Tag Archives: Silky

Suntory Chita – Single Grain Japanese Whisky

Japan – 43%ABV – ¥8400

A few weeks ago I was in Seattle on business.  For a couple of evenings while there, I had the opportunity to have dinner and drinks at a great place called Liberty Bar.  Liberty specializes in sushi (pretty damn good sushi at that – well, I can vouch for the vegetarian rolls…) and fine spirits of all kinds including Japanese whisky, Pisco, Scotch Whisky, American Whiskey, Mezcal… the list can go on and on.

While I was at Liberty, Andrew, one of the proprietors and reader of of the JSMWS blog, introduced me to some super fine spirits.  And this one, the Suntory Single Grain Chita whisky, was one of them.  Thanks again, Andrew!

I was quite impressed with the Chita and wanted to share the good word on it so I reached out to my friend Yoshi Morita for a review sample.  Yoshi was kind enough to send me some and now I can share my thoughts with you – ヨッシー、ありがとう!

I will soon be posting the details regarding my Seattle trip and my full whisky experience while I was there.  It was an amazing ride for me and my palate!

For now, let’s get to this whisky!

On the noseSweet oranges – even orange creamsicles.  Better yet, baby aspirin.

Fresh grains and farm hay.

Even a little farmy or, better yet, “farm catty”.  What do I mean?  It’s like sticking your nose in a farm cat’s neck and taking a whiff.

I’m a cat guy and I’ve known some farm cats, what can I say?

Smelling the taste of endive spears now…

In general, there’s a fresh produce feel to the nose – a mix of many scents to form one solid “produce” scent.

Very pleasant nose.

On the mouthBack to the oranges, perhaps tangerines better describes the flavor of this.

Like drinking silken pantyhose or a licking velvet – that’s what the mouthfeel is like.

A bit salty (hello, unexpected!).

FinishMedium in length with a few more of those “produce” notes.

In sumThe nose is great!  While in flavor it’s not incredibly complex, it’s completely delicious.  Very drinkable, very easy going.  Lovely for the summer time and I imagine you could mix this quite nicely with some Chambord and perhaps a little Grand Marnier with a few other components to make a super fruity funtime drink.

Just for fun, let’s see how badly Google translates my tasting notes into Japanese:

スウィートオレンジ–もオレンジ色のcreamsicles鼻について。いっそのこと、赤ちゃんのアスピリン。新鮮な穀物やファーム干し草。少しでもfarmyまたは、いっそのこと、”ファーム斤”。私は何を意味するのですか?これは、サーバーファームの猫の首に鼻を貼り付けると匂いを取るようなものです。私は猫の男だと私は私が言うことができるいくつかのファームの猫を知っていた?つの固体”生産”の香りを形成する多くの香りのミックス-今エンダイブ槍の味を嗅ぐ…一般的には、新鮮な、鼻に感じる生成ありません。非常に快適な鼻。

口の中で-このページのオレンジには、おそらくより良いみかんこれを説明しています。口当たりがどのようなものだ-絹のようなパンや好みベルベット飲むように。ビット塩味(こんにちは、予期しない!)

仕上げは-中数の組み合わせと長さがこれらのノート”を生成する”。

要するに-鼻が素晴らしいです!味では信じられないほど複雑ではないが、それは完全においしいです。飲用、非常に簡単に非常に行く。夏ラブリーおよび私はあなたが超フルーティーなfuntimeの飲み物を作るにいくつかの他のコンポーネントと非常にきれいいくつかシャンと、おそらくほとんどグランマルニエこれを混在させることが想像してください。

And now from the Japanese back into English:

Suuitoorenjicreamsicles orange on the nose too. Better yet, a baby aspirin.Hay, grain and farm fresh. Farmy little or, better yet, “Farm loaf.” I do you mean?This is like taking a nose to smell and paste the farm cat’s neck. I am a cat man and I knew some of the farm cats can I say? One solid “production” of fragrance mix to form the smell of many – now smell the taste of endive spears … In general, fresh produce not feel my nose. Very pleasant nose.

In the mouth in orange on this page are perhaps better illustrates this orange.What is the taste – like drinking bread Miya Yoshi silky velvet. Bit salty (Hello, unexpected!)

Finishing these notes are a combination of the number and length of the “Generate.”

In short a great nose! The flavor is incredibly complex, but it is completely delicious. Drinking, go very easy. I am very fruity and your lovely summer funtime Shan and some very clean and some other components to make a drink, please imagine that most probably a mix of Grand Marnier it.

