December 22nd, 2011

The whisky I plan to open, and the story that goes with it.

John Hansell

Every Christmas Eve, before I got to bed, I open up a special bottle of whisky and enjoy a dram of it. Regardless of which whisky I chose to open, there’s a story that goes with it. That’s one of the reasons why it’s special. I make sure that I drink the bottle before the next Christmas Eve, when I open another special bottle.

I have an emotional attachment to whisky, and I make no apology for it. Whisky isn’t just about the flavor or rarity. There’s more to it than this. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t always open a whisky that I buy right away. Instead, I’ll wait for a special occasion.

Maybe that’s why I have over 300 unopened bottles of whisky, with a room in my house set aside just for them. With all this discussion lately about whisky collecting and whether it’s a good or bad thing to do, the reality is that it’s just not that simple. Like many things in life, it isn’t black or white, but rather some shade of gray.

I don’t think of myself as a collector. I refer to what I have as an accumulation rather than a collection. And I fully intend to drink, share, and savor every bottle I have before I die.

Take this bottle, for example. It’s the whisky I am currently planning to open this Christmas Eve. It’s a Glenmorangie Distillery Manager’s Choice.  I’ve had it for 13 years. Every time I look at this bottle or hold it, it it brings back a very fond memory.

This whisky was bottled in 1998, but the story actually begins a year or so before this. My wife and I were visiting distilleries in the Scottish Highlands. We made an impromptu stop at the Glenmorangie Distillery on our way back from visiting other distilleries farther to the north. We went to the distillery office and asked if Bill Lumsden, then Distillery Manager (and friend), happened to be in. Well, he must have heard my voice from his office, because he came running out and gave Amy and me a big hug. Then, without skipping a beat, he said: “There’s something you have to taste!”

Bill grabbed some keys and we ran through the pouring rain to one of the Distillery’s warehouses. Inside, in the dark, damp, chilly warehouse filled with with heavenly whisky aromas, he took me to one particular cask. He pulled the bung out, stuck a whisky thief into the barrel, and poured me a sample of what was inside.

I nosed the whisky and then took a sip, nosed it again and took another sip. Bill then asked, “what do you think?”

I told him I thought that it was the best Glenmorangie whisky I ever tasted.

“I agree, John,” he said,  ”and it would be a shame for this one barrel to be blended in with some other Glenmorangie casks. I’d like to bottle this on its own, cask-strength and not chill-filtered, but I just have to figure out how to do it.” I said to Bill if he ever does bottle it, save a bottle for me. He said he would.

Shortly thereafter, the Glenmorangie “Distillery Manager’s Choice” was born, and this was the cask: distilled in 1981, aged in an ex-bourbon cask, bottled in 1998 at 54.5%, and sold at the distillery. Bill kept to his promise, saved me a bottle, and I’ve waited for the right moment to open it–this Christmas eve.

Thank you, Bill. And a big thanks to all of you who take time out of your busy schedule to stop by and read whatever happens to be on my mind at the moment. I wish you all the best in the New Year and hope it is filled with many memorable whiskies.

How about you? Are you opening anything special this holiday season?

 

Category: Opinions,Ramblings,Scotch whisky,Whisky collections Tags: 103 Comments

December 21st, 2011

Whisky in 2011: the year in review

John Hansell

I was going to summarize all the new releases and general trends in whisky this past year (and there have been a lot of them). But, Sku over at his Recent Eats blog, did such a great job with this recent post, there’s no use in reinventing the wheel. Well done, Sku!

Read his post. How do you feel about what happened in whisky in 2011? Was it a good year or a bad year? And why?

Category: Book Reviews,Canadian whisky,Irish whiskey,Japanese whisky,Microdistilleries,New Releases,Opinions,Rye whiskey,Scotch whisky,Social media 48 Comments

December 19th, 2011

Whisky Masterclass – any time, online

John Hansell

We hope you recall Dave Broom’s piece from our fall issue of Whisky Advocate, in which he chronicled touring Scotland in a cheese-reeking motorhome with a South African camera crew. The purpose of the tour was to create a series of video classes on whisky, and that class is now available, both online and as a set of DVDs, called The World Masterclass.

It’s no small project. This first year of the course is a series of 50 lessons, each featuring Broom describing an aspect of whisky production, backed up by video clips of distillers giving their own personal perspectives on that facet.  That’s perhaps the most appealing part of this package; learning about malting from Eddie MacAffer (Bowmore), milling from Georgie Crawford (Lagavulin), distillation from Mickey Heads (Ardbeg), finishing from Jim McEwan (Bruichladdich)…this is no surface-skim of whisky education, it’s as geeky as you want to get.

