10 additional proof points at 96.

It comes in a very tasteful white box.

Tasting Notes

Nose: If I nosed this blind I would not guess Lagavulin. Islay for sure, but probably I would have said Caol Ila, or wait... maybe... Kilchoman. Yes that's probably what I'd guess. Which totally makes sense since they're releasing very high quality younger malts. The nose has a lot of smoke, but not quite the warm smoldering campfire rocks smoke you get from older Lag. This is a more raw, slightly hot and spirit-forward and very peaty smoke. While the smoke is more in your face than what we typically think of with Lag, there are other interesting flavors that are much more prominent as well. Granny smith apples, white chocolate, citrus candies. Yes, pretty much exactly the flavors I usually pick out in Kilchoman. Funny that.

Palate: I will say in the mouthfeel department that it has a nice oiliness going on that's not as apparent in the 16. It's a bit thicker and more full on the tongue. That's kind of where the compliments end. The taste is just thinner, hotter, and not quite as complex as the 16. It's got some of the same components as the nose. White chocolate, lots of bright peat, little wood, citrus, and maybe some spice like cinnamon and red pepper flakes.

Finish: The finish is where this differs most dramatically from most of the OB Lagavulin that we've tried. It's sort of thin and hot and a little bitter. Very similar to what you get from most of the off-the-shelf Islays these days like a Caol Ila or one of the NAS Ardbegs.

Review

Look I love me some Lag. It's my first and still favorite malt. This is still a really nice whisky. If you collect Lag, obviously you're going to score a bottle or two. The box is lovely. But it you're a malt drinker shopping on a budget, it's hard to see the allure here. Getting something twice as old in the standard 16 year bottling, with a little more sherry (sure and some E150 coloring too) is just a better deal and a tastier whiskey. Granted, sitting here by the fire drinking out of a ridiculously oversized snifter, and letting the peat smoke mingle with the birch I'm burning doesn't suck. And I don't mean to sound like a dick. I love that they put out higher proof stuff, love that they aren't afraid of a younger age statement, and still love me some Lag. But there's nothing "do-not-miss" about this one if you're keeping score.

Until next time. Cheers/Steve

June 21, 2016

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013

For the past two weeks we've been sipping some highly indulgent bottles, limited edition releases from Islay's annual spring festival Feis Ile. Caol Ila's 2015 Feis Ile bottle was a real treat, combining grace and fire with a powerful seventeen year cask strength offering. Lagavulin's 24-year Feis Ile release was simply mind-blowing, combining huge gentle peat smoke warmth with an incredibly sophisticated and elegant flavor profile.

This week, our friend Al Pop came to town to see the Belmont Stakes. I took him and his son Brock to Koreatown for some Bibimbap. And of course he had a whiskey surprise up his sleeve - Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013. Sweet! So why not continue our Feis Ile reviews and dive in.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Distinctly sweeter than the 2015, it's starts with leather, smoke, and honey. Vegetal aromas follow like okra or fresh cut green beans. Then it tails off with pink peppercorns and rock salt. It's actually quite similar to the 2015 overall but with a more sweet fruit-forward character.

Palate: OMG Yum! (ok perhaps that was less than professional, but damn this is good). It's got a huge mouth feel with some signature Lagavulin elements. The smoke and sea air are there. The little pops of citrus and melon. The old men's club stuff like creaky leather and tobacco are here big time. It's definitely got more punch than the 24 year, which is kind of awesome.

Finish: Extremely well balanced finish with lingering smoke, strawberry jam, and tobacco.

Head to Head with Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015

What a privilege to be able to taste these two beauties head to head. They're both just top top quality malts. The 2013 is sweeter, but also has more heat with a little spirit burn. The 2015 is pure elegance with perfect balance and no burn at all. But there's also something nice about the younger bottle, it's got more of the fire, a stronger finish, and definitely a more rounded taste with the additional sherry influence. We'd have to go with the 2015 as the winner, but these are both gems.

