This week on The Whisky Topic, Glenford Jameson (Food Lawyer) joins me as we explore the Kentucky whisky scene. It involves us tasting a lot of whisky we can't possibly buy because it has all been sold out. The trip to Buffalo Trace was mind-blowing. We tasted fantastic bourbons and ryes, and we talk about some of our favourites. Of most interest, we talk about the selection process Buffalo Trace uses for Blanton's single barrel bourbon and Elmer T. Lee. Somehow, we ended up talking about Maker's Mark cask strength bourbon, and where it sits against similar products.
The Whisky Topic - Episode 3 - All About Pappy Van Winkle→
/Fresh off our recent gold mine of Van Winkle products, Jamie and I discuss Pappy Van Winkle. Is it worth the hype? Are whisky drinkers a touch sensitive about Pappy? Is Pappy 15 the perfect Pappy? Plus, Mark went to Panama City.
Buying Pappy (and other rare bourbons) From The Government
/In Ontario, the government sells event tickets for the chance to purchase Pappy Van Winkle. This might seem like a ridiculous concept in a free market society, but since 1916, Ontario has been under prohibition. The only way to buy spirits is through the government owned LCBO.
In the case of Pappy, the LCBO sold $125 tickets to a four course dinner that included whisky pairings. The star of the dinner was the order form that allowed event attendees to place an order for Pappy. The hundred or so tickets sold out online within 5 minutes, and there were reports of system issues.
The LCBO is one of the largest purchasers of alcohol in the world, and it’s the only way to legally purchase spirits in Ontario (with the exception of buying spirits at a distillery, but even those need to go through the LCBO for approval). With a population of over 13 million people, they sell a lot of liquor. Being government owned, though, means finding fairer ways to sell rare releases that are in high demand.
About 240 whiskies were available for purchase at the event. Of those, 100 bottles of Van Winkle 12 Year Old Lot B and the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Old were available. Only 20 bottles of the 15 Year Old Pappy and the Family Special Reserve were available. Chances are, you were going to walk away with one bottle of Van Winkle, but it was less likely you’d get Pappy.
We all submitted our forms by the end of the event. Four days later, we learned of the results. No back-alleyway meetings. No grey market. No courting liquor store managers. The prices were at a reasonable range from $85 to $190 a bottle.
Events are not the norm, however. When Buffalo Trace Antique Collection became available in Ontario, orders were taken online. A lottery system was used assign available bottles. People attempted to game the system by asking family members to create accounts and place orders. Some created as many as 20 or 30 accounts. By a limited sample size, I would guess the odds of getting BTAC was one in 30. I wasn’t lucky enough to get any with my one account.
This lottery system is met with mixed reception. True whisky connoisseurs and restauranteurs had better luck obtaining those whiskies by lining up outside of flagship stores the day the bottles went on shelves. Ontario is an oddly populated province, however. Almost 40% of Canadians live in Ontario, and many of those live in Toronto and (to a much lesser degree) Ottawa. The rest of the population is spread across a province that’s eight times the size of England. The LCBO serves the entire province. The lottery system, especially when done through online orders, is seen as a fairer way to serve all of Ontario.
No system is going to please everyone. Collectors will proudly and happily hunt down BTAC and Pappy in the US, and they’ll have an excellent story to share. In Ontario, things are perhaps almost too fair. Regardless, there’s already a lot of tension at the very existence of the LCBO. The pressure to privatize continues. I do wonder, though, if we in Ontario would even get Pappy and BTAC if our purchasers were split between several liquor distributors instead of one big LCBO.
As for my luck, I scored a bottle of the Lot B and the 10 Year Old. Not the ones I wanted, but for $190 (not including the dinner ticket), they’ll make excellent (though perhaps overrated) additions to my whisky cabinet.
The Whisky Topic, Episode 2→
/Jamie and I got together for the second episode of The Whisky Topic. This time we tackle Irish Whiskey, No-Age Statement whisky, and manage to get side-tracked about how much we dislike flavoured spirits.
