The KOTQ

I had the pleasure of sharing with Brother Ville a dram of a scotch that will make its way into my Top 10 malts, Glenfarclas 35. We shared such a wonderful malt experience in celebrating the acquisition of Brother Ville’s & Mrs. Ville’s (and the rest of the family’s) lake house in Wisconsin. Given that we tasted it nearly a month ago and I couldn’t post until the surprise announcement was made, I don’t remember all of the sweet sherry-like details. I do remember that the finish relates somewhat to how Brother Irving described HP 30. Given that Glenfarclas 35 is part of my collection, I look forward to sharing it with each and every one of you, maybe even at the lake house…. 🙂

Caol Ila 25 was another hit at Sam’s Spirits night. It was one of those, off the radar, member’s only samplings at $200/bottle. It’s a distillery bottled at cask strength 59.4% alcohol. Now for all of you cask-strength-leary, don’t hit the back button (yet). I learned from the distiller that you really should cut it with water-it’s not meant to be drunk at full strength. Too much alcohol masks the flavours, overwhelming the experience. Once cut to ~40% it was a nice dram. Light grass in the nose. Pallette was light smoke, syrupy and a finish that lets you down gently. AFTER, I tried it full strength–just a wee bit. It was a very different experience–hot, intense, rich.

Another Sam’s Spirit Night tasting was the new Talisker release. The Talisker Distillery was built in 1830. Distillery bottlings began at 8 years and then later 10 years was deemed to be optimal aging (at 45.8% alcohol–hmmm is there some higher alcohol trend here?). Just recently Talisker (now under Diageo’s ownership) released an 18yo expression. It’s nose takes you to the distillery’s Isle of Skye. It has a seaside aroma combined with a little brown sugar–enchanting. The palette is smooth and sweet. Only here we get the gentle smoke. This is definitly the maturer brother–it’s restrained and refined. This is one of those ‘run, don’t walk’ to your nearest store and pick up a bottle . At $60 it’s practically a bargain. Dare I say that 18 is now the optimal Talisker age.

Brother Bluff and I had the absolute pleasure of experiencing Sam’s Annual Spirit Night at the downtown store. For those of you who have not been to a Grand Tasting there, it’s in the store both in the main part of the store and in the back stock room. Tables are scattered throughout. Your $35 entry fee gets you a Riedel glass, a tasting book and all the fine scotch you can drink. The lineup was tremendous–more than one can practically taste in an evening. So strategy was key. I will post several offline experiences beginning with what I tasted last: Highland Park 30. I was practically walking out the door ready to hang up my glass for the evening having thoroughly enjoyed 8 great NEW malts when I decided to finish off the evening with an old friend HP 18. Chatting with the distributor I noticed a ‘not on the Sam’s tasting lineup’ bottle of HP 30. Shaking, I asked “can I try try that?”…… Well, gentlemen, let me tell you this is one awesome drink. It has a soft, lighty floral nose with a hint of wood. The pallette is velvety smooth (even at 48% alcohol), with cocoa, brown sugar and citrus. The finish is ever-lingering, soft and round. The whisky is made of casks aged 30 to 38 years. They are kept on premises where the weather is colder and evaporation less than in the more southern regions. Once it hits the stores in a few months, at $350/bottle I won’t be adding HP 30 to my cellar any time soon but I consider myself fortunate to have tasted it–and to have been among the first in the world.

Souvenir hat.

I had a rare experience last night. I had Brother Irving over for dinner before BMX’s show over at Kenny’s. I made Bobby Flay’s amazing garlic roasted chicken with port-roasted garlic sauce (deliciously sinful) which was and always is an amazing poultry experience. Anyway…we shared some Littlemill 8 before dinner and I was amazed at the powerful lemony nose AND palatte. Usually nose characteristics don’t always manifest themselves in the palatte but Littlemill 8 doesn’t disappoint. The rare experience I had was that I found myself drinking this scotch WITH the chicken dinner – something I NEVER, EVER do. What fun.