Whisky of the Week

Johnnie Walker King George V Whisky

On 05/28/2018

A month or so ago, I saw a very exclusive cocktail that the Maxim Lounge at the Davinci hotel makes. This extraordinary cocktail makes Johnnie Walker King George V blended Scotch whisky the main attraction. It made me realize, I have a bottle of King George V at home, and it is open. I have never written about it, and it is time.

We opened this exclusive Johnnie Walker bottling to celebrate the birth of our daughter. After struggling to have a baby, this bottling seemed a fitting release to open in celebration. John and I have enjoyed a small glass of this whisky every year on her birthday. She turned seven not too long ago, and I better write about this bottle quickly before we finish it.

The Johnnie Walker King George V is presented in a beautifully packaged box. The cap is heavy and engraved and the whole presentation of this bottle is regal and beautiful.

Also Read: Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky

John Walker started his empire in his grocery business with a single small shop in 1820. Just over a century later in 1934, John Walker & Sons was awarded a Royal Warrant by King George V.

By then, Johnnie Walker was already well on its way to becoming the world’s most popular Scotch Whisky. This Johnnie Walker King Georg V celebrates the granting of the Royal Warrant. It is created using whiskies from distilleries operating during George’s 25-year reign (1910 – 1936), some of which, like the famed Port Ellen, no longer exist.

Other distillery stock used in the blend includes Cardhu whisky and Lochnagar. They are blended together to reflect the distinctive Johnnie Walker style of the era. The Johnnie Walker King George V whisky was named Whisky of the Year at the International Whisky Competition 2015.

Johnnie Walker King George V Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Rich gold

NOSE: Rich berry fruit and Christmas pudding with hints of spice and vanilla. Sweetness and caramel are floating about. The nose is complex but subtle at the same time.

PALATE: Winter spice and oak notes mixed with pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bits of honey and toffee, but not as sweet as the nose suggested. The second sip brings some citrus peel to the forefront. Faint hints of vanilla lurk somewhere. The addition of water adds smoothness. It takes some of the spice and citrus peel away and brings out more butterscotch and vanilla notes.

FINISH: Hints of nuts balanced with spices.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The price for a bottle of Johnnie Walker King George V blended whisky is around R8 000 in South Africa. It’s smooth and easy drinking – but maybe I expected more for this price. I think for the price and presentation, I expected a little more. It lacks the uniqueness and depth that I was looking for.

It is not the most complex release. Regardless, this Johnnie Walker King George V whisky will always have a very special place in my heart. It was the bottle I celebrated my only daughter’s birth with. And hopefully, it will last until she turns 18.

Also Read: Johnnie Walker Gold Label whisky

Powers John’s Lane Irish Whiskey

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/21/2018

In Irish Whiskey

I am trying an Irish whiskey today, something from the Midleton Distillery; the 12 yo Powers John’s Lane Irish whiskey. In 1791 James Power, an innkeeper from Dublin, established a small distillery at his public house.

In 1822 it was renamed John Power & Son and had moved to new premises at John’s Lane. Production grew exponentially, and so did the prominence of the Powers family.

In 1841, John Power, grandson of the founder was awarded a Baronet title. From its humble beginning, the distillery grew to a facility with an output of about 900 000 gallons annually during the 1880s. The distillery covered over 6 acres of central Dublin and had a staff of about 300 people.

The last member of the Powers family to sit on the board was Sir Thomas Talbot Power, who died in 1930, and with him the Power’s Baronetcy. However, ownership remained in the family until 1966.

Also Read: Jameson Caskmates Whiskey

During the 1960s the Irish whiskey landscape went through changes. The whiskey industry was struggling during Prohibition in the USA, the Anglo Irish Trade War and the rise of competition from the Scottish whisky industry. There was also a change in consumer preference toward blended whiskeys.

Powers distillery was one of the first distilleries to install a coffey still to allow for grain whiskey production. Towards the end of the 60s Powers joined forces with the only other remaining distillers in the Irish Republic to form Irish Distillers. All existing distilleries were closed and consolidated at a new purpose-built facility in Midleton. The brand is part of the Pernod Ricard stable.

