www.ralfy.com gets into a good mood with a singular character by way of Whisky Review 568 – Benriach 1998 single cask malt

The new year is starting with a bang – whisky of the month with a great money-saving deal.

I’ll start with the Malt of the Month, as it’s a whisky that I tried and enjoyed back when it arrived, shortly after I started at The Whisky Exchange – Talisker 25 Year Old, bottled in 2011. The 25 Year Old has been an occasional limited release in Talisker’s line-up, and the 2011 marked a change – the dropping of the ABV from cask strength to 45.8% ABV like the rest of the range. It was the first Talisker 25 I had the chance to try and I was impressed – it’s more elegant and refined than the gutsy earlier releases:

TALISKER 25 YEAR OLD, BOTTLED 2011. 45.8% ABV

Nose: Honeysuckle, beeswax, fruity smoke, pineapple, lychee juice, carbolic soap and a hint of tomato.

Palate: Freshly cut boards, tropical fruit syrup, muddy peat, violets, juicy orange and light smoke.

Finish: Anise, light spice and sawdust, with lingering floral notes.

Comment: Elegant and reminiscent of much older drams [you can tell that I wrote these notes back in my less wordy days…]

We’re doing it for the impressive price of £180 all month – £50 off the normal asking price.

Bargain

A contemporary Burns Night: Hosting a modern take on the traditional celebration

www.arranwhisky.com

With Christmas a distant memory and spring a long way away, the end of January isn’t a traditionally cheerful time unless you follow Scottish tradition and throw a party to rival Hogmanay on the 25^th. Burns Night is a celebration of the great Robert Burns, national hero and Scotland’s most beloved poet, and a great excuse to shake off the winter blues.

James McTaggart, Master Distiller at Isle of Arran Distillers who produce the world’s only official Robert Burns Malt, is well versed in how to throw a brilliant Burns Night celebration. Here he shares his top tips on how to welcome newcomers and make the evening an inclusive and modern affair:

• Set the tone  

1. “While there are many who believe there’s only one proper way to celebrate Burns Night, the most important thing is to have a good time. If a playlist of contemporary Scottish music is more appropriate to the atmosphere there’s certainly plenty to choose from!
2. “Are you going to strictly adhere to traditions? Will your guests appreciate traditional pipe music? Do you want a dress code? Before deciding on anything, work out what sort of evening you want.
3. Pick your traditions: The Selkirk Grace
4. “Instead, select activities that will suit your party and the preferences of your guests. Poetry is naturally considered very important though, so if there are any brave guests, encourage them to get up and recite some of Burns’ work. ‘My Love is a Red, Red Rose’ and ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ are firm favourites. Or, as host, take command of the Selkirk Grace as you serve dinner in a nod to the man who has inspired hundreds of years’ worth of parties.
5. “Contrary to what many people may believe, Burns Night is traditionally a very structured affair. There are set times for welcome addresses, toasts, food and entertainment. If you’re not Scottish, or familiar with these traditions, it can be an intimidating itinerary.

Some Folk hae meat that canna eat,

And some can eat that want it;

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

So let the Lord be Thanket!

“Of course, no Burns Night is complete without a rousing rendition of Auld Lang’s Syne, helped by an evening of whisky, which everyone should be familiar with.”

• Lay the table:    

1. “Or, make the meal a simple celebration of Scottish produce with a sit down meal of salmon fishcakes, venison and local cheeses served with oat cakes followed by shortbread and coffee.”
2. “For a more modern take on proceedings, create a Scottish tapas menu. Serve a guests a trio of small servings that include all the Burns night favourites such as neeps and tatties (swede and potato), haggis with a drizzle of whisky sauce and cock-a-leekie soup.
3. “Food should be absolutely central to the party. The star of the show is normally a haggis which, in a traditional sit-down dinner, is piped in by bagpipes, toasted with a dram of whisky and pierced with a dagger before being eaten.”
4. Know your whisky
5. “Whisky cocktails are increasingly popular and offer an alternative to a neat serving for those less familiar with a dram. Pick a softer whisky for mixing to give you the option of a varied menu. We developed a number of recipes with Robert Burns Single Malt, the only whisky endorsed by the Robert Burns World Federation, for this very reason.”
6. “Add a modern twist by serving a flute of different varieties ranging from strong, peaty Scotch to those with lighter palates. Or, pick a distillery and present a variety of ages. Our core range, for example, offers slightly different taste profiles from the lighter, more citrus 10yo to the richer, fruity 14yo with a touch of spice.
7. “Burns Night wouldn’t be complete without whisky and no table is set without a good selection of drams. Whisky has become very fashionable once again so you may find many of your guests will be more than happy to try something new.

