Can you tell wheat from rye?

Over the past fifteen years, I've participated in hundreds of blind tastings and hosted my share as well. Tasting blind and watching others taste blind is a great experience and teaches you a huge amount about spirits and your own palate. There is one very surprising thing I've learned from blind tastings: almost no one can consistently differentiate between wheat and rye recipe bourbons.

Bourbon fans put a lot of stock in the mashbill, but I've done tasting with some incredibly experienced drinkers, and I don't think I've ever blind tasted with anyone who could consistently differentiate between wheat and rye recipe bourbons. Sure, some high rye bourbons are a giveaway and some people are very good at identifying particular distilleries, but even very experienced tasters often miss the mashbill in a large and varied blind tasting.

And I'm no different. I was once so convinced that a Bowman bourbon I had blind tasted was a wheater that I contacted Sazerac to ask - no dice. I was told it was rye recipe.

To me, this indicates that we may put too much stock in mashbill. There are many factors that contribute to bourbon flavor from yeast to cask and maybe mashbill content isn't as important as we think it is.

Can you tell wheat from rye?

Ten Years of LAWS: An Interview with Adam Herz

Adam Herz preparing to pour

A decade ago, the whiskey craze was still in its infancy. Increasingly, people were drinking, writing and talking about whiskey. At that time, a group of whiskey fans in Los Angeles started meeting for tastings as the Los Angeles Whisk(e)y Society. Unlike many informal whiskey groups of the time, they also created a website to track their tastings.

LAWS was founded by a small group of LA whiskey enthusiasts, but the driving force was screenwriter Adam Herz (best known for the American Pie films) who held the meetings in his home. Today, I talk with Adam about his reflections on the tenth anniversary of LAWS. (Disclaimer: I have been a member of LAWS since 2010).

How and why did you and the original members come up with the idea for LAWS?

It was just instinctive. The original email that I sent to 9 friends in 2006 went like this: “Guys. We’ve been drinking a lot of whisky lately. It’s time to take things to the next level. I propose we form some sort of gentleman's club dedicated to the drinking of fine whiskies.” So, we all met and chipped in together to drink good stuff. It just snowballed from there. Enormously.

How experienced with whiskey was the original group that formed LAWS?

Most of us had been drinking malts for a year or two. There was some debate over whether that qualified us to do ratings. My argument was, “what you taste is what you taste,” and that we should assign ratings based purely on our enjoyment of each whiskey. Cut to 10 years later, that’s kind of the group’s mantra: all that matters is your personal enjoyment of the beverage.

In your opinion, is there a "right way" to taste whiskey?

The way whiskey is supposed to be tasted is by pouring it in your mouth, then swallowing it. Smell also matters. That’s about it.

What we expect to taste has more influence than what we do taste. Your brain is looking to confirm or reject whatever it’s anticipating. So I try to remove all the pomp and circumstance. It’s just a beverage.

That’s why blind tasting is so important. Today, nearly every “blind” tasting I see online goes like this: “We took these 4 specific whiskeys and blind tasted them to find out which we liked best!” That’s not a blind tasting — that’s just a guessing game.

Blind tastings are when you have no clue what’s coming, period. Many people don’t like to do those because they’re afraid of “not liking something that’s actually good.” And vice-versa. But that’s what you want to happen! You have to realize what’s in your mouth vs. what’s in your head.

There are lots of whiskey tasting groups around but few have such extensive websites. How did you come up with the idea for the website?

When we started, the few existing whiskey sites were difficult to navigate and there was no way to sort and filter. That drove us nuts. So we custom-built our database and interface to be what we wished existed.

Also, we wanted a different rating system than the 100-point scale — one that had more generalized categories, along with a sense of “Would I buy this?" Hence our letter grading scale, which has been widely adopted, which is cool to see.

What is the average LAWS meeting like (subtext: How geeky are you guys)?

Each meeting’s format is to open 5 to 10 new bottles along some theme. For the first few years, we always tasted blind, only knowing the style of whiskey to be tasted -- bourbon, malts, etc. Now we’re kind of half-and-half. We’ve hit on some classic formats, sort of how The Price Is Right has their classic games. So we spend the first two hours very, very focused on tasting the new bottles, sometimes in a pure blind tasting, and sometimes in a game or competition. Then, we relax and move to “The Reserves,” which at any given time are around 175 open bottles from previous meetings, member donations, and group buys/finds.

