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A bit of BBQWhiskyBeer

May 7, 2013 in Reviews

 

Wargrave Arms Marylebone

Twitter can be an amazing, polarising thing. Sometimes it’s filled with drivel but other times it introduces you to the most interesting of things, right around the corner.

Recently as I was trawling through the tweets going out I came across one that was retweeted from one of the people I follow and which originally came from a user called “BBQWhiskyBeer”. Intrigued, I followed them and after doing some research got in touch.

Wargrave Arms BBQWhiskyBeerThe team behind the account, it turns out, run a rather fabulous pub in Marylebone called The Wargrave Arms that I’d never happened to wander past in my nearly six years in London – it is a rather big city after all. And, the team’s latest initiative is something called “BBQWhiskyBeer” – three things that sit dear to my heart. The project started out as a pop-up at a separate pub that manager Sam ran in Shepherd’s Bush but proved so popular he made it into a permanent installation in this pub.

I met Sam at the ivy-covered pub on a rare sunny spring afternoon of late to discuss the project further with him. Inside, I was immediately awed – row upon row of whisky bottles sit in cases above the bar, while on one long wall, long lists of drams are carefully chalked on a board. A spirit safe from Glenburgie sits in one corner while on weigh scales near the panorama glass frontage are signs advertising whisky flights. With the sun filtering in and flicking off the dark brown wooden accents, it was like a little bit of heaven.

During our chat, Sam told me that his old boss actually grew up at Glenburgie as his father was its master distiller so the pub has a long history of associations with whisky. But, the whisky didn’t get its fair dues.

“The whisky was always here but it never got a work out. Not much had been done about it and it used to be more of an inconvenience because staff had to get up on a ladder to get them,” he explained.


When Sam took over a year and a half ago, he decided he wanted to change that. Having run pubs and restaurants in London and Bristol, and having whisky pub The Britannia (near London Bridge) as a sister venue, he began planning how to make it work.

“Lee (who runs The Britannia) and I both love whisky. We wanted to make it more accessible and create a place where you could get a good whisky or a bottle of beer and still get change from £10,” he explained.

For those of you living outside of the capital, this probably seems completely doable, but not so in London where sometimes even your standard whisky line-up will cost you near that much for 50ml. And while there are many whiskies that will be above that price on the list (ones from closed distilleries or more limited editions) there are a good number which are in the more reasonable price category.


Although Sam respects great whisky bars like The Albannach or Boisdale at Canary Wharf (he’s known Hannah Lanfear, who runs the latter’s whisky bar, for years) he told me he wanted to open up the whisky category to a wider audience.

“It’s about saying that this is what we do at the bar and saying it’s not a drink for special occasions only,” he explained.

Whisky Menu Wargrave ArmsPart of making the whisky more accessible has been about clearly displaying the prices, names and ages.

“There can be a problem with whisky that people are concerned about the price. I wanted to put it out there. I think it’s really pretentious to say to a customer, ‘Oh, there’s no menu needed, I know the prices in my head’,” he said, adding he experienced that at Christmas during a nice dinner in Kensington when he ended up paying £18 for a glass of Auchentoshan Three Wood because the server kept insisting there was no menu.

Having a policy to openly show the prices and to not charge an arm and a leg for drams will be key to changing consumers’ attitudes about whisky being inaccessible.

“If bars and restaurants don’t seem intent on making an 85% profit on each bottle then it would be easier for everyone,” he said.

The pub will now host monthly whisky tastings and run something called the Whisky Flight Club, with bronze, silver and gold tasting flights.

To go along with the whisky it is also, of course, promoting BBQ and beer.

“We’re all hooked on the street food craze. My assistant was from Chicago and we talked about BBQ. I became obsessed with BBQ sauce. And we smoke all our own food. The three things also compliment each other and we wanted it to all tie in together,” he explained.

BBQ at Wargrave Arms

The day of my visit I tried a sumptuous pulled pork burger filled with layers of gooey, sticky meat and coleslaw that I knew I’d need to come back for again.

In conclusion, Sam said it’s all about creating a good atmosphere for the customer.

“Having a few good drams, a beer and sharing a bowl of babybacks with friends? That to me is about as good of an evening as you’re going to get,” he concluded.

Amen to that, I say. Amen to that.

For more information on BBQWhiskyBeer head to the team’s Facebook page here or visit the pub at 42 Brendon Street, Marylebone, W1H 5HE.

