The KOTQ

Lehi, Utah’s the site of the Utah Scottish Festival, June 9-10. Looks like fun and frolic in the glades. It’s rich in lore, fun ‘highland’ activities including a tastings of several varieties of keen spirits (note email). Check out the site: www.utahscots.org/games.html. — or, my previous email.

So where’s Lehi? Just north of Provo / Utah Lake … interesting spot of such a ‘dry’ community to be tasting the ‘drink’?!@#

Thanks to Brother Bop for furthering my technical strengths this morning. Salut.

In the short run, based on the blog I read on The Scotch Blog, it doesn’t appear as though the wine industry’s move to screw caps will effect the whisky industry signficantly. In the long run, time will tell…

The whisky pundits agree that consumer perception plays a role in how they go about bottling their high end / older expression spirits, with blends and some entry level whiskys having screw caps, but narry a screw cap on a Macallan 50 or The Balvenie 30. While I wasn’t able to obtain any specific data on this, one would think that if there is significant overlap between wine and whisky connoissuers and the tasting/drinking experience of the wine connoissuer’s screw-capped wine bottle is a positive one, he or she may be more inclined to purchase their favorite whisky expression in a screw cap.

For distilleries with scale, screw caps provide a more cost effective means by which to bottle their casks. Perhaps, if the whisky distilleries were to overhype the TCA or cork taint effect of cork on a whisky bottling, they might be able to move their customers over to whisky with screw caps. But there isn’t agreement across all the whisky experts on cork taint. In fact, Jim McEwan, veteran distiller, blender, cooper and taster goes as far to say, “.. if cork was a problem surely, over the course of 300 years, someone would have spotted the problem. Or could it simply be that the distilleries and blenders of yester-year were not nearly as clever as today’s ‘experts’?”

Economics are not the only reason why a distillery might move to a screw cap, security, according to the blog, is another. Given that there are parts of the world where fradulent use and counterfeiting are prevalent, “it is preferable to use bottles with a non refillable closure”.

All in all, it didn’t appear as though some segments of the whisky industry (smaller distilleries / older expressions of any distillery) would be quick to move to screw caps, but given the move in wine, we may see more screw caps on “entry level” (my term) expressions from mass produced single malts or in more blends…

Slainte!

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.