As for “geeky” — our conversation is very whiskey-heavy, so to an outsider, it would probably sound overly detailed and maybe obsessive. But to anyone who loves whiskey, it would just be insightful and informative.

What have been your favorite LAWS meetings?

Too many to count. The “battle” format is a big favorite: two or more collectors will donate bottles from their collection. The bottles are known only to them and can't already be on the LAWS website. The group then tastes/rates them all blind, and whoever’s bottles score the highest wins. It’s a lot of fun, because we take winning way too seriously. And because someone’s “ringer” bottle always ends up getting lousy ratings, and they get all butthurt about it.

What has been the biggest change in the whiskey world over the last ten years?

Increasing scarcity and prices, but that’s a given. After that, I’d say the preponderance of the trophy mentality.

What happened was, as whiskey blew up in social and traditional media, newcomers to the hobby became less interested in whiskey itself and wanted only to obtain the specific bottles they’d read about. And they wanted them quickly and at any price.

So, whiskey (particularly bourbon) moved from something pursued for the merits of its flavors, to being a piece of commerce that you could brag about owning. Whiskey forums transformed from places of friendly collaboration to virtual trophy rooms. Tasting notes and buying tips were replaced by photographs merely proving ownership of a bottle — or even just ownership of a sample! Who needs to see the ten-thousandth photo of yet another Pappy or BTAC stash? They all look the same. Show me something I haven’t seen before.

How has the group changed over time?

Experience, comfort, and pickiness. “Experience” because we really, really know our stuff and have tasted an enormous amount. “Comfort” because, for those of us that have been in the Society a long time, there’s no longer that crazy, on-overdrive push to taste everything, meet everyone, get new releases, go to events and distilleries, and so on. We’re kind of more relaxed now, I guess. And “pickiness,” because the bar is admittedly very high for LAWS meetings now… we’ve tasted so much that, for us to keep future meetings interesting, the lineups have to include some insane bottles.

Oh, and also, we rarely publish anything about our meetings anymore. We kind of lost interest in doing the writeups… like I said before, braggadocio has come to dominate so much of the US whiskey scene, we don’t want to seem like we’re trying to contribute to that. Many of us still publish notes/ratings, because it’s fun to do, and we do feel we’re contributing to the community by posting those.

Any advice for people starting their own clubs? Or about whiskey in general?

The fun of whiskey is in the pursuit, the journey, the rise up the learning curve. You know all those crazy bottles you’re dying to try? You wanna know what they taste like? Something else you’ve already had. Or at least pretty similar. What will begin to matter most is who you’re drinking with and what the occasion is. I still love drinking crazy stuff I haven’t tasted before — but the fun of opening those bottles is in doing it with friends.

Lastly, what will LAWS be drinking for its tenth anniversary meeting?

A wide variety. I’m personally looking forward to opening a 1965 Corti Bros Clynelish, and one of our last remaining LAWS Charbays. [Ed. Note: the LAWS Charbay is a Charbay Hop Flavored Whiskey bottled especially for LAWS].

Thanks to Adam for taking the time to respond to my questions.

The Rum Society

A couple of weeks ago, K&L held a tasting of rums from the Rum Society, a new Pernod Ricard project featuring unaged, sourced, pot distilled rums. So far, there are three rums in the line, which is only available in Los Angeles. They are all 40% abv and their numerical titles reflect the blend numbers used internally. They do not include any additives or coloring, which makes them unusual for rums produced by a large spirits conglomerate.

The three rums we sampled were "40", an unaged Guyanese rum from a single wooden potstill, "62), a blend of the rum used in 40 with two other pot still rums from Barbados and Jamaica, and "65," a blend of four rums from Guayan, Babados and Trinidad. The 65 is the only rum with an age component, an aged rum from the Angostura Distillery in Trinidad.

These were fun to taste and had plenty of the funky, earthy notes you get in additive-free pot still rum, but seldom find in any rum in the U.S. They seemed to be designed for the cocktail crowd or the Tequila/Mezcal drinkers as opposed to rum geeks who prefer long aged spirits. Drinking them neat, the 40 was my favorite. It was the funkiest and had the most flavor. The 62 still had some of that funk (which makes sense since the 40 is one of the components) but was more mellow. The 65 had a giant candy corn nose and a lot of vanilla notes; it was good but a bit too sweet.

