Wrapping up the FEW bottle-share

Posted on 8 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Late last year I set the first steps in doing a FEW Spirits bottle-share. I got interested in the distillery after reading a lot of positive reviews of their spirits. I wanted to know for myself since most of those reviews were from people working at shops that sold FEW’s Bourbon and Rye whiskeys.

When I started doing my own investigation I quickly got to the conclusion that FEW is not about making inferior products and then marketing them with whatever. Their booze is top notch in most of the cases and the worst case for FEW is that it’s still pretty okay.

Fairly quickly I knew that their Single Malt, White Dog and gins were interesting but were not going to convince me to spend loads of money on them. Keep in mind that this is from a European perspective, where American craft booze is ridiculously expensive in most situations.

However, I also got to taste their bourbons and rye whiskey. I already knew I liked what they were doing Bourbon-wise, with the Master of Malt Single Cask from 2013. This time I tried the regular 46.5% one and a cask strength version specially selected and bottled for the United Kingdom.

Of course, since I don’t want to barrage my liver with way too much booze to handle sort-of safely, and to do some proper tasting and not over indulged ramblings, I spread out tasting the samples over a couple of days. Weeks even.

This afternoon with my brother in law (MS), we sat down to do a comparison of the two bourbons and the rye whiskey. Just to see which was best.

It turned out that on the nose, the cask strength bourbon was richest, and most mature. However, the palate was very comparable with the 46.5% version. Then the rye came around and we found that very good, but the focus on the spices of the rye grains took away some of the power and (good) youthfulness that the bourbon showed nicely. It was, maybe, a bit more run of the mill instead of the truly outstanding (in both definitions of the word) bourbon.

Keeping in mind that the bourbon at cask strength is about 50% more expensive here than the regular strength one, we decided that the regular bourbon was the best of the run. That takes top honors from me from the bottle-share’s line-up.

I have to admit that we didn’t think to include the Boutique-y Whisky Company‘s bottling of wheated bourbon. But, when we’re trying to state the best one to buy that’s a good thing since it’s sold out. Not too surprising with the distillery’s popularity and the limit to 67 bottles in total.

So, in short: Get FEW’s bourbon. It’s great stuff. I love it. Shame it’s gone now.

Now this is out of the way I can start doing the Mezcal reviews.

Posted in - American Whiskey, FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

GlenDronach 20yo, 1994-2014, Cask #3400, 54.8% – Bottled for Abbey Whisky

Posted on 6 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last year I tried a GlenDronach that I really regret not getting a bottle of. Strangely though, I tried again in the Blind Tasting Competition and I wasn’t fond of it. Others had the same experience but upon trying that sample again some days later it was back to its former glory. Maybe something was a bit weird with the sample.

It was a  1993 vintage bottled for Abbey Whisky. This one.

Oh, the first time I tried it when I really, really loved it was blind too, if that matters. Still, I wish I had gotten a bottle, even though almost all my GlenDronachs are still closed and waiting to be opened at some point in time.

Now, Abbey Whisky is at it again, with another GlenDronach, at a similar age, just from a year later. The guys were awesome enough to send me a sample which I couldn’t set aside and had to try the day it came in.

Sniff:
The nose is massive with dried fruits. Not too heavy though, mostly candied orange and dried peach and apricot. Not the dates and prunes and raisins that you sometimes get. There’s a hint of polished leather and oak as well as praline. Maybe some hazelnut. Pretty sweet both in flavor and as a expression of something being quite awesome. Something autumnal too. Cigars and dried leaves.

Sip:
The palate is sweet at first but a peppery dryness comes right after. It’s quite hot, and syrupy. Thick even. But with a chili burn that’s surprising. The fruits are slightly more heavy with the candied orange, peach and apricot from before, but with some dates in the mix too. Very thick and syrupy. Almost a honey like texture.

Swallow:
The finish is much more orangy, although that flavor soon gives way to leather, oak and dried peaches. Slightly drying again, maybe more than slightly. There is a beeswax thing going on too, which I find surprising.

