What whisky should I buy for the holiday season?

The gift giving season is on top of us and some people (like me) have waited until the last minute to buy gifts.  Now I don’t know about the rest of you but, for the exception of the children, I’m bringing all of the adults liquid cheer.

For the friends I have that are just starting the whisky trail, I’m getting sampler packs or a good starter bourbon.  Some distillers, like Johnnie Walker and Glenmorangie for example, sell a gift box with a selection of their whiskies.  The former is an example of a blended scotch selection, while the latter is a selection of single malt scotches.

I like gifting bourbons to beginners because, in my opinion, it is the “gateway” whiskey.  The alcohol by volume (ABV) of bourbon is very similar to scotch whiskies, so you can start getting used to ABV right away.  Since many people have tasted some sort of corn product in their life (i.e. corn syrup, kettle corn, corn-on-the-cob) it’s easier for a novice to pick up the tasting notes.  Bourbon is also significantly less expensive.  You can get a fairly high-end Bourbon for $40, whereas a comparable high-end scotch will cost you $125 and higher.

For the more experienced drinker and I don’t know their tastes, I try to look out for whiskies that haven’t been out on the market very long.  Many enthusiasts maintain a selection of the whiskies they enjoy, and don’t vary too far from that selection.  Something untried/untested is a nice change of pace and helps round off their collection a little bit.  Personally I find that there are a lot of spirits I would like to try, but am unsure whether the experiment is worth the price.  If I get to try something new and I didn’t have to pay for it…I’m a happy man*.

For the experienced drinker that I do know, I try for special or rare bottling’s of things they already have.  Many, if not all distillers, have the product they mass produce and a selection that is their high-end product.  Glenkinchie, Oban, Lagavulin, Cragganmore, and many other scotches have a “Distiller’s Edition.”  This means that they took their normal production spirit and altered it a little, usually finishing the spirit in a different kind of cask for some time to impart additional character for a modest increase in its price.  If I visit a friend and see a bottle or two of Talisker (for example) on the shelf, he or she might enjoy the distiller’s edition of it as a gift.

This year’s gift for a majority of my pals is the Jameson’s Select Reserve Black Barrel Irish whiskey.  It is aged for a few years longer than their normal product (twelve years instead of seven), its availability is limited (this year's supply has only been distributed to bars and liquor stores in New York), and at roughly $45 a bottle stays within my holiday budget.

Whiskey tip:  For those drinkers whose friends always buy you whiskey, but never seem to get what you like, I suggest purchasing a bottle of sour mix.  I might not be crazy about some of the bottles I get, but I never “re-gift” them.  Instead, I put an ounce of the offending spirit in a glass with three ounces of sour mix and enjoy a whiskey sour.

Happy Holidays,

Pat

* It should be noted that I’m always a happy man when I’m not paying

What does "Chill-filtered" mean?

Whisky 101 @ Pennsic War 40.  Photo courtesy of Michael O'Halloran

Whenever I give a class
on whisky, someone always asks a question I am not prepared for.  This past August I gave a class at Pennsic War 40, and of course this class was no exception. 

The question asked was, “What is chill-filtered and what does it do to the taste?”  I was on a strict time schedule and had to focus on my course outline, so I never fully answered the question.  I apologize for the delay. 

Chill-Filtering is a process where the temperature of the spirit is reduced to 32^oF (0^oC) degrees and passed through a fine filter.  The cold creates an environment that that makes it easier to remove some of the compounds produced during distillation.

A whisky that has not been chill-filtered will get hazy or cloudy if its temperature is lowered (e.g., if ice or cold water is added).  By chill-filtering, the distiller removes particles from the cask it aged in and other compounds in the whisky which cause it to go slightly dull or cloudy when chilled. 

However, many feel that those compounds also contribute to a whisky’s character and flavor.

So why do they do it?  For the most part, it’s for aesthetics.   Whisky companies are in the business of selling their product.  Modern drinkers are used to seeing their beer and whisky without any haze or cloudiness.   Therefore, the assumption is that cloudy whisky is unappealing and will hurt sales. 

But just as some producers are proud to claim that they chill-filter, there are others that are similarly proud to claim that they do not.   Most of the time it is boldly printed on the label, but don’t be afraid to read the front and back labels before purchase.  

As an aside, bottled whiskies over 46% alcohol by volume (ABV) are largely not chill-filtered as the spirit generally remains unclouded at this alcohol level.

Personally, I’m not one to turn down a free glass of Scotch, regardless of filtration.  Its all about the taste, isn't it?  However, when I looked over my inventory of whiskies I noticed that none of them were chill-filtered.  This was not done intentionally, so I’ll have to research (drink) some and get back to you on it. 

