The KOTQ

Kudos to Brother Bluff who threw a great meeting on Saturday, October 28th. Definitely one to remember…

The topic was essentially marrying sushi and single malt whisky. I have a number of notes piecing many things together from the meeting, so Brothers, please feel free to edit anything I have written here.

Bluff’s Theorem – Pair a like whisky with a like sushi – (e.g. a whisky with iodine characteristics may pair well with an iodine nigiri)

Bop’s Law – Pairings will differ along the color spectrum of sushi – from mollusk (translucent) to tuna (red)

Irving/Lakeview Thesis – Balancing the strengths of the whisky/sushi with opposing strengths of the sushi/whisky leads to an excellent marriage

Some pairing findings:

Mollusk paired well with Lowland- in this case Linlithgow 28 (Blackadder bottling)
Balvenie and Balblair tested well within the group across the entire sushi color spectrum
Moon River roll (shrimp tempura with jalapeño) paired very well with Balblair 16 (which was deemed to be a great whisky by the majority)
Inside – Out Dragon Roll = Ardbeg 1977
Irving just didn’t like the rainbow roll so didn’t really pair it.
The scallop nigiri was the bomb!!!

Lineup:

Balblair 16
Balvenie 12 – Doublewood
Ardbeg 1977
Linlithgow 28 – Blackadder bottling
Ledaig 20
Glen Elgin – Cask Strength
other?

Sushi:

Scallop nigiri
Toro nigiri
red snapper nigiri
clam nigiri
inside out dragon roll
moon river roll
spicy tuna roll
other?

Other considerations from the group:

More discussion / homework needed around the boon years of the 1890’s from a whisky perspective
OFFICIALLY – What are the 3 oldest distilleries?
When cutting a cask strength whisky, is there an official cut %? If so, what is the source?
Group needs to further define Islay more granularly given its broad acceptance.
Group needs to do a bar tour to determine which establishments have the best whisky selections in town

I was actually surprised to find little information about Signatory available on the Internet. While I know that they are an independent bottler, I could find little ‘official’ history about Signatory. However, the following are some details that I was able to pull together, and I think we should consider speaking with the Signatory rep, Ed Kohl, possibly for future tastings.

Signatory was founded in 1988, and originally wasn’t a fully independent bottler. By April 1992, they had received the approval to bottle casks they owned, and now along with Wm. Cadenhead and Gordon & McPhail, are supposedly the only fully independent bottlers of scotch whisky.

By being able to bottle their own product, they keep greater control over what is output. Whatever they choose not to bottle is given (sold, I presume) back to the blends. They also tend to bottle single casks, and consequently, they get to claim that their bottlings capture more of the unique flavor of each cask. While the bottling process is semi-automated, each bottle is hand-numbered and hand-labeled, containing cask details such as date of distillation and date of bottling. Consequently, their labeling practice gives a bit of exclusivity to their offerings.

Additionally, there is only light filtration to enusre 86 proof malts that maintain their natural flavors. In fact, Signatory had recently released un-chilfiltered bottlings in the past few years.

It’s important to note that a common practice for Signatory is to get their older casks through batering. Signatory will buy casks from distillers, and occasionally, master blenders find themselves short in casks for their blend. They call Signatory, and arrange a barter for some rarer whiskies. They also will buy parcels (25-50 casks) and choose the best for independent bottling, and later sell the rest back to blenders.

Incidentally, Signatory originally was supposed to carry signatures of famous people on their labels…hence the name “Signatory”. But, by the time their first cask was purchased and bottled, they had sold all their product before they obtained the signature.

Signatory has also purchased ownership of the Edradour distillery, and has run the operation since July 2002. From what I recall when talking with Ed Kohl at Whiskyfest, Edradour is kept fairly separate from Signatory’s independent bottling business.

I’ve always been a palatte guy when it comes to single malts…I’ve looked on with curiosity when the “nosers” in the group go on and on about the importance of the nose in tasting. Me, I use my mouth to taste I’ve always thought. I can even remember hearing justification based on some huge sensitivity the nose has to aroma. Well – check out that epistlery tome of worldly knowledge; the Scotch Blog to find out it’s all a myth! Everyone will have to start tasting with their mouths again!

I just heard a reference to this and had to post. The US secret service has Bruichladdich distillery under observation becuase their new product is “just a small tweak” from a chemical weapon. There may be a better article, but follow here for an overview.

Bluff, Irving, and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting American independent bottler Jeff Topping and his brand The Wild Scotsman at Sam’s Spirits Night tasting on February 28th. Jeff is a young, passionate, American who has recently founded his own independent bottling label and has already released his first vatted malt. Interesting timing coming across Jeff after our discussions regarding vatted malts and their potential in the industry just 4 nights earlier.

Jeff is living a keeper’s fantasy life as an independent bottler and he is also an apprentice whisky master living in Scotland. I liked him very much when we had a chance to chat at Sam’s. Please read this interview with Jeff when you can. His is an interesting story and the link also serves to highlight our latest addition to our links area The Scotch Blog which is another wonderful resource for us to use.