St. George Gins

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Years ago a fabulous friend and former Whisky Lady came for a visit to Mumbai from the US… she brought along some treats!

These California beauties patiently waited for the right opportunity… cracked open to help bring in the new year, in hopes that 2022 would break the COVID cycle!

So what do we know? Well… this isn’t our 1st brush with St. George… We first explored this American craft distillery’s Single Malt – more specifically from their Lot 16. It was a positive experience and I was certainly looking forward to discovering more from these folks.

Enter these St. George Gins – Terroir, Botanical and Dry Rye…

Rather than detailed tasting notes, I’ve shared overall impressions…

St. George Terroir Gin 45%

Love this one! It has a fabulously fresh and clean quality – like stepping into a forest during a spring rain. Could completely catch the fir, sage, sweet bay leaf… intoxicating in a delightful herbal way.

Personally, I preferred this one straight on the rocks… letting the chilled water heighten the bright cheerful experience.

What more do we know?

Forest-driven and earthy, Terroir is a profoundly aromatic gin with a real sense of place. We wanted to make a spirit that conveyed what we love about the monumental groves of trees, moist and misty glens, and sun-baked chaparral of our favorite local parklands.

With Terroir Gin, we try to take you there with Douglas fir, California bay laurel, coastal sage, and other evocative botanicals. 

St. George Botanivore Gin 45%

Super sweet and summery, this gin is amped up on botanicals – a cornucopia of scents.

If Terroir was a cool fresh spring rain, Botanivore was hot summer sunshine, bursting with a garden of herbs, flowers and spices….

For me, this one worked well with a slightly bitter tonic which acts as a nice counter-point to the sweet abundance of aromas. I also suspect it could make a mighty fine dry martini. 

What more do we know?

Botanivore, our “botanical eater,” is comprised of 19 different botanicals working in concert. Think of a meadow in bloom—herbaceous, fresh, and elegant.

What’s in it? Count with us… angelica root, bay laurel, bergamot peel, black peppercorn, caraway, cardamom, cilantro, cinnamon, citra hops, coriander, dill seed, fennel seed, ginger, juniper berries, lemon peel, lime peel, orris root, Seville orange peel, star anise!

St. George Dry Rye Gin 45%

OK… This one surprised me. I don’t quite know what I was expecting but imagined it would have just a hint of rye? I certainly hadn’t dreamt of a full-force rye battling with juniper, a curious cross-breed which is neither rye nor gin!

As I sipped and sniffed, I found the Rye side was quite grain forward. Yet it was paired with equally bold gin elements – clear juniper, black peppercorns, citrust twist… 

I confess that I struggled with the Rye Gin. When I first tried it, I had only tonic water and soda as mix options. Frankly either ocmbination didn’t quite work for me.

If anything this made me think of a Canadian rye & ginger ale. So many days later, I pulled Dry Rue out to try again.. this time with the right mix! 

The result? Much better! It was still curious but worked well with ice and ginger ale – something brighter than a standard Rye and deeper than a typical Gin.

The folks at St. George also recommend using it as a base for an Old Fashioned or Negroni. Hmm… perhaps the next try!

What more do we know?

A base of 100% pot-distilled rye makes this a gin for whiskey lovers—and for gin im-purists willing to take a walk on the rye side.

Think genever, then think again—and brace yourself for a gin with structure, spice, and an impossibly rich mouthfeel.

…for Dry Rye Gin we chose just six botanical ingredients: Juniper berries are the star here (50% more than in either of our other two gins), complemented by black peppercorn, caraway, coriander, grapefruit peel, lime peel—which were all selected to play up the peppery nature of juniper that we love so much.

Once again, many thanks to our lovely lady (you know who you are!). We miss you like mad!

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Whisky Lady – Farewell 2021, Welcome 2022!

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As flights around the world get cancelled, we are clearly not out of the woods yet with COVID. And yet 2021 brought a few glimmers of optomism and windows of freedom before further caution prevailed.

Whisky-wise that meant a couple grand adventures. No surprise, now being based in Europe there was a decidedly continental bent to whisky explorations…

France – starting with my Parisian whisky companions, we explored both in person and virtually an array of French whiskies:

Sweden – What better excuse to go to Sweden than an opportunity to catch up with a friend and explore a couple of distilleries!

