June 27th, 2011

Do smaller whiskey barrels mature whiskey faster?

John Hansell

Or do they just make whiskey taste woody faster?

I’ve been thinking about this recently because I’ve tasted a lot of whiskies over the past couple of years that were matured in smaller barrels. While it’s true that the big distillers are using them (e.g., Laphroaig Quarter Cask), their use seems to be more prevalent with the smaller, craft distillers. Why? They want to mature their young whiskey as quickly as possible and get it on the market.

Let me be clear right now and say that I have absolutely no scientific evidence to support what I am thinking. Indeed, I can’t even cite specific examples, because it’s not something I have been really taking notes on. So, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

Still, what I have noticed on several occasions when tasting young whiskey aged in smaller barrels, is that the whiskey didn’t seem taste mature. It just tasted woody. The smaller casks provide for more contact with wood because of the larger surface area for a given volume of whiskey. But it still tasted “green,”  somewhat harsh, and very youthful in character.

So, I wonder: are we trying to cheat mother nature by using smaller barrels? Does it actually work, or are we just fooling ourselves?

Again, this is just a general observation. I have no facts to support my thinking here. But, I can tell you this: I was speaking with a very high official of a highly respected distilling company who is doing research on this topic, and their preliminary findings seem to support my thinking. Stay tuned for more information on this in a future blog post.

I respect (and embrace) the craft distilling movement and everything they do. I don’t want anyone to take this post the wrong way think I am accusing them of trying to pull a fast one on us. There are a lot of distillers using smaller barrels, not just the small guys. And like I said earlier, this is just a gut feeling of mine.

I do think that the use of smaller barrels as part of a mix of smaller and more standard size barrels can add a new flavor dimension and inject some extra wood influence into the whisky. Laphroaig Quarter Cask is an excellent example of this. But, I wonder what Laphroaig would taste like if all Laproaig was matured in quarter (or even smaller) casks?

Category: Bourbon,Microdistilleries,Opinions,Scotch whisky 111 Comments

June 22nd, 2011

Guest post: Wild Turkey, Flying High

John Hansell

Malt Advocate magazine’s managing editor, Lew Bryson, gives us a birds eye view of recent enhancements at the Wild Turkey Distillery.

If you’ve ever visited the Wild Turkey distillery outside Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, well, you’ll know I’m not being disrespectful when I say it looked a bit run-down. Big hulking buildings with rusty iron wrappings, a hodge-podge of structures clinging to a cliff over the Kentucky River: thank God they made excellent whiskey, because they for sure were never going to win a beauty contest!

Well…forget all that. As of today, Wild Turkey has the newest distillery in Kentucky, and it is a $50 million beauty. Sited across the road from the old plant, on top of the hill, the new plant is as planned and purposeful as the old one was…er, rambling. The capacity is greatly increased (11 million gallons a year, up from 5 million), the running gear is solid and slick, and there’s a fresh coat of paint on everything. They’ve even put new label designs on the iconic 101 bottling, matched by that on the new 81 proof bottling that was Eddie Russell’s project.

Thank Gruppo Campari. The new owners of Wild Turkey are rightly excited about this project that they inherited from former owners, Pernod Ricard. Their chairman, Luca Garavoglia, and CEO, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, were there for the occasion (as was Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear).  Kunze-Concewitz spoke, and emphasized that GC is here for the long haul. “Rest assured,” he told a crowd of dignitaries and distillery employees. “Your beloved brand is in good hands. We are not going anywhere.” He got another solid round of applause when he mentioned that plans were being contemplated for a new visitor center.

Jimmy Russell, 57 year Wild Turkey employee and iconic master distiller, noted how proud he was of the production team that made the whiskey he’s so closely associated with. He joked with the crowd about the 90 dry counties in Kentucky, pointing out that he himself was a Southern Baptist. “We Baptists make bourbon for medicinal purposes,” he said…and paused to cough. “I try to keep a cough going all the time.”

To the best of anyone’s knowledge at the event – a group that included 87 years of master distiller experience and Kentucky Distillers Association president Eric Gregory – this is the first new, “greenfield” distillery built in Kentucky in decades, possibly as long as 50 years. That’s evidence of the turnaround in the bourbon industry in general.

It was a good day, with plenty of bourbon, barbecue, and bluegrass music…and the breeze, blowing across this hilltop distillery. Jimmy Russell told me once that he liked to have his whiskey warehoused on hilltops, where it can catch the breezes. That makes good bourbon, he said. Now he’s got his distillery up there too.

Photo: Jimmy and Eddie Russell prepare to “christen” a commemorative barrel made by Independent Stave Co. for the occasion – don’t worry, they didn’t break those bottles!

