January 21, 2016

Young Americans
(another tribute to you-know-who)

There’s really a lot happening on the whisky front in America. Just have a look at Sku’s amazing list of distilleries and you’ll be flabbergasted. Now, as we all know, they aren’t all true distillers (someone should sell plastic stills just for decoration, I’m sure that would be a hit), but we’ve already had some high-quality new whiskies that went to prove that it’s not all only about vanilla and coconut. Let’s have another little bunch of newish Americans…

Crater Lake Rye (40%, OB, Bendistillery, Oregon, +/-2015)

The mash bill containing 95% rye, and the distillers not claiming to the opposite, this is most likely young sourced whiskey from MGP – even if it says ‘handcrafted’ on the label. At least they haven’t ‘just found, in an old drawer, grandpa’s forgotten recipe that was such a hit before prohibition’. Colour: gold. Nose: easy, rather light, delicately spicy and caramely, with some vanilla and whiffs of geranium flowers, then more caraway and cinnamon. Really gentle. Mouth: indeed, it’s light and easy rye, with some fudge and some caramel, notes of buckwheat, bitter oranges, lavender sweets, and again some caraway. Finish: medium, bready. Even more caraway. A bitterness in the aftertaste. Comments: fine, but at 40% vol., it may lack the punch that you may find in, say Bulleit’s Rye. SGP:451 - 78 points.

Dry Fly ‘Washington Bourbon 101’ (50.5%, OB, +/-2015)

Some young ‘hand-crafted’ bourbon from the Northwest, said to be 3 years old. Made out of maize, wheat, and barley. I remember I really enjoyed Dry Fly’s triticale last year (WF 83). Colour: amber. Nose: it is the kind of nose I enjoy, with almost as much bread as in a good rye, and a rather complex grassy profile that does not reek of vanilla and coconut, at all. A very interesting ‘flourness’ (tapioca?), some kind of burnt pinewood, and whiffs of old style cocoa powder. Really very nice. With water: vegetal dust, flour, some kind of minty mushrooms (remember wood blewits or blue stalk mushrooms?) and a great freshness. Mouth (neat): it’s fruitier, with oranges and cranberries, but gets then spicier and breadier. A very peculiar earthiness, hard to describe, plus even more caraway than in Crater Lake, this is almost aquavit at times. With water: all on cereals and breads, which I like a lot. Finish: medium, dry, bready, but never yeasty. Comments: I’m simply a fan of this dry style. SGP:361 - 85 points.

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 8 yo 2006/2014 (61.9%, OB, for DougDogz, bourbon, West Virginia, barrel #900, 122 bottles)

Sourced from MGP, but I have really enjoyed the other Smooth Amblers I could try. Doug ‘Dog’ Philips is some kind of highly-respected barrel picker, as it appears in online literature. Colour: copper. Nose: more power bourbon than the others, that is to say starting with more varnish and nail polish remover, but without being acetone-y, and rather developing on just-made candy floss, banana sweets, and bubblegum, all that mingled with some rather subtle – yet obvious – American oak. All that works very well. With water: more classic bourbon, with some kind of spicy coconut sauce, Thai-style. Vanilla and a little humus. Mouth (neat): sweet goodness, but my god this is strong. Sweets and candies everywhere, it seems, plus cinnamon and a peppery rye. Perhaps an hoppy side? Sweet hops. With water: perfect, sweet without being cloyingly so, with some coconut, more candy floss, and then more and more pineapple. Not quite super-strength pina colada, but we’re getting there. Finish: long, sweet, very pleasantly cocktaily (whatever that means!) Some vanilla fudge in the aftertaste. Comments: very much to my liking, but don’t even consider sipping this big boy without water! SGP:740 - 87 points .

Westland 2 yo – 26 mo ‘Sherry Wood’ (46%, OB, USA, single malt, 5000 bottles, Dec. 2014)

We’ve really enjoyed some single barrels a few days ago, this is a much larger batch. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it’s almost as if they had recreated Arran, as I find both styles pretty similar. The sherry isn’t very big, and what we rather find is plenty of butterscotch, barley, and teas, which just works. Beyond that, indeed, there’s a raisiny side, but also plenty of murmuring spices and herbs, a list of which would be too long. Sage, perhaps, tarragon, nutmeg, a drop of soy sauce, a wee piece of bacon… Mouth: it’s the balance that’s rather impressive, given the very young age – and I doubt Seattle’s climate would accelerate any aging process. I find a little coffee, cornflakes, cereal bars, raisins indeed, then more chocolate. A lot more chocolate. Gets then very malty, almost Ovaltine-y. Finish: medium, extremely malty. Chicory drink and more cornflakes. Some gentle raisins in the aftertaste. Comments: it’s really soft and malty. That they manage to do this within just 26 months is a little hard to fathom, having said that. Secret electronics? Climate-controlled warehouses? Aging chambers? Or do they play some Lady Gaga in the warehouse, so that the whisky wants to get out as fast as possible? SGP:551 - 86 points.

Westland 2 yo – 24 mo ‘Peated’ (46%, OB, USA, single malt, 3000 bottles, Oct. 2014)

Yes Westland even do peated. Most interestingly, they seem to be mashing a blend of heavily peated malt and unpeated malt, which sounds relatively smart as a way of adjusting the ‘peat levels’ in the spirit. But I believe they do more or less the same in Scotland, although they’d rather do that straight at the malting plants. Colour: gold. Nose: very very smart, because it’s delicate and subtle, much more so than what you can get when tasting some very young Scottish peaters. What’s even more amazing is that we’re relatively close to old-style Laphroaig, that is to say to the 10s from the 1970s, if that rings a bell. This is way less complex, obviously, but the profile is in the same vein, with plenty of soft tropical fruits and a delicate smoke, and even hints of camphory balm. Mouth: I-am-impressed. It’s lacking ‘mingling’ and ‘polishing’, and you feel that the oak and the smoke, for example, are not quite tangoing to perfection yet, but other than that, this is a pretty marvellous soft tropical peater, with a smell of the 1960s on Islay in the air. They sure are onto something. Citrons, passion fruits, ashy smoke, even touches of salt… This is absolutely excellent. Finish: medium, clean, zesty, ashy, smoky… And the aftertaste’s even a little bready. Comments: unexpected. 24 months, they say. How many days in a month, in Seattle? 250? SGP:546 - 89 points.

I have other Westlands to taste but since those aren’t peated, and since I’ve been stoopid enough to have the peater first, I guess we ought to call this a complete session. More later.

(With thanks to Scott and Steve from idigcottagecheese.org)

Check the index of all Americans I've tasted so far

Young Americans (another tribute to you-know-who)

Young Americans
(another tribute to you-know-who)