The Powers range includes the Powers Gold label, a blend of 70% pot still and 30% grain whiskey. However, the Power John Lane returns to the Powers whiskey’s origin and celebrates the style that made Powers so famous.

First released in 2011, it was an instant hit. It won the ‘Irish Whiskey of the Year’ in the 2012 edition of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

Powers John’s Lane Irish Whiskey Review

The Powers John’s Lane Release is a combination of 12 year old single pot still whiskey aged in two different types of casks. The majority is matured in bourbon casks and the remaining spirit in Oloroso sherry casks.

REGION: Ireland

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Dark golden honey

NOSE: Malt, rich autumn fruit, dark chocolate with hints of caramel and bits of toasted oak in the background. The John’s Lane whiskey nose is inviting and warming.

PALATE: Smooth and warming. No need for water. Notes of malt, rich fruit dusted with cocoa, sherry hints balanced with vanilla, freshly buttered toast, with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Water softens the spices and brings more honey notes.

FINISH: Creamy and elegant ending on hints of fruit.

RATING: EXCELLENT

What a nice dram. It is probably my current favourite Irish whiskey. Smooth and warming, I can understand why Jim Murray gave this a 96.5 in the 2015 Whisky Bible. For a change, I agree with him. It is delicious.

The hubby was not quite as crazy about this release as I was, but I suspect he had a crazy week at work and was not really concentrating. This Irish whsikey will feature a lot more regularly in my glass. The Powers John’s Lane Irish whiskey retails for around R900, so it is not that expensive.

Also Read: The Wild Geese Whiskey

Cardhu 12 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/14/2018

In Single Malt whisky

Today I am trying something from a distillery I have never tried before. I am trying the Cardhu 12 year old single malt Scotch whisky. The Cardhu distillery is a Speyside distillery located in Moray. It is part of the Diageo stable and has a long history of female whisky involvement.

The Cardhu distillery has an interesting story. Helen and her husband John Cumming had a farm at Cardow in the late 18^th century. Helen was well known for distilling whisky that she sold from her kitchen window.

She used to keep an eye out for any approaching excise officers and warn farmers in the neighbourhood by hoisting a red flag. When the Excise Act of 1823 changed, the Cummings could afford to buy a distilling license and founded the Cardow distillery.

In 1872 the family business expanded and they built a new Cardhu distillery on an adjoining piece of land. It was run by Elizabeth Cumming, Helen’s daughter-in-law. This new distillery had a more significant output and the whisky from Cardhu became an essential part of the Johnnie Walker whisky blends.

In 1893 when Elizabeth Cumming sold the distillery to Johnnie Walker, it was under the condition that the Cumming family held shares in Walker’s company. This shareholding turned into an excellent investment.

Today other single malt releases in the range include the Cardhu 15 year old, the Cardhu 18 year old, and the Cardhu Amber Rock. The word Cardhu comes from the Gaelic “Carn Dubh,” which means “black rock.”

The shape of the Cardhu bottle is unique with its rectangular shape and the oversized closure. Cardhu has a significant presence in Spain and France but is known worldwide. The Cardhu 12 year old single malt whisky is widely available in South Africa, and the retail price is around R500.

Also Read: Glenfiddich XX whisky

Cardhu 12 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Speyside

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Rich Gold

NOSE: Honey sweetness, malt, fruits with hints of vanilla. A soft, smooth nose that hints at a great experience.

PALATE: Toasted dry oak, ripe pears, honey, toffee apples and pepper with faint hints of vanilla. Medium body but nicely balanced and smooth.

FINISH: The Cardhu 12 year old has a dry oak with honey and pepper finish.

RATING: EXCELLENT

What a lovely, drinkable, affordable dram. Can’t believe I have not tried this before. This bottle will not last very long. The Cardhu 12 year old is not the most complex whisky, but it is soft and delicate without being a wallflower. It has a presence without being overbearing. The smooth and delicious notes would work wonderfully with food.

The Cardhu 12 year old whisky will compliment a piece of perfectly grilled steak nicely. According to research, it is also magic when paired with a strawberry flavoured chocolate; something I will have to try soon.

