Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2019 i Whisky Advocate

LEMON TWIST Yoichi Single Malt Smoldering peat fires, kiwi, lime, and menthol LEMON MERINGUE PIE Knappogue Castle Limited Release 12 year old Crisp green apple, dried fruits, and candied peel ZESTY LEMON Ardbeg 10 year old Sweet smoke, saltiness, and milk chocolate FIND A ZEST FOR LIFE: these whiskies offer a complex array of flavors surrounding an easily discernible foundation of lemon. Tasting Lesson is a drink hack to help you better identify common whisky flavors and their origins Lemon is a prominent aroma and flavor in many whiskies, conjuring up thoughts of succulent lemons grown on the terraced groves of Italy’s Amalfi Coast and the intensity of preserved lemons from North Africa. Your senses may pinpoint flavors of lemon peel, which is rich in essential oils, ranging from the…

There may be no second chances: it’s now or never. It’s not sold in stores, and after all, you’ve come all this way. This is the allure of distillery-exclusive whisky, usually a limited-edition offering. It beckons just as a prospective buyer is straight from a riveting expedition through the stillhouse and well-primed for retail excess by a tasting. With distillery visits peaking in summer, how does a collector determine what to snatch or ignore as they run this whisky gauntlet? From a purely emotional perspective, distillery-only bottlings make wonderful mementos of your trip. To open the whisky and share it with friends as you recall the inclement weather, the anecdotes of the tour guide, and that calamitous part when your travel plans went awry is reason enough to purchase that…

The year 2019 began on a decidedly abstemious note. There were the usual vows of sobriety that always follow New Year’s Eve overindulgences, of course, and the now standard voices in support of spending a ‘Dry January’ bereft of the succor of a good drink or two of alcohol during what is, for northerners, the longest, coldest, and darkest month of the year. But perhaps the oddest bit of new temperate thinking that reared its head as 2018 gave way to 2019 was the concept of the alcohol-free bar. “With Young People Drinking Less, Are Booze-Free Bars The Future Of Going Out?” asked the website Refinery29, while publishing platform Medium invited the founder of Listen Bar, a no-alcohol pop-up in Brooklyn, to list her “5 Surprising Things I Learned from…

You can easily reach over a dozen distilleries from Edinburgh within a two-hour drive, making it an ideal jumping-off point for exploring Highlands and Lowlands whiskies, from longstanding names to up-and-comers. While many of the newest distilleries don’t yet sell their whiskies in the U.S., there’s still plenty to enjoy from the more established producers. 88 Auchentoshan Three Wood 43%, $70 Aged in bourbon, oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez casks, this triple-distilled single malt is spiced, rich, and chewy. 88 Deanston 12 year old 46.3%, $60 Citrus and spice offer pops of excitement amid clean grassy notes in this waxy, creamy whisky. 92 Dewar’s Double Double 21 year old 46%, $50/375ml Aberfeldy Distillery makes the core malt used in this blend, which has been finished in oloroso sherry casks to create…

When it comes to savoring whiskeys that can transport you to Dublin, there are many to choose from. The good news from Dublin is that this list is only going to get longer and tastier over the coming decade. 89 Dublin Liberties Copper Alley 10 year old 46%, $60 Velvety sherry-finished sourced whiskey with flavors of sherry fruit, dark orange, chocolate, and wood spices. 90 The Dubliner 40%, $25 Easy-drinking bourbon-cask blended whiskey brimming with blossom, honey, vanilla, peach, and butter toffee that will be sure to put a smile on your face. 93 Jameson Bow Street 18 year old Cask Strength 55.1%, $179 Aged blend distilled in Midleton and given a fresh bourbon cask finish inside the heart of Dublin’s only active maturation warehouse at Jameson Bow St. 87…

Well-aged Japanese whisky is increasingly scarce and Osaka’s smaller distillers, Nagahama and Sakurao, are still aging their whiskies for general release. Here are some whiskies crafted in the Osaka area and available for purchase in the U.S. 90 Hibiki Japanese Harmony 43%, $65 A lesson in Japanese blending, Yamazaki malt shows beautifully in this brightly fruity whisky—peach, pineapple, lemon—with toffee notes and a touch of smoke. 88 Toki 43%, $40 A quaffable Japanese blend from Yamazaki and others, with smoky embers, roasted spices, and whole peppercorn over orchard fruit. Perfect in a Highball. 83 White Oak Akashi 46%, $100 A single malt that is floral on the nose with icing sugar, green tea, sweet toffee, and juicy fruits leading to a core of tangerine and watermelon that remains light in…

