THE CASKS

“Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.”

Slainte Mhath, people.

“Let other poets raise a fracas
‘Bout vines, an’ wines, an’ drucken Bacchus,
An’ crabbit names an’ stories wrack us,
An’ grate our lug:
I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us,
In glass or jug.

O thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro’ wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious faem,
Inspire me, till I lisp an’ wink,
To sing thy name!

Let husky wheat the haughs adorn,
An’ aits set up their awnie horn,
An’ pease an’ beans, at e’en or morn,
Perfume the plain:
Leeze me on thee, John Barleycorn,
Thou king o’ grain!”

- from Scotch Drink, by Robert Burns

Posted in Events
Tags: Burns Night, Burns Supper, Robert Burns, Robert Burns Night

All due apologies to Master of Malt, who graciously provided me with this sample and then went and sold all the bottles before I had a chance to review it.

It is with great regret and mild humiliation that I’m writing this review (and a few others) pretty much after the fact. This past Fall, Master of Malt, in their infinite wisdom, sent out samples of their most recent round of single cask bottlings for people to review, to you know, drum up sales. However, in my case, they failed to take two things into account. One, they’re a damn popular outfit, and their well-priced, well-chosen independent bottlings tend to sell out quickly, even without the help of humble whisky bloggers. Two, I’m woefully behind in my tasting queue; new kid, new job, the holidays, all of that has conspired against me and I’m just not drinking enough whisky quickly enough. Rest assured this is something I hope to improve upon in 2012. The end result here is that Master of Malt sold all of this particular bottling before I was able to post my tasting notes, leaving this rather philosophical question hanging in the air, “if one posts tasting notes for a whisky that no longer exists, should anyone care?” Hell, I don’t know, philosophically speaking, who do I look like…Hegel? If nothing else, this shows just how good these Master of Malt selections can be.

Dailuaine (pronounced ‘dale-YOU-an’) is one of Diageo’s workhorses, laboring in single malt obscurity with 98% of its whisky going towards blends, specifically Johnny Walker. Indeed, over the last several years, the distillery has suffered a bit of an identity crisis, making three different styles of whisky to fulfil the needs of various blends. As there’s only the occasional special distillery bottling released (the 16yo Flora & Fauna), Dailuaine’s single malt can more easily be found in independent bottlings like this cask-strength, non chill-filtered, un-caramel-colored 27 year old beauty from Master of Malt.

The Nose:  Sweet, sherried, and mature to be sure, but there’s also something a little dirty about this one…and I mean that in a good way. Ginger snap cookies, thick honey, hints of butterscotch, and a bit of orgeat syrup. The sherry influence comes across as lush, sweet dessert wine, think Vin Santo. There’s a subtle earthiness here as well, old damp leather, old worn wood, almost a touch of peat-like pungency, but it hovers well in the background just showing up enough to keep all the sweeter components interesting. A little water brightens the fruit here quite a bit, softens the ginger and sweetness and brings up more delicious grain notes.

The Palate:  Oily mouthfeel opens with burst of honey, figs, juicy grapes, and spice –  grated ginger and white pepper. The wood takes no time in letting its presence be known, but it wisely does not blow everything out of the water. Joined by strong malt notes with hints of cardamom, clove and star anise, the wood is complex and quite tannic yet works well with the initial sherried sweetness. With water, this is just beautiful, it slows everything down, and stretches out the flavors. The wood gets a little too heavy at the end, but its worth it to have the rest play out more languidly.

The Finish:  Continued spicy, woody goodness with more ginger, white pepper, wood spice and sherried sweetness.

Thoughts:  Pretty impressive stuff. It teeters on the edge of expected and refined on the nose, but has that slight earthy catch that keeps it interesting. The palate is a bit of a wild ride without water, but with water, it really shines. There’s a lot going on here to keep it from being just another decent old sherried Speysider. A nice display of malt and wood, and of sweetness and spice.

