Some more things that I’ve not had the time to write quite so obsessively about as I normally do.
Wild Turkey 81 – One I’ve been after since I heard about it on WhiskyCast a while back, as I’m often a fan of lower strength whiskies and rather like the regular 101 proof version of Wild Turkey. On the nose it had gluey alcohol on pouring, but that burnt off to give buttery pastry, some herbal notes, obvious spicy rye, nutella, cinnamon dusted donuts and creme patissière. To taste it was light and buttery, with floral notes, spicy grain and some vanilla cream. It finished with more sweet pastry, dark bread, light wood sourness, and rose petals and leaves.
I worked my through my first bottle rather quickly but I made sure to mix myself up an Old Fashioned with the second – it was strangely floral and very pleasant, and adding ice brings out the same flavours, although to not quite the same level. Good stuff for everyday drinking.
Jägermeister – I think I must be on a mailing list somewhere, as I got a mail from a PR company asking if I’d like a ‘gift’ from Jägermeister. Being a lover of the stuff since I used to sneak bottles of herb bitters home from Austria as a child (as mentioned in posts passim) I wasn’t going to say no. I was rather surprised when a bottle and shot glass turned up in the post, along with instructions for how to make your own ice shot glass (put some water in a paper cup, put another cup inside it and put a weight on it to hold the cup in place, put the contraption in the freezer and then remove when frozen. I haven’t done it, I’d end up with even more random ice pools in the freezer).
I’ve not had Jägermeister on its own for a while, with my most recent run-in with it in a Carlsberg Jägerbomb served when I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers – a pint of Carlsberg in a paper cup with a plastic shot glass of Jägermeister carefull dropped into it so that the liqueur stayed in the glass, at least until you started drinking. While I have heard of them before I’ve never tried one – It made the Carlsberg drinkable and was an appropriate accompaniment to the strange musical juxtaposition of Dizzee Rascal and The Chilis.
Anyways, I stuck my bottle in the freezer for a week and grabbed a shot to celebrate a day of preparing for my trip to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival. It was quite excellently gloopy straight from the cold, and on the nose it still had syrup, strong sweet spice – clove, allspice, ground mixed spice powder – and a medicinal hint of cough mixture and dentist’s waiting rooms. To taste it was thick and sweet, with liquorice, clove, cinnamon (although without heat), gummi fruit and bitter herbs more than balanced by big syrupy sweetness. It lingered for a while with more liquorice, like black sticks of liquorice sat out in the sun too long, sour wood and a few more nods to memories of dentists past. I still rather like it.
Teaninich 10yo Flora & Fauna: I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Teaninich, so when I saw it on the bar at the Scotch Whisky Experience when I was up in Edinburgh I thought I’d have a try. It’s not often seen as a single malt, with almost every bit of it going into Diageo’s blends – it’s just a general component, not even a key flavour. On the nose this one had Fruit Salad chews, sweet vanilla, honey suckle, light sweet fruit (cherries?) and a hint of herbal soap. To taste it was sweet and buttery with lemon, pastry and a little bit of black liquorice, along with some sticky sweetness at the back. My notes say ‘black liquorice cream?’. It finished sweet and herbal, with lingering dark oak and some lightly tingly spice.
A bit of a mishmash of light and darker whisky that I thought was quite pleasant.
Naked Grouse: I remember this appearing at work and I even wrote up a description of it after doing some research into what it was – a gussied up version of Famous Grouse, focused around sherry cask matured whisky from Macallan and Highland Park. However, I’d not tried it until I saw it on the bar at the Scotch Whisky Experience. On the nose it had big sherry notes with leather, raisins, a touch of black rubber, Cinnamon Grahams, dried black cherries, sweet tobacco, damp dark wood and plum jam. To taste it started off with dark chocolate but quickly thinned out with a light grain whisky edge but a nicely oily palate. This was backed up with some more full flavours, including sour fruit, bitter wood, vanilla cream, apple puree, sugared raisins and Danish pastries. It finished with custard, bitter herbs, dark chocolate, black pepper spice and lingering young grain whisky. A very interesting nose that didn’t quite come through into the taste, with the grain whisky lightening up and diluting the interesting flavours.