Bruichladdich Master Class Review - Barley to Bottle with Jim McEwan

Bruichladdich Master Class with Jim McEwan

Well, I just had the most incredible scotch experience of my life.  I have been waiting for this for a long time... Jim McEwan was in town at my local shop, Willow Park Wines and Spirits, and he did not disappoint!  The man's complete and utter passion for his craft is incredible to behold and absolutely intoxicating!  I was drunk - with passion.  In fact, I still am and am sitting down with a dram (Octomore 4.2 Comus) reliving the experience with you.

Every now and then, you have an experience that changes things for you.  When it comes to whisky, Bruichladdich brought me to Scotch whisky when I tasted it a few years ago and had to buy it immediately (had tasted others and they didn't capture me). That dram was the 12 Year Old 2nd Edition.  Tonight, I've had that type of experience again as I witnessed the pure heart that goes into Bruichladdich whisky.

By the way, before I go on, I chose the colour of font because I know Jim would love it even though its a bit hard to read.

If you ever get the chance to see Jim speak, do it!  Don't hesitate.  He is a gentleman, he is so funny, he is passionate, and he is pure.  You will have a great time!  Here's a lousy Blackberry photo from the night:

The line up for the night was as shown in the picture below:

Honestly, these drams are all top shelf.  The Laddie Classic oozes coastal character along with nice sweetness and vanilla.  The Islay Barley 2006 is so pure and beautiful (I already drank two bottles at home since it came out and can't get enough).  It really is special whisky with a lovely sweetness, with its floral notes, and with its creamy richness.  The Laddie 16 is so sophisticated and perfumed and really shows what Bruichladdich can be when aged.  I really can't wait to see and hope we get to see some of the beautiful drams distilled by Jim make it to bigger ages like 12, 16, 22, etc.  The Laddie 22, as reviewed previously, is such a classy dram.  Its really the one I think of for those occasions where you must have something special... incredible!  Really.  The Cuvee 640 was a unique and delicious and luxurious dram... you'll see in the shot below that I picked up the PX Cuvee 407 which is not shot at the 640 - trust me, the balance and rich luxury is really enjoyable. The Port Charlotte 10 Year old was really a top-shelf peated dram.  As previously reviewed, I have PC7 and love it and the Port Charlotte 10 may not have the "shock and awe" of that dram, but it is richly smoky and complex and I had to have it.  I wanted something for Jim to sign that he made from the beginning and this was a great choice.

With the bounty of the evening in hand, it was incredible all of the people who hung around after the event was long done to share in the excitement that Jim created.  I am still beaming at home right now.

Thank you to Jim and to Dave Michiels (@Davescotchguy) and to Willow Park for a truly memorable evening and here is to Bruichladdich! Slainte!

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Distillery Edition Review

Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Distillery Edition - 51% abv. - Non-chill filtered

Every now and then you get to have something that impresses you.  This is one of those times... just as you might start to lose faith in the big, industrialized distilleries you walk into your local shop and taste something like this Glenfiddich Distillery Edition.  I did and had to have it immediately.

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Colour: mid-amber with gold highlights

Nose: first thought is, "wow! this is sweet and fruity."  Come back to it and I can't really describe what I am smelling. Then, I think to look for ideas and come across "banana skins" in a tasting note. I walk over to the kitchen where there are some nice yellow bananas with some brown spots on the skin and pick one up and literally smell one and then smell the whisky.  That's it!  Banana skins!  No B.S.! Well, I guess B.S. after all because its banana skins.  After I get past that, I get sweet raisins - maybe raisin ice cream with some spices.  A little water (like 4 drops) opens up the nose and makes things even more discernible.  Don't rush this... you can spend a while enjoying the nose.

Palate: again, first thought is fruity with a nice complexity. Sweet. This is a nice, sherried dram.  Moves to a spiciness at the back end of the palate. Some vanilla shows up in there along with the fruit.  With water, the vanilla is more prevalent. Taking my time, and going back to childhood memories, I think I actually get bananas in cream with raisins.  Maybe some field berries in there.

Finish: the intensity of the flavour fades quickly but then lingers and extends at the lower intensity making it all the way down to the belly.  This is a long finish.

Comments: This dram is fantastic and a fantastic value. Glenfiddich needs to make more stuff like this - non-chill filtered, more alcohol as required, lots of focus on interesting and big flavours and no industrial tastes. This tastes artisanal but masterfully made at the same time. This is special and makes me think that there might be hope for the corporations yet.  I'd like to see Glenfiddich move their whole line to a no-colouring and no-chill filtering style with higher alcohol as needed.  

