Whisky of the Week

Meandering the world, one whisky at a time

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Whisky and Appenzeller Cheese

By

On 07/11/2018

In Whisky & Cheese

Appenzeller Cheese and whisky pairings that work
For World Whisky day, I planned a whole whisky inspired menu. From a cocktail made with Tomintoul 10 yo whisky, whisky infused chicken to a whisky cheese pairing. I wanted to celebrate whisky from around the world.  The chicken was infused with a Bain’s whisky marinade, and for the whisky cheese pairing, I chose the Paul John Classic Cask Select whisky and Appenzeller cheese.

When I do a whisky cheese pairing, I usually start with the cheese first and then look at what whisky will work with the cheese. This time, I chose the whisky first and then went to find a cheese that works.

The cheese I chose was an Appenzeller full fat semi-hard cheese from Switzerland. Appenzeller has a documented history of at least 700 years. Today, about 75 dairies produce it, each with a different recipe for their brine wash.

I chose this cheese because of the smooth texture and fruity, nutty flavours. The Appenzeller was only aged for around 3-4 months, so it is quite young with mild spicy notes. Made from cow’s milk this hard cheese is produced in the Appenzell region of Switzerland.

Also Read: My Favourite Margarita Recipe

A herbal brine, sometimes incorporating wine or cider, is applied to the wheels of cheese while they cure, which flavours and preserves the cheese while promoting the formation of a rind.

After the weekend, there was still some cheese left. The pairing with the Paul John whisky was delicious, but I wanted to try a few more whisky and Appenzeller cheese pairings. So I grabbed a few more bottles of whisky and started experimenting. This is one of the loveliest cheeses to pair with whisky. Any of the medium-bodied, sweeter style whiskies should pair well with this cheese.




Whisky and Appenzeller Cheese Pairings

Santis Malt Alpstein Edition No 7 Whisky

Appenzeller Cheese and Santis malt whisky pairing
What grows together, goes together. The first whisky I wanted to pair with this cheese was something from the same region in Switzerland. The Locher brewery has been owned and run by the Locher family for five generations. Situated in Appenzell, close to Liechtenstein, they have produced beer and spirits for more than 100 years.

The Alpstein Edition no 7 whisky matured first in some Old Oak Beer Casks and was finished for two years in Sherry Casks. My tasting notes for this world whisky release included notes of sherry, fresh fruits and vanilla. There are some very unusual crème brûlée notes that soften when you add water.

What a great pairing. The combination is creamy and soft and brings more fruit out in the whisky. The Santis Malts works perfectly with this cheese, and I gave it a RATING: 4.5 /5

Paul John Classic Cask Select Whisky

Appenzeller Cheese and Paul John Classic Cask Whisky pairing
My tasting notes for this Indian release include hints of freshly baked apple pie sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, barley, faint hints of vanilla and candied fruits. The  Paul John Classic Cask Select whisky has the perfect balance between spice and sweetness.

Another great pairing. The cheese brought more wood out of the whisky and enriched the spiciness. It created a rich, delicious experience. I give this pairing a RATING: 4/5

Dewar’s 15 yo Blended Whisky

Appenzeller Cheese and Dewar's 15 year old whisky pairing
A great affordable blend, this Dewar’s 15 yo Monarch whisky has notes of fresh fruit salad with apples, melons and pears, honey nicely balanced with oak spices, orange peel, wood, and vanilla.

Easy drinking and rewarding this is a great whisky to pair with cheese. And it worked so well with the Appenzeller. The whisky cut through the butteriness of the cheese and created an enjoyable experience. RATING: 4/5

Cardhu 12 yo Whisky

Appenzeller Cheese and Cardhu 12 yo pairing
This Speyside classic is full of honey sweetness, malt, fruits with hints of vanilla. Toasted dry oak, ripe pears, honey, toffee apples and pepper with faint hints of vanilla. Pairing the Cardhu 12 yo whisky with the cheese created a more fruity whisky drinking experience.

The Appenzeller also brought more wood out of the whisky and the whisky enhanced the buttery creaminess of the cheese.  Another great pairing.  RATING: 4/5

A very successful pairing experiment. This cheese will probably not stand up to a smoky, peaty Islay or Highland dram, but for Speyside (and softer world whisky) drams, this is perfect. Have you paired this great cheese with any whisky? What did you think?

