Much like how Champagne is sparkling white wine from Champagne, France, scotch is whisky produced in Scotland. When it’s produced anywhere else, it’s known as whisky (or whiskey in the United States). Since whisky is distilled fermented mash (like beer) aged in barrels, it’s not surprising to learn that many geographies produce whisky. Much like how the varied Scotches have different characteristics based on geography, from the water they use to the barrles, from the way the wheat is dried to how much the barrels are roasted, geography plays a big role in the final flavor.
That’s why I’m eager to dry a Japanese whisky. They’ve grown in popularity to give sake, the country’s best known alcoholic beverage, a run for its money. I’ve seen Suntory’s Yamazaki brand in stores lately but I was surprised to learn they’ve been in business for over a hundred years! In fact, the founder of Suntory, Shinjiro Torii, hired a distiller, Masataka Taketsuru, who studied in Scotland (Taketsuru later went on to found Nikka, another major producer).
Glenfiddich produced 61 bottles of a whisky that has been maturing in a cask (casks?) for 64 years and this past week they auctioned one of those bottles off. The bottle fetched 25,200 pounds, or $37,245, from an unknown purchaser over the telephone. It’s not the most anyone has ever paid for a bottle, by a long shot, but it’s a sign that Scotch whisky is still selling strong.
The whisky in the bottle was distilled on July 17th, 1937 and bottled on October 24, 2001. Quit a long period of time!
Last week, I had the chance to visit Birds of a Feather in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland as part of a bachelor party. I know what you’re thinking, a Scotch bar for a bachelor party? It’s not typical but then again, neither was the bachelor. I, for one, wasn’t complaining. I’d heard about Birds of a Feather but never had the chance to visit and was glad we had it on our list of places to go that night.
I didn’t bring a camera but if you can imagine an upscale pub setting, put in an area of a Baltimore rowhome, you can imagine what it looks like inside. When you walk in, the bar, and it’s imposing wall of single malt and blended Scotch bottles, is to your right. To your left, along the wall, are some tall stools and tables. About twenty feet or so, there is a small hallway that leads to a back room area with large comfortable seats and tables. It’s a room that looks like it was designed for cigars and Scotch, though smoking indoors was banned a short time ago.
They have a wide selection of Scotches at very affordable prices. I don’t remember what they were but their list is available here and I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. We didn’t try anything on their menu but I imagine I wouldn’t have been disappointed there either.
My day job involves writing a personal finance blog and a message I’ve written repeatedly on that site is that you should start with the basics and work your way up. By this I mean that when you first start experiencing something, whether it’s your first dram of Scotch or your first investment, start with the basics. Start with something that is inexpensive, representative of the style, and work your way to the more luxurious items.
The perfect analogy is coffee. You can start with a cup of instant coffee or you spend $10,000 for a state of the art coffeemaker that will absolutely blow you away. The problem with starting at $10,000 is twofold:
What if you don’t like coffee? If that’s the case, you just wasted $10,000 on something that a $1 cup could’ve taught… that you don’t like coffee.
You won’t appreciate the coffee from the $10,000 as much as you would if you started drinking $1 cups of instant coffee and worked your way up.
So at the heart of this there’s a bit of frugality involved because you want to enjoy the things in life but you don’t want to spend all your money on just a few things. This extends perfectly into the enjoyment of Scotch, and other spirits, because you can’t appreciate just how good a dram is unless you’ve had a chance to start at the beginning.
So don’t run out and buy an 18-year or 25-year bottle, start with something from the lower end of the price spectrum so you know what you are getting for your money. You’ll learn to appreciate different aspects about a 10 year that you won’t get in a 25.
For example, I recently purchased a Glen Morangie 10 Year after a visit through Costco. Despite it’s seemingly younger age, it’s only slightly cheaper than a 12 year Glenlivet (I attribute that to production size), yet it’s a relatively smooth dram for not yet being a teenager.
Start with something cheap and slowly graduate yourself as you learn to appreciate.
If you’ve been to any business that produces a spirit, like a winery or a distillery, you’ll quickly learn that they all have one thing in common – they try to reuse whatever waste they can because it’s a smart business decision. Wineries take grape skins, stems, and seeds and use them as compost. Breweries and distilleries take their waste and resell it to other companies who turn it into feed.
