The New Frontier In Gin - Burrough's Reserve

Desmond Payne -  Mr Gin

Here at Caskstrength, we're used to the importance of wood in developing the supreme character in a spirit. From lengthy maturation in an ex bourbon barrel, to short periods of extreme finishing in sherry, port or wine- the type of cask and its quality will of course have a profound effect on the spirit it holds.

Recently, there has been a trend for ageing more traditional white spirits in oak too - something we have cast a slightly quizzical eye over.  Just blithely sticking a spirit into an oak cask won't give you the results you're looking for- take our word for it.  We received a brilliant kit from the Wasmund distillery last October, which included a charred, unused two litre cask and enough new make spirit to start a small house fire.  It began to mature very quickly -  in fact after a month, it was beginning to take on a mellowed, round character.  

But after Christmas, things went quickly down hill, to the point that the spirit was virtually undrinkable, such was the power of the oak.  It now resides in our office and due to the fluctuating temperature, there is so little left in the cask,  the liquid resembling a very dark woody monstrosity.  

So subtlety is very much the key when it comes to using oak wisely, especially when your spirit is traditionally clear.  

Two companies put out aged gins last year: Master Of Malt aged its Ampleforth's gin for apparently six months in small 50 litre casks, with the results working out well.  Alongside them, French distiller Citadelle oak aged its excellent gin, releasing it in vintages and allowing consumers to experience the different subtleties between them.  

Both of these pioneering products have been followed up by arguably one of the biggest players in gin, a sign that what was previously seen as a relatively novel product is perhaps about to hit the mainstream.  

Burrough's Reserve is a brand new gin from the Beefeater distillery, which is situated near the Oval cricket ground (and a stone's throw away from Joel's house.)  It takes its name from the distillery's founding father James Burrough and is distilled using a tiny still (No.12) which looks positively cute next to the mammoth copper behemoths which impressively hiss away in the still house.  

But the real magic happens when master distiller and all-round ginmeister, Desmond Payne takes the spirit and places it into a specific type of cask- namely those previously filled with Jean de Lillet.  For those of you not familiar with this name, Lillet is the name behind one of the finest vermouths in the world, which was used in the famed Vesper cocktail, as consumed liberally by one James Bond. For Desmond, the idea of 'resting' a gin was an exciting prospect, but one which was fraught with pitfalls.  To age a gin in something that had an actual relevance with gin was his challenge, which meant not just reaching for any old used bourbon barrel or sherry hogshead.  Instead, he looked for a cask that would enhance the botanical balance in Beefeater and not dominate it - and the choice of Lillet casks was an inspired one.  If you haven't tried Lillet in a Martini or other gin cocktail, we urge you to get down to a retailer now and buy a bottle -  it is unlike any other vermouth -  and then you'll begin to understand its significance in the resting process here. 

What results is a gin that has taken on a slightly darker hue in colour and a spirit that Desmond hopes will be sipped neat, like a whisky or Cognac.  But what does it deliver on the nose and palate? We tried the gin both frozen down and at room temperature and the results were remarkably different -  the colder temperatures bringing out more of the citrus notes and classic gin botanicals.  But at room temperature...

Burrough's Reserve -  Oak Rested Gin -  Batch 01 - 43%

Nose: Immediate notes of vanilla custard, sweet creamy coconut, a touch of white pepper, Amalfi lemon zest, fresh pine and a softer, buttery biscuit note.  

Palate: The botanicals deliver wonderfully, with juniper leading the way, followed by a gentle spice note, more lemon zest and a little liquorice, then comes the oak influence, with more vanilla notes and a slight maltiness. 

Finish: Lingering notes of lemon zest, juniper and a creamy vanilla all coat the tongue, but leave the mouth feeling refreshed and vibrant.  

Overall: This works as a sipping spirit, without a doubt and the influence of the oak, is restrained and perfectly balanced.  Whether it will change the way we consume gin is debatable, but as a category defining moment, Burrough's Reserve has achieved a great deal in a short space of time.  My next plan is to try this at the heart of a Martini, where I think it will excel.  