Also Read: Nectarine Bourbon Smash



Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Whisky

By

On 06/18/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Whisky header
A couple of weeks ago, The House of Fine Whisky at Checkers unveiled its latest addition. Something exceptional.  A Proudly South African release. The Checkers Private Barrel Co. frequently makes an appearance here on my blog.

The Private Barrel Co No. 41 and Private Barrel Co no 68 is a firm favourite in my house, and their Distillery releases always promise something unusual. They have even released a Private Barrel Co no 108 – a 3 yo Irish whiskey.

This is the first South African whisky to join the exclusive Private Barrel Co. collection of whiskies. And it is a single malt from the award-winning James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington.

The James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo whisky a slightly peated single malt that spent its first 3 years in older American oak, followed by 3 years in a seasoned Fino cask. During the beginning of 2017, the Checkers team got the approval to go ahead with the project.

On the 23rd of August 2017, they made the selection, and it has been released into the trade during June 2018. I have a suspicion that by the end of August 2018, this release will have sold out.




Only 677 bottles of the Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask is available, so this whisky is set to become a collector’s item. Fortunately, I managed to get my hand on two bottles, 1 to taste now and 1 to keep for a special occasion.

All the bottles carry the signature of master distiller Andy Watts who was recently awarded the 2018 Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky World Master Distiller / Master Blender of the Year award.

Another thing worth noting: This is the highest ABV to ever come out of the James Sedgwick Distillery. Both the  Three Ships PX Cask and the Three Ships Pinotage Cask was bottled at 46.2% and the Three Ships 10 yo is bottled at 44.6%. So this  54.6% ABV is rather respectable.

James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask Whisky Review

Review and tasting notes Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask whisky with glass
This is bottle 112 / 677

COUNTRY: South Africa

ABV: 54.6%

COLOUR: Deep mahogany, a similar colour than the Aberlour A’Bunadh whisky.

NOSE: A basket of mixed fruit berries (berries of the forest or in Dutch, bosbessen). Blackberries, juicy cherries and blueberries. Brandy soaked raisins. Sweetness floating in the background. Hints of creme brûlée with the faintest hint of cinnamon.

PALATE: The palate is spicier than the nose suggested. Rich chocolate cherry flavours with cinnamon and bit of vanilla. It’s chewy and delicious. The spice is not overwhelming, but warming and beautiful. The mouthfeel is creamy, and there is this suggestion of lightly toasted macadamia nuts.

The addition of water transforms this and releases more of the sherry sweetness. It’s chewy, delicious and fun drinking. Easy on the palette and super smooth.

FINISH: The finish is a little short, but that could be me just being super greedy on not wanting this pleasant taste to end.  There are notes of light pepper and fruity berries with a nutty flavour.

RATING: EXCELLENT

What a beautiful whisky. Perfectly balanced, rich and satisfying with a very decent ABV. This release shows why Andy is one of the top Master Distillers in the world. And I know that there are more where this comes from. This is a limited release that is probably flying off the shop floor. If you have not got your hands on this, go quickly.

I have done a side by side comparison between this release and the That Boutique-y Whisky Company Three Ships 6 yo release. Here  you can read about the differences between these two 6 yo whiskies. Pick n Pay also jumped on the single cask band wagon and released a Three Ships Virgin Oak bottling.

Comparing the Three Ships 10 yo PX Cask and the James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask Whisky

Comparing the Three Ships 10 yo PX cask and the James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask
My ‘official’ Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask tasting happened on Friday, as usual. However, Saturday afternoon, while sitting next to the braai keeping an eye on the World Cup Soccer Iceland vs Argentina game, we decided to try a side by side comparison.

We did a blind tasting in my green Ardbeg glasses. The 6 yo Fino is so much darker than the PX Cask, and these were the only glasses I have that could hide the colour difference.

Even on a blind tasting, these two whiskies are so different – its unbelievable. Both from the same distillery, both finished in sherry, but two very different drams. A Pedro Ximénez sherry versus a Fino sherry.

Private Barrel Co. James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask vs Three Ships 10 yo PX CaskThe Three Ships PX cask has more spice, peat and smoke with light fruit cake notes.  The James Sedgwick Distillery 6 yo Fino Cask is sweeter with soaked Christmas pudding notes and a more woody finish. Both delicious and very difficult to choose a favourite.

