Angel's Envy Bourbon - The Curse of the Ever Empty Bottle

As far as I can tell, the natural state of a bottle of Angel's Envy Bourbon is as pictured above: drained empty by your friends.

And if you have no interest in reading the next 600+words, here's the review in a nutshell: it's wonderful stuff, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, and it's earned a permanent place on my bar, if I can figure out a way to keep a bottle around for more than a week after opening it. It'll set you back about $50, and it's worth every penny.

I recommended this as part of my last minute 2013 gift guide, but didn't do a full review. Several weeks later I discovered that the local ABC stores had started carrying it, and picked up another bottle to share with friends at the monthly First Friday art walk at City Market Studios and Gallery.

That bottle did not survive the night.

After almost two years of whisky on First Friday, it stands out as the only bottle I did not get to finish at home.

But that left me with 1 bottle, so all was good. And then I took that bottle, still unopened, to share at a whisky tasting at Mysticon in Virginia.

It survived the tasting, but with barely enough nectar left to provide for this review. And now that bottle is now empty as well, and I am sad.

Angel's Envy is truly special. It shows what a master craftsman can do when they set out to create something special. In this case, it was master distiller Lincoln Henderson (recently deceased), who helped birth Woodford Reserve, creating a special whiskey to help his son break into the whiskey business.

Everything about the base bourbon, from the grain bill (72% corn, 18% rye, 10% malt), to the yeast, to the distillation process to the use of charcoal filtering instead of chill filtering, to where in the warehouse (top rack) the whiskey is aged, and for how long, is designed to create a spirit that will blend well with the flavors that come from being partially aged in a used ruby red port barrel.

And that's how most of what's in an Angel's Envy bottle gets there: distillation, aging in a charred oak barrel for 4-6 years, and then a further 6 months or more in a port barrel shipped over from Portugal. However, reading the marketing materials on the Angel's Envy website, I discovered another interesting tidbit: some of the whiskey apparently goes straight into port barrels after distilling, and then is blended back in with the oak aged bourbon at some point in the process.

Of interest to whiskey geeks - these materials also claim that bourbon ages quicker than scotch due to warmer climate of the US and the use new charred barrels (the scots tend to age in used barrels, commonly, bourbon).

And now onto the whiskey itself.

Angel's Envy is a lovely golden liquid. Bottled at 86.6 proof (43.3% abv), it's is medium heavy when sipped neat, which is generally how I drink it.

The aroma is an enticing blend of honey, oak and sweet port. And then there's the flavor.

Smooth and sweet and subtle straight from the bottle, with a surprisingly mild alcohol bite. The flavor starts with the honey sweetness and touch of rye spice familiar to all bourbon drinkers, but then you realize the ruby port flavors slipped in at some point, and you're not sure when, and your tongue doesn't care, it just wants more.

This a far different experience than the distinct oak pop! at the end of the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. These flavors blend seamlessly, much more in the style of a good single malt scotch, with everything singing in harmony across your taste receptors.

And this, of course, is why you never have any around. It tastes so damn good and sips so damn easy that your friends just can't help themselves.

This is an easy recommendation. If you find it, buy it. Give it as a gift. Get your friends hooked on it. That way you can help empty their bottles when you visit them.

Because your bottle will never last long.

(PS - This is another bottle that your artsy friends will hound you for, even after it's empty.)

 

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked - That's A Spicy Bourbon

 

One of the best trends in bourbon these days is the experimentation with finishing the whiskey in casks other than the traditional charred american oak. New woods and casks previously used to age other spirits expand the bourbon flavor universe, increase the diversity of flavors and and open up a new vistas for exploration.

Which is a good thing, because until now bourbon's flavor variety was painfully constrained compared to the immense flavor universe offered by single malt scotch. The difference in flavor between Woodford Reserve and Old Weller Antique Reserve, for example, is a tiny, inchworm-measured thing, compared to the flavor differential between Ardbeg Uigeadail and, say, Dalwhinnie.

In fact, you can almost see the bourbon makers looking across the pond at the scotch distillers and wondering how they get so much taste (and market!) differentiation out of whisky that essentially all has the same mash bill: 100% malted barley (by contrast, bourbon makers generally have three mash bills (recipes), to choose from).

