Alcademics.com

Cover Girl

Did you get your copy of Imbibe Magazine in the mail today? I did. Oh neat, look at that 12-page cover story on scotch whisky. I wonder who wrote it...

Wait a minute, I did! That's my story. Hooray!

 

Forever 21, or 18 or 12 or Whatever

I had drinks the other week with Robin Coupar, the US brand manager for The Glenrothes. I've sampled The Glenrothes at various whisky events in the past and noticed that they vintage date their expressions, but hadn't thought much about what that means. It means a few things. What follows is a whole lot of blather about that.

Most major single-malts are dated by age- they have 12-year, 18-year, 20-year, or other expressions. This means that the whisky in them is at minimum the age on the label, but usually has a lot of older stuff mixed in to help achieve the consistency. So, a ten-year-old right now has mostly whisky distilled in 1998, but in five years it will be mostly from 2003 yet the bottle label will stay the same. That's the trick of the distiller or blender- blending a whisky to (attempt to) keep the same flavor profile over multiple years.

Some brands (as well as independent bottlers) will release vintage dated whiskies with old years in large font numbers on the bottle. That was the year of distillation, but it doesn't correspond to the age of the whisky in the bottle. It could be distilled in 1942 and still be a two-year-old whisky if it was bottled in 1944. These are usually special and very limited editions.

The Glenrothes is different in that all of their expressions (except a non-age-dated one) are vintage dated. They release one expression from a certain year at a certain age, then sell it until it's gone. Currently on the US market they have a 1985 (bottled 2005), a 1991 (bottled 2006), and a 1975 (bottled 2006). (They're not real forthcoming with the bottling dates, which is annoying. I couldn't find them on the website or on most of the literature I collected. They say this is because, "It's not about age, it's about maturity," which is true, but also very convenient. Technically they could release a whole bunch of ages from one year and really confuse us.) This means that if you want to know the age of the whisky to compare it with other brands, you have to do some math.

But by doing things this way, The Glenrothes can easily emphasize that each year is different. The other brands with age-bottlings as opposed to dated-bottlings must (should) keep the same profile for each age-bottling. If they want to release a whisky with a new flavor profile, they release a new age-bottling and maybe phase out a different one. For example, they would phase out an 18-year-old and phase in a 17-year-old that tastes different. That's a major project from a marketing perspective.

The Glenrothes also has the luxury to do this. According to Coupar, something like 98% of the whisky made at the distillery goes towards blended whisky for various other brands. Also, they use a lot of different types of barrels- not all ex-sherry or ex-bourbon or anything in particular. This means the brand can pretty much pick and choose whatever barrels they want (from a particular year) to put together a vintage dated expression that tastes how they want it to. And when the batch "runs out" they can create something just like it or something different depending on their mood.

Vintage-dated whisky is probably a little more confusing for the consumer (some of it on purpose), but it seems a heck of a lot easier for the producer. I guess the trick is convincing the consumer that your brand is consistently good enough to try each new vintage that comes out.

At least I think that's the case. Let me know if I'm full of it.

The Times Gets Boozy

You've probably read all of these by now, but I thought I'd post them anyway. The New York Times printed a whole bunch of booze stories yesterday.

- A story about cocktail obsessives.

- One about relatively inexpensive Speyside scotch whiskey with a lot of good information about changes in the industry. Also, tasting notes.

- Another on White Russians.

- And finally, one on eight bartending philosophies. That one is largely made up, distinguishing between "pre-repeal revivalists" and "neo-classicists" and between "liquid locavores" and the "farm to glass movement" where such distinctions don't necessarily exist in real life. Still, a great look at modern approaches to bartending.

Whisky + Shipwreck = Awesome

 

I have a fondness for booze, as you may have realized, but also for shipwrecks and pirates. (Old pirates, not Somali pirates.)

So I am particularly thrilled by the story of the SS Politician, a ship carrying 260,000 bottles of whisky that sank off the Outer Hebrides (islands off Scotland) in 1941. The local islanders rowed out to the partially-submerged wreck at night and stole all the whisky they could get their hands on. But the government was not happy about that so they searched peoples' homes and jailed some of them, even though they were just going to let the whisky sink with the ship. For years, hidden bottles from the wreck would turn up when someone cleaned out their attic or dug up a shed.

The tale was made into the book Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie, then a later books Scotch on the Rocks: The True Story Behind Whisky Galore and Polly: The True Story Behind Whisky Galore, retracing the story of that book. It was also made into the movie Whisky Galore, sometimes known as Tight Little Island.

