Category Archives: Whisky General

Glengoyne 21 year marmalade

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Now the gents I enjoy the Malt & Cigar evenings with tend to prefer the finer things in life. And have the means to indulge their predilections.

Our memorable kick-off with four ‘adult’ whiskies, all 21 years and older, was partly burned forever in our brains as the night four mature whisky corks all crumbled and the night we decimated a rare beautiful whisky – the Balblair 38 year and added the stunning Laphroaig T5 21 year as an afterthought!

Glenlivet, Glengoyne, Balblair

The runt of the litter that night was clearly the Glengoyne 21 year. At the time, I found it a bit ‘queer’… however when an opportunity presented itself to revisit, thought what the heck! And tried it with someone not earlier ‘tainted’ by our poor opinion…

Here is what we found in our revisit:

  • Nose – Sweet sherry spice
  • Palate – Woody, ginger
  • Finish – Nutmeg spice after smoking

I kid you not but ‘headache inducing’ and ‘burnt flesh at the back of the throat’ were real comments.

We further speculated that perhaps in the interest of achieving a coveted ‘age’ statement, some of the whisky had simply matured too long or perhaps it could be chalked up to our queer cork theory.

To put into perspective, we originally found:

  • ggoob-21yoNose – Sherry! Plums, caramel, very ripe figs, vanilla, sugar sweet, raisins, dried fruits
  • Palate – Woody, port… honestly a little too oaky. As in sat in the cask too long…
  • Finish – Long dry sherry spice with a wood hangover
  • Water – Opens it up a little and adds some zing!

In the end we concluded, that while not a complete disaster, it was far from a delight. Certainly not a whisky any of us would chose to drink.

The owner of the bottle admitted he’s been ‘scared’ and ‘scarred’ by this Glengoyne experience dismissing the distillery even when he receives recommendations from those he otherwise trusts.

And then entered the idea of a malty marmalade. It began as a joke, however the very elements that make the Glengoyne a little too woody, sherry, sweet… might actually be a quite fabulous counterpoint to the citrus in marmalade.

The very next day the Glengoyne 21 year was whisky off the marmalade maker’s home.

When finally will we have an opportunity to sample the fruit of the folly?

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Whisky Lady – October 2016

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Carissa Hickling's avatarEveryday Asia

Happy Diwali and Hallowe’en everyone!!!

As the lights glow, firecrackers pop and people get dressed up in silly costumes, time for my monthly Whisky Lady round up! Even being away in Jakarta for a good part of September and early October did not deter sampling adventures….

Nor an opportunity to share an extract of an interview with Inver House (AnCnoc, Balblair, Old Pulteney, Speyburn, Hanky Bannister, Caorunn) Master Distiller Stuart Harvey on whether “Single Malt drinkers are promiscuous.”

old-pulteney-westland-amrut

All three Mumbai tasting groups packed their sessions into less than a week:

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“Single malt drinkers are promiscuous”

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Now before you get all offended… there is a very specific context to this comment.

It came up at a Whisky masterclass with Master Distiller Stuart Harvey, where one of my whisky partners in crime whispered cheekily:

“Single Malt guys are promiscuous, whereas blended guys are very loyal.”

It echoed something mentioned earlier in the day by Stuart, when asked why Inver House decided to enter the Indian market in 2015.

Stuart shared how over the last decade he has seen a shift across the globe but particularly in India:

“Basically we’ve seen people trading up. Ten years ago it would have been the cheaper and mixed products that people were drinking. That was down to affordability, the price point.

Obviously now foreign travel is a lot more common. And they come back and bring back whisky – a nice status symbol.

Earlier they would bring back a nice blend. Then they moved up the ladder to a 12 year old blend. That’s the signal that it is time to introduce single malts. As going from 12 year old blend to a single malt is easy.”

So far, not terribly promiscuous…. however according to Stuart, 12 year old blends can be a tipping point to become a seeker of diversity over monogamy…

“They start getting more interested in the different flavour profiles, they want to try something different, they want to entertain their guests.

Single malt drinkers have more than one brand. As opposed to blended product where people tend to be very loyal to a particular brand.

They want to try something different. So when they are traveling, they try to pick up something different.”

From that point of picking up something different during travels eventually translates into two outcomes:

  • The single malt adventurer infects a loyal local blend drinker into the dangerous world of illicit relationships with an imported single malt!
  • And from such exposure, the desire to acquire extends to duty-free airports at ‘home’ or perhaps eventually from the local ‘wine’ shop.

