Month: September 2014

Whisky Appreciation and Nosing Collective – Night 1

Posted by: Nick

The experience of drinking whisky is elevated immensely when shared with another person. Logic dictates therefore, that it improves further when shared with multiple people. And that concept was proved to be correct when we put out the call to our whisky drinking friends that some much esteemed single malts and much loved blends were lined up on the bar, ready to be sampled.

All our merry band required was a name, so inspired by our detractors (namely: the girls, who claimed we spouted streams of absolute smack whilst under the influence of the water of life) we formed the: Whisky Appreciation and Nosing Collective.

Think about it.

WANC 1
The first night we held was a quiet success. After a visit to our local distillery Hellyers Road (how fantastic is it to have a local distillery?!), we settled in to a night of tasting Scottish and Tasmanian whisky. There were many stand-out drops, including the two Lark single malts, as well as the surprisingly impressive Balvenie Doublewood. The highlight of the night, however, was the unveiling of our two new and expensive purchases, in my case, the Laphroaig Quarter Cask, and in Ted’s case, the Lagavulin 16 year old.

In hindsight, we probably sampled these in the wrong order. The overpowering peat of the Laphroaig was a revelation coming straight from a finely balanced Speyside single malt. The Lagavulin, on the other hand, was equally appreciated, although some of its complex subtleties may have been lost on the night. Come bedtime, with our heads slightly spinning, we could not decide which our favourite was.

Fast forward to the present day, and it is still a debate that rages. Though we are now armed with more knowledge than we possessed in those formative days of our whisky drinking, we still struggle to separate these two distinctive Islay malts. This serves as proof that information and experience are not crucial to the enjoyment of whisky: it is simply how it makes you feel in one particular moment. And on this night, that particular feeling was pure elation.

Ardbeg returns from space!

Posted by: Nick

My good friend and drinking guru Scott once successfully fooled me into believing the bottle of Ardbeg Galileo he was pouring me a nip of had actually been into space. As in the very bottle he held in his hand. I was naturally overawed and sipped my drink reverently, commenting stupidly how the lack of atmosphere did not diminish it’s peaty flavours. He eventually came clean and confessed the reason that it’s peaty flavours were undiminished was because it had never actually left earth. It was created in honour of the Ardbeg space project, where a barrel had indeed been sent into space. I had just not been drinking it.

Fast forward to the present and the Ardbeg space program has now landed! Three years and 15 570 orbits later, a barrel of Ardbeg’s finest is currently being inspected by men in white coats, and of course, Ardbeg whisky creator, Dr Bill Lumsden, to find out about the effects of zero gravity on the maturation process. The question remains, however, what will these effects be? Will my learned whisky drinking friend Bonnie be correct in her assertion that the whisky would have spent three years in a ball in the centre of the barrel, not interacting with the wood at all? Or could this be the birth of a new super-whisky?

What is certain, however, is that Ardbeg are celebrating in the best way possible – by bringing out a new release of their famous (and currently out of stock) Supernova! Plus, you can play an Islay-themed version of space invaders, so it’s worth checking out the site simply for enjoyable procrastinatory reasons alone!

Space travel and Islay-whisky. Life surely does not get more exciting than this.

Ardbeg in space

How we drink our whisky

Posted by: Ted

A note on our whisky drinking preferences:

We’ve heard all the arguments for adding water, ice or stones etc. to whisky, but in general we drink our whisky neat and lightly warmed (or hot if we forget to take it away from the heater in time!). Warming the whisky volatises it and allows you to really get all those exciting molecules onto your scent receptors, which is far harder to do when the whisky is cold. Remember, smell is half of the flavour! Using a curved glass helps trap the vapours and stops them from escaping into the wild, which is why we like to use vessels such as pinot glasses, or our favourite, the Glencairn glass, rather than the traditional whisky tumbler.

Of course, drinking is a democratic pastime and it is entirely up to you how you do it (although we may make an exception if we hear of anyone mixing a Lagavulin 16 year old with soft drink. We’ll hunt you down and jolly well send you a strongly worded letter!) Take the time to experiment and find the way that gives you the most enjoyment.

Slàinte mhòr!

Our preferred vessel for drinking whisky - and, un-coincidently the icon for this page!

Our preferred vessel for drinking whisky – and, un-coincidently the icon for this page!

Auchentoshan Three Wood

Reviewed by Nick

Auchentoshan Three Wood whisky waffle

Despite it not being advertised as a 12 year old whisky, the Auchentoshan Three Wood has been aged in barrels for twelve years. Ten in American oak, one in ex-Oloroso sherry barrels and finally, another one in ex-Pedro Ximenez casks. The result is as surprising as it is magnificent. I can only describe it in one way – Christmas in whisky form.

The final two years of this whisky’s maturation has changed the spirit’s appearance from the sparkling gold typical of classic Auchentoshan to a deeper shade of crimson. It has also added depth to the already present sweet, butterscotch, dried fruit flavours. Suddenly, it’s spicy on the nose, broad across the palate and lengthy in the finish. In short: sticky date pudding – nay – fruit cake – nay – Christmas cake. It is simply one of – if not the – greatest 12 year old Scottish whisky on the market.

This is a dram perfect for warming your heart on a cold snowy day, and although it originates in one of Scotland’s most southerly distilleries, Glasgow is certainly not short of days such as this. This whisky, however, is a little more special than that. Out of all the snowy wintery days in Scotland, this dram would be especially suited to a particularly festive one.

★★★★