I’ll be at the Jersey Shore for the next week. Yes, I will have whisky (and whiskey) with me. No, I do not plan on working. That includes blogging. I’ll be back in one week, with plenty to talk about. Have a great week everyone!
May 24th, 2008
Wemyss Vintage Malts introduced in the U.S.
In an attempt to “make malt whisky more accessible,” the Wemyss Vintage Malts company just introduced two new whiskies to the U.S.
In the same vein as the Jon, Mark and Robbo (JMR) label several years back, Wemyss Vintage Malt marries a blend of malts and gives them names that describe what the whisky tastes like.
The first one being released is “The Smooth Gentleman,” followed by “The Spice King”. A third expression called “The Peat Chimney” appears later this year.
CEO William Wemyss describes his philosophy:
“By using the aromas and tastes of the individual whiskies to uniquely identify each one, the consumer is able to easily understand what style of whisky is being purchased.”
The whiskies were selected by whisky writer Charlie MacLean and are bottled at 8 years old. I have samples of the two whiskies just released and they tasted as they are described, with the youthfullness you would expect in an 8 year old whisky. If you want to get more information, you can contact William at wjw@wdco.co.uk.
May 23rd, 2008
Cutty Sark 25 yr. old coming to the U.S.?
While touring Speyside distilleries last month, my wife Amy and I really enjoyed a dram of Cutty Sark 25 year old–a whisky not available in the U.S. Here’s how I described it in my blog a few weeks ago:
Glenrothes is a key component to the Cutty Sark blend. I tasted the Cutty 25 year old while I was in Speyside and it was amazing. I loved the combination of drinkability, flavor, complexity and balance. It’s one of the best blended whiskies I have ever tasted. Even my wife, who doesn’t normally drink whisky, finished her entire dram. And if she hadn’t, I would have finished it for her! The only problem: it’s not sold in the U.S.
Well, my comments found their way to one of the Cutty Sark PR people and he sent me this message:
I met with David King [Whiskymaker for Glenrothes and Cutty Sark] yesterday and he is particularly pleased with your comments regarding Cutty Sark 25 year old – to the extent that he is considering launching it in the USA.
Watch this space! My fingers are crossed.
May 21st, 2008
Buffalo Trace Distillery to release rum in July
When I was at the distillery in December, we tasted our way through many whiskey samples. Two samples that I tasted were pretty bad whiskeys. That’s because they weren’t whiskeys. They were rum samples.
According to Mark Brown, Buffalo Trace’s President and CEO, they have created a meritage of the two casks and plan to release the rum in July, as part of their Experimental Collection. As far as I know, this is just a one-off and won’t be repeated anytime in the near future.
The guys at BT always have something interesting up their sleeve, that’s for sure.
May 20th, 2008
If you can’t afford the new Black Bowmore…
I had a few idle moments last night and thought I’d sip on a few Bowmore whiskies from my back bar (between lengthy commercial interruptions of the season finale of “House”).
If the new Black Bowmore is a little too steep for you at $4,500 a bottle, one alternative is the very delicious 1971 vintage 34 year old sherried Bowmore that was released a few years back at about $800. It’s not quite Black Bowmore, but it is a very good (and close) alternative. And you might be able to find a bottle floating around somewhere.
If that’s still too steep for you (which I understand completely), then opt for the newest edition of Bowmore 25 year old which has been out now for a few years. It is, once again, in the theme of a very mature, sherried whisky that doesn’t overdo it with the sherry. That can be had for less than $200.
If that’s still too much, then drop down to the new Bowmore 18 year old, which replaced the 17 year old. It was introduced last year for $85.
I have rated all of these whiskies in the 90s in Malt Advocate magazine. Indeed, there’s a good Bowmore out there to fit every budget.
May 19th, 2008
New Tobermory, Deanston whiskies
I was speaking with my friend who imports Burn Stewart whiskies into the U.S., and he told me about two new expressions slated for later this year.
The first one is a Tobermory 15 year old, bottled at 92.6 proof. It’s expected release date in the U.S. is July and will retail for about $120. It will be nice to see how the flavor has developed when compared to the current 10 year old, which this 15 year old replaces.
The second one is a revised Deanston 12 year old, which will also be bottled at the higher 92.6 proof. It will be released in September and will cost about $55.
In the interim, you can still buy the existing Tobermory 10 year old and Deanston 12 year old.
No changes are planned for Ledaig or Bunnahabhain, the other Burn Stewart malts.
May 18th, 2008
Speyside visit update: Benromach
After touring BenRiach in the morning, I followed it up with a tour of Benromach in the afternoon. You could say I had a case of the “Bens” that day. (Sorry.)
Although the distillery began operations in 1898, it was closed from 1983-1998. There will always be a 15 year gap in production (and in the expressions of Benromach that are released).
It seems like only yesterday that Benromach’s new owners, Gordon & MacPhail (G&M), were celebrating the distillery’s new start up. It’s hard to believe that this occurred back in August, 1998. They are coming up on their 10th Anniversary. Good for them!
After an enjoyable tour of the distillery with Keith Cruickshank, Benromach’s Distillery Manager, we darted off to G&M’s main headquarters (and warehouse) in Elgin, where I sampled an array of Benromach whiskies with Joint Managing Director Michael Urquhart and Whisky Supply Manager Ewen Mackintosh.
When G&M started Benromach up in 1998, they completely changed the style of Benromach. Part of this was a necessity. To quote Michael: “The only thing left from the original distillery was the oil boiler, buildings, and water supply.”
But even so, they decided to change the peating level of Benromach, from the essentially unpeated Speyside character to a moderately peated level of barley with about 12 ppm phenol.
Michael explains: “It is our desire to go back to the way things were done.”
But this hasn’t stopped them from also being innovative. In addition to their flagship Benromach “Traditional”, they also recently released Benromach “Organic” and Benromach “Peat Smoke.”
My thoughts on these whiskies? The Traditional (no age statement but currently hovering about 7 yrs. old) is youthful, but pleasant. The same goes for the more intensely smoky Peat Smoke, with the sweeter notes and smoke both fighting for attention. The Organic, on the other hand, is aged in new oak. Even thought the whisky is young (there’s no age statement on that label either, but it’s 6-7 years old), the impact of the new oak on the whisky’s flavor is unmistakable. Some of you (myself included) will find the oak notes too intense.
There are also a series of Benromach wood finishes. Recently there was the “love it or hate it” Benromach Tokaji wood finish, that was pretty heavy on the Tokaji wine. The newest release is a somewhat less extreme Marsala wood finish.
And there’s a new project that G&M is working on with Benromach. It’s going to be called Benromach “Origins.” Essentially, this is a new series of whiskies focusing on the “front end” of production rather than a back-end change like wood finishing. (Expect to see more of this from the other companies too!) Their first release, coming out within the next month or so: a Benromach produced from Golden Promise barley.
G&M inherited the older stocks of Benromach too. While at the G&M offices, we also “worked” our way through some of them. The oldest one I sampled? It was the oldest vintage of Benromach in stock: a 55 yr. old survivor, dating back to 1949! Might there be a Benromach 50 year old in the works for 2009?
And what about a special 10th Anniversary bottling? Or a 10 yr. old bottling, now that they will hit this milestone later in the year? Indeed, there’s a lot going on at Benromach. Stay tuned.
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