The Whisky Topic Podcast, Episode 1→
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On the very first episode of The Whisky Topic, Jamie Johnson and I tackle how best to drink whisky. Neat, on ice, or warmed? We run some tests. It's slightly scientific. We also talk about the mash bill controversy, bourbon pricing, and Sex in The City. Have a listen, and please provide feedback.
WhiskyCast Interviews Lawyer Suing Jim Beam and Maker's Mark
/Abbas Kazerounian, who’s law firm is suing Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam over the use of the phrase hand-made on their bottling, went on this weeks WhiskyCast show hosted by Mark Gillepsie. It’s an excellent interview, and Mark asks a lot of tough questions. As I mentioned in a previous article picking on George Dickel’s labeling, few things on the label are legally protected outside of alcohol content and volume. Check out WhiskyCast episode 524 for the interview.
There Is a Bourbon Shortage
/Fred Minnick, on Whisky Advocate, narrows down the bourbon shortage:
Consumers are able to buy bourbon … if your measure of the “bourbon shortage” is there is bourbon sitting on the shelves and in the warehouses, then, there is no shortage. But the bourbon shortage is not about everyday bourbons sitting on shelves—Jim Beam White Label, Wild Turkey 101 or standard Evan Williams.
Everyday consumers are less likely to be affected. If you’re looking for rare bourbon, however, the supply and demand curve is through the roof.
BookTrib Reviews The Whisky Cabinet
/Nicely written of review of The Whisky Cabinet over at BookTrib, by Amanda Harkness:
My relationship with whiskey started out hot and heavy—more a whiskey shooter than a whiskey sipper. Over time, my tastes matured, and I began to savor the slow and smoky sip of my favorite peaty winter-time whiskey, Laphroaig. Mark Bylok understands the complexity that comes with sipping whiskey and recognizes that while it can appear chaotic on the surface, you should never let that turn you away. Indeed, he says that “Like any worthwhile relationship, sometimes things take time.
Thank you for the review!
The Extremely Limited Balvenie Fifty Year Old Is Stolen From Montreal
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Selection of Balvenie whisky from my trip to Scotland in 2012 where I met David Stewart
In an armed robbery of a liquor store in Montreal, someone stole $100k worth of whisky, including The Balvenie 50 Year Old whisky valued at $49,500 Canadian. This unfortunate theft takes one of only 88 bottles of The Balvenie Fifty out of legal circulation.
You’d think that The Balvenie 50 Year Old whisky would be rare on its own for the obvious reasons—it’s been matured for 50 years in European oak sherry hogshead and it’s extremely limited release. Personally, though, I think The Balvenie Fifty is worth far above the list price because of the man behind the whisky.
David Stewart is known as one of the most influential whisky innovators in Scotland. He was the first to double-mature whisky when he created The Balvenie DoubleWood. Double maturation is the process by which a whisky is primarily aged in one-type of oak (typically American oak), and later briefly finished in another type of oak (often European oak). Today, The Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood is one of the best selling whiskies in the world, with full credit to David Stewart.
David Stewart has over 50 years of experience in the whisky industry. Unlike Drake, David Stewart actually started at the very bottom as a clerk for Grant & Sons. Over the course of his career, he was promoted to malt master for all of the company’s scotch including The Balvenie, Glenfiddich, and Grant’s Family Reserve. He has seen the industry move from blended whisky, to high-quality single malt whisky, to age statements, to double-matured whisky, to no-age statement whisky.
While David Stewart is semi-retired now, he continues to innovate working strictly for The Balvenie distillery. The Balvenie Tun 1401, Tun 1507, and Caribbean Cask whiskies are excellent examples of continued innovation with a focus on flavour and balance. To put simply, David Stewart understands balance, and he understands the smallest measures of flavour and how those flavours influence the final product. If you drink and appreciate Balvenie, you appreciate this focus on balanced flavour.
As a legend like David Stewart moves into semi-retirement, the new limited release whiskies he’s responsible for become immediate collector’s items. In 2012, on the celebration of his 50th year, he selected one barrel that would become The Balvenie Fifty. This is the one in 88 bottles of whisky that was stolen.
Unfortunately, just like with the black market in the art world, I’m sure there’s someone that will be willing to buy this stolen rare whisky. It is, however, numbered. And that might make the person pouring The Balvenie Fifty a touch nervous when sharing it with friends.
