Whiskey Wednesday: The Ardbeg Project

Are you an Ardbeg nut? Do you love and obsess over the peat-a-licious Islay distillery? Well, no matter how much you love Ardbeg, chances are you aren't quite as obsessive about it as Tim Puett. Tim is the founder of The Ardbeg Project, the go-to website for Ardnuts (Tim's name for hardcore Ardbeg fans).

Tim's goal on the site, which he started in 2009, is to create "a comprehensive list for all Single Malt Whisky ever produced from the Ardbeg Distillery." The Project is even more detailed than it sounds in that description. Tim not only catalogues each expression of Ardbeg but each bottle code on each expression. For the uninitiated, the bottle code is a 12 digit code stamped or etched on each bottle which shows the year, month, day and time that the bottle was filled. This allows you to compare Ardbeg 10 year olds from different years, different months or even different days. This has created a whole new obsession for Ardbeg lovers who can now track down specific years and dates.

Tim was kind enough to give me some samples of different Ardbeg 10 year olds ranging from 2001 to 2010. I have to say, the differences in these whiskies (all Ardbeg 10, mind you), were vast. Some had young, raw flavors, others tasted mature; the levels and character of the peat flavor differed quite a bit as did the sweetness and nearly every other characteristic. While they were all distinctly Ardbeg and all quite good, I was shocked by the variation.

After tasting through the batch, I followed up with Tim and asked him a few questions. It's not just Ardbeg 10 that shows variations between the codes; the other Ardbeg expressions, including those that are no longer produced, all have codes and can differ from batch to batch. And other distilleries' bottles also have codes which can be used to track batches.

The variety in batches found in Ardbegs probably relates, in part, to the fact that the distillery was closed for much of the 1980s and then again, briefly, in the 1990s. Lacking casks of ten year old whisky, Ardbeg had to use older stocks in its ten year old. My guess is that given that we are now more than ten years into Glenmorangie's ownership and stable stewardship of Ardbeg, we may now see more consistency from batch to batch.

Tim notes that batch variation is always present but is just one more element in the tasting variation that we all experience:

There are so many variables that exist during the whole whisky making process. From distillation, filling, maturing, evaporation, warehousing, vatting, bottling, etc. that it would be virtually impossible to keep them completely identical. Not to mention, each time we taste a whisky, there are even more variables that our own palate and environment bring into the mix. How is our health? What did we just eat? Do we smoke? What type of glass are we using? Do we properly clean the glass? How is the weather? Are we inside or outside? Did we have a bad day at work? Or a good one? I believe all of these factors (even if only slightly) weigh on our sensory perception when we taste a whisky, and now we add in batch variation. It can be a game to pinpoint if the variation is in the whisky or in the drinker. Obviously, when there is a color difference, our mind can convince us that there is a taste difference, whether there actually is one or not. In my opinion, there are batch differences, but I try to keep myself grounded to the likelihood that the problem is usually "between the keyboard and the chair." After all, I'm not a professional, and I am tasting something made by a professional.

For my part, my favorite versions of the ten were the bottle codes L3 316 (bottled November 12, 2003) and L7 143 (bottled May 23, 2007). Tim's favorite of the group is L1 045 (bottled February 14, 2001).

So spend some time with The Ardbeg Project. You may not ever look at a bottle of Ardbeg the same way again.

Recent Reads: Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Gabrielle Hamilton's, Blood, Bones & Butter is probably the most talked about food memoir since Julie Powell's last memoir, Cleaving. Hamilton is the chef/owner of a Manhattan restaurant, and her book gets some major foodie street cred by carrying a hyperbolic Anthony Bourdain quote: "Magnificent. Simply the best memoir by a chef ever. Ever."

Bourdain's quote might lead to assumptions that Hamilton's account is similar to Kitchen Confidential, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, while it is a memoir of a chef and her cooking is omnipresent, it isn't really about food or restaurant work the way that Bourdain's book was. In Kitchen Confidential, restaurant life took center stage and food was a prominent part of the story. In Blood, Bones & Butter, those elements serve as vehicles by which Hamilton conveys her life story.

In some ways, nothing in Hamilton's story is that interesting or surprising. She had some rough patches, no doubt, but nothing out of the ordinary. The thing that keeps you drawn in is a compelling narrative style. She's a story teller and she weaves the stories through the different periods of her life, catches up with themes when you aren't expecting them, is emotional without being maudlin, and is able to present something interesting by way of that style. A chapter which begins with a description of a particular ravioli made for her by her husband when he was first courting her then wanders into other stories and only at the end do you understand that the ravioli is a metaphor for Hamilton's troubled marriage.