 

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Whisky Sense and Sensorium

April 12, 2013 in Events, Interviews

Singleton Sensorium sign

I close my eyes against the sharp, almost buzzing green light that bounces off of every wall in my line of sight. The sound of a lawnmower hums in the background while birds tweet at random intervals. The air smells of late April when the sun’s finding its first dashes of warmth and the countryside is aflutter with activity. I find it soothing, find it tapping into a time of year that was a favourite of my childhood. In my hand, a glass of whisky drifts its perfumes up to my senses. And what do I smell?

According to Oxford University’s Professor Charles Spence, the grassy notes of the whisky should be enhanced in that moment. You see, the room’s setting was all a part of a recent experiment in London called the Singleton Sensorium conducted between Professor Spence, the folks behind Condiment Junkie and The Singleton whisky to find out if different colours, smells and noises can affect how we perceive whisky. Visitors to the Sensorium were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the same whisky in three different rooms as part of a study the team are putting together to be published in September called: ‘Tasting notes: Assessing the effect of multi sensory atmosphere and ambiance on people’s perception of whisky’

Professor Charles Spence Condiment Junkie

Professor Charles Spence (middle) with the team from Condiment Junkie

Professor Spence specialises in the arena of the senses in his role as head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory in Oxford University’s department of experimental psychology. He examines how various elements in our surroundings that affect the senses can be changed to create a different individual experience. In this case, how a room filled with green, beige or red light, and related sounds, sights or smells can influence what people draw from their whisky.

While others have researched this area, Professor Spence told me the experiments for this study done in the lab and at the Singleton Sensorium event pushed things forward a notch.

“People are playing with a smell or just the lighting in a winery, but no one is really putting all of those things together and that’s really our interest, the multi-sensory aspect, how the senses combine and how hopefully if you get elements telling you the same message in a congruent manner you might get a much bigger impact than if you would if you just change one element,” he explained when I spoke to him recently.

During my tour around the Sensorium I found I agreed with many of the expected results. In the green room, the whisky smelled almost clean and crisp rather than having The Singleton’s normal more chocolate and woody notes, while in the red room (which was filled with oozing red light, round bulbous jars filled with plump berries and round furniture all of which makes the brain think of sweetness) the grassiness of the whisky dissipated and the sweetness was enhanced – I rated grassy as ’4′ and sweetness as ’7′ in the red room on the ratings card each person was handed out.

In the initial study results – which took the ratings results from more than 400 visitors to the Sensorium – people’s experiences were said to have been enhanced by up to 20% towards the expected outcome in certain rooms.

Singleton Sensorium

Red lights in the red room meant to enhance the taste of sweetness.

My only quandary was around the fact that I found if I stayed in each room long enough, my senses managed to become accustomed to their surroundings and the whisky began to taste more ‘normal’ so I questioned whether this would work on a long-term basis. I also was confused by the fact that some people had ice in their whisky and others didn’t, which I – and others – was sure would alter people’s experience of the whisky.

Professor Spence said that he would have liked to have more precision practices within the space but recognised that as it was also a consumer event it couldn’t be so tightly controlled.

“I would have given people a new glass in each room so you really didn’t know what was in the glass and I would have had it that people went to rooms in a different order each day but we recognised we needed to preserve the story-telling order,” he explained.

Singleton Sensorium

Clocks in the wood room meant to bring out the woody notes in the whisky.

To combat any flaws which could skew the final results, Professor Spence and his team are also doing extensive tests in the controlled lab at Oxford University to compare with those at the Sensorium. Thus far, he said he is seeing similar feedback from each environment.

And while the drink may have been subdued with ice, he added the main focus is on seeing how much people’s reactions changed towards the whisky when going from one room to another.

Going forward, Professor Spence said he is keen to continue experiments of this nature with whisky.

“Whisky is complex like wine in terms of what’s going on in the nose and in the mouth texturally but it’s also a consistent product and I’m thinking now there are a whole world of experiments you could do on spirits modeled around what has been done with wines. There are so many customs and beliefs around whisky that are ripe for investigation and there has been virtually nothing published on it so everything’s wide open,” he concluded.

Want to try a pared down version of the Singleton Sensorium at home? Then grab a glass of the Singleton and head here: http://condimentjunkie.co.uk/singleton.html

 

 

 

 

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Warehouse Whisky: For One Night Only

April 5, 2013 in Events

If someone had told me when I was a kid that one day I would be sitting in a warehouse in London on a hay bale drinking a whisky cocktail, I’d have looked at them with an angled head, squinted my brow and then told them they were silly. Hell, if someone had said that to me three years ago I’d have done the same thing but with more of an arched eyebrow to note my disbelief.

But, then, such is life. And that situation is exactly where I found myself recently for the kick off of the 2013 Monkey Shoulder For One Night Only events.

