Whisky of the Week

Scottish Cousin Whisky

On 07/18/2016

I am not impartial to some wine now and again. Whisky is perfect, but a nice glass of wine, on a hot day, is refreshing. A while ago, on a Friday afternoon, John brought me a bottle of wine. It was in a plastic bottle. The snob in me was slightly horrified. What was he thinking?

Not to be rude, I tried it. And oh my, what a fantastic glass of wine it was. The bottle in question was the Tangled Tree Tropical Sauvignon Blanc. After that, I have tried all five wines in the range and love the Chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon and the Moscato Rosé wine the most.

Jump forward a few months, and there I was, wandering around the Whisky Life Pretoria in Brooklyn. I visited one of my favourite people, Pierre Meintjies, at the Bunnahabhain exhibition, then turned around and walked straight into a new blended whisky.

It’s called Scottish Cousin whisky. I stood there listening to an enthusiastic man talking about this affordable blended whisky and realised that the label is reminiscent of the Four Cousins wine.

To say that I was sceptical might be an understatement. Were a few wine farmers from Robertson trying to sell whisky? At an event where you had some of the most loved whisky brands on the planet? Seriously?

About the Scottish Cousin whisky Blends

I watched people walking up, tasting and standing around with a smile. The man saw me and offered me a taste. I declined at first but listened to the story behind this blend. The Cousins of Van Loveren visited Scotland and decided to extend their range with a Cousin from Scotland. The blend of traditional Scottish whisky was hand-selected by Neil, the youngest of the Four Cousins and fourth-generation Scottish ancestry.

Now I am from a Dutch background, but that does not make me an expert cheesemaker. After a bit of research, I realised that the Tangle Tree Eco Wine Range was part of the Four Cousins’ portfolio. They made excellent wine, but did the fourth generation wine farmer know something about whisky?

The Scottish Cousin whisky range includes a 5 year old, an 8 year old and a 12 year old blended whisky. They were all aged in American Oak and use the Optic and Concerto barley strains. The whisky was distilled, blended and bottled in Scotland and released at a 43% ABV.

The pricing ranges from the very affordable Scottish Cousin 5 year old at about R200 to the very reasonably priced +-R 400 for the Scottish Cousin 12 year old. But what did they taste like?

Also Read: The Singleton 15 yo Whisky

Scottish Cousin 5 year old Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Gold with dark amber hints

NOSE: Oak, toffee, Christmas pudding with hints of butterscotch and vanilla. It’s not a very complex nose. The addition of water brings out more sweetness and marshmallow notes.

PALATE: There is a spiciness balanced with sweetness. Hints of cloves, balanced with fresh berries. Light and refreshing, a summer sipping dram. Adding water to this Scottish cousin 5 yo makes it smoother and very easy drinking.

FINISH: Medium length and ends in sweet woody notes.

RATING: VERY GOOD

At a R200 price point, this is an amazing dram. The Scottish Cousin 5 year old whisky can easily compete with older more expensive drams and hold its own. It is an unpretentious, easy-drinking and thoroughly enjoyable whisky which offers great value for money.

Scottish Cousin 8 year old Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Golden yellow with copper hints.

NOSE: Floral and fresh summer fruit drizzled in honey, mixed with vanilla, butterscotch and marshmallow. Faint hints of cinnamon spiciness.

PALATE: Fresh fruit, spice, roasted nuts and sugar sweetness wonderfully balanced with that rich bourbon vanilla taste. There is a creamy chewiness to the Scottish Cousin 8 yo. An almost chocolatey yumminess. The addition of water soothes the fruity notes and brings a little bit of the oak to the forefront, but at the same time makes the whisky deliciously enjoyable.

FINISH: Medium length that ends in light notes of sweetness and toasted rice. The addition of water brings out the dryness and a woodiness that reminds me of faint hints of leather.

RATING: EXCELLENT

At around R 280 for the bottle of deliciousness, it is the best buy! The 8 year old whisky is my favourite. It is an easy-drinking, fun, thoroughly enjoyable whisky that will not be out of place in an upmarket bar.

It’s rich with wonderful complex notes. This is what liquid sunshine tastes like. I paired this Scottish Cousin with some Oreo cookies over here, and it made for a delectable combination.

Scottish Cousin 12 year old Whisky

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Dark Gold with mahogany hints.

NOSE: Rich and complex. Condensed milk fudge sweetness, fresh summer berries, maple syrup with hints of vanilla, butterscotch and cream. Faint hints of bread pudding.

PALATE: Heaviest of the three, it’s rich and creamy. On the palate, there is fruity sweetness followed by spicy notes and faint hints of oak. There is a deliciousness to this dram that invites you to try some more. The Scottish Cousin 12 year old becomes smooth and easy drinking with the addition of water. It is complex and fun drinking; especially at R400.

FINISH: More significant and longer than the other 2 expressions and end in notes of dried oak, malt biscuits and toffee.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a warming and comforting dram that you will reach for again and again. Trust me, I know, my bottle is nearly half. I also paired this 12 year old whisky with a Royal Ashton cheese, and the results were delicious!

These amazing Scottish Cousin drams are available at Pick n Pay, Checkers, Spar, Liquor City, Liquorland, Norman Goodfellows, Makro and online at Takealot. So go out and grab a bottle.

Also read: Bell’s Special Reserve Whisky

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 07/11/2016

In Rye Whiskey

During November the annual Whisky Bible ratings come out. For some, it is an event that is highly anticipated. For others, not so much. Over the last couple of years, the top awards have been somewhat controversial, and Jim Murray even depicts himself a bit of a devil (playing a bit of Devil’s advocate) on the front page of the 2015 bible.

