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May 10, 2015

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Whisky News

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Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 Feis Ile 200th Anniversary Edition News

Laphroaig_Cairdeas_2015_2     laphroaig_cairdeas-back_2015

If you are a fan of Islay whiskies then you might know that this year is a big year. Laphroaig and Ardbeg are celebrating their 200th Anniversaries this year! That’s right, they’ve both been around since 1815.

In conjunction with Feis Ile, Laphroaig will be releasing a special Cairdeas release featuring 11-12 year old whisky made only from malt that was malted at Laphroaig.

The Cairdeas (Gaelic for friendship) bottlings are released every year for Feis Ile. To get first access to bottles you can either show up at the distillery during Feis Ile or sign up to the Friends of Laphroaig. Or if you live in the US, bottles tend to show up at specialty stores in the states a short while after the festival.

Laphroaig_Cairdeas_2015_2

UPDATE!! 16/6/2015

Got another email last night from Laphroaig announcing that the Cairdeas 2015 will be sold by Ballot and registration has commenced. The link to register seems to be linked to your specific FoL account. For some reason AliceInWhiskyland did not get the email and could not use the link from my email to register. So if you haven’t gotten the email you may want to look into it.

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May 2, 2015

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Japanese Whiskies, Whisky Reviews

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Hakushu 12 Years Old

Hakushu_12

Hakushu, the lesser known brother of Yamazaki. Both Yamazaki and Hakushu have many different still shapes to be able to produce a wide range of spirit. While Scottish blenders are able to use whiskies from virtually any of the distilleries in Scotland, Japanese blenders are typically limited to the whiskies produced by their company. Hence, many stills at each distillery for many different kinds of whisky. The big difference between Hakushu and Yamazaki whisky is that Hakushu is peated. It’s not that mega in your face Islay kind of peat but a more reasonable level of smokiness. In general peaty whiskies have not done well in Japan. Some of the earliest Japanese whisky had trouble selling due to the peat levels that were designed to emulate the highland whiskies of the time. But Hakushu brings a bit of smoke to the equation which adds to the complexity of their blends and provides a nice contrast to Yamazaki.

The Hakushu lineup has the same ages as the Yamazaki lineup: NAS, 12,18, and 25. It seems like whatever Yamazaki bottles, Hakushu gets a similar bottling. Although Hakushu may not be as famous as Yamazaki, it is certainly not in any way inferior. It has its own distinct style which I think complements Yamazaki quite well. I guess that was Suntory’s whole point of building the distillery.

It is a bit harder to find Hakushu, but I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Type: Single Malt

Distillery: Hakushu

Age: 12

ABV: 43%

Price: ~£75 (£73.81 from Master of Malt)

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May 2, 2015

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Yamazaki 18 Years Old

Yamazaki_18

Well this is one of the big boys of Japanese whiskies. Highly rated and award winning. There is a reason it’s in Ian Buxton’s “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” book. It’s not cheap and at this present moment in time (May 2nd 2015 as I write this) the 18 is hard to find and the prices at retailers are typically grossly inflated. Last time I checked, you would be lucky to find one for £200. Considering that 2-3 years ago you could get a bottle for $160 in the US, it’s hard to swallow.

Recent price hikes for Suntory products will insure that retail prices never go back to the good ole days and diminishing stocks of older whiskies may mean that this expression will jump even further or perhaps even be retired.

Well if you have a bottle, consider yourself fortunate and if you get a chance to try this for a reasonable price, do.

Type: Single Malt

Distillery: Yamazaki

Age: 18

ABV: 43%

Price: ~£200 (£169.95 from Master of Malt)

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May 2, 2015

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Taketsuru 12 Years Old

Taketsuru_12

The Taketsuru 12 is a blended malt from Nikka comprised of malt whisky from Yoichi and Miyagikyo. It is named after the founder of the Nikka Whisky Company, Masataka Taketsuru. Taketsuru is known as the father of Japanese whiskies and his story is truly inspiring. I’ll write about that later.

While Nikka have released quite a few “pure malts” in the west, this one is a bit different in that it is completely Japanese. This might come as a shock to some readers but the Pure Malt Series (Red, Black, and White) actually contain whisky from the  Ben Nevis distillery which is owned by Nikka. From what I’ve heard, it is actually cheaper for Nikka to produce spirit at Ben Nevis and ship it over than it is to produce spirit in Japan. Makes sense considering they mostly import their malt from Europe anyway.

Type: Blended Malt

Distillery: Yoichi and Miyagikyo

Age: 12 Years

ABV: 43%

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May 2, 2015

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Hibiki 12 Years Old

Hibiki_12

If you’ve seen the movie Lost in Translation, you have heard of the Hibiki blend. You may recall Bill Murray holding up a glass of whisky saying “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.” Indeed this blend is created by the biggest Japanese whisky company, Suntory. Suntory has a long history with whisky involving the founder Shinjiro Torii and the Japanese whisky king Masataka Taketsuru. I won’t go too much into it now but I’ll write a post on Japanese whisky history later.

The Hibiki line consists of the 12, 17, 21, 30, and the new no age statement Hibiki. The 12 used to be the entry level whisky to the line up but I guess with whisky prices moving on up, Suntory felt it was necessary to introduce something that would take the place of the 12 in price range.

Recent price hikes have been implemented in Japan for Suntory whiskies. See Nonjatta. While prices in the west have soared due to the increased interest in Japanese whiskies after Jim Murray’s proclamations.

Whisky economics aside, the Hibiki 12 is an interesting blend. The word on the street is that part of the whisky going into the blend was aged in plum wine casks. As far as I know this was only done in the 12 year old expression. I really wish they would release a single malt exclusively from plum wine casks but alas they do not seem keen on it.

If you ever see a bottle of Hibiki in the shop, you’ll notice it’s excellent bottle. Some people aren’t as fascinated by it as I am but I think it looks rather smart. It reminds me of something out of an old detective movie. The bottle has 24 facets which supposedly represents the Japanese calendar with some people saying 24 seasons or months. I am not sure which but it is beautiful.

The malt in this blend comes from Yamazaki and Hakushu, while the grain comes from Chita.

Origin: Japan

Type: Blend

ABV: 43%

Price: ~£55 (£50.80 from Master of Malt)

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April 8, 2015

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Scottish Whiskies, Whisky Reviews

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Benromach 10

Benromach_10

The Benromach 10 was the whisky that led me to the rabbit hole of whiskyland. AliceInWhiskyland bought me a bottle for my birthday and it’s been a best friend ever since. It’s actually the 3rd whisky I’ve ever tried and the expression that I have bought more than any other. So it definitely has a place in my heart and cupboard.

Details:

Distillery: Benromach

Expression: 10 years old

Age: 10

ABV: 43%

Price: ~£35 (£34.63 from Master of Malt)

Note: This is an older batch of the Benromach 10 from when they came in copper coloured tins. Newer batches seem to have a slightly different profile that is a bit peatier.

Background:

According to Benromach, the 10 year old is comprised of only first fill sherry and bourbon casks. Benromach make peated and unpeated whisky and I believe they mix the two to make expressions like these since their peaty whiskies are relatively high ppm’s of about 50-60. This expression is quite peaty for a speyside but definitely no where near the Benromach Peat Smoke expression.

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