Sláinte

What is so important about age and whisky?

“The influence of maturation in the creation of a good whiskey cannot be overemphasized.  Indeed, some authorities consider that a whiskey acquires up to 80% of its final character in the cask.  The cask cannot make a bad whisky good, but it can make a good whiskey great.” –Whiskey, edited by Charles MacLean, DK Publishing.

One of the things you will notice on the label of many whisky bottles is an age statement.  Common ages include 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25 and 30.  The age statement is simply the amount of time the whisky you are drinking aged in a barrel.  For the majority of us, the age is an important factor when considering whether to purchase a particular bottle or not. 

Personally, I find that the longer a whisky has aged, the more it suppresses the “rough” or “in your face” alcohol feel you get when you smell and taste the whisky.   This allows you to more easily pick up the aromas and flavors imparted by the wood the barrel is made from.  It can also be said that those same aromas and flavors are strengthened by their continued contact with the wood over this greater amount of time.  It should come as no surprise then that the older the age statement, the more expensive the bottle is.

If a whisky has an age statement on the label, then all the whisky in that bottle must be at least that old (ex. a distillery combines 10, 15, and 18 year old barrels of whisky, the age statement on the label will say 10 years old.)  Since many blended scotches often contain un-aged whisky (less than three years in a barrel,) you will not see an age on the bottle. 

Whisky only ages in the barrel, not in the bottle.  So for all of you people who were gifted with a 10 year old scotch 10 years ago, you still have a 10 year old scotch on your hands, not a 20. 

Slainte

What is the difference between single malt and blended whiskies?

Basic Answer:

A)     Single malt is a whisky that is produced at one distillery, using only malted barley as the grain.

B)      Single grain is a whisky that is produced at one distillery, using grain that has not been malted.

C)      Blended whisky is a combination of malted and grain whiskies. 

Advanced Answer:

Single malt whisky is whisky from a single distillery made from a mash that uses only one particular malted grain.  It will contain whisky from many casks, and different years from that distillery. 

Pure malt is similar to single malt save that the blending involves single malt(s) from other distilleries.  This is also referred to as a “vatted malt.”  The key thing to remember is that it no grain alcohols are added to this.  I believe a blend of single grains is called a “pure grain,” or, “blended grain.”

Single barrel is when the whisky is sold from one particular barrel.  These are typically special bottlings that are labeled such and are numbered.  These can be fun as no two barrels will taste exactly alike.

Enthusiasts Answer:

A good friend of mine would often get angry with me when I used an adjustable wrench, instead of the correctly sized socket wrench, when we restored my 1967 Ford Mustang.  I argued that I didn’t have to crawl out from under the car as often when I had a tool that covered the several sizes I may encounter.  He argued that each individual nut, or bolt, had a corresponding wrench that matched it perfectly…and to stop being lazy and bring the toolbox closer to the car.

Single malt and blended whisky are the same.

A blended scotch is like my adjustable wrench.  The distiller has blended all of the characteristics I may desire all into one easy to carry bottle.  A single malt scotch is like the socket wrench.  It may not have all of the tastes of Scotland, but it does one particular taste better than a blended could hope for.

Many enthusiasts often progress from blended to single malts once they have developed their palate and have some more knowledge under their belt.  That is not to say that blends are inferior or are only for the uninitiated.  But once you know that you really like one particular characteristic, do you really want to stick with a whisky that doesn’t specialize in it?

Sláinte

The “Best” Scotch

In early August of this year I attended a military aircraft conversion pre-event mixer.  I brought a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue label (still in the box) for the occasion.  I did one lap around the room, shaking hands and making sure the bottle could be seen.  This exhibition was calculated to generate interest before I stepped outside into the veranda area to set up “shop.” 

It wasn’t long before curiosity got the best of some and they started to gravitate toward the bottle and, by extension, me.  Once I had gathered a small group, I opened the bottle and distributed samples for people to try.  It was a very short wait before people started asking questions.   One of the most common questions that night was “Is this the best scotch on the market?”

What is the best scotch is a very common question.  Forgive me for answering a question with a question but, “Who makes the best hamburger or who makes the best pizza,” is my usual response.  We all enjoy different tastes, and what one person truly enjoys might not be another person’s cup of tea.  So there is no “best” scotch (in my opinion), rather which scotches appeal to more people than others or which scotch exemplifies those characteristics I enjoy most.  In the case of the Johnny Walker Blue, its mystique lies in a very successful advertising/marketing campaign and high cost.  Because it is outside of your average drinkers cost comfort zone, it takes on the character of being a special treat when available.  Now don’t get me wrong, Blue Label is an excellent blended scotch, but it is not the rarest thing that Johnny Walker creates, nor is it better than other comparably priced single malt scotches. 