• Make Merry  

1. “Introduce a modern version of this to your night with men vs women games and competitions. The whole point of Burns Night to have an amazing time so fun should be at the heart of all your preparations.”
2. “At the core of any Burns Night is the entertainment. The most popular is probably the famous Toast to the Lassies and Reply to the Toast to the Lassies. Usually incorporating quotes from Burns, these are comical monologues, light hearted and positive (with the odd sharp observation).

Isle of Arran Distillers produce the world’s only official Robert Burns Malt, it is available from specialist whisky retailers and online at www.arranwhisky.com for £29.99 RRP. The distillery is a Patron of the Robert Burns World Foundation.

Burn Night Whisky Cocktail Recipes: A Red, Red Rose

You will need:

37.5ml Burns Malt Whisky

12.5ml Chambord

125ml Cranberry Juice

20ml Lime Juice

5 Fresh Raspberries

Method:

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into an ice filled highball glass.

Garnish with a raspberry.

Cask No. 29.166                     $140

‘Elementary, my dear Watson’

Islay

This sample presented interesting challenges to our Sherlock noses – we were all over the place, from a hunting lodge (wellies, tweed jackets, rifles, log fire) to an amateur beach bonfire barbeque (jacket potatoes, toasted marshmallows, grilled pork – all slightly overdone). The unreduced palate had ash, wood smoke, peat smoke, singed lime, porridge with brown sugar, caramelised apple and donuts.  The reduced nose seemed fresher, with laundry flapping vigorously on a washing-line down-wind of chimney smoke; also sou’westers and pork crackling with apple. The reduced palate re-discovered its sweetness (white jelly babies, icing sugar, vanilla) – but with curious hints of smoked fish.

Drinking tip: A west coast holiday dram – or to provide warmth and calmness on a blustery day.

Colour: Playboy bunny platinum blonde

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 15 years

Date distilled: July 1999

Alcohol: 51.5%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Flavour profile: Peated

Cask No. 5.47                         $135

Floral perfumes in a Chinese restaurant

Lowland

We found the nose straightforward but attractive, with vanilla, lemon puffs, green apple, rhubarb and chalky sweets (Edinburgh Rock) but one panellist was in a Chinese restaurant (five-spice, fragrant rice, fortune cookies). With water the floral, citric perfumes edged forward and it became more buttery (popcorn, shortbread, caramel). The palate had good viscosity and body, with sweet and tart flavours of stewed rhubarb, gooseberry, plums, red grape Shloer, Haribos and Astro Belts; it even seemed fizzy and lively at times. Water emphasised different aspects – pistachios, almonds and salty bread, with lemon rind, white pepper and aniseed bringing dryness to the finish.

Drinking tip: A pick-me-up or palate cleanser.

Colour: Transparent pine

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 14 years

Date distilled: October 2000

Alcohol: 59.8%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Flavour profile: Sweet, fruity & mellow

Cask No. 13.47                               $105

It’s a knockout

Highland, Northern

This was not subtle to start with, in fact, it felt like one of Mike Tyson’s unbelievable knockout punches and after being counted out we were helped back up on to our feet. As we slowly recovered we could smell the aromas from the ringside seats of toffee caramels, sweet and salty buttered popcorn and monkey peanuts. The taste was initially a spicy hot dog but then, sweeter flavours of strawberries with molasses sour cream sauce emerged. Water brought out boozy orange caramel pancakes with crispy bacon and in the finish, clootie dumplings with Drambuie custard – one for the real grown-ups!