Malt Jockey Monkey Shoulder cocktailsIt was, perhaps, an unfortunate occurrence that the night in question saw freezing winds that managed to bite through every inch of clothing, leave noses red (and not from too much drink) and make the warehouse-goers keep all their layers on. At the end of March, one doesn’t expect this even in chilly England. But this is no ordinary year, weather wise.

And so, arriving at the warehouse I greeted the proffered purple and black rugby top (to keep everyone in the ‘jockey’ theme of the night) with outstretched, goosebumpy arms and glad grin. No amount of whisky could have warmed me through on that nippy eve.

Though my partner and I showed up early, the warehouse was already teeming with life from the besuited post-work crowd through to trendy Shoreditch folks who likely lived a stones-throw from the warehouse and who were probably on their way to another warehouse afterwards.

A large plastic horse greeted our entrance, while to our right piles of hay bales turned the scene to barn-chic. On a raised platform, two bars distributed the three cocktails of the eve (the Malt Jockey, the Ginger Brewskie and the Old Fashioned), while in between them sat a gloriously retro scalextrics horse racing track. At the back, the wafts of warmth from the Street Kitchen airstream kept customers nearby, absorbing the heat and appetising smells of pulled pork goodness.

As with other Monkey Shoulder events (check out these pieces on other FONO events here and here) the atmosphere was a mix of fun and randomness with a dash of ‘not taking life too seriously’. As always, it showed how whisky can be imbibed in a setting less than formal with a definite lack of tartan.

Malt JockeyAnd, freezing limbs aside, I enjoyed its revelry thoroughly. The Malt Jockey cocktail stood out for its richness, while the pulled pork burger from Street Kitchen was so glorious in its gooeyness and toppings that I shut out all the surrounding noise and joy while I immersed myself in its flavours.

In the end, the team behind Monkey Shoulder did what they do best: showed how to have fun with whisky. And it seemed that all attendees were happy with that fact. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the year has in store.

 

Have you been to a Monkey Shoulder For One Night Only event? Let Miss Whisky know what you thought of it in the comment section below!

For more information on Monkey Shoulder For One Night Only events, including how to get tickets, visit: www.monkeyshoulder.com/foronenightonly

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Whisky Live London Roundup 2013

April 3, 2013 in Events

ChatterboxI sometimes suffer from an affliction of the most distracting kind – the chatty bug.

Known to affect many of the North American breed, it leaves its victims in a state of constant communication, unable to absorb or apply themselves to anything outside of the realm of conversation.

Scientists – especially those in Paris who are frequently subject to loud sufferers with southern accents who only speak ENGLISH – are working to find a cure but hope is fading that those afflicted will ever be able to escape its clutches entirely.

And it does tend to strike at the most unfortunate of times – in the latest case for this whisky lover, it launched itself into action during Whisky Live London, leaving me unable to spend much time sampling.

As such I admit now that, due to the unforeseen appearance of the chatty bug, I have fewer top whisky recommendations to share with the world, despite spending seven hours wandering a closely confined space filled with innumerable drams.

Chatty bug aside, Whisky Live returned to the Royal Honourable Artillery Club recently with many stands featuring everything from whisky, rum and bourbon makers, through to craftspeople and food producers.

Things started out smoothly enough – after a quick scan of the room I was off on my way. But then I ran into Cat Spencer at the Master of Malt stand (the company for which she is head of marketing), where I started chatting so much that I didn’t even get to try their That Boutique-y Whisky Company: Clynelish that everyone was raving about after the show.

Cat Spencer Whisky Live

Next, I had a quick chat with Eddie and Amanda Ludlow who were on great form with their Great Whisky Company hats on, helping Chip Tate spread the word about his Balcones whiskies. Knowing I would be trying the full range soon after the show at a separate event (and from which an interview with Chip will be forthcoming here on Miss Whisky) I continued chatting without really trying the whisky itself!

Chip Tate Whisky Live

I did manage a quick stop-in at the Inver House distillers stand where – after a quick chat, of course, with Lucasz Dynowiak who was pouring Old Pulteney (and who is also from Edinburgh Whisky Blog) – I got the chance to sample Old Pulteney 35-year old. The whisky, I was told, was matured in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to active ex-Oloroso sherry casks for 18 months. It had a lovely furniture polish and woody note on the nose with hints of lemon peel, and a great gentle balanced sweetness with nutty characteristics on the palate from that sherry influence.