None More Black. The Glenlivet Alpha Arrives.

There's a line that sums up what is undoubtedly one of the finest films in cinematic history.  Simple, effective and descriptive, the line, 'there's none more black' characterises the degenerating relationship between the members of seminal (fictional) heavy metal band Spinal Tap.  If you're not familiar with the line, or the film, we urge you to buy it immediately and have a peak at the video below.

Why are we telling you this?  Well, frankly, there's a lot of crossover between the whisky and music businesses respectively, especially in the last 5 years.  Both of us Caskstrengthers came from careers in music, both Island and Warner Brothers and it was amongst our responsibilities to develop release campaigns around the artists we'd signed and looked after-  sometimes creating an aura of mystery, intrigue and excitement.  

Consider the band My Chemical Romance.  Not a band either of us worked with directly but great props to our friend and former colleague Danny Watson for engineering something truly inspiring at the time.  On their breakthrough album, The Black Parade,  a huddled horde of 30 shadowy figures, dressed in long black hooked cloaks prowled the streets of Hammersmith, carrying banners emblazoned with 'The Black Parade', bringing the roads to a standstill.  Fans went crazy, local residents went crazy, the police probably went crazy, but the album, alongside its award winning TV campaign went on to sell truckloads in the UK.  Another of Danny's standout ideas was utilising the restaurant Dans Le Noir, for an album launch. The restaurant is famous for being totally blacked out, wrong footing the diner's senses, but leading to a taste sensation as a result. 

As you can see, there's a theme running here.  The dark.  Mystery. Uncovering the truth within.  

Whisky companies are seemingly adopting the idea of looking at their whisky releases in the same way a record company marketing manager would when creating a promotional campaign for an album. This neatly brings us on to Alpha by The Glenlivet; a whisky which no one really knows anything substantial about, which has baffled the online community with its unconventional launch -  seemingly parachuting in from no where, with little fanfare.  

What can we tell you about it.  Well, it comes in a fairly striking black bottle, with virtually no information on it, save for the legal requirements of ABV, bottle size and that it is a product of Scotland.  As to the whisky inside... well, here in lies the intrigue.  

Anyone who writes reviews of a whisky is rightly or wrongly guilty of informing a flavour profile in some capacity. Since we started this site back in 2008, we made a decision to never score whiskies, a system which is now much imitated - and rightly so. Rather like in an NME album review, readers tend to gravitate towards very high or indeed, very low scores.  Anything in-between tends to fall into the 'grey' area.  I remember one artist we worked with receiving a 6/10 for their album in the NME.  We'd have preferred a 2/10, simply because poor reviews tend to be better written and, in many cases, actually inspire listeners to seek out the record for themselves.  

According to the little press available, Alpha aims to offer a 'blank canvas' to the consumer allowing themselves to make a judgement on their own interpretation of the whiskies flavour and aroma profile.  To this end, The Glenlivet will be unveiling a series of sensory videos as guidelines to help the consumer to discover their own interpretation of the whisky.  A neat idea really.  

So what does it actually taste like?

Well, here's the problem. Although an open bottle is sitting in front of us, it would be quite boring to simply review this in a conventional fashion and give the game away.  So we've decided to have a little fun with you.  

Glenlivet Alpha -  50%

Nose: 

01110110 01100001 01101110 01101001 01101100 01101100 01100001 00101100 00100000 01101001 01100011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100111 01100001 01110010 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101100 01101001 01100011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01110011 00101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110101 01110100 00101100 00100000 01100110 01110010 01100101 01101110 01100011 01101000 00100000 01110000 01101111 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101100 00100000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101101 01100101 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100111 01110101 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101001 01100101

Palate:

Finish:

Overall: Well. That's up to you to find out.  Suffice to say, we thought it was a solid expression and very 'Glenlivet' in style. Over to you. Let us know your thoughts.