I paired this Speyside whisky with some Swiss Appenzeller cheese for World Whisky Day. Following the link to see my thoughts on this whisky and cheese pairing.

Also Read: Dalwhinnie 15 yo Whisky

Glenmorangie Spios Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 05/07/2018

In Single Malt whisky

About two weeks ago, a beautiful press drop arrived at my office. It was an embossed box with golden writing. The box contained a generous sample of the new Glenmorangie Spios Highland single malt Scotch whisky and a Glenmorangie glass. What a treat! Spios is the 9th release in the Glenmorangie’s highly rated Private Edition Series.

Other releases in this series included the Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX, Glenmorangie Milsean and the Glenmorangie Bacalta whisky. The Glenmorangie’s Private Edition range is a special once-off and limited release that comes out every year.

The goal of the Private Edition Series is to showcase a new interpretation on the Glenmorangie flavour profile. Glenmorangie, together with Ardbeg, is part of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group.

Spios is Glenmorangie’s first single malt whisky fully matured in American ex-rye whiskey casks. Spios is the Gaelic word for “spice”. Even though this is a NAS release, according to a few hints dropped during the release presentation, it was aged for around 10 years in casks that previously held American rye whiskey.

I have written about rye whisky before when I looked at the Rittenhouse Rye and the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye whisky. Rye whisky had it’s (first) heyday during the early 20th century when it was served in the USA’s most prestigious salons. Rye whiskeys’ distinctive and spicy notes inspired classic cocktails such as the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan.

Over time, rye whiskey slipped into obscurity, where it would remain until about 10 years ago. A rye whisk revival is bringing more and more rye releases to market as consumers are looking for new flavour profiles.

Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, Dr Bill Lumsden, chose the American rye casks to complement the distinctive Highland Glenmorangie style.

Also Read: The Balvenie Single Barrel whisky

Glenmorangie Spios Whisky

American rye whiskey is distilled from grain which must be at least 51 per cent rye and is matured in new, charred oak barrels only. The Glenmorangie Spios single malt is not chill-filtered.

REGION: Highlands

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Golden Wheat

NOSE: Freshly baked hot cross buns with honey, fresh fruit salad, meadow flowers and herbs with only the faintest hints of spices.

PALATE: The first sip brings the rye spices. Cinnamon, cloves, black pepper comes through, and then comes toffee sweetness and fresh fruit. There is a hint of toasted marshmallows. The spices are bold, but not overwhelming. It is wonderfully balanced with sweetness and complements the Glenmorangie fruitiness perfectly. The Spios has a medium body and is quite oily in the glass.

FINISH: Long and lingering with hints of spice, sweetness and liquorice.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I think that this was a very successful experiment. The Glenmorangie Spios Scotch whisky is delicious and inviting. Not too sweet and not too spicy. It will be a fantastic warming dram in winter. It is easy-drinking, and it is suggested that you try this Glenmorangie Spios with a bar of chilli-infused dark chocolate. The Glenmorangie Spios is now available in SA and cost around R1 225.

I have tasted and captured my tasting notes for the Glenmorangie 18 yo and the Glenmorangie Lasanta over here.

Sample disclosure: I received this sample from Glenmorangie. Though received as part of a promotional event, the review and tasting notes are my honest, fair and independent thoughts of the whisky.

Also Read: Dalmore Cigar Malt whisky

Chamarel Rum Distillery in Mauritius

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 04/25/2018

In Lifestyle

Chamarel Rum Distillery header
Situated on the lush green hills on the South Western side of Mauritius is the Chamarel area. Hills filled with sugar cane as far as you can see, clumps of pineapples and coconut trees and colourful hibiscus dot the landscape. Spots of yellow and purple flowers transform the dense green sugar cane fields into a patchwork of colour.

The main focal point in the area is Little Black River Peak, the highest point in Mauritius at 828m above sea level. During my trip to the picture-perfect tropical Island of Mauritius in April, I managed to work in a trip to the Chamarel Rum Distillery.

