One of the most entertaining parts of the Macallan Distillery tour was the section on the art of coopering, or barrel-making. I always implicitly knew that the barrel played a significant role in the taste of whisky but until the tour I never had a name for the art, coopering, nor any basic understanding of what led to what.

One of the biggest factors, besides the maturity time, has to do with the type of wood the barrels are made of. The wood itself is almost always oak, though at times spiritmakers have experimented with other hardwoods. With oak, you have two options – French Oak and American Oak. In many years past, the differences between the two were more pronounced as French Oak, with its tighter grains, imparted its flavor more slowly. However, as American coopering started adopting some of the French coopering practices (splitting staves along the grain and air-dry seasoning for 24 months), the differences have diminished over time.

Having sampled Macallan’s new make whisky (what goes into each barrel), I can definitely say that the aging process in the barrels really gives scotch its depth of flavor.

The above is a Whisky Tasting Wheel taken from Whisky Magazine, via Scotch Blog, and I posted it here because it’s one of several “whisky wheels” out there. Whisky wheels are great because the fun in sampling different whiskies is in finding the subtle aromas and flavors. It’s hard to know what to look for if you don’t have a map, especially when you’re a novice like me, so having a wheel available can help. I wouldn’t get too carried away though, as trying to smell fresh laundry or hot sand (both are in the Sandy part in the Sulphury wedge) might leave you more confused than anything else.

When I enjoyed the Laphroaig last week, I could distinctly smell the medicinal aroma, which makes sense in such a peaty scotch. But looking back, I didn’t get any tar, diesel oil, or seaweed (not that I was supposed to).

In the end, the whole experience of enjoying whisky is very personal and everyone’s palate is different, so while this should give you diesel, don’t sweat it if you can’t get the flavors you read in some tasting notes.

Via WHISKYhost Blog, I give you a short sixteen minute video of highlights from the documentary Scotch Whisky: The Myth and the Magic:

Last week, my wife and I met some college friends at Corks, a restaurant in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. It had been quite some time since we’d been to Corks, the last time was for Baltimore’s 2007 Restaurant Week, because it’s not very often that we go into Baltimore for dinner. Back then, I hadn’t developed a liking for Scotch so I didn’t really keep an eye out for what they had available.

This time, armed with a little more experience, I spied several well known bottles on the shelf. They had your basic bar standards, Glenlivet 12 and a Glenfiddich, as well as a Macallan Fine Oak 17 that looked appealing. However, tonight I was in the mood for something with a little more punch and noticed they had a fairly healthy bottle of Laphroaig Quarter Cask.

Laphroaig is an Islay, which is generally characterized by a peatiness and smokiness completely absent from Speyside scotches like Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and Macallan. What’s special about the quarter cask? The story they tell is that when whisky was transported by mules or packhorses, a barrel was too heavy so they used quarter casks. In those smaller casks, the whisky would continue to mature and be in greater contact with the oak – imparting more of the wood’s flavor into the dram.

How much more? It’s 30% more contact, by their calculations. To help maximize the flavor, they decided to bottle the quarter cask at 48 percent alcohol by volume, up from the standard 40 percent. Besides the additional maturation, higher alcohol by volume, the whisky is not chill filtered because it hadn’t been invented back when pack animals were used to transport the whisky!

Here are Laphroaig’s tasting notes:

• Colour: Autumn gold
• Nose: Slight peatyness, smooth, velvety, coconut, creamy aroma with water.
• Taste: Soft velvet moderates peatyness
• Finish: Creamy, zesty orange

When I enjoyed it, the peatyness and smoke were very evident. I think this has more to do with my own whisky experience, I enjoy mostly Speysides at home (a problem I must remedy in my next trip to the store), and less an indication of how strong those flavors are in Laphroaig. Also, there was a slight medicinal nose that persisted the entire dram. On the palate, it wasn’t as sweet and dry fruity as Speysides, those flavors likely dominated by the peat. I didn’t get any coconut, as the notes say, but the finish did hint of oranges once the heat of the higher ABV subsided.

I’d love to get this and the 10 year old Laphroaig side by side for a real comparison.

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.

Scotchblog.ca has a great feature this week for those seeking to find the perfect gift for a lover of Scotch. The guide starts with a fantastic bit of advice from Ian Millar, Global Brand Ambassador & Master Distiller at Glenfiddich”

“look for single malts between 12 and 18 years old that come in at $50 to $80.” This way there is some measure of quality as you aren’t ending up with something made for the sake of being inexpensive.

I think that’s solid advice, you can’t go wrong going into a store with that approach.