Part of the secret is something the scots have been doing for decades now: aging their whisky in all sorts of different barrels: used bourbon barrels (!), used sherry cask, used port pipes, rum pipes, and even, occasionally, in french oak barrels. The interaction between barrel and whisky, usually over the course of many years, changes the flavor of the spirit, as compounds dissolve out of the wood and into the whisky, and other compounds in the whisky are absorbed by the wood.

Woodford Reserve is on the first bourbon distillers to step up to the plate and imitate the scots. The standard expression gets an additional 9 months in a second oak barrel, prepared differently than the standard maturation cask. This second oak barrel gets a longer toasting, but a lot less char. As a result, it imparts a lot more of its oak flavors to the whiskey.

So, how does the Double Oaked compare to the standard Distiler's Select, which one of my all time favorite bourbons?

Colorwise, the the Double Oaked is noticeably darker and more burgundy hued. The aroma is caramel and vanilla and honey, similar to the standard Distiller's Select, but softer, not as sharp.

Both are bottled at 90.4 Proof (45.3% abv), share a similar mouthfeel and are best, to my taste, with just a little water added.

And now we reach the heart of the matter - flavor. The Double Oaked starts off just like the standard Distller's Select: you get the caramel, vanilla and honey promised by the aroma, some pepper and spice from the rye and just as that's fading away..

BAM! Spicy oak jumps out and slaps you upside the taste buds.

It's a surprise all right. The nose promises a softer, richer Distller's Select, but gives no warning of that aggressive oaky pop waiting for you at the end. My Distller's Select review mentions oakiness 'reasserting' itself in the finish: in that expression, the oak notes in the finish say distinctly, "we are here." By contrast, the oak waiting for your taste buds at the end of a sip of Double Oaked kicks down the door and yells "Oak in da house!".

Is this bad? Is this good?

It depends on what you like. It took me completely by surprise when I first cracked the bottle, but I've decided I like it.  Those extra notes at the end add a new dimension to the flavor and the drinking experience and cause me to pay more attention to simple pleasure of tasting what I'm drinking.

Now, the next question is, is it worth the price? As of this writing, the Double Oaked will run you $15-$20 more a bottle than the Distiller's Select, which is a hefty price premium.

That one, I'm punting on. What will say is this: if you like bourbon, the Double Oaked is definitely worth trying. You may decide that extra oak pop at the end just doesn't do it for you. Alternately, you may decide that the extra layer of flavor elevates the Double Oaked to must have on my bar status.

 

 

Aberlour a'bunadh - Richly Flavored Throwback

 

Aberlour a'bunadh is a cask strength  - my bottle weighs in at 119.8 proof (59.9% abv) - single malt scotch from the Speyside region of Scotland. It's aged in used Spanish Oloroso sherry casks, which adds distinctive flavor and color to the whisky. Aberlour boasts that a'bunadh is produced and bottled without modern falderal such a chill-filtering for clarity or watering down to lower, sipping proof (usually between 80-86 proof).

It's released in small batches, in a bottle style that was distinctive when it was introduced, but that has been successful enough that Aberlour has switched its two other standard distillery expressions, the 12- and the 16-year-old to the same style bottle.

The bottle carries no age statement.

It's irrelevant. The whisky is awesome.

It has a lovely burgundy color, and, when cut with some water, a wonderful aroma of sherry and malt with just a hnt of allspice. With the right amount of water, it has a medium heavy mouthfeel, and rich sherry flavors blending with malt sweetness, with some spicy hints along the way, especially in the medium long finish.

One of the fun parts of drinking cask strength whisky is figuring out just how much water to add bring out the maximum flavor and gentle the alcohol burn without diluting it too much. Some folks claim they can drink cask strength whisky neat and not miss anything ... to each their own. I'm part of the greater mass of folks who generally need some water to make the cask strength stuff sing.

For me, a'bunadh hits its sweet speed when I cut it with about 25% water...put another way, 4 parts a'bunadh, 1 part water in the glass, swirl it around, and then send your tongue to heaven.

a'bunadh will set you back about $75 - $90 a bottle in the US, so it's not a cheap dram. But if you like your whisky sweet and rich with lots of sherry flavor, you should avail yourself if you can manage to fit it into your budget at all.

This, naturally, brings up a comparison to the Macallan Cask Strength that I reviewed last year. It's a tough call, but I think I give the edge, by a small margin, to the a'bunadh. I feel confident in saying that if you like one, you'll probably like the other.