Cheers/SB

May 20, 2016

The Long Awaited Pop of that Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015

Ever have a best friend that you've never met, never spoken to, never emailed or texted? That's how we feel about Thomas and Ansgar Speller, fellow bloggers who write WhiskySpeller about their travels and tastings around the world. How did the Spellers capture such favor? Well they know the key to a beasts heart: vintage Lagavulin. Thomas and Ansgar went to last year's Feis Ile (Islay's annual spring festival) and sent us a bottle of Lagauvlin's limited release Feis Ile 2015.

Feis Ile happens the last week of May. All week long, one day is dedicated to a specific Islay distillery. They open their doors with tours, parties, music and tastings. Malt whisky fanatics from all over the world come to celebrate the beauty that is Islay. It's also become tradition for each distillery to offer a limited release festival bottling. These are small batch releases of casks hand-picked by the distillery managers. They're often served up uncolored, at cask strength, and have some special characteristics like age or maturation. If that doesn't make your eyes light up, then we're just not speaking the same language.

We haven't been to Islay yet. It's in the cards, but with a 4.5 year old at home it's not so easy to hop over for a week of sipping malt, sleeping in a charming B&B, and watching the waves at Port Ellen. Just writing about it brings a tear to my eye. We'll get there.

That's why when our bottle from last year's festival arrived, we were excited. Excited doesn't even really cover it. Ecstatic? Giddy? Something like that. As you know if you're a fan of SmokyBeast, Lagavulin is our first and still greatest love when it comes to whisky. And we'd never tasted one of their special limited release Feis Ile bottlings.

The 2015 Feis Ile bottle was a very special run, even by Feis Ile standards. Iain McArthur, Lag's legendary warehouse manager of 40 years, chose extra aged casks for a twenty-four year release that came in at a whopping 59.9% ABV. This will be the oldest, and the strongest Lag we've ever tasted. in summary: Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!!

We were so excited that we let the bottle sit on our shelf and gazed longingly at it for almost a whole year. It was like an unspoken pact that we would save it for a special occasion. Well almost a year later, with Feis Ile 2016 coming up next week, this seemed like as good an occasion as any.

Tasting Notes

Nose: The peat is so subtle in the nose here it's all rose petals and heath and lavender. There's a healthy punch of saddle leather and expensive men's cologne. It tails off with a little more smoke, and some melons - cantaloupes and honeydew.

Palate: It opens up and shows its Islay roots in the palate with a big thick mouthfeel of peat and honey. More melons, apricots. It's so integrated, the peat and the spirit and the sweetness are all wrapped up into a perfect balance.

Finish: Compared to the cask strength 12-year this is a very subtle finish. It's not a fire-breather by any means. The tongue is coated in honey and the smoke rests at the top of the palate drifting up into the nostrils.

Conclusion

It's just superb. At almost 120 proof we expected this to be a ripper, but it's just the opposite. It's a super mellow well balanced whiskey that hits all the right notes. It pulls you in with sweetness and florals before rewarding you with the desired smoke. We felt this one was just perfect with about two eyedropper drops of water (room temperature spring water of course) per ounce. The tiny bit of water opens it up beautifully and it's just a killer dram. Real desert island stuff here, probably in the top ten malts we've reviewed on the site. A big SmokyBeast "A"!

February 4, 2016

Vegas Baby!

Some fun facts: The Venetian hotel contains over 1.8 million square feet of stone and marble. Classy. The sheer scale of the place is astounding. You hike what seems like miles of ersatz piazzas and canal-lined malls complete with accordion players and gondoliers. Each restaurant you enter is the largest indoor space you've ever seen. And of course somehow every destination requires navigation through the hotel's two casinos.

"Should I play a round of blackjack on my way to the bathroom?" you find yourself asking. Wait what?? Would you ever consider throwing away a hundred bucks on your way to take a leak in New York? Hell no. There's something about this place that shreds all logic and rational thinking in your brain and replaces it with a Britney Spears / Cirque Du Soleil mashup.

I Need a Drink

There is only one thing you can do in Vegas that is inherently logical: drink. And luckily they seem to have no shortage of top quality whiskey bars. We started Monday night at Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico Steakhouse. Then Tuesday moved on to Wolfgang Puck's Cut. Both claim to have the best whiskey list in Sin City. Neither disappointed.

