Singleton of Glendullan 19 Year

 

 

 

Singleton of Glendullan 19 Year (2021 Special Release)
Classification: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside (Dufftown: 57.448N, -3.119W)
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Strength: 54.6% ABV (109.2° Proof)
Color: Unknown (most likely natural color)
Filtration: Unknown (most likely non-chill filtered)
Maturation: 19 years in ex-bourbon casks, finished for unknown duration in ex-Cognac casks
Price: $186.99 (Total Wine)

Tl;dr summary - An end-of-year splurge inspired by a generous age statement combined with an equally generous bottling strength. The dram starts out impressively with fantastic aromas of cognac, vanilla, almonds, and red apple. The taste requires a bit of dilution (and time) to tame the alcohol punch, but eventually fruits, oak, and pepper spice are revealed. The finish is moderate length with ample oak, pepper spice, and gentle fruit. An impressive whisky with polished packaging and a lofty asking price that could justifiably be a deal-breaker for some.

Well Happy New Year and Happy Burns Night everyone. Being the first post of a new year, I thought it perfectly fitting to open with a bit of pizzazz. Typically I am quite wary when it comes to spending a large sum of money on a single bottle of hooch. For any given distillery/producer, I usually hem and haw and sample cheaper offerings from them before plunking down the big bucks for something from the loftier end of their stable. Today's whisky totally bucks that behavior. When I purchased today's malt, not only had I never had a drop of a single malt from the Glendullan distillery, I knew very little about the distillery other than it was owned and operated by Diageo.

 

In my defense, three of the four motivations for my purchasing decision are laudable - this whisky is 19 years old, an official bottling from the distillery, and the cherry on top - bottled at cask strength. The final motivation is admittedly less noble and typically the purview of the gullible, but I'd be lying if I said the spiffy marketing campaign and glitzy artwork draped over the bottle and its packaging did not stir my desire to purchase. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a sea glass green bottle accentuated by a coral mermaid set against an azure blue sky.

 

All told, Diageo owns 28 malt distilleries in Scotland and this Singleton is one of eight 2021 Special Releases that Diageo produced from their stable of distilleries. All eight offerings are bottled at cask strength and all feature an age statement. The breathtaking entry has to be the senior Lagavulin, but each entry has its own charm. The seven other special releases joining the Singleton are: Cardhu 14 year ($150), Lagavulin 26 year ($2,400), Lagavulin 12 year ($150), Mortlach 13 year ($125), Oban 12 year ($115), Royal Lochnager 16 year ($250), and Talisker 8 year ($115).

I've always been intrigued by the numerous factors that contribute to a particular bottle's price point. There are tangible aspects such as age, bottling strength, and production characteristics, but there are also intangible influences such as brand perception and marketing push that contribute to a bottle's price. There is no tool quite like a spreadsheet to provide a bit of context in such regards and plotting each of the eight 2021 special releases does indeed show some interesting trends. It's no surprise that the 26-year-old Lagavulin is a wild point in terms of comparison. Malts from Islay that are over two decades old are indeed rare, doubly so from a distillery with the brand prestige of Lagavulin. There is simply no getting around the fact that a consumer will pay a significant premium to bring a bottle of long-aged Lagavulin home - low supply, high prestige, and even higher consumer desire will always yield a shockingly large asking price.

When we exclude the old man Lagavulin from the discussion, things become a bit more apples-to-apples:

 

Average MSRP (excluding Lagavulin 26): $154.29

Average $ per Year (excluding Lagavulin 26): $11.66

Average $ per ABV % (excluding Lagavulin 26): $2.73

 

In terms of dollars per year of maturation, it's the Royal Lochnager, Talisker, and 12-year Lagavulin that carry the largest premium. The Talisker and Lagavulin are understandable as both are well established and desired brands that have legions of fans across the globe. Any special release from those two distilleries will be snapped up without hesitation at virtually any price. The Royal Lochnager is interesting as I suspect it's premium is driven by scarcity and uniqueness. Royal Lochnager is by far Diageo's smallest distillery and is typically used in the Johnnie Walker Blue and Black products. As such there is very little Royal Lochnager whisky available to consumers as a standalone product and might explain why its pricing is significantly above the mean.