And unlike Julie Powell's most recent memoir, Hamilton's use of food and restaurant work to tell the story doesn't seem contrived or forced. It's part of her life and she relays it as such.

In the end Blood, Bones & Butter is a good read, but maybe not so much a food read.

Whiskey Wednesday: Woodford Reserve Bourbons

Woodford Reserve is a relatively recent entry into the world of bourbon. Brown Forman, owners of the Kentucky distillery that produces Old Forester and Early Times as well as the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee, bought the old, shuttered Labrot & Graham distillery in 1993 and began selling Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select in 1996. Unlike most bourbon distilleries, which use column stills, the Woodford distillery uses pot stills, though the bourbon in the Distiller's Select is a blend of the pot still whiskey and whiskey distilled by column still at Brown Forman's other Kentucky distillery.

In addition to their regular Distiller's Select bourbon, each year since 2005, Woodford has released a new whiskey as part of its Master's Collection. The Master's Collection bottlings are experimental whiskeys distilled entirely in pot stills at the Labrot & Graham distillery. They retail for about $90. The releases so far have been as follows:

2005/2006 - Four Grain, a bourbon made with both wheat and rye (most bourbons have only one of the two) along with the usual corn and barley.

2007 - Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, the bourbon was finished in Chardonnay barrels from the Brown Forman owned Sonoma-Cutrer winery.

2008 - 1838 Sweet Mash, a bourbon distilled from a sweet mash rather than a sour mash, meaning that instead of transferring some spent mash from previous distillations, to maintain a consistent environment for the yeast, the mash was created from scratch, allegedly based on an 1838 recipe.

2009 - Seasoned Oak Finish, a bourbon finished in barrels made from wood which had been seasoned (essentially left outside) for 3 to 4 years instead of the usual 3 to 4 months.

2010 - Maple Wood Finish. The bourbon was finished in barrels made from sugar maple wood.

Thanks to some samples from Regular Chumpington, a frequent commenter here on Recent Eats, combined with some shopping luck, I was able to amass a set of all of the Woodford products except for the Four Grain Master's Collection. So here they are, the almost complete Woodford Reserve.


Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select, 45.2% abv

This is the standard Woodford Reserve. The nose on this is light and sweet with some banana notes; the palate starts sort of generically sweet but quickly turns a bit astringent with some acidic notes at the tail end and a bit of a chemical flavor with some earthy notes as well which continue into the finish. I started drinking Woodford early in my bourbon career, and it was one of the bourbons that I really took a liking to early on. It was once my go to bourbon for cocktails and sipping. I haven't had any in years, and it's either changed character quite a bit since then or it's just not as good as I remember. It's not offensive, but it has some off flavors and is overall, a bit flat.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, 43.2%

The nose on this a bit sour. You can sense the wine influence in that it smells a bit like a winery, with the damp, musty old barrels, but not as pleasant. The flavor is sweet with a definite wine influence, but more like a cheap jug wine than a good California Chardonnay; the way the sweetness is integrated with the corn also gives it some Canadian Whisky notes. The jug wine notes really come out in the finish. The label says Sonoma-Cutrer, but the finish shouts Paul Masson.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection 1838 Sweet Mash, 43.2% abv

This is probably the Woodford I'm most interested to try. The whole concept of doing a sweet mash is highly innovative, and I was excited to see what the result was. The nose on this is dry, oaky and maybe a little soapy. It almost reminds me of the nose on Wasmund's Single Malt (which is also distilled in a pot still). The palate is quite medicinal and woody, maybe even a little bit briny with some orchard fruit in the background. The finish is medicinal with a bitterness that grows. This version seems to have magnified some of the harsher characteristics of the regular Woodford, not one I would rush back to try. Maybe they should have left it in 1838.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Seasoned Oak Finish, 50.2% abv

Unsurprisingly, the nose on this is distinctively woody with some nice butterscotch notes. The palate starts sweet, has some woody astringency and finishes with the medicinal qualities that seem to be characteristic of Woodford. The woody astringency complements the medicinal notes making this pretty decent, with a dry, woody finish.


Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Maple Wood Finish, 47.2% abv

The nose on this is similar to the basic Woodford but with a bit more sweetness to it. The palate has a combination of briny and sweet notes. Those medicinal notes are there but are lightened up a bit by some sweetness. I don't detect any real maple character, other than the general sweetness; it's more Log Cabin than pure maple syrup. It's a decent combination, though there is still a bit of lingering bitterness in the finish.