First up this wax-top Willett 7-year, barrel 4141. Super rich and wonderful, this one was all molasses and brown butter, baking spices, and pipe tobacco. I'm guessing it had been open in the bottle for a while since it was completely opened up and tasting amazing for such a young expression.

Delmonico's does half-pours, so we paired one ounce of the 7-year Willett with an ounce of her older sister the blue wax top 10-year barrel 373. This one was great too, drier than the 7 and crispier. A treat, but not quite as mind-blowing as the 7.

Moving on to Cut, we tried another 1 ounce pair tasting. This time a Willet 10-Year barrel #799, alongside a gold-wax 21 year.

The 10-year was very big. Sweet, tons of rye goodness, vanilla and spice.

Have to be honest here, I think I still preferred the 7-year to the 21. Is that possible? I guess it's true that age is just a state of mind. The 7-year, followed by the 21, followed by the 799 10-year and then the 373 10-year is how I'd have to rank these. I wouldn't kick any of them out of bed though.

Ok time for a nightcap.

My drinking buddy Jason is giddily gripping my arm and pointing at a bottle on the shelf. "They have it again. How is that even possible???" Incredulous, we feel obligated to each order an ounce of the Lagavulin 21 year sherry cask. It's every bit as good as we remember. Without a doubt it holds a place in my top three malts of all time.

So long Vegas. Thanks for the memories. Cheers/SB

November 21, 2015

Lagavulin Jazz Fest 2013!!!

Continuing our mouth-watering build up to the holidays, today we're featuring one of those bottles that's been sitting in our collection for a long time waiting for a special occasion. As you know, Lagavulin is our first and still favorite distillery. Ever since your faithful narrators, husband and wife, fell in love over a bottle of Lagavulin 16 Year, this wonderful smoky Islay malt has held a special place in our hearts. Our bar is never without one or two bottle of the might Lag open, and whenever someone asks our favorite whiskey, there's little hesitation. Granted, big smoky malts aren't for everyone, but since you're reading SmokyBeast, well enough said...

We're not alone though, and seeking out hard-to-find Lagavulin is not an easy task. We did get to taste the Lagavulin 21-Year, which was phenomenal. Lag 25 and 30 Year have so far escaped our grasp, and the astronomical price of last year's 37 year only made us cry ourselves to sleep. There have been some great Lagavulin Distiller's Editions as well, which are a little more attainable if not quite as special.

Even more difficult to come by are the distillery only releases, which come out once or twice a year to celebrate special occasions. In our book, this is the stuff of dreams: hand-picked casks (usually chosen by Ian McArthur himself), served up at cask strength, uncolored. Basically these are pure and uncut unicorn barrels that have waited their entire whisky lives to be bottled at their prime and only available to the locals. You have to be on Islay, at the distillery, on one given day, and they usually sell out in a matter of hours. The beauty we're cracking today was released in honor of the 2013 Islay Jazz Fest.

1995/2013 Lagavulin
"Bottled Especially to Celebrate Islay Jazz Fest 2013"

This is the third Lagavulin Jazz Fest release, coming in at cask strength 51.9%, 103.8 proof. It's from Sherry Butts. It was distilled on the 19th of January, 1995, bottled in 2013, and released in September on Friday the 13th. 1,500 total bottles were available. It's even dressed up with a special piano-roll tax strip outfit for the occasion. And here we go (cue cork popping sound effect)...

Tasting Notes

Nose: Really huge peat balanced with healthy dollop of sherry. Not quite the sherry bomb that is the 21-year, a little more on the peaty side. Man does this smell amazing! "Bread pudding!" shouts Mrs. Beast. It's there in spades. Big fruity, spicy, citrus, candied lemons, little hints of raisins, cinnamon, key lime pie, all wrapped in smoke. Layers upon layers of smoke, both peat smoke and maybe hints of pipe tobacco.

