Master of Malt, April Fools, Buckfisn't & Macallain't

 

Tonic Wine Cask Finish

10yo Single Malt Whisky

Master of Malt/Bourbon & Booze Project

46% abv

£45

It's been too long. Dinosaur alert, this whole Blogger tool has changed and, to be honest, I'm lost. Maybe I'll fuck up the layout. Maybe this won't even post. I should just Clubhouse.

But no. 

It's been too long. Deal with it. I have. 

Or if I haven't, we should probably visit a whisky we cannot name from a country we cannot name that spent time in a cask that held 5 cases of a tonic wine that we cannot name.

So let's

TASTING NOTES:

Florida beaches, suntan lotion, moisturiser, and the cheapest Terri's chocolate orange ripoff, like plastic, American chocolate.Sheila's perfume and tree bark remind you one sniff is often enough.

Luscious spirit, meaty, turning confectionery but maintaining savoury pangs. What the hell is th... oh right. Right. Daring to venture in again is rewarded swiftly with overripe apples, banana bread, and herbaceous notes of toni... oh right. Right. 

SUMMARY:

It's just a drink, isn't it? And as a drink, it's pretty yummy, but it can be grippy. Water helps dilute the "additive" allowing it to flatter the fat, juicy spirit underneath with pine, peony, and wild strawberry. Really fucking tasty. Let's never do it again though, ok? ... or, what? .... we put 21yo Nobermory and Ben Nevisn't in one, too, didn't we? Sigh. 

April fools

Or April's fool?

Malt Mission HOME

Maltstock 2011, Thank you

I have said it before, but I will say it again: I am a lucky man. There are many reasons I remain convinced of this fact, but as it relates to my point today, I get to read, write, make, taste, talk about, share and spend time immersed in something I am truly passionate about.

Nearly ten years ago I fell in love with malt whisky and although I now hold gainful employment in the whisky industry, I assure you the romance is still alive and well. I still buy bottles. I still go to bed with a whisky book by my side (currently leafing through Phillip Morrice's Schweppes Guide to Scotch). I still taste as much new whisky as I am able to. I still relish speaking with other whisky geeks, malt maniacs, and peat freaks. I still go to tastings for fun, out of hours. I still love whisky.

I was fortunate enough to attend what must be the most unique whisky festival in the world, Maltstock in the Netherlands September 9-11, 2011. (Read Cask Strength's Neil Ridley or Master of Malt Ben Ellefsen's thoughts on the event)

My colleagues and I arrived at a scout camp at De Berendonck near Nijmegen with a car bursting with bottles, glassware, two beautiful barrel-shaped pinatas, and three daily costume changes for my fabulous colleague, Tony.

Maltstock lacked many things that define most whisky festivals: queues at stands, branding and pop-up banners, people shoving glasses in exhibitors' faces saying "gimme your oldest"/"what's your most expensive scotch?", poor food, a ticketed dram policy, people attempting to show off how much they know (or think they know) about whisky, some hotel conference room, or a curfew. Running for three days at a campsite in Nijmegan, Maltstock is the only celebration of whisky perfectly suited to the drink it honours.

With many whisky festivals earning nicknames like DrunkFest and WhiskyLoathe due to the large numbers of attendees who are clearly there to drink as much as they possibly can and act like pricks, there are a growing number of new festivals around the world hiking ticket prices to their festivals in an attempt to filter out some of the "undesirable" elements and offering an ultra premium, exclusive experience.

Maltstock isn't premium, it's primal. It is isn't exclusive, it's inclusive. And with over 200 bottles open, poured at will by every attendee to their hearts' content, there was not one incident of vomiting, fighting, abuse, property damage, public defecation, or theft; features of many other festivals that I have personally witnessed.

Maltstock is about people. People who love whisky. People who want to be with other people who love whisky. No matter their income or nationality or age or knowledge level. And you know who that attracts? Nice people. Nice people who want to meet other nice people. People who want to share in the discovery of new single casks from obscure indie bottlers. Nice people who want to rediscover Glenfiddich 12yo or Glenlivet 15 French Oak (as I did). Nice people who want to find the worst whisky in the world. Nice people who want to enjoy something they love in the company of other nice people. Who wears nametags at the whisky fair in your city? Vendors? Distillers? Ambassadors? You can put a nametag on a hired model who explains that "at the Johnnie Walker distillery we use closed distilleries in our Green single malt," but unless she is coming back to my hotel room, I cannot help but wonder why I needed to learn her name. At Maltstock everyone wears a nametag and every single person I met was a fucking legend.

And again, that is what whisky appreciation is about: People. It is a communal elixir, a product that grew out of the agricultural tradition and nourishes the society that so naturally builds around it. Whisky is, as David Daiches has so perfectly articulated, "more than indulgence: it is a toast to civilization, a tribute to the continuity of culture, a manifesto of man's determination to use the resources of nature to refresh mind and body and enjoy to the full the senses with which is has been endowed."

