Five things I’ve Learned About…Single-Malt Scotch

The December 15, 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Single Malt Scotch.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. I now understand why people go bananas over the whiskey category, and Scotch in particular. It’s mind-blowing what can be accomplished with grain, water, and barrel wood…and nothing else.

2. This was the category that finally got me to spit during tastings. SO many of these are uber-aged, and have such high alcohol levels, that it became a necessity. It was a survival technique; otherwise I’d have been sozzled during every tasting session.

3. The scoring range was totally different from say, flavored vodkas — significantly more in the 90+ area, and very very few below 85. Although I think what I was sent generally was top of the line (in some cases I know it was), the takeaway is that there’s a surplus of excellence in the single-malt Scotch category.

4. I also had the opportunity to sample the most expensive spirit I’ve ever reviewed: $1300. It was a highly limited edition, but based purely on the blind tastings, much more reasonably-priced spirits were just as good or better. (sorry!)

5. The biggest surprise of all to me – I don’t hate peat!  It turns out, I just hate heavy-handed peat — that overpowering smokiness that I imagine must be like licking an ashtray.

Got a favorite single malt Scotch? I’d love to hear about it. Comment away…

Five things I’ve Learned About… Aged Rum

The December 1, 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Aged Rum.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio (if it’s not there now, it will be soon).  Here’s what I learned:

1. First, I learned that I really, really like aged rum. In general, the rums I tried were AMAZING, and I haven’t had such a good overall crop since the Bourbon category (and the high scores reflected that.)

However…. I do think this got “gamed” a little bit. In other words, I suspect that I was sent cream-of-the-crop reserve rums in many cases, rather than middle-of-the-line specimens. But I’m not really complaining.

2. Whenever possible, I try to arrange tastings to compare apples to apples – ie, for tequilas, it made sense to taste all the blancos together, then the reposados, etc. But it’s awfully hard to segregate rums. At first, I thought age would make sense – but many rums are made using a blend of rums of varying ages, and terms like “VSOP” and “anejo” are used pretty much willy nilly, which must piss off cognac & tequila makers. After a while, I understood why in his seminar at Tales, rum expert Ed Hamilton advised, “don’t get hung up by the age of your rum.”

3. It didn’t make sense to arrange tastings by provenance, either, since rums come from all over the Caribbean and Latin America. However, if I had specifically asked for rums from say, Martinique, or Puerto Rico, I could have done it. Lesson:  I’ll be smarter in future rum tastings and will ask for rums from a specific place.

4. Soft, softer, softest. Sometimes we refer to spirits as having a “soft” or “velvety” texture. But  I’ve never felt anything quite like aged rum for feather-bed softness on the tongue. It sounds like a cliché, but my raw tasting notes for one rum in particular said, “like sticking my tongue in feathers.” Not an appetizing description if you think about it too closely, but it was super-velvety. (The rum was Angostura 1919.)

5. Many rums were aged (or finished) in barrels that previously held Cognac, Sherry, Bourbon etc etc. You can really taste it in the spirit, too, which is lovely. The type of wood used varies too – French, American oak, etc. I knew this was increasingly common in whiskey, but I didn’t realize how prevalent the practice had become in rum too.

Do you have a favorite aged rum?  I’d love to hear about it. (you know where to leave a reply…)

5 Things I’ve Learned About…Cherry/Berry Flavored Vodkas

The November 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Cherry and Berry Flavored Vodkas.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio (if it’s not there now, it will be soon).  Here’s what I learned:

1. Flavored vodka gets no respect. Cocktail geek buddies groaned when I told them I was doing this category. They were mostly but not entirely right. Yes, there was lots of mediocrity in the cherry/berry category (unlike citrus-flavored vodkas, which overall were quite good), and on average, the scores were relatively low. But – as I suspected –  there were gems worth finding.

2. A wide range of good berry/cherry vodkas exist; they’re not necessarily uniform.  The best of the bunch included a full-bodied, deep red, nearly cordial-like vodka; a blush-pink, floral-berry vodka; and a clear-as-a-bell spirit with an engagingly juicy raspberry character.

3. There are more bad than good vodkas in this flavor category. A surplus of crummy vodkas surely arrived, such as the Windex-blue contender that arrived in a jug-sized plastic container and tasted like mouthwash. Another memorable specimen was a vodka whose main claim to fame was that it turns your tongue black.