Drinking tip: Preparing for something big

Colour: Sunflower oil

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 10 years

Date distilled: May 2005

Alcohol: 59.3%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet

Cask No. 54.34                       $100

Monkey’s Lunch

Speyside, Spey

This was a dancing dram for each time we got back it had changed. Aromas spread from sharp grapefruit slices, lemon sherbet and lime soda to tropical sorbet, marzipan fruits, vanilla pods and banana marshmallows. Sharp and citric without being bitter on the palate neat like freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and hot cinnamon bagels sprinkled with cayenne pepper combined with the dry, briny finish of a Manzanilla Sherry.  With water, a delicious adult milkshake called Monkey’s Lunch; Kahlua, fresh bananas and vanilla ice-cream. Whilst in the taste now surprisingly creamy, sweet and salty like that of a salted caramel crème brûlée.

Drinking tip: Afternoon in the garden

Colour: Mellow yellow

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 9 years

Date distilled: October 2005

Alcohol: 59.8%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Flavour profile: Young & spritely

Cask No. 58.17                       $105

“Not shaken, not stirred”

Speyside, Deveron

We all stepped into an old fashioned sweet shop; plenty of dust but the floor was recently spring cleaned with bleaching powder and chlorinated lime. When we left we strangely bought pancetta, prosciutto, freshly grounded coffee and Amontillado Sherry. The taste neat was like an erupting volcano with the lava flowing into the sea and causing a sizzling hot spray – exhilarating! Water calmed the scene and fruity aromas of apples, pears, plums and grapes appeared out of nowhere with the refreshing sparkle of a white grape and raspberry juice on the palate and a perfect Martini in the finish.

Drinking tip: In a moment of exhilaration

Colour: White swan feathers

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 10 years

Date distilled: April 2005

Alcohol: 60.4%

USA allocation: 102 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & dry

Visit the Scotch malt Whisky Society of America at www.smwsa.com

Plan your Bourbon education ahead!

February is Bourbon-heavy at Brandy Library

sure we got the new John E. Fitzgerald 20 year old , as well as 18 year old Elijah Craig, but we also have gathered more Barterhouse 20 years and I.W. Harper 15 years. And a bunch of classes: “Barrel Proof Bourbon” on 02-27-16, “Single Barrel Bourbon” on 02-09-16 and a Rye Whiskey seminar on 02-02-16.

St. Magdalene (Linlithgow) 31 Year Old 1982 Hart Brothers

Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

$601.41

St. Magdalene 31 Year Old 1982 vintage Lowland single malt Scotch whiskey. Distilled September 1982 and bottled October 2013 by Hart Brothers for the Finest Collection series.

This is initially quite a complex malt that takes the addition of a little water to release the peaty nose. There is also a hint of licorice coming through. This is really a very pleasant typical Lowland malt with a sweet sherry initial taste, which comes from the cask in which it was matured. Try as a pre-dinner aperitif.

St. Magdalene malt whisky distillery was established by Sebastian Henderson in Linlithgow sometime between 1753 and 1798. During the 1810s St. Magdalene Distillery was amalgamated with its near neighbour Bonnytoun Distillery. The Union Canal was constructed right on its southern doorstep during the early nineteenth century then the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway steamed right past on its northern doorstep and ensured easy access to rapidly expanding markets. St. Magdalene Distillery closed in 1983 and was later converted into private housing and is now a lost Scottish Lowland malt whisky distillery. All the whisky from St. Magdalene’s four stills went into blends during its working life, the few single cask bottlings are a modern development.

This week Joe Ellis reviews Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey.

https://youtu.be/WqC8FqYiLaM

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

https://www.facebook.com/whiskytube

The Whisky Exchange Blog Review of 2015

2015 was as busy as ever, with loads of new drinks appearing on our shelves and more customers than ever before – thank you for making it such a success. It’s now 2016, and that can mean only one thing: time for our round-up of the past year.

Tastings at TWE Vinopolis

It’s been a bit of a year for our London Bridge shop. We had loads of great tastings, but while it gained a new sibling – The Whisky Exchange Shop at Covent Garden – it also, sadly, closed. Vinopolis, the building where we were based, is being redeveloped, so we had to move out. Don’t worry, as we like London Bridge and there are already plans afoot for a new shop – keep an eye on the TWE London Shops Facebook page for news, and have a read of manager Alex’s post from last week, sharing his memories of our original shop.

