New Blogposts on WordPress

I made a number of blogs on WordPress That May interest you:

• 2016 Whisky Nerd Awards
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2016/12/27/iladdie-whisky-nerd-awards-2016/
• Highland Park Fire Edition
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/highland-park-new-make-12-and-fire/
• Bruichladdich Black Art 05.1
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/bruichladdich-black-art-05-1/
• Highland Park 12 yo
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/highland-park-12-yo/
• Highland Park Fire Edition
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/unboxing-highland-park-fire-edition/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Kippery
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/rswfw-a-peaty-2-smokey-kippery/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Woodsmoke
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/rswfw-a-peaty-2-smokey-woodsmoke/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Ash
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/rswfw-apeat-1-burny-ash/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Soot
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/rswfw-a-peaty-1-burnt-soot/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Tar
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/rswfw-a-peaty-1-burnt-tar/
• Whisky Tasting Note: Glossery
• https://iladdie.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/rswfw-whisky-congeners/

Sherry cask influence.... update

I had set out to proof or disprove a theory that I had postulated.

I wanted to show that the notes that are supposedly from the ex content of a cask were actually coming from the wood, not so much the wine, sherry or port. 

I had it all figured out. I had a strategy! 

• Buy new make highland park (To be done)
• Buy American oak ex bourbon matured highland park (To be done)
• Buy a sherry matured highland park (To be done)
• Buy a virgin American oak matured barley whiskey from the USA. (Done)
• Buy the same spirit but than new make (Done)
• Buy a cask and age my own new make spirit over time! (In progress)

Compare all these and than come to a conclusion! 

I had it all figured out! Had the information I needed from highland park after pestering them for weeks. They send me a list of which dram matured In what kind of cask. I had spoken to the blenders of Compass Box and asked their  input, which I got! 

Then I noticed the Bruichladdich laddiemp3 bottles which I ordered last year! It hit me! You nerd! I had the comparison in needed sitting in a box for over a year! I could taste port, sherry and bourbon matured (not finished) side by side! Jim and Adam had given me the tool I needed to proof (or disproof) my theory! So I watched the webcast again of the online tasting! Tasted and Nosed.

I was ready to come to a conclusion! Yes I was ..... I was .... until one night I looked in my bookcase (it holds books too) and spotted the rum-cask matured Bruichladdich dram I had bought via online auction quite by accident. Why not open this dram and have a wee taste! 

WHAM!! OMG!! What the f&ck was that! The notes in this baby are totally different than anything I had tasted ever! I came to a crashing halt in my quest to proof or, now, disprove that the previous content had no influence. But f&ck! After tasting this beautiful dram I can throw that theory out of the window! Previous content does have influence in a way I thought I could disprove! Now I no longer can! Or can I?

Well, next month I will be on Islay hopefully tasting the Syrah matured bruichladdich laddiemp4! That should add to my knowledge base and hopefully give me more info on my quest! 

Look for me in the background of the Bruichladdich laddiemp4 YouTube webcast! I will be the tall guy standing next to the giant!! If they let us in that is ;) 

Bruichladdich LaddieMP4

As you may know I selected my blogger name to honor the Bruichladdich Distillery.

I missed out on the LaddieMP1 and Laddie MP2, but last year I was lucky enough to get my hands on a LaddieMP3 set.

This year I have been waiting for the mail by the Bruichladdich Distillery that informs people about the availability of the sets. So on the 17th of August 2016 the LaddieMP4 was announced.

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

We are about to embark on an exciting new chapter of our Micro-Provenance digital tasting programme.

Adam has selected three single casks for #LaddieMP4; you'll be able to join him online as he conducts a video tasting live from the distillery.

The release will be entirely in sets of three beautiful 20cl ‘Wee Laddie’ bottles – at an extremely attractive price point of £50 per set, plus postage and packing.

Minutes after reading the mail I placed my order, but for what? What had Adam Hannett selected this time?

Contrary to the blind tastings of the previous expressions the website now has some details on the three drams. Only 860 sets will be available.

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

Photo by Rombout Mastenbroek

• Cask #361 - distilled in 2008 and matured full term in a French ex-Syrah (red wine) cask.  It is at 58% alc. vol.
• Cask #16-062 - distilled in 2006 and matured in ex-bourbon before being finished in an ex-sherry cask is also at 58% alc. vol.
• Cask #1062 - distilled in 2005 and matured full term in bourbon is at 59% alc. vol.

I am particularly interrested in the ex-Syrah, since that grape is one of my favorite grapes for red wine!