I continued my circulation of the room and spent a few minutes speaking with Oliver Hughes of the new Dingle Distillery, a craft distillery located on the west coast of Ireland. While the company is still in its very early stages, it is already maturing spirit to make whisky and has released a vodka and a gin which are being distributed in many of the town’s lovely restaurants. The gin I sampled was extremely floral (the company uses fuscia as one of its botanicals) and fragrant on the nose – so much so it took two rinses of my glass to get it clean for trying more whisky. I look forward to seeing what else comes from Ireland’s newest distillery arrival.

Next up, I headed to The Glenrothes stand, where Spirits Manager Doug McIvor poured me a 2001 vintage. In between catching up, I managed to nose and taste this appealing dram, which was filled with melting butter, lemon, caramel and bananas on the nose, and licorice, oak, toffee and a hint of sulphur on the palate.

Then it was over to the Whyte & Mackay stand to say hello to Richard Paterson who was serving up drams to interested and awed passersby in his usual engaging and flamboyant manner. On the stand I grabbed a wee sample of the Dalmore Millennium 2000, bottled exclusively for members of the Dalmore Custodians online members’ club. It had one of my favourite ‘noses’ of the day, with hints of cocoa, melon, baked apple skins and butter. On the palate, it was creamy and reminded me of a sherry soaked Terry’s Chocolate Orange. All around, rather drinkable.

This was followed by a visit to the Burn Stewart stand in the accompaniment of Kirsty Chant of Chant Communications – though, more like Chat Communications that day (see what I did there?). In between the conversation I managed to try the Deanston 12, Bunnahabhain 18 and Bunnahabhain 25, the latter of which really stood out for me. A mix of red apple skin, toffee, oak and dried nutmeg on the nose and palate made for a rich, pleasing dram that I could drink repeatedly.

Mackmyra Whisky LiveThe rest of the show is a bit of a blur – not due to whisky consumption but simply due to the amount of time spent speaking to people I’d met before and those who were complete strangers (the chatty bug does not discriminate with whom one holds a conversation).

Final whiskies that really stood out were the various offerings on the Mackmyra stand, from the new make spirit marketed in Sweden as Vit Hund (or White Hound) that was full of jasmine tea and bilberry on the nose with a fresh, fruity palate bursting with blackcurrents, and the Mackmyra Blue, which had a glorious, bountiful melange of vanilla, pears and blueberries on the nose and vanilla, almonds and cream on the delicate palate. The Special ’08 (Mackmyra finished in Sauternes casks) was so great that in between chats with master blender Angela D’Orazio and Jon from Living Room Whisky I could only process the statement “TASTES GOOD”, which, let’s face it, is sometimes all whisky needs to be – damn good.

Whisky Live tasting note

And so concluded another Whisky Live London. There are many drams that I would have loved to have tried but the chatty bug gets its way most times it rears its head. I only hope it doesn’t strike so thoroughly next time!

Were you at Whisky Live London? What drams stood out for you? Let Miss Whisky know in the comment box below!

Thank you to Whisky Live for inviting me along to the show this year and to Jon Bryant of Living Room Whisky for providing the final photo.

 

 

 

 

 

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Auchentoshan: Switching Shores

March 23, 2013 in Events

Calling all creative bartenders: the Auchentoshan Switch is back!

If you’ve not heard of the programme before, it goes something like this: one talented bartender from the UK, Sweden or Germany will win an all expenses paid two-week stint in New York to train at leading bar The Dead Rabbit while a bartender from North America will get a two-week placement at Old Street’s The Nightjar.

Nightjar Bar London

Launched recently at the central London venue, the competition is meant to show off the skills of the best and brightest on each side of the pond. On the night of the launch, attendees were treated to a whisky tasting by brand ambassador Zoran Peric and a few cocktails including one by Martin Ball, the UK winner of the last Switch competition, which happened in 2011.

So, how do you get a chance to switch your shoreline for a couple of weeks?

Simply put on your thinking hat and come up with a cocktail using the Auchentoshan Three Wood as its base that you think will most impress judges.

Next, upload the recipe and image of your shiny creation to this site here by the 12 July.

Judges will choose the semi-finalists who will be asked to participate in regional heats in their respective countries. The winners of the heats will then go onto the European and North American finals where the two winners will be selected.

The winners will head off to their new venues in early 2014.

So, if you think you’ve got what it takes to take-on an Auchentoshan cocktail and shine in some of the world’s top bars, then get mixing!

For more information, and to enter Auchentoshan Switch, head to: www.auchentoshan.com/switch.