So while blend drinkers are a loyal lot who for years, nay decades, stick to their Black Label, Teachers, Blenders Pride, those who have strayed down the path of single malts are always itching to explore, make that next remarkable whisky discovery!

I was again reminded of this when a fellow whisky explorer requested ideas for acquiring more miniatures… to add to his growing collection of different sets… already at 14, he added another 20 during his latest London jaunt.

So far we have explored the Tomintoul trio, four more minis in August, another set in September… and yet another mini session planned next week!

J2M Miniatures

Before getting smug about such miniature mania, I then thought of our Mumbai based whisky club members creative approaches to sourcing something ‘untried’ from around the globe and my own sampling scores:

Canadian stash

Would you agree? Are single malt sippers incapable of fidelity and always seek the novelty of something ‘new’ in their quest for the next great whisky?

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Whisky Lady – September 2016

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Carissa Hickling's avatarEveryday Asia

My Whisky Lady posts kept speed with lots of activities in September… including celebrating the 300th post!

The month was supposed to welcome the return of all three tasting groups… However my Jakarta trip derailed our Bombay Malt & Cigar night… oops!

spirit-of-hven-linkwood-akashi

The Whisky Ladies of Mumbai enjoyed a delightful trio of contrasting whiskies:

glenmorangie-wolfburn-dailuaine

Our original tasting group returned after a two-month hiatus to explore:

Nordic Whisky Set

Our Nordic Whiskies – Explorers Edition began its journey with:

  1. Sweden’s Smögen Single Cask 7/2011 4 year 57.3% – Superb and left us wanting more!
  2. Sweden’s Smögen Sherry Project 1:4 57.2% – An interesting experiment with Sherry…
  3. Sweden’s Box Whisky…

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Whisky Lady in India celebrates 300 posts!

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At 300 posts, clearly “Whisky Lady in India” is more than just a passing fancy… And while I remain an ‘avid amateur,’ decided it was time to ‘grow up’ and graduate to a real live ‘adult’ and ‘official’ domain…

So please join me in welcoming….

WhiskyLady.coWhisky Ladies 1st Anniversary - Padmini

The focus will still remain on sharing tasting notes from all the wonderful whiskies we manage to bring into India, augmented by a scattering of whisky adventures in other locales.

Most of all… for those that have been part of this journey – Thank you!!

None of this would have been possible without my fellow merry malt adventurers in the Mumbai whisky clubs, miniatures tastings, plus whisky bloggers kind enough to share a sample (or a dozen!). Sprinkle in a few events, complimentary drams, a whisky evening here or there and you have yourself three-oh-oh posts!

Over the next few months, you may see a few changes… starting with new pages featuring whiskies with tasting note links by categories:

Thanks for tuning in, commenting, sharing and more!

PS If you already access Whisky Lady using the wordpress URL, it should redirect. Any challenges, just email me at info [at] everydayasia [dot] com.

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India’s greedy angels – an experiment

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Have you ever wondered just how ‘greedy’ the angels are in a warm climate like Bombay?

One of our whisky tasting club members decided to do a little experiment. Only we had no idea!

We started with two whiskies… sampled blind with no further information. Here is what we found….

1st whisky “Citrus”

  • Nose – Lemon citrus, sweet, lightly organic, honey, fruit, banana, floral though not specifically distinct, bit of pale hay
  • Palate – Tangy citrus, a little sour bitter, cough syrup, linear with no spice
  • Finish – There and gone

A light, sweet start with subtle perfume notes… One member immediately recognized the whisky. Another dubbed it “White shirt, white pant”

2nd whisky “Wood”

  • Nose – Wood shavings, saw mill, varnish, a bourbon-y feel, pepper, mint steam, dry spices, sweet, an attic full of wood furniture or an antique store
  • Palate – Spice, black liquorice, pepper, very dry, quite sour, thin, astringent
  • Finish – Spice pepper

Not at all complex….

cask-experiment

So what was the experiment exactly? Our host managed to get a hold of a new oak mini cask!

His plan was to see the affect of wood on whisky at quarterly intervals:

  • 0 Months – Into the cask went 2 Litres less a 250 ml sample
  • 3 Months – Remove approx 250 ml
  • 6 Months – Remove approx 250 ml
  • 12 Months – Bottle the balance, timed perfectly with hosting the October session

The control sample and 3 month sample went fine but then… by 6 months… nothing. Seriously – nothing! Not a drop!

