Lost Spirits Leviathan II, 53%

Posted on 7 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Do you know that feeling when you really want to like something but you simply can’t for some reason? I have it with some music that I am supposed to like. With some foods too, like olives, clams, oysters and so on.

Anyway, when the new Lost Spirits Distillery popped up a couple of years ago, in Monterey, where I had just been on holiday I had this too. They are distilling in wooden stills too, which is just so quaint that I immediatly felt sympathy for these people. Just like when a new Dutch distillery pops up. I like the fact that they’re doing it, even without tasting their product.

And then the product hits. I had this with Brouwerij De Molen and their Dutchsky, Us Heit with their Frysk Hynder, and now with Lost Spirits.

The Leviathan. The horrible monster.

The Leviathan. The horrible monster.

Sniff:
It’s very spirity. It’s young and completely unrefined. There’s sulphur in the boiled vegetables variety. Also a lot of peat without being overly smoky. Old moss, smoked cheese too.

Sip:
On the palate it’s a bit more crisp with apples, some acetone and again, the vegetables. Some peat again, but not as much as you’d expect from something called Leviathan.

Swallow:
Smokes cheese, the water you pour off vegetables after boiling them, peat. It lingers too.

While it’s most definetly not the worst whiskey of the year, it’s pretty close. The worst one would be that French horror from a short while ago. Anyway, I very much don’t like this. People stopped distilling in wooden vats, and I guess for a reason. Also, it might get better with a lot more age, but then you’d be tasting cask. Although, I’m not sure the wine casks helped it in this case. Maybe fresh white oak is better?

Lost Spirits Leviathan II, 53%, Semillion cask matured. Available at Master of Malt at £ 72.62

Posted in - American Whiskey, Lost Spirits | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 Year Old, 50%

Posted on 6 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This was kind of highly anticipated by many. From the get-go the reviews of anything Smooth Ambler released were raving. Of course, it took forever before the stuff reached Europe, and then only at the western frontier and not on the mainland.

Smooth Ambler is, much like High West, a young distillery that blends and bottles bought whiskey while waiting for their own stuff to mature and reach acceptable quality. By what I’ve tasted of their blending, I hope the threshold for their own distillate is as high!

Smooth Ambler Old Scout, 10 year old

Smooth Ambler Old Scout, 10 year old

Sniff:
It’s sweet with a mountain of caramel and oak. Quite some cinnamon and nutmeg, some almond too. Corn syrup with a slightly burnt scent too it. Cedar / cigar box?

Sip:
On the palate it’s sweet with candy flavours. After that a sudden pepper bomb hits. Also caramel, oak and simple syrup. It stays peppery and sweet.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more fierce than I expected, but the pepper gets toned down quickly. Sweet icing sugar, treacle and wood spices.

While the expectations were sky high, I’m not sure they’ve all been fulfilled. Not that this is not a delicious dram, it is, but I had expected a bit more complexity for some reason. There’s a lot of pepper and caramel, and everything else is secondary.

Now, all expectations aside. This is a damn fine dram. Worth every penny and at € 60 it’s quite affordable actually. I had expected it to cost more at ten years old, since premium bourbon can ramp up quickly over here.

Anyway, it’s very good. I wouldn’t mind buying a bottle of this!

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 Year Old, 50%, available at Master of Malt for £ 53.79

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Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2012, 55.7%

Posted on 5 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This little baby was the reason I triggered that Bottle-Share thingy again. I had been hearing such great and excaggerated things about it, that it must be a tremendous bourbon. And that while I am not a Four Roses fan. Usually I find it too gentle, too floral.

Anyway, I bought the nine whiskies for the Bottle-Share and bothered about getting participants later. That only took about an hour so no harm done there. I got to get a massive amount of cool bottles in again! The kid in the candy store reference is appropriate.

But when all comes down, it’s about how it tastes, and not about what other people think or about the bottles being sent to your house, right?

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, Barrel Strength, 2012

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition, Barrel Strength, 2012

Sniff:
It’s a fairly typical scent of textbook bourbon, if you ask me. Quite some oak and a nice smelling spiciness. Pretty sharp at 55.7% with some crisp mint, vanilla and spiced cake that any Dutchy would call ‘breakfast cake’ or ‘ontbijtkoek’.

Sip:
Light, but strong. Oak, allspice, crisp but gaining richness quickly. Creamy with creme brulee, caramel and pound cake. It loses a bit of the lightness along the way.

Swallow:
‘Bourbon’, with a gentle syrupy feel to it. Maybe even some Seville orange. A long finish!