Glasgow, Scotland Average temps 37°F (Jan) to 58°F (July) Denver, Colorado Average temps 32°F (Dec) to 72°F (July) Waco, Texas Average temps 44°F (Jan) to 89°F (July) Lovingston, Virginia Average temps 35°F (Jan) to 77°F (July) Goa, India Average temps 79°F (Jan) to 86°F (May) Bangalore, India Average temps 69°F (Dec) to 81°F (Apr) Yilan, Taiwan Average temps 59°F (Jan) to 80°F (Aug) Stranahan’s Colorado Single Malt 47%, $55 88 points This Colorado single malt shows off textbook American oak. TASTE IT Vanilla and brown sugar, plus a hefty dose of dried apricot and peppery spice Balcones Peated Texas Single Malt 63%, $80 92 points Pot distilled with Highland peated barley, aged in Texas’s baking heat. TASTE IT Big, structured, and dense, with strong smoke and a savory, barbecue-like character…

SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALTS 92 Craigellachie 33 year old, 46%, $3,000 This was previously exclusive to Travel Retail, but is now available in the U.S. Cereal and succulent tropical fruits on the nose, plus Craigellachie’s signature sulfur, along with cloves and polished oak. Toffee and orchard fruits on the muscular palate, with oatmeal and a mineral quality. The finish is long and yields another whiff of sulfur, lemon, and a hint of mint. A quirky dram of true quality. (1,700 bottles)—GS 92 Macallan Sherry Oak 18 year old (2018 Edition), 43%, $320 See Collectibles, page 124 90 Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut, 48.8%, $75 The nose offers rich fruit—plums and sultanas—with milk chocolate and new leather. The palate is silky and luxurious, with medium-sweet sherry, vanilla, blackcurrants, and treacle. Dark berries and…

BELGIAN SINGLE MALT 89 Gouden Carolus Single Malt, 46%, $65 Produced at the De Molenberg Distillery from a mash of Gouden Carolus Tripel beer and finished in Anker beer casks following bourbon-barrel maturation. This has aromas of peach, barley, marshmallow, light toffee, hops, and warm apple pie, with dry and fragrant spices. Melon, overripe pear, white chocolate, vanilla pod, cinnamon stick, baked apple, dried orange, oak, and spices on the palate; the unfolding flavors are generous and strong.—JM DUTCH RYE 93 Millstone 100 Rye, 50%, $99 The IMAX of rye. Zuidam Distillers seem to have intensified every aspect of this small batch 100% rye. The plum is fresher, juicier even, the spices more assertive. There’s more creaminess, fruit skin piquancy, slabs of chocolate, allspice, ground cinnamon, and a greater rye…

FOR THE LOVE OF RYE Dear Whisky Advocate, I’ve been a subscriber for around two years now and have enjoyed your periodical tremendously. However, the most recent opening of my mailbox came with not one, but three wonderful surprises. The first was an acknowledgment of the American whiskey I hold most dear: rye. My love of the grainy juice began with scotch, but as I branched out I quickly discovered rye had its own unique array to imbibe. For that alone I could give you a large thank you. Admittedly though I don’t believe I would have taken the time to write you had it not been for page 29. You see, I’m also a large proponent of Campari. I bathed in my first Negroni just a few years ago…

When the blender and ice bucket come out for the season, most push-button mixologists reach for rum or tequila. But don’t put away that whisky just yet! Punchy rye, silky Irish, and smooth blended scotch are equally well-suited for creating frozen cocktails that can take the sting out of any heat wave. Each recipe below serves two, or can be scaled up for a crowd. So, grab the nearest blender and discover how whisky can make all the difference in the whirled! The Killing Joke Created by Greg Best, partner at Ticonderoga Club, Atlanta Bright and tart, this rye slushie has a floral hint on the nose and touch of ginger spice. 3 oz. Rittenhouse rye (or other rye whiskey)2 oz. lime juice3½ oz. ginger honey syrup (recipe below)1 oz.…