On a more practical note, a'bunadh has pretty wide distribution, at least in the US, and may be easier to find than the  Macallan Cask Strength.

Highly recommended, and, incidentally, a great gift for the single malt fanciers on your birthday and holiday lists.

Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel - Worth the Wait if You Can Find It

 

So what do you get when you leave good bourbon in charred oak barrel in the back of a Kentucky warehouse until it's old enough to vote?

You get a bourbon that is luscious, smooth, gorgeous and all around wonderful. And, if a warehouse fire interrupts the supply chain, you apparently get to wait until 2018 or so until they bottle it again (hat tip to Chuck Cowdery and commenters for that tidbit).

Which means, alas, the Elijah Craig 18-Year-Old Single Barrel (ECSB 18 for short) is in exceedingly short supply. I see it listed online for $60 a bottle, but no one has stock. Back in the day, it was a $40 a bottle..but if you're a bourbon fancier and you spot a bottle in liquor store somewhere, it'll be worth the $60.

(Side note - Heaven Hill, the folks who make the Elijah Craig bourbons, have been putting out extremely limited editions of 20- and 21-year-old Elijah Craig Single Barrel in similar looking bottles, for increasingly much  higher prices, to sort of fill the gap.)

So, what would you get for your $60, should you find one of these rare bottles on a store shelf?

The short answer is one of the top 3 bourbons I've ever had.

The long answer is a richly colored reddish brown bourbon, with a subtle aroma of oak and honey with a dash of maple syrup.

In the mouth it has a nice weight to it, heavy without being oily. The flavors come on smoothly, and blend together so seamlessly it can be hard to distinguish them. I taste some rich honey, followed by oak and rye spiciness that fades pleasantly to alternating sweet and spicy notes and then to a faint, lingering, happiness of the taste buds.

As a straight bourbon whiskey, ECSB 18's grain bill is at least 51% corn. The "flavoring" grain is definitely rye ( as opposed to wheat - see my review of Old Weller Antique Reserve) which provides a nice counterpoint to the corn's sweetness. It is, by all accounts I can find, a low rye recipe, which limits the amount of rye bite in the final flavor.

For the record, the third grain in bourbon is barley, which provides important enzymes and mouthfeel to the whiskey, but whose flavor contributions are apparently greatly outweighed by the corn and rye/wheat, even when the barley amount exceeds the rye/wheat amount.

As a single barrel whiskey, each bottle of ECSB 18 comes from one and only one barrel.  This is different from most whiskies, which are bottled from the contents of tens or hundreds of barrels being mixed together to create the distillery's signature flavor.

As a result, some bottle-to-bottle variation is to be expected if you manage to procure bottles from different barrels. That variation will be bounded by the tastes of the master distiller selecting the barrels, but there will likely be more variation than with whiskies bottle from mixed barrels.

ECSB 18 is bottled at 90 proof (45% abv) - which means it's been watered down some from cask strength (probably closer to 110 -120 proof). It drinks nicely neat, but I prefer it with just a little water added.

It's going to be hard making this bottle last until 2018...

Which brings me to a closing note: that bottle. That lovely unique, antique style bottle with the intricate designs, which is guaranteed to have all your crafty or artistic friends asking you just what you're planning to do with it when you finish the whiskey inside. It's gorgeous, and the whiskey inside is every bit as good.

Tullamore Dew Special Reserve: Tasty, but Not So Special

The regular expression of Tullamore Dew is generally my go-to standard blended Irish whiskey. It's inexpensive and I like it just a little more than Jameson's. So, I was intrigued when this new variant hit the local store shelves carrying an age statement (missing from the regular Dew's label) and a hefty 75% price premium.

According to the Tullamore Dew website, the the Special Edition Dew gets more aging, and a slightly different mix of whiskies: more malt and pot still distilled whiskey (the good stuff) and less of the non malt whiskey distilled with some other, not so marketable still type (the "meh" stuff?). Both share a mix of triple-distilled whiskies made from different grains aged in bourbon and Oloroso casks, although the Special Reserve Dew makes a big deal out of those casks on the label, and the regular Dew doesn't really mention them.

So, if you're standing there in the liquor store, torn between the $20 bottle of regular,just plain regular Dew, and the $37 bottle of the sexy Special Reserve Dew with it's age statement and promise of being aged just so in bourbon and sherry casks, which one should your trembling hand add to your basket?