So to answer the original question posed… just how greedy are the angels? Very verrrry greedy indeed!

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Whisky nosing…

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The old sniffer is critical to enjoying a good whisky.

Which means if I’m down with a nasty cold, the last thing I would ever do is waste good whisky. As I know a stuffed up nose = missing 99% of a whisky.

As whisky tasting groups, we’ve experimented with various methods to discover different elements in a particular whisky.

Once, we tried a test with first tasting a vial of an unknown substance with our nose tightly plugged. Then we slowly unplugged our nose to utilize our sense of smell to appreciate how critical smell is to what we perceive as ‘taste’ – it makes a tremendous difference!

This is why it is critical when tasting whisky to not ‘cross contaminate’ scents by having flowers, perfumes, cooking smells in the same room.

PS I won’t tell you the punch line but you can read more here – “Taste Test!”

Mystery vials

Mystery vials

Then we met with an ‘expert’ (whisky tasting session with Jim Murray) who walked us through his ‘technique’ of sniffing by ‘dabbing’:

  1. Lift cover off glass and take the first fresh whiff – dabbing against an imaginary moustache both right then left nostril
  2. Cup glass with both hands to seal the whisky in and warm it against your body for approx. 5 – 10 mins
  3. Hold covered glass away from body, lift hand to let alcohol evaporate while drawing close to then nose again
  4. Take a tiny sip to rinse mouth – the ‘mouth wash’ step – and spit
  5. Then a few seconds later take another whiff right and left nostril followed immediately by a large sip – the 1st taste – roll it around in your mouth, chin up, opening and closing your mouth like a fish, then spit it out
  6. ‘Listen’ to the whisky to ‘hear’ what it tells you about its character
  7. After a few minutes, take a 2nd taste… again whiff, sip, tilt head back, open and close fish style, then spit out or… perhaps… if so inclined… swallow
  8. Again ‘listen’ to what the whisky ‘says’
  9. Repeat steps 2, 3, 7 and 8 as required…
Sample setting

Sample setting

And more recently, a young fellow crafting unique spirits in Michigan, introduced another technique – ‘mouth breathing’.

He shared that while yes… Traditionally one does a careful ’sniff’ for whisky, when it comes to the range of spirits he deals with, nothing beats a good ‘mouth breath’ to help discover elements beyond a civilized ‘sniff’… And at times, this technique works well with certain whiskies.

So… during one of our sessions, the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai experimented with the ‘mouth breathing’ approach to see if it garnered a different range of descriptions! (And anyone watching us would have been in splits laughing!)

Our conclusion? For more powerful whiskies, it can bring a different dimension. But it is quite useless with more nuanced notes that need a more delicate whiff to wind its way into our senses.

Any other nosing revelations you have discovered in your whisky adventures?

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Whisky clubs revealed

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As some may know, I’m part of three whisky tasting groups in Mumbai. Each has its own format and approach…

I’m often asked how do we do it? What is the recipe for success?

We certainly do not have any ‘magic’ formula, however found a few key factors:

  • Core group of very dedicated people who value quality over quantity – drinkers would be bored silly & chaff with impatience at our slow process of sniffing, sipping and discussing small samples
  • Ability to source unique whiskies from outside India and go well beyond standard duty-free fare
  • Keep it small – too many people and it becomes a party vs an opportunity to share a focused discovery of a specific whisky
  • Typically needs at least one ‘ring leader‘ per group that rallies the ‘troops’ and keeps things on track in terms of participation, fairness in contributions, planning dates/places, etc
  • None are ‘commercial’… there are no membership fees, no one is trying to make money and instead we each contribute in kind and mind!

Want to know more? Here is a quick guide to what works for us with a warning… these are ALL closed groups.

That said, if you are part of a whisky tasting group, would love to learn more about how you go about it. Maybe there is something you do that we would love to try!

