Tag Archives: Salty

Glenglassaugh

Glenglassaugh Peated New Make Spirit – 50%ABV

Highland Region – 50%ABV – 200ml – $29.99

“What’s this,” you say, “a heavily peated Highland malt?”  Yes folks, the fine group at Glenglassaugh are working on some spirit which they are peating at a level of 30 ppm (parts per million).  As a frame of reference, Laphroaig has a peating level of 40 ppm whereas Bunnahabhain has a level of about 5 ppm.  So, 30 ppm is going to give us a nice peaty little Highlander!

Let’s see what this spirit tastes like prior to maturation:

On the nose – Water doused campfire.

An old pipe you find that you’re sure you used a lot while in college (if you catch my meaning.  Ok people, a pot pipe.  Wow, it’s been a while!  Seriously.).

Fresh dirt & gardening gloves.

More of that pipe (kind of like the resin from said pipe).

Believe it or not, clean cotton.

On the mouth – Bright lemons.

Salty (reminiscent of a very young Ardbeg if it were to have no oak influence).

Malty for sure and the pears that I detected in the Clearac are there.

Ashtray and last night’s cigarette (yet another thing I haven’t done in years but, man, how cool that those memories come back through smell and taste).

Finish – Medium long.  More biting than the clearac.

In sum – This is going to be quite an interesting Highland malt.  The peat is clear, and bold.

To see Jason of Guid Scotch Drink’s notes, click here.

Glenglassaugh, Refreshed, Springtime, Summertime

A week dedicated to Glenglassaugh – first up, Clearac 50% ABV

Highland Region – 50%ABV – 200ml – $29.99

Soon to be released in the US will be a series of four 200ml bottled of Glenglassaugh spirit drinks.  Today I am tasting, along side my good friend Jason Johnstone-Yellin of Guid Scotch Drink, the Glenglassaugh “Clearac”.  A new, unpeated, un-matured spirit – straight off the still.

If you’ve never tasted or experienced new make spirit or an unmatured malt distillate, please do not go into it thinking you’re going to taste whisky.  This is not whisky.  Whisk(e)y gets a good 60% (or more) of it’s flavors from the barrel during the maturation process.  What I am reviewing today is an unmatured spirit which is unaffected in any way by oak barrels.

So, what should we expect?  Well, I would expect beer like, or, malty notes and gobs of sweetness.  Let’s see what we get:

On the nose – Big beer notes right up front — like a good Belgian beer (think Duvel or Leffe).

Beneath that there are some very fruity notes.

Berries (lighter, more sour berries, like gooseberry).

Baked pear.

There’s also notes of unsweetened iced tea.

This is a bright, fresh nose.

On the mouth – Pears, all the way (bartlett).

Nice mouthfeel, slight chewiness (chewy like gum, not like Chewbacca).

Some minty notes.

Malt is there for sure but this is really more fruity than malty (complete opposite of the nose).

Finish – Short to medium with a slight saltiness at the very end.

In sum – When I go back to the nose after taking a sip, those malty/beer notes seem much more prevalent.  The flavor is where it’s at.

As mentioned, this is NOT whisky.  However, let’s look at this as if we were chess players (as some of you may be).  Think a few steps/plays out or, perhaps 10 years out.  This liquid, matured in ex-bourbon barrels?  Now we’re talking!  This is going to be some fine tasting whisky!

By the way, as I mentioned, I’m doing this week along side the Guid Scotch Drink blog.  You can read Jason’s notes here.

Balvenie

The Balvenie 17yr Sherry Wood

Speyside – 43%ABV – 750ml – $80-100 (another HUGE spread!) | £85 | €104

And so I begin Balvenie week.

You may have noticed, if you’ve poked around the blog a bit, that I’ve only reviewed one expression of The Balvenie so far: The Balvenie 17yr Madeira Cask.  Truth be told, Balvenie whiskies have always been whiskies I’ve held very dear and, until now, I haven’t really wanted to share my thoughts and notes on them.  Selfish, I know.  But, they were mine.

Well, times have changed.  And as I tell my daughters every day, Sharing is Caring™.  So, all this week, I will be sharing my thoughts on some very nice expressions from The Balvenie.

What’s more is, every day this week, in addition to my notes, I’ll be featuring some exclusive videos of people from The Balvenie distillery and they too will be sharing with you.  They will share what their favorite Balvenie expression is and why.  A BIG ‘ol thank you to Sam Simmons (aka Dr. Whisky) for the footage!

Video #1 – Stuart Watts, Distillery Manager at The Balvenie:

While I won’t be reviewing the DoubleWood today (that review is forthcoming…this week), I will give you my notes on their 17yr Sherry Wood:

On the nose – A strange nose of this Balvenie.

Sherry, for sure but hints off the bat of salted meats (while I’m not smelling this here, I’m struck with a memory of roast beef and mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch in the 3rd grade – I wasn’t raised kosher or vegetarian.  My, how things have changed).

Smoked cheese and cinnamon.  Some slight dried fruit and chocolatey notes.  Shaved dark chocolate.

Big sherry now but the Balvenie honey notes smooth out the sharpness I find in many sherried whiskies.

On the mouth – Soft, almost watery entry.  Let’s try this again…

Soft for sure yet, less watery – thinned oil (in texture).

Third sip and, wow!  It’s like a game of whisky tennis in my mouth – Balvenie honey & citrus notes bounce over to prunes and Ice Cube chocolates (the candy), back to the honey then soft vanilla.