In 1970, the newspaper The Mirror led a diving expedition to the ship to find any bottles that were still on it. They did find them, and rewarded a diver Bob Pert with a few bottles for his efforts. He's auctioning off one of those (unopened but evaporating through the cork) bottles December 3rd. [Props to Lyke 2 Drink for finding news of the auction.]

This bottle would make an excellent holiday gift for someone obsessed with booze. Or shipwrecks. Or both.

A day with Charbay

The other week I sat down on the patio behind Swirl on Castro with Marko Karakasevic and Jenni soon-to-be Karakasevic of Charbay and tasted through their line of products.

Charbay is a family-run winery and distillery in Napa Valley. And boy do these people like to play with the still- in addition to wine, they make flavored vodka, rum, whiskey, walnut liqueur, grappa, pastis, port, and now some aperitifs. It's hard to keep up with them.

The aperitifs are neither eau de vie nor typical liqueurs, but flavored fortified wines. Currently they produce a pomegranate and a green tea flavor, which they like to think of as cocktails-in-a-glass. Importantly for retailers, these can be served at beer and wine-only venues.

We then tasted through the vodka line. When they make vodka at Charbay, really they're making extractions that are added to plain vodka to flavor it. (Most flavored vodkas are vodka plus flavors purchased from flavor companies.) Not only is this unique, they make their extractions using whole fruit- not just the peel or juice. They throw the entire fruit (okay, not the pomegranate, but the citrus) into a leaf shredder and into the tanks, then distill the mixture to extract the flavor components they're looking for. Marko told me he was able to get the Meyer lemon flavor less bitter than before (emphasizing the pith less and peel more). The grapefruit flavor is as bitter as it should be.

The Tahitian vanilla rum is triple pot distilled and made from concentrated sugar cane juice (not molasses) from Hawaii. All rums are made from sugar cane products. Rhum agricole and cachaca are made from sugar cane juice. Most rums are made from molasses (the leftovers after sugar is extracted from sugar cane juice). Ron Zacapa is made from a form of concentrated sugar cane juice without the sugar taken out. The sugar cane juice used by Charbay is flash dehydrated under a vaccuum to remove the water and concentrate the liquid. I want to research how this is different from what Zacapa uses. Project!

I think they should just call their whiskey "weed-lovers-whiskey", because it really tastes like marijuana. This is the second release of the product that was pot distilled from pilsner beer with three kinds of hops (this is probably where the weed aromas come in) and aged six years in new barrels. The first release was after three years in barrels.

Finally, they're going to release a pomegranate dessert wine (they really like the pomegranate over there) that smells like it's going to be ultra-syrupy, but is just pleasantly sweet. A nice way to end a meal, or a tasting session.

To sample the products in person, check out the early happy hour at Tra Vigna in Napa Valley, during the weekly Charbay tasting. Hopefully Jenni and Marko will be there, because they're really fun people with whom to share a drink. Or ten.

Bad times, good whisky

In what is likely the first of hundreds of stories on discount drinking during the depression, Eric Felten writes a review of bargain blended scotch whiskies.

His top pics: Teacher's Highland Cream and Ballantine's Finest.

Whisky Wonderland

Finally I'm getting around to a wrap-up of WhiskyFest in San Francisco.

The event itself was well-run, not too crowded, and with plenty of food out to keep people relatively sane (or it seemed like it anyway, I smartly ate a huge burrito just before coming so that I wouldn't need to stop drinking to eat). As I did last year, this year I stayed on the floor the whole time, missing all of the talks, and instead talking to people I know and distillers and brand reps at the booths.

In the last half hour though, people got a little wild. I've heard from multiple people that the New York event is like this, a little less professional, with some yahoos screaming for the oldest expression on the table instead of doing a proper tasting through the line. It wasn't so bad here, just a bit intensely silly at the last minute. Overall, a wonderful event.

So, on to my favorite selections of the night. These are not the best in the room, of course, but the ones I found interesting.

• Bruichladdich Infinity- the only Bruichladdich I tried (it's a crowded table most of the night), was just plain damn delicious.
• Glenmorangie Signet- chocolate whisky? Yes.
• Dewar's Signature- too expensive to be so drinkable. I have a bottle at home and I had a dram here to conserve it.
• Yamazaki 18- Same here, except I don't have a bottle at home. I know what it tastes like and I drank it because I could.
• Old Pulteney 17- I like this expression better than the 21. I could drink the heck out of this.
• A. D. Rattray (independent bottler)'s Glencadam 1990. Cask strength yet light and zesty.

In the last 10 minutes, I finally ran into Eden Algie, the Macallan brand ambassador who was working that table as well as the charity table. There, they were selling tastes of single-bottle (not single-malt or single-barrel, but single-bottle) creations by current and past Master Distillers from the brand. We did a too-fast tasting of the four in the final minutes, pouring the last dram just after the event ended. Tasting notes weren't important, as nobody else is going to get to taste or buy that whisky ever. But umm, there was some great stuff.