This is as stunning as everyone made me believe it is. It’s not an exceptionally ‘different’ bourbon, but the flavours are stunning, incredibly well balanced and strong. That’s maybe what intrigues me the most, the fact that it is a textbook bourbon, but done so incredibly well, I can barely imagine a better made drink. Stunning, and epic.

Jason Pyle writes a great review too.

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2012, 55.7%. No longer available.

Posted in - American Whiskey, Four Roses | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

High West Campfire, 46%

Posted on 4 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

High West distillery in Utah has been distilling for a couple of years now, but apart from their ‘Silver’ series, all the whiskey they have released so far has been sourced elsewhere.

My review on High West, some of their whiskies and the food.

The Campfire whisky is a blended whisky consisting of bourbon, rye and Scotch blended malt whisky. The American whiskies in it come from the old Seagrams plant in Indiana, but which blended malt is used is not disclosed.

It’s a very nice idea to mix such different styles of whisk(e)y and whether or not it tastes good? Let’s find out!

High West Campfire

High West Campfire

Sniff:
Complex is the first word that pops up. In this case complex means that a lot of stuff is going on. When you know that there are different kinds of whisk(e)y in your glass together it kind of explains what you smell, since all kinds are represented on the nose. Bourbon makes up the main component I would say. The Scotch bit tempers the sweetness a little bit. Fruity with barbecue sauce, corn syrup. There is a tiny trace of smoke in the background, covered with lots of caramel.

Sip:
A lot lighter than I expected and displays blended malt with bourbon. I’m not picking up a lot of rye. Fairly thin with a touch of that bourbon sweetness, not much though. The blended malt whisky shows, and there is finally some spicy pepper from the rye whiskey. Fairly spicy indeed with some toasted rye bread.

Swallow:
The finish feels fairly random. Spicy, with oak and some smoke, and some sweetness from teh corn. A bit flat though.

To be honest, I had expected more from this. Blending together all those styles is no mean feat, and maybe this is the best you can get from mixing up such different components, but I’m not entirely convinced. It’s a nice whisk(e)y, don’t get me wrong, but I just have the feeling that three components are trying to pull it in a direction and it falls flat in the middle.

High West Campfire, 46%, OB, available at Master of Malt at £ 58

Posted in - American Whiskey, High West | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

All in an afternoon’s work

Posted on 3 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Yesterday was the first regional tasting in Den Bosch that I attended. After my tries and lots of agendas that conflicted with those plans it finally happened. It was worth it.

IMAG0916 IMAG0917 IMAG0919 IMAG0920 IMAG0921 IMAG0922 IMAG0923 IMAG0924 IMAG0925 IMAG0926I added a 1966 Glenfarclas and a 25yo Ben Nevis. Someone else brought a spring-cap Black & White to the table. After that and dinner I sat around for another few hours sobering up for the drive home. Everyone else continued on Lagavulin 16 White Horse, Clynelish 1972 and Springbank 1968…

 

Posted in - Blended Whisky, - Irish Whiskey, Ben Nevis, Clynelish, Cooley, Glen Elgin, Glenfarclas, Glengoyne, Glenlivet, Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Longmorn, Longrow, Mortlach, Royal Lochnagar | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

IPA is dead. Long live IPA! 3

Posted on 1 November 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another year, another pack of single hop IPAs from BrewDog! This pack took a little longer to get reviewed since I had them sent to London to get out of A LOT of shipping costs. That is the biggest drawback of ordering at BrewDog, the shipping costs to The Netherlands are ridiculous (£ 25 for one box guys, really?).

The 2013 release of Single Hop IPAs

Anyway, I tasted those a while ago to see which hop gets my preference this time. These beers are made with the same recipe, but the hops are different. This time BrewDog used El Dorado from the USA, Goldings from the UK, Australia/New Zealand brings Waimea to the table and the last one is Slovenian Dana hops.

Dana
I tasted the Dana first. It’s bitter and grassy. Herbal too, with a certain creaminess. Hay, grapefruit and pomelo. It’s quite fierce actually and it focusses heavily on the bitterness of all the aspects of hops. A very good start to this batch.

El Dorado
The USA were up next. An incredibly fruity version this time. Mango and citrus fruits. Sweet lemon and a bit or orange. Peach too. Fresh and fruity, but a lot sweeter than the Dana. Lovely, but I expected a bit more bitterness.

Goldings
An English hop variety and that is ‘soft of’ clear from the get go. This tastes a bit like a more ‘old fashioned’ IPA you can get in any pub in the UK. It’s a decent IPA, but not too special. It’s a tad fruity, a tad bitter and some spiciness. Not much barley flavour, for some reason.

Waimea
I didn’t taste this one last, but I wanted to work up to this one. I get a massive boost of barley at first. There’s a light flavour of apples and pears. There’s grass and straw too, with some grapefruit freshness and bitterness.

The Waimea holds the middle ground of the Dana and the El Dorado and that’s exactly where I like my IPA to be. A smack of bitterness but also a tad of sweetness to make up for it.

For some reason, and not just because this pack was the most recent, I feel these four were more outspoken and different than the ones in the second release in 2012. A bigger variety of flavours and therefore a more interesting couple of beers to try.

I’m not sure if there are going to be more packs in the future since BrewDog seems to have made a switch to single yeast IPAs, but that could also be an addition to the range. Anyway, I’m a happy camper and I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a case of those Waimea IPAs (hint, Brewdog, make my day!).

IPA is Dead. Nicely done, chaps!

IPA is Dead. Nicely done, chaps!

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Caol Ila 1982, 51.6%, 500th Bottling – The Ultimate

Posted on 31 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

According to their website The Ultimate has been at it for 19 years now. They’ve released 500 bottlings since then and since they sell almost everything in The Netherlands, that is quite a feat. The proper way to celebrate is to bring out a stunning bottle for that occasion.

Anyway, by now I think the whisky fanatics out there have realized that when it comes to old peated Islays you don’t necessarily need Port Ellen. And for the price of one Port Ellen you can generally buy three to four Caol Ilas of the same age. My choice would be made instantly. Let’s see if this one keeps up the good reputation!

Caol Ila 30. 500th Ultimate bottling

Caol Ila 30. 500th Ultimate bottling

Sniff:
A very gentle scent of a lot of smoke. It’s oily and has some custard and straw too. Some vanille, but not too much (thank God, getting tired of all those vanilla bombs). It has quite some depth. There’s also some tobacco and oak.

Sip:
The palate is surprisingly sharp for a 30 year old whisky that was this gentle on the nose. Smoky, vanilla custard, milk, lemon cordial, wood, cigars and cigar boxes. It also has straw and hay, grass and some dried flowers.

Swallow:
Now it gets more gentle again. It’s warming and a lot less smoky than on the palate. Oak, warm vanilla custard and apple crumble. Pie dough.

This is a really great whisky. Period. There is a lot happening and it’s very consistent throughout tasting it. There’s not too much vanilla and a lot of typically Islay flavours. I would have expected it to be a bit more salty though. If I had this kind of budget, I would buy it.

There we get to the sore spot of this one. The Ultimate is known for their very affordable whiskies. You pay € 60 for a 17 year old cask strength sherried Longmorn, € 50 for a 46% 20 year old Highland Park, also sherried. Those kind of prices. I can’t help feel that this one, at € 180 or so is no longer in the ‘affordable’ league but out there with the other bottlers. I think it’s very risky for them if they lose that edge.

Anyway, even for € 180 this is a great whisky. I wish I had the money at this time, since I think this will sell out quickly. And rightly so.

Caol Ila 1982, 55.2%, 500th Bottling, The Ultimate, Hogshead. Available at Slijterij Zonneveld at € 182.50 (before 10% discount if you’re an Usquebaugh Society) or € 180 at Whiskybase.

Thanks to Rob Stevens at De Whiskykoning for a sample. Strangely I don’t see it in his shop.

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Terroir Gin, 45% – St. George Spirits

Posted on 30 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Little over two years ago I reviewed this stuff already. I wrapped it in a write-up of our visit to the distillery in Alameda, California. After the tour I ended up buying a bottle of the absinthe and a 20cl bottle of the Terroir Gin.

St. George Spirits. The setup

St. George Spirits. The setup

I recently opened it in the hope to whip up some random cocktail at home. Unfortunately I don’t have many cocktail ingredients so that didn’t go anywhere. Fortunately, I tried this gin again, neat. Damn this is fantastic stuff.

I don’t know anything about gin, maceration or how to compare one to another so I won’t do a review like I do whisky reviews. I have only tasted 10 or so gins in my life so it wouldn’t make sense to tell you what you can and cannot expect. What I do know is when I like something.

The distillery on the naval base

The distillery on the naval base

The Terroir gin is made with herbs, spices and bits of plant from a mountain just north of San Francisco, Mount Tam (short for Mount Tamalpais). Apparently Mount Tam is some kind of an herb garden since there is sage and laurel in this gin. You pick up some spices, but most of the flavour is pine and citrus.

Mount Tamalpais

Mount Tamalpais

St. George's triple pack

St. George’s triple pack

The mix is great though, and I can recommend everyone to get a bottle of this.

The drawback, however, is that they produce three gins that have recently become available in Europe through Master of Malt. Of course, I wanted all of them but a full size bottle was a little bit over budget. Luckily they also have packs with three 20cl bottles in them. I bought that.

To put it in perspective: I usually finish a bottle of whisky in two to three years. This bottle is only a third of the size, but I finished it in a week. So that is about 52 times faster than normal. That good.

Posted in - Other Spirits, St. George (USA) | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Port Ellen, 1978-1998, Rare Malts, 60.9%

Posted on 29 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

As a bonus and since you have to go out on a bang Jon also poured me a dram of one of the many Port Ellens that he has in his collection. For some reason he decided to start collecting this now overpriced and not too reliable whisky, probably when it was still fairly okay to buy a bottle. By his collection I guess it would have to be for quite a while that he has been at it.

A few Port Ellens

A few Port Ellens

Anyway, as if the Brora 1978 wasn’t enough, he wanted to top it with a Port Ellen and I am not one to complain (not too often that is). He poured me a Rare Malt from 1978. Released in 1998 makes it 20 years old in this case. Still at a whopping 60.9% ABV, which makes me guess this was casked at a higher percentage than the regular 63.5. Or else it must have been the best oak tree ever felled.

Port Ellen 1978-1998 from the Rare Malts Selection

Port Ellen 1978-1998 from the Rare Malts Selection

Sniff:
Surprisingly gentle on the nose, with scents of the beach on Islay. Salt, sand, some seaweed. Some smoked fish (re: smoke and salt), medicinal with iodine. It gets more smoky as I let it breathe for a few minutes. Heather and sand but very clean.

Sip:
The palate makes up in sharpness for the gentleness on the nose. Flaming. Dry and oaky with smoke, vanilla, and sugary sweetness.

Swallow:
The finish has a sudden burst of black and white pepper. It’s full with vanilla and orchard fruits. Apple and sweet grapes.

While I’m missing the leather and lemon scents that usually go with classic Port Ellens, this one is a stunning dram on it’s own. There are many surprises and it takes a different turn at every step of tasting it. Even so, it doesn’t feel inconsistent at all.

An absolutely fabulous dram and a very, very kick-ass Port Ellen. Again, I should have started drinking high end whisky earlier!

Port Ellen, 1978-1998, Rare Malts, 60.9%, available at € 660 at Whisky Antique in Italy.

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Brora 25, 1978 – 2004, 57% – SMWS

Posted on 28 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It’s been ages since I reviewed an SMWS bottling, but to be honest, it’s also been ages since I tried a really interesting one. This has nothing to do with a lack of interesting booze, but more an availability problem.

Anyway, Jon had this baby left over from the Broracademy which had taken place slightly before Feis Ile at the old Brora Maltings. A lot of fanatics gathering and bringing booze to celebrate Brora. Sounds like it was a nice enough afternoon!

Of course, Brora closed 30 years ago. There are not many casks left I guess, and the indie varieties are drying up rapidly. Diageo releases one every year but the last couple of years have seen staggering increases in the price of these. They’ve been out of my league ever since they started increasing and going to € 300 from € 200 or less.

Does that mean I would gladly spend € 200 on a bottle of Brora if I could get a good one for that amount? Yes. Simply because it would be ridiculously affordable for the quality of good Brora. Would my wife be happy about me spending that much cash on booze? No. But thinking too much about that is kind of pointless since I would do it anyway, but the situation will never come up!

SMWS Brora 61.2

SMWS Brora 61.2

Sniff:
Smoky but in a very coarse and dry way. More like smouldering embers of a wood fire than a burning one, for example. Old vanilla and sweet oak are present too.

Sip:
Sweet and richly coated in vanilla, smoke and caramel sauce. It becomes more forceful with every second you let it swim.

Swallow:
The smoke is still the most prominent part but it’s very complex instead of one dimensional. The finish is long, smoky and oaky.

This is stunning whisky and displays a lot of Lagavulin like characteristics. The name ‘Lagavulin from the North’ applies. It’s simply stunning with layers and layers of smoke but a huge variety in smokiness with salty, coastal varietes to thick woody ones. Delish!

Unfortunately, bottles like this have been long gone and even Whiskybase.com doesn’t have a clue what it’s worth. That means that none have been found in shops in the last five years or so. If you want one, auctions would be your best guess.

Oh, on a level of comparison: I think I’d go for the Lagavulin 1993 if I would have to make the choice.

Brora 25, 1978 – 2004, 57%, SMWS ‘Marmalade on burnt toast.’

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