This whisky is so soft that this can be lost on the sherryheads out there.  This is not an attack of sherry.

This, like most Balvenies I’ve had, just screams of elegance.

Finish – A slightly salty finish, medium long and with traces of almonds and dark chocolate.

In sum – This is one to relax with but also one to get your mind going.  Start concentrating on the whisky then move onto bigger life issues.

Refreshed, Springtime, Takin' It Easy

SMWS 39.74 – Linkwood 19yr Single Cask 47.1%

Speyside region – 47.1%ABV – 750ML bottle – Go here to get a bottle

So, shortly after I signed up to become a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (of America) a nice package came in the mail which contained a welcome booklet, a fun and fancy SMWS pin (which my daughters kindly helped in the losing thereof) and four 100ml samples to give me an idea of what I will come to expect from the society’s single cask bottlings.

The four bottles included a Macallan (#24.110), a Highland Park (#4.142), a Bowmore (#3.156) and a Linkwood (#39.74 – this one here that I am about to review).  The society introduced me to Linkwood and for that, I am ever grateful.

The sad thing is that this is not available as a 750ml bottle for the US arm of the Society so I am not able to get a full bottle.  I had to savor the 100ml I got, and savor I did.

Now, you can savor my notes:

On the nose – Delicious salted fruits & salted tomatoes.

Black licorice and candy coated fennel seeds after a good indian dinner.

Brighter fruit notes (think pears and cantaloupe… notes you usually only smell in the younger whiskies).

This is an easy noser.

On the mouth – The entry is as smooth as baby’s behind and chewy as a piece of Laffy Taffy™.

Cedar wood and herbal teas.

That saltiness returns.

Tangerines and a hint of fresh tobacco.

Fennel seeds and a malty & bready goodness that is tough to describe but, it’s there and it’s damn good.

Finish – Slightly numbing the sides of my mouth and lingering like the long goodbye of a chance meeting of an old girlfriend.

In sum – A lovely expression that I could find myself sipping on as a morning pick-me-up (very refreshing!) or as an evening wind-down.  What’s interesting is I chose to read the societies notes AFTER I nosed and tasted this whisky (I did not want to be influenced in any way).  I found that their nose and my palate were very similar but reversed.

A World of Discovery, Ardbeg, Autumn, Cold Winter, Springtime

The Great Space [Ardbeg Roller] Coaster

Islay region – 57.3%ABV – 750ml bottle (70cl outside of the US) – £100 | $80-$115 | €120

G-d bless Federal Wine & Spirits out of Boston, MA!  If it were not for them, I’m not sure I would have had my bottle of Ardbeg’s Committee Release of their Rollercoaster.

Those poor folks.

They announced that they were going to be getting some bottles early and was taking some pre-orders for it but did not know how many people may be calling them.  Harassing them for a bottle of this fine whisky.  I, good readers, was one of these people but I did my very best to be as *unharassy* as possible.  They told me they had “X” amount of bottles and “XXX” amount of people looking for one.  To make matters worse, their number of bottles went from a couple of cases down to 18 so now they had the hard job of telling even more people that they could not help them.

Those poor folks.  I hate saying no to anybody.  I feel sorry for them having to say no, to, my guess, a couple hundred people.

Luckily for me I was one of the first 18 people to call so, I got a bottle.  It took them a while to get through it all (my guess, about 3-4 weeks) but they eventually did get their bottles out and made 18 people (including myself) extremely happy.

While I was waiting for my bottle I made an agreement with Gal of Whisky Israel that I would hold off on opening the bottle so’s we could do a live Twitter tasting.

Well, Gal had issues of his own that I’m sure he’ll post about but let’s just say that waiting another 3-4 weeks to open my bottle just sort of… happened.

People who know me know that I am a patient guy.  So, no worries here.  But shit, I wanted to taste this nectar more than the folks who waited in line to taste New Coke way back when.  Thankfully Ardbeg’s Rollerocaster is FAR better that that short-lived shite!

While I did get around to tasting seven Ardbeg whiskies back in May, I only recently had a chance to taste the stuff as a stand alone whisky.

Let’s ride the coaster, shall we?

On the nose – Part of me wishes that this is what oxygen smelled like all of the time.  However, if it did, then nosing this whisky would not be as special as it is.

A very, very sexy nose filled with mature-for-its-age-peat-smoke, a salt lick and olive oil.

Peel the smokiness away and I am now confronted with some strawberry jam and those delicious Ardbegian lemons – the salt carries through the entire nose-capade.

On the mouth – A great entry here filled with savory bacon bits, tarred ropes and chicory.

Oily, like real olive oil in my mouth here, salted pie crust, onslaught of smokey peat, strawberries return and the citrus fruits evolve into something a bit bigger – pomelo!

Charred wood, cherries and tobacco.

Finish – Medium long.  Lovely burny bubbles stay in my mouth for some time and then out of the blue some nice green tea notes.

In sum — Well worth the wait.

A fantastic dram that, although amazingly smokey, is so very fruity for me (Lemons, Pomelo, Strawberries, Cherries).

Also, the peat seemed less of a direct attack on my tongue that I could enjoy this one in the late spring (winter for sure) and the autumn time.

A cracker of a dram that I hope Ardbeg will bring in as a standard expression.

One of the things I love about whisky is that everyone can take something different from them.  Chicory to me may be chipotle to another.  This being said, check out Jason from Guid Scotch Drink’s notes on this beauty – a world a difference but I would still drink the stuff if I got what he wrote in his notes.