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Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits
"I'm not an alcoholic, I'm an alcohologist"
Four bourbons from the Buffalo Trace distillery | 18-Apr-2010 | ||
These four bourbons are today produced at the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Van Winkle and W.L. Weller brands were originally distilled at the Stitzel-Weller distillery which closed in 1992. The W.L. Weller brand was eventually taken over by Buffalo Trace and the Van Winkle family (who used to used own Stitzel-Weller) entered an agreement with Buffalo Trace in 2002 for them to produce the bourbon for the Van Winkle products. (Today's 10 and 12 year old Van Winkle bourbons were distilled before that, so I don't know where they were actually distilled.)
The W.L. Weller and Van Winkle bourbons are "wheated", which means they use wheat as the third grain in the mash bill, instead of the more common rye. (The other two grains used for bourbon are corn and malted barley. A few bourbons are produced from both wheat and rye and are therefore called "four grain".)
Wheated bourbons are usually softer and milder than rye-based ones and Van Winkle claims that wheated bourbons age more gracefully. Van Winkle certainly has some of the oldest bourbons on the market, for instance the 20 y.o. "Family Reserve" and the newly released 23 y.o. "Limited Edition".
The four bourbons I tried the other day are much younger than that though, ranging from 4 to 12 years of age. Here are my notes:
McAfee's Benchmark, 4 y.o.:
Weird nose - musty, dusty (from the rye, I presume), also fruity with a note of avocado. Sweet, fruity
palate with green fruits and cucumber but - again - musty. Rather disappointing but the finish is fairly nice.
(78 p)
W. L. Weller Special Reserve Wheated Bourbon, 7 y.o. 45%:
Wow, what a nose! Fragrant and very nice with vanilla, arrack, oak shavings and orange peel. Rich, sweet palate with
vanilla, mint and citrus. Quite mild at first then develops spices and a little fire. Hot, peppery finish.
Not particularly balanced but very entertaining and moreish!
(87 p)
Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon, 10 y.o. 45%:
Faint nose yet nice and complex with vanilla, oak and a note of mint, also a little musty and smoky (burned oak
shavings). The palate is quite hot and a little spirity but mellows with a few drops of water.
Sweet, spicy and rather nice with notes of vanilla, mint and orange, also herbal with a hint of basil.
(85 p)
Van Winkle Special Reserve 'Lot B', 12 y.o. 45.2%:
Nice nose with vanilla, caramelized sugar and mint. Very nice palate with fresh notes
of lemon and lime. Balanced, fairly rich and a little spicy.
(87 p)
Related links:
All my tasting notes on Kentucky bourbon whiskey
Chuck Cowdery on Stitzel-Weller whiskey
The bourbons from Buffalo Trace
Dalmore Mackenzie | 25-Mar-2010 | ||
The "Mackenzie", a new expression of the Dalmore single malt, was launched on March 17 at the National Gallery of Scotland. It seems an odd place to release a new single malt, so why there, you might ask?
It's all connected to the stag head that adornes Dalmore's bottles of whisky. The stag symbolizes the Mackenzie clan and comes from the time when the Dalmore distillery was owned by members of that clan. (Dalmore's motto "I shine not burn" is also the motto of the clan Mackenzie.)
The stag head symbol derives from the legend that king Alexander III of Scotland was once saved from being killed by a stag by an ancestor of the Mackenzies. This event was illustrated by Benjamin West in his painting "The Death of the Stag" which hangs - guess where? - in Scotland's National Gallery in Edinburgh.
Ok, that was a nice story but what about the whisky?
The casks for the "Mackenzie" were selected by master distiller Richard Paterson. The whisky was distilled in 1992, matured in bourbon wood for 11 years and then finished in fresh port pipes. Bottled at 46% and limited to 3000 bottles. Now, if I could only get to try it... =)
Related links:
Dalmore distillery
Dalmore Mackenzie at Loch Fyne Whiskies
Clan Mackenzie on Wikipedia
Five blended Irish whiskeys | 14-Mar-2010 | ||
Interestingly, four of these five whiskeys are produced at the same distillery, namely Midleton in County Cork in the far south of Ireland. The fifth whiskey, Black Bush, is made at practically the other end of the "Emerald Isle" - at the Bushmills distillery in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. But I'll start off with the most famous of all Irish whiskeys: Jameson, or Jamie as it's called by its fans =)
Jameson (NAS):
Fresh, fruity nose with apricot and orange but also a note of oak that mars the freshness a little.