“It’s all very well having the theory laid out,” says Broom, “but the only way in which you can understand whisky is by seeing the places in which it is made: the landscape, the weather — and it was pretty wild when we were there — and, most importantly, the phenomenal people who make the spirit.”

You can’t have a whisky masterclass without tasting, of course. While you can’t actually taste whisky coming through the screen, there are 100 three-to-five minute sessions of tasting readily available major whisky brands with Broom, featuring full descriptions of the flavors and positioning them in one of five “flavor camps.”

It’s a serious undertaking, and you’ll have to take it seriously to get everything out of it; each lesson presents a multiple-choice test at the end. You have to pass the test to unlock the next level (whisky education as video game progression?). There are other rewards: once enrolled, you get offers for whisky specials, events, and further filmed specials. Year 2 will add Irish whisky and blended Scotch whisky, as well as more in-depth focuses on specific Scottish distilleries.

The price for the online/5-DVD course is $150. Enrollment and more information is available at theworldmasterclass.com.  –Lew Bryson

Category: Education,Websites,Whisky Advocate Magazine,Writers Tags: , 34 Comments

December 16th, 2011

Beam Inc. buys Cooley Distillery: good or bad?

John Hansell

The news is out. Beam Inc. has purchased the Cooley Distillery in Ireland (makers of Tyrconnel, Kilbeggan, Connemara, Greenore, and a slew of private label whiskeys). Details here. Now, all the major Irish whiskey distilleries and brands are owned by companies located in foreign countries. (Diageo owns Bushmills, Pernod has Midleton, and William Grant owns Tullamore Dew.)

John Teeling, Cooley’s founder, was quoted saying that it will allow the brands “to reach their potential.”

What do you think? Is this good for Irish whiskey drinkers worldwide or not? And why?

Category: Bourbon,Breaking news,Distillery news,Irish whiskey,Opinions Tags: , 37 Comments

December 14th, 2011

Whisky as an investment: are we in a bubble?

John Hansell

The cover story for the new issue of Whisky Advocate (pictured below) is on whisky auctions and whisky collecting. We like to show both sides of a story. Ian Buxton has a feature in this issue that takes a more contrarian approach to auctions and collecting, discussing a whisky’s “soul.” Below, in this guest blog post, he goes into even more detail.

Read what he has to say below. Do you agree with him? Disagree with him? And why?

 

WHISKY  ‘INVESTMENT’

By Ian Buxton

Can one invest in whisky?  And, if yes, should you?

There’s certainly a lot of excited chatter about this right now, perhaps a measure of the troubled economic times in which we live.  The idea seems to be creeping into the popular imagination that picking the right bottle is a worthwhile, not to say near essential part of your financial planning.

We can argue about the figures.  Elsewhere I’ve taken exception to sloppy journalism and the casual quotation of potential investment gains that ignore transaction costs – and can thus never be achieved in real life.  Call me old-fashioned but I believe readers should be able to trust what they read and citing illusory and unattainable rates of return is misleading at best.

What’s more, simple common sense suggests that returns of over 100% in just two or three years are never going to be sustained in anything but a feverish bubble. When you appreciate that those figures are being most enthusiastically trumpeted by people with a vested interest, such as distillers with a brand to promote, retailers with stock to move or auction houses keen to drum up business you might just want to look twice before committing your 401(k) pot.

But there’s a more fundamental philosophical point that the money men, with their hard, cold souls don’t seem to get: if the whisky you buy is just for investment, then – since it’s never going to be opened – the bottle may as well contain cold tea.  Today whisky; tomorrow pork belly futures.

Whisky is a drink, but it is more than that.  It is a metaphor for the spirit and soul of the people and place that produced it. The distillers of Scotland express part of the austere, Calvinist personality of their land; in Kentucky (as for Rabbie Burns) “freedom and whisky gang  the’gither” and for the brave new distillers in Brittany, France it encapsulates their Breton identity and culture, even their language.

Buying and hoarding bottles like some latter-day Ebenezer Scrooge while poring over spreadsheets to measure RoI and capital growth tears out whisky’s heart and spirit; confounds its generosity and desecrates the memory, skill and craftsmanship of the people who made it. And, call me a romantic, but that’s just wrong.

If you love whisky, set it free.  Mark my words: this ‘investment’ bubble will end badly and people – and whisky – are going to get hurt.

Category: Auctions,Guest Blogger,Opinions,Whisky Advocate Magazine,Whisky collections 80 Comments

December 12th, 2011

Don’t buy this whiskey!