It's great that Pernod is supporting this effort, and there was a lot of flavor here that will likely surprise the folks they are targeting, though for my part (as someone not likely in the target audience), I would have liked to taste these at higher proof. These rums go for $35 each.

This is the second K&L event I've attended at Mini-Bar at the Hollywood Best Western. These tastings are great deals; this one cost $10 which included a cocktail and plenty of hot snacks along with the three rums.

A.H. Hirsch Blind Tasting Results

Back in May, I announced a blind tasting in which I would pit the classic A.H. Hirsch 16 year old gold foil against an off the shelf bourbon. After receiving hundreds of responses, I picked 12 individuals for the tasting. I tried to create a diverse group so I included people with a variety of tasting experience.  All were whiskey drinkers (they read my blog after all), but some had more bourbon experience than others. I picked some people I knew and some completely at random. The one requirement was that no one in the tasting could have tasted any A.H. Hirsch bottling.

Each taster was given two sample bottles, labeled only "A" and "B." One contained the A.H. Hirsch 16 year old; the other contained...Elijah Craig Small Batch, which I bought at my local shop for $25 (the one I bought for this tasting was the version that still had the 12 year old age statement on the back label, which has since been removed).

Each taster was given their bottles individually and was told to report back to me, in as much detail as they cared to give, about which bourbon they liked best and why. The goal of the blind tasting was to see how a cherished bourbon that goes for thousands of dollars on the secondary market would compare to a standard, good bottle of bourbon off the shelf.

Well, the results are in and...it's a tie. Six of the tasters preferred the Hirsch and six preferred the Elijah Craig.  There was not particular pattern having to do with tasting experience. A few bourbon veterans correctly identified which was the Hirsch, but not even all of them thought it was the best. And many tasters were lukewarm to both samples. That being said, a few tasters were very excited by the Hirsch and found it markedly better. Below are a few excerpts from the tasters' notes on each bourbon.

A.H. Hirsch, 16 year old (gold foil), 45.8% abv.

• "Not as complex"
• "Okay, nothing I'd run out and get, no matter the price"
• "Very smooth, sweet, warm, maybe a little one-note, though."
• "It has a really nice old-time flavor that I enjoyed."
• "It goes bitter on the palate and I'd call it over oaked. There's some wet grass in there. Overall it comes off as very tired."
• "This is pretty great. Not crazy complex or powerful, but well balanced. If this is the Hirsch, it lives up to the hype for me."
• "I wouldn't turn it down at a bar, but I wouldn't be excited to drink more of this."
• "Classic dusty caramel mouth feel."
• "Nothing I'd run out and get, no matter the price."
• "A fairly straightforward dusty-like pour with a lot of higher alcohol notes and a classic woody character."

Elijah Craig Small Batch (12 year old on back label), 47% abv ($25)

• "Banana bomb like most current bourbons."
• "Harsh and alcoholy."
• "TONS of butterscotch! The mouth-feel on this was much nicer than A, with a velvety smooth feeling..almost creamy."
• "Dry taste and mouth feel at first, tastes older but not sure it is, lots of dry wood."
• "I'd buy it, though not for three or four figures."
• "Spicier, the sweetness is at the backdrop and there is more balance from nose to palate on this one for me. It's a creamier dram."
• "Simple bourbon with not much in the way of flaws but nothing to make me want more."
• "When I think of bourbon, this is the essential profile I imagine." 

And a few concluding notes folks had on both of them:

• "I honestly didn't really enjoy either one. They would not be something I would go back to my bar for consistently."
• "Neither is fantastic."
• "I'm disappointed I didn't really jump for joy over at least one of these."

What does it all mean? 

Twelve people is too small a sample size to make any definitive statement, but the failure of Hirsch to blow away the competition, even among those who preferred it, certainly raises questions about its current value. If a bourbon that costs four figures on the secondary market isn't demonstrably better than a $25 off the shelf pick, then its value is obviously based on something other than the quality of the whiskey. The fact that it's scarce, no longer in production and famous increases its value just as scarcity does among any other collectible, and like it or not (and I'm firmly in the "not" camp), bourbon is now that sort of collectible. But if you're one of those increasingly rare folks who actually buys rare whiskey to drink, I would think this tasting might make you pause before plopping down thousands of your hard earned dollars on a bourbon that you might not like much better than one you could buy today for $25.