Germany – Naturally there must be more than one “nod” to my new Work home…

In some cases, it was exploring virtually like St Kilian Signature Edition ‘One’, ‘Four’ , ‘Six’ and ‘Seven’. Or recalling a rare in-person distillery tour of Ziegler Distillery with their range of Aureum whiskies that have – alas – since been discontinued!!! In others, it was a highly memorable weekend in Berlin with a triple pairing and “showstopper” at Union Jack! Yet not all explorations are brilliant – some were a surprising ‘hit’ (J. B.G. Münsterländer Grain whereas others a decided ‘miss’ (Black Forest Wild Whisky Peated ) and some like the St Kilian samples went from promising to perplexing.

Belgium – While I haven’t yet managed to make it to Belgium since moving to Europe, thanks to the kind folks at The Belgian Owl, we had the remarkable opportunity to try all five of their expressions: Origine, Identité, Passion, Evolution, Intense.

Were there other experiences? Certainly! And one hallmark of these continued strange COVID times is the creative ways we connect, exchange and explore… whether in person or virtually.

So I remain cautiously optimistic that 2022 will bring more momentum to movement, perhaps even a trip to visit family and friends in Canada and ideally more frequent trips home to India – not just twice a year!

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Whisky Lady – December 2021

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Ohh… December… another year in COVID times with complicated inconvenient travel arrangements. However there is still much to be thankful for as I finally landed home in India after another four months away.

Highlight was a virtual Whisky Tasting put together by the folks at GlenAllachie and Whic.de where we wandered through a quintet of minis… which led to my picking up four!

And just before taking off for India, we raised the French flag with a Bellevoye Trio ?

Before that we cracked open another Maison Benjamin Kuentz creation – Le Guip. Think of Brittany – a cold salty sea spray! It is yet another example this “editeur” of whisky is worth paying attention to…

So there is a new kid on the block in India! I was fortunate during my last trip to Mumbai to check out Kamet – a new Indian single malt. Not bad, not bad at all!

Finally, I also had an opportunity to share my coveted Perry Road Peru Cocktail – Strangers & Sons gin with spiced guava – yum! And crack open the comforting indulgence Arran Gold cream liqueur. Whilst not my usual tipple, it was perfect for the season.

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Seasonal Treat – Arran Gold Cream Liqueur 17%

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Tis the season and all that! If I had been back in Canada this time of year, rich, spiced, liberally spiked egg nog would very likely be encountered at some point.

Thinking of this tempted me to try out the Arran Gold Liqueuer… and I’m so happy I did! This is no Bailey’s Irish cream… it is less cloyingly sweet (a good thing in my books!), full flavoured with a delightful whisky kick. It was just the right indulgence to get into the seasonal mood in Nurnberg

What do the folks at Arran have to say?

Since its launch in 2004, it has become incredibly popular and everyone who has tasted Arran Gold agrees that they would happily ditch their usual bland cream liqueur in favour of this deeply delicious treat. Made with a healthy dose of Arran, this is a cream liqueur where you can really taste the quality. Try it on its own chilled, with ice, in coffee or even as part of a pudding.

Here are the official tasting notes:

  • Nose – Toffee, creamy fudge
  • Palate – Chocolate, cassis, a wee touch of fresh mint
  • Finish – Sweetness, Honey.

I would tend to agree! Nothing to argue or add, just sip and enjoy it for what it is.

I picked up the Arran Gold from Dein Whisky for EUR 17 late 2021.

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Perry Road Peru makes its way to Germany

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Ahhh…. road side carts of fresh pink peru (aka guava), cut with a dash of masala is a fabulous quencher on a hot day. Even better… a gin spiked spicy guava cocktail!

Enter the fine folks at both Strangers & Sons and The Bombay Canteen and you have a winning combination. This bottle was a gift which made its way from India back to Germany… eagerly awaiting just the right opportunity to share… Which finally came late November with a friendly small “Friendsgiving” evening just outside of Nurnberg.

The mix was a complete hit – enjoyed immensely by one and all! And I became rather nostalgic, thinking of wandering down Perry road in Bandra, passing the bungalow featured on the label….