Q How many people can participate? A This doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor. The more whiskey-loving friends and family that go in on a barrel together, the lower the price per person. Better yet, make it a team-building exercise and charge it to the boss. Q How big is a barrel? A A standard whiskey barrel holds about 53 gallons, but certain distill-your-own programs use smaller barrels, like Foundry Distilling’s 30-gallon and 5-gallon barrels. The size of the barrel affects not only the bottle yield but also the aging time, since smaller barrels impact whiskey with more wood more quickly. Q Do we get unlimited storage? A Usually a set amount of aging time is covered in the initial cost. J. Rieger begins charging extra for storage at…

It’s been about 20 years since bourbon sales came roaring back, and they are still going strong. But what caused the bourbon boom? Why, after a long decline followed by an even longer period of what can only be called dormancy, did bourbon sales start their upward trajectory? In its most recent report, the Distilled Spirits Council observed that 2018 marked the ninth straight year of record spirits sales and volumes. American whiskey got more than its share of that growth, with supplier sales up 6.6 percent to $3.6 billion, twice what it was ten years ago. Most of that is bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, but rye is growing twice as fast and earned $205 million in 2018. Before the boom started, rye was practically dead (see Spring 2019 issue).…

For all of Dublin’s 21st-century buzz and bustle, and its burgeoning number of operating distilleries—more than ever in living memory—it’s certain secluded spots that appeal to Carol Quinn. “I love a pub with a snug,” she says. “When people think of Dublin, they think of pubs, and the snug was always this private area in a public space where you could have those private little conversations.” Quinn knows Dublin—she’s the archivist for Irish Distillers—and proceeds to share the history and charm of a snug, once used by ladies who preferred not to be seen drinking. “Women would have gone in and called for a cup of tea in a china cup,” Quinn says. “But it wasn’t a cup of tea, it was a nice little shot of whiskey, which you…

Forty floors up, from my window seat in 40 Sky Bar, I hover above the impossibly packed streets of Osaka with their notoriously fast walkers (and drivers). Up here I feel relaxed, almost weightless. The dense urban sprawl bleeds into blue-green mountains as jets descend through the afternoon light. Nearby, two women relish the popular afternoon tea service ($50), their Birkin bags resting on adjacent seats as a server glides past with a tray of small jeweled pink and green cakes. A mile distant is the gleaming twin-towered Umeda Sky Building, capped with an observation deck with views across the busy port to distant Awaji Island. We are nearly a hundred feet higher than that deck. And up there, they don’t serve impeccable Old-Fashioneds with perfect ice spheres. They do…

This city’s inimitable convergence of great music and fine whiskey is embodied in the recent announcement that Heaven’s Door Spirits, co-created with musician Bob Dylan, plans to open their Heaven’s Door Distillery and Center for the Arts in downtown Nashville in 2020. Touted as a craft distillery, restaurant, and live performance venue, it will be in good company offering whiskey or a show. In fact, several companies are already hosting whiskey tours, with visits to downtown distilleries like Corsair, a craft whiskey pioneer with lots of offbeat creations. Also near the top of the list for many visitors is Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, a historic producer (holding the fifth license in Tennessee) that has been resurrected as a craft distiller. Whiskey and others spirits are also emerging from Pennington Distilling…

The perfect summer vacation is an escape from life’s stresses, full of new experiences, and a break from our daily routine. This summer, take the same approach with whisky: get out of the rut of your usual, rejuvenate your palate, and bask in the glory of blended scotch. For those in the know, blended scotch has always been an indisputable classic, and for those experiencing it for the first time, current trends in crafting blends make them feel fresh, breezy, and perfect for the season. Best of all, blends have remarkable versatility—they rule the day in summer, where they shimmer in a long drink, blend beautifully into a cocktail, chill comfortably on the rocks, then languish neat after sunset. Single malt elitists take note: the existence and popularity of blends…

The Buying Guide provides ratings of whiskies from around the world with an emphasis on new releases available for purchase in the U.S. Complete tasting notes are provided for all whiskies scoring 84 points or more (on the Whisky Advocate 100-point scale). Lower scoring whiskies are included at the discretion of the editors, and some may appear exclusively on whiskyadvocate.com. RATINGS AND PRICES Ratings are to provide a relative comparison of quality with reference to both directly competing products and whiskies in general. Price is not a consideration when arriving at ratings. Prices shown reflect the suggested retail price. When none is available, we establish a representative retail price. Actual retail prices may vary. Whiskies sold in the U.S. have prices marked in dollars; any whisky priced in other currency…