As for our humble Singleton, it is the best value in terms of dollars per year of age when compared to its special release companions. Being the second lowest bottling strength dings the value prospect when assessing it's bang-for-buck in regard to strength, but I'll take that trade-off for a 19-year-old single malt. Of course it is not a whisky's numerical attributes that shape its stature in the whisky world. For that we need to answer the question 'is this stuff any good?'. For a whisky's legend is made (or shattered) not on a website or retail shelf, but exclusively in the glass from which it is enjoyed.

 

Nose

Immediately reminiscent of Cognac: cocoa, coffee, oak, gentle leather jump out at first. With time, it's barley foundation emerges and it becomes obvious that this is indeed a malt and not a Cognac. Initially there is a fair amount of ethanol punch but once my nose acclimates, almonds, vanilla, gentle orange oil, and barley sugar all waft up from the glass. An absolutely sensational aroma throughout the experience. A+.

 

Taste

When sipped neat, the ethanol overwhelms my palate. This is a 'hot' whisky, a surge of alcohol coats my tongue and overwhelms my ability to pick out most flavors. There is a bit of acclimation where more flavors are perceptible when sipping neat, but for me, this whisky requires water. With water added, oak, apple, barley, dark cocoa, and a gentle black pepper spice are present. An excellent whisky in terms of flavor, but the taste is one notch below the sublime nose.

Finish

Medium to long finish. When sipped neat, the alcohol is the most dominant aspect of the finish, but just as with the taste, water helps the malt's flavors emerge. The oak, almond, black pepper and gentle orange continue from the taste. The black pepper is the longest to linger. The finish is on par with the taste, but does not surpass the taste (or nose) in the experience.

 

Overall

An excellent and enjoyable whisky. Thus far, I've had four pours of this malt and there is no question that for me, this whisky requires the addition of water for full enjoyment as it's just too ethanol-heavy when sipped neat. Of course this is not a complaint, I prize the fact that this malt is bottled at its natural cask strength as it gives the consumer total control over the dilution to their personal preference. For me a quarter-ounce of water for a 1.5 ounce pour was the consensus. This would bring the proof down from the original 54.6% ABV to ~47% ABV. Also praiseworthy, though not officially stated on the label, is my belief that this malt is natural color and has not been chill-filtered (the whisky did become cloudy after the addition of water). 

 

My criticisms are really nits - I wish the finish was a tad longer. I wish the taste and finish were equal to the aroma but both are a whisker below. I wish the price was lower. Speaking of price, perhaps the ultimate compliment I can give is that my enjoyment of this whisky dwarfed my whisky frugality and caused me to lose sight of the fact that I paid nearly $200 for this bottle. Unlike my experience with 21 year old Redbreast, the enjoyment derived from each sip of the Singleton dominated my thoughts rather than a fixation over how much each sip had cost me. Regardless, flirting with $200 is a significant sum of money and one that I feel must be kept at the forefront when discussing all other facets of this malt. 

 

So is this bottle worth the asking price? For me, yes, but only as a one-time purchase. While I do believe this malt is worth the price tag, I do not believe this malt to be unique enough to justify the purchase of a second bottle to squirrel away for future enjoyment. At a minimum I suspect 2022's Special Release of Singleton, assuming there will be one, will be equally enjoyable, even if its production characteristics are different than the 2021 release.

 

I'll leave you with a bit of a teaser - there are expensive bottles of hooch that merit purchasing in bulk. Bottles entirely unique in regard to production and/or quality such that they become time capsules capturing a specific moment never likely to be repeated. Such bottles are genuine treasures, distinct in their character; the phrase 'catching lightning in a bottle' comes to mind. I will be discussing just such a bottle in the very near future, but until then, cheers to all in the new year.

Tis the Season

Oh what a wonderful time of year it is. Yes, without a doubt, December is a magical month. Oh sure, there's the ho ho ho and mistletoe and goodwill towards all, but what I'm talking about is the beginning of citrus season here in good ole Florida. And with citrus season comes fresh grapefruit which is the gateway to an absolute deluge of delightful cocktails. 