Master of Malt 1983 Dailuaine 27 Year Old, Speyside

53.6% ABV

Score:  87

Shop Master of Malt here and check them out on Facebook and Twitter

Posted in Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews
Tags: 80-89, Dailuaine, Master of Malt, Master of Malt 1983 Dailuaine 27 Year Old, Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews

In the interest of full-disclosure, I’d like to mention right away that Master of Malt sent me a sample of this whisky to review. Also in the interest of full-disclosure, I’d like to mention that I am a huge fan of Master of Malt. Rest assured that I was a huge fan of Master of Malt long before they sent me samples of their whisky, and will continue to be a huge fan even if they start sending me flaming bags of dog poop, which they might start doing after they read some of the posts I plan to put up later this month.

If you’re a fan of whisky and you don’t know about Master of Malt then you are in for a treat. If you do know about Master of Malt, then you already know what a great retailing resource they are and you can skip to the tasting notes section if you want. The company has been selling booze to folks since 1985 and today are one of the few non-US based online retailers that ship to the states, giving us poor saps in the colonies access to whiskies we might normally never see. They are also one of the few whisky retailers that sell a broad range of samples, fantastically packaged in wax-capped bottles with rustic, hand-printed looking labels, again giving people a chance to try whiskies they might not otherwise even consider. They do a great job, better than practically any retailer that I can think of, of not just creating an educational community around the spirits they sell, but of being really enthusiastically involved, of reaching out and participating with the serious aficionados and budding malt-heads alike, and of being creative in their approach to bringing people to the world of whisky. As a prime example, this year they sent out special blending kits to 10 fellow bloggers, who then each created their own blend. Master of Malt then sold samples of the blends and asked people to vote on their favorite with the resulting whisky now being sold as St Isidore’s Blend. If you’re seething with envy over not being one of these blogger blenders (bleggers? blonders?), fear not…you can create your own blend with one of these fantastic little blending kits.

Along with their own line of carefully selected, single cask bottlings from various distilleries, Master of Malt has produced several expressions from un-named distilleries representing the main Scotch producing regions. This 30 Year Old Speysider is the fourth edition of 30 year old Speysiders and like all their bottlings has no added color and has not been chill-filtered.

The Nose:  Wonderful honey-coated everything…winey, juicy raisins and baked apples, vanilla rice pudding and caramel sauce. All this lush sweetness is balanced nicely with soft notes of rich malt, smooth polished oak, and gentle spice hints of cinnamon, dried orange peel, and black peppercorns. Tucked in the background are fainter hints of tobacco leaf duskiness and sawn wood.

The Palate:  Luscious mouthfeel and even more honey and caramel to start, but quickly becoming more robust with darker sherry tones, burnt toffee, marzipan, and unsweetened cocoa. While the oak presence is strong, it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it could be for something this old. Requisite vanilla, cinnamon and clove notes are joined by a nicely honeyed, tannic oak quality that grows persistently on through the finish.

The Finish:  A wonderful continuation of the palate, this just slides into more drying, but still honeyed oak with dwindling unsweetened cocoa and spice.

Thoughts:  Beautiful stuff. Lush, just shy of voluptuous, a bit regal, and just enough “been around the block” to make for a dram you can sit and savor for the good part of a cold winter’s day. Rich, sherried nose leads into a really nicely developing, balanced and complex palate. You certainly can’t expect a 30 year old Scotch to be inexpensive, but for £99.95, around $153.00, this is a good value and a delicious way to try an older Speysider.

Master of Malt 30 Year Old Speyside (4th Edition)

40% ABV:

Score:  88

Shop Master of Malt here and check them out on Facebook and Twitter

Here’s another different but equally excellent master of something…

Posted in Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews
Tags: 80-89, Master of Malt, Master of Malt 30 Year Old Speyside, Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews

*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample.

Round II of this little foray into Glenglassaugh’s young spirits finds us in a slightly more mature state of mind than the first round. While the Clearac and Peated offer a chance to try the distillery’s juice straight from the still, The Blushes and Fledgling XB show the effect of a short hiatus in wood before bottling.

Glenglassaugh Blushes

The color might be a bit of a giveaway here, but…Blushes has been aged for 6 months in oak casks that previously held Californian red wine.

The Nose:  Quite subtle and pleasant. The crisp, under-ripe pear of the Clearac is joined by grape skins and currants…it looks like a rosé, and it smells a bit like one, too. Dry sawdust and cardboard. A slight hint of spirity cough syrup.

