7 whiskies to taste before you die

A lot of the lists I see floating around the internet, books etc., "best this", "try that"," read now", "die later" seems quite random and made by people who just shouldn't have made a list. My problem is usually not what is NOT on the list, but what's on it!

I decided to make some lists for others to disagree with. Here's the first!

7 whiskies to try before you die
and a few extra recommendations

This is the real thing. You ain't gonna turn around in your grave if you miss out on Jim Beam Black whatever Ian Buxton says

The seven whiskies is more a catagory or groups of bottlings, than a specific bottling. 3 specific great whiskies to search for is mentioned below though.

1. Ardbeg from the 70's
Around the turn of the millenium there was quite a big stock of old Ardbeg lying in their warehouse. This was before Ardbeg was the talk of the town and before Ardbeg was one of the most popular malt whiskies out there. So a lot of quite old Ardbeg was bottled, a lot cheaper than today. The best were those distilled in the 70's, early 70's particulary.

Here's a few legendary bottlings: Lord of the Isles, Ardbeg Provenance, Old Malt Cask did a range of bottlings, like the Ardbeggeddon for the PLOWED society and the distillery itself did a range of single casks.

2. Brora
Short version: Clynelish distillery was "copied" in the late 60s and the owners renamed the original version Brora, and kept the name Clynelish for the new modern distillery next door. Brora, the original Clynelish, was closed in 1983.

In the early 70's, while Caol Ila was being modernised by DCL (now Diageo), they used Brora to produce some peated whisky for extra supply. While Clynelish and Brora are similar, but still different whiskies, they differ a lot in this period, when one was peated and the other not. Personally I found Brora around 1972 to be the most peated. Brorageddon from the PLOWED society and OB 30yo 2002 are my two favourites, but I sure wished I bought more of this, but who doesn't ?

3. Bowmore from 60's
Bowmore from the 60's is legendary. It's not just the super-expensive Black Bowmore, White Bowmore and Gold Bowmore, but also Bowmore like the 1964-1979 Bicentenary:  http://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=4&whiskyid=7299

Most people, but not all, agree that something went wrong with Bowmore in the late 70's up to mid 90s, particular in the 80s, but they seem to be back on the very right track now. I wonder if they dare to make a bottling called "Phoenix" one day!

4. Caperdonich 1972
Duncan Taylor was essentially based on a huge stock of "forgotten" casks. Amongst them were quite a large amount of Caperdonich casks filled in 1972. These were bottled more or less one by one over a period of around a decade. From being a distillery that was regarded as a nothing, Caperdonich became one of the recent legends in the world of whisky. It's not just Caperdonich 72 that is great whisky, aged Caperdonich in general is marvelous. There just happened to be a lot more from 72 around than other vintages. Caperdonich was mothballed in 2002 and is demolished today.

5. Stitzel-Weller
Stitzel-Weller was closed in 92 and is arguably the most legenday bourbon distillery. The blame or cause for this is probably the bottles released as Pappy van Winkle. Pappy van Winkle is a brand, and as the stock of old Stitzel-Weller is dissappearing the whiskey is replaced by similar aged whiskey from other distilleries. It looks like there is no problem keeping the quality up, basically telling us that the recipe combined with carefully cherrypicked barrels is the key, not the distillery itself. But the legacy is there, and it is there for a reason. Look out for older bottlings of Pappy van Winkle 15 and 20 and Jefferson Presidential Select labeled as Stitzel-Weller. The original brand from Stitzel-Weller was Old Fitzgerald (now owned by Heaven Hill) I hope I one day will be able to try bottlings like Very Old Fitzgerald, Very Xtra Old Fitzgerald and Very Very Old Fitzgerald from Stitzel-Weller. And hey, rumours says Stitzel-Weller will reopen!


6. A. H. Hirsch
A. H. Hirsch is a range of bottlings from a distillery in Pennsylvania, all distilled within the same week in 1974 and most of it dumped from the barrels in 1990 as 16yo. I recommend that you read Chuck Cowdery's book "The best bourbon you'll never taste" for further info.

7. Rosebank
To me Rosebank is THE legendary lowlander. Closed in the 90's. Triple or 2½ times distilled (or both, people are arguing about this). When people are talking about the Lowland catagory and how it's supposed to taste, they basically talk about how Rosebank tastes. Or did taste. The rest of the Lowland is more or less as different as the rest of Scotland without being peated.

If you think Old Benriach, Port Ellen, Convalmore, Lochside, St. Magdelene and Old Glenglassaugh should have been on the list, I can't really disagree

Should this rare rye have been on the list. I think so

You don't have to go way back in time to find spectular AND affordable whisky.

SMWS 35.71 "like a hug from your mom", released 2012

Benromach 55yo.

I wish I had a bottle

(Photo stolen from TWE)

Martin Mills. Best bourbon I ever tasted. Who wants to sell me a bottle ?

Next list will be: Things to do in Edinburgh, especially  if you like whisky!

Can a whiskybook be a page-turner ?

And can an ebook be a page-turner ?

I wouldn't have thought so

Recently the american bourbon expert Chuck Cowdery, released a book about one single bottling, called The best bourbon you never taste, with the subtitle : 

The true story of A.H. Hirsch Reserve Straight Bourbon. Distilled in the Spring of 1974

This is not a "real" printed book as it's only available on digital media. This was my first experience with a digital book, but I managed to get on amazon and get the book for my laptop, and with a little trouble I also managed to make it appear on my mobile phone. 

The book is the story about this particular one bottling, but also about the the distillery which made the whiskey inside the bottle, Michter's in Pennsylvania (which actually just was the distillerys final name)

It's also a great insight into American Whiskey History. Or maybe more correctly, a glimpse into American Whiskey History.