See you there next year.

Look at me, err, at what I wrote

I have a story in the latest issue of Malt Advocate- my first one for them. Hooray!

It's a round-up of whisky events at Tales of the Cocktail and the increased presence of whisky at the event in general. Run screaming to your local newsstand and read it.

You'll find my story right beneath the picture of Lew Bryson.

Wilding during Whisky Week

This is whisky week in San Francisco, so there are a ton of events happening with distillers and brand ambassadors all over the city. Last night, I made it to four of them.

I started off at Swig, meeting Sam Simmons of Balvenie. I tried the Doublewood, the 12-year-old limited edition for Dave Stewart's 40th anniversary at the company, and the new Balvenie 17-year-old rum cask.

Next up was Rye's cocktail competition with Michter's rye. I got roped in to judging the event at the last minute, but it's not so bad- it ensures both a seat and a steady supply of drinks. The first-place winner was a bartender from Rye (can't remember her name...), second place was Josh Harris from Pier 23 (with balsamic vinegar and cherries- my favorite of the night) and third place was Scott Baird from 15 Romolo.

Then half the bar relocated to Bourbon & Branch, where Jackie Patterson was guest bartending. I stayed for one drink, as the effects of judging 7 drinks in an hour and a half were starting to take hold.

A group of us then headed to Elixir, where the guest bartender was John Glaser of Compass Box whisky. He was swinging around his magnum of Peat Monster and towards 1AM when there were only five of us in the bar, pressuring us to drink more so he had something to do. I think this was my first time ever doing shots of single-malt. It was good stuff, but I hope it's the last time I do that.

I would post pictures, but it seems I left my camera in one of the bars.

New Booze: Highland Park 40

I've decided to begin posting about new spirit offerings here on Alcademics. The plan is to say what's coming on to the market and why it's new and interesting. If I don't find it interesting (or don't believe the marketing), I won't post about it.

Highland Park 40 year old single malt whisky is a permanent, though allocated release. I believe there are 170 bottles for the US this year. That means it's not a one-off bottling or single-barrel product that's here and gone. If you've got the $2,000 to buy a bottle, you can drink it and get another one next year.

The whisky is aged in refill sherry casks, about half American and half Spanish oak. The casks were first used to age sherry, then scotch at least once before being used for this bottling. This is to minimize the wood impact on the flavor of the whisky since it was in the barrel for so long.

I went to a tasting event so I was actually able to try this one (I know, I'm spoiled.). My tasting notes (usually pretty crazy, so feel free to ignore them) are: more peat smoke on the nose than the rest of the Highland Park range, though the smokiness isn't forceful on the palate. Instead there is a light sherry- nougat flavor I likened to the strawberry Charleston Chew candy bar I remember from like 30 years ago, if you replaced the strawberry with sherry. Still, it remains distinctly Highland Park, amplifying several flavor aspects of the line. It finished really dry and lingers forever, with dry sharp spices like sandalwood staying on the tongue. The whisky also changed significantly in the glass after pouring, making this an almost-too easily drinkable whisky you could spend hours with for each glass.  And given the price per hour, you'd probably want to.

Whisky week in SF

The folks at Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest sent me a list of some of the events happening in San Francisco leading up to the big party on October 10th. These events should be considered tentative at this point, but I think it's safe to say if you're a whisky freak, you should just clear your calendar for the entire week.

And I'll take this time to remind you that you can win tickets to WhiskyFest San Francisco by signing up for Alcademics A-Plus.

The list of all the events is below.

You too, can be a winner- WhiskyFest tickets!

Good news! The groovy folks at Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest have allowed me to give away two tickets to the San Francisco event, taking place October 10, 2008 at the San Francisco Marriott. That's a $220 value!

For a chance to win, register for my email list Alcademics A-Plus. One random subscriber will win entry for two to the event.

WhiskyFest is an annual event in its second year in SF but 11 years running in New York. Whisky lovers get a chance to sample hundreds of whiskies (though one doesn't usually make it to all of them), eat a terrific buffet to keep you sane and safe, and listen to educational seminars on topics like Japanese whisky, whisky barrel-aged beer, and how to blend whisky. It's a wonderful event that I'm happy to promote.

The contest winner will be announced October 1.

Alcademics A-Plus in a new email list for contests, giveaways, and other promotions. It's not a daily blog update (that link is here) so there won't be too much email. I won't sell your information, and you can leave the list at any time- no big whoop.

Sign up here!