From there, they picked four bottles for the under $70 group, four for the $70 to $100 range, and two in the over $100. Each choice comes with an idea of what’s captured within the bottle, what it goes well with, and it’s important to match those up with whatever notes you’ve taken about the person its for.

If you know they hate peatiness or smoke, then going all out for a Lagavulin, even at $125 a bottle, is going to be less effective than if you bought a Macallan 12 at $90. It’ll also show you’ve been listening… which is always good right?

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.

One of my more recent missions has been to find an affordable bottle of Scotch that I can enjoy on a daily basis without busting the bank. I’m generally a fan of the Speyside and Highland single malts and I’m always looking to find a good bottle in the $35-45 range for regular consumption. I’m by no means afraid of smoke and peat, but if I’m going to be enjoying just one dram, I tend to lean towards the sweeter and crisper flavors. The $35-45 price point is crucial because one can’t drink a Macallan 18 on a daily basis, unless you are aiming to get a bail out from the government.

For years, The Glenlivet 12 is my standard daily dram because at $37.99 retail, it’s both affordable and delicious. It’s the youngest of the Glenlivet expressions yet you can find this bottle at almost any bar in America and is the most best selling malt whisky in the United States! (according to Whisky.com) Matured in French oak casks that once held bourbon, I’m a particular fan of the sweetness to help me usher in the night.

What’s your daily dram?

Forbes has a very entertaining and educational article on the history of Scotch whiskies written by F. Paul Pacult, who writes the Spirit Journal. It discusses the origins of scotch whiskies, how whisky is produced today, and talks a lot about column still distillation, which was a more recent innovation. It then moves on to discuss blended scotches, with Pacult sharing his twelve recommendations (in alphabetical order):

• Ambassador Royal Deluxe 12 Year Old, 43% AbV, $20. A lovely, finely balanced blended Scotch with nuanced flavors of nut butter and old oak.
• Chivas Regal 12 Year Old, 40% AbV, $35. The classic luxury brand that put the “luxury” in blended Scotch when it was introduced in 1954. Strathisla is the core malt.
• Chivas Royal Salute 21 Year Old, 40% AbV, $180. One of the greatest, most sublime whisky experiences of any variety that one could have. A legend.>/li>
• Compass Box “Asyla”, 40% AbV, $40. Malt whiskies from stellar distilleries like Linkwood and Cragganmore form the soul of this lithe, feminine blended Scotch.
• Dewar’s Special Reserve 12 Year Old, 43% AbV, $25. Core malt whisky is Aberfeldy. A delicious, mature whisky with seductive flavors of nougat and baked pears.
• Duggan’s Dew, 43.3% AbV, $22. Another best-kept-secret blended Scotch that combines excellent value and outstanding flavor.
• Johnnie Walker Gold 18 Year Old, 40% AbV, $65. The heart of this great Scotch hails from the Clynelish Distillery in the northern Highlands. Simply thrilling.
• Old Smuggler, 40% AbV, $15. A big favorite during Prohibition, Old Smuggler is today an overlooked dram of character and style.
• Pinch The Dimple 15 Year Old, 43% AbV, $33. One of the classiest blended Scotches, whose core malts include Dalwhinnie and Glenkinchie. Elegance in a glass.
• Teacher’s Highland Cream, 43% AbV, $20. The foundational malts are Ardmore and Glendronach. The creamy/oily result is one of the best blended Scotches you can buy.
• White Horse, 40% AbV, $16. The sensational smoky/iodine taste is brought to you courtesy of the Lagavulin Distillery on Islay among others. Unbelievable value.
• William Grant’s Family Reserve, 43% AbV, $16. Both Glenfiddich and Balvenie malts contribute to the sophisticated character of this global favorite.

In early October, I, my wife, and a couple of my friends, went down to Washington D.C. to a Celebrate the Macallan scotch tasting event. Unfortunately for us, they overbooked the event and we didn’t get farther than the room of small eats and a sampling of the Macallan 10. They did make it up to us by pouring us generous helpings of the Macallan 18 so it wasn’t a terrible waste of a trip.

Through the power of the internets, I know now what actually happens inside the tasting room courtesy of David at Scotchblog.ca. From the photos, the event seemed to be much like the tasting room at the Macallan distillery tour. Tasters were treated to the 12, 15, 18, and 21 (plus the 10 in the beginning), making it a pretty good tasting considering the price (free).

As an added bonus, each taster was given a leather-bound, velvet lined shoe box with a Fine Oak 10, 12, tumbler, and pen. Not bad!