 

A few years ago, I mused about one such cocktail, still a personal favorite, the Hemingway Daiquiri. To open this year's grapefruit season, we are heading into the realm of tiki and mixing up an absolute classic - Donn Beach's Navy Grog. First featured in 1941 at Donn's legendary Hollywood tiki bar Don the Beachcomber, Navy Grog has since become a staple in tiki culture. Thanks to the sensational investigative and archival work of Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry, we have a pretty good idea of Donn's original recipe and can enjoy at home. 

 

The drink's signature garnish, a cone of crushed ice with the drinking straw running through the middle, is omitted here as I do not have an easy way to produce such a garnish. Regardless, it's the rum that soothes the holiday commotion, so I would not sweat the crushed ice cone too much. As for the rums, the silver rum should be a good quality neutral rum. The Beachbum calls for a Cuban or Puerto Rican rum, but here I am using a sugarcane-based rum from Haiti. The drink's funk will come from both the Demerara and the Jamaican rums. Note in the photo below I am using an overproof Demerara rum, but I do proof the rum down to ~50% ABV before using in the cocktail. The honey syrup is easily made - equal parts water and honey heated and stirred in a saucepan until the honey is fully dissolved in the water.

Ingredients

• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 3/4 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
• 3/4 ounce sparkling water
• 1 ounce aged Demerara rum
• 1 ounce aged Jamaican rum
• 1 ounce unaged neutral rum
• 1 ounce honey syrup
  

Composition

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice, plop the top on and shake it like you mean it. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice.

Mahalo everyone!

Sibling Rivalry Part Deux!

Appleton Estate Rum, 8-Year, 12-Year, and 15-Year Old
Classification: Jamaica Rum
Country: Jamaica
Region: Nassau Valley (St. Elizabeth: 18.166N, -77.728W)
Mash Bill: Fermented Molasses
Strength: 43% ABV (86° Proof)
Color: Unknown (most likely artificial color)
Filtration: Unknown
Maturation: 8 Years, 12 years, and 15 years respectively in ex-bourbon American oak
Price: 8-Year: $27.99, 12-Year: $34.99, 15-Year: $65.99

Tl;dr summary - Three rums, each one progressively older than its predecessor. Kudos to the folks at Appleton - the progression from youngest to oldest is very much in keeping with expectations. As the age increases, so too do the vanilla, oak, and roasty-toasty notes while simultaneously the fruit notes diminish. The 8-year is the most spirit-forward whereas the 15-year is the most oak-forward. It’s the 12-year that remains the sweet-spot to my tastes, a great balance between age and fruit.

Well, well, well, what have we here? Inspired by Thanksgiving Week Vacation Cocktail numero uno, I realized it was long overdue to spotlight rum on my little slice of the Interwebz. Despite being featured in numerous cocktail recipes here, rum has never starred on the big stage of an impressions writeup. In fact, this is the first impression entry featuring a spirit other than whiskey. Considering this milestone, let’s go for the gusto and make it a trio of rums, all hailing from the same distillery, Jamaica’s Appleton Estate.

The rum world is a fascinating place. Unlike major whiskey varieties like scotch, bourbon, or Irish whiskey, there is no uniform set of regulations governing the production of rum. While I will not attempt to iterate through the global spiderweb of rum regulations in this post, I will tell you that rum purchases generally require far more consumer due diligence to decipher and deduce what exactly is in that bottle of rum you are purchasing. There are two especially nefarious practices to be aware of in the rum world - misleading (or outright bogus) age statements and whether additives such as sugar or flavorings are added to the rum after distillation. Sadly, many rum producers are legally allowed to place misleading age statements as well as add additional sugar and/or flavorings to their rum without disclosing as such on their label. Thankfully Appleton Estate does the honorable thing here and does not covertly add any additional sugar or flavorings to their rums and the age statements found on their respective labels is the age of the youngest rum in the bottle.