Visiting Chamarel Rum Distillery

On a beautiful sunny day, we ventured into the hills for some exploring and our first stop was the Chamarel Rum Distillery. The distillery logo represents the surrounding area, with the towering Black River Peak and the slopes of the sugar cane fields.

Established in 2008, Chamarel Rum distillery makes use of red and yellow sugar cane. To ensure the best quality they cultivate their own sugar cane. The cane is harvested by hand.

Yellow sugar cane in Mauritius

The red and yellow sugar cane has different harvesting times that extends from July to December. Unfortunately, I visited during the offseason when they were cleaning and maintaining the equipment and there was no sugar cane coming it, but it allowed me ample time to poke my nose into all the nooks and crannies.

Red sugar cane in Mauritius

The Rum Distilling Process

Our tour started with the history of Chamarel and led us to the beautiful forecourt area. From here he took us through the process from where the sugar cane comes in, get stamped and the sugar cane syrup extracted and filtered. I suspect that in season, this can be a rather loud operation.

Chamarel Rum Distillery courtyard
We moved on to the distilling area. Chamarel has 2 distilling method with a Barbet type plate column that allows for a continuous process as well as 2 copper pot still units.

Chamarel Rum Distillery copper pots
From the distilling, we moved to the ageing warehouse. Chamarel mainly uses French Oak to age the rum. In the warehouse, there are a few barrels that have been ageing for over 5 years and a few barrels even close to 10 years – several in a variety of interesting casks.

The angel’s share in Mauritius is rather low, only about 2.5% due to the moist mild climate in the hills.

Tasting the Chamarel Rum Releases

And from here we moved to the best part of the visit, the tasting. The range starts with the Chamarel Classic. Other releases include the Chamarel Double Distilled, the Chamarel Gold, Chamarel Spices. The Liqueur range includes a Chamarel Vanilla Liqueur, Mandarin Liqueur as well as Coffee Liqueur and Coconut Liqueur.

Chamarel Rum Distillery Range part 1
The Chamarel Classic is great rum for cocktails and we started with a Ti-Punch, which is a mix of the Classic, some lime slices and raw sugar syrup.

The Chamarel Double Distilled not aged and very smooth due to the double pot still distillation with notes of vanilla, pear and citrus.

Chamarel Gold has been aged for 18 months in oak barrels. The Gold has flavour notes of oak, spices and pepper.

Chamarel Rum Distillery Range part 2
The Chamarel Spices is aged for 18 months and then finished for a further 3 months in oak. This release is infused with various spices including cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and coriander. Delicious as an aperitif.

Next up was the Chamarel Premium Range including the VS, VSOP and XO.

Chamarel Rum Distillery range 3
The VS release has been aged for 3 to 4 years in French Oak and has distinct hints of coconut and banana. The VSOP release has been aged for between 4 and 6 years in a combination of French Oak and American oak. It has notes of dried fruits, pepper and cloves.

Lastly, they have the XO, which has been aged between 6 and 8 years in a special combination of French Oak, new French Oak, Ex-Cognac and Ex-Wine.

Also Read: Rhumarie de Saint Aubin

Chamarel Rum Distillery whisky aged rum
The Chamarel Limited Edition Range was something different. I have whisky finished in many different barrels including Rum. At Chamarel they have been finishing rum in various barrels including whisky barrels.

I tasted the Chamarel Single Cask Finish aged for 6 years in French Oak and finished for 1 year in Macallan 10 yo casks. They also have a Sauternes cask finish as well as a Moscatel cask finish. This I just had to add to my collection.

Chamarel Rum Cocktails

We ended the tour with some delicious cocktails. There are many similarities to the whisky distilling process and also many differences. It gave me a new appreciation for rum. Also a better understanding of how rum is made. Also what good quality rum should taste like. This is a spirit I will probably be exploring a bit more in future.

And on that note, we hopped back into our taxi and went on to further explore this beautiful Island. We made a stop at the Chamarel waterfall and the world-famous 7 colours Earth. The rest of the time we spent lounging on the beach, drinking rum cocktails. What more can you ask for in a holiday?

Also Read: Rum vs Wiskey