Palate: Oh damn, it's a winner! Lovely oak, white chocolate, peat for miles. Extremely balanced with the smoke completely eating up the alcohol burn (which is 1,000% perfect right here at 103+ proof!). You almost forget about the smoke with all these wonderful mid-palate fruits, candies, and spice coming at you, but then it keeps coming back across the back of the mouth to round out the taste. Can we drink this every day? Pretty please?

Finish: It's peaty in a way that's different from other Lagavulins, the peat is very present on the nose but then the palate is so smooth that it hits you almost as an afterthought in the finish, but man does it come back and hit you! There's a ton of sweet here, chocolate and citrus and ripe cantaloupe, some beautiful saddle leather & tobacco, big red grapes, and then miles more peat. What an amazing dram.

Review

Since we had both sitting around, we poured this next to one of absolute all time favorites, the 1980/2005 Talisker 25-Year. They're both absolutely magical bottles, but we have to say that the Lagavulin is in another world. The Talisker is lovely, overflowing with salty sea air, certainly more refined and arguably more balanced. But as smoke lovers, the Lag has a taste that's in a completely different league. We almost hate to compare the two since they're apples and oranges for sure, but since we love both so much, we couldn't resist. They're both "A" whiskies, but the Lag is an "A+". If you're lucky enough to sample this mighty dram, take it slow and enjoy the ride.

Cheers/SB

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

November 25, 2014

Vegas, Part 2!! Review Lagavulin 21-Year and Parker's Heritage Collection #4 Wheater!!!

Ok, as you faithful readers know, last week left us with a little fear and a lot of loathing for Las Vegas. We'd ventured out into the whiskey universe and come up empty. Like Pappy without his cigar. After that we wondered around The Strip aimless.

And of course we wandered into the casino. It was bound to happen. But don't you know it, karma being the righteous soldier that she is, our fortunes turned. Twenty-five dollars were converted into chips. Knowing slightly less than nothing about gambling, I put it all on black. Roulette win! Now it's $50.

One hand of blackjack. Get a ten and a five. Shit! Gotta hit. A two. Double shit. Stick. It's a push. Next deal: king and an eight! Dealer gets an ace. Triple shit! But wait, the next card is a four! That's a soft fifteen. Dealer hits. Next card is a ten. That's a hard fifteen. Dealer must hit. My $50 burns a hole in the table a foot deep. Next card: A TEN!! Dealer busts. Fifty bucks just became a hundred.

Next stop: craps. Going with the groove, put it all on the line. First role is an 8. We're still in it. Next role: a five. Third role: AN EIGHT! Two hundred bucks!

And you know what we do next? We f'ckin leave! Because that's the only smart thing to do. We take our $200 and leave and we go to the bar at the hotel, figuring that even though the drive to the whiskey tasting was a bust, now we've got two hundred bucks to drop on twenty shots of Jameson or whatever standard stuff they've got at the bar.

We scan the horizon and it's like a plethora of good whiskey. Plenty of high-end scotch and bourbon. We're getting excited. But then, upon closer review, one bottle shines out like the halo on an angel. Could it be? After all these years? Hiding right here in our hotel???

Lagavulin 21-Year

When this bottle came out, in 2012, we thought it would be crazy to spend around $500 on a bottle of scotch. We quickly came to regret it, not only because they now sell for almost double that, but because we're such Lagavulin nuts and we never got to taste it! Well with $200 of gambling winnings in my pocket and this bad boy marked at $75/glass it was a no-brainer. Would it measure up to my hopes and dreams?

In a word, YES! This is everything we love about Lagavulin amped up to the tenth degree!!

Breaking it down:

Lagavulin 16 Year is the best of the standard Lagavulin line because the age reduces the sharpness and the peat comes through all warm and lovely.

Lagavulin Distiller's Edition is a nice variation with the extra emphasis on sherry barreling. The sweetness comes through which mingles wonderfully with the peat. Ultimately we still prefer the 16, but the DE is a nice change of pace and a frequent drink for us, especially around the holidays.

