Foursquare Rum

Foursquare is a Barbados distillery that has been turning heads lately. This is one of their first cask strength bottlings available in the US. It's a blend of pot and column still rums, aged in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at cask strength without additives.

Foursquare 2004, 11 years old, 59% abv ($60)

The nose opens with sweet brown sugar and then some grassy notes. The palate begins with the same brown sugar note, then some sharp acidic notes that provide a nice contrast, like the adicidy of pineapple (though not having that flavor). It's quite hot for the proof. The finish is earthy with molasses. Water brings out some earthy notes on the palate which add to the complexity.

This is really fantastic stuff, and it's hard to think of a better deal for the price. This one is a must-buy for sure.

Thanks to FussyChicken for the sample.

Domaine du Tertre Calvados

Today I'm reviewing two new Calvados brought in by Captain Cognac, Nicolas Palazzi (though maybe he should change his moniker to Captain Calvados considering how much of it he's been bringing in lately).

Domaine du Tertre is run by two brothers who make cider and distill a small amount of it into Calvados. They use around 30 varieties of apple, ferment it for six months without heating and use indigenous yeast. Like many French brandy producers, they distill on a traveling column still.

These two bottles come from single ex-Cognac casks and are bottled at cask strength with no additives. The U.S. is only getting 90 bottles of each.


Calvados Domaine du Tertre 2000, 16 yo, 52.6% abv ($200)

This has strong oak notes on the nose with some underlying apple. The palate starts dry and oaky, then the fruit comes in, but it's a very dry apple flavor. It's got a thick, chewy mouthfeel. The finish is woody and slightly fruity then turns to chocolate covered cherries, but without the sweetness, if that make sense.

This is a really lovely and complex Calvados. It's the polar opposite of the big fruity style of some Calvados (Camut for instance); it's drier with oak notes and tannins. It's a great Calvados for a whiskey or Armagnac drinker. Really fantastic stuff.


Calvados Domaine du Tetre 1998, 18 yo, 51% abv ($225)

The nose on this one has maple syrup notes along with oak and a sort of musty note. The palate leads off sweet and then turns earthy with some sulfur like notes. The finish is slightly fruity and sulfuric and then develops apple and oak. This one is sweeter but has less overall fruit character than the 2000.

These were both great. Between the two, I preferred the 2000, which was drier and more complex, but those who prefer more fruit in their Calvados would probably prefer the 1998.  They are currently available at Astor Wines but should be popping up in other locations soon.

Thanks to Nicolas Palazzi for the samples.

New Whiskey (and Brandy) Labels: Chichibu, Westland and More

This week's most interesting new labels from the federal TTB database:

Copper & Kings cleared a new label for their Cr&ftwerk series of brandy finished in beer casks. This one is finished in Sierra Nevada Chocolate Cherry Stout barrels.

 A label cleared for Ichiro's Malt Chichibu Port Pipe, an almost five year old, single cask whiskey from Japan's Chichibu distillery.

A label cleared for Komagatake, a 30 year old cask strength whiskey from the Mars Shinshu distillery in Japan.

Washington's Westland Distillery released three new circus-themed labels for Peat Week.

Hey look, a new Calvados from, er, Michigan. Given that Calvados is a protected geographic term in France, it seems like some of the French producers may not be too happy about that.

Note:  The fact that a label appears on the TTB database does not necessarily mean it will be produced.  In addition, some details on the label, such as proof, can change in the final product.

Berlin: Europe's Next Great Food City?

I walk down my block and I've got tons of great food choices: Korean, Italian, Vietnamese, burgers, Middle Eastern. Just another day in LA, right?  Except, I'm not in LA, I'm in Berlin.

Grilled octopus with polenta at Donath.

If you ask the average American to name some of the great food cities of Europe, Berlin isn't likely to be in the top five, maybe not the top ten. Paris, Barcelona and nearly every city in Italy have a claim to the greatest food on the continent so it's easy for people to overlook Berlin, but I think there's a strong argument for it as a great food city, and certainly one that is flying under the radar.

Octopus bibimbap at Gong Gang

But Berlin's food is great more in the way that LA's food is great. It's the food of immigrants in a cosmopolitan city. I particularly enjoyed eating my way around Prenzlauerberg, a very hip neighborhood in what used to be East Berlin. That's where we found great Korean, Italian and Vietnamese food.

Marzipan

There's great Middle Eastern food throughout the city. Along with all of the Donar Kebab and falafel stands, it's worth a trip to the Turkish Market and one of the higher end Turkish restaurants like Hasir.

And Berlin has some excellent sweets as well. From the delicate and not-to-sweet marzipan at Wald Konigsberger to the rich, chocolate drinks and cakes at Fassbender & Rausch.

I wish I had time to explore the regional Chinese restaurants or even more of the Turkish food. What didn't I eat much of?  Traditional German food. It wasn't even that easy to find it in Berlin (except for the ubiquitous currywurst), but hey, that's what Munich is for.

Standard-Serious Pizza

Bestia's Best Bone Marrow

Possibly the best dish I've had this year is the roasted marrow bone at Bestia. It's served on the bone, but you scoop it out and mix it with their spinach gnocchetti, a spaetzel like spinach pasta. The gnocchetti has been sauteed so its chewy and crispy with some garlic. The marrow bone is coated with balsamic to give it some acid. When you mix the fatty bone marrow chunks into the pasta, you get the contrast of chewy and creamy textures and fatty, acidic and salty flavors. It comes together beautifully.  Everything about this dish is great; it's one of those dishes I'll dream about until I have it again.

Bestia
2121 E 7th Place
Los Angeles, CA 90021
(213) 514-5724 

LA (and Maybe the World's) Best Pastrami: Ugly Drum at Smorgasburg

If you haven't been to Smorgasburg, you need to make a beeline there on your next free Sunday. Smorgasburg is a food fair that originated in Brookly and opened in LA in June. It includes around 50 vendors; some are connected to food trucks or stores, but many are only available at Smorgasburg.

The festival is a food lover's dream with vendors selling a wide range of great food from Summer Crab Company's fried soft shelled crab sandwiches to pork belly paratha tacos from Goa Taco to Wanderlust's fantastic ube ice cream.

But the best thing I've had so far in the entire place is Ugly Drum's pastrami. They serve one thing. Pastrami on rye with a squirt of mustard if you want it. This pastrami is amazing. The flavor is as rich as any I've had, but the texture is more akin to fat marbled, barbecued brisket; it has that melt-in-your mouth quality. This is the best pastrami I've ever had, better than Langer's, better than Katz's. Go eat it!

Smorgasburg takes place downtown at the Alameda Produce Market on Sundays from 10 to 5. It's shockingly uncrowded, and there is plentiful parking at the lot at Alameda and Bay Streets that is free for the first two hours.

New Whiskey Labels: Heaven Hill, Ardbeg and More

This week's most interesting new labels from the federal TTB database:

LVMH cleared a label for Ardbeg Kelpie, a non-age statement whiskey aged in "virgin casks crafted from oak grown on land in the Adyghe Republic, leading down to the Black Sea coast."

Remy Cointreau cleared a label for a new edition of Bruichladdich Black Art, distilled in 1992 and a second limited edition of Port Charlotte 10.

Heaven Hill cleared a label for a 20 year old Select Stock distilled before the distillery fire of 1996.

A label cleared for Michel Couvreur Very Sherried, a 27 year old single cask from the French Scotch bottler. 


Note:  The fact that a label appears on the TTB database does not necessarily mean it will be produced.  In addition, some details on the label, such as proof, can change in the final product.