Penny for Your Thoughts - A Midwinter Night's Dram, Lost Spirits Abomination, Johnnie Walker Gre
Post-Christmas cleanup time. Here are a few whiskies that we tried on the balcony a day or two before the holidays.
High West A Midwinter Night's Dram (49.3% ABV) - High West is one of my favorite distilleries out there. Their Rendezvous Rye was my previous favorite rye, with the caveat that I've probably tried somewhere in the range of 10 ryes (compared to dozens, if not hundreds, of scotches). A Midwinter Night's Dram is High West's most coveted and highly rated product, and essentially is a variant on Rendezvous. At $120 a bottle in my local liquor store, it's an expensive variant on the $60 original. After taking that already stellar rye, which blends together 16- and 6-year old sourced whiskies, High West finishes the result in port pipes. That extra finishing, and a few extra percentage points of ABV, are the differences between the two products. The bottom line is that this is a sweeter and (slightly) more nuanced version of Rendezvous. The nose opens on a rich caramel note and then proves itself to be perhaps the best winter holidays dram one can buy: pine, rye, mint, syrup, and gingerbread! High West might as well come to our house and decorate the tree as well. On the palate, I can immediately see the family resemblance between this and Rendezvous Rye, because there are many of the same notes of cappuccino and citrus, but with an added layer of dark chocolate croissants and ciruela. Credit for that last tasting note goes to my wife, who actually knows what that is! The texture is spot-on thanks to the reduced dilution and the finish is also longer. It remains citrus and mint-heavy, but the gingerbread from the nose makes a second appearance. Why doesn't everyone finish their ryes in port? A
Lost Spirits Abomination - Crying of the Puma (54%) - This craft spirit (can't legally call it a whiskey) is one of the most intriguing and difficult-to-rate products that I've encountered in the brief life of this blog. Abomination is a 12- to 18-month old distillate from Islay, which is then run through Lost Spirits' revolutionary aging technique, which uses light (oooohhh, fancy) to accelerate the aging process by rapidly breaking down wood and thus more quickly developing a flavor profile that would take a decade or more in a Scottish warehouse. The wood in question is Riesling-seasoned wood, which is already a strange selection. Since Rieslings aren't barrel-aged at all, but tanked, this is not a type of barrel or wood that exists outside of an attempt to impart some unusual flavors to whiskey. Some superlative reviews online have claimed that the resulting liquid tastes like a 15-year old scotch, but I wouldn't go quite that far. The nose, while absent of any of the harsh ethanol notes I'd expect from immature whiskey, is rather plain: some chalky smoke, reminiscent of Bruichladdich's Octomore lineup, almost like a medicine tablet, and an undefinable sweetness. The palate is a weird twist on Laphroaig, with a lot of peppermint and sweet plum notes to complement a burgeoning smoke. The finish combines a nice smoky malt with honey. There really are no noticeable signs of youth at any point, which is an accomplishment, but I don't get the complexity of flavor I'd expect from a more patiently matured peated single malt. I wish Lost Spirits hadn't combined the aging experiment with the Riesling experiment, making it difficult to ascribe the flaws of the dram to one or the other. I'd much rather try Abomination using plain old ex-bourbon wood to really see what Lost Spirits' new technique can produce. That being said, a bottle costs $50-60, so it won't hurt the wallet too much to try it! B
Johnnie Walker Green Label (43%) - After having two drinks that required some serious contemplation, it was a relief in a way to have an easy-drinking, no-fuss dram from the biggest brand in scotch. Green Label combines some of the biggest names in scotch, Talisker and Caol Ila, with some lesser known names, Cragganmore and Linkwood. The result is supposed to be a well-balanced, mildly smoky scotch. It's a little boring also, but them's the breaks. The nose is honey, cereal grains, and apple in equal proportions. The palate carries through all of those notes and gradually introduces a mild smoke, like a young woman who reluctantly introduces her Harley-riding boyfriend to her respectable father. The best thing that this blend has going for it is its finish, which is Highland Park-esque in its cocoa and coffee qualities. This is the kind of scotch that I could happily drink at any time, without ever being entirely happy with it, if that makes any sense. B