Whisky Ladies of Mumbai

  • Who – Core group of ladies supplemented by guests if ‘spots’ in a particular session available
  • Where – Rotate venues at different members homes, limiting ‘spots’ by number of ladies that can be comfortably accommodated in a single discussion space (typically around 8-10)
  • When – Monthly, mostly 3rd Tuesday but bounces around too
  • What – Different approaches… we try to source in such a way to achieve themes yet sometimes simply mix it up to have some fun
  • How – At times the contributor tells a little about the whisky before we sample, other times we just dive in… so far we have not sampled blind

Bombay Malt & Cigar Club

  • Who – Select set of guys and one gal (guess who that is!)
  • Where – Two venues (a/c for summer, outdoors for winter) where glasses and more stored, cigars acceptable plus always fabulous food… why mess with a good thing?
  • When – Sporadically with an aim of every month or so
  • What – Rotating whisky ‘curator’ who collects whiskies in advance to share plus another who takes the lead on ‘curating’ the cigars
  • How – Generally not blind however initial tasting of whiskies strictly without cigars then followed by discovery of another indulgence – cigars!

Original & Underground 

  • Who – Small group of fellow whisky adventurers who devote a serious evening to exploring whiskies, running since 2011
  • Where – Rotate at members homes with each hosting at least once a year
  • When – Monthly except monsoon or sometimes December, strictly 3rd Thursday and planned up to year in advance (I kid you not!)
  • What – Host curates completely! From selecting the whiskies to the dinner that follows… sometimes even special whisky food pairings
  • How – Blind tasting before the reveal

There are other whisky tasting groups around however one of the challenges we in India face vs other countries is limited access to quality, unique whiskies beyond duty-free fare. India may be one of the worlds largest consumer of whisky – however that is predominantly cheap blended whisky – the quantity over quality kinda stuff that doesn’t interest our groups.

So it requires dedication, commitment and creative planning to source whiskies. Hence our groups are all ‘private + closed’ as there is a careful balance between interest, aligned approach and ability to contribute. With our original group, it isn’t unheard of to start collecting for a theme years in advance.

Whereas groups like Winnipeg’s Cabinet or my aunt and uncles’ Fort Frances Whisky Club, have access to a reasonable range through their local Liquor Store, with friendly arrangements to import interesting bottles plus supplement acquisitions from member’s travels.

My uncle was treasurer for years with his group – membership comes with a price and entitles to attend so many sessions / year plus the chance to win the lucky ‘draw’ to take home the balance of a bottle at the end of the evening. It is all fair, square and again completely non-commercial in nature.

Personally I really enjoy tasting with others – I gain so much having different voices and reactions not just my solo impressions.

Would love to learn more about other whisky tasting groups both within India and outside!

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Whisky Lady – August 2016

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Carissa Hickling's avatarEveryday Asia

Mumbai monsoons are a time to curl up with a hot cup of chai and crisp pakoras…

With cooler temperatures also comes most enjoyable conditions for a dram or two… which this Whisky Lady indeed did!

Whisky Ladies 1st Anniversary - Padmini

Our original club took a hiatus however the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai celebrated our 1st anniversary in style! We went ‘potluck’ – both on the whiskies and nibbles, inviting friends to join the merriment. In honour of our anniversary, I also launched a new “Whisky Ladies Corner” to feature a few special Whisky Ladies posts.

Imperial, Benrinnes, Linkwood, Blair Athol

Our Bombay Malt & Cigar lads were back at it in August with some remarkably “Affordable Adult” whiskies:

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Singapore “Speed Dating” Whisky…

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Singapore may be expensive as far as whisky purchasing is concerned, however it never fails to deliver a new discovery.

There are some terrific night spots to nip into for a whisky flight (or two) – The Auld Alliance, Flagship and Quaich.

There are always unique offerings at La Maison du Whisky.

Even Changi Airport is no slouch as a spot to sample something novel with its range of whiskies from everyday duty-free to airport exclusives to a special “I have way too much money” collection upstairs…

So what did my August 2016 Singapore trip have in store?

It began with a pilgrimage to La Maison du Whisky…

I stopped by early, well in advance of 6 PM ‘sampling’ time to pre-select options more or less under SG$200, less readily accessible elsewhere, not a repeat of any previous drams and could spark conversation from our fellow samplers back in Mumbai.

After a bit of careful thought, Priscilla sprung into action and began pulling out a few… checking some possibilities that I declined… to come up with a diverse shortlist. My sampling companion arrived and we began our final selection process by “speed dating” each whisky with quick short nips.

Puni Italian Trio

We began with a trio from Italy. Yes… Italy. We compared (right to left):

Puni Nova Bourbon Cask 43% 

  • Matured in American and European oak casks, initially seemed just grains, flowers, honey and vanilla… relatively standard on the palate.
  • In short, dismissed as not terribly interesting… but after the others, we found ourselves drawn back… then it really began to grow on us… for a young whisky, it has something quite enjoyable and attractive for a lighter dram.