95 Mister Sam Tribute, 66.9%, $250 See Collectibles, page 124 88 Bearface Triple Oak, 42.5%, $40 Master blender Andres Faustinelli began with 7 year old Canadian whisky which he finished, first in tight-grained French oak wine barrels and then in air-dried virgin Hungarian oak. This wonderfully mouth-filling, fairly complex dram begins dry and closed, developing caramel, char, exotic woods and spices, berries, red grapes, luscious red wine, glowing heat, pulling tannins, and sandalwood, with butterscotch-like vanillas, luscious dry fruits, and a rich, rye-like, spicy texture.—DdeK 87 Signal Hill, 40%, $35 Legendary Canadian whisky blender Mike Booth blends small batches within sight of Newfoundland’s Signal Hill, using 95% corn and 5% barley whiskies matured in new oak, bourbon, and Canadian whisky barrels. Golden raisins and dried fruits with brown sugar, maple…

BEST OVERALL Vitamix E310 $350 Our bartenders universally prefer Vitamix blenders. This top-end consumer model with 2 HP performs flawlessly and includes a full five-year warranty. vitamix.com BEST POOLSIDE Waring BB300S $179 Designed specifically for drink mixing, this features a simplified two-speed motor and a rugged stainless steel container that won’t shatter when dropped. waringcommercialproducts.com BEST FOR CAMPING Vortex $130 This hand-operated blender offers a good workout, but with practice we made quick work of ice, varying our cranking speed and direction to get the job done. gsioutdoors.com…

Barr Hill Reserve Tom Cat Gin 43%, $46 A Vermont-made gin flavored with local honey that smacks of whiskey, pine, cherry, toffee, vanilla, caramel, and hard candy. MIX THIS Negroni Bluecoat Barrel Finished American Dry Gin 47%, $34 Made in Philadelphia, this gin uses a combination of new oak and once-refilled casks to garner savory notes of butter rum, vanilla, lemon, orange, honey, and anise. MIX THIS French 75 Beefeater Burrough’s Reserve 43%, $75 Named after the Beefeater Founder and distilled using his original still. This English gin is rested in red and white Bordeaux casks for creamy wood and fruit notes with citrus and crisp pine. MIX THIS Dry Martini Citadelle Reserve 45.2%, $35 From the distillers at Cognac Ferrand, this French gin is sweet and floral with Meyer…

Don’t be fooled by the color of whisky. Marveling at the colors in your glass is one of the first steps in whisky appreciation. Go on—hold the glass up to the light! It develops those alluring golden hues from time spent maturing inside oak casks because new make spirit is entirely colorless when it comes off the stills. The color of whisky is a primer for the senses. The trouble is, your brain is not always right. Your mind evaluates the liquid in the glass instantaneously: a warm, deep amber color may heighten the expectation of rich fruits and sherry notes, whereas a pallid, watery, lemon tint may prepare you for a young whisky or a tired cask. Be careful though: heavily charred virgin oak and rejuvenated casks can also…

Getting Around The subway makes it easy, but it shuts down between midnight and 5 a.m. Taxis are always available, and their unions have successfully blocked ride-sharing services. Uber has a cab-hailing app for licensed taxis. When hailing cabs, look for those with the 空車 (kuusha, literally “empty car”) in the windshield’s lower left corner. When to Go The Osaka Whisky Festival is held in early June and Whisky History Osaka typically occurs in September or October, both of which welcome thousands of eager whisky lovers to large-scale tastings. Late summer can make distillery visits unpredictable since they often close for maintenance. August tends to be crowded everywhere and many businesses close because of Obon, an important holiday in Japanese culture honoring those who have died. The event features dancing,…

It’s a Monday morning in January—high summer in the Southern Hemisphere—and the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, South Africa is preparing for a scorcher of a day. The first employees to arrive flip on a thrumming extractor fan to clear the plumes of alcohol vapor pooling dangerously inside their sweltering warehouses, piled high with maturing Three Ships whisky. This is single malt, distilled from malted barley just like the whiskies mellowing in the many cool dunnage houses of Scotland, but it’s also a world apart—literally and stylistically. Why does Climate Matter? The British Isles, specifically Scotland and Ireland, are the traditional home of malt whisky. It’s hard to imagine a more moderate climate. Average annual lows and highs in Glasgow are 36° to 66°F, a range of only 30 degrees.…