As hinted in the King of Barbados entry, Jamaican rums are renowned for their ‘funk’ and while the ins and outs of ‘funk’ in rums is beyond the scope of this post, the executive summary is that funk in a Jamaican rum tends to be aromas (and tastes) of overripe fruits, particularly banana. Also know that funk in rums is not the exclusive purview of Jamaica, many rum producing nations across the globe produce ‘funky’ rums. Still, it is the rums from Jamaica that are most recognized as funky, perhaps due to the immense exposure they receive from their inclusion in many of the legendary cocktails emanating from tiki culture. One final funk note - while Appleton Estate certainly brings some funk, it must be stated that on the scale of funkadelic, Appleton is on the lighter side. Other Jamaican distilleries such as Hampden Estate or Worthy Park bring the Parliament-Funkadelic to the bottle and are definitely worth seeking out and sampling if Appleton floats your boat.

Appleton has offered a 12-year version for as long as I can remember and it has been a staple on our shelf since I first discovered it. The 12-year is on the very short list of rums that I recommend without hesitation to anyone that asks. It can be enjoyed neat, over ice, or as a mixer. Appleton 8-year is a ‘new’ item in their lineup, having been discontinued a number of years ago, but brought back in the summer of 2021. Along with the 8-year, the 15-year made its debut in Appleton’s lineup in 2021 and serves as a fitting layover point between the 12-year and their ultra-aged 21-year old offering.

All of Appleton Estate’s rum begins life as fermented molasses. To distill all that fermented molasses, Appleton employs both column stills as well as double-retort pot stills. While column stills are familiar to most whiskey enthusiasts as they are used the world over to produce a wide variety of distilled spirits, it's the double-retort pot still that brings a bit of razzmatazz to the party. Essentially an ingenious innovation stringing together multiple pot stills to allow simultaneous double and even triple distillation, double-retort pot stills were born from a desire to improve efficiency, but now serve as a vehicle to deliver a ester-rich ethanol prized by many Caribbean-based rum producers. If interested, a deeper dive into the anatomy and chemistry of the double-retort can be found here. Once distilled, Appleton uses ex-bourbon barrels (allegedly ex-Jack Daniel’s barrels) for the bulk of their aging duties with all aging occurring in the year-round heat of Jamaica. The journey to the bottle is completed when Appleton’s blenders select both column distilled and the double-retort pot distilled rums to be blended together and proofed to produce the final product. And speaking of final product, let's get to tasting three of them:

Appleton 8-Year

Nose: Molasses, brown sugar, gentle funk, orange zest, banana

Taste: Gentle alcohol bite, medium sweetness, fruit/banana sweetness, gentle chili and baking spice

Finish: Moderate ethanol, short length, gentle oak, brown sugar, banana, molasses

Overall: If one made a pie chart detailing the characteristics of this rum, the largest slice would be ethanol (youthful spirit), then brown sugar, then fruit. The Jamaica funk is not as pronounced as I’d like and I personally get more brown sugar notes in the taste but more molasses notes in the finish. An excellent mixing rum, but not a sipping rum for me.

Appleton 12-Year

Nose: Ripe Banana, funk, chocolate, orange, cinnamon, vanilla

Taste: Mild alcohol bite, medium-low sweetness (less sweet than the 8-year), orange, bitter orange, cinnamon, nutmeg

Finish: Medium-short in length, cinnamon and nutmeg, molasses, the slightest wisp of oak

Overall: The fruit and funk are several notches higher when compared to the 8-year. The molasses remains hidden until the finish where it just starts to peek through the blanket of fruit and spice. There is oak, but it is ever so gentle. A true jack of all trades, this rum is enjoyable neat or mixed.

Appleton 15-Year

Nose: A surprising punch of ethanol, more than the 12-year but less than the 8-year. Almost zero funk and very faint fruit. Roasted nuts, coffee, and oak char. Molasses is more pronounced on the nose than the 8-year and 12-year.