When you look at woodcuts or old paintings of distilling in Scotland, or of crofters enjoying some clearach, you don't see a man sitting alone in a sterile makeshift home office with his nose in a glass and his twitter feed twitting away. No, you don't see people hovering at one side of a trade display table, arms outstretched, discussing why Ardbeg 10 is inconsistent or Springbank has gone downhill or the stainless steel washbacks at Macallan have any impact on the flavour of the malt or "gimme yer oldest." You see human beings with other human beings in a natural environment enjoying whisky and talking about nearly anything but.

This is what Maltstock provides.

Thanks to the organisers and volunteers and to every single attendee. When I began to work for William Grant & Sons 3 years ago, I was proud and excited. But I remember spending an evening dramming at Sukhinder Singh's office with John Glaser calling me "sellout" all night. And maybe he was right. In this role one must be corporate and responsible. Maltstock, thank you for allowing me to be neither again.

If you are already attending next year, see you there. If you are not and are within a few hours flying time of Schipol, get your ass to Mars.

The Master of Malt Bloggers Blend

In the 21th century, where having a whisky blog can get you friends in 7 continents, samples in the post, interviewed for "real" publications, on a judging panel, or even lead to a job in the whisky industry (!), you wouldn't be on crack if you decided to start one yourself. And I can observe that the world wide whisk-e-verse has exploded since I began in 2006, when Dr. Whisky had only 4 English language "blogs" to link to and NONE that offered what I thought I could share: a dram a day, distillery descriptions, stories from books I had trawled, distilleries I had visited, and people I had met, an international persepctive, irrational and heated opinions, and of course some colourful tasting notes. Today, after some deletion and MANY additions, there are nearly 25 times as many links on my "Get informed by others" sidebar as there was when this Malt Mission began January 1, 2007. Of course, all of the others involved in this project are listed among many other amazing online resources. The world of whisky is the warmest community I am fortunate to be part of outside of a Saturday morning in bed with my wife and daughter, and if you are reading this, I raise a glass to you for loving Scotland's greatest gift to the world.

As a very 21st century retailer, Master of Malt invited 10 leading blogs to participate in creating their own blends by sending them kits of the constituent liquids, beakers, pipettes, and an excel doc for recording recipes.

Recipes were submitted, blends assembled to spec and then offered up as a sample pack on the MoM website for £30. With the purchase, of course, came the responsibility to vote on your favourites by assigning them 1st place to 10th place. The kits are now completely sold out.

In creating my recipe, I trialled 10 vattings and let them marry for many days in bottle before re-sampling and deciding which one to submit. And it was a hard decision! Depending on the percentages of each part (highland, grain, old grain, old highland, etc.), the value/cost of the liquid would change, so we each had to weigh between whether to make a blend built around desired cost or to make a blend based on taste. Somewhere in between? When deciding which to submit I was torn. Do I go with the cheap and cheerful blend? The expensive one? The quaffable one? The smoky demon? The sweet grainy one? The one I could spread on toast?

Likewise, selecting a favourite of all the submitted blends was a real challenge and a reminder of how with the flavour palate a commercial blender has at their disposal, the room for variation, and indeed, error, is vast. So creating a good, consistent blend is a skill for which I continue to have the utmost respect and that art and skill is, after all, what allows the whisky world to be what it is today.

Others involved have reported their experiences (Whisky For Everyone for example). Did you buy one? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the whole thing.

Whatever the result, all the blends were highly drinkable with a few being truly stellar, and while each blender deserves kudos, the good people at Master of Malt deserve respect for not just dreaming up, but for actually executing such a project. Nice work, and until the results are announced and I press "confirm order", cheers!

Breakfast Whisky, Master of Malt 8yo

Not only have the good people of Master of Malt created a beautiful blended whisky for under £20 (to be tasted as a part of the malt mission at a later date) but they have asked some online whisky geeks to share their ideas for ways in which to consume it.

They invited Dr. Whisky to create a cocktail with their perfectly-lovely-as-is blended whisky. I told them, "I am not a mixologist." They said that was exactly why they were asking me. "But I am not a medical doctor!" Their response, "thank god."

So here it goes.

The "cocktail" is called Breakfast Whisky. Let's begin with what you will need to make it:

You will need NONE of the above items to make this cocktail.

But, you will need ALL of the below

I want to create something to balance the care, cost, and quality of this whisky. The whisky is full of cream soda, vanilla and grape juice. Really juicy whisky. I need to ride that wave. First I thought Ribena, but then the Aha! moment: Vimto! If equivalent in size, the Fizzy Vimto would cost £1.17 to the whisky's £20. Wow, the critics are right. Whisky IS expensive! Fizzy Vimto comes in this nice small bottle for only 39 pence. And for something so tiny and cheap, they sure pack a lot of ingredients in there! The whisky only has water, yeast, wheat and barley. Rip-off!