Category: Bourbon,Distillery news,Guest Blogger,Writers Tags: 19 Comments

June 17th, 2011

Make today that “special day”

John Hansell

This applies to many of you–if not most of you. You have bottles of whiskies stashed away, waiting for that special occasion to open them up and enjoy them. Maybe it’s only a bottle or two, but I know some of you have dozens–perhaps even hundreds–sitting somewhere collecting dust.

My advice to you is this: make today that special day! Don’t wait. That’s exactly what I did last night, when I opened up this wonderful bottle of 21 year old Glen Garioch, distilled back in 1965.

It wasn’t my birthday. It wasn’t my wedding anniversary. I didn’t get a raise or win the lottery. It’s not even Father’s Day yet! I just pulled the trigger and opened it.

I certainly don’t need to open up another bottle of whisky. I have 100, maybe even 150, open already as part of my job. So, if I can do it, you can do it.

Why? For starters, I’ve seen too many whisky auction catalogs with pages of whiskies from dead whisky enthusiasts who never got to appreciate their special whiskies. And if you think you are going to live to be 100 and don’t need to worry about it, glance through the obit pages of your local newspaper for some perspective.

Plus, every year that bottle sits on the shelf increases the chances that the whisky inside will begin to evaporate or become accidentally adulterated somehow (by heat, light, etc.). Or worse: it gets dropped and breaks, it gets stolen, or your son’s high school friends open it up when you are out of town on business and chug it just to get drunk.

Please take my advice. Grab a special bottle and open it. Make it the special occasion. And while you’re at it, share it with as many people as you can. The best things in life are meant to be shared. Then I can guarantee it will be a very special occasion. And you will be all the better for it.

Category: Opinions 50 Comments

June 15th, 2011

What’s the best way to drink whisky?

John Hansell

Any way you damned well please! That’s the short answer.

Now for the long answer. 

If you only drink your whisky the optimal way to appreciate its aromas and flavors (say, with a splash of water and in a nosing glass), then I think you are missing out on whisky’s versatility. (And maybe your pinky is in the air just a bit too much?)

There are times when I want to get the most out of my whisky. Still, there are also times when my whisky is not the main focus of my attention–times when it just an integral part of a pleasant experience, but not the main part.

I’ll give you three examples that I experienced just this past week or so.

A few of my friends were together with me fishing over the weekend. After being in the hot sun all day, we wanted something refreshing to drink. We had been drinking beer for a while and wanted something different. The solution? A glass of bourbon and ginger ale on the rocks. Not some fancy bourbon. It was whatever I had lying around the house, and it did the trick. Our conversation was the main focus of my attention, not the bourbon.

On another occasion, I poured myself a measure of Ardbeg Alligator. Again, it was hot out. I also think the room temperature where the Ardbeg was being stored was slightly warmer than normal. I put a small ice cube in my glass. It cooled off the drink, added some water, and tasted great!

Finally, one evening, sitting around a campfire, I pulled out a fine cigar to smoke. But what to drink with it? I already had a coupe of beers, so I opted for a good bourbon (W.L. Weller 19 yr. old, if you are curious.) I poured a measure into a small “rocks” glass–no ice this time–and enjoyed it with my cigar. It was great!

In all three instances here, I wasn’t “John Hansell the whisky reviewer.” I was just someone enjoying whisky in a way that seemed appropriate at that given time. I think that if you drink your whisky with an open mind in addition to an open mouth, you will get more pleasure from it.

Category: Opinions 44 Comments

June 13th, 2011

Guest post: Book review of “Great Whiskies: 500 of the Best from around the world”

John Hansell

Jonny McCormick, regular Malt Advocate magazine contributor, joins us today with a new book review.

Great Whiskies: 500 of the Best from around the world
Editor-in-Chief Charles MacLean
Published by DK (Dorling Kindersley)
Hardcover
384 pages


My mission is to sift through the new whisky book titles to help you choose the right books for you, in the same way as whisky reviews can be the next best thing to sipping a new release. Hopefully, this will mean everyone gets the most for their dollars and the publishing world will continue to intrigue us with interesting and creative whisky books.

Today’s offering is more suitable for those in the earlier stages of their whisky journeys, or those people who could use a handy reference book in the bar to educate their staff and customers. Dorling Kindersley have filleted World Whisky (DK, 2009) to produce Great Whiskies, a straightforward A-Z handbook of fantastic whisk(e)y brands. One of the pleasures of whisky is the unquenchable capacity for new learning – even the greats of the industry will admit there are always fresh aspects to discover. The achievement of this book is the wealth of information packed into a chunky handbook.

DK are to be congratulated and Charles MacLean, to his great credit, has performed a fine job as editor-in-chief in ensuring the book has a consistency of style that masks the collaborative variance of using multiple authors. This is matched by the clarity of the layout, and the conceptual simplicity and uniformity of the bottle photographs.