Many thanks to the Hirsch tasting group for their time and their fantastic notes. 

A.H. Hirsch Blind Tasting Update

Wow! The response to my A.H. Hirsch blind tasting idea has been overwhelming. I figured it would be popular, but I didn't expect hundreds of responses. I really wish I had enough so that everyone could participate, but alas, I'm down to one bottle.  However, I did expand the tasting group from ten to twelve, which will at least give a couple more people a chance to taste it.

Everyone who will be in the tasting has been contacted. For those who I wasn't able to include (and, unfortunately, that was most of you), I am truly sorry, but if this works out well, maybe I will organize more tastings in the future.

It will take some time for me to get the samples bottled and distributed, then for the folks to taste. Once the tasting is completed, I will, of course, report back. Hopefully, it will be interesting even to those who don't get to participate.

A.H. Hirsch 16 year old vs. Bourbon X

A.H. Hirsch is one of those legendary bourbons. Distilled at the Pennco Distillery in Pennsylvania (home of the original Michter's brand) in 1974, the Hirsch bourbon was among stocks sold to Preiss Imports (now owned by Anchor) when the distillery closed in 1991. The A.H. Hirsch bottlings were released throughout the '90s and early 2000s. Even ten years ago, the 16 year old gold foil, the most common bottling, was available for $100 or less.  Now they fetch four digits on the secondary market. If you're interested in the history of this bourbon, be sure to check out Chuck Cowdery's ebook, The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste, (and note that "Hirsch" without the A.H. is an entirely different bourbon).

I always liked the A.H. Hirsch 16, but I didn't pay four figures for it.  How does it really compare to a good off the shelf bourbon from today?  Let's find out.

I need ten volunteers who have never tasted any A.H. Hirsch bourbon who would be willing to participate in a blind tasting of A.H. Hirsch 16 year old vs. an off the shelf bourbon. If you've never had the Hirsch and you're interested in participating, send me an email with "Hirsch Challenge" as the subject line and include your location. I will pick ten folks and we'll see how it goes.

Even More Whiskey Festivals

Over the past couple of days, I received even more suggestions for the list of the best whiskey festivals in the US, so here are some additions.

• Bourbon Classic. This Louisville, Kentucky event sponsored by the Bourbon Review will take place February 26-27. The price ranges from $269 to $375.
• Go Whiskey Weekend. Sponsored by Julio's liquors in Westborough, Massachusetts, this year's festival runs from February 24-28. You can pay for events separately or buy a VIP ticket for $150. 
• Kentucky Bourbon Affair. Another Kentucky bourbon festival, this Louisville event will be June 14-19. The general tasting is a WhiskyLive event which costs $129, but the bulk of the festival consists of masterclasses which range from $35 to $275 per class.
• Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Located in Bardstown, Kentucky, this year's Kentucky Bourbon Festival will be September 13 to 18. Prices vary by event.

The Best Whiskey Festivals

On Monday, I asked folks for their favorite whiskey festivals excluding the most well known (WhiskyLife, Whisky Fest and the Scotch Malt Whisky Extraveganza).  I got a lot of interesting replies for events big and small:

• Binny's World of Whiskies. There was lots of love for this event sponsored by Chicago liquor chain Binny's. It takes place annually just before WhiskyFest Chicago (March 16 this year). Price looks to be around $40.
• The Nth Universal Whisky Experience. This Las Vegas show is known for it's high-roller crowd. This year's Nth will be on March 4. Ticket prices range from $525 to $2,495 for a package that includes super pours of rare whiskey and "whisky speed dating" with "whisky celebrities." 
• Pittsburgh Whiskey Festival. The Pittsburgh festival happens every fall and costs $102. They do not appear to have a date yet for this year's event.
• Tales of the Cocktail. America's premiere cocktail event takes place every July in New Orleans. While it's not a whiskey festival, there are plenty of whiskey related tastings and events. This year's Tales is set for July 19 to 24. Tickets are sold per event so there are many options.
• Victoria Whisky Festival. This is one of the big ones. It's not in the US, but it is US adjacent in Victoria, British Columbia. It takes place over a weekend in January. There are various events and classes, but the main tastings seem to run from $110 to $175.
• Whisky Jewbilee. Sponsored by whiskey bottler Single Cask Nation, the Whisky Jewbilee started in New York five years ago. This year, they will be in Seattle (March 8, $95), New York (June 15, $130) and Chicago (Sept. 1, price TBA).
• Whiskey Obsession Festival. This festival takes place in Sarasota, Florida. This year, it will be March 30 to April 1. ($50-$211).
• Whiskey on Ice is a Minneapolis tasting that started last year. This year's event is on April 10 ($85-$125).
• Whiskies of the World is another travelling event. This year they have shows in San Jose (March 24, $80), San Francisco (March 26, $130-$185), Austin (Sept. 29, price TBA), Houston (Oct. 1, price TBA), and Atlanta (Oct. 22, price TBA).

The Best Whiskey Festivals

There are a growing number of whiskey festivals throughout the U.S. Three of the oldest and most well known festivals are Whisky Advocate's WhiskyFest, Whisky Magazine's WhiskyLive, and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Whisky Extravaganza, all of which travel to multiple cities.

In addition to these established festivals, in the last few years, there have been many newer, independent single-city festivals. Whiskey festivals can be a great way to taste a variety of whiskeys, so I'd be interested in knowing about these newer festivals and putting together a list of the best.  So....

What is your favorite whiskey festival (other than those mentioned above) and why?

Here Comes the Judge: My First Spirits Competition

I've reviewed over a thousand whiskeys and participated in numerous tastings through the years, but until a few weeks ago, I had never judged a formal spirits competition. I've been invited to judge some competitions in the past, but it just never worked out, so I was excited to give judging a try.

When distributor/importer Nicolas Palazzi asked me to be a spirits judge at the Good Food Awards in San Francisco, my first question was how many medals they give out. I'm very skeptical of the spirits award circuit where medals are handed out like candy to nearly every entrant (each of whom pay a sizable fee). Then the companies prominently advertise that they won the triple bronze medal. Not to worry, Palazzi assured me, there are no medals. They either get a Good Food Award or they don't, and only the ones the judges think merit it, based entirely on quality, get the award. There are entry fees, but they are low ($60 per entry compared to over $400 for some competitions).

The Good Food Awards defines "good food" as being "tasty, authentic and responsible." The criteria for entrance are quite strict. In the spirits category, which includes spirits as well as modifiers (bitters, shrubs, syrups, mixers, etc.), the products are required to be free of artificial additives, grown and sourced "responsibly," and largely free of pesticides, GMO ingredients and synthetic fertilizers (I say "largely" because the criteria are very detailed, but the whole thing is very San Francisco). Given those criteria, I'm not sure how many spirits would qualify to enter, but that's not my job to figure that out. I was just there to taste.

And taste I did.  In the morning session, we split into three groups, each of which tasted ten to fifteen spirits and another ten to fifteen mixers.  Each table decided which items from the first set of tastings deserved to be tasted in the second heat, which would be the awards scoring panel. That afternoon, we tasted the items bumped up by one of the other groups, scored them and recommended which we thought merited awards.

For the tastings, we were only told the type of spirit and proof.  I tasted everything from cucumber vodka (which was surprisingly good) to ginger liqueur. In my usual style, I was very conservative with my scoring, and that seemed to be the approach most of the judges were taking.  Of the 40 or so products I tasted that day, I think I recommended four for awards. Among the best things I tasted were a raspberry shrub syrup and an apple brandy. There were a handful of whiskeys, but none of them made the grade. They tasted like typical, small barrel craft whiskeys. Of course, based on the structure of the awards being divided into three groups, I didn't taste every spirit that was being judged.

I still don't know what I tasted or what will win awards. That will be announced in January along with the awards for the many other categories, from cheese to honey to cider, but I'll be interested to see what we came up with, and it was a fun way to spend a Sunday.