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Japanese Spirit at Mizuwari

March 18, 2013 in Reviews

I love me a good drinking den. And, let’s be honest, London is pretty full of top-end joints to hunker down of an eve and do just that – drink. I have no doubt many other cities in this fine country have much to offer too, of course, but my experience is with the capital and, thus far, I can’t complain.

One of the newest whisky spots on the block is Mizuwari – a Japanese themed bar on Old Compton Street in the downstairs section of Izakaya restaurant, Bincho, that’s filled with cocktails and drams galore.

As a big fan of Japanese whisky, the news of its opening was thrilling to my ears. Unfortunately, many other people felt the same so on opening night the small space was so rammed that getting a good look at its interiors or experiencing it in full was not possible.

Cocktail at BinchoI have since had the chance to go back and can say that it is a place I will be adding to my “Soho bars of best repute” list.

The bar is what one might call intimate – petite round tables and shared benches with individual lamps that can be dimmed dot the dark-wood floored and mahogany walled room, while behind the bar are rows of Japanese whisky.

The place was developed in partnership with Suntory, so all of the cocktails on the list feature whiskies from the company’s brands (think: Hakushu, Hibiki and Yamazaki).

However, when it comes to single drams, the menu is much more extensive and includes more than a dozen options from the Nikka range, various Ichiro’s Malts and a jaw-dropping selection of Karuizawas, which given their rarity and the fact this is a central London bar, are really rather reasonably priced (from £8.50-£12).

Locked cage at BinchoWhat I like about the space is that it will hopefully appeal to a wide range of drinker – not just the seasoned whisky lover. I could easily imagine bringing my non-whisky drinking girlfriends and winning them over with the feisty Rissun cocktail (Yamazaki 12, plum liqueur and ginger) or the silky smooth Seimei (Hibiki 12, maraschino liqueur, absinthe and lemon zest).

If you want to get fully into the spirit of Japanese tradition, then you can also purchase a bottle of whisky (such as the Yamazaki 12) to store in a locked cage behind the bar, as is done in drinking dens in the east. Your name will be left on it and you can access it any time you’re in the area. Okay – it’s a bit of a mark-up from shop price (£88 instead of £43 for the Yamazaki 12) but if you’re going out frequently in the area, it makes a good investment compared to buying individual drams each time.

Now, I won’t pretend this place is cheap. It’s not. A cocktail will hit your wallet for around £10 minimum but as a special treat it is well worthwhile. And, if you come on a Monday, the fabulous restaurant upstairs features all of its skewers of charcoal grilled meat for £1 each, so you can make a night of it for a fairly reasonable price.

In short, I’m hoping this will help raise the profile once more for the wonderful drink that is Japanese whisky. If you’ve not had the chance to try many yet and are in London, this will surely be the new place to go.

Photos provided by the team behind Mizuwari.

For more details, visit: bincho.co.uk/whisky-joint

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Return of whisky Monkey business

March 1, 2013 in Events, Interviews

I am a big fan of seeing whisky celebrated in less than traditional environments. Goodbye fireplace, hello warehouse!

In 2012, one of the companies that really stood out in its ability to liven up this spirits category was blended brand Monkey Shoulder with its For One Night Only and Monkey Shoulder Social Club events. I didn’t manage to make them all, but those I did get to – such as the event where they attempted to recreate New York inside a warehouse and another where both the bingo and the cocktails got rebellious – were all rather grand fun and exposed whisky to a young, trendy, quirky set of consumers.

I recently managed to get the company’s hyperactive, highly busy global brand ambassador – Dean Callan – to sit still for five minutes to tell me what plans are in store for 2013, and I can reveal it is sure to be as exciting as last year.

The first For One Night Only event to kick off the season on the 21 March with the Malt Jockey themed evening. The location is still a secret, but guests (who win tickets by entering a draw or buying them through the website at a cost of £15) will be able to race remote control horses around a giant hay bale, learn to make Monkey Shoulder cocktails and eat food from the delicious Street Kitchen. More FONO events will be announced as the year goes on.

Dean told me that the reason the events have returned is because they are a way to showcase Scotch to a different consumer group.

“The key thing we were trying to achieve is making Scotch approachable, to show that you can have some fun and say you don’t have to sit in front of a fire sipping it at cask strength – it’s not all serious,” he said.

While some people in the whisky world may not agree with making the sacred drink into an irreverent spectacle, Dean said that once he explains to naysayers what the brand is trying to achieve, they normally understand things a lot better.

“In most cases, it’s straight down to a bit of confusion as to what Monkey Shoulder is about,” he added.

But for a vast number of people, the company is making waves. This is especially true in the US bartending scene and becoming more so here in the UK, something Dean said he hopes to increase with the appointment of a UK brand ambassador.