Taste: Vanilla syrup, molasses, oak char. Moderately sweet initially then progresses to a drying finish with light tannins

Finish: Oak, molasses, medium length. Given its lofty age statement, my expectation is for a much longer finish, but what is there is enjoyable

Overall: The oak is the most pronounced element of this rum, leading to a drying finish. Unlike the 8-year and 12-year, the molasses is most noticeable in the 15-year particularly in the finish. What is surprising and disappointing to me is the diminished amount of fruit and funk in this rum. While this is a sipping rum through and through, it certainly could be used in cocktails but that feels overly extravagant at this price-point. For my rum-purchasing dollars, the 15-year will be a one-and-done purchase as it does not rival the 12-year to my tastes. 

Final Verdict

The Appleton 8-year is an honorable entry in the lineup. Its current price, flirting with $30, while a notch high, is partially justified by a legitimate age-statement and a 3% bump in ABV over virtually all of its competitors. The rum certainly tastes youthful, more youthful than its stated 8-years, but this too can be interpreted as a positive as the rum mixes beautifully. There is no doubt this is a molasses based rum with a gentle Jamaican funk, it's a straightforward rum, so long as you do not have sipping aspirations for it. Things get a bit more interesting when it comes to the 12 and 15-year entries. 

I purchased the 15-year almost five months ago and since that day, I've debated labeling it as disappointing. Ultimately, I shall not do so as the connotation of that word is disproportionately harsh to the rum sitting in that bottle. While the 15-year is not a disappointing rum, it is an outmatched rum, specifically by its three year younger brother. Sampling these three rums simultaneously highlighted precisely what I desire from an Appleton rum - first and foremost I want fruit, then funk, then molasses, and lastly oak influence. Across the 7-year age difference between these three rums, as they get older, the spirit-influence decreases, the fruit-influence decreases, and the oak influence increases. Oddly, as far as the funk goes, it's strongest in the 12-year, then the 8-year, and weakest in the 15-year. Like the fruit influence, I would have expected the funk to diminish proportionally with age, but alas, that is not the case to my tastes. Perhaps the funk prevalence in the 12-year is an intentional artifact of the blender's intentions. I can only speculate on that, but ultimately, that is precisely why I adore the 12-year, it is a brilliant balance between fruit, funk, and age.

Stay funky my friends, until next time.

A hard day at the office...

Thanksgiving Vacation Cocktails - Round Three

Ohh la la, espresso martinis. I don't know how cocktail geeks feel about espresso martinis. My gut tells me that some of the 'cool kids' in the cocktail world might sneer at the thought of an espresso martini as it seems like it was overplayed back in the day like the Cosmo or Appletini. Regardless, one of the cocktail-centric YouTube channels I enjoy espoused their love for the drink and having never personally enjoyed one, my interest was piqued.

The recipe featured on YouTube calls for a specific coffee liqueur, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, which will not come as too much of a surprise if you spend time perusing cocktail-centric channels on YouTube. Mr. Black exploded in popularity in the United States right around 2019 and it seemed like it was the de facto coffee component for any cocktail recipe found on the Web that required such a flavor. The new hotness of Mr. Black plays beautifully into this week's side-by-side cocktail theme as there is another coffee liqueur in the world, and not just any old liqueur, but a titan, the fabled Kahlua. How does the new kid stack up to the OG? What better way to find out...

Ingredients

• 1.5 ounces vodka
• 1 ounce espresso
• 2/3 ounce coffee liqueur (Mr. Black for one, Kahlua Especial for the other)
• 1/3 ounce vanilla syrup (I cheated here and added real vanilla extract to taste to a simple syrup)

Composition

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice, shake it like you mean it, double-strain and serve.

Results

Before discussing the drinks, it is insightful to discuss how Mr. Black and Kahlua compare to each other. Kahlua is rum-based with coffee and vanilla added. Mr. Black is vodka-based that coffee is cold brewed/steeped in. The Kahlua is significantly sweeter than the Mr. Black when sipped neat. Kahlua tastes precisely like a coffee and vanilla syrup. Mr. Black on the other hand reminds me of an imperial stout - roasty, toasty, and not inherently sweet, but also not bitter.