Lagavulin 12 is the most powerful/peaty/flavorful of the standard bottles, mostly because it comes in cask strength. It's a ballsy dram for sure, not for rookies, and you have to be in the mood for a fireball of peat.

Lagavulin 21 though, good God, it captures all the big bold flavor of the 12 (coming in at a perfect 52%) adding the sherry goodness of the DE (21 is pure sherry cask), and the maturity and warmth of the 16. Actually those extra five years really make a difference, taking the complexity and maturity (think saddle leather, pipe tobacco, and vanilla) up to a whole 'nother level! It really may be the best malt I've ever tasted.

Ok now we're having fun. So what else does this hotel bar have in store? Well we browse for a while and happen to see another gem that's been on our wishlist for some time. We ask the bartender to put it next to the Lagavulin just for sh*ts & g*ggles.

Parker's Heritage Collection (#4 Wheated Bourbon)

We should really line up all the Parker's one day and do a massive PHC marathon. So far the #7 "Promise of Hope" was a strong release last year. The previous year's #6 "Blend of Mashbills" was even better (hint - keep these up at cask strength!!). We got two opportunities to taste the #2 - 27 Year Bourbon and it was one of the finest American whiskies we'd ever tasted. Big, deep, incredibly complex, and very woody but not over-oaked in our opinion. A true gem. But up to this point the #4 release from Heaven Hill's yearly limited edition lineup had eluded our taste buds. Well Viva Las Vegas! There it was sitting in the bar in our hotel just waiting. And at not a bad sticker price of $30. (So far we've only spent half our winnings, so the rest went towards a massive rib steak!).

Of course Pappy Van Winkle is the mother of wheated mashbill bourbon. For a quick explanation, bourbon has to be at least 51% corn. From there, distillers will add rye, malted barley, and/or wheat to complete the recipe. "High corn" mashbills typically have 60% or 75% corn, and the rest rye. "High rye" mashbills have 51% corn and 35+% rye. "Wheated boubon" uses wheat as the second ingredient. Pappy Van Winkle, William Larue Weller, and certain bottles of Willett are all highly sought after wheated bourbons. The wheat gives it a dry and almost hoppy character with a lot of crack and richness. Once you start drinking wheated bourbon, you tend to dream about it the next day.

The Parker's is no exception. It's a delicious, big, sweet spicy and complex flavor that's 1,000% drinkable at cask strength right out of the bottle (well ok in a glass). This is a total winner. Lovely crisp short finish where all the wood and spice, sweetness and spirit warmth wrap you up in a flood of classic american whiskey bliss. Definitely give it a go if you have the chance, a wonderful experience!

Cheers/SB

May 30, 2014

Battle of the Beasts Part 1: Lagavulin 12-Year

Battle of the Beasts Part 1

Yesterday we kicked off our Battle of the Beasts showdown between our favorite big bad peaty malts. For the next four days we'll be reviewing each of the selections, and then for the finale we'll show the votes of how they all stacked up on taste and smokiness.

Contender #1: Lagavulin 12- Year

Tasting notes

Nose: Smoke floats right to the top. It's a very fresh peat smoke, like taking pounds of the dark damp vegetal stuff and throwing it on smoldering campfire stones. Once the peat has singed your nose and you've adjusted your internal peat-ometer accordingly, some of the other aromas start to come through. cocoa beans, vanilla cream, sugared lemons, sea air, peanut butter, some medicinal / phenol angles on the peat, green grapes or apples, and some fresh green leaves (jade?).

Palate: What a body on this one! It's thick and oily and creamy. Just absolutely lovely, waking up far corners of the taste buds with heavy cream, sweet lemon meringue pie, lots of spirit warmth, some old leather, wood, and nuts.

Finish: Wow, what a magnificent beast. The smoke comes right at the throat in the finish but it balances out against the high alcohol content wonderfully. It then just rests right there under your soft palate smoldering for several minutes before turning into a little eau de cologne hovering on your breath.

We've really come full circle on this one. We weren't prepared for it the first time, but now we're old friends and this is a definite favorite!