“I want to make it my business to get him or her as involved in the Scotch whisky industry as possible,” he said.

This year the company will also launch BBQ bootcamps in London on the 22 and 29 June. For two sessions, guests will learn how to butcher and cook different cuts of meat, and get the chance to try their hand at cocktail concoction.

For One Night Only Monkey Shoulder“I think the BBQ bootcamp is going to be amazing. We tend to throw things out there; if it’s super successful we might scale it up,” explained Dean.

The company will also be showing its face at various music festivals across the UK this summer to reach a broader audience.

And the biggest challenge for Monkey Shoulder over the coming 12 months? According to Dean, it’ll be around keeping up with demand.

“Monkey, in some areas, is flying off the shelves and we can’t produce enough of it to supply demand so we have to make the right decisions to keep everyone happy – it’s a problem facing a lot of the whisky brands. We’re a small team and it seems to be growing at a fast pace so the challenge will be about keeping the small independent spirit and scaling up at the same time,” he concluded.

For more information about Monkey Shoulder’s events, visit: www.monkeyshoulder.com/foronenightonly

 

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A chilly night warmed by Berrys’ Whisky

February 25, 2013 in Events, Reviews

Just when we here in the UK thought winter was nearing its end as a mild wave of temperate climes tantalizingly soared our way, the freezing temperatures returned and our dreams of an early spring were shattered.

Which is why I always believe it is good to be friends with whisky – for what better thing to warm one through than this beautiful spirit?

The particular night I have in mind of late was hand-bitingly cold, and this whisky lover was thoroughly chilled to the bones when she arrived at the south end of St James’s Street for a whisky tasting at Berry Bros & Rudd.

Luckily, there were many other red-nosed folks about (caused, I’m sure, from the cold and not over-indulgence in spirit) all of whom were keen to get in from Mother Nature’s wrath and get into the whisky.

We were there to try the latest release of The Blue Hanger blended Scotch and some other single cask releases, which are created and/or chosen by spirits buyer and master of cask selection Doug McIvor.

Now, to give you some history (if you’ve not heard of the long-standing wine and spirits merchant) Berry Bros & Rudd was founded in 1698 and started in the tea, coffee and spice trade. At the age of 315 years old, it also has the oldest original shop front in London, having been at Number 3 St James’s Street for all these years.

The company eventually evolved into wine and then spirits, and created the world-famous Cutty Sark blended whisky brand in 1923 to cater to those desiring a lighter style of whisky. It also released other whisky blends, one of which was The Blue Hanger, which Doug said he discovered when going through the company’s archives.

Apparently the story goes there was a man nicknamed ‘The Blue Hanger’ who was renowned for his dapper dress sense and who would often frequent Berry Bros in the late 18th century. That man was actually William Hanger, the 3rd Baron Coleraine, who was not only snazzy with his outerwear but a British politician to boot.

The company created a whisky named after him in 1934, after receiving requests from the British diplomatic services for a dram to please their palates. Various releases of it were sold for around 50 years, before it disappeared from the company’s stock list in the 1980s.

When Doug discovered this, he decided to create a new blend in Hanger’s memory using only the best casks in Berrys’ stocks. In order to do so, he took samples from 400 old casks, did a rudimentary tasting of each and scored every one out of five points – anything with less than three went back to the warehouse.

“We kept about 90 casks. Most had gone woody as hell, which proves it’s all about maturity and not about age,” he said, during the tasting.

His first release – which hit shelves in 2003 – was of a blend of Glen Grant and The Glenlivet. Doug chose those because: “The Glenlivet has a buttery, wavy mouth-feel and the Glen Grant is more jagged so they work together and amplify each other.”

There have since been five more releases, two of which won best blended Scotch in the world at the World Whisky Awards in 2008 and 2012. The seventh edition is currently in production.

We attendees were lucky enough to try the 2nd, 4th and 6th releases, along with the initial incarnation of batch number 7. All have been bottled at 45.6%, which was the strength they went to bottle at in the 1930s. Doug said he also tries to keep a bit of sherry cask influence in each edition, to honour the original style.

So what did I think of them?

We started with the second release, which was bottled in August 2004 and made of a blend of Glen Grant and The Glenlivet (to be specific, four hogsheads of The Glenlivet ’74, one butt of The Glenlivet ’74 and two hogsheads of Glen Grant ’74). On the nose I found this was perfumey and floral, with violet, cream, marmalade and butter notes. On the palate, it was filled with creamy orange, milk chocolate, vanilla and brown sugar melting in butter. There was a slightly spicy, nutmeg-influenced finish. Very nice, indeed.