NAS Whisky Replaces Age Statements With A Price-tag
/With a broad range of pricing, no-age statement (NAS) single malt scotch whisky is here to stay. In contrast, scotch whisky marketers have been telling consumers the importance of well-matured whisky for decades. Many distilleries, however, can’t keep up with demand while aging their whisky ten or more years. The solution is to sell younger whisky without an age statement on the bottle. Often, this new ageless whisky sells for more than their standard offering.
To understand no-age statement whisky, we must first admit that age statements were an over-simplified representation of quality. Scotch whisky is matured in re-used barrels often from either the United States (American Oak) or Spain (European Oak). These different barrels add complexity to the whisky that scotch drinkers enjoy. The first time a barrel is used, it gives the most vanilla and spice flavours (think bourbon). The second time (known as first-fill in Scotland), some flavours might come from the previous spirit that soaked into the barrel. However, the majority of the flavours comes from the wood. The more often a barrel is used, the less flavour it’s likely to offer.
Understanding that, let’s consider how older whiskies are constructed. Whisky makers generally (not always) blend more first-fill re-used barrels in their older whisky. Not only is the Highland Park 18 aged for at-least 18 years, it also contains a higher ratio of first-fill European Oak giving the whisky a nuttier and sweeter characteristic compared to the 12. This added quality is not advertised on the bottle, but it is there.
It’s worth repeating: Not only are bottles with a higher age statement matured for longer, but they’re also often blended with a higher ratio of first and second-fill barrels responsible for additional flavour compared to their younger counterparts. The same is often true with NAS whisky. The more expensive the bottle, the higher likelihood of first-fill barrels were used. How would the consumer know, however?
Age-statements do provide a stated value. There’s an assumed investment by the distillery that if they matured barrels for 18 years, it’ll be the better barrels. With NAS whisky, consumers no longer have a cheat-sheet to help determine the value of the whisky. Instead of depending on the age-statement, NAS whisky has one obvious distinguishing factor: The Price.
Pricing luxury items is greatly dependent on the value of the brand. While whisky is definitely a luxury item, pricing whisky at higher valuations based on brand value doesn’t sit well with many whisky drinkers.
NAS whisky has been a controversy most whisky writers agree on. Scotch Blog ripped into The Macallan 1824 NAS whisky, preferring the older line with age statements. Curt, at All Things Whisky, makes the excellent point that distilleries, if they’re interested in educating the consumer, should note the ages of all the barrels that go into the final product. More bluntly, Oliver Klimek adds this straight-forward reasoning:
Yes, of course there are notable exceptions like the Aberlour A’bunadh or the Balvenie Tun 1401. But especially in Travel Retail (oh no, not again…) NAS bottlings often smack more of cost optimization and problems with dwindling stocks of properly aged whisky than they please the palate.
NAS whisky, on its own, is not a bad thing. Cost optimization, however, combined with NAS whisky is a challenge. Consumers were previously given some security that older whisky meant better whisky. Now they’re being told that price and branding are the only obvious factors that indicates the quality of the whisky.
That’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? I agree with Curt. If you’re going to sell NAS whisky, give us some idea of where that whisky comes from (Balvenie TUN 1509 does this quite well!). The lack of information on the bottle combined with high prices creates uncertainty. This uncertainty alienates consumers, and alienated consumers will take their money elsewhere. And as trendy as whisky is today, there’s always the next alcohol (already I’m seeing pro-vodka articles!).
High demand, low supply, and commercializes rarely increases the quality of the product. Scotch whisky is no exception.
If there is a bright-side to this, on a whole, there’s a lot of incredible whisky available out there. With all this competition and demand, distilleries are doing incredible things. It does, though, take more research on the consumer’s side when making purchases. Sure, prices are going up, but that’s going to happen with any high-demand product. We can’t help market pressures, but with well-researched purchases, you can continue to enjoy whisky whether or not there’s an age-statement on the bottle.
My book, The Whisky Cabinet, talks about this and many other topics on whisky. It also includes whisky recommendations that are often priced under $100, and easily available. It’s available for the holiayds in Canada, or for pre-order world-wide.