This facebook video link shows the emptying of cask #16-062.

This facebook video link shows the bottling.

This facebook video link shows the packaging of the bottles.

Photo by +Bruichladdich Distillery 

Photo by +Bruichladdich Distillery 

Some video's from the Bruichladdich youtube site:

I will be on Islay on the time when the Bruichladdich Distillery will air the YouTube Webcast. I hope to be in the shop at that same time, so who knows, you may see my friend and me then.

My bottles are in!

instagram: iromby

Instagram: iromby

Instagram : iromby 

There is a bit of a spoiler alert with the printed labels on the bottles, but I'm sure the reason behind this will become clear at the tasting October 13th.

Tasting different kinds of Sherry

Tasting actual sherry was one of the things I set out to do. I have been blogging about the influence of sherry on a whisky. How better to do this than by tasting and nosing sherry.

First up is a bottle of amontillado medium dry sherry! 

Medium dry tells me there is some sugar in this, but less than PX. 

First impression is that this is mush less in your face than a PX I tasted some while back. 

I'm trying to get my head around the nose. I do pickup smells I found in bruichladdich MP3 sherry matured spirits. Something siropi. Very slight alcohol tingle. I want to say sultanas. Fruity. Dried fruits. Not sure which ones. (Need more training I guess) can't spot any nutty tones. Wait! Slight cashew nut. 

To get the smell of nuts I buy them unsalted. I smell the whole nut first, usually in the basket I bought them in or "fresh" from the market. Then I crush some in the palm of my hands and smell the crumbs and the oils that are on the palm of my hands.   

The taste of this sherry is also way less sugar than the px, which personally i like better. This doesn't linger long ones I swallow it. Green apple? Bit sour. Drying after swallowing. Something oaky? 

This stuff is far from what I like but it's not as vile as PX. Dryer. Much dryer. I am glad I opened this bottle up and had a taste. It's not my thing but I did spot some notes I found in whiskies I had. Cool!! 

Next up is a "fino" sherry. It's cooling down in my fridge. Says to do so on the label! Who am I to argue! 

The fino sherry I tried over the period of some days. The dry, meaning just about no sugars in there. It's the freshest sherry I had till now. Fruity like a white wine only than with a fortified taste. I may actually like this! Shockers! The lightness and dryness of this type of sherry almost gives me the feeling that this would only very slightly give whisky a hint of "sherry" notes. Since this sherry is "white" it's not having any effect on the colour of the whisky, except maybe lighten it. The color that one associates with sherry matured whiskies won't come from this kind of sherry that's for sure. 

Nice experience so far! More to come!

Whisky Flavor Maps and charts

I have been reading up on what flavors are available to be found in whisky. Seems there are loads of charts to be found.

One chart I like is the one made by Dave Broom, author of the atlas of world whisky. I can not put his chart up in this blog since he has the copywrite of it and you will just have to buy his iBook or Book online.

Another chart which I like a lot can be found on the page http://whiskyanalysis.com/

There is highly detailed information there to be found and it uses the information already available in studies and puts it in a flavor map.

The chart is based on the Wishart information whisky data set derived from his first book. Some statistics analysis methods and software were used to make the charts found below. I tried to reproduce the chart, but found I needed to become a theoretical statistics expert to do so. You can use these links if you want to give it a go yourself: 

- Http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2013/12/k-means-clustering-86-single-malt-scotch-whiskies.html

-  http://joelcadwell.blogspot.nl/2014/07/using-biplots-to-map-cluster-solutions.html?m=1

 http://factominer.free.fr/

The information presented in this map chart is characterized by simular flavor camps that Dave Broom also uses in his writings.

I find both flavor maps highly informative and helping me identify where the whisky I like is placed in these charts. Will that mean I will not like a whisky that is situated on the other end of a spectrum? It may, but when I am after a simular taste experience to a whisky I know I may look at these charts and find a close neighbor. 

Another chart I located online also puts port/whine/sherry influences in a chart. 

This help because it shows the influence of sherry and other wine casks on the flavor profile of a whisky. From the Dave Broom diagram is is not clear to me if I would be buying a sherry matured whisky or not. This is not a big issue since you will probably be able to read information on the label that would help in this respect. Also blogs, reviews can help. I however like this char since it helps spot the sherry tasting whisky I don't like at this point in time. 

Is there a universal truth? No! Why do I say this? A chart like the ones above may be true on some level, but it will never have the detail to match up with your own personal flavor preferences. Therefor I advice to use these charts for what they are and let your senses make the choice if you like a dram or not.