THE BREAKFAST WHISKY *
1 part Master of Malt 8yo Blended Scotch Whisky
2-4 parts Fizzy Vimto (depending what kind of morning* you desire)
Some ice
1 mint sprig
Toast
Jam (of your choosing)

Put your toast in the toaster. Mix the liquid ingredients together over ice (ice optional). Remove toast and apply jam. In turn, take gentle sips of the drink and slap yourslef in the face with mint sprig.

Good morning and enjoy!

* I am not actually suggesting that you drink alcohol for breakfast. However, if you do, I recommend it with vimto and a mint sprig slap to the face.

The Balvenie Whisky Academy

Although I try not to use this whisky blog as a platform for my job or to talk too much about my whisky work, I am so proud of what we have just completed that I just have to. Please excuse me.

Like a whisky-geek's dream fulfilled, we have completed a series of films on the history, production, and enjoyment of Scotch Whisky called The Balvenie Whisky Academy.

In working with film-maker Stuey Burnett, we initially imagined a series of films for the education of William Grant employees, sales and distribution partners. What we quickly realised was that we had something taking shape that would be of interest and benefit to the wider whisky drinking world, as well.

What I am most proud of is that The Whisky Academy is not a "brand" video, it is not an advertisement, it is an educational series of films about the wider category of Scotch Whisky featuring Charles MacLean, Sukhinder Singh, Eddie Ludlow, Arthur Motley, and Gavin D. Smith as well as colleagues, distillers, scientists, and, of course, yours truly.

Yes, in the process, I have developed an entirely new respect for TV presenters, and for my colleague David Mair who deftly hosts the bulk of the series. So a big thanks to David as well as the film crew of Stuey, John, and Anita.

The whole series goes live today for members of Warehouse 24 and comprises four modules, containing a total of 34 short films. We hope to expand and grow the content over time, but think that we are starting with a pretty impressive chunk of films.

The Balvenie Whisky Academy

I really hope you enjoy it and if you have any feedback, let me know!

Løitens Aquavit til Jul!

Loitens Single Cask Aquavit
barrel/fat #1627

Sept 2005-Oktober 2010

41.5% abv

£80

Who says Dr. Whisky doesn't bring you exclusives any more? I imagine I am the only English language blogger posting about Loitens new single barrel aquavit, matured for five years in ex-sherry casks.

This is just one of 950 bottles and a total of 5 casks were released in 2010: numbers 1950, 5315, 6125, 8330, and this one, 1627.

Very whisky-esque labelling style and language, even looks like a Bruichladdich or even Mackmyra bottle, although probably also similar to many of the cognacs the Norwegians drink so much of. Nonetheless, a unique and new proposition for the aquavit story where once the spicebill differentiated aquavit from aquavit, this one celebrates the maturation.

Thank you, Espen!

To see all aquavit prescribed by yours truly, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Rye and caraway seeds with the sweetness of corn or freshly baked bread in the background.

Oily and sweet, with a more mildly spiced mid palate than most aquavit and an increasing wave of butter, cloves, and caraway.

SUMMARY:

All the standard signs scream "hello I am aquavit" from the glass, all the quality cues on the label scream "respect me like scotch whisky" (it even says it is not chill-filtered!), and the liquid is rich and classy, deserving more than the typical SKOL and down. We all sipped slowly and shared ooos and aaaahs. Although that could have been a reaction to the heavenly ribbe (pork belly).

Best served at room temperature.

All I want for Christmas...

It's that time of year where everyone creates a list and checks it twice, even people we are too old to still believe in.

In past years I have posted on the best Christmas whiskies and whisky-related gifts (Dr. Whisky's Christmas Picks 2007, 2008, and 2009) and it seems my whisky brothers and sisters have provided plenty of such recommendations and "best-of" lists already this year (Danish Whisky Blog, Whisky Wire (12 drams), Whisky Israel, Whisky 2.0, Scotch Hobbyist, liquor.com, Jason, and the advert-riddled Whisky Boys).

It is Christmas and New Years is around the corner but before I can really get ready for 2011, there are I few things I need to leave in 2010.

Back in September John Hansell announced that he would dedicate a week of posts to "Things That Piss Me Off". The list was unfortunately cut short by a tragedy in the family, but John picked up where he left off earlier this week by listing his disappointments in the whisky world over the past year. As usual on Wha

t Does John Know?, Hansell's well-intended encouragement brought on a barrage of more than 120 consutructive comments, par-for-the-course cynicism, and asinine accusations, with comments ranging from the valid to the needlessly vitriolic.

It is not as if there is any shortage of opinion on WDJK, but this time all the negativity really upset me. With more than 15,000 comments over 1,000+ posts, WDJK is the most vibrant home of whisky opinion online, but I see it increasingly becoming an archive of anger, animosity and accusation on the whiskyweb. I am not saying there are not things that need to be critiqued or that there are not things that piss me off in the world of whisky as well, but I just feel that in this leading community things are weighted on the negative far more than the positive. Not in a single post that I could trawl were comments free from mention of some perceived evil imputed against some element within the whisky industry: marketing, Jim Murray, pricing, Diageo, the SWA, travel retail/duty free, and many, MANY more. Is the world of whisky really that bad?