Next up was the fourth release, a mix of Mortlach and Glen Elgin from the early ’90s and some of The Glenlivet and Glen Grant from the 1970s. On the nose, it was much fresher than the second release, with notes of apple caramels, hay, sprightly citrus, butter, struck matches and daffodils. But on the palate it was quite different: there was an orchard fruit sweetness with a backbone of sherry and sulphur, and a slightly eggy finish. I loved the nose on this one but not the taste, even though it was the recipient of the Best Blended Scotch in the World in 2008.

My favourite of the night, however, was the sixth release, which was comprised of a mix of a The Glenrothes ’98 sherry butt, a Bunnahabhain ’90 sherry butt, and a Bowmore ’03 and Bowmore ’87 hogshead. It won the Best Blended Scotch in the World in 2012. The nose was very pleasant, with a slight caramel and almost red wine note, and a teeny amount of woody smoke. It was fresh and not dominated by sherry, remaining beautifully balanced. In the mouth this was chewy, with a full mouth-feel that was very earthy (like freshly churned dirt in a field after a rain), with warming, gingery notes, accented by biscuits and cardboard boxes. It was sublime.

Excitingly, the first sample of the seventh release is looking rather good too, although Doug gave no indication as to whether he’d stick with the styles he’s already imparted in his tests. At the moment, he’s using a The Glenrothes sherry butt from ’98, a Bruichladdich hogshead from ’91, a Glen Keith hogshead from ’93 and a Clynelish hogshead from ’97. On the nose, it was rich and buttery, with lemon peel and spring like floral notes and a hint of malt. In the mouth, it was delicate with peach, rose petal and light honey elements. I look forward to seeing what Doug will do with this.

If you’re keen to try any of these, the sixth release is still available – at a cost of £71.50. But I wouldn’t wait long as stocks are limited. And, if you’ve not been yet, I definitely recommend stopping by Berrys’. Its long-standing history in London should be cherished and a visit will, no doubt, be of interest to many whisky lovers.

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Boxing clever: a trendy whisky blend

February 18, 2013 in Events, Reviews

More and more often whisky is finding itself thrown into interesting partnerships and events. I imagine – if you were to ask whisky – it would likely comment that this is a good thing, given how bored it must be at being featured in ads where the fireplace and tartan are a prerequisite and the drinkers fully bearded and armed with walking canes.

Of the events I have attended of late, I’m sure whisky would have been very appreciative to have been a part, getting the chance to put on its glad rags and show itself off to younger folk who appreciate it for different reasons.

This has notably been the case in a launch of a blended whisky that has been created through the collaborative efforts of one funky whisky company, one former A&R man and one whisky-loving musician. The players? Master of Malt, CaskStrength Creative and Carey Willetts (former Athlete bass player and now solo artist). The whisky? Boxes Blend.

You see, Carey got a taste for good old whisky due to his manager Ian’s influence back when he was touring with Athlete, always ensuring it was on the roster of items requested for his dressing room (a much more normal request than, say, Lady Gaga who allegedly requests a mannequin with pink pubic hair). Often, other bands would come back and share the whisky with the group, leading to much camaraderie.

Carey Willetts, Athlete
“There was always a lot of sharing and then, after a few, a lot of hugging,” commented Carey at the launch. “We’d line up a bunch of whiskies and you would drink your way to one end and then drink your way back and you kind of just kept going.”

Now to fill you in on how we get from the point where Carey is consuming whisky in a dressing room to the point where he is speaking about his own whisky release, you need to add in the factor of one Joel Harrison – of Caskstrength Creative fame – who is a former A&R manager and friend of Carey. The two have known each other since Joel attempted to try representing his band back when Joel was still a teenager, and he introduced Carey to Master of Malt so they could begin concocting the release.

“The whiskies I generally like are a little bit sweet. I wanted something that people could drink that wasn’t just something that 5% of the world would like – something fairly smooth, fairly sweet with a bit of smoke at the end,” explained Carey.

The whisky is named after Carey’s new solo project – Boxes – through which he released his first EP last year called Stickers. We were lucky enough to be entertained by him on the night and I can confirm that copious amounts of whisky drinking has not harmed his voice in the least – he was a pleasure to listen to.

So, what did I think of the whisky?

To start, it’s a lovely golden honey colour in the glass which makes it very attractive. The nose is appealing with hints of honey, butter, vanilla, pears (and pear skins especially) along with a background note of a soft, subtle smoke. On the palate, it is quite light to start with melted white sugar, early-on cake batter (eggs, vanilla, sugar) and a touch of smoke to give it some backbone. There is more smoke on the finish than expected which gives it nice body and a final hint of grassy bitterness to end things off.