These beautiful drams are a great testament to the craftsmanship of a world-class Master Distiller. A skill that needs to be celebrated. How special would it be if Distell could celebrate the 5th consecutive Gold medal in the New York International Spirits Competition for Bain’s whisky and release some of the older casks (such as the 15 yo Bain’s release) as a limited release?

Or celebrate their Master Distiller winning the Top Icon of Whisky Master Distillers Award by releasing a few more of his extraordinary creations as limited editions.  We can but hope!

Also Read: Mackinlay’s Whisky



Glenfiddich Project XX Whisky

By

On 06/11/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Glenfiddich xx whisky header
During the beginning of 2018, I tasted the Glenfiddich IPA Cask whisky and wrote my own tasting notes about it. This release was the first in Glenfiddich’s Experimental Series and I loved it. The second release in this series is the Glenfiddich Project XX single malt Scotch whisky and many people had opinions about this release.

Glenfiddich XX started as a project shrouded in secrecy. Malt Master Brian Kinsman invited 20 Glenfiddich brand ambassadors from 16 countries around the world to the Glenfiddich distillery in Scotland. No one knew what they were about to do. Each person was given free rein to explore the warehouse and select any cask that intrigued them.

The 20 chosen casks were then married together by Brian Kinsman, the Glenfiddich Malt Master. The final 20 selected malts, matured in everything from aged malts matured in port pipes to old sherry butts and virgin oak bourbon casks.

I got a lot of feedback on the blog post and the tweets, so I ran a poll in Instagram asking people which of these two releases are their favourite.

Glenfiddich XX vs Glenfiddich IPA

It was clear that the  Glenfiddich Experimental Series Project XX whisky was considerably more popular, so I had to add this to my tasting list and capture the tasting notes.

Also Read: The Balvenie Single Barrel whisky

The XX stands for 20, representing the 20 ambassadors that took part and the thumbprint on the bottle is an amalgamation of the twenty ambassadors’ thumbprints.

Interestingly, both Glenfiddich Experimental series IPA and Glenfiddich Project XX single malt will be permanent additions to the Glenfiddich range; they are not limited editions. Both the IPA and XX is non-chill-filtered and bottled at an unusual 47% ABV.



Glenfiddich Experimental Series Project XX Whisky Review

Review and tasting notes Glenfiddich XX Experimental series Whisky with glass
ABV: 47%

COLOUR: Amber

NOSE: Ripe Golden Delicious apples, dark stone fruits and spice with hints of fresh flowers. Some vanilla and oak are  floating about. Not the most complex nose.

PALATE: Fruity sweetness and spice. Hints of dried citrus, dry grass and wood dust. Bits of cinnamon and vanilla. Adding water softens the citrus and the spice somewhat.

FINISH: Oak and dry lemon peel.

RATING: GOOD

I find this a confusion dram. It is as if it is trying to be too many things. It is an unusual concept and makes for great publicity and an interesting story. The bottle is beautiful and classic. However, the spirit in the bottle is trying to be too many things all at once.

For me, it is a riot of unbalanced flavours. I found it stuffy and dusty with very few of the beautiful sweet fruit notes that Glenfiddich is known for.

Probably not the most popular opinion, but I prefer the Glenfiddich IPA cask miles above this Glenfiddich Project XX release. I bought the two bottles at the same time, and my IPA bottle is nearly empty. This one might take a few years.

Also Read: Glenfiddich 18 yo whisky



Slaughter House Whiskey

By

On 06/04/2018

In Bourbon whiskey

Slaughter House American Whiskey header
I love to explore the artwork on bottles. Many of the wine producers have re-invented their old fashioned, standard labels into works of art to stand out in a crowded market place. Especially in the last couple of years, there has been an explosion of striking and fun labels.

Whiskey is slowly changing too, from the more traditional labels to fun and colourful labelling. Leading this change is the beautiful labels on the Douglas Laing Remarkable Malt releases including Timorous Beastie and Scallywag whisky and the beautiful labels coming out of Japan. Filled with flowers and soft colours, they stand out in between the dark traditional whisky labelling.

