I’ve not had very much Glengoyne. To a large degree this is because there isn’t much Glengoyne available from independent bottlers. Whiskybase lists only 125 independent releases over the years. This in itself is not so odd—there are a number of distilleries whose malts rarely show up from indies, and it’s not just the obscure ones pumping out malt for blends (when was the last time you saw an indie Oban?). Some do save what they don’t put out as single malt for their house/group blends (Talisker, for example), and some only put out single malt and so keep all/most of their product for themselves (Bruichladdich, for example). It’s the casks that move between blenders and brokers that are more likely to end up in the hands of the indies. What is unusual though is that none of the 125 indie releases of Glengoyne was/is from Gordon and MacPhail. And just as oddly, the indie that seems to have released the most Glengoyne is the relatively young Malts of Scotland—they have 30 releases, twice as many as the next highest, the Single Malt Whisky Society. What the explanation for these anomalies is, I don’t know. And you might say it’s not a very interesting matter either. In which case, you must be really resentful about having read all of this. Continue reading
Shaanxi Gourmet (Los Angeles, July 2015)
I know New Yorkers who get very exercised about the notion that the best Chinese food in the US can be found not in New York but in the San Gabriel Valley outside Los Angeles. Of course, the denial of this fact (which has been true for a long time now) is proclaimed most loudly by people who have never left New York; all New Yorker transplants to Los Angeles I’ve known who venture out to the San Gabriel Valley come to subscribe to it very quickly. Then again New Yorkers are a famously sensitive, vulnerable people and it is understandable that many of them have difficulty dealing with a shift in one of the beliefs that is a cornerstone of their identity.
Caol Ila 15, 2000 (Malts of Scotland for van Zuylen)
I am not generally a fan of whiskies finished in red wine casks. A lot of this is Glenmorangie and Murray McDavid/Bruichladdich’s fault, but when I see that a whisky has been finished in a red wine cask I assume the worst. That said, peated malts seem to survive such encounters the best and this here is a Caol Ila. Like Friday’s Ardbeg, this was bottled by Malts of Scotland for van Zuylen in their “Dunes An Oir” series (Gaelic for “dunes of gold”, I believe) and it was finished in a Banyuls cask. Banyuls is a sweet, fortified wine, and so, in theory, at least, it may end up closer to a sherry or madeira finish than to a regular red wine finish. I think this was matured for 15 years in a bourbon cask and probably only saw a very brief “finish” in the wine cask—I’m guess the original cask was bourbon both from the outturn and on the basis that it’s unlikely anyone would do a wine finish on top of sherry maturation. Anyway, this is a rusty red in the glass—let’s see what it’s like on the nose and palate. Continue reading
Ardbeg 17, 1998 (Malts of Scotland for van Zuylen)
Since I started the week with Ardbeg. I might as well end it with Ardbeg too. This is from a sherry cask and was also bottled by Malts of Scotland for van Zuylen’s Dunes An Oir series. Given how rare indie Ardbegs of any kind are, leave alone from sherry casks, and given how manic the market for Ardbeg usually is, you might expect this to have to sold out double-quick. But as of my writing this is still available. Have the distillery’s own annual shenanigans finally begun to puncture some of its mystique? Probably not, but one can hope. Still, you’d think whisky geeks tired of NAS Ardbeg with tall tales and funny names attached might be attracted anyway to a 17 yo at cask strength from a bespoke bottler. No, I’m not trying to give you the hard sell on behalf of the retailer; just trying to wrap my head around the vagaries of the whisky market.
Anyway, let’s see what this is like. Continue reading
Red Bean Curry with Coconut Milk
I buy a lot of different kinds of beans from Rancho Gordo* but when it comes to Indian preparations I’ve been sort of stuck in variations on this rajma theme; and I generally end up using the same subset of beans in them. This time around I wanted to break out of my bean-profiling ways and make something Indian with a bean I hadn’t used for that purpose before; and I wanted to make it in a way in which I hadn’t cooked beans before. When I looked into the pantry I saw a packet of Rancho Gordo Scarlet Runner beans making eyes at me. It’s a gorgeous bean and I wanted to make it in a way that would show off its dramatic size and colour. Right next to the beans was a box of coconut milk, and inspiration struck: I’d make a vaguely Kerala-style curry/stew with coconut milk and curry leaves. It turned out rather well, Herewith the recipe. Continue reading
North of Scotland 42, 1971 (Gordon & Company)
Following the very unexciting Invergordon 1973 from last week, here is a slightly older grain whisky from North of Scotland. Despite the name, the distillery was in fact located out near the east coast of Scotland, by Aberdeen. I use the past tense because it was closed in 1980 and dismantled in 1993 (the grounds are now used by Diageo for warehousing purposes). Known as Strathmore when it first opened in 1957, it’s a bit of a curiosity because it initially produced both malt and grain whisky from its column stills. The little that’s still available of its product is all grain though, and there’s not a huge amount of it floating around either by the looks of things. I assume the few very old releases that have come to market recently are from some cache of casks liberated from a broker’s unblended stock. Gordon & Company, who are fairly new on the scene, have released a few of these. This is the first one they put out, I think, and I also think it’s now all gone. Continue reading
Spoon and Stable (Minneapolis)
After three reviews in a row of Twin Cities meals that ranged from the farcical to the mediocre to the acceptable, I am very pleased to say that this is a report on a meal that I thought was, on the whole, very good indeed: at Spoon and Stable. As those who follow the food scene—in the Twin Cities and beyond—know, Spoon and Stable is a very hot restaurant. It opened in late 2014 with a great deal of local fanfare and was almost immediately nominated for a James Beard award (though it did not win). Later in 2015 Bon Appetit named them one of the best new restaurants in the country. Continue reading
Ardbeg Uigeadail X 2 (2011 and 2014 Releases)
Through the increasing silliness of their annual releases it must be said that Ardbeg have maintained one of the strongest core lineups in all of Scotland: the venerable 10 yo, the Corryvreckan and the Uigeadail are all whiskies of which you will rarely hear complaints. Well, maybe that’s not true anymore of the Uigeadail (first introduced in the early 2000s). This is the Ardbeg that has a mix of bourbon and sherry cask malt in it and, unsurprisingly, the proportion of older sherry cask whisky was much higher when they first started releasing it. In recent years some folk have said that it’s gotten lighter, both literally and figuratively. It’s always good to test these kinds of beliefs blind, which is exactly what a bunch of Danish whisky geeks did earlier this year. Their results were interesting with the lowest scores going to the oldest and most recent ones they tasted (from 2004 and 2014) and the ranking breaking down as follows: 2007-2009-2010-2006-2004-2014. I saw this report recently after I’d made my own plans to taste a 2011 release head to head with a 2014 release; and as their lowest score had gone to a 2014 release I was more resolved than ever to do it blind. Continue reading
A Quick Note on the Demise of the Laphroaig 18
I just saw a tweet from Sku with a linked article announcing the withdrawal of the Laphroaig 18. The article is brief and offers no details except to say that Beam Suntory “has pulled its Laphroaig 18-year-old after running out of liquid”. Unlike with the similarly withdrawn Glendronach 15, there’s no proposed timetable for return. Basically, what this means is that starting with the stock distilled in 1998 they do not have enough 18 yo spirit left. The question is where did it go? What was happening at Laphroaig from 2006 onwards, say, that might have affected older stock? A couple of related possibilities occur to me.
Clynelish 23, 1990 (SMWSA 26.99)
Let’s close out the week with another bottle from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America. As with the Highland Park 22 I reviewed to start the week, I split this bottle with a number of whisky geeks, though I got more of this than than I did of the other. I’ve not had very many Clynelishes over the age of 20 and so I could not resist. Will this be as good as the Malts of Scotland 22 yo from 1989 that I reviewed earlier in the year? I can only hope. Let’s get right to it.
Clynelish 23, 1990 (48.5%; SMWSA 26.99, “The Fisherman’s Friend”; refill barrel; from a bottle split with a number of whisky geeks)
Nose: Honey, lime zest, green apples, a hint of melon. A bit of wax after a minute or two and then it starts getting grassier. With more time the citrus gets sweeter (oranges now) and then the muskier fruity notes expand. With a lot more time there’s a bit of vanilla. With a few drops of water the citrus turns to citronella and it gets less grassy. More vanilla and cream too now. Continue reading
Kyatchi (Minneapolis)
Kyatchi is a relatively new entrant to the Minneapolis sushi market. It opened just about a year and a half ago and has steadily acquired a strong reputation. When I posted my account of our not-very-good meal at Origami last year a friend recommended it instead; and since then it’s been showing up near the top of many people’s lists. But the same is true of Sushi Fix and I was very far from impressed with my meal there. So, while I’d planned to hit Kyatchi right after that meal, I was a little gun shy. But then I read this interview with Chef Hide Tozawa on City Pages and he seemed to hit all the right notes for me, promising an experience not centered on wacky rolls, unlike at most MSP restaurants (“if you look at my menu, especially sushi, there are no Americanized rolls. I made those things enough in my career in the United States. I want diners at Kyatchi to see what a single ingredient can create if it is done right”); and suggesting that their selection is not limited by their laudable focus on sustainable fish (“Welcome to 21st century transportation. It’s great. You can get whatever you want overnight”). Continue reading
Invergordon 39, 1973 (Malts of Scotland)
Invergordon is a grain distillery, the only one, I believe, that’s not located in the Lowlands. It’s located quite far north, actually, up in the vicinity of Glenmorangie. The distillery’s other claim to distinction is that the short-lived Ben Wyvis malt distillery was built inside its grounds. It’s owned by Whyte & Mackay, producing largely, I assume, for their blends (and their production capacity is very high indeed). I’ve not had any of their whisky previously and, indeed, I have had very little single grain whisky from any distillery. So, I have very little frame of reference for this. This should make my opinion of this whisky that much more useful to you (probably a moot point anyway as I don’t think this is still available).
Invergordon 39, 1973 (42%; Malts of Scotland, bourbon hogshead 12063; from a purchased sample) Continue reading
Roasted Pork Shoulder with a Masala Rub
My normal tendency with pork shoulder is to cube it and do something vaguely vindaloo’ish with it (see here and here). On Sunday, however, I was feeling too lazy to cut the shoulder up and didn’t really want to stand over the stove on another hot day. And so, I decided to marinate the whole thing and bung it into the fridge for a day and deal with it on Monday, forecast to be a much cooler day. I am happy to report that the weather did not play me false and that the improvized spice rub worked out really well. I did overcook it a little bit—I don’t do whole roasts very often and when I do, I don’t like pulling things out of the oven to stick meat thermometers into them; I play it by feel instead and sometimes it goes a little bit over. Not the end of the world, and the more capable roaster (such as yourself) will have no trouble getting that part of it fixed to your satisfaction.
Anyway, on to the pork! Continue reading
Highland Park 22, 1991 (SMWSA 4.191)
Highland Park, as I have noted on many occasions, is one of my very favourite distilleries. And as I have doubtless also noted on many occasions, bourbon cask Highland Parks—which are rarely available from the distillery—always catch my eye. They’re obviously very different from the distillery’s usual fare: as Highland Park matures its spirit predominantly in sherry casks, bourbon casks are rare from even the independents. Unsurprisingly, they’re also quite different from the standard profile. While I don’t myself believe that it it’s in bourbon cask matured malt that a distillery’s true profile/character is revealed (this is because I don’t believe in “distillery character” as something separate from maturation*), it is true that it is from bourbon casks that you can most clearly get a sense of the nature of Highland Park’s peat, in particular. And the continuities between bourbon cask Highland Park and malt from distilleries like Clynelish and Springbank that I also like very much indeed are interesting as well. Continue reading
Tuna Ceviche with Avocado and Tomato
This has been a very hot and humid week in southern Minnesota. And I spent altogether too much of it making vast amounts of tomato sauce to freeze for the winter (eating seasonally is for people in more temperate climes). So when the weekend rolled around the last thing I wanted to do was to be standing over a stove. Therefore our lunch today was both raw and cold. Last night I made gazpacho from Rohan Daft’s criminally under-appreciated Menu Del Dia and put it into the fridge and this afternoon I improvized a batch of tuna ceviche. I am confident that all those who had absolutely no interest in my last recipe involving raw tuna will be all over this one. Once again, I used frozen ahi tuna purchased from Costco. Some of my friends are a little alarmed by my eating this tuna raw, but I live on the edge*. Continue reading
Glenfarclas 24, 1990 (for K&L)
I thought this was going to be a return to my untimely reviewing ways but in checking out the details on this whisky after tasting it I was surprised to discover that K&L (whose distillery exclusive this is) seem to still have a large amount of it left. I guess there’s only so many whiskies even David Driscoll can convince every breathless whisky geek in the US to shell out for. Or maybe it’s because this isn’t a single cask and we tend to get—for no good reason—more excited about single casks. It’s also possible that people got spooked by K&L’s description of the acquisition of the casks, which suggests that they were casks the distillery was unwilling to release as (more expensive) singles. As per Sku, the source of this sample, this was a vatting of two casks. K&L’s own copy suggests more than two casks: they refer to it as a “multi-cask” vatting “from a sequential lot of first fill Oloroso sherry butts”. But I’m sure Sku’s information is from the horse’s mouth (or whichever wind-spewing orifice you think is more appropriate in this case). Continue reading
Chengdu Taste II (Los Angeles, July 2015)
It’s been more than a month since I got back from Los Angeles but I still have a number of meal reports to go. After a string of sushi reports here now is a brief account of our return to Chengdu Taste in late July. Our lunch there was one of the highlights of our trip last summer; despite noting in the write-up of that meal that we’d be back on each trip, we unaccountably failed to go in December. Well, there was going to be no such error on this trip. Once again we escaped the long lines by going for lunch on a weekday, not too long after they opened. We still had to wait but not for very long. And this time we had our table to ourselves. While the restaurant was full throughout, it does appear that the opening of the new branches in Rosemead and Rowland Heights have eased the pressure somewhat (our meal was again at the original Alhambra location). Though I’m sure weekend lunches still draw the lines.