Now finally back home in Mumbai for the December break, I’m eagerly counting down the self-isolation days to be able step outdoors and experience the sights, sounds and smells of home!

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Bellevoye Trio – Red “Grand Cru” 43%

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Last from the French National Flag trio from Bellevoye was “Red” with a Grand Cru finish… We had a promising start with “Blue” and “White” so were curious to see what this would bring.

Bellevoye Red 40% (Grand Cru)

  • Nose – Quite different at first – fresh seaweed and saline – then pears, fresh grass and herbal, very “green” and vegetal…aromatic…  then shifted again into honey, fresh almonds soaked in water, fresh almond oil, a hint of cloves, churan and dry wood, mango leather, bit floral – jasmine, vanilla
  • Palate – More spice than expected, strong mouthfeel, pear, bitter almond, sweet spices like cinnamon and dates, candied ginger
  • Finish – Initially a quick prick of spice then a nice lingering echo – long and lingering with a sweet aftertaste

We found this one quite interesting on the nose – the shifting character making it intriguing… but a bit disappointing on the palate with the first sip. However the more we settled into this one, the more we enjoyed.

I’m not sure what exactly we expected from a “Grand Cru” finish, but this had deeper tones than had anticipated.

This triple malt apparently five to ten years aging in French oak casks then post blend, spent six months in Grand Cru casks.

What all have I tried from Bellevoye?

I bought the tasting set of 200 ml bottles – Red, White & Blue – for EUR 55.

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Bellevoye Trio – White “Sauternes” 40%

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We continued our exploration of French Whiskies with another from Bellevoye. So where does the name Bellevoye come from? In an interview with Spirits Hunters, founder Jean Moueix shares:

The name Bellevoye is a creation that makes a lot of sense to us. With my partner Alexandre Sirech, we both changed our lives radically to take directions, paths that were not planned. Bellevoye, in Old French, means the Belle Voie, the beautiful path. Bellevoye’s philosophy is to try to make people happy by encouraging them to take beautiful new paths in life.

After a promising start with the Bellevoye Blue, we turned to White.,, what did we think?

Bellevoye White 40% (Sauternes)

  • Nose – Started out almost with a sherry like element with dried fruits like figs and dates, then shifted into cereals, honey sweet, pears and pineapple, apple sauce with cinnamon and dash of vanilla bean, buttery brioche 
  • Palate – Super smooth and silky, juicy fruits, salty toffee, buttery, fresh brioche, nice and round, apples and cinnamon
  • Finish – Hint of tobacco leaf, more toffee with a chilli chaser

This was a delight – easy sipper. One thing we found is a contrast between the aromas and the palate. In this case the silky buttery quality was endearing. 

What more do we know?

First the different single malts were aged three to eight years in French oak casks and then post blending spent an additional six months aging in Sauternes barrels from a famous Cru Classé.

What about other Bellevoye triple malts?

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Bellevoye Trio – Blue “French Oak” 40%

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Living in Europe means I’ve sought out new and different European whiskies to try. However I don’t always want to commit to a full bottle! Enter this pretty trio of 200ml whiskies from Bellevoye.

What are they? Single malts? Nope! They are instead a “triple malt” – meaning a blend of single malt whiskies from three different whisky distilleries – possibly from Brittany (Distillery Clauessens de Wambrechies?), Alsace (Maison Ledai – Distillery Hepp) and Cognac (Maison Brunet – better known for Brenne).

I earlier tried their peated “Black” as part of a Whisky Advent calendar so it was a perfect chance with the Blue, White and Red trio to try the balance.

We kicked off our tour of France’s Bellevoye “Flag” trio with the Blue – “fine grain” finish in a French Oak cask.

Bellevoye Blue 40% (French Oak Grain Finish)

  • Nose – Started with a hint of prune from the fresh cork after it popped open! Then in the glass – sweet hay, faintly floral, a dash of black peppercorn, some cherry chocolate with red chilli, followed by pear and charan
  • Palate – Warming on the surface, terribly easy to drink, imagine have this to spike your pani puri!
  • Finish – Certainly lasts in the mouth

Not such a bad start…whilst it isn’t complex, it makes for a nice pre-dinner malt. Simple and pleasant.