Update on Delivery Times For The Whisky Cabinet
/A few weeks ago, I mentioned on twitter that The Whisky Cabinet release date was delayed until early December. The delay was beyond my publisher’s control. The original printing company backed out of the contract last-minute. While the publisher found a new printer, this resulted in the book being printed weeks after the originally scheduled.
At the time, though, I had not realized just what this meant for delivery times outside of Canada. Distributing books is an interesting business that often results in them being transported in delivery trucks from warehouse to warehouse. With new authors, estimating demand is especially hard, and The Whisky Cabinet has been pre-selling well!
The good news is, if you placed your order in Canada through Amazon or Indigo you will get The Whisky Cabinet by Christmas. If you have not yet ordered the book, Amazon is taking orders for the holidays. Indigo has sold-out of their initial allocation for online orders. Indigo is incredibly supportive, and they are (as far as I know) allocating the remainder of their stock for store shelves.
Unfortunately, outside of Canada the delay was enough to push delivery dates back into January. That’s likely true for the United States and definitely true for countries outside of North America. If you pre-ordered the book in the United States, you’re likely to receive the book in early January. Unfortunately, I’m not sure when books will arrive for the rest of the world. In the UK, for example, the initial order of books has already sold-out. Distributors do have the option to order more.
Sales have been excellent! Lots of sales means I get to write more books, and for that I’m extremely appreciative of your support! If you live outside of Canada, and you don’t get your book in time for the holidays, I’m sorry. I absolutely loved writing The Whisky Cabinet. I hope you equally enjoy reading for when it arrives.
Highlights From London's Whisky Exchange Whisky Show
/A well balanced whisky show is unlike any other conference. It’s a gathering of some of the best whisky makers in the world coming to one place, competing for the attention of attendees by serving some of their best whisky. A well established whisky show is an excellent way to try new products and talk to the people behind the whisky.
A few months ago, I attended The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in London, England. The event featured over 500 different whiskies. This gave those attending an excellent representation of today’s whisky scene with whiskies from around the world.
1. Buffalo Trace gutsy play
When competing for the attention of London’s whisky connoisseurs, Buffalo Trace wasn't shy about their whisky. I stood by the booth for twenty minutes across the span of the event watching the interaction between exhibitors and guests. Buffalo Trace employees unapologetically noted how cheap their entry-level whisky is. This is a gutsy play when almost everyone was pouring drinks three or more times the cost of the standard Buffalo Trace bottling. It worked with the audience. Going from Buffalo Trace to Eagle Rare, the tastings I observed were a success. Beyond entry level whisky, they also had Eagle Rare 17 and Stagg Jr. The energy at this booth and the wide variety of whisky available was a key to their success. The fact that they started with their cheapest drink to the delight of those attending was a big score.
2. I couldn't find a bad example of Japanese whisky
I keep having a single thought when drinking Japanese whisky--it's scotch whisky elevated. The balance of flavour is there, but the intensity is amped up. Both Nikka and Suntory were at the show, and they both poured whisky I've not had previously. The Coffey series from Nikka is excellent. Suntory's Hibiki continues to be one of my favourites. The Hakushu Single Malt 25 Year Old was one of my favourite whiskies of the show. Japanese whisky continues to make news, and there’s reason for it.
3. Redbreast gets better with age
While Redbreast 12 Year Old is generally available, the other whiskies from this range are a rare find. At the show the 15 and 21 year old were being poured. For the added time spent in oak, neither drink was overly oaky, and instead the focus was on Redbreast's balance of flavours. The 15 year old is my personal sweet-spot for age and flavour. The cask strength 12 Year Old was also quite excellent!
4. Indian whisky is the next wave
Whisky from India is going to be big. Already, Officer's Choice whisky is the number one selling blended whisky in the world having topped Johnnie Walker in 2013. As far as single malts, Amrut Distillery enjoys world recognition after Amrut Fusion won the respect of many whisky critics. I had the opportunity to taste whisky from a third player--John Distillery and its Paul John brand three styles of whisky. These are beautiful whiskies that are only sold in the UK for now, with plans of world distribution. The cask strength is my favourite of the group, and I expect these to be a hit as they get released into new markets.