4. It must be difficult to accurately replicate cherry and berry vodka flavors, since so few get it right.

5. The aroma is often the best part of flavored vodkas. Bartenders already know this.

If you have a favorite cherry/berry flavored vodka to share, I’d love to hear about it. Usually I’d rather showcase what’s awesome vs. bashing the not-so-good, but I’ll make an exception this time:  vodka horror stories are welcome too!

5 Things I’ve Learned About…Blended Scotch Whiskey

The September 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Blended Scotch Whiskey.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. We hear constantly about single malt Scotches, but not much about blends. Some of them are pretty darn good. (of course, some not so much.)

2. What is blended Scotch?  The Scotch Whisky Association provides downright draconian guidelines. For starters, It comes from Scotland.  Yes, this seems obvious, but I think it bears noting that the “blend” doesn’t mean whiskey from other countries can be blended in there. It’s all Scotch whisky (the Scots drop the ‘e’), and it must be distilled and aged in Scotland. However — it may be bottled in other countries.

3.  (aka “2a”) There’s at least one Single Malt Scotch in blended Scotches. The pesky SWA has more to mandate here: Blended Scotch mixes together one or more Single Malt Scotches, often with one or more Single Grain Scotches. For this tasting, blends ranged up to 40 different whiskies in a single bottle (that was Johnny Walker Black Label). A blend that contains only Single Malts is called a Blended Malt Scotch Whisky.

4. (aka “2b”) Wait, so now I have to figure out the difference between Single Malt and Single Grain Scotches? Damn you, SWA. Fine:

–Malt whiskey is made from malted barley (grain that’s been germinated or sprouted), and is distilled in old-fashioned pot stills, considered an essential part of the whisky’s flavor and character.

–By comparison, grain whisky, which mixes together malted barley with unmalted grains (primarily corn), is distilled in a continuous still – a more efficient technology than old-school pot stills, but many experts say the resulting liquor is correspondingly less flavorful.

(*Screeching to a halt*)  You know what?  I’m changing my “what I learned” points here:

3. (Revised) The Scotch Whisky Association is a pain in the butt.

4. (Revised)  It’s a good thing that I have a copy of Gaz Regan’s “Bartender’s Bible” to help clarify the finer points of Scotch nuisance appreciation.

5. Where was I before that peevish digression? Right. Bartenders are understandably reluctant to mix rare Single Malts into cocktails. But they are less skittish about mixing more readily available –and often more affordable– blended Scotches into classic drinks like the Blood and Sand or the Bobby Burns.

…Or to create original new cocktails. In fact, at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic in May, bartender Jason Asher created the Northshore Cocktail for my “Whiskey is the New Black” seminar, made with Peat Monster from Compass Box. It turned out to be a lovely, smoky riff on the tiki genre. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy, and be sure to to curse, I mean toast, the SWA when you drink.

Northshore Cocktail

By Jason Asher

1/2 ounce Hum liqueur

3/4 ounce Monin almond or orgeat syrup

1/2 ounce lime juice

3/4 ounce Peat Monster whiskey

Serve on rocks, garnish w/ lemon peel

5 Things I’ve Learned About…Spiced Rum

The August 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Spiced Rum.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. Spiced rum has a bad reputation. It’s fun. It can be too sweet. You knew someone in college who tossed back too many Captain-and-Cokes. But that doesn’t stop many from taking spiced rum very seriously.  Maybe too seriously. 

2. Dry vs. sweet spiced rums. I didn’t realize there were different styles until I started tasting. But it’s a rather pronounced difference, and the “dry style” spiced rums were particularly nuanced and delicious.

3. Spiced rum is made with actual spices. Not just flavorings. Vanilla is perhaps the most commonly found spice. However, cocktail geeks mostly  disapprove of “vanilla-forward” rums. Taste thoughtfully, and you may detect spices like clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Ginger and black pepper also may appear. One particularly spicy Cajun brand also used cayenne pepper.

4. Spiced rum is not part of the classic cocktail canon. Old school tiki bars would make their own. Some newfangled tiki lounges still do. (I’m lookin’ at you, Martin Cate!)

5. How to use spiced rum in cocktails. Tiki driks. Hot drinks like spiced cider. The Cable Car is a new classic. In other words, spiced rum is more versatile than I had thought. Check out some drink recipes here.

If you have a favorite spiced rum or cocktail made with spiced rum, I’d love to hear about it!