The Palate:  The initial sweetness definitely has a wine like cast to it, with a bit of bittersweet cocoa as well. Cinnamon and salted cashews. Towards the end, youthful almost beery grain gives it a sort of subtle, bitter “green” feel.

The Finish:  Surprisingly lengthy and mouth-watering, lots of salted nuts and raisins with just a touch of the sour grain hanging about.

Thoughts:  Like the Clearac, I found this young spirit to be surprisingly drinkable and smooth. I’m not sure the six months in wood have smoothed out that many rough edges, perhaps there’s less of a sour feint-y quality, but the influence of the barrels former resident is clear. There’s a light wine-y-ness, a little more dried fruit and nuts, that give this more complexity and drinkability than I expected. A successful and interesting experiment to be sure.

Glenglassaugh Blushes, Highland…but damn near Speyside

50% ABV

———-

Glenglassaugh Fledgling XB

The “XB” in Fledgling XB stands for ex-bourbon, as in this was aged for 12 months in an ex-bourbon cask.

The Nose:  Very smooth soft nose with canned pears in syrup, vanilla panna cotta and perhaps even rice pudding with raisins. Loitering in the background are some spirit-y plastic notes, but they’re pretty restrained for only having a years worth of maturation.

The Palate:  Dark, dark chocolate and more tinned fruit. Grows quickly spicy with coarse vanilla bean, cardamom, and clove. A surprising amount of wood, not much relatively speaking, but more than I would’ve guessed for something so young. The young roughness of the grain is tempered but still there.

The Finish:  Continued coarse grain and zippy youthful, slightly bitter, spices. I’d swear there was the tiniest wisp of dry wood smoke at the end, perhaps the char from the cask?

Thoughts:  Like the Blushes, the Fledgling XB, is another interesting and worthwhile experiment. While not really something I could see myself reaching for at the end of the day, it is a surprisingly mature, complex spirit. The ex-bourbon influence is clear, lots of vanilla, spice and that little bit of char.

What I find fascinating about these two is that the very brief maturation provides a quick, clear picture of what each type of barrel adds to the spirit. There hasn’t been nearly enough time to build layers of complexity, so instead, one is treated to a tasty snapshot of the strongest, main characteristics. Kudos to Glenglassaugh for releasing this quartet and giving people the chance to really explore the spirit that will eventually make up their whisky.

Glennglassaugh Fledgling XB, Highland…but damn near Speyside

50% ABV

———-

Scores:  Not going to bother with scoring these, a new make spirit is far too different an animal to judge and score on the same basis as other aged whiskies and I don’t have enough experience with other new make to make an objective comparison.

Posted in Highland, New make/Clearac/Un-aged spirit, Scotch, Whisky Reviews
Tags: Glenglassaugh, Glenglassaugh Blushes, Glenglassaugh Fledgling XB, New make/Clearac/Un-aged spirit, Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews

*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample.

Glenglassaugh (pronounced glen-GLASS-och) is one of those distilleries whose history is not only marked with the requisite changes in ownership, but also marked with long periods of inactivity. Indeed, for a while there in the 1900′s, the distillery was like a toddler playing with a door…open, closed, open, closed, open…

Initially founded in 1875 by one James Moir, Glenglassaugh has always been a well-regarded malt, if not a sporadically produced one. In 1892, it was purchased by Highland Distillers, who eventually integrated into what today is the Edrington Group, home of Macallan, Highland Park and the Famous Grouse. By 1907, things were not going so hot for the Scotch whisky industry in general and Highland Distillers  in specific, and as demand had dwindled for Glenglassaugh, they mothballed it. With the exception of a brief period of production following the end of Prohibition, the distillery stayed mothballed until major repairs and renovations were made and it was re-opened in 1960. By 1986, it was closed again, and stayed that way, more or less, until 2008 when a Dutch company, the Scaent Group, purchased the distillery and installed former William Grant & Sons director Stuart Nickerson as the managing director. Over the last three years, they’ve released award-winning bottlings taken from the older stocks and at the end of 2011 they bottled the first official aged-for-3-years whisky created under the new owners. Up until then, they’d been making  and selling booze and experimenting with different wood finishes, but they technically couldn’t call the stuff “whisky”. The four spirits I’m taking a look at over the next couple of posts were first released as 200ml bottlings in 2009, and give the serious whisky fan a chance to try something you rarely see outside of a distillery visit, the opportunity to try a distillery’s new make.