Fairly sweet palate with nice fruity notes but also fairly spicy and fiery. Sadly, just a hint of
"pure pot still" -
a few years ago the pot still character was more pronounced.
(81 p)
Jameson 12 y.o.:
Weird nose with sherry fruits, barbecue sauce and a loud, sulphury off-note. The palate is much nicer: sweet
and smooth with both "pure pot still" fruits and sherry fruits,
but the sherry doesn't quite agree with the pot still character.
Conclusion: swill it but don't smell it!
(79 p)
Tullamore Dew:
Youngish nose with a note of sawdust, also dry and "dusty" (reminiscent of rye whisky).
Light, fresh palate with very nice notes of apples and pears, also fairly spicy and a little fiery.
(82 p)
Powers:
Very nice fruity nose (typical of "pure pot still" whiskey) with citrus and apricot. On the palate
it's at first fresh and fruity then develops spices. It's light-bodied yet a little fiery with a spicy,
warming (yet slightly disappointing) finish. A classic, old-fashioned Irish whiskey.
(83 p)
Black Bush:
Very nice nose with lovely fruity notes. Very nice, complex palate - quite rich and sweet
(from the sherry wood maturation) but also spicy and a bit fiery.
The finish is drying and fairly oaky and leaves you wanting more.
(85 p)
Related links:
All my tasting notes on Irish whiskey
Black Bush - whisky of the month on Whisky-Pages
The Ireland Whiskey Trail
Japanese whisky: Hibiki, Hakushu and Yamazaki | 14-Feb-2010 | ||
Suntory is the oldest producer of whisky in Japan. Their Yamazaki distillery was opened as early as 1923. Their second distillery, Hakushu, was opened in 1973. At the Linköping Whisky Expo I tried a few expressions of single malt from these two distilleries, as well as two expressions of Hibiki, a blended whisky.
Hibiki 12 y.o.:
Fragrant, herbal, nice nose with oak shavings and vanilla. Light palate with nice notes of
green fruits but unfortunately the fruits fade too soon. Develops oak and turns fairly dry.
Disappointing finish.
(85 p)
Hibiki 17 y.o.:
Rather nice nose with oak and vanilla, also fruity. Light, sweet, very nice palate with vanilla
and citrus. Develops oak and spices. Similar to the 12 y.o. but fruitier, a little richer and a little nicer.
(86 p)
Hakushu 18 y.o.:
Very nice nose: complex, subtle, herbal and grassy with fruity candy, oak shavings and vanilla. The
palate is fairly rich - at first sweet with vanilla and citrus, then drying and develops oak.
Very nicely balanced.
(88 p)
Yamazaki 10 y.o.:
Very nice nose with oak, vanilla and citrus, also a little flowery. Light, clean palate
(über-clean in fact), smooth and sweet, develops spices. Makes a great apéritif.
(87 p)
Yamazaki Sherry Cask 48%:
Wonderful nose with sherry, vanilla and hints of coconut and turpentine. Rich, full flavour,
at first spicy with gingerbread then develops dried fruits and honey. Quite oaky but with a
lovely balance between oak and sherry.
(90 p)
Related links:
Yamazaki Sherry Cask - whisky of the month on Whisky-Pages
Nonjatta - all you need to know about Japanese whisky
A review of "Whiskey & Philosophy" | 20-Jan-2010 | ||
Whiskey & Philosophy, edited by Fritz Allhof and Marcus P. Adams, contains twenty essays by different authors and on various whisky-related subjects. "A must read for anyone interested in whisk(e)y" and "a thought-provoking and thirst-inducing read" according to Jim McEwan and Chris Morris. Personally, I found it quite uneven and a bit of a mixed bag. Not too surprising perhaps, because of the many authors and subjects.
The whisky-heavy essays are good (some of them very good) but most of the philosophy-heavy ones I found too abstract. I was curious about philosophy and I hoped this book could whet my appetite for learning more (but it didn't).
The introduction recommends the reader to have a dram or a cocktail while reading but I didn't take that advice - perhaps a mistake, since a few of the essays are the driest stuff I've read since I left university.
That said, the best essays in the book are excellent: Andrew Jefford's, Ian Buxton's and David Wishart's essays on whisky's history, provenance and authenticity; Ian Dove and Burnham/Skilleås on whisky tasting notes and Chris Bunting on Japanese whisky.
To sum up, I'd say that the several good essays in the book outweigh the few uninteresting ones. I do agree that the book is thought-provoking and it makes several points that aren't widely known.
Whiskey & Philosophy - a small batch of spirited ideas
edited by Fritz Allhof and Marcus P. Adams
Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-43121-4
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