Very Olde St. Nick Tasting Part 2: The Bourbons

Back in June, I wrote about the Southern California Whiskey Club's tasting of Very Olde St. Nick Rye.  Now they have set a date for part 2 o the meeting.  On August 17, they'll be tasting the Very Olde St. Nick bourbons.  Like the Rye, the Very Olde St. Nick series was bottled by the Van Winkles and then Kentucky Bourbon Distillers for the Japanese export market. 

The lineup for the meeting will include:

•  8 year old, 90 proof
• Cask Lot No. 15, 107 proof
• 19 year old, 94 proof
• 22 year old, 81.2 proof
• 23 year old, 81.2 proof
• 24 year old, 81.2 proof

 The meeting will be on Sunday, August 17 at 7:00 pm at Far Bar, 347 East 1st Street in Los Angeles.  There is a fee of $69 which includes food. You can sign up at the Southern California Whiskey Club website.

As with the rye tasting, its unlikely that a tasting like this will come around again anytime soon, so even if you're not in the Southern California area, you might want to consider attending.

Note:  Sku is not affiliated with the Southern California Whiskey Club and receives no compensation from them.  He just thinks this is a really cool tasting.

Very Olde St. Nick Tasting with the SoCal Whiskey Club

Very Olde St. Nick is a whiskey label that was bottled by Julian Van Winkle and Kentucky Bourbon Distillers exclusively for the Japanese export market back in the early 2000s.  Back then, the Japanese market was much more interested in super-aged bourbons than the the American market. These bourbons and ryes likely came from some of the same sources that went into the legendary Willett and Black Maple Hill bottlings from that era.  The ryes are most likely to be from the old Bernheim or Medley distilleries; the bourbons could be from any number of sources.

These are extremely rare.  Even in Japan, they haven't been available for years, except for the occasional dusty. I've never seen one in the flesh.

For the first time that I know of in the US, there will be a public tasting of the entire line of Very Olde St. Nick whiskeys.  The Southern California Whiskey Club is hosting two tastings in which they will run through the entire line up; the first tasting, later this month, will cover the ryes.  In August, a second meeting will taste the bourbons.  The club was formed last year, and the great thing about it is that anyone can join, and meetings are open to all comers, first come, first served. 

The Very Olde St. Nick rye tasting will be Sunday, June 22 at 7:00 pm at Far Bar in Little Tokyo.  The fee is $59 which includes a half ounce sample of each whiskey and food.  The whiskeys being sampled in that meeting are:

• Summer Rye, 80 proof
• 15 year Ancient Rye, 86 proof
• 16 year, Rare Perfection Rye, 86 proof
• 17 year, Ancient Rye, 103.7 proof
• 18 year, Ancient Rye, 104.6 proof

 You can sign up for the tasting on the Southern California Whiskey Club website.

I doubt a tasting like this will come around again anytime soon, so even if you're not in the Southern California area, you might want to consider attending.

Note:  Sku is not affiliated with the Southern California Whiskey Club and receives no compensation from them.  He just thinks this is a really cool tasting.

Goings on Around Town

• If you're looking to have a smoky weekend, check out the LA Scotch Club's Peatin' Meetin' at UCLA, probably the best whiskey tasting event in LA.  It's this Saturday from 5:30 -10:00 pm and features music, barbecue and more peated whiskey than you'll note what to do with. Cost is $100 per person.
• Adam at the LA Whiskey Society (the other LA whiskey group) has published a new chapter in his series Adventures in Whiskey.  This one, The Peculiar Pikesville from Prohibition, is definitely worth a read. 

Have a great weekend!

It's Whiskey Tasting Season

The whiskey tasting season is rapidly approaching with LA's two big whiskey tasting events coming this fall.

WhiskyLive - October 17. Whisky Magazine's WhiskyLive tasting will be on Wednesday, October 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. Regular tickets are $109 and gain you entrance from 6:30pm to 10:00pm. VIP tickets cost $139 and get you in an hour earlier at 5:30.

SMWS Extravaganza - November 9. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Extravaganza will be Friday, November 9 at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Tickets are $135 for members of the SMWS and $150 for non-members. Readers of Sku's Recent Eats can get the lower, membership price by entering promotional code SRE2012. (This code will actually work for any of this fall's Extravaganzas, which will be in Boston, Chicago, DC, Philly, San Francisco, Seattle or Fort Lauderdale, see the SMWS calendar.) [Note: Sku is admitted to this event free of charge]

Jazz Age Brandy: Nicolas Palazzi's Cognac Tasting

On Monday night I attended a stunning Cognac tasting hosted by K&L at the La Descarga rum bar, featuring Cognac bottler Nicolas Palazzi. As you may recall, Palazzi is a Cognac bottler who seeks out small growers and bottles cask strength, unfiltered Cognacs with no additives. He is truly a pioneer in the Cognac world who is trying single handedly to move it away from the sticky, sweet brandies that most of us associate with Cognac.