If you're having trouble working out our tasting notes, fret not.  We urge you to try this whisky and make your own mind up.  If you're still needing our tasting notes, somewhere on this page is a link to them.  Have fun...

Join The Club...A New Midleton Single Cask Whiskey Release

Whisk(e)y societies are, on the whole, pretty damn good.  Not only do they bring together like-minded folks under one banner, but they can help to crack open the protective nutshell around the spirit.  Of course, there can be a little bit of snobbery and one-upmanship, but in general, everyone we've had the pleasure to meet and share a dram with just loves whisk(e)y and wants others to love it as much as they do.

The good thing is that distillers love them too.  Clubs and societies are great proving grounds for new releases -  cask samples count as currency and it's not unlikely to be given a seemingly random whisky, which gains the seal of approval, only for it to be commercially released a year later.

On this tip, earlier this month Irish Distillers went one step better, when they partnered up with the Irish Whiskey Society to launch an exclusive members' cask.  The whiskey in question is the result of a sampling process which happened back in April, where cask 1038, a 17 year old ex-bourbon barrel yielding just 204 bottles done the approval from the club.

Fortunately, we were able to lay our hands on a wee sample from the cask- and an absolute belter it is too.  So for those of you who, like us, are gaining a real soft spot for single pot still Irish whiskey, you might want to get yourself over to the Irish Whiskey Society website, join up and grab a bottle before they all disappear...

Midleton Irish Whiskey -  Single Cask Release - The Irish Whiskey Society - 17 years Old - 55.2% Cask Filled 13th January 1995 -  Bottled 17th October 2012

Nose: An immediate note of fresh bananas (ok, actually slightly overripe,  if we're being honest), backdropped with a delicious golden syrup note, sweetened vanilla cream, malty cereal and a waft of honey.  Beautifully balanced and very expressive.

Palate:  The sweetness continues onto the palate, with more of the bananas (this time, those little foam sweet bananas) a big hit of vanilla, some plummy jam notes and a very mouth coating creamy cereal.

Finish:  Lingering traces of banana and caramel, with a little spiciness on the very end.


Overall:  Age has been extraordinarily kind to this whiskey -  it is wonderfully balanced, silky smooth and enormously drinkable.  Whilst this is clearly a one-off release and it seems a shame to keep it within the realms of the club environment, what it highlights is just how formidable single pot still Irish whiskey is becoming.   With any luck, Irish Distillers have a few of these 'wonder casks' up their sleeves - if you're A: reading this and B: sitting on a parcel of them -  please bottle them at this age and strength- we think you're onto a winner...

Behind The Green Door

What a week... Only a few days ago, we released our second whisky and we're pleased to say that it is selling like the proverbial hot cakes... Only a few are available now, so if you fancy one, get skippin' along to Master Of Malt and grab one whilst they're still warm!

Also, I decided that Caskstrength Towers needed a bit of a facelift, given that several of the neighbouring residences all had their fastidious owners out painting, re-landscaping and making their home-from-homes more attractive.

Where to start?  Well, one of the windows at the back looked a bit jaded, so I stripped it all back and began to repaint it in a rather lovely green smoke shade. Then I noticed the front windowsills looked a little tired, so I bought new masonry paint ('sandstone'), which adheres to the regulations governing the house (CS Towers is actually a listed building!!)

Then I realised it looked ridiculous.  The shade of sandstone made by Farrow & Ball is clearly different to the one the place is already painted in.


So, with a grimace,  I began to paint the WHOLE DAMN HOUSE.

Housework on this scale is a little like becoming obsessed with high-end HiFi.  Once you start meddling, you start to change everything. Then once you've changed everything, you start all over again with the thing you first changed. Why did I have to start meddling...

So after two days, the facade of the house, the windows, the front garden and even the original victorian boot scraper have been tarted up.  Everything -  except the front door.