The differences between the two coffee liqueurs absolutely carryover into the cocktails. The Mr. Black-based martini is not overly sweet, in fact I'd say its sweetness is neutral and perhaps just a whisker bitter. The Kahlua version is significantly sweeter, but not in a cloying way. The espresso notes dominate both drinks and truth be told, the vodka is completely invisible. Neither taste as though they have any alcohol in them at all which is quite remarkable (and potentially dangerous).

As for our personal preference, we are split down the middle on this one. Matic opted for the Mr. Black version and I opted for the Kahlua version. It's fitting that I tend to sweeten my coffee and espresso whereas my better half does not to the same degree. Therein lies the litmus one can use to determine which version to serve - for folks that take their espresso au naturel, the Mr. Black version is the way to roll. For those that want a touch more sweetness, it's the OG Kahlua that will carry the day.

One final note - both versions, while delicious, did not strike either of us as a mid-day or early-evening type of cocktail. Coffee for us tends to be a early morning or occasional post-dinner beverage. As such, these cocktails felt more appropriate as an after dinner libation, but your mileage may vary depending on how you enjoy espresso and coffee in your day to day life.

Thanksgiving Vacation Cocktails - Round Two

As promised, for round two of Thanksgiving Week Vacation Cocktails we are going old school. First appearing in cocktail recipe books in the 1920s, the Sidecar most likely was first mixed and enjoyed a tad earlier, somewhere in the World War 1 era. With over one hundred years under its belt and spawning countless variants in its wake, you would be correct in declaring the Sidecar a classic vintage cocktail. But in a twist reminiscent of Darth proclaiming his paternal bond to Luke in the bowels of Bespin's Cloud City, there is another. Hailing from New Orleans and making its first appearance in the mid-1850s, the Brandy Crusta is considered by many to be the inspiration and father of the Sidecar.

Unlike the King of Barbados where the drink recipes were identical save the rum used in each, the Sidecar and Brandy Crusta do differ by a significant degree, but the foundation remains quite similar - Cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. 

Let's start with the Sidecar, a drink whose proportions are identical to a basic Daisy or Daiquiri - two ounces spirit, one ounce sweetener, three-quarters of an ounce of bitter:

The Sidecar
Ingredients

• 2 ounces Cognac or brandy
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice

Composition

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, strain and serve.

The Brandy Crusta has a bit more going on and it should be noted that the recipe below is a modern interpretation of the original. By the mid-1900s, the Brandy Crusta had fallen out of fashion and all but disappeared from the cocktail scene just as the Sidecar's popularity really began to surge. Fast forward to the early 2000s and New Orleans bartender Chris Hannah resurrected the classic with subtle tweaks to accommodate modern preferences. 

Brandy Crusta

Ingredients

• 1.75 ounces Cognac or brandy
• 0.5 ounces orange Curacao (dry)
• 0.25 ounces Luxardo liqueur
• 0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Composition

The Brandy Crusta was named for the sugar-crusted rim of the glass in which it is served, it's only fitting that the namesake tradition be honored. Meanwhile, place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, strain and serve.

Father Crusta on the left, son Car on the right

Results

Out of the gate, let me say that both cocktails are entirely deserving of their stellar reputations. Each is wholly delicious and worthy of the effort required. The wine-soaked oak of the Cognac is perfectly complimented by the yin and yang of the sweet orange and bitter lemon. The Brandy Crusta builds upon this flawless foundation and the addition of Luxardo maraschino liqueur and Angostura bitters raise the drink without cluttering it. I realize it is a cop-out to say both are delicious and refuse to pick a side, but that is precisely where my better half and I fell in regard to these two libations. True, the Brandy Crusta has a bit more going on flavor wise but labeling it as 'better' felt like a bridge too far for us. We are going to call this comparison a draw - make one of each, sit back, sip, and contemplate life for a bit.

Thanksgiving Vacation Cocktails - Round One

Ahhh welcome to Thanksgiving week. A week spent celebrating my favorite holiday and a week generally filled with indulgences of many forms. While my much better half and I are no strangers to exploring new and exciting libations, Thanksgiving week gives us a chance to sample old time favorites as well as new and exciting concoctions that we've not gotten around to yet.