5. Balvenie stole the show with their booth
As a whisky writer, one of my favourite experiences is doing barrel tastings. Drinking untouched whisky directly from the barrel is a memorable experience. While Balvenie couldn't quite give this experience at the Whisky Show (there's some legal reason why they could not), they did bring two barrels filled with bottle-poured whisky. One was filled with Balvenie 17 DoubleWood and the other with the Balvenie 21 Year Old. As you asked for either of these, they were served out of the barrels. It was an impressive showing that kept people around at the booth. I enjoyed both whiskies!
6. Scotch has competition, but they were still among my favourites.
This isn't a new statement, but it is worth repeating. My whisky drinking started with single malt scotch, and I own more whisky from Scotland than any other country. However, Scotch definitely enjoys a loyal following based on the prestige the brand 'single malt' brings to the conversation. Saying that, some of my favourite drinks were from Scotland. Bruichladdich’s 1970 35yo 125 Anniversary drink was incredibly, and despite its age, bravely finished in sherry casks giving this scotch an added element of flavour. Scotch blender Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend was marvellous. The Glenmorangie line continues continues to win big numbers. Balvenie’s TUN 1509 has has an intense level of spice that dares your taste-buds.
Scotch might be out-of-favour, but it’s not for the lack of incredible drinks.
LCBO Uplifts Cheap Moonshine By Over Five Times The US Price
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Georgia Moon Corn Spirit is bottled in a hipster-ish mason jar at 40% ABV, and, according to the bottle, it’s less than 30 days old. This moonshine sells in the US for between $6 to $12 (Instagram followers confirmed buying it for $6 in NYC!). It looks like it was made in the deep south at a rusty old distillery running out of someone's bathtub. Despite some misdirection, it’s actually made by Heaven Hill Distillery (behind incredible bourbons such as Evan Williams and Elijah Craig).
The Heaven Hill connection likely explains why Georgia Moon Corn has appeared on LCBO shelves. While it’s great to see the LCBO importing unique barely aged white dog, I do take issue with the price. In Ontario we’re accustomed to paying more for our liquor. Typically, though, the uplift is somewhere between 75% and 100% as compared to the same whisky sold in the US. The LCBO is charging a whopping $32.95 per bottle for Georgia Moon Corn. That's 5.5x more than the cheapest price in the US or 2.75 times the most expensive price.
Even by LCBO standards, selling a $6-$12 product for $32.95 seems excessive. As far as I can tell, the cheapest 750ml 40% ABV spirits available at the LCBO are Canadian Club and Cutty Shark. Surely Georgia Moon Corn Spirit could have been priced in that same $25 range. But would that even be the correct price?
Putting Georgia Moon Corn in the same pricing class as very affordable Canadian whiskies and blended scotches misrepresents the quality of this product. Ideally, private markets establish price based on competition. Government monopolies have no such burden. To me, that places the burden of pricing spirits correctly on the LCBO.
I don’t know how the LCBO decides on price. It is possible that there are existing agreements that prevent the price of Georgia Corn Spirit to go any lower. However, if that’s the case, do the consumer a favour and don’t include moonshine. At the current LCBO price-point, it’s ridiculous. In fact, I’m not even as annoyed at the price as I am at the fact that those same shelves could, instead, be filled by any number of excellent $18 whiskies uplifted to $32.95.
Are there other oddly priced spirits? Let me know bellow!
Side-note: The LCBO imported the cheaper 40% ABV Georgia Corn Spirit. There is a 50% ABV Georgia Corn Spirit that’s generally available for around $14 in the United States. The LCBO also included Georgia Moon Apple Pie Corn Spirit at $29.95 and bottled at 35% ABV.
The Best And Worst Of No-Age Statement Scotch
/The Bruichladdich Octomore series and Ardbeg Supernova series hold a special place for me. As a peated whisky fan, I purchased the 2010 releases on my first trip to Scotland, and have been following their progression since. There are similarities between these whiskies. They’re both pushing the boundaries of extreme peat levels, and they’re both bottled without an age statement. They both also have a big cult following with consumers willing to pay high price for them.