Eades Double Malt – Islay

An Islay vatting of Coal Il & Bowmore – 46%ABV – 750ml – $70

A while back, during my last trip to Chicago, I was in Binny’s checking out their selection and these Eades bottles caught my attention.  Eades Double Malt.  What is a Double Malt?

We know what Single Malt means, right?  Malt whisky from a single distillery.  So, what’s double malt?  It’s the combination/marriage of two single malts by Jim McEwan of Bruichladdich for The Virginia Distilling Company.  For the Islay Double Malt he took an 18yr Caol Ila and a 10yr Bowmore, matured them further in a Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes & Grenache cask (respectively).  He then took 30% of that Caol Ila and 70% of the Bowmore, mixed them up, bottled them up and bam! – we have the Eades Double Malt – Islay.

Sounds interesting right? Right.

Before I go much further, I need to thank Pat J for the samples of this and the soon to be posted Speyside and Highland Double Malts.

Let’s see if this stuff is worth it’s weight in whisky:

On the nose Big, thick nose filled with burning twigs and smoldering Birkenstocks (cork, rubber, leather – slightly charred).

Push this aside and now I’m confronted with royal jelly.

That classic Bowmore soapiness rears it’s head (you know, anytime I hear the term “rears it’s head” I get the impression of… well, think about it for a second… got it?  Good).

Tannins are there.

Indian summer – humid, damp… fresh rain on asphalt.

Cranberries.  What a nose!

On the mouth Sweet smoke and a super succulent mouth feel.

Very smooth and silky.

The smoke now moves to the background as fall like flavors come to the fore.

Think of cloves and nutmeg.

Some nuttiness and apricots in there (the Sauternes influence for sure).

Drying leaves and honeyed herbal teas.

That fresh rain note is in the flavor as well.

Delicious!

Finish Toasted apple peels.  Honey, subtle smoke.

In sum Oooof!  What an interesting combination of aromas and flavors!  There is a lot happening here!  Insanely drinkable as an easy-goer but you can deconstruct the heck out of this too (if you want).  One to enjoy with friends.  Start it off as a conversation piece.  I guarantee you’ll be coming back to it no matter where the conversation goes.  For the academia folks out there – this is a back to school dram.

Highland Park 18yr – The best dram I’ve tasted in 2009!

Islands – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $75-99 | £55 | €64

I’ve read so many reviews on the HP18 (Highland Park, not Harry Potter, come on people!!) I figured, enough is enough – I had to try just to see what all the hoop-a-lah was about.

Back in October of 2009 I went to The Scottish Arms in St. Louis Missouri. If you’ve never been, go. Now. More than 150 drams (Scottish, Japanese, American, you name it) on their whisky menu – amazing! Well, while I was there I tried the HP18 and all I could say was…”eh…, so what”

PLEASE READ ON

I realized the reason the whisky was so sub-stellar was just because of the type of glass they used (should have brought my own Glencairn) and the fact that I had food getting in the way of the tasting. Note to self: only taste when you’re either A) done with food or B) haven’t had food yet (though on an empty stomach… that can be…ummmm…fun?!).

So, after many people telling me that I must be crazy for thinking the Highland Park 18 was no more than a big yawn, a little while later, I decided to shut them up and lay down the casheesh to buy a bottle.  I actually got the bottle for much less than what is shown but, it was an eBay buy so I won’t post that price.  Let’s just say, I got it for about the price of the standard 12yr bottle of Highland Park!!

Around this time I was reading that many people do their whisky tasting in the morning time so I decided to conduct my tasting during that time myself.  What a way to start the day!!  The following notes, by the way, were written in October, 2009:

Nose (almost 3 full whiffs!!) Not as smokey as I had anticipated. Very sweet smelling, almost juicy with an underlying smokiness to it. Second whiff: More of the same, this time a little more smoke but now the oak came out a bit and something almost tropical – overripe banana perhaps? I couldn’t wait for the 3rd whiff…

Palate Absolutely one of the most succulent drops I’ve ever had! The smoke was underlying but kept peaking it’s head out and was balanced so well by the sweetness. Sherry notes but thankfully not overly so. The age came out a bit, long vanilla oak notes and more sweet smoke. G-d damn, I’m in heaven!

Finish Soft and silky, warming (which is much needed as it was 33deg F this morning!), smokey and long.

In sum Those who know me now I am a devoted fan of the Glenmorangie line but I have to say, with the exception of the D’or (which remains to be my dram of choice), this has knocked all of the other Glenmos out of the way! Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s because I had it in the morning, I don’t know. I can tell you that I think I’m in love.