To kick off Thanksgiving week, we're rolling with a new kid on the block that we'll be mixing for the first time. As I've stated numerous times in regard to whiskey, there is no better tasting experiment than to sample two closely related items side-by-side. In a stroke of inspiration, we decided to apply this notion to today's cocktail - making two versions identical in every regard save the rum used. The original recipe called for a lightly aged Barbados rum. For the alternate version, we opted to use a staple in tiki cocktail culture - a moderately aged Jamaican rum. 

First up, the recipe. Known as the 'King of Barbados', this libation is a riff on a rum punch, with a French twist of Calvados as well as a nod to the tiki gods with the inclusion of both a honey syrup and allspice dram.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces aged rum (we used a Barbados rum in one version, a Jamaican rum in the other)
• 0.5 ounces Calvados (or apple brandy)
• 0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 0.75 ounces honey syrup (equal parts honey and water, heated and stirred until fully incorporated)
• 0.25 ounces allspice dram

Composition

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, strain and serve

Results

The two rums used in our variants of this cocktail are Mount Gay's entry-level rum - Eclipse and Appleton Estate's 8-year rum. A fair criticism of this setup is the fact that Appleton's 8-year is far more aged than Mount Gay's Eclipse, approximately four times as much as Mount Gay claims their Eclipse rum is aged for two years. This will certainly impact the final result, and it's not just extra age the Appleton brings to the drink, but also that legendary 'Jamaica Funk'. Perhaps a better comparison would be to use Appleton's entry-level offering, their Signature Blend, but alas, we'll have to leave that for another day.

As for the drinks themselves, the allspice dram packs a remarkable punch despite being the smallest component of the drink. The Calvados is a fairly healthy component of the drink, but I can't say it is all that detectable in the final drink, though I am sure if omitted, it's absence would be noticed. To our tastes, the rum, allspice dram, and lemon juice are the stars of this drink. 

Both cocktails take on a orange-clove vibe which perfectly compliments the current Fall season. As for the different rums, the Mount Gay Eclipse version is straightforward and wildly drinkable. It would be easy to consume one, then two, then six of the Mount Gay version. The Appleton version is unsurprisingly a tad more complex, there are more flavors delivered when sipped alongside the Mount Gay version mostly thanks to the 'funk' and 3% extra ABV of the Appleton. 

Personally, if I were mixing this drink for family and friends, I'd almost always opt for the Mount Gay version as it is a fantastic riff of an easy-going, easy to enjoy rum punch. If however I had a friend that loved traditional tiki cocktails or Jamaican rum, then the Appleton would be the appropriate rum.

For the next round of vacation cocktails, we'll be traveling back in time to visit one of the old school's classic offerings. Until then, cheers my friends.

Sibling Rivalry

Two siblings, each born in neighboring distilleries separated by a mere half mile and sharing wildly similar production characteristics. So just how similar (or dissimilar) are these two malts? Had I not cynically ignored each malt’s packaging, I would have had a basic, but accurate, answer to that very question long before any whisky was poured. Sadly, all too often a whisky’s packaging can easily be dismissed as the descriptors and verbiage are more fluff than substance. In retrospect however, the packaging for both the Balvenie and the Glenfiddich provided ample foreshadowing of what was to come.

The Balvenie’s mission is to use ex-bourbon and new American oak barrels to enhance the sweetness and fruit characteristics of their whisky. Conversely, the Glenfiddich aims to pay tribute to the bourbon industry and all those beautiful barrels it supplies to Scotland for use in the maturation of scotch whisky. One aims to utilize American oak, both used and new, to accentuate and celebrate their distillate’s inherent character. The other aims to utilize the same variety of American oak to influence and infuse characteristics of bourbon into their whisky to honor the wholly symbiotic relationship between two of the world’s most prominent whisky styles.

Had I paid closer attention to these details, I would have had a pretty good idea what was in store for me - the Balvenie would be a Balvenie malt with barley sweetness, citrus, and a bit of ginger front and center and the American oak influence in the background as a supporting actor. Alternately, the Glenfiddich would yield more of its Speyside character to the American oak, allowing for more bourbon notes like brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon to appear and mingle.