Glenglassaugh Clearac

This is Glenglassaugh’s new make, fresh from the still, 100% without a trace of maturation.

The Nose:  A very fresh, clean nose, almost reminiscent of clean linen somehow. There are also notes of warm, old plastic, stewed pears…under-ripe ones at that, and fresh raspberries.  Faint feint-y notes come across as a sourdough sourness hovering in the background.

The Palate:  Crisp, just barely ripe Anjou pears and juicy granny smith apples. It’s mostly all about the tart fruit, with maybe a dusting of a bit of cinnamon. There’s also a nice, brash, crackling hint of the malt that picks up just the slightest bit of sourness towards the end.

The Finish:  Shortish with another swell of crisp pear and an added slight saltiness.

Thoughts:  Surprisingly drinkable for a new make/clearac/whitedog/ whathaveyou. I was expecting a lot more alcohol-driven harshness, sour feint-tinged grain and overwhelming sense of “interesting but…”. Instead, I found this to be crisp, clean and lightly flavorful. I’m not sure I’d opt for this over a “real” whisky, but it’s impressive enough on its own to be worth a try. A good indication that Glenglassaugh’s going be one to watch when their aged product comes out.

Glenglassaugh Clearac, Highland…but damn near Speyside

50% ABV

———-

Glenglassaugh Peated

Again, this is an un-matured, new-make spirit, but this time around the barley has been peated. The peat level is 30 parts per million (ppm), which is a substantial amount of peat when you consider that peaty Islay stalwart, Laphroaig is peated at around 40ppm.

The Nose:  Lots of peat in the form of burnt rubber, wet newspaper, and cigarette ash.  If there’s any fruit at all, it’s bitter lemon. Not unlike the Clearac, there’s a subtle cast of clean wet linen in the background.

The Palate:  Crisp peppery peat hits early, a bit of the lemon comes through briefly but it’s quickly replaced by quite salty and quite ashy peat. By the end, it gets almost too ashy and bitter.

The Finish:  Not surprisingly, what lingers longest is the rather raw, bitter ashy peat.

Thoughts:  Assuming that 8-10+ years in some kind of oak is going to add a lot of complexity and smooth out some of the rawness here, I’m really looking forward to the mature version of this spirit. As it is now, though, it’s a little hard to enjoy on its own. The peat is strong and does have a certain complexity, but it’s a bit raw and harsh at this point and needs that tempering that maturation will give it.

Glenglassaugh Peated, Highland…but damn near Speyside

50% ABV

———-

Scores:  Not going to bother with scoring these, a new make spirit is far too different an animal to judge and score on the same basis as other aged whiskies and I don’t have enough experience with other new make to make an objective comparison.

…stayed tuned for another youthful two-fer…

Posted in Highland, New make/Clearac/Un-aged spirit, Scotch, Whisky Reviews
Tags: Glenglassaugh, Glenglassaugh Clearac, Glenglassaugh Peated, New make/Clearac/Un-aged spirit, Scotch, Speyside, Whisky Reviews

Yeah, another year has come and gone. 2011 was a fairly tumultuous one for me, and due to circumstances totally within my control, I didn’t spend as much time with whisky as I have in the past, which was fine with me and most likely fine with my liver. However, this isn’t to say that I didn’t drink/taste/take notes on/gaze longingly at my fair share. I did, and since no year’s end is complete without some kind of heartfelt yet smug, serious yet snarky top-10 list, here’s my list of top 10 whisky something-or-others…all 12 of ‘em.

FAVORITE LEAST-FAVORITE WHISKY:  My favorite least-favorite of the year had to be the Senator’s Club pint I picked up in a state-run booze store in Lexington, Virginia. No, I haven’t tried it yet, but, as evidenced by politics this year (or any year, really) anything associated with a senator is bound to be horrible. Senators are horrible.

