Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Scotch Chix Diss Edradour? Not I. Not Yet.


I had the chance to read The Scotchchix Blog. I have yet to try the 12 year old, that is the Edradour, of course.



However, I tried the Edradour Old Rhum Agricole Cask, which I found amazing. For those who know, the Scotchchix only allow "team members" to comment on their blog. This is understandable, but a disappointment until permission granted, if ever. I had hoped for the opportunity to politely quibble. It is unclear how one earns enough esteem to become a "Team Member." I provide my tasting notes, below.

The Scotch Chix only refer to "DC Scotchchick" as having a less than fond "revisit" with Edradour, so to speak. I intend to revisit the above selection. However, I succumbed and purchased the Edradour Takaji Finish on a whim. I look forward to revealing the source. One day, I'll try the 12 year old, but I am less than enamored by the youngsters.
I will not infringe on SC's copyrighted masthead. It incorporates a photograph of my favorite malt glass, the Johnson's Whisky Tot. This whisky glass is available at the Malt Advocate Website's Marketplace for $25 per glass. The glass is effective at getting the dram on the most desirable part of the palate for tasting Malt.

This following is a reply to the above post for those who are sympathetic to some of the Edradour Casks put out by this quiant distillery:

As stated, I tried the Edradour Old Rhum Agricole Finish with the Chicago Scotch Malt Whisky Meet Up Group last week at Duke of Perth. They are a great bunch for Scotch afficionados in search of comraderie and the perfect dram. I usually prefer Talisker, so I also imbibed the Talisker 18 year old. To the Scotchchix, I am proud to stock one of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Leith selected Highland Park Cask bottles. Therefore, there must be some palate left in me. HP, for Scotchchix fans, now seems to be a favorite.

Michael Jackson rated the Edradour 12 year at 81. He labelled the color of that product as "full golden." He also nosed it as "peppermint" and "minty-clean" to the palate. The Edradour Distillery's home is in Perthshire, which is located in the South Highlands.

The Edradour Old Rhum Agricole Finish at DOP was particularly memorable to me in a favorable way. It appears bright yellow. I felt that I may have nosed lemon rind or citrus, but it was sweet like honey to the palate. This Edradour dram was the second of two drams for the evening. It also followed the DOP fish and chips. I am tempted to buy a bottle. However, this encourages me to do a double take for the exact vintage, since Binny's has the 1996, which may be the only vintage.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Johnson's Whisky Tot - Any Comparisons to Glencairn, etc. Glass, nosing?


In order to 'nose' scotch (create, detect, imagine, and identify the distinct aroma), hobbyists have joined the trade with one invention, book, malt, or another. David Johnson's Whisky tot (photo, left) seems like the most recent innovation. For those of us who just bought into the Glencairn glass (pictured in blog home page, upper right), this is one more excuse to figure out a better way to enjoy single malt whisky. Perhaps, even Bourbon, as well. Has anyone seen any of these, let alone held or drank from one?
The idea is once you have 'nosed' single malt whisky, you try to get the lip of the glass or tot into your mouth so that the whisky lands closer to the center of your tongue. This is where taste buds tend to better distinguish the flavor that is imbibed. This is based upon the SMWSA materials often provided at events. Usually, if single malt hits the tip of my tongue, my sense of taste gets screwed up. In addition, I have yet to taste a multiple distillery blended scotch* that I could derive much enjoyment from.
Just one more creation to keep the enthusiasm generating until the next bottle is researched and purchased or the next event takes place. Is there anyone in RP who has traveled to Kentucky or Scotland just to tour the distilleries? Just curious if anyone reads this blog given the sporadic posts and time limits on writing?
Perhaps, scotch drinking seems like a dry and stodgie subject for the less experienced.
*-I forget the proper phrase for this more commonly sold scotch whisky.