A few weeks ago, I found a bottle of whiskey from the USA with a colourful and striking label (and name). The Slaughter House American whiskey is a newish entrant to the SA whisky market, and I added a bottle to my collection.  After reading a bit more about the Splinter Group (owner of Slaughter House), I noticed a wine connection.




A casual conversation between the Wilkinson family and renowned winemaker, Dave Phinney sparked an idea to mellow whiskey in seasoned wine barrels. Dave Phinney, the founder of Orin Swift Cellars in Napa Valley, California, is a very well known name in the USA’s wine and spirit industry. And so The Splinter Group started.

The Slaughter House label shows a butchers meat cleaver with a white backdrop. This image invokes a murderous intention similar to  an old school slasher movie. Slaughter House American whiskey was released in 2015 and followed its first product, Straight Edge bourbon.

Also Read: Koval Bourbon

Slaughter House American Whiskey Review

Review and tasting notes Slaughter House American Whiskey with glass
The Slaughter House mash bill comprises 85% corn, 8% wheat, 6% rye and 1% malted barley. The whiskey spends 9 years in American oak before being finished in Orin Swift Cellars’ Papillon barrels (French oak barrels). It gives it a distinct Bordeaux barrel finish.

COUNTRY: USA

ABV: 44%

COLOUR: Dark copper

NOSE: Vanilla, cinnamon and honey with hints of oak. The nose is rich and sweet and inviting and promises a sweet experience.

PALATE: The intense sweetness and vanilla do not translate into the palate. There are notes of hot pepper spices, stone fruit and oak with hints of honey.  In the background, crumbs of buttered toast with marmalade. Medium body with lots of lemon pepper.

FINISH: Black lemon pepper with hints of sweetness.

RATING: GOOD

The nose was lovely and promised vanilla and sweetness, but left me with lemon black pepper overwhelming everything else in the end. It was so spicy that I did not finish my glass. I read quite a few reviews on this and was expecting a lot more. I don’t know if I have a defective bottle, but this bottle might be in my collection for quite a while.

Looking at my previous notes, I found another American whiskey that I have tried,  the McCarthy’s single malt whiskey from Oregon. See my thoughts on this young release.

The range also includes Whip Saw rye whiskey and Partner Sweet Vermouth. Slaughter House American whiskey was awarded a Gold Medal and Best in Class at the 2015 Whiskies of the World competition.

Also Read: Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon



Whisky Chicken Marinade Recipe

By

On 05/30/2018

In Lifestyle

Bain’s whisky chicken marinade recipe
This past Saturday was World Whisky day. A day to celebrate all things whisky-related. A day to share a dram with the people around you. We celebrated the day at home. I decided that it a perfect day to celebrate with whisky from around the world.

And not only to drink whisky but also to cook with it.We stared in Scotland with a Smoky Old Tom cocktail made with the Tomintoul 10 yo. The toasted rosemary notes lightly flavoured the cocktail, and it was crisp and refreshing.

The appetizer was an Appenzeller cheese that I paired with the Paul John Classic Cask Select from India. I have to say; this is one of the nicest cheeses to pair with whisky I have tasted in a long time. I will do a blog post on other Appenzeller cheese and whisky pairings soon.

Bain’s whisky chicken marinade 2
The main course was a whisky marinated chicken in tribute to the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, South Africa. And what a highlight!

The chicken was marinated overnight and came so moist and flavoursome. It was the highlight of the day. I had quite a few requests for the Bain’s whisky chicken marinade recipe, so here it is.

Bain’s Whisky Chicken Marinade

  • 1 Whole chicken
Ingredients – Marinade
  • 1 cup Bain’s whisky
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
Directions
  • Place brown sugar and Bain’s whisky in a bowl. Mix well.
  • Add remaining ingredients and mix again.
  • Place the whole chicken in a large zip-lock style bag and pour the marinade over. Seal and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.  The longer you leave it, the better it will infuse.  I left it overnight.
  • Turn frequently to ensure every part of the chicken spends time in the marinade.
  • Cook the chicken on the grill, preferably over medium heat.  We hot smoked the chicken with some maple wood chips on our Big Green Egg. This gave it a wonderful smoky addition.

Bain’s whisky chicken marinade 1
I paired the chicken with a glass of Bain’s whisky and some grilled sweet corn and it was perfect.

Also Read: Smoked Leg of Lamb marinated in Black Grouse



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