The existing door (in 'winter emerald green'- although it looks black in the picture above) looks nice enough -  but now it doesn't match the cocking windows.   Now i'm not sure if any of you have successfully painted a front door, but it seems bloody hard. Last time I did this, the pristine smooth finish bubbled and looked like the surface of the moon.  Epic fail.  So tomorrow, I will set out again to get it right, using overpriced Farrow & Ball oil paint, that will no doubt get everywhere, except smoothly across the panels on the door.

But beforehand, rather than thinking nightmarish thoughts about emerald paint, i'm going to enjoy some drams from the emerald isle... (see what I've done there...)

Recently, Joel and I were asked to chair the panel for the Irish Whiskey Masters, an industry awards run by Spirits Business magazine, which once again highlighted what we're all thinking: that Irish whiskey has never had it so good.

Sales across the board are hitting exceptional heights and with the news that both William Grant and Pernod Ricard are investing heavily in the category, the future looks glowing for the Emerald Isle.

So what of the current lot?  Well, you can take a look at the full list of award winners here in the Spirits Business.  In addition to these, last week we were sent a bevy of bottlings from a more obscure Irish whiskey brand.

The Wild Geese is not a name we're used to seeing in the pantheon of great Irish whiskeys.  In fact, taking away the historical puff that fills their website, there is very little to suggest who is actually behind the brand, where it is made and what the strategy is with the brand - (we've since discovered that it is produced by Cooley)  But the recent string of awards they've received gives a clear indication of what to expect.  The collection encompasses a standard blend, a single malt, a limited edition (which I think is a blend but the information available is unclear) and 'rare' (whatever that means)...and pretty decent they are too...

The Wild Geese -  'Untamed' - Classic Blend - Irish Whiskey - 40% 

Nose: Classic Irish whiskey fresh fruit and vanilla immediately burst through, alongside a little spiritiness, some pencil shavings and a light acacia honey.  Very delicate and top heavy. 

Palate: Very sweet and spirity with pear drops, sugar syrup, a little liquorice and a touch of citrus and green tea, sweetened with honey.  

Finish: Short, with a touch of green apple and a subtle maltiness as the palate dries.

Overall:  Lightweight and without a huge amount of character, this blend is inoffensive and certainly will appeal to those drinkers who have yet to really explore the Irish whiskey category. However for those who are already tuned in to the spirit, this blend (as pleasant as it is) is probably a little too light weight in the complexity dept to get your palate dancing a jig. 

Next up Wild Geese single malt:

The Wild Geese - Single Malt - NAS - 43%

Nose: Oily and rich, with liquorice, a touch of clove, unripe banana, fizzy lemon sherbet sweets and fresh nectarine notes.   

Palate: Not what I expected at all.  Slightly biscuity, with a touch of turned earth, a little leatheriness, icing sugar and a touch of medicinal lozenges. 

Finish: Some of the fruity notes (banana and nectarine) begin to make a return to the palate as it dries, with a lingering note of something fresh and green - unripe green apple. 

Overall:  With a nice oily backdrop in the fragrance dept, this will surprise with its more buttery, malty palate.  A very solid Irish single malt -  perhaps lacking the outer edges to make it a real stand out but decent nonetheless. 

The Wild Geese - Limited Edition Forth Centennial - 43% 

Nose: Immediate notes of tropical fruit, golden syrup, vanilla, demerera sugar and fresh cream. very nice indeed. Dig deeper and meringue notes begin to develop, drizzled in fresh raspberries and marzipan.  

Palate: The marzipan continues onto the palate, with a touch of lemon zest, a little nuttiness, some milk chocolate and more red berry fruit.   Given a dash of water, some warming spice (liquorice and clove) develop, alongside a creaminess.  

Finish: All too fleeting unfortunately, with remnants of the cream and fruit dashing from the palate swiftly, leaving a lingering note of vanilla.

Overall:  A very approachable whiskey, with a fine balance of fruitiness and sweetness. 

Finally -  Wild Geese Rare.  As we've mentioned on here before, a bugbear of ours is when companies use unquantifiable terms like 'small batch' and 'rare'.  If this is rare -  tell us why it's rare!! grrr. 