After spending a significant amount of time with both bottles (both are now empty!), I can affirm that to my palate, each product has successfully accomplished its stated goal. Don’t misunderstand however, both of these are scotches through and through. If you were to pour either for a bourbon lover, that person would not mistake either for a bourbon. While each remains true to its respective underlying spirit, the influence of American oak is different between the two - the Balvenie focuses on the oak itself whereas the Glenfiddich focuses on the bourbon-influence.

In terms of the drinking experience, I found the Glenfiddich to be more enjoyable. The Glenfiddich’s brown sugar, vanilla, and caramel notes were more to my liking than the Balvenie’s focus on oak influence which brought sawdust, lumber yard, and toasted oak characteristics. Again, truth in advertising as the Balvenie’s name ‘The Sweet Toast of American Oak’ makes no mystery of the malt’s intentions.

While both whiskies are 43% ABV, I found the Glenfiddich to have less tongue-prickle and alcohol sting that I associate with younger spirits. Not shocking when you consider the Glenfiddich does have two extra years of maturation than the Balvenie. Because neither whisky states whether artificial coloring was added or if chill-filtration was used, it is a safe assumption that both were indeed utilized.

Packaging and price are two areas where the separation between these two whiskies is indeed notable. The Glenfiddich is priced in the low $50 range whereas the Balvenie is in the low-to-mid $70 range. A twenty-ish dollar premium for a younger whisky is indeed curious which leads me to the packaging. While both come bottled in their respective distillery’s signature bottle and packaged nicely in standard cardboard tubes, it is the Balvenie that is draped in a smooth, slick, shiny marketing campaign. Introduced a few years ago, ‘Balvenie Stories’ details the inspiration, craftsmanship, and effort that goes into specific offerings from the distillery. One of those ‘stories’, complete with its own ‘podcast’ episode, is The Sweet Toast of American Oak. Just one look at each whisky’s respective webpage drives home the suspicion that the Balvenie absolutely received the lion’s share of the marketing budget William Grant & Sons allocated for the two products.

Does the polished marketing campaign for The Sweet Toast of American Oak constitute the ~$20 price difference? Partially yes, but I suspect there is another factor in play. Traditionally, the marketing of Balvenie has been its perception as an upscale, boutique whisky producer. Of course a key component of being perceived as an upscale, boutique product is flaunting a large asking price; a wild aspect of professional consumerism is that a lofty price often becomes a key contributor to an item’s appeal and an affirmation of its pedigree.

Even with its lofty pedestal in the whisky world in mind, I’ve always found The Sweet Toast of American Oak’s pricing to be too steep for a different reason. For just a few dollars more one can procure Balvenie’s 12-Year Single Barrel which has far more compelling production characteristics: first-fill ex-bourbon, non-chill filtered, and bottled at 47.8% ABV. These are the qualities of a whisky that can justifiably command a fiscal premium - quality production and maturation as well as far more transparency regarding the whisky, but I digress.

Getting back to the two malts at hand, despite the marketing glitz and glamor, it is the Glenfiddich that takes the prize for me. Even if these two malts were priced similarly, I’d take the Glenfiddich over the Balvenie. While numerical scores assigned to whisky impressions have always struck me as arbitrary, what feels far more indicative of one’s enjoyment is whether another bottle of said whisky will be secured in the future. To that end, a shiny new bottle of the Glenfiddich appeared on my shelf a few days after finishing the bottle featured in this writeup. As for the Balvenie, they make plenty of other malts that I thoroughly enjoy (12-Year Single Barrel, 15-Year Single Barrel, and their annual Peat Week) but for me, The Sweet Toast of American Oak was an above-average malt with a disproportionately high asking price, it is a one-and-done purchase for me.

Archived reviews of each respective malt:

Balvenie Sweet Toast of American Oak: https://aqua-lunas.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-new-balvenie.html  
Glenfiddich Bourbon Barrel Reserve 14 Year Old: https://aqua-lunas.blogspot.com/2021/08/a-thank-you-from-scotland-to-united.html 

Until next time malt mates.