I love the way Serge Valentin and the brains behind Whisky Fun register many of the same sentiments we see pop up on WDJK with humour and a light-heartedness that keeps it all in perspective. Their recent hilarious stab at whisydom HERE made me laugh and addressed similar criticisms in a much more endearing way without attacking any brands, any individuals, or getting anyone fired. Funny. And FUN. I suppose that's why it's not called What Does Serge Know?

So when making a list this season, rather than creating one about the THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF, here are a few THINGS I LOVE ABOUT WHISKY that no marketer, critic, or consumer can spoil for me.

The Taste and the Taste experience
With well over a hundred different distilleries' liquid available to drink, Scotch whisky is the most complex and diverse spirit in the world. Who could get tired of that?

Think of an amazing tasting experience this year. My guess it will be hard for you to pick only one.

Probably a hundred examples for me in 2010 alone, but I will share one recent experience. I was out in London with a small group of whisky friends/geeks and after hours of evaluatory tasting and then many hours of recreational drinking we thought it would be wise to indulge in some competitive tasting. We hopped a cab and headed to a bar we could be certain could recreate our own version of the Feis Ile blind nosing. We put together an ad hoc flight of 10 whiskies (including Port Charlotte and Jura), blacked out the glasses so colour was imperceptible, and began trying to discern which was which.

Having sex and playing pond hockey aside, this is one the most fun activities I can think of. But I am a fucking geek. The liquid spoke to our senses, played with our minds, created physiological reactions around the table while we sniffed and hemmed and hawed. The experience was so exhilarating, the aromas so diverse, the physical effects of the aromas and tastes so different from one another. I was reminded how piney Jura is, how distinct Bowmore is, how splendid a core expression Lagavulin 16yo is, how amazing whisky is.

The Industry-
I have always figured that because whisky grew out of an agricultural tradition rather than a commercial industrial one, it operates differently than any other industry in the world. And it does. And I love that.

Thirty Four - My age, yes, but more importantly this is the number of companies that own the distilleries of Scotland. Beyond that there are dozens of independent bottlers and blended scotch whisky brand owners. Last weekend around a few beverages, Mark Watt, Stuart Robertson, Mike Lord and I counted 101 operating distilleries. Find me another spirit or any single commercial export produced in a single country with that much diversity of ownership.

With this kind of shared market, the challenge for distillers is to show their difference. And we love this diversity, tasting different makes, different casks, different ages. Why then are we so critical of innovation? Sure, in one instance we criticise the SWA for upholding regulations based on precendent and tradition and in another we criticise distillers for trying new cask sizes, new cask finishes, new barley strains, etc., and dismiss these innovations as gimmicks. Isn't it exhausting being cynical on both sides of every coin? Spend 5 minutes with Jim McEwan, David Stewart, Bill Lumsden or anyone else with a track record of innovation in Scotch whisky and tell me you still believe they are more concerned with gimmicks than genuinely trying to make great whisky. I am open to being convinced otherwise.

Tours - I remember being quite surprised that distilleries, alcohol factories, allowed or even welcomed tours. Today more than 30 distilleries make a point of welcoming visitors to come see the ins and outs of their production line. Can you imagine this transparency from other billion dollar industries? The food industry? the automotive industry? the pharamceutical industry? the shoe industry? Sure, there are exceptions and some of these examples do welcome visitors but think of the adjustments they had to make before being able to welcome visitors. When Glenfiddich opened its doors to tours 40 years ago they didn't line the outside of their washbacks with oregon pine (I guess because they are already pine, but you get my point), build a fake "mini" distillery to give a false impression, or try to become a museum/science center rather than just be a production site. Now, the cynical among us only see tour guides reciting their scripts of marketing bullocks, but I see a conscious effort to ground the romantic in the real from Glengoyne to Glenmorangie, and feel fortunate to see inside any of these distilleries.

The Whisky Family

Scotch whisky is one of the most commercially competitive industries in the world but the further you get from the shop shelves/the closer you get to the folks making the stuff, the more imperceptible is that competition.

As a William Grant employee, I have colleagues who have been working here since they were teenagers, started as few as 5 to as many as 50 years ago. It's funny how some up at Glenfiddich say "I love the DoubleWood" and some down at Balvenie say "I love the Solera". But it doesn't stop there. I mentioned to a few of them that I was over at Glenrothes last week. Their unanimous response? "Aye, good dram." I was over at Macallan a couple of weeks ago and in chatting to a few of the employees mentioned I worked with Balvenie. Their response? "Love the DoubleWood." In my experience, I have never heard a wine maker speak of any wine but their own, in fact, I have been told funny tales from one international wine competition organizer of the hostility between them.