Guest Judge Comments

"Pale citrus, rich peat, lemon, creamy. Kilchoman?"
"Vanilla, ginger, smoke."
"Nose: Vegetal, grilled peppers and zucchini, agave. Reminds me of a reposado tequila or mezcal. Palate- viscous, lots of heat, peppery spice, intense. Finish - intense up front, lots of mint then smoke developed as it wound down. Honestly with the nose, body and flavor if no one told me what it was I'd think I'd have a really interesting & solid tequila."

-- We gave it another sniff and it definitely does have that agave / tequila thing going on. Would never have thought of that but it's true!

May 6, 2014

Pilgrimage to Bourbon Country Part 3: The Bourbon & Bonsai Tasting with Doug Phillips

Well if you've read the blog over the past couple of weeks, you know that our tour of bourbon country in Kentucky was off to a pretty phenomenal start. We'd visited Four Roses to see where all of Jim Rutledge's magic happens. Then we got a private tour of Willett Distillery by Master Distiller Drew Kulsveen, who drilled into some barrels of their new bourbon and rye for us to taste the first original Willett-produced whiskey since the 1970's!

It was shaping up to be a great day. But as the sun started to fade, our journey through the whiskey motherland was just heating up. As we mentioned last week, in recent history Willett has been known as one of the top NDPs - non-distiller producers. Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD) would purchase stocks of whiskey from many different distilleries, age them, and then release them at their peak. Willett released whiskey directly to distributors and retailers, but they also had a very famous private barrel program.

Liquor stores and bars could visit the troves of barrels in Willett's rickhouses and choose one to feature as their own private barrel. Picking barrels of Willett became something of an art form, and some of the most sought after ryes in the world came out of this program. The Seelbach Hotel in Louisville chose the now infamous Rathskeller Rye. LeNell's liquor store in Brooklyn released Red Hook Rye which is now one of the most collectible American whiskies. Joe Reilly from Ace Liquors in Washington D.C. brought forth the mythical "Iron Fist" and "Velvet Glove" Willetts.

Another legend of barrel picking is Doug Phillips. Doug's Willett picks are the types of bottles that whiskey collectors drool over and feature as the crown jewels in their display shelves. We had asked Doug if he'd like to chat with us about whiskey. He agreed, but only on the condition that we visit his home, sit out on the deck, and dram together. It was tough, but eventually he convinced us to say yes. Doug lives not too far from Willett and has a beautiful place out in the country. We rolled in just before dusk and started with a tour of the property (a whiskey-in-hand tour of course!).

Doug's Pond

Lumber shed

Outhouse (we just really liked this photo...)

Doug is a fascinating guy. He is a glazier, glass sandblaster and contractor by trade and actually helped to build the new Willett distillery. He's also into bonsai trees...

Bonsai!!!

Here's Doug at his dock appropriately enjoying an old Willett.

Doug

A curious eye and the right questions revealed some very interesting little facts. Like these seemingly insignificant piles of bricks were actually salvaged from the old Heaven Hill Distillery which burned down in 1996. That's the same distillery where many of those historic Willett's originated.

Fire-Surviving Heaven Hill Bricks

We sat out on the deck and Doug started chopping wood for the barbecue. "You need a lot of different kinds of wood for a good cooking fire," Doug says as he splits logs of cherry, hickory, white oak, maple and walnut. The neighbor's German shepherd comes sniffing around when he smells the fire start. We're drinking old rye and Sierra Nevada Torpedo and eating chicken livers hot off the grill as an appetizer. After a long day driving and walking around it doesn't get much better. Until after dinner that is...

Some of Doug's picks

The bbq chicken and fresh cole slaw were outstanding, and it was time to get into some whiskey. Doug pulls out a few of his favorite Willetts. The 800 series bourbon barrels are wildly popular and we were lucky enough to try three of them.

They're brothers, all sharing a big vanilla, toffee, and spice flavor profile though each one has its own little distinctive characteristics. These are amazing whiskies: big, cask strength, rich and ballsy bourbons.

