We leave for Delhi on Sunday and have everything left to do. Therefore, it only made sense that on Wednesday we went up to the cities for lunch. It is true that we’d had the boys at home every day since Festivus, and thanks to the polar vortex, Governor Mark Dayton and the local school district that nightmarelovely time with our delightful progeny got extended by another two days this week. And so we needed to get out and do something. As Sichuan food is not something we’ll be eating much of in Delhi we decided to eat a Sichuan lunch and in a shocking twist decided to go somewhere other than Grand Szechuan. That somewhere is Szechuan Spice on Lyndale, right off of Lake Street in Minneapolis. It is one of the relatively newer Sichuan places in town and for whatever reason we’ve never been moved to go. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2014
Ledaig 16, 1997 (Cadenhead’s)
The procession of Cadenhead’s Small Batch reviews goes on. This is the oldest modern era Ledaig I’ve had (the very oldest I’ve had, a senior citizen from 1972, was my favourite whisky bottled in 2013). I doubt this will approach those heights but am hoping that it will be good nonetheless. Despite Ledaig’s general iffy recent reputation some very good stuff has been available from indies of late.
Ledaig 16, 1998 (56%; Cadenhead’s Small Batch, bourbon hogshead; from a bottle split with friends)
Nose: A dense fog of farmy peat; lots of rotting organic material–pungent, almost sweet. Gets increasingly rubbery (bicycle inner tube). With a little more time there’s a fair bit of salt. Not much change after 15-20 minutes. Okay, let’s take another sip and add some water. Water brings out a minerally sweetness and then some lemon begins to emerge behind some ashy smoke. Continue reading
Braes of Glenlivet 16, 1997 (Cadenhead’s)
Braes of Glenlivet was the old name of the distillery now known as Braeval (read more about its history and change of name at Malt Madness). As with so many distilleries, Braeval’s malt goes almost entirely into blends and there are no single malt releases available other than from the indies. I’ve not had very many Braevals, and while none of the ones I’ve tried so far been bad, none have got me very excited. Let’s see where this one falls.
Braes of Glenlivet 16, 1997 (56.9%; Cadenhead’s Small Batch; bourbon hogshead; from a bottle split with friends)
Nose: Lime zest, kiwi, gooseberries. Some peppery wood below that and some malt as well. Quite floral too. With more time there’s some vanilla as well but also a slight grassiness. Not much change with water. Continue reading
Ben Nevis 17, 1996 (Cadenhead’s)
I am somewhat unusual, I gather, in having liked every Ben Nevis I’ve tried. It probably helps that I’ve tried very few. The last Cadenhead’s Small Batch I tried (Friday’s Auchentoshan 14) reversed a negative trend; I hope this Ben Nevis 17 won’t reverse a positive one. Let’s get right to it.
Ben Nevis 17, 1996 (55.2%; Cadenhead’s Small Batch; bourbon hogshead; from a bottle split with friends)
Nose: Wood glue and musky fruit (apricots, a bit of stewed apple). Some raisins too and something vaguely savoury. Gets brinier as it sits. With time there’s some peppery melon a la some Littlemills I’ve tried. The fruit gets richer and richer with time and water gives it tropical accents on the nose as well. Continue reading
The Culture of Cask Strength Whisky
If you haven’t read Jordan Devereaux’s post, “Cask Strength: Panacea or Gimmick?” on Chemistry of the Cocktail, you should. It’s a fine piece critiquing the notion that cask strength whisky is necessarily better than whisky diluted down to 46% or lower or even that it’s a better deal per se. The kernel of what I am about to write now I actually first posted as a comment on that post on Friday but for whatever reason it hasn’t appeared. Perhaps the comment got swallowed up by the internet or perhaps I did not pass a quality control test; or perhaps he just hasn’t gotten around to his comment queue yet. But since I don’t really want to spend my time checking to see if the comment has in fact finally appeared there I thought I would (re)post my thoughts on my own blog while they’re still fresh in my mind, and in a longer form than I would want to inflict on the comments section of someone else’s blog. Continue reading
Auchentoshan 14, 1999 (Cadenhead’s)
The second in a series of eight reviews of recent Cadenhead’s Small Batch releases. I have to say I’m not the greatest fan of Auchentoshan–not that I’ve had that many–and I’m hoping this 14 yo will be to my liking and at least better than the Valinch (2011) that I reviewed some months ago.
Auchentoshan 14, 1999 (55.1%; Cadenhead’s Small Batch; bourbon barrel; from a bottle split with friends)
Nose: Malt, citrus and candied ginger. Some sharp wood below that. Smells younger than it is but smells good. With more time the wood is pine/eucalyptus. Very fresh even as it gets sweeter. And I may be dreaming but I think I’m getting clear notes of juniper now too. Water brings out some vanilla. Continue reading
Glendullan 17, 1996 (Cadenhead’s)
The venerable independent bottler Cadenhead’s is back in the US. Let there be rejoicing. There’s been a general revamp at Cadenhead’s with a new boss and new packaging. I don’t have anything interesting to say about the former, and I am agnostic on the latter. I quite liked the old, green bottles from when Cadenhead’s were last in the US and don’t mind the new dumpy bottles. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t complain about something though so I will say that I wish that the distillation years were on the labels and not on the little thingamajig on a string around the neck (is there a name for that thing?). In stores where these bottles are kept behind glass it’s annoying to have to call someone over just to find out what years particular bottles are from. But this is a minor issue.
The more important thing is that the prices are generally reasonable. I found eight of the Small Batch Collection releases in a store in a Minneapolis suburb and only one (the Caol Ila 22) was above $100. Of course, not all stores selling these are being quite as restrained with the prices but it suggests that they’re not starting out high straight off the boat. I bought all eight bottles to be split among some members of our local tasting group and will be reviewing them in sequence, starting with this Glendullan. After that I will return to my usual diet of largely untimely reviews. Continue reading
Coming Soon…
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope everyone toasted the year that ended and the year that started with something nice. I’ve decided to ring in the new year by doing something a little different. No, I’m not going to stop being a miserable bastard. Instead, I will briefly suspend my informal policy of not posting timely reviews and will start the year with reviews of eight newly released whiskies, all from Cadenhead’s. These were all purchased and split with friends in my tasting group here in town and I am hoping that some of them will actually comment on my notes. After all, when I began the blog I’d thought they would be 90% of my audience; instead it’s turned out that while I’ve now got a larger readership than I’d ever imagined I would, none of these local fuckers ever look at it. The rest of the month will see reviews of whiskies from distilleries that I have not previously reviewed. Continue reading