We started the night with a sazerac cocktail made from Paul Beau VSOP Cognac (while the sazerac now usually features rye, the original recipe used Cognac). I'm a big fan of sazeracs so no complaints here, but in a tasting I would usually save a cocktail until later, especially one which includes Absinthe, which can deaden the taste buds.

To demonstrate the difference made by filtration, we moved on to a Paul Beau Hors D’Age, which is distilled "off the lees," meaning it is filtered to remove residual dead yeast. We tasted this side by side with a Guillon Painturaud Hors d’Age which is distilled "on the lees" or unfiltered. Lees contact is said to add richness, body, and flavor to the spirit. I did find that the unfiltered Cognac had more going on flavor wise, including a spicy character, but the filtered Cognac was more delicate and subtle.

We ended with a trio of Nicolas' cask strength, single barrel Cognacs under his Paul Marie & Fils label, beginning with the recent K&L exclusive which I reviewed here. We then moved on to his 58 year old Devant La Porte (51% abv) and finally, the L'Artisan, which was distilled in 1923 (41.6% abv). These three were utterly fantastic Cognacs.

One advantage that Cognac has over whiskey is that there seem to be more really old barrels out there. The 1923 was moved out of barrel last year, so this was in wood for 87 years (the oldest whiskey that has been released is 70 years old). Remarkably for having spent a human lifetime in wood, the Cognac was incredibly fruity with very distinct grape notes. In fact, the dominance of the fruit was such that it came off as lacking in complexity, but it was not over oaked.

My favorite of the night was the 58 year old. Distilled in 1951, the Devant La Porte was released last year and goes for around $600. It was fruity but had some wood and complex, caramel notes; it was probably the most whiskey-like of the Cognacs.

The problem with many spirits tastings is that they cover only widely available, basic spirits lines. It is difficult to find tastings featuring very rare spirits. For the $70 cost of this tasting, we got a chance to try some truly rare and remarkable Cognacs. Nicolas Palazzi and K&L Spirit Buyer David Girard really pulled out all the stops. Let's hope we see more of these types of tastings in LA.

SMWS Extravaganza: Don't Forget Your Sku Discount

November is when the Scotch Malt Whisky Society brings it's tasting Extravaganza road show to California. Don't forget that as one of my valued readers, you can get a discount at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Single Malt and Scotch Whiskey Extravaganza.

The regular price is $135, but your Sku discount gets you up to two tickets for the member price of $120. To purchase tickets and get your discount, just go to the Society's website and enter SRE2011 in the promotional code box.

Dates and times are as follows:

Los Angeles: Friday, November 11 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica.

San Francisco: Wednesday November 9 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at teh Intercontinental Hotel.

FTC Disclaimer: Sku finally sold out and attends this event free of charge.

Whiskey Calendar: The Sku Discount is Back for SMWS's Extravaganza

As the dog days of summer start to wind into the dog days of fall, it's time to start dreaming about fall whiskey tasting season, the period from October to November when all the major whiskey tasting events take place.

This year, for the third year running, Sku readers will get a discount at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Single Malt and Scotch Whiskey Extravaganza. The Extravaganza includes not only tasting booths from lots of great distilleries but also a chance to taste some of the Society's bottlings which are normally available only to Society members.

This year's extravaganza will be Friday, November 11 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica. Dress is business casual with a jacket preferred (note to SMWS, business casual in LA does not include jackets).

The regular price is $135, but your Sku discount gets you up to two tickets for the member price of $120. To purchase tickets and get your discount, just go to the Society's website and enter SRE2011 in the promotional code box.

And if you aren't from LA, have no fear. The Sku discount works for all of the Society's fall Extravaganzas, including Chicago (October 5), Boston (October 13), Washington DC (October 26), Philadelphia (October 28), San Francisco (November 9) and Fort Lauderdale (December 1). Details on the website.

