The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society

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.

Speyside – 47.8%ABV – 750ml – $60-65 | £42 | €51

Balvenie week, Day #5.  The final day in this series (though surely not my final Balvenie!).  A big thanks once again to Sam Simmons (aka Dr. Whisky) for the videos and samples!

The Balvenie 15yr Single Barrel was my first Balvenie ever and currently, my favorite.  I remember the day I bought the bottle as if it were yesterday…

Looking at the storekeepers stock, I had a choice of The Balvenie 12yr DoubleWood for $36 or the 15yr for about $49 (it’s now a good $60-65 bottle of the 15yr these days).  I went into the store with the good intention of buying the DoubleWood but when I saw that I could get 3 more years worth of whisky for only $13, I jumped for it.  It’s sort of silly now that I think about…  I now feel that, for the most part, age doesn’t mean anything.  Taste does.

So, how does this stuff taste?  Well, there are two answers to that question:

A) It tastes damn good (as you’ll see in my notes below)

B) Because this is a single barrel expression, there’s a good chance that every bottle you buy could have come from a different barrel and the fluid could be more than 15yrs old (remember, an age statement with whisk(e)y is a minimum age statement), resulting in a slightly different tasting whisky each time.  This is one of the things I love the most about this Balvenie series – you get something new every time.  It’s like getting the honeymoon period of a romantic relationship in a bottle!  Cool stuff.

On to the video…  At long last (well, not that long.  It’s only been a week), we arrive at the final video of the series.  Today we are featuring Mr. David Stewart.  Yes, the David Stewart.  The man who designs and meticulously selects all of the whiskies for The Balvenie range.  David, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed and for explaining why the Balvenie 15yr is also your favorite Balvenie:

And now my review of The Balvenie 15yr Single Barrel:

On the nose – The higher ABV for this one is dead on.  Good on you, David!

Big bright fruits peaches (in white wine) & cantaloupe.

Marzipan – sharp almond notes.

Thai yellow curry & lightly buttered couscous (even getting some lime leaf here).

And floating on top of it all, those classic Balvenie honeyed notes.

On the mouth – Pure honey and citrus.

Hints of water cured ginger.

A slight brininess to this.

Great mouth feel – thick and sweet but not overly so.

The sweetness is pushed aside and now there a nice tapioca pudding quality to this.

Finish – There’s a fizziness throughout my entire mouth and lingering citrus and honey notes.

A delicious nuttiness returns (reminiscent of the marzipan note from before though, less sharp).

In sum – There’s something so elegant about The Balvenie.  While this is nice enough as an everyday drinker, I can picture myself saving it for a special evening – a nice Shabbat (the Sabbath) dram!  Wait a sec, Shabbat starts tonight!  Also, its my oldest daughter’s 4th birthday.  I think I’ll celebrate both occasions with a little Balvenie 15yr.

L’chayim!

Speyside – 43%ABV – 750ml – $35-40 | £30 | €36

Balvenie week, Day #4.

Alright, we’re coming down the pike here.  Only two days left of The Balvenie week.  I’ve decided to save my favorite Balvenie whiskies for the last two days.

Here, on our fourth day, I am featuring what is quite possibly one of the best bang-for-your-buck whiskies out today.  Full, rich in character and in flavor and… for only $35-$40??  Come on.

There are other bang-for-your-buck whiskies out there and I think that the good folks over at whiskyparty.net do a great job with their top 40 whiskies under $40 series.  Check it out (then come back).

Also, as an aside and with regards to The Balvenie DoubleWood, this whisky was my good friend Gal Granov’s (Whisky Israel) gateway dram.  You can read about it here in this interview with him on chwisgi.com.

As with my other Balvenie Week posts –  before we get to my review of today’s whisky, please sit back and enjoy this exclusive video with a very special employee of The Balvenie (please note that my saying this is not meant to imply that the other Balvenie workers we’ve shown aren’t special) – today’s guest is Dennis McBain, Coppersmith for The Balvenie for nearly 51 years.  You can read more about Dennis here and here.  I am very honored that he agreed to be recorded for this series.  Dennis, thank you.