FAVORITE SF WHISKY BAR I SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO MORE:  This is still Broken Record, though I’d like to add that the newly opened Dear Mom reportedly has a nice little whisky list, so I probably need to go there more as well.

FAVORITE LARGE-SCALE WHISKY EVENT:  As fun as Whiskies of the World, WhiskyFest, and the SMWA Extravaganza were, my favorite events this year were the ones that I hosted at 18 Reasons. Granted, these didn’t really qualify as “large-scale”, and I probably got more out of them than those attending, but still…

FAVORITE SMALL-SCALE WHISKY EVENT:  The one that happens every couple of nights after the baby boy goes to sleep and I find myself simultaneously relieved to have a break, yet already missing him, I sit and wonder, “now what?” Well, the “what” is usually a wee bit of whisky.

FAVORITE DISTILLERY TOUR:  C’mon, I have a new baby at home, where am I gonna find the money or time to visit distilleries?

FAVORITE IRISH WHISKEY:  Easy, Red Breast 15 year old. And yes, that is what I said last year. I’ll even go out on a limb and say my favorite Irish Whiskey of 2012 is going to be the Red Breast Cask Strength 12 year old…see a trend here?

FAVORITE AMERICAN WHISKEY:  Crap, I really haven’t drunk much American Whiskey this year, sorry about that. This year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, whose pretty much stellar quality year in and year out make them always worth a mention, and that crazy, hopped-up Sierra Nevada-ized 5 year-old from St. George Spirits that I had the fortune to try at Whiskies of the World left the biggest impressions.

FAVORITE SCOTCH WHISKY:  Tough choice, I tasted a lot of great Scotch this year, if I had to choose it would be between that Chieftain’s 1995 Mortlach 15 Year Old and the 1975 Single Cask Ardbeg poured at the Ardebg seminar at Whiskyfest. Luckily, I don’t have to choose, these are both fantastic whiskies, I’m lucky to have tried  each. The BenRiach 15 Year Old 1995 Pedro Ximenez Single Cask, Balvenie’s Tun 1401 Batch #3, and the Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt were high on the list, too.

FAVORITE JAPANESE WHISKY:  Since Chris from Whiskywall never came over to my house with a trunk full of exotic Japanese boozes for me to drink (thanks for nothing, Chris), this category is kind of a gimme. I mean, at the beginning of this year there were three Japanese whiskies available in the US, or rather there three I could afford, one that I could not. Thankfully, by the end of the year, another  great whisky had joined this small but excellent group, Suntory’s Hakushu 12 year old.

FAVORITE CANADIAN WHISKEY:  Had the chance to explore a range of Canadian Club whiskies this year, and while none of them blew me away completely, I really enjoy…and will continue to enjoy the Canadian Club Sherry Cask. Complex yet almost too easily-drinkable, and a good value to boot, this one will probably have a semi-regular place in my cabinet.

FAVORITE SOMETHING OR OTHER:  That Butterscotch dessert at Baker & Banker…god, that Butterscotch dessert…the heart leaps. Yes, I realize that other than the word “Scotch”, this has nothing to do with whisky, but that’s how good it was. If I was putting together a list of the best books or movies of 2011, that Butterscotch dessert would still be on it.

FAVORITE WHISKY MOMENT OF 2010:  Being able to give my Dad a wee dram of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt in person for Christmas. For me, this vatted malt that Richard Patterson and the Whyte & Mackay folks put together to recreate the deep-freezed Shackleton whisky has the rare distinction of living up to all its back story hype. The generous folks at the Baddish Group were kind enough to send me a sample, and I was able to pull together good notes on the stuff with a bit left in the bottle. In an incredible display of self-control and self-sacrifice, I was able to save it for the old man, who was very curious but had figured he probably wouldn’t get the chance to try it. The best thing about good whisky is sharing it with those you love.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: 18 Reasons, 1975 Single Cask Ardbeg, Baker & Banker, Broken Record, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Canadian Club Sherry Cask, Chieftain's 1995 Mortlach 15 Year Old, Dear Mom, Hakushu 12yo, Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt, Red Breast 15 Year Old, Senators Club, St. George Spirits

*Thanks to the good folks at Impex Beverages for the sample.