See you there!

FTC Disclaimer: Sku finally sold out and attends this event free of charge.

Whiskey Calendar: The Peatin' Meetin' this Saturday

This Saturday, June 25 is the LA Scotch Club's annual Peatin' Meetin', but this year it's bigger than ever. Focusing on the smoky Scotch we all love and featuring peat-smoked BBQ, the Peatin' Meetin' will be this Saturday at UCLA Sunset Park, 6:00-11:00p.m. and costs $75.

The event sponsors include Ardbeg, Jura, Amrut, Kilchoman, Blackadder and Bowmore, but knowing the Scotch Club guys, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some rare malts from private collections being offered. Details here.

Whiskey Wednesday: Tasting and Talking at the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society Extravaganza

Last Thursday was the annual Scotch Malt Whisky Society Extravaganza in Santa Monica. As always, there were some good whiskies poured, particularly the Society's private label bottlings. I especially enjoyed their offerings of Glen Scotia and Rosebank, and I never miss a chance to sample some Highland Park 30 when it's on offer.

Most notable this year, however, was a panel discussion among brand representatives prior to the tasting. Hosted by the Society US President Alan Shayne, the panel featured Martin Daraz from Highland Park, Neyah White from Suntory, Robin Goupar from Skyy, Simon Brooking from Beam Global, Nicholas Pollacchi from Balvenie, Ricky Crawford from Glenlivet and Steve Beal and Ed Adams from Diageo. The hour long discussion was in Q&A format with questions from the 50 or so people in the audience. The discussion ran from basic tips to serious issues in the industry to more light hearted moments.

All of the brand representatives seemed to speak honestly and openly without a lot of salesmanship. I've seen Martin Daraz speak before; he's probably the funniest brand rep. I've ever heard, and if you have the chance to attend a class with him, you should.

On a more serious note, I was very impressed with Suntory's Neyah White, who showed an impressive grasp of Japanese history and its relation to that nation's whisky industry and made very thoughtful comments throughout the night. When asked about judging whiskies, for instance, he spoke of "emotional terroir," which I thought was a great way of describing the way in which environment, mood and other external factors affect the appreciation of whisky.

As regular readers know, one of my top whisky wishes is to get more Japanese whisky imported to the US. I've often asked Suntory representatives if they will ever send us whisky from their Hakushu distillery, and I usually get an ambiguous maybe, at best. When I submitted the question to the panel, White was straight forward, saying there simply isn't enough Hakushu to export, though he wished there was. I appreciate getting an honest answer on that one (and since I'm lucky enough to have some sources in Japan, I'm planning on reviewing the Hakushu 18 in the near future).

Another interesting tidbit that I'd never heard came out when someone asked about chill filtering, the controversial process that distilleries use to prevent whiskey from appearing cloudy at cooler temperatures which some claim inhibits flavor by filtering out oils containing flavor elements. Diageo's Steve Beal explained that prior to World War II, there was almost no chill filtering. After the war, Scotch became popular with Americans, but unlike the Scots, the Americans tended to drink it on the rocks which caused clouding. It was only then that the distilleries began large-scale chill filtering. Now, I haven't verified the story, but it would be interesting if all of this filtering was our fault. Perhaps we owe the world of whisky a collective apology (at least they can't blame us for caramel coloring).

The panel was a great way to begin the night, and I hope the Society will continue to sponsor it at its future Extravaganzas.

Whiskey Wednesday: Scotch Malt Whisky Extravaganza Coming Soon - Get Your Discount!

Don't miss the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Extravaganza coming up next Thursday, November 18.

Prices for non-members of the Society are $135, but the Society is offering my readers up to two tickets per person for the member price of $120. Just go to the Society's website to sign up and enter SRE2010 in the promotion code box to get the discount or call (800) 990-1991.

Last year's Extravaganza was great fun and featured some great whiskies from a number of distillers and bottlers. In fact, the Extravaganza is one of the only ways to taste the excellent single malts bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society if you aren't a member.

This year's Extravaganza will be Thursday, November 18 at The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica from 7:00pm-9:30pm.

Check it out and tell 'em Sku sent you.

FTC Disclaimer: Sku was invited to attend this event free of charge.