I found the book very exciting to read. The chapters are set out very intelligent, as a reader I had this "What's going to happen"-feeling, or as this is whiskey-history, "what did happen?"-feeling

What did happen at Michter's ?. What Whiskey did they produce ?. Why did Michter's close in 1990 ? Why was a batch of 16yo 1974 vintage bourbon from this distillery bottled in 2003 ?

I can only recommend this book. It's for hardcore whiskyfans, but as you read this, I am sure you are :-)

It's only available digital. You can read Chuck Cowdery's own presentation on his blog HERE and it will also tell you how to get a copy. I had to download a free app on my phone to read it, but it's ready readable on my laptop. I paid 11.49$ 

PS I actual always thought reading an ebook would be annoying. It wasn't. And it's a very convenient way to get cheap access to books that would otherwise be hard, expensive or impossible to get hold of.

3 Ryes and a Bourbon

Well I have some samples and bottles of american whiskies, and it isn't supermarket shelf brands, but 4 bottlings quite rare and hard - if not impossible - to find.

Where scottish single malt whisky refers to distilleries, american bourbon is more brand orientated, or quite often it's more recipe orientated. A bourbon brand can change distillery of origin, but the recipe usually remains the same. Bourbons from Jim Beam is made at two different distilleries (Boston and Clermont in Kentucky), but I have never seen any emphasis on any on these distilleries

corn

Rye

Recipe is a keyword. A bourbon most contain at least 51% corn, be matured on fresh oak barrels, no minimum time required. Most bourbons are from Kentucky, but there's no location restriction. There's bourbons being made in a lot of US states. It's called bourbon after the old bourbon county, which used to cover most of Kentucky. The whiskey style produced here took name after the area of origin, but today it's only a catagory of whisky, origin can be from anywhere. So Old Bourbon whiskey, doesn't refer to the whiskey's age, but the Old Bourbon County. Straigh Bourbon has a minimum age requirement of 2 years on wood. Rye whiskeys are a minority production at most bourbon distilleries and is produced on a far lesser scale than bourbon products. To be named a straight rye whiskey it needs at least 51% rye and 2 years on wood

The remaining part of a bourbon is always some barley (contains important enzymes for fermentation process) and the rest is usually wheat or rye. There's a subcatagory of wheat bourbon and rye bourbon, which describes the last 35-45% and it has an impact on the resulting flavour. Corn is regarded as giving a more neutral flavour of these three grains. Rye, as I discovered when drinking the ones I review below, adds flavour.

Danish rye bread. I eat that almost daily

Just recently a distillery by the name of High West has started up in Utah of all places. Nothing aged has come out from the distillery yet, but they have bottled a series of well aged ryes and bourbons under the High West name, but distilled at other distilleries. Independant bottler style.

1. High West Rendezvous Rye 46%. Batch 48

Wow. This is aromatic. The nose reminds me of gin and Old Spiced aftershave. It really took me 3-4 drams just to get used to this, it's so different  from what I am used to drink, which is single malt whisky. This is an acquired taste, but it's winning on me. The first time I tried this 2 weeks ago I was sceptical, but just after a few drams I really like it. It's not that hard to teach an old dog a new trick ! According to John Hansell's blog this is a blend of two rye whiskies, a 6 year old made from 95% rye and a 16 year old made from 80% rye. As soon as you get used to drinking Old Spice :-), a sweet, woody and very very drinkable rye whiskey emerges.  

Rating 86 but be careful of this one if you have phobic tendencies

2. High West 16yo Rocky Mountain Rye 46% Batch 2

The connection to the Rendezvous is clear. The Gin/Old Spice is gone, instead I get the impression of forest resins and a lot of vanilla notes. For a traditional malt whisky consumer like me this is a much more approachable dram than the rendezvous. At Cognac and Rum tasting I often find my favourites to be the one that reminded me most of a single malt. But sometimes you just need to get used to new flavours. The intensity of these ryes and smack-in-your face flavours is something you need to acknowledge as well. It's 46% so I reckon quite a lot of water has been added, especially knowing GTS is around 70% casks strength. But it's still very flavourful and also easy drinkable

Rating 87

High West ryes is rumoured to be distilled at LDI Lawrenceburg plant. A big thanks to Jens-Erik Schjødt Svensson for sharing the bottles of High West he brought back from Chicago with me !

3. A.H Hirsch Reserve 45.8% Distilled 1974 at Michter's, Pennsylvania. Straight Bourbon Whisky 

Coming from the ryes, the first I notice is caramel, and I don't mean e150!, more the candy-fudge type of caramel. It's woody like a very old single malt with a very big note of blackcurrant. I like this. I like it a lot. The combination of ABV, age and woodiness is perfect, and the fine twist the blackcurrant gives me is marvelous. This bourbon is far from as spicy as the ryes.

Michter's distillery closed in 1988 and this bourbon has been kept on stainless steel tanks beyond its labeled age to keep it from ageing further

Rating 89

A big thanks to Jørn G Pedersen for the sample

4. Bitter Truth Rye Whiskey. Aged 24 years. 69.2%

A german independant bottling of a rye from a closed distillery. Rumoured to be from Bernheim.

Woody, spicy and fruity. The ABV is not for the faint-hearted. Liqourice. Oranges. Earthy. Minty. Just as with the George T. Staggs (GTS) I find  this is best consumed dropwise for an explosion of flavours in your mouth

Rating 89

Big thanks to Gormie for picking up the bottle for me

Links :

http://www.hirschbourbon.com/

http://www.highwest.com/