The Scotch Blog is once again hosting the Drammies! The award categories are up and it's time to make your nominations. Got a whisky you think is the most over/under-rated? Make sure that they make the list.]]>
The Woolly Jumper
Ingredients:
The Scotch Blog is once again hosting the Drammies! The award categories are up and it's time to make your nominations. Got a whisky you think is the most over/under-rated? Make sure that they make the list.]]>
A couple of weeks ago I picked up a bottle of The Dalmore 12yo for a seemingly ridiculously low price. This whisky's won a number of awards, some best value nods, and the Malt Maniacs Bang-For-Your-Buck list. The Dalmore 12 is youngish and well structured, but not overly complex. Making it a great everyday kind of whisky. I shared a couple of drams with my buddy Daniel, then spent the remainder of the bottle at a reception for some visiting philosophers. While there were plenty of other whiskies to chose among it was The Dalmore alone that got killed that night. My Tasting Notes
Color: golden amber (they add coloring)
Nose: sweet nuttiness and light caramel
Palate: sweet citrus and a hint of oak
Finish: mellow dried fruits
As I said above this is a well balanced malt suitable for everyday affairs. It would be a nice whisky to use as a baseline when introducing new drinkers to the joys of Scotch whisky.
]]>
Max Goss pointed out to me that Christie's auction house sold one bottle of 1926 Macallan Scotch for a mere $54,000. Bargain basement pricing! A number of news sources are reporting that this is an 81yo bottle of Scotch, which is kind of true. The Macallan 1926 was bottled in 1986 as a 60yo, which halts the maturation process. This isn't the first thim that a bottle of has gone for a mint. In 1991 a bottle went for £6,375 at auction and in 2002 another went for £20,150.
To my mind the real winner of the auction (aside from Christie's) is the person who landed the collection of 729 bottles of whisky for $102,000. That's an instant whisky library of some depth for the price of two bottles of the Macallan 1926.
]]>
This past summer I had the opportunity to reconnect with a very good friend while stopping over in Knoxville, Tennessee. Part of that reconnection included an introduction to an excellent single malt whisky. Without a doubt, there are few things better than sharing a superior drink with an old friend. If you ever find yourself in Knoxville, and in need of a nice bottle of whisky, let me recommend that you check out McScrooge’s. The selection is fairly deep, though the knowledge of the staff can be fairly spotty. After some serious deliberation we settled on a bottle of Aberlour a'bunadh batch #18.The a’bunadh (pronounced, a-boon-akh) is a unfiltered cask strength single malt whisky. At cask strength this whisky is about 59.8% alcohol, or nearly 120 proof! The Gaelic sourced name “a’bunadh” means something like “original”. Rumor has it that the a’bunadh is an attempt to recreate an older malt discovered in the distillery. I don’t know whether there is any truth to the rumor, but the a’bunadh is a closer replica of historic malts in that it is both unfiltered and bottled at cask strength.
My tasting notes:
Color: Dark copper.
Nose: Strong sherry, woody
Palate: Sherry pervades, very spicy and, without water, alcoholic. It opens up more with a touch of water; offering dried fruits and hints of caramel.
Finish: the sherry lingers on...
An interesting evening would be comparing the differences between batch #18 to earlier batches. unfortunately my pockets are not so deep.
]]>"So long as the presence of death lurks with anyone who goes through the simple act of swallowing, I will make mine whiskey."]]>-W.C. Fields
We are pleased to announce that all of these titles will be released in November of this year. The proposed volume, Whisk(e)y & Philosophy, would mark the second generation of this series. If you are interested in submitting work to this project, bear in mind that these books are meant to be accessible to the general public and so the essays are not designed to be overly technical. They can, however, incorporate serious philosophical reflection on the relationship between whisky and philosophy. We are open to suggestions for paper topics, but some general recommendations have been included below.
If you are interested in submitting work to this project, bear in mind that these books are meant to be accessible to the general public and so the essays are not designed to be overly technical. They can, however, incorporate serious philosophical reflection on the relationship between whisky and philosophy. We are open to suggestions for paper topics, but some general recommendations have been included below.
]]> Please submit abstracts to whiskyphilosophy@gmail.com by December 1, 2007.Suggestions for Abstract Topics
This list is by no means exhaustive, and your creativity is most welcome. Please feel free to develop your own proposal.
We are interested in contributions that would represent all relevant areas of philosophy: aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, ethics/politics, and so on. Below are some suggestions, though creativity is welcome:
Guidelines for Contributions
We are very excited about this project! Please feel free to contact us at whiskyphilosophy@gmail.com
]]>I'll hope to post tasting notes on all of these in the coming weeks, plus I have notes for a couple of cask strength Scotches Aberlour "A'bunadh" and Ardbeg "Uigeadail". Then I'll have some upcoming purchases which include The Dalmore 12yo, The Dalmore "Cigar Malt", Tobermory 10yo, and the Bowmore 12yo.
]]>
In an old-fashioned glass, pour scotch, brandy, and curacao over ice and the orange slice. Top with the mint sprig, and serve.
]]>
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I hadn't tasted this fine whisky until last week. A good friend and drinking buddy used to make frequent mention of Oban and its virtues, but at the time we were never able to lay our hands on a bottle. Happily I was able to order a generous dram with dinner at the Merrick Inn. (I had the simply fantastic Walleye Pike.) Four years later I've discovered that I've been missing out on a great whisky. My tasting notes:
Color: light amber/new penny
Nose: fruit and cereal with light peaty notes
Palate: spiced fruits, a bit of oak, and a curl of peat smoke
Finish: long with a warm spiciness
Boswell and Johnson visited a "tolerable inn" in the coastal town of Oban during their 1773 tour to the Hebrides. The small distillery would be founded 21 years later by the Stevenson brothers in 1794; making this one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. In fact the town that exists today grew up around the distillery. The still house was rebuilt in 1972, but retained the broad-necked pair of steam heated stills. Curiously, Oban also employs a rectangular double worm-tub, which is the only one I've heard of in operation. Sadly the floor maltings closed in 1968 although it is still in place and listed as a historic building.
]]>