There is a tendency, and it may well be my own, to over-romanticize parts of the Scotch whisky world, especially the part called Islay. We’ve all seen those great pictures of the Laphroaig or Ardbeg distilleries, stark white against the inclement weather of the North Sea, or the quaint little villages of Port Ellen and Bowmore, or that shipwreck near Bunnahabhain. There’s a remoteness to Islay that quickly inspires these sentiments, especially for those who haven’t been there and don’t know any better (me, for example). It’s easy to picture each distillery on this little whisky mecca of an island as being appropriately old, scenic and lovingly producing each drop of single malt whisky as if they were producing their own children. But, like many things in life, the reality is a little different.

Located on the even more remote north-eastern coast of Islay, Caol Ila seems a perfect candidate for over-romanticizing. Right on the water, looking across at Jura, with the tiny ferry-port town of Port Askaig nearby, how could this not be an idyllic, nostalgia tinged setting for whisky-making? By being owned by a huge beverage conglomerate (Diageo) and mostly serving the needs of an unstoppable global blend, that’s how. Certainly Caol Ila has its rich history, being first established in 1846, and certainly Caol Ila makes excellent, delicious whisky, (one of my favorites, actually) but one look at the large modern distillery (still beautifully situated right on the water) and the incredible volume of spirits it churns out year after year and a lot of that romanticized bullcrap goes by the wayside. Caol Ila is the 5th largest malt distillery in Scotland and is the largest distillery on Islay by a long shot. While serious whiskyheads extol the virtues of its single malt, the vast, vast…vast majority of whisky produced there, both peated and unpeated styles, goes into the omnipresent Johnny Walker line. In fact, Caol Ila was rarely seen as a single malt until 2002 when it’s core range debuted and then gained even more exposure when in 2005, it joined Diageo’s Classic Malts line-up. Today, it’s range includes the 12 year old, the 18 year old, a special Distiller’s Edition, the now yearly unpeated release and the occasional “limited edition” bottling. This straight-from-the-barrel, cask strength expression from Blackadder’s Raw Cask Series is a great way to try this distillery’s excellent juice in a relatively unexpurgated manner.

The Nose:  Somewhat softly, but quite insistently peaty but with a mild cocoa-tinged sweetness. The peat is a little medicinal with some faint band-aid notes and green wood smoke. A bit of fresh-cut hay and tar in the sun as well. Subtle notes of fruit in chocolate fondue and raw ginger round things out. Behind that, lighter notes of canned olives, just a touch of honey baked ham. A bit of water plays up the fruit and ginger a little more, adding more of an herbal quality, but it also quiets the peat and savory notes a little too much for my taste.

The Palate:  Wow, compared to the slightly restrained and expected nose, the first sip just explodes across the palate in a bright, eye-popping scattering of fruit and peat. The peat is still medicinal, but less so as more brine and dry wood smoke come through. The fruit is harder to place, it’s citrusy but not too acidic, almost like too-sweet pink lemonade. The alcohol and wood start getting a bit too strong towards the end…water, I need water… Water tones down that initial burst, makes it creamier and less brash. The citrus notes open up nicely, sweet lemon curd and honey, but the woodsmoke peat notes carry on quite nicely with a bit more herbal complexity. It’s still a touch woody at the end but water certainly helps that as well.

The Finish:  A nice, warming finish of slightly sweet fireplace woodsmoke with a little ashiness and more drying oak notes

Thoughts:  Eyebrow raising to be sure and fairly delicious. The nose, while very good, was also along the lines of what I expected from Caol Ila, whereas that palate really jumped out and slapped me around a bit…in a good way. This is a tricky one, though, because the high ABV really demands a bit of water, which unfortunately seems to tone down some of the more interesting notes on the nose. On the other hand, on the palate, a bit of water helps one go from sitting bolt-upright, staring at one’s glass, to reclining languidly, savouring the complexity a little more.