"I came down to Kentucky to buy a barrel, but no one was interested in selling me one the way I wanted it." Doug explains, "Then I talked to Drew [Kulsveen] and said 'Hey if I wanted a barrel done at cask strength with no chill-filtering, would you do that?' He just looked at me and said 'Ah... yeah, of course!'"

We went through a bunch of other great whiskies and we're not going to try to list all of them. Suffice it to say that Doug picks great barrels. Smooth Ambler is one of his current favorites. But then as we made our way through the cabinet, he pulled out something extra special.

"Dug'z" 17-Year Bourbon

The 17 year "Dug'z & Willy'z" Willett is the most unforgettable of the night. It's a classic big boy on the nose, lots of baking spice and cocoa. It's a nice oily thickness on the palate with lots of wood and some of that old leather we look for in a nice mature whiskey. But the finish is what makes it so incredibly distinctive. Right at the end there's a... funk. There's no other way to describe it. It's a skunky funky herbal finish that floats right out on top of the tongue. Very enjoyable and so unique that there's no doubt we could pick this one out blind among a dozen other beasts without any trouble at all.

The night moves on and we taste a lot of whiskey. There was an awesome 9 year old bourbon from the now closed Deatsville Distillery. We drank some things that weren't even in official bottles, real private stash type stuff. There's a rye that Doug has finished in barrels that previously held peated single malt whiskey. Really wacky in a good way... We start talking about single malts. Doug, like ourselves, discovered great whiskey through scotch before he developed a taste for bourbon and rye. We let on that our favorites are Lagavulin and Talisker. With a glimmer in his eye, Doug makes a b-line to the malt cabinet and withdraws two incredible gems to top off the evening.

"You can't be a Lagavulin fan and not try the White Horse," Doug says. Indeed, we've been wanting to taste one of the Lagavulin White Horse bottles for ages.

The White Horse Lagavulin is absolutely stunning. Despite it being bottled in the early 90's, it tastes fresher than the Lag 16 they're putting out today. The smoke is really tight and refined and layered in with the warmth and wood and slight sherry notes. It's a subtle difference but very noticeable. Really nice stuff.

Doug's got one final trick up his sleeve when it is revealed that Hubby loves Talisker and was born in 1975. Care to guess? Yup a 1975 Talisker. One of the original 25-Year Limited Edition bottles. It's sealed, but Doug insists that we crack it and drink it to the shoulder before calling it a night.

The Tali is a complete gem. We reviewed one of the current release Tali 25 year bottles early on in the blog. It was good stuff, no doubt. But nowadays they have dropped the proof down considerably. Back then it was cask strength - 59.9% in this case. The extra proof makes it a 'no contest' against the current release. It's extremely smooth and drinkable for the proof with all that wonderful Talisker ocean brine and sea air, smoldering smoky rocks, huge peat, and just an incredible balance. Absolutely everything you want in a Talisker.

Doug was a phenomenal host and shared a tremendous amount of whiskey knowledge, not to mention a top-notch tasting! If you're lucky enough to try one of Doug's barrel picks, you'll be in for a treat. And spending an evening watching the light fade over bbq, beer, and whiskey was the perfect way to end an unbelievable day in Kentucky.

Until next time. /SmokyBeast

December 10, 2013

Review: Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 2013 - The Minty Green Beast

Etiology of Swill

Before we dive into this year's wintry treat from Islay, we thought we'd spend few moments stewing on one of the more noxious trends in the booze industry: flavored whiskey. From what pit of despair emerged abominations like Jim Beam's Red Stag, Sazerac's Fireball, and Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey?

Things to avoid in life: Red Stag, Fireball, & Tennessee Honey

Noble Origins

The swill that we currently know as flavored whiskey is the inevitable conclusion of a downward spiral of alcohol consumerism. However, like the ruin of so many empires, it did have noble origins. In Russia, flavored vodka is not the drink of sissies and Bethany Frankel enthusiasts. It's not the sugary sweet disgusting concoction we get here in the US at all. It's actually a totally kick-ass, delicious, high proof staple of life in one of the most hard-drinking cultures in the world. (Picture the shot-drinking contest that Marion wins in Raiders of the Lost Ark, they were probably drinking this stuff.)

