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Bruichladdich Comparison at Myra's House 10/20/2012

10/26/2012

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Thanks Myra for allowing us to make this comparison, once again!!! We can only get certain bottles now and are priviledged enough to be able to taste from your collection from "then."
The food was awesome, by the way! We had ourselves a feast. Todd was roasting oysters on the bbq. Others were eating the slimy, raw kind. There was a shrimp dip that I was tempted to take a handful of  home in my pocket. Aly's soup lasted all of ten minutes. It seems that Todd got none of that. Sorry Todd.
Oh yeah. We tasted some whisky too. This was a comparison of 10 year expressions from Bruichladdich. We had old whisky (bottled by the previous owners), old whisky (in barrels at time of 2001 purchase and bottled by new owners) and new whisky (distilled by new owners). 

10 year   - one of the old ones     43% ABV
-Vanilla and wood smell
-Tasted a tinge of citrus
-With water - starts sour
-Moves to oak, very little sweet
-Trails salty

10 year - older one than first- possibly '80s   40% ABV
[Todd says "smells like Ponderosa Pine] 
-Smells of cinnamon bun to me
-Tastes almost doughy like a dessert - sticks to tongue like cinnamon
-With water - removes the sweetness
-Trails light wood

10 year  Old Whisky/New Bottle   (old whisky/new owners)   46% ABV
(barrels are from Buffalo Trace)
-Very light smell like last one - not quite as sweet and woody
-Creamy, not as sweet, light wood almost pine
-With water turns bitter/sour
-Trails quickly with no aftertaste

'The Laddie Ten'  10 year  New whisky from the new owners   46% ABV
-Smells briny/salty with tinge of leather
-Warm and creamy like cinnamon but not sweet
-Trails like hot dough
-With water starts with tinge of sour
-Trails sour
Didn't enjoy this as much as the others. 

Bruichladdich 20 year        46% ABV   (Thanks todd!)
-Tastes creamy, slightly bitter
-Smells like vanilla
-With water gets bitter

My taste buds were fried at this point. I'll have to try that one again (hint, hint). I couldn't really taste it. 

This comparison was one that spanned different decades of distilling. We all wonder what the effect of the barrel treatments had on the whisky before that type of thing was made illegal in the 1980s. Paxarette was used in all barrels from all the distilleries, apparently. (Here's where I sound all official and cite a source.) In the Whisky Advocate, Spring 2012 issue, pages 82-84, a brief history is given of the commonplace usage of this 'barrel treatment' which must have imparted the sweetness in the whisky. In it are two kinds of sherry, wine concentrate (fructose), Vino De Color and a "neutral wine-based alcohol." This could be a great thesis for a master's degree in whisky distilling. The hard/impossible part would be finding old whisky to make the comparison, unless money was no object, I guess.
 



 


 
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Summer Mixed Whisk(e)y Drinks 9/22/2012

10/26/2012

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This was a relaxed, fun evening at Todd's. Well it's always a relaxed, fun eveing at Todd's. We relaxed the tastings, or expanded them, beyond just single malts. There was even the clinking of ice cubes as Todd played bartender/mixologist. Now there was no hint of Tom Cruise twirling bottles but all the ladies were smiling just as well.
I have to say that our bartender poured some stiff drinks. I only had three. Sweet, mixed drinks flatten taste buds quickly! Of course I tried a Robert Burns first.

Robert Burns
-2oz. of Bunnahabhain
-1oz. sweet vermouth
-lemon twist
*Tasted bitter/smokey with sweetness
[vermouth/Bunnahabhain/lemon]
*Great contrast like the sweet and sour in my stir fry sauce. ( I use soy. oj, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, garlic and sesame oil.)
 
I tried a sip of Aly's Whisky Sour
*Waaaaay tooo sweet! (Puckered face)

Umatilla Smash
-1tbs orange/sugar
-3 Jalapeno slices (yum)
-1 tbs Palm Ridge Reserve
-club soda
*Can smell the jalapeno
*Very peppery/orange whisky taste
*numbs the tongue
*trails slight whisky with very littel alcohol
I think the jalapeno took away the alcohol bite. This drink is a dangerous one! It would be extremely easy to plow through a few of these before you know you're hammered. It's almost as easy to drink as a mojito. Can't rate this on the Aly and Donna Scale. Not sure of their tolerance of jalapeno peppers.

Whisky Sour with Absinth
Neglected  to write down the ingredients and I can't remember if I tasted it.
Smelled strongly of licorice.





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    JM is a long standing member of the Iron Mountain Whiskey Club. 

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