Malt Mission 2010 #395

Bushmills 16yo

Irish Single Malt Whiskey

40% abv

£50

$80 (USD)

Still in the snow-covered highlands. We had a short thaw, but otherwise my month in Dufftown has been a winter wonderland. Hope I get out of Aberdeen on Wednesday. Hope you get where you need to be for Christmas, too. Have a happy one, drambassadors.

The last of a string of Irish tasted here on the mission, this one comes from Ireland's oldest distillery. In this case, not only is it triple distilled but matured in three different casks: ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-port. The crazy bit is that it is matured in each of these casks in succession.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet and candied, raw corn on the cob, extrememly fruity, blackberry squash, blueberry buns, orange syrup.

If the nose was sweet the palate is beyond. Gummy bears, grape candy, blueberry jam. Juicy, soft, really easy to drink.

SUMMARY:

I might give this a go as my new conversion whisky, one for the folks who say "I hate whisk(e)y" or for the American whiskey drinker who has sworn off anything else. This is likely as close to flavoured whisky as is legal. In fact, blind, I would have been puzzled, for sure, probably thought it was Canadian (they can add 9.09% "other").

Worlds better than I remember the 10yo (Malt Mission #82) but I am not sure I would ever reach for this were it on my shelf. Sure, I like my sweet whiskies, but this is like kids grape juice boxes or something. If the craving struck, I would probably just enjoy a glass of grape juice and have a Talisker DE before bed.

Second opinions from the guys at Edinburgh Whisky Blog.

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Malt Mission 2010 #394

Connemara Turf Mór

Irish Single Malt Whiskey

58.2% abv

£50

$80 (USD)

Following up last week's Connemara Sherry Finish post, this is the second of their Small Batch Collection series. Launched in December, poured at The Whisky Show 2010, and featured on many-a-blog already, this Connemara is apparently the peatiest Cooley spirit ever bottled clocking in at 50ppm.

For more distillery info and to see all Connemara and Cooley had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Clay, lemon sponge cake and sawdust at first. Diesel, wellies, cut raw sweet potatoes, and more cake and vanilla.

Mineralic, certainly smoky, but sweet and salty with marzipan and soil. Appetising and tongue-tickling effect.

SUMMARY:

Not sure if this is noticeably smokier than standard Connemara as I have nothing on hand to compare it with, but it is definitely one for the mud-lovers. Like a civilized protester, this dram is angry about the University fees but not about to break a charity shop window, piss on Churchill, or burn a bus shelter.

Second opinions at Whisky Notes, Whisky Apostle, Whisky for Everyone, Dramming, Dom's blog, or JSMWS.

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Malt Mission 2010 #393

Connermara Sherry Finish
Single Malt Irish Whiskey
40% abv
£49
$80 (USD)

Thirty years ago, the world of Irish whiskey was essentially a monopoly with the only two distilleries, Jameson (Midleton) and Bushmills, in the hands of just one company. Today, those distilleries straddle two companies, PernodRicard and Diageo and the undeniable catalyst for this, along with the general revitalization of the category, was John Teeling, the businessman behind Irelands third distillery, Cooley.

In 1987 Teeling got in to the whiskey game, converting an old potato spirit distillery into two distilleries for pot still and colum still distillation. This inspired the big boys to get creative (for the first time in 50 years), and rode the wave of Irish whiskey's growing popularity to a success story all his own. With Locke's, Greenore, Tyrconnel, and Connemara, whisk(e)y drinkers who used to turn up their noses at Irish have firmly plopped their beaks deep in the glass (and tails between their legs).

This is the first of the Small Batch Collection from Connemara and all the bottles that they will ever make are out in the market. Once they're gone, they're gone. New release in the series launched last month and the sample just arrived (thank you, Rachel). To be tasted soon...

TASTING NOTES:

Baked fruits, burnt brown sugar, soft sweet impressions overall. Mossy, grassy and moist. Toffee and leather.

Toffeed, orange, spice and smoke, sherry toastiness, turning herbal or grassy again. Long, gentle finish of sherry and smoke and spirit in lovely balance.

SUMMARY:

An IWSC 2009 Gold Best in Class winner, this whiskey is an absolute treat. And drinkable in hearty sips. Dangerous.
Second opinions at Whisky for Everyone

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Malt Mission 2010 #392

Bushmill's Black Bush

Blended Irish Whiskey

40% abv

£22

$35 (USD)

First thing I want to mention is THIS blog creating a whisky advent calendar, something I swore I would do "next year" every year since since 2006. It is in Swedish, and seeing as you already drink like a viking, it is about time you learned how to speak like one.