On the revisit, the aromas added a lovely vanilla flowers and spice… really quite nice!

What more do we know? The different single malts started their life in French oak casks, maturing for three to eight years followed by nine to twelve months post-blend in French new oak fine grain casks. No peat is used.

Here is a rough translation of their tasting notes:

  • The nose reveals notes of cereals, sweet spices, honey and white flowers.
  • The mouth is round and balanced with aromas of yellow fruit, cooked apple and gingerbread.
  • The finish is long on fresh notes

So what’ll is in the Bellevoye range?

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GlenAllachie Whisky Tasting with Juliette and Richard

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There it was… a slightly dull grey December day in Nurnberg… a busy working week that was happily interrupted by a small commitment – an online tasting with many other Germany based enthusiasts with a breath of “virtual” Scottish air with Richard Beattie, Operation Director and Juliette Buchan of GlenAllachie.

The quintet was all lined up – including one specially bottled for Germany:

  • GlenAllachie 12 year 46%
  • GlenAllachie 15 year 46%
  • GlenAllachie 11 year Madeira Barrique Cask bottled for whic.de 60.7%
  • GlenAllachie 12 year French Virgin Oak 48%
  • GlenAllachie 12 year Marsala Wood Finish 48%

Richard kicked off our evening with two from their core range… deliberately postponing the French Oak until Juliette could join – delayed slightly by COVID travel complications.

So we poured our first glass and our tasting began…

GlenAllachie 12 year 46%

  • Colour – Deep mahogany
  • Nose – Butterscotch, honey raisin, really heavy mocha, nutty – mostly almonds,
  • Palate – Vanilla chocolate, fruits and caramel, heavy with dark chocolate and orange
  • Finish – Carried through
  • Water – Lightened and brightened the dram – brought out some delightful notes and the palate softened into an indulgent chocolate christmasy ginger snap treat

Overall I found the 12 year really quite rich and robust – with an intensity that mellowed slightly with a generous dash of water.

As we tasted, Richard regaled us with tales of Billy Walker taking over the distillery from Pernod Ricard in 2017. His desire to slow things down, approach to “listening” to what the casks say to him before deciding what to do next… often moving the golden liquid around 3 or 4 times to achieve the desired effect.

GlenAllachie 15 year 46%

  • Colour – Also mahogany, just a hint lighter than the 12 year
  • Nose – A lovely light caramel and sweet toffee, subtle spices, ripe raisins, chocolate milk and brownies, fruits – particularly cherries and plums
  • Palate – Much more powerful than anticipated from the aromas. Full bodied and fabulous! Tropical fruits, mocha and orange peel…. Toffifee with butterscotch, noughat and hazelnuts, silky smooth
  • Finish – Gorgeous finish with vanilla oak
  • Water – Narry a temptation to add even one drop!

Much more subtle and elegant than the 12 year. Less fire more warmth… simply a delight on the nose and far too easy to sip.

We set it aside and when I came back to revisit – Wow! This really is a lovely dram… something to slow down and simply enjoy.

After such a class act, our hosts shifted gears significantly and plunged straight into a full cask strength Madeira finish. This was selected by the Whic.de folks after an earlier Madeira cask experience… what did we discover with this one?

GlenAllachie 11 year (2009/2021) Madeira Barrique Cask No. 7654 60.7%, bottled for whic.de 

  • Nose – Curious… and most certainly a significant shift from the 15 year, the Madeira influence was quite clear
  • Palate – Peppery spice, robust with rich wine influence, punchy, heavy and not in the least bit shy
  • Finish Noughat with a hint of fruit
  • Water – For me, an absolute must with this whisky. I found it really opened up the dram, with juicy fruits coming forward

It was described as a hot vacation in a glass – bringing the southern European island character to the fore. Not at all subtle with really strong influence of the Madeira but once you made the adjustment, quite something.

As a sign of the times, distillery tours aren’t possible so the good folks at GlenAllachie put together quite a terrific video which gives a real sense of the team behind the whiskies and their approach.

We continued on with one of GlenAllachie’s “Virgin Oak” expressions – in this case as a nod to Juliette’s French origins, we tasted the French Oak.

