The Whisky Round Table No. 15 is up at Peter’s The Casks blog. It’s all about the mixing!

Whisky cocktails…love ‘em or hate ‘em? We’re not talking Jack & Coke, 7&7′s, or Rusty Nails from the rail here, we’re talking top shelf single malts, single barrel bourbons, and craft distillery ryes, shaken or stirred into a classic pre-Prohibition cocktail or a new, creative libation. What do you think, is it an affront to the whisky gods to use the good stuff in a cocktail, an abomination nonpareil? Or is it a terrifically delicious, if not spendy, use of our favorite spirit? Feel free to share your favorites and where you had them as well…or, as it may turn out, your least favorites and where you wasted your hard-earned money…

Answers here: http://thecasks.com/2011/08/03/whisky-roundtable-15/

Bloggers' Blend Winner - Batch I

Well, it has been a month and a half since my last post so I better get back on track asap! Can’t let something like opening a wee shop get in the way of some posting and tasting. Or is that tasting and posting? Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes – Bloggers’ Blend!

After lots of tasting and voting there was a winner. Congratulations to the creator, or creators, of Batch I who won the voters over with their Islay-prominent presentation. Now we have a product we have to brand, market and get it on sale. Time for some The Apprentice-style brainstorming, although hopefully without the egos and backstabbing.

But first, we need to get to know the product before we can label it.

Colour: Dark gold – light amber.

Nose: Soft, sweet peat. Malty, toffee and citrus soap. Hay bales and lemongrass in the mix with dark sugars and raisins. Something mineral and earthy like freshly turned soil.

Palate: A delicate arrival with a light, watery but creamy, bittersweetness. Orange and lemon with toffee and salt.

Finish: Sweet toffee leads to a sprinkle of pepper and a vegetal bitterness. Earthy and a touch dirty…in a good way.

Comments: A pretty smooth blend – the peaty, earthy notes aren’t overpowering at all. It has a nice balance of sweet and vegetal.

Right, now on with the naming…

Glen Garioch 1994

Do you remember the old Glen Garioch? Pink tartan and stags like some sort of camp hunting lodge theme? Well, thankfully that’s all long gone and the Founder’s Reserve and 12yo bottlings have paved the way for an ever-growing new range. Not only has the packaging been sorted out by a proper design agency but the liquid has been given a kick up the arse too. And it’s all the better for it. The latest offering is this Glen Garioch 1994 vintage. It isn’t chill-filtered and by the look of it not coloured either. It’s also at cask strength which in this case is 53.9%.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Immediately malty, yeasty,with an underbelly of vanilla cream. Glimmers of citrus and a delicate meaty peat note.

Palate: Great mouthfeel. Oily, creamy and thick. Tons of citrus and spice.

Finish: Loads of spices and a hint of menthol. A real firecracker. My mouth is tingling, in a good way. Long, long finish with slightly sweet, then bitter chocolate and a hint of smoke towards the end.

This is a wonderful Glen Garioch. Good to see another distillery-own bottling that’s not been touched between the cask and the bottle. Lovely stuff and something I would love to try after coming in from the snow on a winter’s day.

Is that 12 months already? Where does the time go?

The Whisky Round Table is now on Series 2/The Sequel. This Time They’re Back And They’re Pissed Off! Or something.

Right, here we go again. The Whisky Round Table part 13, or Series 2 Episode 1 is now online back at its original home of Guid Scotch Drink. It has been posted in two parts (because some people were really slow to reply – me included) which you can find here and here. It’s all about whisky blogs and bloggers and whether or not some are in it for the freebies. Personally I’m in it for the fame and celebrity. Oh, I better start posting more often then…

Rum, rum, rum!

On the 1st of June The Good Spirits Co. finally opened its doors to the Glaswegian (and visiting) public. Over a year of hard work has paid off and we’re at last providing quality drinks to those who are looking for something a cut above the supermarket offerings in a friendly, relaxing environment. And we have a record player! Mmm, classic Bowie on vinyl.

So what have I learned or observed in the past week and a half? Well, firstly we have sold lots of weird and wonderful stuff. Sake, sotol, vanilla liqueur, grappa…and we’ve been asked for many, many strange drinks. Oh, and Kraken Black Spiced Rum is the new Sailor Jerry by the look of our sales figures. The kids can’t get enough of it, man!

Glasgow, it appears, likes its gin and rum and tequila, as well as its whisky. We see tequila growing particularly well as more discover the taste of the quality aged stuff which is miles away from the industrial cleaning fluid kind that you slam with salt and lime. There are some seriously tasty bottlings there which I’m sure whisky drinkers would appreciate. Single cask rums are also something I’m particularly keeping an eye on as the parallels with whisky are very interesting. A particular favourite is Foursquare Vintage 1998 which will hopefully be back in soon, but if you pop in I might let you try a wee sip from my own bottle. It’s sublime stuff. 10yo bourbon barrel matured heaven.