Puni Alba Limited Edition 43%

  • Limited edition, uses barley, wheat and a locally grown rye matured from six months to three years in oak barrels that previously contained Sicilian marsala, Pinot Noir from South Tyrol and Zibibbo from Pantelleria.
  • And the result? Interesting, definitely interesting, but also oddly schizophrenic… simply didn’t seem to know what direction, here there or where?
  • Was it a light romp or storm the bastions? No balance between the sweet and spice elements like a cocktail with too many ingredients.

Puni Alba Marsala Islay 43%

  • Matured in Marsala and Islay casks, initially attracted attention – quite different with its pronounced cloves, range of fruits, peat, tobacco and nuts.
  • However like a one trick pony, we kept waiting for more… then reached back to the Puni Nova as the more drinkable dram!

Bruichladdich 1990 24 year

Next up was Bruichladdich 1990 24 year 56.5%

  • I was pre-disposed to fall in love… after all this was a special bottle for LMDW from a distillery that produces a rather interesting range of whiskies…
  • Eager anticipation, I took the first few whiffs…. and sip… And had the opposite reaction.
  • Harsh cloves cinnamon no softness… thin rather than layered and robust
  • Perhaps it needed time to air, a few drops of water or simply more consideration possible in a quick sample however didn’t pass the taste test… and in fairness, not all whiskies do… some simply require patience and attention not possible when “speed dating”

W+M Sherry + Sansibar Islay

We then moved on to two independents without the distillery disclosed:

Wilson & Morgan “Highland Heart” Sherry Cask Malt 2006 43%

  • As you would expect from a sherry, lots of delicious stewed fruits, a distinctly winey quality yet accompanying this was also a richer nutty dimension that brought you back for another nosing again and again
  • On the palate it was mellow, smooth and seemed to have many more layers than we could properly discern in a small taster… overall left you with the impression of an eminently drinkable dram

Sansibar Islay 8 year 52.5%

  • Sansibar are new independent bottlers from Germany and a first for me!
  • Unlike some who disclose minute detail about the cask, here the approach is different sharing only that it comes from a single cask, aged 8 years (2007-15) with 330 bottles…. and the rest? Up to you to guess!
  • We quickly pronounced it a fine specimen of an Islay malt
  • Compared it with the distillery official bottling – no doubt which WE preferred!

Wolfburn

Wolfburn 46% Batch #2

  • As a new re-entry, this distillery has been on my radar and considered in London with rather honest advice “It is still quite raw” enabling the Teerenpeli to win that round (I’m ever so grateful!)
  • From 7.03.2016, Distillery Manager Shane Fraser shares “On the nose you’ll find fruit and malty aromas, with a hint of peat. On the tongue, sweet and nutty flavours are present, which coat the palate and leave a very slight pleasant flavour of smoke. It is a joy to drink – I hope you enjoy every drop.”
  • This one was thrown in as a courtesy to let me try as a bottle was not available for purchase. Yes there is fruit, nuts, hint of peat, quite intense with lots of promise but not there yet – a bit ruff, gruff and certainly not balanced.
  • However… Let’s just say I’m looking forward to seeing what more comes… though can safely skip this one…

Taylor

We then shifted our attention to the Americas… In this case, to potentially obtain a 3rd American whiskey as counterpoint for two recent acquisitions direct to Mumbai from Denver, Colorado…

For this ‘brief’ we explored a duo from Colonel E. H. Taylor, part of the Buffalo Trace stable:

  • Small Batch 50% – What a change to shift gear to a rye! I’ll admit I’m neither a bourbon nor rye aficionado, however for this style, was a rather good example.
  • Barrel Proof 63.6% – Packs a serious wallop! As in galloping head on into all senses, firing all cylinders. Yowza!

Singapore Airport's Whisky Wall

Next up Changi Airport…  A few highlights / lowlights include:

  • Suntory has launched outside of Japan The Chita… Quite reasonably priced, alas it was not the exquisite Chita Single Grain 12 year I picked up in Tokyo years ago. Easy to pass…
  • However the Kavalan selection was tempting with a Sherry cask strength for less than SG$100. And a new Kavalan Peaty Cask – matured in a cask which previously held a peated whisky for SG$175.

What made the final cut for purchase?

You will just need to be patient til one or more whiskies sampled make it into a focused tasting session.

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