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!

Islay! Here we come!

As the title of this blog suggests we are going to visit Islay!

Just to give the people of Islay a heads up that we are coming I'm informing you, the people of Islay, that two men are Islay bound on the 13th October 2016. 

We, a Dutch Viking called Fjodor, and a Dutch dad called Rombout (Rumbold, but no Saint) are apologising up front for: 

• waving back at you, 
• being kind,
• trying to talk Scottish,
• trying to talk Gaelic, 
• driving on the right side of the road, 
• bumping into the top beams of your door posts. I'm 187 cm and the Viking is 208!
• not terrorising your terroir, 
• indulging ourselves in local cuisine, 
• trying to not insult your culture.

What we will not apologise for is breaking wind after eating beans, bacon and eggs for breakfast! That one is on you! 

We will be gone Sunday the 16th. Just so you know when we will be gone!

How will you spot us? We will be the tall guys in the way to small rental car!  

a Superfood Fitness Low Carbs Gluten free Salmon, omelet and pesto

Next to learning about whisky I do like to eat healthy now and again. I wanted to share a meal I just made and by doing so hopefully let you taste some wonderfull flavors while you enjoy a good meal too!  No Carbohydrates. It's Gluten Free, with Eggwhites, Salmon, Veggies for all kinds of healthy energy! 

Necessities:

• 150g salmon fillet (I used 2 pieces) 
• 1 egg (fuck it! I added 3!) 
• ½ zucchini
• 1 red onion
• 1 bell pepper
• Pepper and salt
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1/2 bunch dill (couldn't find dill)
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic (let's use 2)

Preparation:

Cut the omelette zucchini , red onions and peppers into small cubes. Break the egg and beat it out into a bowl using a whisk or fork. Add to this some pepper and salt. Fry the vegetables for 2-3 minutes in a frying pan with some olive oil. Add the egg to the vegetables and cook the omelette over low heat until tender. 

Puree the pesto parsley, dill and garlic in a blender or in a food processor and add slowly until a nice smooth pesto olive oil. Bring to taste with salt and pepper. 

Bake the salmon fillet in a grill pan over and over cooked until the meat is nice rosé. Season with salt and pepper. 

Put the vegetable omelette folded on the plate and top with the salmon, make off with the herbe Pesto.

Enjoy!

Whisky nosing Don'ts

There are a lot of do's and Don'ts when it comes to nosing and tasting whisky. I'm sure there are more Don'ts but here are some I learned till now.

Nosing Don'ts:

- do not clean your glass with scented soaps or any kinds of soap for that matter. Clean water only! 

- do not dry your glass with any cloth/towel that potentially has any oils / scents etc on it. 

- do not wear aftershave,

- do not wear eau de toilette,

- do not wear deodorant,

- do not wear perfume.

- do not smoke. 

- do not scent the room you are in by vaporising stuff or burning a nice fire in the fireplace or having poopy diapers around, overripe bananas, wet dogs, backing French fries, etc.

In short your nose will get used to these smells and overpower or change your nosing experience. If the dram has a smell about it that is also in your room than chances are your nose won't get the smell how it's coming from the dram.

Do shower off course to prevent body smells.  

Do not try any intelligent nosing while having a running nose or having a sore throat. When your sick, you could use a nice dram to kill some germs but that's not nosing ;) 

Tasting Don'ts

- same for cleaning your glass, no soaps, no perfumed papers to dry, no oils etc. 

- do not eat foods that have strong smells or flavours. I avoid garlic, red peppers, onions. 

- do not brush your teeth 5 minutes before a tasting. I say 5 minutes but any time shortly before depending on the mint level of yours toothpaste.

- do not eat anything with your whisky while tasting, unless you mean to reset your palette. 

This blog is not about what you should do. That is entirely up to you, but here is what I do. 

I clean my glass with hot tap water running in it for a while. Then I rinse with cold water. I dry my glass with a clean dry paper towel or a new clean micro fibre cloth. I'm sure there are better ways, but I seriously am not putting in a oil free high pressure air pistol system to blow dry my glass. Let you glass get to room temperature before starting.

I clean my palette by drinking water and giving my mouth a good rinse. This desolves any sugars left in your mouth or any other water soluble stuff. A small piece of 70+ % pure chocolate helps me "reset" my mouth. Followed by a rinse of water. 

Resetting my nose is harder. So I try airing the room to take away smells from cooking. I don't have a dog. Kids are no longer in diapers. I do not smoke, so no problem there either. I sometimes intentionally smell coffee or some other familiar smell to give my nose a reference point and hit sorta hit reset. 

If you do not live in a climate controlled lab intended for standardised nosing and tasting than you have to make sure you are at least aware of your surroundings and how they could influence your senses. 

Organising your tasting session besides an industrial place that produces fish might not be to smart. 

Note to myself: add humoristic video here about nosing and smelling.

Bruichladdich Laddie Classic Edition_01

Yesterday's dram was a Bruichladdich Dram that I think is my personal favorite when it comes to the classic laddies and even for all Whiskies.

This dram is the reason why I call myself "iLaddie". The "laddie" is obviously from this dram, the "i" is from my Apple appreciation. So my choice of blogging name is in honor of these two but mostly to honor Bruichladdich.

The photos below are made by me.

Why do I like this dram and its siblings? 

I love the fruity nose. The mellow smooth influence of this blended single malt dram that is made from a combination of ex bourbon matured casks but also ex Sherry etc. you can see the recipe on this page when you give in a bottle number. Try 14/009 or see this blog entry  three recipes of classic laddie compared or bruichladdich classic laddie rotations

This combination of casks and barley malts gives this dram a wonderfull balance and complexity which I like. The 50% ABV of the Classic Laddie lets you play with the water you add yourself so you can find your sweet spot. When you add water the oils in this dram come out of the alcohol solution and give a wonderful mouthfeel. This is not a peated dram from islay, but it is my favorite dram from islay when it comes to a every day drinking dram. I have enjoyed it in all four seasons now and I cannot find a time when I would not be able to enjoy this dram.