Richard Paterson- The Nose (or Dicky P as we affectionately call him, behind his back of course) gets a lot of flack but I wish this industry had more of him. Yes, he is a showman but if that is a criticism for you, then you probably also dismiss John Lennon as a protest songwriter and Hitler as a great public speaker. Richard is an absolute gentleman, generous, kind, supportive, and amazingly non-partisan. Employed by Whyte & Mackay and blending Jura, Fettercairn and Dalmore, Richard talks without hesitation about Johnnie Walker, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie and others in presentations, includes them in his 40 whiskies celebrating 40 years, and in his book Goodness Nose spends chapters on distilleries he doesn't work for and includes a forward by Diageo's Paul Walsh. Richard is just one of several examples of this kind of character in the whisky world and he is my favourite uncle in this whisky family.

Sport - There is the Malt Distillers' Football Cup, there are friendly inter-distillery golf competitions, but taking place over the summer months there is a rowing league on Islay with races held in the distillery bays and in Port Ellen with over 20 teams from around the island taking part. The "dream team," as they call themselves, is made up of distillery managers Mickey Heads (Ardbeg), Duncan McGilvary (Bruichladdich), Peter Campbell (Lagavulin), Graham Logie (Port Ellen maltings) and John Campbell (Laphroaig). With those clowns in a boat together I'd be suprised anyone could pull a stroke what with all the laughter, but even if they never crossed a single finish line I just love that these things exist.

Rant over, I think. I have no point. I just felt the therapeutic need to remember what is great about whisky.

And I think I feel better. But please do not read this as an attack on WDJK or its readers, in the same week as the disappointments post was a post about what impressed most this year where readers sang praises of the greatest achievements in whiskydom over the past year. We all bitch about how things could be better. I guess I just needed to remind myself what is so amazing about the world of whisky before I can say goodbye to 2010, or more accurately, so that I can start 2011 on a positive note. And I suspect that whisky makers, brand ambassadors, marketers, and whisky makers criticized could probably use such a reminder as well.

There are more amazing things in and around whisky, but I think this is all I can be bothered to get down here. Do you have any to add?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Now to the aquavit!

Canadian Whisky Awards

Back to back awards posts, both Malt Maniac related.

Today, the worlds best (only?) dedicated Canadian Whisky Website has announced the winners in The Canadian Whisky Awards 2010.

Canadian whisky is without doubt the least respected of the world's whiskies. Crown Royal is the 4th biggest selling spirit in the world but you rarely hear anyone bragging about their recent Canadian whisky purchase. To be fair, there hasn't been much variety over the years with the big boys establishing prohibitive laws back in their heyday so there aren't as many distilleries as there could be. But recent years have shown us that the likes of Gibsons, Forty Creek, and Caribou Crossing have been attracting a modest amount of critical acclaim.

And so Malt Maniac Davin de Kergommeaux has really tapped into something that has been long overdue, a conscious appreciation of Canadian whisky. When I moved to the US back in 2008 I was admittedly surprised by the availability and consumption of Canadian whisky. Most interesting was that those ordering it had no idea it was Canadian and, obviously affected by their beverage of choice, almost apologised for liking it. Weird.

Hopefully awards like these will bring due attention back to Canadian whisky and even help innovation and motivate development within the industry. The press release says, "Virtually every Canadian whisky introduced in Canada or the U.S. in 2010 was tasted. The best was chosen in one of three categories: the Canadian market, the
export market, and multiple markets. Awards of Excellence were also conferred for accomplishments in innovation, brand extension, and notable success in raising the profile of Canadian whisky in general."

The Connoisseur Whiskies:
Best Canadian Whisky – Domestic Market: Wiser’s Legacy

Best Canadian Whisky – Export Market: Caribou Crossing

Best Canadian Whisky – Multiple Markets: Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

The Awards of Excellence:
Innovation of the Year: Highwood Distillery, White Owl Whisky

Award of Excellence - Brand Extension: Crown Royal Black

Award of Excellence - Canadian Whisky Profile: Canadian Club

For more info, head over to Canadian Whisky.

Malt Maniacs Awards 2010

Pioneers of whisky geekery, especially of the online community-building sort, the Malt Maniacs are a global disease with 33 "certified" members in 16 countries and once again they have earned their self-appointed titles after meticulously tasting, rating and filing data on 260+ malts for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2010. And that was probably only a fraction of what they got their noses into over the year.

Goodness knows the Maniacs spent even more time tasting hundreds of other whiskies, adding inert gas or using a vacuum cylinder to suction the air out of their open bottles, attending fairs, festivals and dramming sessions with mates, and travelling to Scotland or around the world to see, smell, and taste the places that will be the centres of future manias.

So have a read, raise a glass, and geek on.

And we'll see you in the asylum.

The Glaser Decade

Back in 2007, week three of this malt mission saw me taste 3 Compass Box whiskies in a row, followed by 12 more over the years as the mission has continued and I cannot think of one that was boring, tastless, uninteresting, or didn't have some substantial story to tell. For all Compass Box had on the mission, click HERE.

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend John's Tenth Anniversary "Tasting of the Decade" at the Astor Center in New York City. As expected it was great fun, inspiring, and delicious. Finspirlicious, even.