5 Things I’ve Learned About…American Vodka

The July 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on American Vodka— just in time for Independence Day.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. To be perfectly honest, I’d been dreading this category. Unflavored vodkas with no scent, color, or flavor? What the heck was I going to say?  As it turns out….plenty. However, in the end, reviewing vodka (at least, this particular batch) was a little like evaluating shades of gray. I didn’t realize until I saw the print column, side by side with the wide-ranging wine reviews, how unusually homogeneous the scores were.

2. All those states produce vodka?  It was exciting to see the broad cross-section of states represented in the samples, spanning up the Northwest coastline, across the Midwest, and over the Eastern seaboard.   I think I sampled from NY, IL, CA, WA, VA, OR, MN, NJ, VT, AR, ID, PA, WI, OH, CO. It’s like armchair travel.

3. All the different stuff from which vodka is made. Of course, grain was expected, and came in the form of wheat, rye, and corn. We don’t see many potato-based vodkas outside of eastern Europe, but at least one arrived. However, enticing vodkas made from grapes, honey, maple sap, and milk sugar were particularly pleasant surprises.  A pricey Napa Valley vodka made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes was especially memorable.

4. I need to learn more about the distillation process. Since it seems to be a particular bragging point among vodka makers, I’d like to understand better how (and frankly, if) it truly matters how many times a spirit is distilled. Or whether it’s filtered through charcoal, volcanic matter, diamond dust, etc.

Maybe vodka distillation is subject to the rule of diminishing returns:  Frankly, from my semi-layman’s view, extreme distillation seemed to yield minimal impact. (I’m going to get hate mail over that last statement. So be it.)

5. It’s surprisingly hard to think of distinctive vodka cocktails to illustrate how specific vodkas might be used. “Vodka soda” and “vodka martini” seem pale, don’t you think?

Unlike whiskey or tequila, vodka never seems to be the centerpiece of cocktails these days. In fact, vodka gets so much disrespect in the cocktailian community, one mixology chat room I know has set up a gleeful macro: every time a member types the word “vodka,” it’s auto-replaced with the word “poserfluid.” Now there’s a word that might generate some fireworks among vodka distillers.

Do you have a favorite vodka or vodka cocktail? I’d love to hear about it.

5 Things I’ve Learned About…Pisco and Cachaca

The June 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Cachaca and Pisco — yes, we conflated the two categories.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1.  They’re both from South America. They’re both usually clear spirits.  And the comparisons end there, since both spirits have unique characteristics. 

2. Cachaça is made in Brazil, and is distilled from sugar cane juice. A rough-and-tumble cousin to rum, cachaça has the same intrinsic sweetness and often good whiff of sugar in the scent. 

3. Brazil’s national drink, the sweet-and-tart caipirinha, topped with soda water, showcases cachaça’s best qualities, yielding a refreshing, flavorful drink perfect for a summer afternoon. Cachaça also can be subbed for white tequila or white rum in cocktails, such as in the Mojito.

4. Pisco, meanwhile, hails from Peru or Chile. It’s distilled from grapes, and then aged in vessels made of copper, glass, stainless steel, or clay for a brief spell. It often has a delicate, perfumy quality; but like wine or grappa, the character changes vastly depending on the grapes from which it is made.

5. Although the delightfully frothy Pisco Sour is the traditional way to consume the spirit, I get the sense that pisco makers are looking for a new cocktail to promote the spirit — preferably one that doesn’t include egg whites, which freak out salmonella-wary tipplers.  Personally, my favorite way to consume pisco is in Pio Pio’s  “Lime-na” cocktail, made with grape-infused pisco, green Chartreuse, and lime juice, on the rocks. Pisco marketers, take note! I’d love to see this one become a staple on cocktail menus across the country.

If you have a favorite pisco or cachaca (or cocktail made with either), I’d love to know!

5 Things I’ve Learned About…Tequila

The May 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on Tequila.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. Yes, you can have too much of a good thing!

2. 100% agave, or don’t bother. Go big or go home.

3. Like wine, terroir plays a part in tequila’s taste. Most tequila originates in Jalisco, Mexico; those from agave plants grown in the highlands tend to have a fruity, floral, herbaceous quality, while in the lowlands, volcanic soil yields an earthier, drier tequila. Further, a number of smaller producers specify particular estates where the agave plants were grown.