In 2010, these whiskies were ahead of their time. High-priced no-age statement (NAS) was a rarity saved for special releases. Today, that’s no longer the case. Expensive NAS whiskies are becoming the norm. The debate around NAS whisky comes down to price. Are you getting the same quality for the same price compared to whisky with an age statement? Revisiting Bruichladdich and Ardbeg peated NAS whiskies in 2014, I’m seeing the best and the worst of this debate.
One would think that NAS whisky and high levels of peat are a natural compliment. The assumption can be made that lengthy barrel maturation isn’t necessary with a whisky that is overpowering with smokiness. In many ways, the opposite is true. Flavours that come from barrel maturation (vanilla, spice) are necessary for balance. Otherwise you’re just drinking peated white dog. And that’s not a thing (Though I’m sure someone will make it a thing).
No-age statement whisky is a challenge to pull-off. NAS whisky was an important part of Bruichladdich’s strategy when reopening in the early 2000s. Octomore generated revenue from 5 year matured whisky, moving this young whisky into a high-priced range. They pulled it off beautifully, and while I haven’t had each edition of Octomore, the ones I have had I enjoyed a great deal. Ardbeg Supernova, on the other hand, had two releases in 2009 and 2010 and then went dormant leaving whisky fans pining for its return. In subtle ways, Ardbeg Supernova 2010 was a better product compared to Octomore’s release at the time.
But what about today?
I did several blind tastings of Octomore 6.1 and Supernova 2014. If their flavours were comparable to sports cars (work with me on this one), the Ardbeg is a deep throttling Mustang that bursts in heavy off the line with volume and speed. It dies, however, quite quickly toward the finish in a heavy slow loud mess. The Octomore bursts in with high-revving gear changes that take it through into a beautiful long finish like a well balanced sports car that takes turns beautifully.
To be fair to the Supernova, its biggest fault is it pales next to Bruichladdich’s Octotmore 6.1. To also be fair to other whiskies, I enjoy the much cheaper (and also NAS) Laphroaig Quarter Cask far more. Supernova 2014 does get better through the start and middle when allowed to sit in the glass for over 10 minutes, but I can’t get over the flat unpleasant finish. Maybe I purchased a spoiled bottle, but the reviews for Supernova 2014 have not been overly positive.
These drinks represent today’s whisky world. They’re both expensive. They’re both bottled without an age statement. The Bruichladdich represents an excellent example of a no-age statement whisky that’s rewarding in flavour. Ardbeg Supernova 2014 is an example of the concern around scotch whisky. High-priced, high-demand, and in my opinion, lesser quality. Ardbeg Supernova 2014 is a commercial success, but will it hurt the Ardbeg brand?
Tasting Notes:
Ardbeg Supernova 2014
It’s fairly pale in colour. On the nose, the charred wood is unmistakable but not terribly intense considering the peat levels. Lots of cereal notes, and high on vanillas reminding me of cake. The longer your wait, the more happens, ranging toward the scent of distant darker fruits.
Lots of citrus notes to start on the palate, with heavy vanilla, but these flavours almost immediately are overrun by high levels of smoke. The smoke is more on the nose, and less on the tongue. The spice levels increase the longer you wait, but toward the extremely long finish there’s an unfortunate turn. There’s a start of this beautifully balanced finish, but just when you think the drink is done, the bitterness settles in. It’s like having an old dried steak that’s got no flavour, but all of the chewy unpleasant texture.
Overall, it seems like something went wrong.
Bruichladdich Octomore 6.1
Slightly darker colour compared to the Ardbeg. The nose is bright, peppery, with high levels of citrus that perk you right up. “Pay attention to me!” I’m hearing. There’s more depth here than just that, though, and the most interesting scent I get is that of recently sanded fresh oak. Dusty, (again) bright, attention grabbing. Oh yes, and it’s peaty like a bonfire in your face. Nicely done!
It’s hard to get the right adjective for the palate. I can tell you what it feels like. It feels like the best of a cold light beer on a cool fall day. Like the nose, it’s bright and welcoming, with lots of spice. The caramel notes are fresh—these aren’t the caramel candy that you found in your jacket from two years ago. Instead, this is artisan caramel just solidifying from its liquid form. The heat comes through. The smoke is present on the nose as you taste this drink, and settles beautifully on the toung wrapping it up. The finish is dry, smoky, and vibrant with spice.