There were drams. Asyla, Hedonism v.2, Eleuthera, the original Monster, the original Spice Tree, Magic Cask, Canto 46, Optimism, Lady Luck, Flaming Heart, and Hedonism Maximus.

And there were stories. Highlight? Moments after bottling his first creation, Hedonism, pulling over in his car to open a bottle and weep with joy as he slugged back his work (a drinking technique I have witnessed back at

MM300... minus the tears). Classic

More from the tasting at Whisky Cast HERE.

John has created an expression of Flaming Heart to commemorate the occassion and in Edinburgh last night, he held a similar event to the one I attended in New York.

John Glaser and the team at Compass Box have changed the direction of the whisky industry in ways that punch WAY above their weight.

-Ten years ago Sheep Dip was still in it's yellow and brown label and the industry showed no justification for a repack. Compass Box proved to Alex and Jane Nicol that well-made blended malts DID have a place on the palates of the marketplace... and to Jon, Mark and Robbo, and to Wemyss, and to Bruichladdich/Cooley (Celtic Nations), and to Glenmorangie/Ardbeg (Serendipity), and to William Grant (Monkey Shoulder), and to...

-While it may have been there already, all this "quality oak" talk John has been on about has pulled the importance of wood into every major brand's marketing, if not production, platform.

-Makers Mark "borrowed" John's (illegal?) technique of using inner staves in maturation for their Makers 46.

There are many more examples and it has truly been such an inspiring story to follow.

A glass is raised to you sir, from all corners of the whiskyverse.

Cheers

For all Compass Box had on the mission, click HERE.

Dougie's Whisky Story

It has been asked before but I will ask again, how many new whisky websites are going to pop up with the EXACT SAME FORMAT? Another forum? Another log of tasting notes and distillery info? Another zzzzz...
Maybe I am bitter cuz I am often omitted from these new sites' blogrolls?
Maybe I just think we can be smarter than that.

Dougie proves me right with his new blog, Whisky Story.

While I obviously approve of the font choice, the wider concept is brilliant: a contemporary whisky journey inspired by the travels and reports of Alfred Barnard.

Barnard worked for Harpers Weekly Gazette in the 1880s and set upon a journey to every distillery in Scotland (129 at the time), Ireland (29) and England (4). His reports were serialized in Harpers and, in 1887, published in book form as The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom.

One of the most important books in British whisky history, it fell out of print but was brought back about 20 years ago in a rather beautiful 500+ page hardcover edition. It has been reprinted several times since.

Dougie, we follow you and hope that in 80 years when there are only 58 Scottish distilleries left between two large foreign owners, that your record of distilleries in 2010-2011 is deemed one of the most important blogs in whisky history. Safe travels, and perhaps I will see you on the trail?

Follow the Whisky Story HERE.

Going Global

Hi. Long time no see.

While I have not been producing much on Dr. Whisky, I do promise I have been keeping busy spreading the gospel of whisky both at work and at play.

We held a tasting for Balvenie that had been a whisky geek dream of mine for some time now: to taste the full historical range of The Balvenie. While we didn't have everything, we had a pretty damn near complete archive, all open, all available for sampling for Warehouse 24 members. It really was amazing. (For facebookers, photos are HERE, video HERE)

But the geek dream continues. I was invited to become The Balvenie Global Ambassador and I couldn't be more honoured, excited, anxious, etc. Back in May 2008 I announced on this blog that Dr. Whisky had accepted a job in the whisky industry/gone corporate/sold his soul/got your dream job in the USA and today that dream continues on a Global level. I look forward to meeting more whisky lovers from all over the whiskyverse and am so grateful to everyone that has helped me along my malt mission. THANK YOU and see you soon.

But I am not writing this post to write about myself. I wanted to write a post about the outstanding work being done on other blogs that I read, namely Yossi's Balvenie week (obviously), Oliver's controversial, informative and provocative posts on Dramming.com, Jason (et al) and their innovative and interesting Whisky Roundtable (no, I do not have a seat), and the recent amazing guest posts on What Does John Know. The world wide web is soaked in whisky, it seems, and we are all the better for it.

More on these pages soon, I promise. I have a ton of samples to get through before moving back across the pond! It's a hard life.

Maniac launches Canadian Whisky Website

I got an email from friend, fellow Canuck, and Malt Maniac Davin de Kergommeaux to inform me of his new site Canadian Whisky dedicated to, you guessed it, Canadian Whisky.

With more and more hip US bars carrying Canadian ryes and other whiskies and, most significantly, with Dave Pickerell's Whistlepig demanding a second (or third?) look at Canadian whisky while asking a significant price tag, the world needs Davin to share musings on the spirit of the north.

This expat looks forward to following you from south of the 49th parallel... with a chocolate bar, back bacon, pop, a mickey and a two-four close to hand. Happy trails, eh?

For Scotch Lovers Whisky Explorers Club

If you have created a whisky fantasy in your mind, have a whisky society or meetup where you live, or frequent online whisky fora, websites, and blogs you have no doubt thrown around the idea of sharing wee samples with other enthusiasts by mail.