It depends - do you need to impress someone who doesn't read this site?

Buy the Special Reserve Dew.

Do you want to explore the subtle differences between whiskey that's at least 12 years old, vs whiskey of a presumably younger, but indeterminate age?

Again, buy the Special Reserve Dew.

Are you looking for the best value for your whiskey dollar?

Buy the regular Dew.

Alternately, if you're looking to spend in the price range of the Special Reserve Dew and are attracted by the sherry cask aging, go a few dollars more for an Abelour, Glenfarclas, Balvenie Double Wood, or Macallan 12 year old single malt. All of these have much richer sherry notes in their flavor.

I'm not saying the Special Reserve Dew is a bad whiskey. It most certainly is not. To my taste, though, it is not 75% better than the regular Dew...not even close to being that superior.

I say that based on sitting here, with a glass of each, side-by-side. Based on how they look in the glass, they are almost indistinguishable. They are both honey colored, with the Special Reserve being barely perceptibly darker.

Both weigh in at 80 proof (40% abv) meaning both have been watered down from cask strength. This isn't a knock - the lowered proof allows one to enjoy all the flavor available while sipping either one neat, rather than having to experiment to find the right amount of water to add.

Both have very similar aromas to my nose: sweet with a touch of sherry.

There is a discernible difference in flavor, but not a stunning one. Both are light bodied, starting with honey sweetness that quickly fades to a muted sherry and oak flavors before disappearing in a medium short finish.

The Special Reserve Dew is just a little softer, a little smoother, with a little more sherry and detectable oak and overall slightly richer flavor.

For all the mention it makes of the sherry casks on the label, the Special Reserve either spends little time in them or the sherried whiskies are a small part of the blend. You can find the flavors, but you have to think about it. If you're expecting the rich sherry flavors you find in the single malts I mentioned earlier, you'll be disappointed. (For the record, the regular Dew gets a pass here, because it doesn't make prominent mention of the sherry aging on it's label - in fact, I didn't even realize it used sherry cask aged whiskey in the mix until I was researching for this review).

Is the Special Reserve Dew better than the regular Dew? Yes.

Is it $17 or per bottle better than it's $20 a bottle younger sibling? Not to my tastes, alas. I'll be keeping the regular Dew around, but when this bottle of Special Reserve Dew is gone, I won't pay to replace it.

The Whisky Advent Calendar - Plan to Give it

 

 

This was my most excellent early Christmas present from my wife. Why am I only reviewing it now?

I had to finish it first. With parties and travel, I didn't get through all 24 days until after Christmas.

I'll jump right to the heart of the matter: when you plunk down your $247 + shipping (and they do ship to the US) for the Whisky Advent Calendar, do you get gift value commensurate to your coin?

My answer, is yes. I got 24 days of whisky discovery, a chance to sample products from more than 20 distilleries in 5 countries. The selection was mostly single malt scotch (13 of the 24 days) with the balance filled in with, blended scotches (3), bourbons (3), American malt whisky (1, from Texas), Japanese malt whisky (1 single, 1 blend), a Swedish single malt, and an Irish single malt.

There were no bad drams. There were some that I didn't enjoy as much as the others, but that's going to be the case in any sampler package.

There were also some amazing whiskies in there. I'm now plotting to get ahold of a bottle of Glencadam - the 30ml sample of the 21-year-old in the calendar seduced my taste buds with amazingly complex flavors. And finishing the 2013 edition off with a dram of 40-year-old Glenfarclas was a master stroke - now I have another entry on my "List of things to buy when I win the lottery."

So, if you're looking for a gift for a whisky fancier that will put a smile on their face for most of the month of December, start saving your pennies now for the 2014 Edition of the Whisky Advent Calendar.

I'll also point out that Masters of Malt also offers several other boozy advent calendars: the Premium Whisky ( just north of $400) made of rarer drams, two variations of GInvent Calendars for the gin enthusiast, and a Rum Advent Calendar for the pirate in your life.

2013 Last Minute Gift Guide

So, you've let your holiday shopping go, and now you're behind the proverbial 8-ball, with Solstice and Christmas parties bearing down on you, with Christmas and Boxing day themselves just around the corner. Fortunately, in most places in the US and other developed countries, the local liquor offers a selection of gifts for the adults in your life. As an added benefit, if you choose wisely, you'll appear thoughtful and erudite, as opposed to desperate.