Most importantly I now have a desire to go to work, rather than try to avoid it. I LOVE going to work. I can’t wait to get into my shop. It’s my new baby. That surely makes it all worthwhile. That and the situation that arose last week. We had a customer come in asking for a particular tequila, one that he had only managed to get in the US when last there and something he had hunted high and low for on these shores but never found. I told him to leave it with me and three days later, when he returned, he was amazed to see me holding a bottle of the particular tipple. The joy and amazement on his face was the reward for all this madness. Long may it continue.

Right, back to work. I’ve got some spirits to sell!

P.S. The title is a kind of private joke. You’ll need to ask Jason of Guid Scotch Drink. He might not reply but he’s a legend in his own underpants.

The Good Spirits Co., ready and waiting.

The picture above is what our shop looked like on Sunday. Apart from another barrel in the window and more stock it hasn’t changed since then despite the plan to be open the day after. Unfortunately we didn’t factor in a slow-moving – incompetent? – Council department or three. Let’s just say that certain people clearly have no idea of the impact they have on small businesses. Or the lives of those trying to do something for themselves.

All week we have waited and jumped through hoops and yet we are now at Friday with the shop still full and not a bottle sold. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe what the three of us are going through right now. The Council is closed until Tuesday so Wednesday is probably a likely date to be thinking about now. That’s the 1st of June. It’ll be Christmas again soon.

At the risk of launching into a rant I’ll let you know a few things about the shop: we currently have 100 malts plus the biggest range of rum in Glasgow and many other spirits, champagne and fortified wines in stock. Our cigar humidor is the only proper Spanish Cedar one in the whole of Scotland and it smells wonderful. I could spend all day in there. Our living cask is about to be topped up with some more whisky, having had several litres of Highland Park 14yo from Glasgow’s Whisky Festival 2010 poured in recently. The record player on the counter helped us celebrate Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday during the week with a few rotations of some of his best albums. All in we are pretty proud of what we’ve achieved and look forward to a long relationship with Glasgow’s discerning drinkers.

If only others would do their bit with some sort of urgency and let us get on with it!

Master of Malt's Blogger's Blend tasting pack.

The recipes have been submitted, created and bottled in Drinks by the Dram packs ready for the vote. Everyone is invited to purchase a set and have a wee tasting (it’s good to share) and then select their favourite. I’m really looking forward to receiving my set to try and pick out my version from the 10. I reckon there will be a few similar ones. Time will tell.

For full details see the Master of Malt blog. Will you be taking part?

Our little online experiment has now come full circle and we’re at the end of the 12 blogs that have taken part. The last, but most definitely not least, to question us all is Chris from Nonjatta.com. His question:

The socialite and art collector Peggy Guggenheim used to pour bottles of cheap blended whisky into premium bottles and, presumably, laugh down her sleeve at those sniffing and simpering over her drams.

How confident are you of your whisky tasting skills?

Is there any purpose to the pursuit of objectivity in whisky tasting (unless you work in the industry) or does it suck the joy out of a essentially subjective experience.

Is it possible to categorise a sip in words and is something lost or gained in that process?

You’ll need to pop over to Chris’s blog to find our answers.

Site of the new Brewdog Bar in Glasgow.

The Brewdog Bar machine is rolling on at a spectacular rate with Aberdeen and Edinburgh now open. Next is Glasgow which will be located in the property which was previously The Lock Inn across from the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in the west end of the city. Having only been in the former bar once, which served decent grub, I’m not sure why it closed down but I’ve no doubt  that the new incarnation will be a hit with the Wendies (West End Trendies).

The guys are saying late June for the opening and I’m pretty sure I’ll be dropping by for a pint or two some time around then. In the meantime I’ll update with some more pics as things progress and keep my eyes peeled as to the exact opening date.

All that walking in the sunshine and talking about beer is making me thirsty…

Bloggers' Blend v1

Well, that’s my recipe submitted now and I believe that all or most of the others are in too. We await the bottling of the minis for the public vote! I wonder how many will taste pretty similar to each other? I wonder if anyone went for something a little bit out there. I think my blend was pretty well balanced and had a bit of everything for everyone but perhaps that won’t stand out too much in the crowd. I wonder if anyone went for a peat monster? I toyed with the idea…

Once again I have to thank the Master of Malt guys for letting me take part. It has been great fun and also an interesting and exciting peek into the world of blending, albeit very controlled. I only ever got to do the one version after all – the new shop plans are taking up a lot of time – but I still have a few samples left so I will no doubt have another wee go on my own at some point anyway. There’s nothing like a spot of blending on a quiet evening to relax after a hectic day.

Let me know if you buy the pack and what you think of the drams when it is released.