Amongst the contributing writers are fellow Malt Advocate regulars Dave Broom and Gavin D Smith who have covered Japanese and American whiskies, respectively. Peter Mulryan manages the Irish whiskies, Tom Bruce-Gardyne covers single malts from Scotland, Ian Buxton acts as the curator of blended whisky, Hans Offringa tackles European whisky whilst MacLean himself has handled Canada, Australasia and Asia.

A concise column on each brand covers history and production in about 100 words, before succinct tasting notes are provided on key bottlings.  Certain world-beating brands are given space over two pages with four reviews. Double spread touring guides of Islay, Speyside, Ireland, Japan and Kentucky periodically interrupt the alphabetical format.

One missed opportunity was to not update the information from World Whisky before pulling this text together so for example, tasting notes for the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection are from the 2008 releases.  On occasion, this can make the page look slightly dated particularly when examining the newer distillers (where we are shown Mackmyra Preludium or Kilchoman New Make Spirit products) or the brands benefitting from recent repackaging initiatives (see Deanston, Tobermory or Fettercairn).

While there are 500 listed bottlings in Great Whiskies (but not 500 brands), there is no mention of the criteria used to define their greatness. The most obvious parallels are with Ian Buxton’s 101 Whiskies to try before you die but the whiskies chosen here have a broader price range (the most expensive is probably The Last Drop) and the range of blends marketed the world over mean that you’re not going to be able to easily get your hands on certain bottles.

This is the perfect topic crying out for an e-book version for easy reference on the move – how about it DK?

EDITOR’S NOTE: While the author does hint that some of the material is outdated, please see the comment thread below for more information.

Category: Book Reviews,Guest Blogger,Writers 16 Comments

June 9th, 2011

New Releases from Wild Turkey, Compass Box, and Buffalo Trace Distillery

John Hansell

Typically, this isn’t the time of year that we hear of many new product releases. This week however, there was news of three whiskies that have been or are soon to be released.   

Wild Turkey mixes things up with Wild Turkey 81. This is a blend of six, seven and eight year old whiskies bottled in the first package change to a Wild Turkey product in almost 15 years. To quote Jimmy Russell, “Even a good old boy changes his shirt every now and again”. He is referring to the “badass” label that dresses the classic Wild Turkey bottle.  But Jimmy was hands off on this creation. Wild Turkey 81 was solely crafted by his son, Eddie. It’s described as a “mixable spirit”, able to face any mixer or cocktail with the characteristic boldness of Wild Turkey. Available in the U.S. with an MSRP of $19.99.

Great King Street is the address of Compass Box’s office in Scotland. It’s also the name of their latest release – a range devoted to blended Scotch whisky. These blends are non-chill-filtered and bottled at natural color. John Glaser, Compass Box Whiskymaker proclaims this range a “rebirth of the blend”, created to appeal to both the malt whisky enthusiasts and those new to whisky. The first release in the Great King Street range is the Artist’s Blend. Bottled at 43%, the Artist’s Blend is available now in Europe and will wash upon the shores of the U.S. and other markets in September. Estimated MSRP is $41.00 per 50cl bottle. (Note: The U.S. will be getting 37.5 and 75cl bottle sizes instead.) More details here.

Buffalo Trace Distillery has released its Millennium Barrel bourbon. Crafted from the last barrel of the 20th century that was rolled into the only bonded single barrel warehouse in the world on December 31, 1999. Nearly 12 years later, 174 bottles have been filled, each label handwritten and each bottle individually numbered. The packaging includes a numbered hardwood box containing a piece of the barrel’s stave. Not one will be available in stores. Buffalo Trace will give each bottle to non-profit organizations across the country to auction off, with the hope to raise $200,000 for charity. Get all of the details and application at http://buffalotacemillennium.com/ .

Category: Bourbon,Charity,New Releases,Scotch whisky Tags: , , 23 Comments

June 1st, 2011

A few administrative notes

John Hansell

I hope you enjoyed the daily whisky reviews this past month. I think it was a good way to introduce you to the other whisky reviewers in the Malt Advocate team. Although they follow the Malt Advocate rating scheme, each one has his own style.

Our new issue of Malt Advocate hits the streets today. It’s a special one: our 20th Anniversary issue. If you are not a subscriber, be sure to pick up a copy. It’s our largest issue yet–and our most personal. You’ll find out how Malt Advocate (and WhiskyFest) was created, and there’s an interview with my wife Amy (pictured) and me. She has been my business partner since the beginning. Without her, there would be no Malt Advocate or Whiskyfest.

This will probably be my last post for about a week. I’m taking the next couple days off for vacation. Then, the first half of next week is filled with editorial meetings, doctor visits (routine stuff), etc.

We have some very exciting things planned for the next 20 years. We’re already working on them. Stay tuned…

Category: Administrative,Malt Advocate Mag,WhiskyFest 38 Comments



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