A really excellent example of peated scotch that goes beyond the gimmick of peat-levels, and a stand-out in my whisky cabinet.
Flavoured Whisky For Frat Boys
/“But in a time when society is trying to move away from sexism and 1950s-era female stereotypes, Piehole is a huge fail. In its marketing, Diageo says Piehole is inspired by grandma. If that’s the case, why are there mid-20th Century strippers on the label? If we’re really trying to sell grandma’s recipes, how about a tasteful image of a grandma? Oh, yeah, that’s not going to appeal to Johnny Frat Boy.”
I agree with Fred. Sure, you can argue that marketers are catering to an already existing market. Some see this as justification enough, but by using out-dated imagery on cheap flavoured whisky, they're just helping to maintain bad behaviour. Piehole Cherry Pie Whisky. Really?
Craft Whisky vs Wine Industry
/Despite all the controversy around craft distilleries, and small batch whisky (both written about in my book before they even became controversies), the whisky industry remains relatively true to the craft. There are a few exceptions to this, certainly, but many whisky enthusiasts are outraged over just a few drops of caramel additive to adjust the colour of whisky. Meanwhile, the wine industry deals with things like this:
The reality is that modern day winemakers have an arsenal of tools at their disposal to make their wines. Some of these are relatively innocuous and are considered as much a part of making wine as crushing grapes. Cultured yeasts are used to do such things as boost aromatics and finish ferments of high alcohol wines. Sulfur Dioxide and sterile filtration stabilize the wine by removing any lingering bacteria. Tartaric acid is added to adjust over-ripe grapes, as is powdered tannin. Sugar is used to raise alcohol levels (chapitalization), or simply sweeten the wine.
But there are many others which are even more intrusive. Enzymes are added during fermentation to do everything from help clarify the wine to boosting aromatics. Water is used to dilute over concentrated juice, woodchips and oils are employed to flavour the wine. Gum arabic adds texture. Products like Mega Purple colour, flavour and alter the texture of the wine. I could go on and on. And this is not even going into more mechanical interventions such as reverse osmosis (used to concentrate wines), de-alcoholizing machines, and micro-oxydation (adding oxygen during fermentation to soften tannins).
With all the press around bad whisky practices, at least we’re not micro-oxidizing and chapitalizating our alcohol (whatever that means).
(Via Chris Nuttal-Smith)
The Definition of Craft Whisky
/Adam Quirk (co-founder of Cardinal Spirits) has an excellent post on craft distilleries:
The shelves at any given liquor store are full of bottles that appear to be very different products, made in different places by different companies.
But peek behind the curtain, and the majority of the “craft spirits” in those bottles are manufactured at a handful of huge distilleries.
Whisky makes an impression. Part of that is the bottle, marketing, and the story behind the drink. Sometimes those stories are made-up. In this way, whisky is no different than any other other industry--to succeed you need an excellent product with fantastic packaging and marketing.
Adam makes the point that by not having a definition of craft whisky, the consumers are going to loose trust over labels shared by big whisky manufacturers and true small craft distilleries. In this case, the burden is on the consumer to do additional research beyond what's written on the bottle.
The Business of Blended vs Single Malts Sales
/Telling paragraph from Oliver Klimek, on Diageo placing blended scotch above single malts:
Diageo ... tirelessly emphasizes the importance that blended whisky has for them, that single malts are more ore less regarded as a by-product of blending and that they are not really relevant for their business.
The entire piece is excellent, and I couldn't agree more. While Diageo owns some of the more popular names in single malt scotch, the blended whisky of Johnnie Walker is the star of their Scottish portfolio. Most Diageo's single malt distilleries are hidden behind the Discovering Distilleries website that looks more like an after-thought from 2002.
Few of the distilleries have an interest write-up online. I'm thankful that the Diageo brand group in Canada was incredibly helpful when writing The Whisky Cabinet. I was able to get the background information needed for the book.
