A Muddled Thought

The first time I tried Astar it was after tasting Glenmorangie Original (which we took a look at here).

I was meeting with David Blackmore, the Brand Ambassador for Glenmorangie. Looking back on my very rough tasting notes from that meeting, one of the words I put down in my notebook, in big emphatic capital letters was WOW.

Going through re-tasting this spirit after several months had past, it took a few more tastes than normal to fully get why that spirit without a doubt blew my mind the first time I tasted it.

As I went back through and traveled down Astar Road, apologies for the horrible pun, I experienced a spirit that starts off with notes of seductive vanilla that lead the way into sweet orange cream. Those only begin to prepare the palate for even fuller flavors of crème brulee, that ends with nuances of mint.

At 114.2 proof, Astar isn’t anything but a spirit that’s on the light side, but that actually plays to its advantage.
After adding a slight touch of water to Astar, notes of brown sugar, ginger, pumpkin spice and the embodiment of Fall reveal themselves.

Glenmorangie achieves this unique array of flavors with an approach that starts with oak trees originating from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri that only experience a limited amount of sunlight and moisture. This results in oak that has a greater deal of porosity aka a tighter grain of wood. This allows the spirit to pick additional nuances of the wood, which in turn yields those amazing flavors I experienced while tasting Astar.

Once this Ozark Oak is harvested it is then shaped into barrels and then toasted via a proprietary process. This creates a delicate char level while still maintaining a precise level of flavors within the oak. Before Glenmorangie whiskey is allowed to age in these barrels, they are lent to distilleries in Tennessee who use them to age American whisky for a period of four years.

At this point they are sent back to Scotland and the aging process that yields Astar begins. The end result- a spirit that truly takes the palate for a journey to previously undiscovered worlds.

Final Score 9.5/10

A few months ago the good folks at Compass Box asked me to come up with some new recipes for possible inclusion in future recipe books that they put out.

With a few samples of the following Compass Box Products I went to work.

Peat Monster- A blend of Islay Whisky with heavy notes of Smoke combined with a lighter peated, yet still smokey Highland Whisky. This creates a spirit that has notes reminscient of smoked bacon, honey with the occasional appearance of oak, cocoa and vanilla.

Oak Cross-Aged first in American Oak Casks for its first maturation, which when complete is moved to “Oak Cross” casks (a combination of American oak and new French Oak) for its final maturation. This results in a spirit that’s filled with notes of vanilla, honey, caramel and soft orange.

Asyla- A blend of non-peated malt whiskies including Linkwood, Glen Elgin, and Teaninich. These three single malts are laid down on a bed of sweet scotch grain whiskey resulting in a blended whisky that’s feeled with characters of apple, pears, light hints of smoke, nutmeg, and something that hits the palate and reminds the taster of bacon.

Spice Tree- Starting off with whiskies aged in first-fill and refill American Oak, the spirit is then placed in casks created using a combination of American oak and new French Oak (sourced from the 195-old Vosgres forests) for its final maturation.

Now for the recipes:

Pimms Crossing

Asyla 2 oz
Pimms No.1 – 1 oz
Allspice ½ oz
Aperol ¾ oz
Lemon Juice ½ oz
1 Dash Regan Orange Bitters
Garnish with Burnt Orange Zest

So Three Diplomats walk into a Bar

1 ½ oz Peat Monster Scotch
3/4 Carpano Antica
¾ oz bar spoons Bénédictine
2 Dashes Mole bitters
Shake with ice.
Strain into cocktail glass.
Garnish Orange Zest

So Three Diplomats walk into a Bar. A combination of Peat Monster, Carpano Antica, Bénédictine, and Mole Bitters.

Dave’s First Attempt
2 oz Spice Tree
½ oz Allspice Dram
1oz Benedictine
3 Dashes Smelbys Apple Cinnamon Bitters*
Burnt Orange Zest
Stir with ice
Serve in Coupe

Dave's First Attempt- A combination of Compass Box Spice Tree, Allspice Dram, Bénédictine, and Smelby's Apple Cinnamon Bitters.

The Apple doesn’t fall far from the Oak Tree
2 oz Oak Cross
½ Calvados
½ Yellow Chartreuse
2 Dash Peychaud
1 oz Apple Cinnamon Syrup*

The Apple Doesn't Fall from the Oak Tree. A combination of Compass Box Oak Cross, Calvados, Yellow Chartreuse, Apple Cinnamon Syrup and Peychaud Bitters.

Recently I had the opportunity to volunteer my bartending services at a fundraiser that was held at Bar Celona in Brooklyn NY, by Ray Raymond of Leblon and Dave Catania of Team Spirit Imports.