Well, imagine the same concept mixed with my favourite pub and/or household game (blind tasting and guessing) and you are close to what Doug Stone, friend and founder of the For Scotch Lovers website, has created with his Whisky Explorers Club.

I read the press release, spoke with Doug, did some math and then happily joined as the price seemed totally worth it for the enjoyment of the activity. A group of friends also joined so we all look forward to each shipment of treats. This morning I received an email saying Flight #3 was already on its way. Time flies!

If you are not a member, let me paint a picture of the club.

My first venture into the website was admittedly clunky, but after a lot of webmazing, I got signed in. Like with any new endeavor online (MyFace, YouBook, Twatter) it took a while to figure out how to navigate, where to begin, what the words meant, etc., but once logged in and dramming, all was forgotten. After two flights, it's down to a science now... although I do still have a few suggestions (below)

So once our whisky is poured and we are logged into the IQ page, we answer a series of multiple choice questions: how does it look? feel? taste? smell? do you like it? Then we get to guess from a shortlist, what whisky we think we were having.

All of these answers popoulate your final "Whisky IQ", based on your correct answers, if and when such answers can be said to exist. So the next page gives your score and tells you the answers they were looking for. Satisfying. Fun. Geeky as hell.

But from this screen there is no link to start again with another whisky, just links to BUY the whisky, and, incidentally as I tried sample 0210WY23 while walking you through, a quote from and link to this site. While the whole experience was enjoyable, I was left asking, "so what?" Like, now what? There is no community context putting my Zen Master IQ into perspective, no way to view others' comments, no forum, no nothing. Just "here's your whisky, answer some questions for us, and bye bye."

Still, overall, the game is fun, easy, and I am totally happy with my membership and look forward to each package. It is amazing fun and is a great easy gift for a whisky geek in your life.

But the club is still in its infancy, so as members I know Doug is keen to hear our thoughts, so here are a few things that would make it more enjoyable, at least for me.

- make getting into the IQ game easier once logged in, ie via a logo or link in the MY or COMMUNITY windows on right.
- make starting another product OR joining a forum discussion OR viewing others' scores easier from the last page of the IQ results.
- why do I have to fill in every "Please tell us how often you drink..."? It's just annoying not to be able to leave some blank. In fact:
- don't make me answer the golden questions (male/female, how often do you drink, etc.) more than once, ie. the first time I log in.
- put a slash through zeros on the product numbers so they can be more easily differentiated from the letter O

Beyond that, go join. It's fun and the more members, the more enjoyable the whole thing will be for all of us.
http://for-lovers.com/store/scotch/catalogsearch/result/?q=explorer

Wee Whisky Month 3

Wee Whisky 3 month old
65% abv (unscientific estimate)
$765,000 (or not for sale)

No one said growing up was easy, we all scratch our knees, bump our heads, or puke on ourselves along the way but the journey is what defines us. Wee Whisky has been maturing outside in the shady New York spring from hot noons to cool midnights, breathing in and out, becoming who she will inevitably become whether we like it or not.

Well, we like it.

In the disgusting humid heat (38C/100F) I have taken the cask indoors to protect it from rapid evaporation and accelerated maturation. We don't want her rolling over, crawling, walking too soon. In an ideal world, this baby will make it to 12 months, to 1 year without being dominated by her surroundings, ie. by wood.

TASTING NOTES:

Big sweet and powerful. Fudge, caramel, beer nuts. The perfect balance of new make-y esters and oak-extractive characteristics.

A near exact balance between spirit and cask. Very new makey at first on the palate but with apples and spicy notes, and with an growing swell of burnt sugar, maple syrup, and candied peanuts. With water the sweetness spills over the edges of the glass, at once so young vibrant and expressive, with bigger bready notes, fuller fruit notes, pears, grapes and limes, and dollops of butterscotch.

SUMMARY:

Really delicious and I admit to being happily suprised. Not unlike the old Glenfiddich 8yo with a little extra bourbony blast... and it's only 3 months old! Yay for wee casks. Although I do now worry whether or not this will make it a full year without being overpowered by wood.

Its deep copper colour visibly shows how the cask has affected its contents. The rich sweet bourbony American oak nose and palate has taken hold of the new make spirit and made it into something new, something wonderful, something that as a father, I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Wee Whisky Week 1
Wee Whisky Month 1

True North Strong and Free

Happy Canada Day/Dominion Day/le Jour de la Confederation!

The Queen is in Canada, Dr. Whisky is in Norway, the beer is in the fridge and the bbq is on.

But what to drink?

Hmmm... Creemore and a few fingers of Gibsons.

You?

-

Canada Day 2008

A Clearach and Present Danger

What an April! New baby, new sleep routine, new jeans, new make...

White dog is everywhere, man. What happened?

As exhibited at whisky festivals and in the hands of mixologists across the USA, it is clear that THIS and THIS were certainly no April Fools jokes, but lord please tell me THIS was. Sku, say it ain't so!