This is a strange one. The flavors and scents are absolutely gorgeous, but that thickness on the palate is something I am having some trouble with. I don’t really understand it in a cask strength distillate.

But I shouldn’t complain. That texture is not a bad thing at all, and the flavors are gorgeous. Absolutely top notch stuff this, but that’s not that surprising with early 1990s ‘Dronach. So far, they’ve all been lovely.

With this being priced at not even £ 100 (some € 130 at the moment) it’s priced exactly where you’d expect it to be if it were a regular bottling. Generally those private releases are slightly more expensive, but Abbey Whisky refrains from that. Kudos to them.

GlenDronach 20yo, 1994-2014, Cask #3400, 54.8%, Bottled for Abbey Whisky. Get it there for £ 97.95

Full disclosure: I got this sample free of charge from Abbey Whisky. My views are honest though. Thanks a million, Abbey Whisky!

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Williams Chase Elegant Gin, 48%

Posted on 4 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The non-whisky booze for the Emakina whisky tasting were decided to be at least a gin because of it being an explicit request. The other one was a mezcal that’ll be reviewed somewhere down the line. I’m thinking to keep it for a mezcal theme week or so.

We browsed the site of The Whisky Exchange for a while before settling on this one. Mostly because of the craft distillery that does everything by themselves. Also, their base alcohol is made from apples, which I found surprisingly English and interesting.

The Chase Distillery in Herefordshire was a potato farm at first until their potatoes were turned down by shops because they weren’t pretty enough. They started making crisps after that, and eventually turned to apple farming and distilling.

In a way they make cider first, and then distill it to become their apple vodka. They add 11 botanicals upon redistilling. I like them not adding a million different things which seems to be popular with quite some distilleries.

Obviously one of them is juniper but there’s also coriander, licorice, orange, lemon and even hops. They’ve used restraint since I didn’t notice the hops and that generally a pungent scent and flavor.

Sniff:
The nose is very crisp, more so than I’m used to. There’s green apples and pear with some white flowers. Lilies or so. Not spicy at all, and it does get a little bit sweeter after a couple of minutes.

Sip:
The palate is rather sharp and you notice the higher ABV. There’s apples and straw. Quite rich and slightly more syrupy than I expected. Some citrus and ripe pear. Coriander too (I wrote that before I checked their website…). I thought I tasted mint too.

Swallow:
The finish is more smooth and gentle with apples, straw, grass. Quite long for a gin.

This is a delicious gin. One of my favorites for sure and I love it’s straight forwardness with not too many weird flavors but a rather simple, but gorgeous palate. The increased ABV might work wonders in a Gin and Tonic, but on its own it’s a bit harsh and packs quite a punch.

In the Netherlands this bottle will set you back some 35 bucks, and it’s slightly more expensive in the UK (what isn’t…). But yeah, it’s worth it. Good stuff!

Oh, and it comes with a bow tie.

Williams Chase Elegant Gin, 48%. £ 33.95 at The Whisky Exchange

Posted in - Other Distilleries, - Other Spirits | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask, 58.6%, cask S060710004

Posted on 3 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While I should technically do another two whisky reviews before getting to this one, as this one was the last whisky of the evening, I decided to skip them as those two bottles were the Bowmore Tempest Batch 3, and the Benromach 1oyo 100 Proof. I have already reviewed those and to do them all over again doesn’t really make sense.

Anyway, we decided to do a Kavalan as the final dram since we were pretty sure not many people would have had this before. Even I have only tried three of them before. Of course, with all those single cask numbers I’m not sure if I had this one before.

Also, the distillery from Taiwan won the last Malt Maniacs Awards and therefore I thought it a good idea to get in on the action. Obviously that was a different cask that sold out in a second after the announcement.

Kavalan Solist Sherry cask. Image from Whiskybase

Kavalan Solist Sherry cask. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
There is a LOT of sherry, almost too much of it. Lots dry notes with a huge oakiness. European oak if my guess is correct. Some red fruits with balsamic vinegar, some plums, dates. Spiced cake too, the Dutch ‘kruidkoek’ kind. The sherry in this one is very old fashioned, very 1960s or 1970s.

Sip:
The palate is less dry than I expected at first. Some tannins after that with loads of fruit and oak. It does get drier as you let it swim for a few seconds. Then the chili pepper hits massively.

Swallow:
The finish shows more fruit and less spices. The red fruits are back with forest fruits mostly. Dry and not extremely long.

This is quite a lovely dram, but it’s not what I expected. I think the single casks are not hugely consistent, as is usual with single casks of course. I don’t think this one would have won the award if the other cask had not been sent in.

The fruit with slight spiciness behind it is quite lovely and feels very old fashioned, which is good. But then again, there is not a lot of depth or complexity in it. Still, a lovely dram, but not one I’d easily shell out € 125 for again.

As with the Taketsuru 21, the price has already gone up and has been spotted for € 160 already. But anyway, it’s sold out.

Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask, 58.6%, cask S060710004, released in 2012.

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Nikka Taketsuru 21yo, 43%

Posted on 2 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While I have a bottle of this amazing stuff at home, I decided to review the sample I brought from the Emakina tasting last Friday. I had to make sure the order of drams was all right, after all.

Anyway, there might be a subtle difference between every batch of blended malts. The 17 year old was my first ever Japanese whisky. Both in what I ever tried, and the first one I bought. It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to buy a whisky of seventy euros. Back then it was the most expensive bottle I bought.

When I think back to it now, I don’t really recall it as a great whisky, but just ‘good’. Not entirely sure why, but it’s not a dram that changed much for me. I think back then I was a bit in denial about its qualities. It was a good dram but it didn’t top my collection as I’d hoped. Still a good dram though.

Sniff:
It has that typically Japanese scent of sandalwood and furniture polish. There’s candles too with sherry, hazelnut. Milk chocolate and raisins, but also dried prunes and Brazil buts.

Sip:
The palate is pretty dry with dried fruits again. Raisins, prunes and oak. Some sherry and some light spices. Rather old and dusty.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly with fruit and spices. There’s some nutmeg, pepper and clove.

The finish is surprisingly spicy compared to the palate and nose, which were much more fruity. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t feel unbalanced, it feels more like a step forward and feels like it’s supposed to happen.

In short, this is an awesome whisky and it certainly deserves all the accolades the internet and the pro whisky press give it. At the tasting last Friday it was one of the favorite whiskies, maybe the favorite.

While it’s an expensive dram, I think it’s worth it and the increase in price over the last couple of years are justified. It did go from € 85 to € 125 in about five or six years.

Ah, more info. The price has already gone up from € 125 to € 145 in the last month! It’s getting quite steep to get hold of this one!

Nikka Taketsuru 21yo, 43%. Available from Master of Malt for € 142

Posted in - Blended Malt, - Japanese Whisky, Nikka | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Springbank Green, 12yo, 46%

Posted on 1 February 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last Friday JK and I hosted a booze tasting at work. We would have made it a whisky tasting, but due to some explicit requests to not only do whiskies, we ended up going through a gin and a mezcal too. Also, a Portuguese colleague of us brought some fruit based moonshine from his local area in the south of Portugal.

To decide upon the order of drams we had to try them, obviously, so I also got a chance to write tasting notes too. That’ll be the theme for the coming week, the stuff we tasted at the Emakina booze tasting.

Springbank Green then. An almost organic whisky that just didn’t go for the entire Organic label, since the distillery is not qualified as such. It’s unlikely to happen since when the distillery was built in 1828 a thing like ‘organic’ didn’t exist.

I don’t expect the Mitchell family to start reconstructing parts of their working museum, since that would more or less kill the whisky as it is now. Springbank distillery is, I think, essential to how Springbank tastes and changing that wouldn’t sit well with a lot of fans.

Sniff:
Its scent is rather green, with straw, hay, grass and some farmy notes. Slightly earthy with a hint of peat and salt. It’s slightly dry with slate and a thing I like to describe as spring rain.

Sip:
The palate is smooth and gentle but shows mostly the same flavors as you’d expect from the nose. There’s basalt and slate, the wet kind which you can smell. Ever so slightly salty with oak and some wood spices. Clove, I think. It does build up a bit with some minor peppery notes, apple both fresh and corky.

Swallow:
The finish is very typically Springbank with slight farmy notes, straw, barley, oak, salt and a touch of smoke with apple.

This is a rather interesting whisky. I think it’s quintessentially a bourbon matured Springbank without much other influences. I’m not sure if the organic-ness of the barley really makes a difference, but the whisky it has produced is quite lovely though.

I do have to say that it’s rather expensive for what you’re getting. It’ll set you back some € 70 and that seems to a bit steep for a 12 year old Springbank that isn’t that special. And that’s exactly the point. It’s not very special. But Springbank that’s not very special is almost always pretty lovely still.

By now it seems to be around € 80 at shops that still have it available.

Springbank Green, 12yo, 46%, available at Master of Malt for € 82.50.

Dutch company ‘Best of Wines’ has a whisky branch too, and they sell it at € 75

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Inchgower 14, 43%, Flora & Fauna

Posted on 30 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I’ve been going through some samples to get them out of the way and stop them from taking up valuable shelf space. There’s still quite a few to go, as in, a hundred or more.

This one was bought some years ago with the idea of comparing it to the then recent slew of 1982 bottlings of Inchgower. Just see how age influences that dram and which flavors derived from the spirit and which from the cask.

What seemed like a good idea at the time was long forgotten or at least moved far down on the list of priorities. So much so that it took me until yesterday to try it.

On a side note, I haven’t tried that many Flora & Fauna bottlings in my whisky ‘career’ as some call it. I once owned a bottle of the excellent Rosebank 12 year old, and I’ve probably tried some others but not in a way that I remember them overly fondly (except that Rosebank, and the Mortlach). The series was finished just before I got into whisky, so prices were already rising slightly for some bottlings, others were gone.

Sniff:
There’s quite some alcohol on the nose with a hint of oak. It’s rather rich with apple, peach and vanilla. Some of those banana candies too.

Sip:
Oak and banana candy. Quite light with hints of vanilla, slightly chemical notes, oak, peach and wild peach too. Apple notes as well.

Swallow:
It’s sweet and more of the same from the palate.

A quite short review so far. But there’s one more thing. When I was tasting the older 1982 ones, and I found this similar flavor in some old Clynelishes and in that Imperial that was in the Blind Tasting Competition, there was one flavor I couldn’t pin down.

I’m not sure where it comes from, but I do know that I love it. I found it in all the bottlings mentioned earlier but have no clue how to describe it. I guess a combination of resin, beeswax, old leather and fresh oak would be best. But that’s not entirely it either.

It’s in this bottling too, but not a very high level of it, but it makes an otherwise rather uninteresting bottling slightly more appealing. Still, in this case, it doesn’t really save the whisky.

What it boils down to is that this is an okay dram. It’s well priced too at some € 50 at Master of Malt. Still, I’m not inclined to put it on my wishlist anytime soon. Or at all. Having said that, if my sample would’ve been a bottle I’d still drink it, although finishing 700ml of it might take a while.

Inchgower 14, 43%, Flora & Fauna. Available at Master of Malt

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Lagavulin 16, 43%, White Horse edition

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While the Lagavulin 16 is as mainstream a single malt as it gets, apart from maybe Glenfiddich 12, it is subject to discussion. Mostly because according to whisky geeks like myself there has been a steady decline in quality over the last two decades or so.

The culmination of this everlasting discussion generally ends up with someone getting all dreamy eyed when he mentions the old White Horse editions. Technically, the White Horse edition is just a regular 16 year old from the 1990s. It’s called White Horse because there are some minor labeling differences. On the old label it said ‘White Horse Distillers, Glasgow’, while the new labels state Port Ellen. There are some other differences but this is the one that named it.

Apart from White Horse, the discussion is a bit more standard. A bit like the Highland Park 18. Everybody agrees that it was better 10 years ago, but compared to the current market, Highland Park (and also Lagavulin) still have a gem in their distillery’s standard output.

I got a sample of the White Horse Lagavulin ages ago at Maltstock (thanks Maarten) and decided to do a head to head. In this review I’ll just review the White Horse, and then do a small comparison to the current release (current being some 3 to 4 years old).

Lagavulin 16 White Horse. Image from Whiskybase

Lagavulin 16 White Horse. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The peat is fairly pungent and sharp with mostly the scent of burning plants. Heather, straw, smoke and hay. There’s also a fairly significant scent of tar and cigarette smoke. A hint of Lapsang Souchong tea with orange liqueur.

Sip:
The palate is gentle, smooth and rich. Lots of smoke and earthiness. That comes across as hay and heather again, and therefore ever so slightly bitter. The smoke is pretty coarse, with tar, peat and this time cigars. Cigars in the way the smoke slightly sears your cheeks and tongue. Sweet, with Valencia oranges.

Swallow:
The finish is rich and smooth again, slightly more spicy than the palate. The hints of tea are back. Lapsang Souchong but also breakfast tea. Dry, heather and peat mostly.

This is a cracking dram. I think the best way to put it is to compare it to the regular Lagavulin 16. In short: This is Lagavulin 16, with all individual flavors turned up a notch.

The tea, and oranges are stronger but mostly the scent of tar is present here which is subdued in the current editions. It’s slightly more earthy and heathery.

Having said that, when doing this comparison, I did also find out that I had kind of forgotten about Lagavulin 16 and even the current edition is a cracking dram. And yes, the White Horse edition is better, but not that much better. I’m not entirely sure about all different White Horse editions out there, but prices seem to have soared the last couple of years. Online they’re about € 350 to € 400 for a bottle.

So, my suggestion is to get a sample of the White Horse, and two bottles of the regular and then knock yourself out. I love Lagavulin.

Lagavulin 16, White Horse Distillers, 43%. Check prices here

Posted in Lagavulin | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

GlenDronach 10yo, 2003-2013, cask #67, 56.6% for Shinanoya

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I really should learn Japanese. This Shinanoya shop in Tokyo has released some awesome whiskies over the years and I just don’t have a chance of being in time for them. This cask from GlenDronach gets some ridiculously high scores on Whiskybase too, albeit from only two members.

The only things I’ve tasted from Shinanoya is based on samples I’ve gotten here and there, and this one was a recent addition to my sample list from Govert van Bodegom, one of the Longmorn Brothers. He wanted to thank me for sticking up for him in a recent Facebook discussion on plastic versus glass sample bottles.

Our statement boils down to food grade plastic being a very good alternative for glass, and something that might only be a little bit less ‘romantic’ in the eye of the beholder. Especially when it’s been tested on food and drinks, there should (and is) no technical problem. Maybe only if you leave the sample for years. Which I don’t intend to do.

Govert should know, since he is a professional in the food industry (and by industry, I mean industry, like factories and stuff). I don’t mind listening to folks with lots of experience.

And neither should you. Just drink the bloody stuff already.

Anyway, a 10 year old GlenDronach doesn’t generally surprise anyone since about every private bottler, club or wealthy individual bottled a 2002 or 2003 GlenDronach, from either Sherry, Bourbon or Virgin Oak casks. This one is from a Bourbon cask.

Sniff:
Much, much more timid than a 56.6% dram would make you expect. The richness of GlenDronach comes through nicely, even though the cask was very active. It’s rich with loads of vanilla and warm, ripe fruit. Mango, papaya, straw, tinned pineapple. Some gentle baking spices too, very gentle ginger, like ginger snaps. The pineapple notes are getting stronger after a while.

Sip:
The palate is more fierce, with some serious alcohol going on. Lots of fruit too, the yellow kind. Mango, pineapple, a hint of sweet orange (Valencia). It gets more and more chili pepper. A very rich, syrupy texture with vanilla and ginger, but mostly fruit.

Swallow:
The finish is still very fruity, and the alcohol is warming. The bourbon cask’s vanilla notes are stronger, with even a hint of sweetened coconut. A long finish that becomes slightly more spicy towards the end.

I can see this one scoring very high. It’s an awesomely delicious whisky with big fruity tones and the very rich GlenDronach spirit to back it up. I don’t think I’ve tried many GlenDronachs from bourbon casks, especially if they were as good as this, I think I’d have remembered.

The sweet pineapple notes are lovely and work surprisingly well with the heavy spirit of GlenDronach. I would have expected more contrasting flavors, but that’s not the case at all.

Shame this is gone, because I wouldn’t have minded to get my hands on one. I should start paying more attention to Shinanoya, I guess. They even have a ‘Product Purchase Guide’, which is funny since I think that with the same effort they could have made the site available in English too.

GlenDronach 10yo, 2003-2013, cask #67, 56.6% for Shinanoya

Thanks to Govert for the sample!

Posted in GlenDronach | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

FEW Bourbon, 48.4%, batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Posted on 27 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

As far as I know this is the first independent release from FEW Spirits. There have been private bottlings, like that Cask Strength bourbon for Master of Malt, but this time they pushed a bit further.

Not only is it an independent bottling, but it’s made to a different mash bill (grain recipe) than the regular bourbons released by the Evanston, Illinois distillery. Contrary to the regular recipe (70% corn, 20% rye and 10% barley), this is a wheated bourbon where the rye has been replaced by wheat.

This makes the recipe similar to the White Dog, but as I’ve been told it’s not an exact vertical if you would taste them side by side.

Of course, That Boutique-y Whisky Company wouldn’t be TBWC if they didn’t have some geeky label. Luckily they got away from the inside jokes that nobody understood. What I did expect, though, was that they would have changed their brand text on the label to have an ‘E’ in whisky.

Anyway, only 67 bottles were produced of this spirit so the window in which to order was tiny. Luckily, I got a little heads up just before it got released and I knew the bottle-share was going to fill up quickly. Which it did. 40 minutes or so…

Sniff:
Still young, but the youth is far more pronounced in the rye recipe whiskey. I’m not getting the extra 2% abv much, but there is a big chocolate not in here. Milk chocolate, or those Kinder eggs. The corn is present too, in a sweet popcorn way, and I’m not getting the celery sticks (spelled correctly this time).

Sip:
The palate is very dry but not really spicy. The corn is here, as is that slightly youngish note. There’s also bread, some chili pepper heat, sweetness. It’s very smooth and takes a while to develop a slight burn. Slightly burnt crust of Waldkorn bread. Syrupy and the sweetness almost goes to wine gums.

Swallow:
The finish is gentle too, with a short burst of heat. The chocolate makes a return and I think I get a hint of cappuccino. It’s quite long.

This is quite a different whiskey from the original FEW Bourbon. The smoothness and the lack of spices make this a much more chocolaty dram. It’s nice, but I slightly miss the extra oomph the original brought.

Having said that, if this was still available, I’d gladly buy a bottle for ‘future reference’. Normally that translates to ‘more drinking’. Anyway, tasty stuff and well picked by Master of Malt.

On a side note, I am very happy that Master of Malt, or Maverick Drinks like they call their bottling business now, apparently have found the cause of the heavy fennel flavor that got into a lot of their previous blended stuff. Strangely this was only in what they blended, and not in the single casks. I had a hard time with that, but I haven’t found it in their recent stuff. Kudos for that. Me happy.

FEW Bourbon, 48.4%, batch 1, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Sold out, obviously, but it used to be some € 70.

Posted in FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment