The Scotch Blog

Whisky School sets sail for Islay

This is from my friends at Whisky School:

Gordon, The Alchemist, thought it was time for some spring cruises around the whisky isles so we located a newly refurbished 6 cabin boat that would fit the bill.

Gordon is a co-founder of  the Islay distillery Bruichladdich (re-opened in 2000) and his family distillery is Springbank. He knows his way in these waters and spent his childhood holidays in the area.

If you would like to join Gordon on one of our Whisky School Cruises fill in the contact form below and we’ll tell you more. The first sailing will be Saturday 26th May and the itinerary is open and being planned as I write so if you gather a few friends it’s quite likely we’ll adjust either a 3-day or a 6-day route to suit.

Rigorous study of fine whiskies will take place in hard to access sheltered locations as the sun slips below the western skyline. There is no doubt that this could be an unbelievable experience in the hands of a truly genial and welcoming host - Captain Wright of the good ship Islay Ahoy!

To sign up, visit Whisky School.

WFNY2006

I love the concept of the "whisky week". A whisky week offers a number of (often free) opportunities to enjoy Scotch, leading up to, and often following, the actual "big event" - and New York's whisky week is coming along nicely. Park Avenue Liquor always takes advantage of the personalities in town by hosting free tastings, and Brandy Library, my favorite New York whisky lounge, is following suit.

And this all happens because the Malt Advocate Whisky Fest is in town.

For me, the show kicked off on Saturday night with a trip to meet some high school friends at the Brandy Library - we were there to kick off our annual "reunion". On Sunday afternoon I attended a Jazz Whisky Brunch at the home of Malt Maniac Peter Silver which was being filmed and should appearing on a future episode of Single Malt TV.

Sunday night saw some great dinners at Park East Grill and St.Andrew's.

At Park East Grill, Michael Urquhart, of Gordon and MacPhail, served Benromach Traditional, a Rosebank 15, a Scapa 12, a Glen Grant 21, a Strathisla 25, and a Highland Park 30 - along with a great meal. They were all delicious, but I loved the Scapa. The Glen Grant was a treat as well, as the standard bottlings are usually quite young (5 yo) - and I'll put that Gordon & MacPhail bottling of Highland Park 30 up against the distillery bottling.

Curious & Authentic

Benriach has an interesting history - built in 1897, the distillery was closed just 6 years later and then  lay dormant for 62 years. In 1965, the distillery was reopened by new owners, Glenlivet Distillers, but closed again in 2002. In 2004 the distillery was purchased by a team which included Billy Walker, formerly of Burn Stewart.

Probably best known for Curiositas and Authenticus their 10 and 21 year old (respectively) heavily peated whiskies - a unique departure from the standard lightly peated Speyside style, BenRiach also offers 12, 16, 20, 25 and 30 year old (lightly peated) versions - as well as the non-aged labeled Heart of Speyside.

I met Billy at Whisky Live Paris where we talked about the past and future of BenRiach as well as some of the things one the horizon.

A visit to the Laddie

Much as it is the obligation of every Muslim to make “the Hajj”, the pilgrimage to Mecca; it is the obligation of the whisky lover to make the pilgrimage to Islay – arguably the origination point of the introduction of whisky to Scotland.

One should plan to visit all eight working distilleries on the island – as the variety of whiskies produced by these eight is as varied as the many whiskies produced across the whole of Scotland.

While most people associate Islay with the strongest and peatiest of all whiskies, this is simply a fallacy, as whiskies of great delicacy are to be found at both Bunnahabhain and Bruichladdich.

But it is only at Bruichladdich that one can observe whisky being made much as it was made 125 years ago – and interestingly enough, with much of the same equipment.

The staff of Bruichladdich take great pride in the fact that the whisky is made largely by hand, without a computer controlled gadget to be found.

Luddites? Not at all - the former distillery manager’s house (current Distillery Academy quarters and Bed & Breakfast) is wired for WiFi. Inventory is computerized - one concession to the computer age - though not tracked by bar code – Bruichladdich still stencils each and every cask with contents and year of distillation.

Of Flaming Hearts and Oak Crosses

At the Paris Whisky Live I got a chance to catch up with John Glaser and try Compass Box Whisky's newest products: Flaming Heart and Oak Cross.

John has once again decided to utilize high quality sessile oak in the mix - but instead of using inner staves, he's had new cask heads (the "top" and "bottom" ends of the casks) created.

Cask heads are generally made of oak which is thicker than the wood used to make the staves for the body of a barrel. The sessile oak used in the construction of the heads is not toasted to the level of the wood used in making The Spice Tree. The idea is similar though - the interaction of the whisky with high quality oak and toasted to specific levels - results in some interesting flavors.

To clear up any confusion: Compass Box refers to the cask they've had made with American white oak bodies and Sessile French oak heads as "Oak Cross" casks. Both the Flaming Heart and the Oak Cross whiskies have their final maturation in the Oak Cross casks.

7 Casks, 7 Tastes

I'd like to talk about sampling whisky directly from cask samples - something most of us never get to do.

On a recent trip to visit the blending lab at Compass Box, I had a chance to try samples from 7 different casks which had been treated with 3 different toasting levels. Other than the toast of the wood, the contents of the casks and length of maturation was identical.

The thing that surprised me most was that all of the samples, even those from similarly toasted casks, each had it's own nose and taste characteristics - no two samples were alike.

I'm going to talk about the differences between those cask samples - I didn't take extensive tasting notes since you'll never be able to buy bottles from these individual casks. I'm also specficially not going into details about the whisky or the wood, as John has to keep some secrets. So don't ask.

On the Road with The Malt Project - Part 2

Today we bring you part 2 of On the Road with The Malt Project by guest writer Jack Oswald.

At the end of the story there is another chance for one lucky reader to win an "I'm a Peat Freak! Are You?" t-shirt from The Malt Project.

Click here to read part 1.

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On the Road with The Malt Project Part 2 – by Jack Oswald

So, it’s about this time that you ask “why are they doing this?”. We’ve asked ourselves that a number of times.  The real answer is a labor of love. I lived in Scotland for nearly four years, while I was an Air Force Officer. Our two oldest kids were born there. (I guess that’s why Jeff is a malt freak).  We’ve gone back to visit several times and usually wound up at a distillery. My production associates are all great single malt fans and we just felt it was something we wanted to share with our viewers.  As we say on our web site “This is a Whisky DVD series designed for all, from the novice to the serious connoisseur.  It’s valuable as an entertaining visit to Scotland and as an educational reference companion when you’re sharing your malts”.

At this point, you’re supposed to be asking, “What can we expect in Volume Six?” Glad you asked.  It’ll be another two disc volume probably titled The Islands, the Shores, and Campbeltown and off the beaten path Speysides”.

On the Road with The Malt Project - Part 1

I had been planning for some time to write a story about The Malt Project. If you are not familiar with The Malt Project it is a five (and soon to be six) volume DVD series all about Single Malt Scotch.

When I started corresponding with Jack Oswald, I found out that he was in the midst of completing production on the latest volume in the series.

I thought it would be great if Jack could tell us, in his own words, about The Malt Project and how it got started. Jack was happy to oblige, and here is the result...

At the end of each segment of this 2-parter there is a chance for one lucky reader to win an "I'm a Peat Freak! Are You?" t-shirt from The Malt Project.

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On the Road with The Malt Project Part 1– by Jack Oswald

Seventeen days, seventeen hundred miles, 8 car ferry trips and 22 distilleries later, we arrived back in Phoenix with 16 hours of new high quality digital video for The Malt Project. 

Things you should consider

You like whisky, right?
You like WhiskyCast, right?

The entry deadline for the 2006 Podcast Awards is July 15, and one of the criteria to become a finalist is the number of nominations a show receives.

So how about you show Mark Gillespie how much you like WhiskyCast and go nominate his excellent show for Best Food/Drink Podcast.

Do It. Now.

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I may be going to the Bruichladdich Distillery Academy in September (there are still some spots I believe) - but Bruichladdich isn't the only show in town.

The Wild Scotsman himself (Jeff Topping) is running a three-day distillery school at Bladnoch, Scotland's most southerly distillery.

Jeff, John McDougall, Raymond Armstrong & John Herries will be your instructors while you participate in all aspects of milling, mashing and distilling. The school costs $700 USD.

There will be two different sessions of the school: October 19-22 and 26-29th.

For more information, contact Jeff Topping directly.

New York

I'll be leaving for New York in a few hours (unless these East Coast storms put a stop to travel plans).

If you happen to be in New York, you may want to stop by The Brandy Library for tonight's Spirit School which will feature an “Introduction to Scotch” seminar. The school is run by Ethan Kelley, BL's very knowledgable Spirit Sommelier.

Eight Scotch Whiskies will be poured, paired with canapés.

Please call us to reserve - 212-226-5545. Seminars run for $80 per person, $40 for members.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 starting at 6:30 p.m.
The Brandy Library
25 N Moore Street
New York, New York 10013

I'll likely run by Brandy Library sometime tonight, so if you are around, say "hi" and have a drink with me.