So let me finish by saying that you are the one that decides what the best scotch is.  One of the things you will come to realize over time is that you will develop more than one “best” or “favorite.”  Today, JB Blue might be it.  In a month or two from now you may think something different. 

Slainte

PS:  “The Breslin” makes the best burgers and “Rays Pizza” makes the best pizza.  ;)

How to drink a Scotch

I was invited to have a lamb dinner with friends back in August.  After we ate, a friend of mine offered to share some of his Balvenie 17 Year Old / Sherry Oak scotch.  I could tell by the barely contained grins on my so called friends faces that whatever it was that was inside that bottle, it was not Balvenie. 

Being an easy going guy I decided to let the prank play out.  Trying to figure out what my friends were giving me was no different than the way I would normally approach tasting a scotch I never tried before.

First, you look at the color.  Hold your glass up to the light and take a good look.  In general, scotches are amber in color.  The deeper and richer the color, the longer it has been in the barrel.  If the color is lighter, it usually means it has seen less time in the barrel.  Make sure that you have a decent amount in your glass.  Too little and the color may appear lighter and therefore give you a false reading.  The color of the stuff they were offering me was strongly leaning toward the yellow side of the spectrum.  I got two things from this observation 1) that this was a younger scotch than what was listed on the bottle and 2) it was probably closer to 10 or 12 years in age.

Second, you check out its legs.  Take your glass and swirl it around.  You want to have a film of whisky coating the inside of the glass about an inch or so above the contents when at rest.  When the coating drains down the glass it leaves behind drip trails, or “legs,” that you can observe.  What are you looking for?  You are looking to see how fast the legs form, how fast they disappear, and how thick they are.  The longer the legs take to appear, the greater the length of time until they disappear, and the thicker they are all indicate that the scotch is older.  In this case, the legs appeared quickly, ran quickly, and were on the thin side…almost watery.    This further confirmed that the scotch inside the bottle was younger than what my friends would have me believe.  I should also point out that the legs were not the worst I have ever seen which also leads me to believe that what’s inside the bottle was in the 10 year old range and not vodka with food coloring in it.

Next, you sample the bouquet.  This is also referred to as “nosing.”  They both amount to the same thing: smelling your drink.  Do not stick your nose in the glass and snort.  Much like taking a quick glimpse at the sun, taking a nose full of alcohol will leave an after image on your senses.  Instead, try wafting the glass side to side under your nose at about the same level as your lips.  You can also hold the glass steady and use your other hand to waft the scents toward your nose.  I prefer the former to the later.  What does your sense of smell tell you?  Depending on your sense of smell as well as the library of smells you are familiar with, you can get more information from your nose than you could from the first two steps combined.  Is the smell of alcohol overpowering the rest of the scents?  Do you detect floral, citric, or nutty notes?  Do you smell smoke?  Each scent you can pick out will further narrow down the contents of your glass.  Personally, my sense of smell is shot.  I can still pick out obvious scents, but not the more subtle ones.  So what did I smell?  Well, I got the smell of alcohol right off the bat.  The longer the whisky ages in the barrel the more the alcohol smell mellows, allowing the rest of the bouquet to become more evident.  So add one more vote toward a young scotch.  One thing I did not smell was smoke or peat.  Peat is a common factor in the production of Scotch whisky.  Some distilleries use more, some use less.  This is not to say that what was in the bottle was some other whisky (i.e. Irish whiskey or Rye), just that peat did not play a big part in its production.  This further narrows the possibilities of what could be inside the bottle.

Finally, you get to take a sip.  But before you do that, what do you know?  What are you prepping your brain to expect?  What do you think I should have expected?  Well, we know that I have some sort of alcoholic liquid in my glass.  Its yellow, has rudimentary legs, and the alcohol smell indicates that it’s going to have a little bite to it.  I didn’t smell a lot of peat, so it’s probably not from the western coast of Scotland or Islay malt.  Because I think it’s young, I will assume that it is also inexpensive.   That is a big clue since there are not that many inexpensive single malt whiskies out there.

I take a sip…

It had the bite I expected, but not as bad as what I was prepared for.  It wasn’t loaded with flavor, but the legs should have tipped me off to that.  It had a little of the character that you get from traditional oak barrels (a little oakey with hints of vanilla.)  All in all a "summer" scotch; meaning that I would not be against having it with some ice on a hot summer day.  Something that you sip with the aim of keeping cool more than conducting mental exercises into the complexity of its character. 

It turned out to be Yamazaki 10 year old whiskey.  Someone in camp liked the bottle it came in and transferred it into the Balvenie bottle (sacrilege!)  It’s a Japanese whiskey modeled after scotch whisky.  There was nothing wrong with it, just not enough right with it to induce me to purchase a bottle.  For those of you wondering, The Singleton’s 12 year old is my favorite summertime scotch: its light, has a hint of bite, but has flavor and smoothness that belies its age and price.