It wouldn’t be a yearly round-up without a picture of Colin Dunn

We did our usual run of great evenings through the year, starting with our traditional Diageo Special Releases evening with Colin Dunn and finishing with a tasting of long-aged whiskies from the Inver House Distillers portfolio with Lukasz Dynowiak. We had visiting American distillers from Rock Town and Wild Turkey, Ardbeg’s Mickey Heads celebrating the distillery’s 200th birthday, Dalmore’s Richard Paterson threatening to kill people (as usual), and even a visit from Bruichladdich master distiller Jim McEwan, as part of his victory lap of the UK before retiring in July.

However, the tasting that stood out most to me was a visit from Billy Leighton, master blender at Midleton in Ireland. Not only did he bring the distillery’s excellent range of whiskeys, but he also had some cask samples for us to choose from – keep an eye on the website, as we’ll soon have a TWE-exclusive Irish whiskey appearing soon…

Spirit and Whisky of the Year 2016

This year’s shortlists for our Spirit and Whisky of the Year awards were even more difficult to choose than before, but we narrowed them down and our eventual winners were Plantation XO 20th Anniversary rum and Talisker 2003 Distillers Edition – both excellent releases and well worth your attention.

On the blog

Cleo and Rocky

We’ve been busy this year, with 162 posts popping up over the past 365 days – one every two-and-a-bit days. We’ve made significantly fewer photoshopped pictures of Rocky this year, but he’s managed to both jet around the world to visit distilleries in the USA and Germany, as well as meet the person behind one of the two celebrity Tequila brands we’ve looked at this year – Cleo Rocos, owner of Aqua Riva Tequila. Unfortunately, the owner of Casamigos Tequila, a Mr Clooney, wasn’t available.

Stu’s also managed to meet a few people, adding entries to our In Their Own Words series as well as interviewing rugby player Chris Cusiter, who we found is not only fond of whisky but also a TWE fan. He also wrote our most contentious post of the year – an interview with Nick Morgan of Diageo about NAS whisky. It ruffled a few feathers in the online world, and has attracted more comments than anything else we’ve published.

I’ve had a much quieter year, focusing more on the non-whisky spirits that have been tempting me recently – Haitian rum, Aperol, Vermouth and Campari, amongst others. I also got to interview Jim McEwan, tried to make my own Baileys and admitted to my not-so-secret love of Jack Daniel’s liqueurs – Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire.

As usual, there were two big hitting blog posts this year – the announcement of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible award winners and our April Fools’ Day story. We’re sorry to all of you who were taken in by the latter – it seems that it was worryingly believable this year.

Whisky Exchange Exclusive Whiskies

We bottled some excellent whisky this year. I am almost certainly biased, but with excellent scores from bloggers and magazines, awards from the Independent Bottlers’ Challenge, medals from the Malt Maniacs awards and most of them sold out, it seems that other people agree. You can find all of our exclusive whiskies here, but special mention must go to our pair of bottlings from The English Whisky Co – Classic and Peated – which Oliver wrote about here.

ore than any other whiskies we’ve selected in recent times, these have turned heads – English whisky has come of age.

What Next?

2016 promises to be even busier than 2015: Whisky Show tickets are already on sale; we have a new venue for tastings and the schedule for early 2016 is already filling up; and plans for a new London Bridge shop continue apace. Behind the scenes, our warehouse has been upgraded and orders are being delivered even faster than before. We’re also bringing in more products every day – from fine wine to Bajan hot sauce – and will continue to do so, ensuring that we have the best selection of tasty things to drink (or eat – don’t drink the hot sauce neat) anywhere online. We have plans for more exclusives, rumours of excellent new bottlings arriving down the line, more bottle engraving and lots of ideas for new website features – it’s going to be a fun year.

Glenglassaugh
42 Year Old Batch 2 Cask #2125

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

 

Glenglassaugh 40 Year Old Batch 2 Cask #2180

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky