Usquebaugh Society Regional Tasting Noord-Holland – January 2015

Posted on 25 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Every couple of months someone in the province of Noord-Holland organises the regional tasting for the Usquebaugh Society.

They do this too in other areas of the country but not in the same way, where it is at someone’s home. Apart from that, the concept is quite similar where people bring one or more bottles of (at least in Noord-Holland, I don’t know about the rest) ridiculously high quality booze.

This afternoon was one of those events and even though the group was quite small, just eight of us, we had some sixteen whiskies to go through. I had to skip the last few and the awesome looking and smelling spare ribs on the barbecue because I promised my wife I wouldn’t be too long to yet another whisky event.

Here’s what we had:

An ancient Bruichladdich that set the bar. At a stellar level.

An ancient Bruichladdich that set the bar. At a stellar level.

An old vintage Glen Moray that was considered a good starter. Should have put this first

An old vintage Glen Moray that was considered a good starter. Should have put this first

My Linkwood 16 from TWE. Pretty good, if I may say so.

My Linkwood 16 from TWE. Pretty good, if I may say so.

A fairly young, but unexpectedly good Bowmore from folks who regularly screw up bottlings.

A fairly young, but unexpectedly good Bowmore from folks who regularly screw up bottlings.

Well, yes. Just yes. A big yes.

Well, yes. Just yes. A big yes.

Surprisingly fierce for such an old Islay. The consensus was that these 20+ Laphroaigs are usually more timid

Surprisingly fierce for such an old Islay. The consensus was that these 20+ Laphroaigs are usually more timid

A very great GlenDronach. Fierce, and far from over-sherried. Greatness.

A very great GlenDronach. Fierce, and far from over-sherried. Greatness.

I think this Littlemill was even better than the previous one.

I think this Littlemill was even better than the previous one.

Sort of recognizable, but with a massive suggestion of brandy / armagnac / cognac. Very interesting!

Sort of recognizable, but with a massive suggestion of brandy / armagnac / cognac. Very interesting!

This. By a mile or so. I want a case of this. Or two.

This. By a mile or so. I want a case of this. Or two.

Funnily enough, I didn't like this one. It reminded me more of a not so good Blair Athol instead of its sister casks

Funnily enough, I didn’t like this one. It reminded me more of a not so good Ultimate Blair Athol instead of its sister casks

After this the guys poured a dram of my second bottle, SMWS’s Mortlach 27yo, and I bailed. It has been good. A frigging afternoon of epicness. Thanks Fulco!

I missed about three or four drams of the intended line-up. Obviously, some other corks might have seen some fresh air after the initial tasting. I also missed a 20 year old Longmorn from WhiskyBroker.co.uk, or at least, I didn’t take the picture because I had it and it was great.

Posted in - Grain Whisky, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Glen Moray, GlenDronach, Laphroaig, Linkwood, Littlemill, Longmorn, Mortlach, Port Dundas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two FEW bourbons. The regular and a single cask.

Posted on 24 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

FEW has had a bourbon on the market ever since the beginning of their whiskey endeavors. Also, what turned me in their direction was a single cask they bottled for Master of Malt some two years ago.

That single cask was in a previous American Whiskey bottle share and was rather spectacular. I remember it fondly and as I have said in earlier messages on Twitter and Facebook, it wasn’t the best whiskey from the bottle share, but it was the one that stuck. In a good way, because the Leviathan II stuck too, but more as an alarm than anything else.

When I announced this bottle share I was a lot later than I intended to do this, because the guys at Master of Malt and FEW Spirits had told me there was another single cask on the way. Not specifically for Master of Malt, but for the entire UK this time. I decided to wait for that, also because it would drop at more or less the same time as the Boutique-y Whisky Company’s bottling of a FEW bourbon. That one will be reviewed next time.

So, their regular small batch bourbon, and a single cask, which is an even smaller batch. Interesting comparison, if I may say so.

FEW Bourbon, 46.5%, Batch 14j2
The sweetness and youth of the whiskey is comparable to the rye I tried a couple of days ago. The sweetness is just a bit more pronounced by the increased corn contents. A certain level of vegetal scents like celery sticks. Spicy too, with vanilla and oaky spices. Lots of new oak.

The palate is gentle and maybe just a tad thin. It has a sweetness of corn syrup, but is surprisingly fruity. Like the syrup of tinned fruit salad. Spices too, and cherries, oak. Maybe the oak is a bit balsamic vinegar like. Coffee and chocolate.

The finish has a spiciness not unlike rye whiskey, with the celery again. Long, cherries and the stones too, so slightly bitter.

Few Bourbon Single Cask 13-311 for UK, 58.7%
The alcohol is way more pronounced on the nose, but that’s far from a surprise. However, that does more to the sweetness than anything else. That’s quite increased with a riches corn scent too. Some banana and other sweet fruits. The youthful scent is here too, but less. New oak, ginger and other wood spices.

The palate is a lot more dry, and I mean a lot. Oak, rancio and more tannins too. Sweet, with something that reminds me of wood sap. It has something of those eastern European wood flavored liqueurs, but a LOT stronger. It’s deep and autumnal even.

The finish is surprisingly fruity and less dry. Oaky and warming but still quite sharp!

What to say now? I tell you. Those two whiskeys are very similar. My tasting notes differ because in the cask strength version I found they were easier to pin down. The flavors are a lot more pronounced and identifiable.

This makes them hard to appreciate separately, especially because the single cask should be very appealing. Mostly because of the higher ABV and its limitedness. There is, however, a rather significant difference in price, with the higher ABV one being about 50% more expensive (€ 62 vs € 92).

So, neither of them is particularly cheap, but I think the best value for money is gotten from the 46.5%, especially because they are so similar. I have to say that Master of Malt picked a particularly epic cask in 2013. That one was comparable to these ones, but just ‘better’. Which is always a good thing.

Still, either of them are very good whiskeys. I love them. I am starting to like young whiskey, I think. At least in some cases. Highly recommended!

Oh, and again: Some of the most awesome labels I’ve seen in the industry.

FEW Bourbon, 46.5% is currently available at The Whisky Exchange for £ 42.50
FEW Bourbon Cask Strength, 58.7% is available at both Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange for some £ 67..

Master of Malt also sells samples of both

Posted in FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A FEW gins: American Gin, Barrel-Aged Gin, Standard Issue Gin

Posted on 23 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Okay. I promise this was the last FEW pun for now. I’m getting tired of myself everything I think one up and change sentences to accommodate the brand name as a word.

Anyway, I decided to do the gins in one go since I don’t want to linger on it too long. I don’t know too many gins anyway, not enough to do a comparison without anything to compare them to.

Also, while I like gin and have tasted some really nice ones over the last couple of years, I don’t want to focus on it too much. Not entirely sure why, but the entire category of booze doesn’t interest me the same way whisky does. I think this mostly has to do with gin generally being made of a pure / neutral alcohol with herbs, spices and fruits or vegetables.

I don’t necessarily have a problem with that, especially since the resulting booze is so tasty, but because of that I find it quite hard to compare and assess, compared to whisk(e) that’s just grains, yeast and water. As in, it’s quite easy to make a ‘different’ gin without much technicality.

Without disrespecting the drink any further, let’s get to it.

FEW American Gin, 40%
Contrary to Europe, in the United States gin has to be at least 40% ABV, whereas in Europe they often come in in the high thirties. This particular gin is made from the unaged bourbon from FEW instead of neutral alcohol. This makes for a more flavorful base alcohol.

There’s a lot of scent on the nose, with a heap of juniper and some lime. Crisp, fresh and floral. Some wood spices after a couple of minutes with most cinnamon bark standing out. The palate is tingling with white pepper and dry spices. Lime zest is there, but the juniper is toned down a bit. Some bread, vanilla. The finish has vanilla, lemon, juniper and lime. It’s quite rich for such a crisp spirit. Very nice!

FEW Barrel-Aged Gin, 46.5%
This gin has the regular recipe but has been aged in charred oak barrels for a little while. Generally this is not more than a few months lest the oak overpower the drink.

The scent of juniper is pretty strong at first, but the mellowing notes of oak pop-up quickly. There’s gentle oak with some vanilla and roses. Black pepper, cucumber and a scent that I can best describe as ‘all star shoes’. You know, that plastic/rubber like nose they have. The palate is comparable but has a bit more pepper. Vanilla, roses and ‘carbonisation’, like in soda water. The finish is warming with oak, vanilla and cucumber. Some pepper and that flavor or rosewater again.

FEW Standard Issue Gin, 57%
Sometimes called Navy Strength, this is the real deal. 57% for a gin is nothing scoff at. I think the 57% is based on the old Imperial 100 proof, which was used to test the purity of gun powder and/or the booze used in the process.

The nose suggests an ‘impurity’ that suggests pot still to me. As in, I think this hasn’t been distilled to some 95% or so but kept lower and therefore retaining more flavor from the mash. This ‘impurity’ is a good thing, mind!

It manifests as a scent of beurre noisette, or burnt butter that’s used in cooking. Again that all stars shoes scent, but also floral, crisp and cucumber. Quite sharp and after a while I get a mustard like spiciness. The palate is tingling again, with quite some pepper. It’s crisp with lime, cucumber, roses and spices. That mustard again with a slightly dry and creamy feel. The finish is rather typical and the juniper comes out more, with white pepper (so heat, but not too much flavor).

Generally I would now start rambling about which one I like best of those three, and why. In this case it’s kind of tough. Mostly because they each serve their own purpose. I think the Standard Issue works best in a G&T, because of its intensity. It’s lovely and that spicy flavor is great. The buttery nose is something I didn’t expect but makes for a bit more depth than anything else.

The Barrel-Aged one is the best sipping gin of these three, I think. This because it shows the most depth and complexity. I’m always afraid that the oak is too strong but that’s not the case with it. It’s gently and adds flavors and nuances to an otherwise delicious gin. Especially the floral flavor of roses was great.

Then the American Gin, which might be the most generic of the bunch. I think this could be considered the entry level one, but since the Standard Issue is a limited release, this one is its fallback.

What also helps is that I really, really love the labels. They’re great. I’m getting those off the bottles for other decorative purposes when they’re empty. Great stuff.

All three of these bottles are available at Master of Malt:

American Gin, 40%, € 50
Barrel-Aged Gin, 46.5%, € 53
Standard Issue Gin, 57%, € 60

I do think the Barrel-Aged is the best value for money.

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

FEW Single Malt, 46.5%, batch 11-0004

Posted on 22 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Aaand another FEW review. I still have a FEW to go after this one, with three bourbons and two gins left. They’ll follow soon but I’m thinking I might change things up a little bit before this blog starts to look like it’s being sponsored by the guys from Evanston, IL.

Anyway, I was happy to find out that they chanced their hand at a Single Malt. There are quite some American distillers who do, but while some of them are atrocious, others are just rather bland and uninteresting. Luckily, there have been some quite acceptable examples. Think Balcones and Stranahan’s. Neither of them will win top spot in my book, but both are acceptable and interesting in their own way. The Stranahan’s maybe most interesting because of the huge weed/grass flavor on the finish.

Looking at this one’s batch number (11-0004) you might expect that this one’s three years old at the moment of drinking. Of course, I’m not 100% sure about the bottling date, but I don’t think Master of Malt can keep this on the shelf for a year.

I do wonder what they were thinking in the name of the barrel being ‘Hello Kitty’, but according to Paul Hletko, it’s fairly random what they write down in that area. Funny, and only slightly weird.

Sniff:
Young, with lots of barley scent (think sloppy mash) and a hint of new oak. The wood comes through with a scent like sawdust. There’s quite a bit of fruit with banana, apple crumble and lemon.

Sip:
The palate has a tingle to it that’s interesting. Flavorwise this goes heavily towards barley and a very youthful taste. Grist, barley, mash, the lot. Bananabread, oak, black pepper. Quite dry and spicy.

Swallow:
Spices and fruit. Barley, apple, banana, not overly long.

This is a bit of a tough one to ‘rate’. Technically this is a pretty well made whiskey. A lot of the flavors are exactly what you would expect from a young single malt matured in virgin oak. Actually, it’s a rather good one at that, and certainly one of the best American single malts I’ve tried.

Having said that, apart from it being good, it’s not a whiskey that’ll change your life or anything. By that I mean that for the money I’d rather buy a Scotch one. But still, kudos to FEW!

But then again, if they’d start making some aged versions that are older, I’d happily try them again in a bottle-share or so.

FEW Single Malt, batch 11-0004, 46.5%

Posted in - American Whiskey, FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FEW Rye, 46.5%

Posted on 21 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The second dram in the FEW bottle-share series. This time I opted for a brown spirit instead of a white one. Just to mix things up. In the end, the brown spirits will be the biggest group since they make up 6 of the 9 drams shared. I haven’t even tried all bottles yet, but that’s no reason to wait with the reviews, right?

What’s fun with the FEW bottlings is that they’re really open with their information. The mashbill is not a secret, the strengths at which they distill, cask and bottle (the last one is fairly obvious). Not all American distillers are this open and it’s nice to see some craft distillers changing the game in the USA where things like mashbills are generally a closely guarded secret.

This is slightly weird even, because a mashbill is not something that makes your whisky copyable. As in, there’s the distillery, the equipment, the oak, the specifics of corn, rye, barley. And something that’s way more important than in Scotland and does bring certain flavors to the final distillate that make a huge difference.

Anyway, this is the rye whiskey. A mash of 70% rye, 20% corn and 10% barley. The spirit comes off the still at 67.5%, then is casked/barreled at 57.55% and bottled at 46.5%. It’s young stuff, but in this case the age is not indicated. I’ll make sure to ask the folks at FEW for information.

Sniff:
Young and spirity, but very spicy. Lighter than expected and slightly sweet. There’s some nutmeg, ginger and some more eastern spices. A bit like curry spices or so. Rye, and lemon and a rather raw scent.

Sip:
The palate is more syrupy than I expected. The spices are leading the way with chili pepper, nutmeg, ginger but also some vanilla and an unexpected rum like sweetness. Quite dry too.

Swallow:
The finish is pretty fierce with a spicy burn before going more mellow. Warming, bread like, massive amounts of rye, spices. Surprisingly fruity with some white grapes and lemon.

Yes! I like this one a lot. There is a lot going on and to discover, but in the end it’s a well integrated dram that shows some serious oomph, even though it’s only bottled at 46.5%.

It’s not the gentles, the spiciest, the most mature rye whiskey ever bottled. But it sure is delicious. Highly commendable, and again as with the White Dog, it’s affordable for American craft whiskey, and even for any newly released whiskey from a craft distillery.

FEW Rye Whiskey, 46.5% / 93 proof, available at Master of Malt for € 64

Posted in - American Whiskey, - Rye Whiskey, FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kidding myself

Posted on 20 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Regarding my 2015 (and 2014, 2013 and 2012) resolution to reduce the amount of open bottles, and my not wanting a whisky collection, I’ve come to realize I’ve been kidding myself.

Of course, my wife realized this about five years ago, but I guess it’s an inherent quality of a whisky geek (or any kind of geek, for that matter) that we try to trick ourselves in finding excuses for new purchases.

In this case it’s about me also buying other booze than whisky. I never counted this to get to the grand total of open bottles (currently sitting somewhere in the mid-60s). In some cases that is justified. For example, that open bottle of Tia Maria is only bought to use in some random dessert a while ago, as is the Grand Marnier, and a lot of other things.

But, where I went wrong is that I currently also have two vodkas, 4 gins, an absinthe, a calvados, 2 bottles of pastis, 2 bottles of sake, some bitters, some vermouth and other cocktail ingredients sitting on that shelf. I never counted those. All this hard likker should be counted though.

Especially if I want to reduce the number of open bottles by some significant count, I should take in account that if I buy more other stuff, I also spend more time drinking that other stuff and that means less drinking of whisky. I’m making it hard on myself to empty bottles of whisky, in short.

Half of this should count too

Half of this should count too

Instead of having the 63 (?) open bottles waiting to be partially finished in the coming months, I think I should count the bottle-share bits and other stuff I bought out of curiosity. The stuff bought for cooking (or just not by me) will be skipped, since I’ve never been interested in it, and we’ll probably just finish it in some dish over the coming years.

But, having said that, the number should be increased to at least 75, and that’s without the Mezcal bottle-share. So about 80 open bottles of booze. I guess a bottoms-up tasting is in order!

Posted in - News and Announcements | Leave a comment

FEW Spirits, White Dog, 40%

Posted on 19 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Over the weekend I finally got around to properly sitting down for some samples from the FEW bottle-share. I did try some over the last couple of weeks but between all holidays and stuff I got sent for reviewing (like the Hven samples and Whiskybrother’s awesome Glenlivet) I decided to postpone the FEW things I had lying around.

When pouring the samples my heart skipped a beat when I poured the White Dog. Not necessarily because I love white whiskey or whatever folks call it. Mostly because I spilled a couple of drops and the entire living room started smelling like a dunnage warehouse. A true holiday memory if there ever was one!

The White Dog in this case is of their Bourbon mash, but even the corn in there didn’t detract from the warehouses I’ve sniffed in Scotland. The guys in Evanston decided to bottle some of their whiskey before aging and supposedly it works very well in cocktails.

EDIT: Paul Hletko, the master distiller, got in touch to correct me on the above. It’s not the mash of their bourbon but rather ‘a bourbon’. Their regularly bottled bourbon contains 20% rye, and this one contains 20% wheat. The rest is the same (10% two row barley and 70% corn). Also, the yeast and distilling regimes are different. So, another reason to try this as it’s really a different spirit than their bourbon!

I’m not very good at making those, however, so I’ve not done that (yet) since I generally have all ingredients but one, and I’m not going to buy a 30 quid bottle of booze to try a cocktail that I might not like.

Sniff:
The nose is big and rich right away. It’s very very sweet and slightly earthy. Sugar and corn syrup with some spices. Very rye like with rye bread. Behind it all is some glue and acetone.

Sip:
The palate is gentle (it’s not at still strength) but still rather spicy. Dry, sweet, bready with lots of crust and rye. Some peppery heat too.

Swallow:
The finish has that glue scent again, but the rye and corn flavors. It’s sweet, spicy with some acetone and paint. Some chemicals.

Funny. The mash has no rye in it, I just found out after typing this. It’s probably the dryness from the wheat that I mistake for spiciness. It does explain why I couldn’t find any more specifics. And I still think it tastes like rye bread.

I have to admit, I’m not overly used to drinking white dog, new spirit or whatever you want to call it. In this case I found some chemicals scents and flavors but keep in mind that those are not necessarily negative scents and flavors.

In this case, I kind of like the combination of the gentle sweetness, the sharper spices and the bite of the acetone behind it. It’s not tamed by oak mellowing. It’s quite in your face for a 40% drink and I like it. Maybe not enough to work through an entire bottle, but I’ll enjoy my sizable sample for sure!

Also, for an American craft spirit, bought in Europe, the price of £ 37.95 is quite acceptable! I was surprised by that!

FEW White Dog, 40%, £ 37.95 at Master of Malt

Posted in - American Whiskey, FEW, FEW Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A trio from Spirit of Hven

Posted on 18 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

With a title like that I almost feel like Serge Valentin, reviewing multiples of the same distillery on a single day.

Spirit of Hven is a relatively new distillery in Sweden on the island of Hven. Strangely enough it is not only a distillery but also a conference center. I’ve never heard of such a combination before, but it sounds like a lucrative venture. The distillery was founded in 2008 and has a variety of spirits on the market from gin, fruit distillates but their main line of products is their single malt whisky.

While I thought they were newer than from 2008, it turns out their whisky is also a bit older than I imagined at first.

Just before Christmas I received a surprise package from them containing a rather sizable sample (10cl) of their organic gin, Sankt Claus single malt whisky and the Merak organic single malt whisky.

It seems the organic trend is getting some traction in the world of whisky too, with Hven, Bruichladdich and Benromach releasing organic whiskies, and Springbank almost with their Springbank Green.

Of course, what matters is flavor.

Organic Gin, 40%
There’s a bit of alcohol on the nose first, but that soon gives way to juniper. Fresh, fruity and crisp with oranges. I also get a hint of herbs like rosemary. I am reminded of some Mackmyra whisky I had that was matured in a Swedish wine cask or so. Interesting. The palate is more creamy with dry spices, orange zest and a slight saltiness. Some fruit too. The finish has that rosemary flavor again, with orange and juniper.

I am not the most knowledgeable guy regarding gin, but this one is ridiculously smooth. It just slides in with very gentle flavors and almost not detectable alcohol. Very tasty, but I imagine this one being quickly overpowered in a G&T.

Sankt Claus, 53.2%, single cask single malt whisky
Three single casks were selected from over a hundred casks tasted. One was released in Sweden for Systembolaget (obviously), one in Denmark for Juuls Vinhandel and the third was made available for the rest of the world. The barley used is a mix of Pale Ale malt and peated malt (48ppm), and the resulting spirit has been matured in French oak barrels previously used for Merlot

On the nose I found oak and cherries at first. Other red fruits and red pepper corns followed. There’s a lot of oak flavor and some barley. The wine is detectable too and apart from the fruit gives a slightly nutty character. The palate is remarkably sweet with honey and nuts. Also some barbecue like greasiness and marinade. The fruits are here too but the sweetness is very different from the nose. Dry, spicy and lots of oak. I can imagine this being their Christmas selection! The finish is warming but not very long.

A very tasty dram with lots of Christmassy flavors. They picked this one well for the season. It’s a wonderful combination of flavors, although I would also like to taste the whisky from a less active cask, to see what that Pale Ale malt brings. Even though they used peated barley, apart from the barbecue flavors I don’t get much smoke at all.

Seven Stars No.2 Merak, organic single malt whisky, 45%
This whisky is from the Merak series, which is named after a part of the Big Dipper constellation. Without trying to get too technical (I’m just copying data here) the Merak star is a white sub giant three times as big and heavy as our sub and 68 times more intense. It is located 79 light years away from Earth.

Maturation of this whisky happens in a combination of French, Spanish and American oak and each bottling consists of 25 casks. It’s organic and classified as such, no coloring or chill filtration.

On the nose I got lots of barley with some oak. The spirit tastes rather young but quite gentle. A hint of smoke and a certain bread like scent that reminds me of fresh French bread crust. The palate is also remarkably young tasting but quite tasty. Gentle and rather rich with some spices, barley and oak. I think I get an oat flavor too, syrupy with some peppercorns. The finish is gentle and long, bready, grainy.

This is a very young tasting whisky, but not in a bad way. The flavors are already well integrated and in this case the youthfulness of the whisky is doing it a favor I think. Or my palate is changing.

All three spirits are very nice. I think the Sankt Claus is interesting but a bit overly Christmassy. That works miracles when sitting around the Christmas tree but I think it limits it potential in other periods of the year (I can’t imagine drinking that in summer), and the Merak is just lovely. I wonder where they’re going with these casks in the future!

The gin is just good. It might be a bit too smooth for all-round gin usage, but I prefer my gin neat anyway, so that worked out quite well. It’s kind of telling that that’s the only one that’s finished now. The other samples are in line for finishing soon.

I’m not even sure how the guys at Spirit of Hven got my address, and I might have given it some time ago, but I love them for letting me get to know their spirit. I’ve not seen it around in many shops yet but there is some of their stuff available at Master of Malt. Unfortunately, as is the case with all Swedish whisky, it’s rather expensive.

Thanks to Spirit of Hven for sending me these samples. Much obliged!

Posted in - Other Spirits, - World Whisky, Spirit of Hven | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mezcal bottle-share

Posted on 17 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While I still have not reviewed any of the FEW Spirits bottlings from that bottle-share, the next one is already sitting on the table to be sampled and sent.

As indicated in my New Year’s resolutions I wanted to do a Mezcal bottle share since I picked up a resonably ridiculous fascination for it. Why ridiculous? I’ve ever tasted some three mezcals, ever. And now I would want to buy multiple bottles.

A bottle-share seemed the answer and while browsing around for booze for a tasting at work I found a Dutch webshop that had them at quite some nice prices. Of course, I’m not settling for some bottom shelf mezcal and I want to hop in at the top end with some booze from Del Maguey.

According to the internet, Del Maguey brought mezcal back from the dead in the United States during the nineties with their single village bottlings and getting rid of that ridiculous worm. (You don’t want flies in your beer or wine, why would you want a worm in your mezcal?)

So, I bought four bottles, sent out some emails to the steady crew of Dutch bottle-sharers yesterday. But, I still have two spots to fill.

A set of 10cl of each of the four bottles will set you back € 40 (without shipping). If you like, you can also get 5cl of each for € 25. For this you’ll get a sample of each of the following mezcals:

The ‘Vida’ is the entry level mezcal and indicated being from San Luis del Rio. It’s created in a very old fashioned way by roasting the agave in earth pits and using wild yeasts for fermentation. It’s then distilled twice before resting and bottling.

The other three are the more high-end from the range and come from a variety of villages from around Oaxaca. Chichicapa and Minero are made from Espadin agave (like 90% of all mezcal) but the San Luis Del Rio Azul is made from Azul agave. Whether or not this is the regular blue agave used in Tequila is not clear, but I don’t think they’d promote that.

I’ve not tasted any of them yet, but I’m already thoroughly enjoying myself. I opted for mezcal for a possible second fascination that would bite my whisky budget massively. Mostly because everything about the drink is completely different from whisky, from ingredients, to cooking, to fermentation. I even decided to not get any reposado (rested in oak) or añejo (rested in oak for longer) because I do not want to get an oak flavor this time.

Anyway, if you’re game, let me hear it. There are only a couple spots left, in total 25 cl, so depending on the size, it varies from 3 to 5 spots.

Posted in - News and Announcements | 5 Comments

Balcones Single Malt, 53%

Posted on 16 January 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Apart from the Rumble I also found a sizable sample of their Single Malt. I have no idea how their batch numbers work, but this one states “Sm12-10/2012-12-13”. This could mean several things, depending on whether the 12-10 means December 2010, or October 2012, or even just a batch number from either year.

As I said before, I find it smart from craft distillers like Balcones that they produce drinks outside the regular spectrum, since you can’t compare them too easily with anything else. Copper Fox does that too. Balcones, however, doesn’t just do weird stuff like the Rumble and Brimstone. They also produce a more regular single malt.

Of course, this spirit is very young. But that doesn’t have to be a problem. In some cases with craft distillers it is. The three year old Lost Spirits Leviathan was hideous, for example. And, contrary to many people, I also didn’t like the one batch of St. George Single Malt that I’ve tried.

Sniff:
It’s quite raw and rather oaked for something this young. Over oaked maybe. It is quite clear that it’s a single malt though, with an unmistakable barley flavor. It’s more gentle than I would have thought for a young, high strength whiskey. Oak spices, mostly.

Sip:
The palate is sharp with oak and chili pepper. Dry, apple peels, lots of oak and rather rich. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a bit out of balance.

Swallow:
The finish is rather long and quite gentle after the sharpness and heat of the palate. Creamy with some sweet fruit all of a sudden. Mango and banana style with, not surprisingly, oak.

So. What to say about this. The palate is a tad out of balance with the flavors being all over the map. Also, the palate and finish are far from consistent. No part of it is bad, as I said, but it just doesn’t feel right either.

Another spirit from Balcones that I just can’t really love, but which isn’t bad either. It’s the same with Rumble. So, nice, but no cigar.

Balcones Single Malt, 53%, Batch sm12-10/2012-12-13. I’m not sure about the batch number, but this one’s comparable at Master of Malt. Expensive at € 101!

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