I enjoyed Boxes Blend – it is one that can be drunk neat with no need to mix. It’s probably not my favourite blend, but for me that comes from the finish as anything that has a slightly bitter note tends to put me off as I find myself more and more sensitive to that taste. Others among you will, almost certainly, find this hardly noticeable and it doesn’t take away from the fact it’s well structured and extremely appealing on the nose. In general, I think it is an intriguing project – like so many that Master of Malt and CaskStrength Creative seem to be involved with – and I have no doubt whisky feels happy to have been spiced up through such an interesting collaboration as this.

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Cutty Sark’s Prohibition Blend

February 7, 2013 in Reviews

 

“The general is a former war hero and ex-chief of staff; whereas, I’m a magnificent tipper. Please see the suite is made up. I’ll have a bucket of ice and three bottles of Canadian Club.” – Nucky Thompson, Boardwalk Empire

 

 

This is just one of many of my favourite lines of late on the series Boardwalk Empire. You see, while most people got into this show a couple of years back, I’m the type that waits until things come out on DVD boxsets so I can splurge on episodes to my heart’s content. Last year, it was The Wire. This year, it’s Boardwalk (and Breaking Bad, but that’s not as relevant to this post).

If you’ve not heard of it, Boardwalk Empire is a critically acclaimed HBO series set in Atlantic City during Prohibition. Steve Buscemi plays the kingpin, Nucky Thompson, whose lines are witty and cutting. I love it.

So what, pray tell, does this have to do with whisky?

Well, the other day I received a sample of the new Cutty Sark Prohibition – a whisky made in honour of the 90th anniversary of the company’s existence and the 80th anniversary of the end of Prohibition. It has been bottled at the super ABV of 50% to reflect the strength of the bootlegged whisky that Cutty Sark was importing illegally into the US in the 1920s. Yes, that’s right – Cutty Sark helped to get its foothold in the US during the time booze was illegal, a fact made ever more interesting when you realise the brand was created by the royalty-loving and upstanding Berry Bros & Rudd.

The history of the blend brand is fascinating as I also recently discovered while reading the book on Cutty Sark, written by a host of whisky scribes back in 2011.

Established in 1923, Cutty Sark was created to put a whisky blend in the market which was light and fresh, that wouldn’t affect people’s palates (like the peaty whiskies of the day) before they drank wine with their dinner. At the time, one of the co-managers of the shop – Francis Berry – had great tie-ins with the US (having traveled there frequently since the early 20th century) so the in-roads were laid to the overseas market and the plan was to create a blend that would become popular post-Prohibition.

The brand took its name from two places: partly from the Robert Burns poem Tam O’Shanter, in which the term ‘cutty sark’ is referred to (in this case, meaning the petticoat worn by sultry witch Nannie) and partly because the famous tea clipper – The Cutty Sark – which was in the news frequently in 1923 as it was being returned to England after having been owned by the Portuguese.

The blend was made up from a mix of well-known names, such as Glenrothes, Highland Park, The Macallan, Tamdhu, Bunnahabhain and Glengoyne, giving it a real balance between light and delicate notes, with teeny hints of smoke and sherry.

However, the company – it seemed – did not want to wait until the end of the long-running Prohibition to gets its stocks into the US market. Instead, tales abound that the company managed to get in with the wily character and legendary bootlegger Captain Bill McCoy to help get its product into the speakeasies that dotted the east coast of the US. This decision to get into the market before the end of Prohibition is what allowed the brand to become so successful after 1933 when booze could be freely taken once more.

And so, while watching a recent episode of Boardwalk, I decided to indulge myself in a bit of this new blend since my mood was all about the 1920s. What did I think of it?

To start, the nose had a slightly sharp bite, no doubt from the high ABV. Underneath for me though, there was a lovely wafting of bananas, soft black licorice, malty wheat, toffee, figs and a hint of rubbing alcohol. On the palate, it was deliciously fruity, with flavours of dried apricots, honey and oranges. It was sweeter than I imagined, with an almost saccharine note that combined with butterscotch and soft black licorice. There was at first a richness to the finish – slightly sherried and plummy – that dissipated into a floral but smoky after effect that reminded me of a combination of summer pea shoots and the drifting smoke from a campfire.

This is a blend that you do not have to blend with anything, as it were. I would happily sip this on its own and plan to continue doing so as I indulge in more Prohibition-era goodness with Nucky and the gang. I recommend you miss out on neither.

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