The Woodford Reserve Master's Collection has a generally poor reputation, and I'd have to say it is deservedly so. I wasn't very impressed with any of these whiskeys. If you have a thing for astringency and medicinal flavors, you might appreciate them, and while I like some medicinal flavors in peated Scotch, this was a different sort of medicine. The maple finish and the seasoned oak were my favorites of the lot, though I wouldn't rush to buy either of them, especially at the going price. Given that I was an early fan of the regular Woodford, I must say that while I admire their experimental spirit, I'm disappointed in the outcome.

Smoke & Spice: Hunan Restaurant

I was first turned on to Hunan Restaurant in San Gabriel by the inimitable Tony C. aka SinoSoul, recently deemed "LA's Most Controversial Food Blogger." While much of Tony's content may be provocative, he knows his Chinese food, and Hunan Restaurant is some fabulous stuff.

Hunan cuisine, is of course, spicy, but also fragrant with herbs and preserved (i.e. smoked) meats. I'm told that Hunan Restaurant smokes their meats in-house. The interplay of smoke and spice is one of the things that is unique and crave-worthy about Hunan cuisine and one of the strengths of Hunan Restaurant.

The menu at Hunan Restaurant (sometimes called Hunan's Style Restaurant or Hunan's Restaurant) is not particularly helpful to the English speaker, though it is filled with some fairly amusing translations, including a category of dishes called "Hot Pot Soil Food." I'll do my best to describe the dishes in way that makes them easy for the non-Chinese speaker to identify. If anyone happens to know the Chinese names to these dishes, please leave them in the comments, and I'll add updates.

My favorite dish at Hunan Restaurant is a smoked pork with bean curd. Unfortunately, the menu description is something vague like "Assorted Preserved Meats" but what you get is smoked pork belly slices with slivers of fried bean curd, all buried in piles of leeks and peppers. The smoked pork is deeply smoky with fat that melts in your mouth. If you served it without the peppers and bean curd, you would think it came out of a Carolina BBQ pit. It's some of the best smoked pork I've had. Add to that the cushiony, chewy bean curd slices and searing peppers, and you have a dish that is near perfect. I would eat as much as I could, rest to allow the burn to subside, and then go at it again.

Also excellent was the stir fried (non-smoked) lamb with peppers, stir fried with gobs of cilantro. Again, there was a great flavor interplay, this time between pungent lamb, cilantro and other herbs and again, all those peppers.

As a palate soother, the restaurant gives you a free bowl of its sweet pumpkin soup. The bright yellow soup has a smooth, creamy broth with small chunks of pumpkin. It's mild, sweet flavor is the perfect salve in between spicy bites.

The food is generally quite spicy but not inedibly so (at least not what was served to a table full of white folks). If you go with folks aren't huge on spice or bring kids like we do, there are noodles, scallion pies, fried rice and dumplings, all nicely done but none particularly exciting.

If what you want is exciting food though, go for the pork, and savor every luscious bite.

Hunan Restaurant
529 E Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-0758

Salty Pig - Edwards Meats

For my birthday, I am lucky enough to get a certain amount of cured pork products. This year, it was a gift packet from Edwards Meats in Virginia. The sample included come uncooked ham slices, a packet of bacon and some sausage links, which I tackled one at a time.

I fried up the uncooked ham slices in a skillet and deglazed with coffee to make red eye gravy. They were very tasty, like a great diner breakfast ham, but extremely salty. Even with the high salt factor (and I have a high tolerance for salt), they were good enough to polish the whole packet, and the gravy helped cut the salt.

The bacon was very nice but not so different in quality from the Nieman Ranch bacon I get at Trader Joe's.

The sausage was very had good flavor but was better in pieces than eaten as a whole sausage. It's a dense sausage and, like the ham, quite salty. It's great cut up into small pieces, eaten with toothpicks or as an ingredient in omelets, greens or some other concoction (I bet it would be fantastic in jambalaya).

Overall, despite a pretty high sodium level, this was some good pork.

Whiskey Wednesday: My Bloggers' Blend - The Scotch Blended Whisky Society

Ever trying to figure out a way to "monetize" my blog, I've decided to go into the whisky business. I was inspired by a web savvy retailer who recently sent a number of prominent whisky bloggers (myself, needless to say, not included) whisky samples and asked them to come up with their own blended whiskies. The retailer is now actually selling the resulting blends. That's right, for a mere $48 (plus shipping) you can sample 10 blends put together by some of the web's most prominent whisky bloggers.

I do have to say that I worry a bit about my fellow bloggers in this scheme. It appears that the bloggers are making blends to be sold at retail, and giving oodles of free publicity to said retailer on their blogs. As far as I can tell, though, said bloggers are not sharing in the profits (though who knows?). Well, this doesn't sound like a very good deal to me, so I figured I would cut out the middle man. I have loads of whisky in the closet; why not blend it together and sell it on my own.