Scotch Malt Whisky Society - September 2013 Outturn

Well, I finally did it... I made it out an Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) Canada tasting. My friend, Shaky Byrne, joined me and I must say that it was a good time and an eye-opening experience.

I won't go into a tonne of detail, but SMWS basically has a committee of a few folks who really love whisky and select single casks from a very wide variety of distilleries to bottle unfiltered, with no colouring added, and at cask strength. There's a catch - only members can buy their independent bottlings. Their bottlings are identified with basically anonymous labels (i.e. you won't know where the whisky came from unless you dig deeper) but they do tell you a lot about each whisky's character with both the title and their committee tasting notes. I must say, after having been subjected to a fair bit of marketing nonsense the past few years, their titles and tasting notes are shockingly helpful/accurate (probably because they do the smart thing and rely on a committee rather than on a single palate).  They also have locations throughout the world and hold tastings and such.

I attended their September Outturn tasting here in Calgary and it was my first time trying SMWS whisky or attending one of their events.  It was refreshing because the folks who put it on, Kelly and Rob Carpenter, went to the effort of eliminating the ages, regions, prices, etc. from each tasting note so it truly was a basically blind tasting... just what do you taste, what excites you, etc. about each dram.  Great for conversation in the group and this really plays to what I've said many times in the past - never buy based on age or price.  This is for people with a Passion for Scotch! As you might guess, it also made for a relaxed tasting with no snob factor which is always nice. Check out the selection of drams we tasted in the screen shot below.  

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You can access the tasting notes through the SMWS and I will tell you that they do give a really solid idea of the profile of each whisky.  You need to pay attention to the little nuances stated too because I noticed for one of the drams that it had a note to it (that was described in the tasting notes) that was off-putting to me... honestly, its the first dram in a while that I can say I didn't like.  Others in the room actually liked the same one quite a bit so don't get the idea that I am saying anything negative about SMWS, it just was a flavour profile that was good and got to a note that I didn't appreciate.  

The other drams I found were all excellent and very tasty and very unique - in a few cases totally different from anything I'd ever tasted and the kind of thing that made me want to be a member a immediately. Honestly, for a while I felt as if I was in an old fashioned soda and ice cream shop as I noted various flavours like cream soda, coke, cherry coke, ice cream, etc.  If they pump out that kind of individuality every month, it could be a very tasty, exciting, and a bit expensive proposition.  But as Bud Fox's old man in Wall Street said, "Money's only something you need in case you don't die tomorrow."  The variety of unique flavours is staggering and the fact that these are single casks really brings some notes to the fore-front that might only be a whisper in typically distillery bottlings. I should say, at the end of the night, we did get the regional information as well as the ages, etc.  I am happy with my self because my three favourites were the youngest (8 years old), the oldest (30 years), and one in the middle (21 years).  

Anyway, I love flavour and this event brought it to me in spades. 

Tobermory Aged 15 Years Review

Tobermory 15 Year Old - 46.3% abv. - Un-chillfiltered

Remember how I said that the best payment you can give someone is a bottle of scotch? Well, its true.  Last month, I played the part of emcee at my brother-in-law's wedding to his lovely wife. Well, I guess I did a good job because the two of them decided to gift me this lovely bottle of scotch to thank me for my loyal service. My brother-in-law told me that they knew I had a lot of bottles of scotch at home and they wanted to get me something unique, something that I didn't already have. I'll be honest, they ended up getting me something that I never even heard of before I saw this bottle.  In fact, it seems that most people have never heard of Tobermory.  Well, if Tobermory keep making whiskies like this, I don't think that will last for too much longer.

Colour: Deep amber with copper highlights

Nose: I really get sultana raisins along with some really clean sherry notes and Christmas spices.  Some chocolate syrup on the nose too.

Palate: Starts a little sweet and works through some warming spices to a nice tang... this is coastal, after all!  Nice, clean sherry notes followed by some salt.  The sweetness really is a raisin flavour that leads into a chocolate note accompanied by some salt.  This takes middle road between rich and dry.  Altogether pleasant and nice body here!  This has a nice mouthfeel that develops into a gentle drying warmth.  

Finish: Finish is long and carries on the spices and warmth right into my belly.

This is a nice, sherried dram!  Easy to drink and has nice flavours.  Not desert on its own like some Glenfarclas drams are, but is a nice, relaxing night cap.  I think anyone would like this... one to have around if you need to impress a Father-in-law or your boss?  One thing that is cool about this is most people haven't heard from it and it is quite good so folks might get the idea you know what you are doing if you serve this.  Never a bad thing!