Now, go forth and drink.  Enjoy your explorations.  A good idea is to keep a whisky diary when you drink.  Keep track of what you see, smell and taste until you develop a knack for this and come up with your own criteria when you are out tasting.

Sláinte

You never forget your first

Four years ago I decided to give my first class in Scotch whisky.  I did all of my homework, secured three helpers, purchased plastic shot glasses, distilled water and $350 worth of single malt scotch.  Like all of my plans, I spent weeks agonizing over the details…only to have things happen that I never anticipated.

The class was held at a medieval/renaissance event called Pennsic.  I didn’t properly advertise my class, which you might think was a mistake but actually wasn’t.  By word of mouth alone 40 people arrived for the class.  If I had properly advertised, that number might have doubled.  That mistake actually worked in my favor.  The rest, well, not so much.

Mistake number one:  I only had enough samples for 25 people to try six different scotches.   I honestly thought that I was overdoing it with 25.  The solution presented itself over time.  One thing was that we excluded anyone under the age of 21.  Then we asked if anyone in the audience was there strictly for the knowledge and not interested in tasting.  So, after we eliminated those two people the answer became evident by tasting number four:  people were too intoxicated to go any further.

Mistake number two:  as I just mentioned, I failed to anticipate drunkenness.  I can handle about five ounces of whisky an hour.  The number varies depending on alcohol by volume, what I had to eat prior, the mood I am in, etc…  I assumed that if this was my tolerance level, it was everyone else’s.  I was way off.  By the third ounce, all but the most robust women were drunk.  By the fifth ounce the men had caught up to the women.  Now initially this was great.  The conversations people were having and the questions they were asking were really entertaining.

Then everything changed…

My students and soon to be fellow travelers of the whisky road started eyeing each other…appraisingly.  The conversations seamlessly shifted to more “intimate” topics.  One young lady went so far as to comment on my beauty.  Now don’t get me wrong folks, I am a very pretty man…in my own estimation.  It has always been profoundly confusing to me that more people don’t agree.  But when a woman has had enough to drink that she agrees with me on this, it is time to re-evaluate the situation.

Mistake number three:  and I have never made this one again; always have an exit strategy.  I have a room full of intoxicated, consenting adults, and they are looking to me for guidance, participation, or sacrifice, I don’t know.  I then notice that my three helpers are all standing well within my personal space and looking …concerned.  Luckily, it was pretty easy to leave on a high note.  My guys quickly and quietly packed up all of our materials, leaving one nearly empty bottle behind to delay any pursuit.  I said goodbye and left through a side door.  I didn’t go out the way we came because that’s where my helpers went with the rest of the booze, and if anyone was going to make it out of there, it was going to be me.

Travelers, you never forget your first.  I had such a good time that I have given this class, slightly modified of course, every year since.  I have encountered many of these students, and several have invited me to share a dram and talk about what they have learned in the years since.  But the most gratifying part of the whole experience happened three days later.  I was sitting by a campfire with some friends having a cigar and a drink when someone I never met approached the group.  After some introductions were made he asked if we liked scotch.  He then said that he had heard that some guy gave a great class on the stuff a few days ago and it was all anyone in his campsite was talking about.  No mention was made about how pretty this mystery man was, but you can’t win ‘em all.

Sláinte

So...what the heck is a "Maunche" anyway?

Welcome to my journey to become a whisky connoisseur.  Currently I consider myself more of an enthusiast than anything else, but that will change in time.  Hopefully with you coming along for the ride. 


So...what the heck is a "Maunche" anyway?  Well, not to put too fine a point on it, the Order of the Manche (or manche) is an award given in the living history group I belong to for exceptional display of talent and knowledge in one of the Arts and Sciences categories, or for passing knowledge in several categories.   For me it's kind of a litmus test to see if I truly have the knowledge necessary to take this passion of mine to the next level...whatever that level may be.


In speaking with people already inducted in the order I received some truly helpful input on how to achieve my goal.  In the coming months I will be designing backdrops to use during my lectures as well as purchasing a still to demonstrate the art/science of distilling.  They also recommended I create a site where people can ask questions or simply add to their own knowledge.  That is where I am at right now.


My vision is to share what I know about whisky in a manner that everybody can easily understand, to try a variety of whiskies that you yourself may encounter and give my modest opinion on it. 


Remember folks, the point of a journey is not merely to arrive at your destination.  It's the accumulation of all the experiences between the start and finish that truly define the trip.  So, here's to enjoying the ride!

Sláinte