Перцовка (in English "perzovka") is Russian hot-pepper vodka. Like all Russian vodka, it's never mixed. You chill the bottle (preferably by sticking it outside in a pile of snow) and drink it in shots. Three shots is considered one serving. No sipping is allowed. можжевеловка ("mozhevelovka") is vodka infused with juniper berries, the same ingredient used in gin. If you can get your hands on the real stuff, flavored Russian vodka is a life-changing experience. It's wickedly smooth, delicious, and you can drink massive amounts of it, get wildly drunk, and not be hung over. Seriously. (As long as you have another serving with breakfast.)

Перцовка and можжевеловка (hardcore chili & juniper-flavored Russian vodka)

Americanization

So what happens when some bright-eyed marketing executive takes a sip of perzovka on a field trip to Moscow? Well brands like Absolut, Stolichnaya, and Grey Goose start to produce the American (i.e. shitty) version - watered down, artificially flavored trash that is typically ordered in a Sprite with a cocktail cherry in it.

Absolut Swill

It was only a matter of time before whiskey followed suit. We're hoping that honey and cinnamon are as far as it goes, but we're ever wary and vigilant against further flavor innovations.

Why We Love Scotch (particularly Lagavulin)

There are so many reasons we love scotch. There's the flavor, the history, the getting drunk... But the same could be said about other liquors as well. One thing that's fairly unique about scotch is that it's treated with respect. They don't turn scotch into "Appletinis" or shoot it in a glass of Red Bull. You don't order a "scotch & Coke". When we interviewed James Wills of Kilchoman for last week's review, he put it well: "the good thing about scotch whisky is that it’s a global brand. No matter where you are in the world, if you’re drinking whisky, the gold standard is scotch whisky."

And it is. And the wonderful thing about this is that you will NEVER see a flavored single malt scotch. Despite the new minty-green colored label of this year's Lagavulin Distiller's Edition, there will never be a mint flavored Lagavulin!

(Ok, yes, Dewar's has a "Highland Honey" nastiness-infused scotch, but a) it can't legally be called scotch, and b) we don't want to talk about it!)

2013 Lagavulin Distiller's Edition

2013 Lagavulin Distiller's Edition

We covered most of the details behind Lagavulin Distiller's Edition in last year's review, so rather than rehash the aging & barreling process, we'll cut right to the tasting!

Tasting Notes

Nose: The best description is "rotten sweet peat." Very strong peat smoke, sea brine, ocean breeze, with a hefty dose of overripe peaches and melons. Closes out with some wet oak / decaying wood and leather polish. (all these things are good, despite the references to rot / decay!!!)

Palate: It's even sweeter than last year's with a big dose of banana and pineapple. The smoke is omnipresent. It's medium bodied on the tongue with some nice thick oiliness.

Finish: All the intense outliers in the nose and palate come together beautifully in the finish. The smoke cancels out all the alcohol burn while the sweet fruits rise up off the tongue for a smooth and extremely well balanced finish. Classic Lagavulin!

Quick Head-to-Head with Lagavulin 16-Year

Nose-to-nose: Very similar. Both have the smoking ocean stones, the wood and the mature leather polish. The Distiller's Edition is much sweeter on top of the smoke.

Palate: Again two peas in a pod. Great balance of smoke, heat, and sweet. More grapes on the DE and some of those stone fruits come to the front.

Finish: The two diverge the most in the finish with the most noticeable difference. The standard 16-Year finished pure smoke and spice with little red pepper flakes roasting in peat fire. The Distiller's Edition ends with a distinct sweetness. Sort of like a drop of simple syrup on the tip of the tongue right at the end.

Review

It's hard to find any fault with this year's Lagavulin DE. It's a little more sugary than last year's, with brighter citrus fruits rather than the deep plums and red grapes from last year. But it's still Lagavulin and so, true to character, it still slaughters 90% of bottles that cost double its price. And best of all: NO MINT FLAVOR :).

Cheers, this is a great way to start December! /SB

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