4. The unaged version is referred to as blanco, silver, or plata; it may be barrel-aged for up to two months and still be considered blanco. Reposado tequila is “rested” in oak barrels from two months to one year, while anejo is aged for longer than a year.

5. In general, most blancos are light and crisp, with lightly honeyed agave-nectar, peppery, or citrusy characteristics. But barrel-aging changes the game:  after some barrel time, many tequilas were reminiscent of light whiskeys, with sweet agave giving way to more caramel, cocoa and butterscotch flavors, and peppery notes evolving into sophisticated smoky accents.

Shameless plug alert!  If you enjoyed this post, please consider joining me in Austin, Texas, on June 4, for panel on “Tequila, Texas, and Terroir” at the International Associations of Culinary Professionals national conference. I’ll be joined by Austin barman Bill Norris and tequila expert Lucinda Hutson, and we’ll be tasting tequilas and fab tequila cocktails!

5 Things I’ve Learned About…London Dry Gin

The April 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on London Dry Gin.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1.  For me, the first educational hurdle arrived months ago, when we worked out which spirits to include on the editorial calendar. A broad call for “gin” would have yielded way too many samples. (See tequila overload. Lesson learned!)  For gin, the options boiled down to “London Dry” style gin, which differentiates it from the sweeter Old Tom style, the stronger-flavored Plymouth style, flavored/infused gins, aged “golden gins,” and Dutch genevers/jenevers.  Most dry style gins are light-bodied and aromatic.

2. I should probably emphasize, that’s London Dry style gin. Although the style originated in London, natch, excellent dry gins are produced elsewhere, including America and France.  (Even so, most of the best London Dry gins are made in England.)

3. Botanicals. This word gets thrown around a LOT when in comes to gin, and a number of other spirits too. In general, this is a fancy word for herbs, spices, flowers, and anything else that is used in the distillation process to add flavor and aroma. In London dry gin, the dominant botanical usually is juniper. If you’re wondering which one that is, uncork a bottle of gin and pick out the scent that reminds you of pine — that’s usually the juniper berry. Other botanicals commonly found in gin include spices (coriander, cardamom, anise, ginger); floral notes (iris, elderflower); tea, and citrus peel.

4. Repeat after me:  A real martini is made with gin. Not vodka.  But there are a number of amazing drinks made with gin beyond the classic martini — such as the Aviation, and the Corpse Reviver #2.

5. ….and a dry martini means that it’s made with relatively little vermouth. If you want to make a bartender snicker, ask for “a very, very, very dry martini.”  Some wise-acres will simply wave a bottle of vermouth over the glass!

If you have a favorite gin, or gin-based drink, I’d love to hear about it – please leave a comment below!  Oh man, I could go for a Corpse Reviver #2 right about now….

5 things I’ve learned about…International Whiskey

The March 2011 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine is out, and it includes (among other things) my review column on International Whiskey.  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1.  It’s a big, big, big, big world out there. American, Canadian, Irish, Welsh, French, and Japanese whiskies all made their way to my doorstep.  (I should probably explain that “International Whiskey” is shorthand for all whiskey except Bourbon, Rye, and Scotch. Why exclude those categories?  Bourbon and Rye were covered recently; Scotch will be covered in depth later this year. And yes, despite that exclusion, there was still a TON left to cover!)

2.  Whiskey spans so many styles –  single malt, blended, peated, cask-finished – ages, mash bills (the blend of grains used to make the spirit), and colors, from crystal clear to deep nut-brown.

3.  Different can be good. One of my favorites was an Irish Whiskey, light (in color and feel), and had tropical fruit notes, like a Sauvignon Blanc, beneath a light veil of smoke (Slieve Foy 18 year-old). Another favorite – polar opposite – was an American regional, quite dark and rich, and had a creamy mouthfeel that put me in mind of the head on a root beer float (Stranahan’s). And both were delicious.

4.  It’s an amazing testament that so many countries have opted to distill whiskey. Originally, whiskey was brewed in countries that lacked the warm climate for producing fermented drinks made from grapes. However, this is no longer an iron-clad rule. In fact, some distillers in California and other states now produce brandies and whiskies in the same facility.

5.  Whiskey is perhaps the trickiest base ingredient to use in cocktails. Maybe that’s why many purists opt to drink whiskey straight.

If you have a favorite whiskey, or whiskey-based cocktail, I’d love to hear more about it, please leave a comment!