GlenAllachie 12 year French Virgin Oak 48%

  • Nose – Fresh cut wood, generous heaps of honey, organ blossoms, peach jam
  • Palate – Juicy, generous honey, butterscotch, hints of mocha and cinnamon with a citrus twist with sweet wood, complex and delicious
  • Finish – Long, with a nice woody bitterness chase by red chilli that added quite a nice element
  • Water – No need

Compared with the standard 12 year, the French Oak was considerably more nuanced, all the more entrancing for its restraint. We found it most enjoyable and the honeyed sweetness kept drawing me back.

Juliette shared this whisky first matured in ex-bourbon casks before spending approx 18 months in “Chinkapin” Quercus Robur hogsheads sourced from the Haute-Garonne region close to the Pyrenees.

Juliette explained the other two – Spanish and American virgin oak casks – were quite representative of the character of the different countries from which the virgin oak barrels were sourced.

Our final dram was one of their wood finish series – with a 12 year (rather than 13) which is available exclusively in Germany.

GlenAllachie 12 year Marsala Wood Finish 48%

  • Nose – Subtle honey, stewed apples, cinnamon and cream
  • Palate – Simply fabulous on the palate, very juicy, bursting with orchard fruits like pears and apples chased by more honey
  • Finish – Light yet lovely and long
  • Water – Again, no need

I will fully admit, I fell for the experience – hook, line and sinker! Ordering immediately a quartet for an indeterminate future date…Who knows when that will be! However I might shift the tasting order a wee bit… Perhaps starting with the elegant French Oak, then play with the Marsala Wood finish followed by the refined 15 year and powerful 12 year.

Overall, it was a terrific distraction and I was most grateful the tasting was held in English so that I could partake!

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Bellevoye Trio – Blue, White, Red

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In our quest to delve deeper into European whiskies, I stumbled across this trio online in Germany. Having tasted the Bellevoye Peat (Black) in December, I was curious to explore further. This trio reflects the national flag with Blue, White, and Red.

Founded in 2013 by Alexandre Sirech (Bordeaux wine group) and Jean Moueix (spirits brands, production of Saint-Estèphe and Pomerol vintages), Les Bienheureux (“the blessed”) is a company formed for playing around with French whiskey, releasing malted blends under their brand “Bellevoye.”

Aleandra shared in an interview with “Toast” his view of French whiskies regional ‘styles’:

In Alsace, producers use Holstein stills, which produce very fruity and refined spirits. In the Nord region, the column still used there produces light, easy-drinking spirits. And in Charente, the onion-shaped pot still produces powerful, full-bodied spirits. Having three different cultures of distillation in regions so geographically close to each other is unique in the world. It’s also an excellent illustration of the cultural nuances of France.

So they set-up out craft a “triple malt”, bringing together single malts from different French distilleries already aged between 5 – 8 years, before blending together in their facilities, then finished in their casks for approximately another nine to 12 months.

Providing further insights in the same Toast interview, Alexandre explains:

We make a triple malt because we’ve noticed that, in the same way as Bordeaux wines blend different grape varieties, when the best spirits from the Nord, Alsace and Charente regions come together, the end result is significantly superior to the sum of its parts. It’s every blender’s dream! All the more so, since we always wanted to create a ‘patriotic’ whisky, like a synthesis of the three styles of French whisky I referred to earlier.

So we selected three from the thirty-five French whiskies we tasted in a blind tasting – one from each of the major whisky-producing regions – so that we could draw on the special features of each. Then, we got down to the heart of what it is we do: the blending. Then we allowed the whisky to mature.

So what did I pick up in the Bellevoye Trio?

We have three contrasting yet complementary expressions:

I bought this tasting set of 200 ml bottles online in Germany for EUR 55 with plans to share samples with tasting companions in Paris. Yes… you read that correctly… my thought was to send a French blend bought in Germany back to France.

Thankfully greater sense prevailed! As this trio happens to be readily available in Paris, my tasting companion did the logical thing and bought another set in France!

So I decided instead to loop in our London whisky afficiando handing over samples when we met up in Berlin. And with that – this trio was tasted by folks in three countries – UK, France and Germany!

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