With the recent crisis in Haiti, a variety of brands and organizations donated both their products and their time to mix up some new Libations including Contemporary Cocktails, LUPEC and the USBG. All proceeds of the evening went towards the Red Cross Relief Fund for Haiti.

Using a few brands that were kind enough to donate some of their products, such as Highland Park and Chartreuse, I created the following new recipe,the Scottish Bandit and served up a few during the course of the night as my donation.

The Scottish Bandit

1 3/4 oz highland park 12
Bar spoon Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz fig juice
1/2 oz cinnamon syrup
2 Dashes Whiskey barrel bitters

The Scottish Bandit. A combination of HIghland Park 12, Green Chartreuse, Fig Juice, Cinnamon Syrup and Whiskey Barrel Bitters.

Highland Park recently announced the latest edition to its award-winning family of whiskies, an extremely limited bottling harkening back to the year 1968. Making it just slightly older than the 40 Year Old release that hit shelves in 2008 which we took at earlier this year here.

So why release something that’s only a two years older than its oldest offering? Well as Martin Daraz the US Brand Ambassador for HIghland Park said, “because we can”.

During a presentation that I recently attended to celebrate the release of Highland 1968, Martin mentioned that the spirit was released for the fans of Highland Park, whether that’s a group of whisky loving friends splitting the purchase of one bottle or the avid collector that plans to save it for a special occasion.

Martin also went on to say that while they have a wealth of barrels aging in the Highland Distillery
and thus can keep up the availability of the 40 year old release as part of their portfolio, the 1968 release is limited to a mere 1,550 bottles available globally and will retail for $3,999. Once the 1968 is gone, it’s gone.

During this presentation I had the opportunity to sample a small amount of the extremely limited Highland 1968. The experience of tasting the Highland 1968 could be described as truly remarkable. A spirit that starts off with a nose marrying flavors of baked apples and cinnamon so precisely defined they instantly reminded me of spending a summer’s evening as a child eating candied apples and wandering the local carnival.

Once I began to slowly, and I do mean slowly taste this spirit, my palate instantly recognized flavors of sweet hazelnut and cocoa. As I continued to taste through Highland 1968 I picked up hints of sea salt that combined with those previous notes of cocoa to form a taste reminiscent of fleur de sel chocolates. As it continued to work its way through my palate, flavors of caramel lead into a finish akin to a creme brulee with a sprinkle of smoke.

Martin Daraz closed out his presentation with the statement that Highland 1968 was an experimental release. Well Highland Park, the experiment was a utter success. I’ve got a bit of a smile just wondering when I’ll get to taste it again. Any spirit that can leave a memory of the experience of tasting it, is definitely worth tracking done.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Spirits can often be compared to a great meal, or a great work of art. Just like both of these examples, spirits are more often than not a labor of love, that are created with a great deal of artistry and care.

I can’t think of few better examples of this, than Charbay Distilleries Whiskey Release-II, an American Whiskey that’s been distilled from a bottle-ready pilsner hailing from a Northern California micro-brewery.

While all whiskey (and whisky) is essentially distilled from a beer, this is the first time I’ve run into a product that’s used a bottle ready beer.

Miles and Marko Karakasevic , Charbay’s two master distillers, have thirteen generations of distilling knowledge in their blood, which culminates in this masterpiece of brown liquid.

During the course of distillation, Miles and Marko hand cut(or separate) the heart(the quality spirit) of the whiskey from the heads and tails(the undesirable elements) a skill that’s been passed down from one generation to the next.

With their first whiskey offering they started with only 24 barrels, and aged the whisky for a period of three years, at which point they bottled it at cask-strength(124.9) proof, yet the feedback they received was that it was comparable in smoothness to most 15 year old whiskies.

With the second release, dubbed Charbay Whiskey Release II, they started with only 22 barrels, but let it age for a total of six years in custom-made new American White Oak barrels that were charred to #3, and aged at a variety of temperatures to create additional flavor nuances. After about six years, five barrels were selected based on flavor profile and then transferred to stainless steel for another three years.

This artisanal approach results in a whiskey that leads in with a nose of sweet coconut and vanilla that’s followed up by minor hints of smoke.

Upon tasting, flavors of sweet milk chocolate, and nuances of orange greet the palate. As you delve deeper into the whiskey, occasional touches of mint, ginger and apples reveal themselves.

The spirit ends with a warm finish that’s filled with notes of pistachio, cocoa, and flavors of stout, reminding you how Miles and Marko created this magnificent spirit.

Charbay Whiskey Release II retails for $350 per 750ml bottle.

Final Score: 9.5/10