John Hansell

Now that the Buffalo Trace Distillery is deep into their Single Oak Project, with quarterly releases of 12 different whiskeys over the next few years, I was wondering if they were still going to continue with their ongoing “Experimental Collection” releases. I got the answer to that question last week, when two new review samples showed up.

That’s the good news. I like trying new whiskeys and I really like all the experimenting going on at Buffalo Trace.

Before I continue, let me set the stage here about Buffalo Trace’s EC whiskeys. They are just that: experiments. There have been a bunch of releases over the past several years. I really liked some, thought others were okay, and disliked some too. But, one of the two new releases (shown here) has to be the worst. To me, the taste of it is borderline unpleasant!

The experiment with the two new releases involve the mash bill. Most bourbons are made with corn, malted barley, and rye. Some distilleries, like Maker’s Mark, replace the rye with wheat. These two new EC whiskeys replace they rye with rice and oats.

Now to the bad news. The EC release with rice in the mashbill is okay enough–not great, just okay. It’s a peculiar whisky, but not overly complex or inspiring.

In all fairness, the nose on the EC release made with oats isn’t all that bad either. Even on the palate, the whiskey begins pleasantly sweet. But then it turns aggressive and harsh, becoming rapidly unappealing.

I’m not really sure of the exact cause of the unpleasantness. Both of these whiskeys were aged for 9 years, 5 months, and in the same warehouse, but only the oat experiment comes across so harsh towards the finish. Could it be the oats? The length of aging? A combination of the two? Or perhaps even something else?

I’m really not sure. The one thing I am sure of: I could randomly pick any bourbon priced at $10 or more from any retailers’ shelf and be pretty confident I will like it more than this. And, with a suggested price of $46.35 for a 375 ml, bottle, I wouldn’t go anywhere near this whiskey.

P.S. I’ve now tasted this whiskey on three separate occassions and feel the same about it.

Category: Bourbon,New Releases,Reviews Tags: 54 Comments

December 5th, 2011

Weekend of Whisky: WhiskyFest New York 2012

John Hansell

An important announcement about our WhiskyFest New York for 2012…

One night of WhiskyFest™ just isn’t enough so we’ve expanded the New York event to an entire weekend. That’s right, the Grand Tasting will be held in the evening on two nights: Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th. The Grand Tasting events will feature all that you have come to expect from WhiskyFest: over 200 whiskies and other spirits including single malts and blended Scotch, Irish, Bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Canadian, and other whiskies from around the world. Beer, rum, cognac, and many other spirits will also be available for sampling. A gourmet buffet will be served and available for your enjoyment all evening. Master distillers, blenders and many other industry experts will be in attendance.

A full day of seminars will be held on Saturday, the 26th. The entire day will be dedicated to whisky education covering a variety of topics and offering the opportunity to taste new, rare, and award-winning whiskies. The sessions will be led by Whisky Advocate writers, master distillers and master blenders. No need to pick and choose which seminars you will attend. The sessions will be scheduled one at a time with lunch included.  (The day-long seminars replace the evening seminars that were previously held during the grand tasting.)

WhiskyFest New York 2012 will be held at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. For further details, visit our website by clicking here. WhiskyFest New York 2012 will be a whisky weekend not to be missed!

Category: WhiskyFest Tags: , 29 Comments

December 1st, 2011

Bonhams New York City whisky auction slated for December 8th

John Hansell

One week from today, Bonhams will once again host a whisky auction here in New York. Those of you who are looking for that special whisky might have a chance to procure it in time for the holidays.

Looking at the catalog (which you can peruse here), I see some great whiskies being auctioned again, like this 1979 vintage release of The Macallan Gran Reserva (pictured on right).

This time, in addition to single malt scotch, there’s a greater emphasis on whiskies from other countries, including bourbon, Irish, Japanese, and Canadian whisky. For example, bourbon enthusiasts will drool at the 9-bottle case of Very Old Fitzgerald 8 year old bourbon distilled in 1948 at the defunct Stitzel-Weller distillery (pictured below).

I realize that many of you don’t have the means to buy some of these rare whiskies. For those of you who do, this is a great opportunity to perhaps procure that special whisky you’ve been looking for. And, to be honest, there are many lots of grouped “regular priced” whiskies that, depending on the bidding, might proved to be a bargain–even with the fees that are tacked on.

Regardless, it’s worth a look at the catalog, even if it’s only a stroll down memory lane for you.

Category: Auctions,Bourbon,Canadian whisky,Irish whiskey,Japanese whisky,Scotch whisky,Special events,Whisky collections 14 Comments



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