To that end, here are some ideas for good  gifts, and some that aren't even too dear.

A Bottle for the Party

Looking to bring something to share for the holiday party, that's distinctive, good, and not too expensive? Here are some ideas:

Old Weller Antique Reserve - Usually under $25 a bottle, and under $20 in some places, this is a great choice for parties where you know there will be bourbon drinkers.

Redemption Rye (not yet reviewed) - Price ranges from $22 - $30 a bottle. Youngish, but mature enough to be drinkable straight. It makes a great mixer for cocktails, like Manhattans (originally made with rye, before Prohibition all but killed it off) and other bourbon-based drinks.

Auchentoshan Classic Single Malt Scotch (not yet reviewed) - $28 - $32 a bottle, generally. This is the only single malt that's triple distilled. The results is a light, sweet spirit with honey notes and none of the divisive peat or smoke flavors that often divide whisky drinker. The resulting wide appeal makes a great choice for parties.

 A Bottle for Under the Tree

For starters, I've reviewed several scotches, bourbons, as well as a rye, a rum and an Irish whisky that I've labelled as good gift choices. They are mentioned in the list below, along with a couple of extra ones that I haven't had a chance to formally review yet.

For the Bourbon Lover

Angels Envy (not yet reviewed) - runs between $40 and $50 a bottle, and well worth it. Angels Envy is finished in used port casks. This has been done by scotch makers for years, but it's a rarity in the bourbon world. The resulting blend of flavors is excellent, and as gifts go, it's a real winner: rare, good, and not to expensive.

Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel  - runs $25 - $30 a bottle, if you can find it. A great gift for the bourbon lover, because it is quite good and honors the man credited with starting the bourbon revival. And the reasonable price doesn't hurt at all.

Woodford Reserve Distller's Select - runs around $30 a bottle, plus or minus a couple of bucks, depending on where you live. One of my top 4 bourbons of all time, and solid choice for the bourbon aficionado. Even if they have a bottle on their bar, they're going to need another one sometime soon.

For the Scotch Lover

Auchentoshan Classic Single Malt Scotch (not yet reviewed) - see above.  An excellent scotch, and one whose price has not yet gone through the roof.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask -  Moving up the price range a bit, the Quarter Cask will set you back between $50 to $60 for a 750ml bottle. As gift, you wan't to be a little more careful with this - you need to select a recipient who likes peaty scotch. However, for such a person, this bottle makes an excellent gift. Not only is the whisky excellent and relatively new to the market, it gives the enthusiast a chance to see how changing the wood/whisky ratio in the aging cask affects flavor.

The Macallan Cask Strength - Prices for this are all over the map this holiday season, ranging from $60 - $100 a bottle, and stock seems to be limited. If you can score this for $90 or so, it makes a good gift for the scotch connoisseur, assuming you love or need to impress somebody $90 worth.

Ardbeg Uigeadail - Running from $55 to $75 a bottle, and worth every penny, even at $75. Peaty scotch partially aged in used sherry barrels, the resulting flavors are surprisingly rich and well blended. For the scotch drinker with any taste for peat at all, this is a heavenly dram and thus a wonderful gift. Ever folks who find the standard Ardbeg too peaty and harsh like Uigeadail. However, if the maximum amount of peat a person can tolerate is zero, another choice, alas, might be better for them.

For the Rye Lover

WIllett Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Rye - Around $35 a bottle, and simply the best rye whiskey I've ever tasted. Now, some folks simply don't like rye, much like some folks don't like peat. But if they like rye, and you can locate a bottle of this, it's a surefire winner of a gift.

For the Irish Whiskey Lover

The Tyrconnell - Runs around $35 a bottle. A rarity in the marketplace, this is a single malt Irish whiskey (most are blends).  That, plus the fact that it's plenty good whiskey, makes it an excellent gift for the person who fancies the lighter Irish take on whiskey.

For the Rum Lover

Zaya - About $25  - $35 a bottle, which makes it a little on the expensive side for rum. However, this is special stuff: quintuple distilled, aged for 12 years, and so sweet and smooth and rich you can drink it straight. And I've seen nice gift packs in the stores with excellent glasses for the same price as the bottle alone. You can mix it, but if you do, be aware of how sweet Zaya is on its own.