The Wild Geese - Rare - 43%

Nose: Stewed apple, some cinnamon spice, candle wax, a little fresh gooseberry and a more floral note than the others - powder puffs and lavender draw liners perhaps? Quite why I know such aromas is another matter, not for discussion on here... ;-) 

Palate: Creamy, with a toffee note, followed up by vanilla notes, some light citrus zest (lemons) and a little crumbled digestive biscuit.  A dash of water reveals a more spicy side with some liquorice notes developing nicely. 

Finish:  A little thin, but with lingering notes of chocolate malt, lemon zest and green apple.

Overall: Well, I'm still not sure quite why this is deemed to be 'rare' but it is certainly an enjoyable and easy drinking Irish whiskey.  It probably hasn't got the dancing legs of the Forth Centennial release, but is well worth seeking out in its own right. 

Spotted! A New Irish Whiskey on the Radar

After the onslaught of peated (especially Islay) whiskies consumed by this website in the past few weeks, we felt a bit of subtlety was in order before our collective palates exploded under the volume of smoke we've ingested.  All this led us back to a tasting which occurred a month ago at one of our favourite hotel establishments in London, The Connaught - not the wonderful Coburg Bar, but the equally nice Connaught Bar at the back of the hotel. This is usually the domain of the louche, urbane sophisticat, there to sample many a classic from the bar's extensive menu of cocktails, which includes a Martini trolley, so that the unbridled freshness of citrus, botanical and chilled glass can be presented in perfect harmony.

But today, things were a little different.  I had been at a previous tasting (a sneak preview of a new Ardbeg) and was running a little late, so hot-footed it over to the bar mid-afternoon just as the assembled throng of drinks writers and bloggers were being assembled -  to taste something of a revelation.

Amongst the rabble, who usually just turn up for the free booze were several folks who didn't look familiar and who turned out to be none other than the custodians of Mitchell & Son, purveyor's of one of our very favourite Irish whiskies the wonderful Green Spot.  Now anyone who knows this whiskey will know that it is a very hard act to follow (possibly nailed by Redbreast 15yo) so to return back to the vaults of time and extract one of the other 'spots' from the original range could be somewhat remiss.

However, all is not lost.  The whiskey, as you've guessed is a cracker.  Matured for a full term in three types of cask (American Oak, sherry cask and Malaga wine casks) the marriage is sweeter than anything that could be mustered up by the glossy pages of Hello! magazine and we feel it's a welcome edition to the range.  We imagine that this is the first of several releases from the 'spot' range - Blue Spot (once bottled as a 7 year old) Red Spot (as a 15 year old) and maybe even Black Spot, although we made this one up... is there potential room for a peated expression? Who knows, but until then, we have Yellow Spot to look forward to.   It will be bottled at 46%, released in batches of 500 cases and priced at €65.  The price point made us think this could be a competitor to Redbreast 15 year old, but we'll let you decide whether you feel it's worth switching your Irish allegiance, after the review.

Yellow Spot -  Irish Whiskey - 12 Years Old -  46%

Nose: Initially buttery, with golden syrup and fudge notes, leading into some sweet, fruity wine and a hint of dryness.  With water, the dryness gives way to a perfumed note with ripe banana notes and woody spices.

Palate: Very sweet. Marzipan, some tropical fruit notes, mixed in with Pedro Ximinez sweet/musty rancio richness, with a thicker, darker bonfire toffee note emerging further into the flavour.  A dash of water brings liquorice and cream notes, with a return of the sweet wine from the nose.

Finish: Lingering, with green bananas and a woody spice note. 

Overall:  Very detailed, complex and developed.  It takes a step beyond the Green Spot and adds another dimension to an already great whiskey.  Whether we would prefer this over the magnificent Redbreast 15 year old is debatable, but it certainly has a place in the Irish whiskey canon, which is currently a rising star in the spirits world.