Now, back to Black Bush. No, not THIS Black Bush, the Northern Irish, award-winning blend from Ireland's oldest working distillery which has been owned by the two global spirit giants: Jameson owners Pernod Ricard (1987-2005) and Diageo 2005- present. Still practicing triple distillation of their malt whiskey, Black Bush is 20% matured grain whiskey blended with 80% malt matured in sherry-seasoned casks.

I was supposed to in Dublin today to meet with my global colleagues but the weather has scared those of us on this snow-covered island into staying put.

For all Bushmills had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Grass, grapes, apple cider, raisin and soft anise on the surface with brown sugar, nuts, and Christmas cake at deeper levels.

Nuts again, wood, honey, and more raisins. Simultaneously fresh, light, and rich.

SUMMARY:

Really nice balance in this whiskey, certainly quaffable but also sippable with enough going on to keep you entertained.

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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.

Malt Mission 2010 #391

Danny Boy
Blended Irish Whiskey
40% abv
£20
$24.99 (USD)

My years in the US taught me many things, but in the world of whiskey it was a true eye-opener to see the sheer volume of Irish whiskey that America throws down its throat. From only four distilleries operating in Ireland (Bushmills, Cooley, Midleton/Jameson, and the recently re-opened Kilbeggan distillery), at least ten times as many labels are currently out there in the market.

This is just one of many brands one finds on the shelves and in this case, it comes from Cooley distillery, makers of Kilbeggan, Tyrconnel, Locke's, and Connemara whiskies.

This growing segment of the world of whisk(e)y has, to date, received only a small fraction of the ink spilled on its Scottish cousins even though as little as a century ago it outperformed Scotch globally. Back in 1994, Jim Murray wrote The Irish Whiskey Almanac, and a few years later Classic Irish Whiskey but since then the topic has generally been relegated to a chapter in books covering Scotch AND Irish whiskies or world whiskies, like Murray's own World Whiskey Guide (2002).

While the world wide intraweave has literally over one hundred English language Scotch whisky blogs, there are currently only a handful of dedicated Irish ones. The folks at Irish Whiskey Chaser provide a useful links page for the Irish whisky drinker/researcher.

The future seems bright for Irish whiskey. With annually increasing sales as a category, increasing variety of flavour (pot still grain, pot still malt, column still, peated, wine casks, etc.) and with apparent reinvestment from all corners of the industry, not least of all William Grant & Sons purchase of Tullamore Dew with an apparent clear intent on building a distillery in Ireland, Irish whiskey is on a path to regain a good chunk of what it lost back in the 1920s.

Goodness knows they could use it right now. So go grab a bottle of Irish. In fact, while you're at it grab some sherry; they say Spain could be next.

Tasting in "the valley hushed and white with snow"...

TASTING NOTES:

Pencil shavings and sweet, vanilla-accented spirit.

Toasty and nutty oak impressions, new make grain sweetness, and some sweet strawberry jam in there, too.

SUMMARY:

Really, very much as expected. Young, simple, innoffensive verging on bland but entirely enjoyable whiskey. The website tells us the whiskey is "just like the famous and much loved melody." Perhaps... if sung by your half passed-out uncle.

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Malt Mission 2010 #390

The John Walker

Blended Scotch Whisky

43% abv

£2000

Watched a great piece on Bloomberg late last night, as the wee'un refused to pass out before 1am, about the creation and rise of Google. The relevance of this relates directly to this post as my engagement with this whisky called attention to the complete superiority of Google as a search engine.

Using Google to search "The John Walker" the top results related to the whisky and also brought up relevant images and video. Bing apparently hates whisky and the first TEN results had only to do with the (amazing) Walker Brothers, some English jewleller, and a German Studies professor at Birkbeck. The videos and images were equally unrelated. Sure, sticking " " around the term, like we used to do back in 2002, got me the results I wanted, but c'mon.

If "don't be evil" really had any meaning they would spend more time (and money) creating ways to share information OTHER than personal information with advertisers and researchers and thinkers and hackers (like Wikipedia, which incidentally NEEDS your support) But Bing just confused me and got me downloading new music and online lectures.

Moving on, as I have nothing too clever to say as I lie here quietly typing between a sleeping wife and a sleeping baby...