Best Values Whiskies with solid scores, modest prices, and wide availability. BOURBON 91 W.L. Weller 12 year old Straight, 45%, $35 The nose feels dense and richly layered as cedary oak and sandalwood incense take the lead, while a deeper dive reveals toasted walnuts, licorice, and cocoa. The palate serves up plenty of sweet butterscotch, juicy grapefruit, and shaved coconut, before drying oak tannins sweep in, delivering coffee and dark chocolate cake on the finish. A supple mouthfeel and long finish enhance the overall delicious impression made by this bourbon. Shows best at full proof.—JL SPEYSIDE SINGLE MALT 88 Glen Moray Cabernet Sauvignon Cask Finish, 40%, $30 The latest addition to Glen Moray’s Classic range was aged in bourbon barrels and finished in cabernet sauvignon wine casks. Raspberry cordial is…

BOURBON 94 Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (Batch A119), 67.6%, $60 See Editors’ Choice page 124 93 Angel’s Envy Oloroso Sherry Cask Finished, 50%, $200 The confectionary nose of flan and crème caramel comes draped over lovely grainy aromas of warm porridge and pastry crust. Vinous notes of cherry/berry fruit emerge, along with toasted almonds and floral aromas. On the palate, there is berry coulis, Creamsicle stick, French burnt peanut candies, and warm banana. Overall, this demonstrates both nice maturity and lovely balance of sweetness and spice, with a finish of cinnamon-sprinkled apple pie.—JL 93 Old Fitzgerald 13 year old Bottled in Bond (Spring 2019 Release), 50%, $130 See Collectibles, page 124 93 Mayor Pingree 11 year old Straight (Batch 3), 57.25%, $90 Intense, flavorful, and lush. The nose has roasted…

IRISH SINGLE MALT 89 Dingle Single Malt (Batch No. 3), 46.5%, $100 Cut-open pomegranate, dried cranberry, and rose petals hint at the port cask influence on this whiskey. Brisket and roasted spice aromas of cumin, fennel, and coriander. Abundant red fruit flavors of cherry, redcurrant, and pomegranate are swept along on a wave of brown sugar sweetness, accompanied by flavors of gummy bear, root beer, clove, ginger, pepper, and aniseed. Sweet and spicy finish.—JM IRISH SINGLE POT STILL 91 Powers Three Swallow, 43.2%, $48 Rich dried fruits, candied peel, dried apricot, mango strips, white pepper, herbal notes, almond paste, and sweet grapefruit flesh—this has signature notes of Powers all over it. Thick and velvety, there’s warm marmalade, sugared almonds, golden barley, citrus, and green apple. It’s all quite mellow until…

LOWLANDS SCOTCH 88 Aerstone Sea Cask 10 year old, 40%, £22 A William Grant & Sons single malt from an undisclosed Lowland distillery. It offers flavors of mashed turnip sprinkled with table salt early on the nose; brittle toffee, malt, and vanilla aromas develop. Creamy toffee, more salt, honey, orange fondant, and sweet oak on the palate. The lengthy finish features gentle spices, oak, and white pepper.—GS 87 Aerstone Land Cask 10 year old, 40%, £22 William Grant & Sons’ Land Cask is a peated Lowland single malt from an undisclosed distillery. Sweet peat smoke and tangy orange on the nose. More orange, plus vanilla, toffee, and peaty oak on the smooth medium palate. Peat smoke and earthy, nutty, toffee in the finish. Straightforward, but eminently drinkable.—GS BLENDED SCOTCH 89…

My father used to say, “What do you want, egg in your beer?” A lot of fathers used to say that, as did some mothers, to dissatisfied children. Took me 25 years to actually crack an egg into a glass of beer, whence I immediately consigned it to the dead metaphor drawer. Metaphorically. My father didn’t actually put egg or anything else in his beer (the curious should see: Bullshot, Redeye, Car Bomb, and other crimes against fermentation) nor did he countenance anything in his whiskey other than whiskey—and he was probably right, preferring as he did bonded bourbon. I didn’t realize how smart he was (yes, yes, another old joke) until I read The Poison Squad, a newish history, by Deborah Blum, of the food safety movement here in…