No?

Then God help us all.

I have always relished the opportunity to taste the new make spirit of my favourite distilleries: Balmenach, Clynelish, Balvenie, and Laphroaig stand out in my memory, but only partly due to the taste, mostly due to the excitement of being "allowed" to sneak a few drops at the distillery. Makers Mark shares their white dog at tastings, many Scotch companies share their clearach before enjoying their mature whiskies, and I know I often use new make to show folks what a great impact wood has on the final mature whisky, but selling white dog/new make/clearach/moonshine? And for more money than its matured bretheren? Perhaps cool if genuinely moonshine or illicitly distilled make, but from legal commercial distilleries? Seems totally absurd.

In Scotland, whisky is, by law, grain spirit matured in oak barrels for a minimum of 3 years. Before that, you cannot call it whisky. And, what follows, is that the name "Glenfiddich", for example, cannot be applied to a new make spirit or vodka that is commercially sold because the SWA protects against consumer confusion and "Glenfiddich" means scotch single malt scotch whisky. Glenglassaugh, a 20+ years mothballed distillery, was recently reopened and promptly released some new make which it called "The Spirit Drink That Dare Not Speak its Name" due to the above restriction. Kilchoman, a new single malt distillery whose name currently means very little to the consumer (oh, but it will in no time) has released new make under it's brand name but is able to do this precisely because it is a new distillery and has never had whisky (3 year old grain spirit) to release. An established distillery cannot do this. In Scotland.

But in Japanese whisky we have Chichibu's "New Born" releases. And in America, it seems open game. A name like "white whiskey" could never work in Scotland because immature spirit is NOT whisk(e)y. And to name the white dog after the distillery (Buffalo Trace?) and then sell it (for more than the mature stuff!!?!!) would simply not fly. Nor should it.

Highland Park, Glenglassaugh and Bladnoch now have their new makes available for purchase, as does Tullibardine, the same distillery that sells beer, water, and retail space as a part of its economic model.

Without a shadow of a doubt, this trend is an immense cash crop and is no doubt extremely lucrative from a commercial perspective. Short term.

This opinion may not be popular and may attract some flak, but as a whisky lover, I do NOT think that this is a good direction for distillers to head, least of all because it is exploitative of the consumer... and that should be enough! But also because what makes whisk(e)y whisk(e)y is the time in spends in oak casks. How each distillery's make has a unique chemical construction, nearly imperceptible to the nose UNTIL it reacts, extracts, and interacts with oak. Ask science!

Whisk(e)y contains hundreds of chemical compounds, HUNDREDS of different concentrations of flavour and aroma-giving chemical compounds such as esters, aldehydes, and phenols (although these only account for 0.2% of a bottle of whisky). Four 12 year old casks of Pulteney, Clynelish, Glenmorangie, and Dalmore, all Northern Highland distilleries, will have very distinct flavours and aromas detectable to the human nose AND to gas chromatographs and pattern recognition algorithms. If you are someone nerdy enough to read this blog, your nose could probably distinguish between these four mature spirits, right? No? Well, that's fine. Science can detect a very clear distinction between them.

But in a series of experiments done in Scotland, Spain, Japan, and England over the past 20 years, it has been shown that new make from different distilleries, indeed, from different countries, had more in common than they differed. You will agree that if we sat down and nosed/tasted mature Irish, American, and Scottish whiskies, that you could distinguish between them, right? Well this sample of Irish, American, and Scottish makes had nearly imperceptible differences that went incorrectly identified by gas chromotograph and pattern recognition.

"Oh, chill out, Doc," I hear you say. "I love drinking clearach and will spend any price tag to have some. Maturation isn't everything." Well, I have to disagree. While maturation isn't EVERYTHING, maturation IS the most important SOMETHING in Scotch whisky. Mature spirit is what separates cask from cask, distillery from distillery, year from year. It is what allows single distilleries have varied expressions that means not only do we have over 100 distilleries in Scotland to drink from, but we have thousands of different expressions from which to swill. But if you don't mind the idea of a handful of distilleries making only a handful of styles, then keep riding that white dog. Or fucking that chicken. Or whatever it is that you do.

Doesn't a trend to premiumisation piss most of us off? Isn't that what Hansell recently editorialized about, that WDJK and Malt Advocate readers and the online whisky fora target premiumisation as a large problem with Scotch Whisky? Well, isn't this trend premium pricing a less valuable product? Let's grab a bottle of J&B -6 to celebrate!

But I shouldn't get too excited, really. This trend could just be a short blip in an economic recovery, right? Or is it part of a well thought out commercial plan with clear implications for the whisky industry? If you think Bruichladdich's was wise to charge 120 bucks for Port Charlotte 5 year old, or Ardbeg was successful with their Very Young, Still Young, Almost There series, just wait. You ain't seen nothing yet.

Let me know your thoughts in comments, on Facebook, or get in the ring on the Moonshine post at What Does John Know?