Now, my review of Dennis’ favorite Bavenie expression, the DoubleWood:

On the nose – A tale of two noses.

Initial few whiffs offer up great (though not overwhelming) sherried notes filled with chocolates & licorice.  

Better yet, chocolate covered licorice (yes, it exists).

Wine soaked raisins.

Right beside these scents I get notes of a full jar of honey and cup of vanilla tea.

Clove laden orange.

On the mouth – Succulent.

Warm.  Warming.

Chewy toffees and warm butter.

Boston baked beans (the candy coated peanuts).

More sugared nuts.

Finish – Baklava.  Walnuts.  Medium length.

In sum – A solid… let me rethink then restate this…  Beyond a “solid” whisky, it’s a must have.

Inexpensive and interesting enough to give to your guests who have the occasional whisky (perhaps this one will turn them into whisky geeks – as mentioned, that’s how it happened for Gal of Whisky Israel), complex enough for the whisky connoisseur, easy enough to be an every day drinker.

Highlands region – 46%ABV – 750ml bottle – $150-200 | £110 | €134

Hi, my name is Joshua and I loves me some Glenmorangie.  But, let’s back up a little bit, shall we?

Growing up I was a fat kid.  Yeah, that’s me with the man-boy boobs and the feathered cow-lick on the left there.  We’re looking at 1984 – 1985 or so.  I was 11 or 12.  This is the summer I started getting into the Dead Kennedys and got hooked on The Goonies (can’t you just picture me doing the truffle-shuffle?) and Back to the Future.

Why do I bring this up and what does it have to do with Glenmorangie?

Well, it was the summer of 1985 where I ate ‘G-d knows how many peaches’ in one sitting after watching the Cool Hand Luke 50 egg scene just to see how many I could eat (I never did vomit, by the way).  We had 10 peaches and yes, I ate them all (shit, look at that picture of me!).  You see, I love peaches & nectarines.  Always have.  I actually prefer nectarine (they’re like peaches that got a Brazilian wax).

“Dear Joshua, what does this have to do with Glenmorangie?”  Well, I’ll tell you.  Ardbeg is known for peat & lemons.  The Balvenie has their “honeyed” notes.  And, Glenmorangie is known for it’s, among other notes, peach notes.  It’s all coming together now, right?  Love for peaches, love for Glenmorangie… see??

Ok, its a stretch.  I needed a chance to show fat Josh (yeah, right) so, there you go.  Let’s review this.

On the nose – Aero milk chocolate bars.

Wonderful scents of paraffin wax.

Whiffs of recently extinguished candles.

Notes of ripe lush oranges and freshly brewed coffee.

Stewed figs and prune juice.

Underneath all of this lies the juicy peach notes (seeeeee!) that I always search for when having a Glenmorangie.

Finally, some great blasts of pipe smoke (how did I not detect this right off).

On the mouth – Oh, G-d damn.  Brilliant and warming notes of melting chocolate chips with bits of cookie attached.

Whole milk and steamy lattes.

Fine dry wine.

Like some Clarets I’ve had – soft but tannic.

The mouth feel is right up my alley, lush.

Walnut shells and cherry skins.

Finish – Zucchini bread and/or carrot cake with walnuts minus the cream cheese frosting.

There’s a drying nuttiness that pops up about 45 seconds after the swallow.

Yes, this is a nice, long finish!!

In sum – I’ve had many-many a Glenmorangie in my whisky tasting life.  Of all the whiskies I’ve had, I’ve had more expressions of Glenmorangie than any other brand of whisk(e)y.  This expression was as much un-like a Glenmorangie as it was like the quintessential Glenmorangie.  Brilliantly different yet so dead on.  Beyond this, it’s unlike any other whisky I’ve ever had.  A bit of a conundrum but, that’s a good thing.  Kudos/Bravo Glenmorangie and Dr. Bill Lumsden!  If you have the money, this is most likely one of the nicest every day drinkers for you to have.  It’s that good.

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.