It turns out that Bruichladdich is building an anaerobic digester to turn yeasty waste into methane gas, which can be burned for electricity! Bruichladdich is an Islay, which means it’s on the same small island as its more well known Islay bretheren – Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, … the list goes on. As is the case with islands, the waste needs to go somewhere and right now it’s being pumped into the Sound of Islay.
Each year, the distillery spends about $35,000 ferrying the waste to the pipeline for disposal and they’re going to replace it with a digester that could produce as much as 80% of the power the distiller needs. When you combine these savings with the renewable power credits, it’s a win win. It’ll take only 3-5 years to recoup the cost!
I only recently discovered the fine work of the The Sixteen Men of Tain in the form of Glenmorangie: The Original (their ten year expression) and was impressed by the depth of flavors. It stood up quite nicely against my “daily” dram of Glenlivet 12 (I don’t drink it daily… but I easily could!) and was comparably priced, so it was nice to discover something I could enjoy if I wanted a slight change of pace.
So this weekend, in a trip to New York, we stopped by Viscount Wines and Liqours with some friends to pick up wine for their wine tasting party. As they shopped for wine, i wandered over to the scotch section and took a look. I wasn’t specifically looking for Glenmorangie but when I saw the unmistakable amber box, I noticed there were several right beside it.
As it turns out, Glenmorangie has about half a dozen special finishes:
Lasanta – Finished in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks
Quinta Ruban – Finished in Portugese port pipes/casks
Nectar D’Or – Finished in Sauternes casks, Sauternes is a French dessert wine
Sonnalta PX – Finished in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks
Astar – Matured entirely in “Artisan casks”
Several other distilleries offer finishes in sherry and port pipes, after years in a bourbon cask, but Glenmorangie is the first one I’ve seen that offers a version finished in Sauternes casks. (upon further research online, I see now that several distilleries offer Sauternes finishes)
The WSJ has a fantastic article on Japanese Whisky that any whisky aficionado should read. It’s mostly on the state of Japanese whisky production, with looks at several several distilleries, three years after Nikka Whiskey Distilling Co’s 21-year old Takesuru Pure Malt secured the best blended malt awards at the Whisky magazine awards.
At almost every liquor store I’ve been to, there’s always been a bottle of Japanese whisky available and I’ve never had the opportunity to try it out. I think part of me is hesitant because it’s Japanese, whose whisky making tradition is but a toddler compared to the Scots. However, I think it’s fun to try something new so the next time I go to the store, I might take one home with me. One difference, which I’m eager to see how it affects the spirit, is that the distillation process is coal-fired, which is unique nowadays.
One thing that is the same… whisky in Japan is spelled without the E.
Balvenie emailed me a special sweepstakes they’re running for the holidays – you can win a scotch whisky aroma nosing kit.
Just in time for the holidays, The Balvenie is offering the chance to win a one-of-a-kind prize: An exclusive Scotch Whisky nosing and tasting kit. This unique kit contains 24 separate aromas and a dedicated nosing guide, as well as other essential whisky tasting tools. The lucky winner will also receive an exquisite Balvenie hipflask.
One of the coolest parts of the Macallan tour was their coopering and nosing areas where we could smell various aromas (it really highlighted the difference, at least for us, between dried and fresh fruits). This nosing kit is that fantastic experience in a kit and it’s appropriate that another premium scotch producer, Balvenie, is the one to come up with it. I’m a huge fan of their DoubleWood and at the moment I have a PortWood I bought in Heathrow duty-free just sitting in the case… waiting for the perfect occasion.
This would make a fantastic holiday gift, but I don’t believe they sell it.
The Glenlivet Gift Label Program is a cute little complimentary service The Glenlivet offers every holiday season. You have several options for the type of label they will send you.
For each of the three main expressions (12, 15 French Oak, and 18), you can opt for the standard label with up to six lines, 30 characters each, of text underneath the Glenlivet logo. Or, you can opt for one of several types of special labels featuring a deck of cards, a sailboat, a golfer, skating, toasting cups, or a cottage and then two lines of text. You can get two labels for free. The labels can be affixed to the bottle over the standard label.
For more information, visit Glenlivet. You may have to join the Glenlivet Society, which is free.