That's what I did, and the results are in. I am proud to introduce the Scotch Blended Whisky Society. For a mere $75 membership fee, I will allow you to purchase a number of personally selected blends, specially tasted and given descriptive notes by my one-person blogger tasting panel (yes you read correctly, you pay a fee simply for the privilege of being able to then pay again for the actual whisky; brilliant, I know). In addition, you will have access to my beautiful tasting lounge (i.e. sparsely furnished back room) should you visit the Los Angeles area.

Here are the first selections you will have the privilege to buy if you choose to join the Society (I am using a numeric system to designate the blends so as not to divulge the component whiskies, but you may be able to guess what they are):


Blend 38.89032 1/2 (Bad Day at the Fair) PRESIDENT'S CHOICE

The primary malt in this whisky comes from the Dufftown distillery whose master distiller recently had a very bad case of head lice. This is mingled with the Islay peat monster whose brand ambassador went through an ugly divorce last year. All of that is blended with a number of grains, particularly that from the distillery in which the assistant floor malter neuters cats during his breaks. The nose evinces rancid oil, stale caramel apples and deep fried Snickers bars. The palate tastes of the fledgling hopes of carnies that there will be enough whisky to dull the sounds of screaming children, and the finish is the whiff of old beer, Fritos and cigarettes on the morning after the Strawberry Alarm Clock tribute band performed to a scattering audience of stoned out teenagers and the occasional confused patron looking for the pig races.


Blend 423,875 (International Crisis)

This international blend will have you booking tickets for The Hague. It includes Scotch malt and grain whiskies, Irish pure pot still, Bourbon, Canadian, Swedish, Welsh, Japanese, Taiwanese, Swiss, French, Indian and Argentinian whiskies as well as a rare, aluminum finished Panamanian whisky. The nose will make you recoil with the scent of failed international relations and the palate will follow with a dose of realpolitik and shuttle diplomacy, ending with a finish that can only result in mutually assured destruction.


Blend 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816... (Christmas Pi)

The nose and palate seem normal enough, but the finish just goes on, and on, and on, and on...


Blend -5 (Epistomological Crisis)

This whisky will lead you to question your very existence. The base malt comes from a distillery whose metacognitive narrative fails to take into account the post-colonial and indeed post-Freudian tropes that inform the distillation process, leading to a Lacanian paradox in which the paradigms of heads and tails are reconceptualized and detached from their signifiers. The grain elements add a post-structural palate that has no essential value such that it deconstructs the very nature of taste and yields to a dawning neo-historical recognition that the death of the distiller is indeed the birth of the taster.

Sign up now!

Isaan in Hollywood: Krua Siri

There is much buzz in the food world about the influence of amateur bloggers, Yelpers and Chowhounds on restaurants, but despite the hype, old media still has a mass market that eclipses us. A restaurant will still explode with business after a great review in the LA Times or a Gold write up in the Weekly that is far beyond the impact of any single on-line review. Many of us cringe when a good restaurant gets the write-up, lest it becomes packed and infiltrated with culinary philistines (I recall the night of a Times review of a Salvadoran restaurant, a Salvadoran friend of ours who went was asked by a review-chasing patron whether he spoke "El Salvadoran").

But those massive crowds only last a few weeks, and the publicity and attention can have many good sides as well (aside from the obvious benefit to the restaurant). A couple of months ago, the excellent Thi Nguyen reviewed a new discovery: Krua Siri in Thai Town. The review told the all too familiar story of a restaurant with a bland, Chinese-Thai menu, but a host of off menu (or Thai menu only) specialties from the northern, Isaan region of Thailand.

Fast forward two months, and the back page of Krua Siri's menu is dedicated to a list of recommended dishes, which lists everything mentioned in Nguyen's article (which is also printed on the cover of the menu, for good measure).

While the menu has changed, the food is as good as it was when Nguyen reviewed it. Thai sausages are just a tad acidic and do well rolled in lettuce the large ginger slices and peanuts that are served with them. All of the salads we had were very good. Papaya salad was a nicely balanced version of the familiar classic, every bite of duck larb had a crunch of herb, spice, meat, skin and what I think were small bones as well, and the squid salad was spicy and acidic with tender strips of squid. My favorite dish of the meal was probably the sour curry, a sweet, sour and spicy soup with shrimp and what I can best describe as little square omelets of eggs and greens. The complexity of the broth is what did it for me; it was one of those things you just want to keep eating to make the flavor last.

Krua Siri delivers within a three mile radius, you can order on-line on their website.

Krua Siri
5103 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-6196