In a conversation with friends and whisky lovers the other night, the idea emerged of whether companies could release their fancy-bottle whiskies alongside plain package versions with the appropriate price difference. The topic is relevant in the case of this beautiful £2000 bottle, which, in the press release, spends nearly every word in and around describing the luxury, workmanship and eleven layers of lacquer with only two lines relating to the liquid itself.

That being said, and perfume bottle comparisons aside, I think the pack is beautiful. Disctinctively Johnnie, bold, confident and stylish. Would I buy it? No. Would I drink it? Oh hell yes.

The John Walker was created out of a desire to have a "top shelf" Johnnie Walker along the lines of Louis XIII from Remy Martin, Ambassador Jonathan Driver informed us at the Coburg Bar in London. With such an aim, the liquid had to be gold and Jim Beveridge, Master Blender of Johnnie Walker, was given the enviable task to "go away and make a technically brilliant blend."

Pulling from grain distilleries like Cambus, malts like Cardhu, Glen Albyn, and Talisker, the whisky uses the full stable of whiskies available to a Diageo nose. It isn't made up of a bunch of old whiskies, or just rare closed ones, rather it is a wide spread of styles and ages to create something different and exquisite. Jonathan spoke of "breaking conventions by knowing traditions", and there is no doubt that the nose behind it all has the chops for the task. And really, that is what blending is all about.

TASTING NOTES:

Accumulative, growing and developing with each whiff, floral, fresh and outdoorsy with chamomile and sweet grass, coffee, brown sugar, complex and alluring. Citrus and smoke appear, with more aromatic sweetness. Something new with each nosing.

Licorice, honey, more chamomile and coffee, mocha, a distinctly resiny character balanced by a beautiful melon freshness. Elegant and layered with richness.

SUMMARY:

As cynical as a whisky geek can tend to be, this was really quite wonderful and I can only hope that the folks shelling out the dough for this stuff appreciate the provenance, the history, the quality casks and the blending skill that went into making it. To make up for those who don't, I seriously advise those who DO give a shit to find a drop of this and taste it. It is a remarkable blend.

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Malt Mission 2010 #389

Johnnie Walker Blue Label
King George V
Blended Scotch Whisky
43% abv
£360
$480 (USD)

The last malt mission was posted at the height of another season altogether; tonight I have traded shorts and sandals for a thick wool jumper and cozy slippers to compose two posts from my wee cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Yes, I am back on the island to stay.

And I couldn't be happier. Arrived on the day of the incredible Whisky Show, reconnected with friends, spent days relishing each sip of the perfectly tempered cask ales I missed so much, and was fortunate enough to be invited to enjoy a few drops of (arguably) the world's finest blended scotch whiskies at the Coburg Bar at the Connaught in London.

In a quiet, candlelit corner of the bar, Ambassador Jonathan Driver shared the liquid histories of three different Johnnie Walkers: Blue, King George V, and The John Walker (Malt Mission #390). The intimate setting and warm environment was ideal for careful dramming and Jonathan's knowledge, sincerity and charm resonated with each small group lucky enough to join him.

He explained that this whisky was inspired by the desire to have a "late night" alternative to Johnnie Walker Blue, to create something flavourwise that was more luxurious than robust. The press release informs us that the whisky was created to celebrate the first Royal Warrant granted to John Walker and Sons Ltd to supply Scotch whisky to the British Royal Household in 1934 and also says some rubbish about luxury and how the whisky is geared for "power players."

Jonathan was not afraid to discuss the liquid in depth, not that we gave him any choice. It emerged that this whisky was created from rare stock from nine of the Scottish distilleries that operated during the days of Johnnie Walker himself, including the much loved, but lost distillery, Port Ellen. These same facts also mean, we were told, that KGV will only be able to maintain its recipe for 6-7 years.

For more on the House of Walker and for all Johnnie Walker had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Fruit-forward with grapes, candy orange, raisins and banana chips. Solid woody impressions, and then the expected, deep and tarry smoke delivered gently. Overall restrained, tight and bright, and politely asking for a drop of water.

Wood and oak-extractives on the palate, vanilla, tannins, all rather intense and hitting my palate with pins and needles. Again, water needed.

SUMMARY:

A very rich drop with woody whisky in the mix and a muddy road of peat through its core, I was given the impression that this whisky was, perhaps, blended to be enjoyed with ice. A shame, some may say, but in this case a mute will not hurt the instrument, it will just gently restrain the timbre while leaving the melody itself sufficiently expressive.

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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.