A journey to its end

I believe that life is full of journeys. It can be long or short, sad or joyful, dull or glamorous. I am coming to the end to a little journey of mine in Australia, not that I have graduated nor am I leaving the country. The journey that I called “living together with my brother” is coming to an end. It’s a short one, but certainly glamorous. Life, strikes me again with its majesty, searing the bitterness of separation onto my soul, leaving the wounds and left myself for recovery. The wounds will heal but scars remain, and became the testimony of my life. They speak to me, telling me that I am a step closer to maturity.

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Isn’t that the same with my beloved whisky? Only through the baptism of time and beautiful chemistry inside the cask will it comes to its perfection. Well, I am going to bring two drams to their end. They meant something to me because I bought them at the Sydney airport; which, were the first two bottles when I started this journey and they will sleep with it, tonight. Ardbeg Uigeadail, the soul of Ardbeg distillery, a peated masculinity drink. Glenmorangie Astar, soft and floral like a charming woman in her 30’s. Both of them are not very expensive like those 30 year old (or plus) or “vintage” single malts, but they certainly worth every penny I paid for. They have bought me different sensations from time to time, as for today, salute to you both!
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Uigeadail and Astar are both bottled at cask strength. It means that they have been bottled from the cask without any dilution of water i.e. what you get is what’s in the cask. Therefore the alcohol content is always higher and is normally above 50% ABV. It’s usually too pungent (from the alcohol) when the bottle was first opened (of course then follows by the wonderful aromas of the dram). I found that the cask strength single malts are best to drink in three to six months after opening. As I am pouring out the last drop of Astar this very moment, I have realized that it has finally reaches its optimum.

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Life moves on, memory remains, maturity through journeys, and one step closer to perfection~
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Benriach Master Class - Part2/3

It seems like Benriach 12 yo is a big hit of the night, well, wait to see what I am about to reveal. Benriach 16 yo and 15 yo (Pedro Ximinez sherry finish) have further demonstrated the classic Speyside style and the fine craftsmanship of Benriach distillery. However, the 15 yo sherry finish is not very outstanding to my concern. I think it’s because it was “finished” in Sherry butt (primary maturation in American Bourbon), therefore the intensity of the Sherry character was not very strong (personally, I prefer full-sherry note when I choose to drink a Sherry cask/finish). I believe I have been spoiled by the good Sherry oaked drams from The Macallan I drank. I must admit that The Macallan is very good at crafting Sherry oaked whiskies even though I am not a huge fan of it.

Benriach 15 year old (Pedro Ximinez sherry finish)
Colour: amber
Aromas: chocolate, toffee, cinnamon, orange peal, fruit cake, sultanas
Palate: dark chocolate, tannin, sweet-dry, winey
Finish: chocolate, full-medium bodied
Comment: good to accompany with dessert or cheese. 800 cases per batch

The Benriach 16 yo is the “classic Benriach” dram and the favourite drink amongst the Benriach staffs. The vanilla sensation from the 12 yo was out-balanced by the toffee and caramel notes due to its cask profile (50% of the maturation was taken in 3 and 4 filled American Bourbon barrels). One thing that’s worth to mention here is that 75% of the content is actually 18 yo whisky and only 25% is 16 yo, but due to Scottish legislation, only the youngest age in the profile can be printed on the bottle. That extra 5.5 years (0.75 x 18 + 0.25 x 16 – 12 = 5.5, but of course, I shouldn’t work it out like this, only for entertainment purposes ~ ha!) of age had derived extra full to medium bodied character for this dram.

Benriach 16 year old
Colour: gold
Aromas: Earthy, dry, smidgen of peat, smoky, slice of honey, very little trace of vanilla
Palate: trace of sherry note (toffee), toasted caramel, sweet, full-medium bodied
Finish: toffee
Comment: got more hit from the dram than the 12 yo, a bigger drink. “Intricate”

Benriach Master Class - Part1/3

The event started with a coincident. Susan and I were cruising in the Westfield (Bondi Junction) mall one day afternoon and I couldn’t resist my eyes to catch the advertisement outside the Vintage Cellar promoting for the Benriach Master Class. Thanks to my lovely wife who has allowed me to purchase the ticket; there was I, Hilton Hotel at the 22nd of August.

What I like about whisky master class is that I can taste a number of drams in one night without drinking too much. The following ranges have been included in that night’s menu; Benriach 12 yo (year old), 16 yo, 15 yo (Pedro Ximinez sherry finish), Curiositas peated 10 yo and Authenticus peated 21 yo. The speaker, James Cowan, started the speech by introducing the distillery and the process of making the whisky.

(Man, I couldn’t help myself to pour a class of Curiositas at this point because I am about to tell you how good the whiskies were. I need a dram! Hahaha~)

Without too much detail on the distillery itself, James asked us to raise our first glass of the Benriach 12 year old. (Colour) Light amber with a trace of golden shine on the colour, its first impression to me was matured in Bourbon cask and a typical Speyside 12 yo character. On the (Aromas), dominate by honey and vanilla and followed by sense of floral. To my (Plate), strong honey and vanilla notes with hint of apple and pears at end. It’s light and easy to drink; however, I must say that it is one of the best 12yo Speyside malt that I have drunk so far.

Maybe I’ll use a little side story to elaborate this feeling/comment of mine. In recent years I have had many Speyside 12 yo single malts, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan, Balvenie double wood… and the list goes on. None of them gave me that superior quality of the Benriach 12 yo, probably the only one that matches is the “old version” of Glenlivet 12 yo. That dram I was lucky enough to have it in a friend’s restaurant where another friend bought along for us to enjoy. What’s the difference between the new and the old? The word that separates them is “subtleness”. The new products seem to be more “plain” and “flat” on the plate; while drinking the old version, the flavours on the palate do not reveals all at once (like the new) but layer by layer. Moreover, the buttery texture embraces the flavours kind of induced the subtleness of the dram. I thought I wouldn’t have the chance to have that experience from a 12 yo again (because the old version won’t be produced anymore) but I was wrong.

To be continue…