Blackadder Raw Cask 1996 Caol Ila 14 year old, Islay

60.3% ABV

Score: 85

Posted in Islay, Scotch, Whisky Reviews
Tags: 80-89, Blackadder, Blackadder Raw Cask, Blackadder Raw Cask 1996 Caol Ila 14 year old, Caol Ila, Islay, Scotch, Whisky Reviews

San Francisco is awash in small corner grocery/liquor/small deli stores. In some neighborhoods it’s not unusual to see two stores kitty-corner from each other, learing across the intersection. Most sell pretty much all the same items and manage to eek out a living by selling mostly beer, ice cream and snacks. They are in the truest sense convenience stores, without much unique character, and existing because on occasion it’s more convenient to walk a half a block in your slippers and spend a bit more cash  on a quart of milk, a quart of beer, or a quart of ice cream. Occasionally, one of these corner markets re-invents itself, either through new owners or new ideas, and is able to set itself apart by its fresh produce, excellent home-made food, or inspired grocery/booze selection. In San Francisco, Bi-Rite Market is perhaps the marquee example of this, transforming what was once just a dingy store into a burgeoning foodie empire.

Healthy Spirits is another good example. Located on the corner of 15th and Castro, they’ve transformed the usual corner store pedestrian selection of beer, wine, and spirits into one of the best beer selections in the city with a respectable bunch of whiskies and wines as well. They also have a highly regarded hummus and a smattering of other local treats, but being a whisky blogger, what do I know from hummus? Whisky-wise, there’s a decent selection of Scotch, 40-50 bottles worth, nothing too surprising, with a few independents and less common distillery bottles along with the usual suspects. A really nice American whiskey selection is filled with the stalwarts, the new big company expressions, and a good variety of the more impressive craft distillery output. While you probably wont find the rarest, most unusual whisky here, you can definitely find a new one to try yourself or that special bottle to give as a gift to your favorite local whisky blogger.

The best reason to visit Healthy Spirits, though, is their phenomenal beer selection which rivals City Beer Store for the best in the City. They’ve got everything here: acres of Belgians, a good mix of American craft sixers and special big bottles, and all shapes and varieties of the best, most interesting beer from around the world. One could spend hours, slack-jawed and thirsty, standing in front of their entire wall of coolers, trying to decide what to buy…and this is where the staff comes in. The folks at Healthy Spirits obviously love this stuff and, appropriately enough, they love talking about it. So if you’re feeling befuddled as to what to buy, speak up, they’re only too happy to help. Outside of the store, you can find good info from them as well via their blog where they regularly post all the new arrivals, monthly beer club and monthly bourbon club. Prices on both beer and spirits are perhaps a little high, but understandably so, this is not a big, multi-location liquor barn, this is  a small specialty store. If you’re any kind of beer fanatic, bourbon hound, or general booze-nik, and you find yourself in San Francisco, Healthy Spirits is definitely worth a visit.

Posted in Stores
Tags: Beer, Healthy Spirits, San Francisco, Stores

This month’s question was posed to us by Karen & Matt from Whisky For Everyone and was a lot of fun to answer. No burning industry questions or  soap-boxing this month, just a perfectly timed holiday challenge for us to introduce our favorite booze to family members who might not, shall we say, share our sane enthusiasm.

Here’s the question:

We at Whisky For Everyone are this month’s hosts of The Whisky Round Table and we have decided to set our fellow members a challenge.  It’s that celebration time of the year again and be it through one holiday or another, religious or otherwise, we expect that all the Knights will be catching up with their families. Presuming that, like us, they will all be asked questions such as “what have you been up to this year?” and “so, how’s the world of whisky?”, our challenge is about engaging those ‘non-whisky’ family members. Here goes …

Pick two or three members of your family and select a whisky drink (this can be straight dram, with a mixer or elaborate cocktail) or whisky & food pairing that you think they will like. Try to mix it up – pick an auntie who ‘hates whisky following a bad experience’, your brother who always asks “what’s the best thing you’ve tried this week?” or your dad who you are just trying to impress. You get the idea … hopefully! Make them begin to understand about the fantastic spirit that is whisky and why we all love it so much.

…and here are our replies.

Posted in Whisky Roundtable
Tags: Whisky For Everyone, Whisky Roundtable