November 2015 was no different. The Whisky Bible crowned the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye whisky as the highest-scoring whisky. An affordable whisky from Canada? Can it be possible? Not from Scotland?

Some critics jumped up to complain. Bitterly in some instances. Supporters of the Crown Royal and Whisky Bible cheered. The Scottish whisky industry barely showed a ripple.

I have looked at Jim Murray’s comments over the years, especially when I want to buy a new whisky. Some of his top-rated whiskies I loved. Examples such as the Ballantine’s Finest, Johnnie Walker Black, Ardbeg Supernova has gotten high ratings and are some of my favourites. But other suggestions, I did not particularly enjoy.

Also Read: Rittenhouse Rye whiskey

Examples include the Old Pulteney 21 yo and Kornog whisky. For me, I have started to take his reviews with a pinch of salt. Then a family member came to visit. From Canada! And he brought me a bottle of the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye. I did not mind. You don’t find many Crown Royal releases in SA, and rye whisky is also limited. So regardless of Jim Murry’s rating, I was happy.

But what is a Canadian Rye whisky?

Not the easiest questions to answer, it seems. It seems like the term “Canadian whisky” and “rye whisky” are used interchangeably in Canada and refer to the same thing. Whisky which generally is made with some percentage of rye grain. According to a Canadian whisky website, rye whisky began as a “whisky style” two centuries ago when the Canadian Flour miller began making whisky from their excess wheat.

There are a few distinct differences between the USA version of a straight rye and the Canadian rye. In the USA, the mash bill needs to have at least 51% rye where in Canada this percentage is not defined.

American straight rye whisky is aged in new charred oak barrels, where in Canada the whisky is aged in a mixture of used and new barrels.

Rye whisky is not very well-known in South Africa. I have tasted over 300 different drams over the last five years, but never tasted a rye.

Due to the hype around this dram and the limited availability of Rye whisky in SA, I invited a few South African whisky friends to join me for a Twitter Tasting of this Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye whisky. My tasting notes include their comments as well.

Also Read: JP Wiser’s Deluxe Rye Whisky

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye Whisky Review

The Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye is a blended whisky and has a 90% rye mash bill. I have a bottle from batch number L6021 N3.

COUNTRY: Canada

ABV: 45%

COLOUR: A golden wheat colour with hints of sunshine.

NOSE: Sweet cereal, woody oak and butterscotch with some chocolate. Light flowers with hints of spice, specifically cinnamon and nutmeg float about. There are a grape syrup note and fruity sweetness on the nose mixed with crème brûlée.

PALATE: Without water has notes of sweet winter spice, aniseed, fresh-baked rusks and is creamy. Notes of grape sweetness mixed with more of the wood spice. Water adds a chewy note and allows the balance between spicy, woods and cereal to come out. Adding water creates an interesting mix of winter and wood spices with a bit of hotness tingle.

FINISH: Medium length and ends in notes of spiciness, condensed milk and malted biscuits.

RATING: EXCELLENT

Individual ratings were very broad. John gave this a Divine, I gave it an Excellent, Bernard rated it as ‘Good to Very Good, and Edward from Smoky Dram said ‘Very Good, just shy of Excellent’.

Is the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye the best whisky in the world? Probably not. I have tried various drams this year, that I enjoyed just as much or more.

John loved it. He thinks that the Northern Harvest Rye is one of the best drams this year. And that is the beauty of whisky. It lies in the eyes (taste buds) of the beholder. What do you think?

On a whim, I paired the Royal Ashton cheese, and the results were delicious!

Also Read: Sazerac Rye Whiskey

Loch Lomond Single Grain Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/27/2016

In Grain Whisky

A month or two ago, I found an affordable new distillery release at our local Checkers and grabbed it immediately. It was a Loch Lomond single grain whisky. Not too long afterwards, I got invited to the Checkers launch of this same release and accepted with great anticipation.

It is exciting to see Checkers go to great lengths to bring a broader range of reasonably priced whiskies to SA. Loch Lomond is just the latest in a long line of prominent brands that Checkers is building relationships with.

The Littlemill Distillery Company Ltd built the distillery in 1965. In 1984 the distillery fell silent, but shareholders bought the company and created the Loch Lomond Distillery Company. Malt production restarted in 1987, and grain whisky production began in 1993.

Loch Lomond has an unusual set up of stills. It allows them to release a variety of bottlings. There were three sets of stills; two were fitted with rectification columns as well as five continuous stills.

Bottlings under the names: Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Inchfad, Crotengea, Glen Douglass, Craiglodge and, Loch Lomond comes out of the one distillery.

Loch Lomond marks the boundary between the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland and is classified as a Highland whisky. It is also the brand name of the whisky consumed by Captain Haddock in Hergé’s famous comic book series “The Adventures of Tintin”.

This Loch Lomond release (and a few others from this distillery) is available at Checkers Liquor stores and definitely in the affordable price range.

Also Read: Teeling Single Grain Whiskey

Loch Lomond Single Grain Whisky Review

REGION: Highland

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: It is one of the lightest colour spirits I have in my collection. It has a pale yellow colour with green hints.

NOSE: The first thing that strikes me about the nose of this single grain is that it’s very clean. I get malt and freshly baked cookies, flowers and grass mixed with juniper berries and fruit. Hints of butterscotch and vanilla come through. The nose is not very complicated.

PALATE: Initially surprisingly spicy with hints of fruit and almond floating around. Citrus zest from the nose is present, and the whisky has a medium mouthfeel. The dram needs a few drops of water to release the fruity notes. The addition of the water improves the drinking experience and makes it smoother.

FINISH: Medium length and ends in notes of citrus peel and vanilla sweetness.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It seems like this dram is just a tad too young. For me, it feels like there are a few rough ends to this whisky. A little bit longer in barrels might smooth this whisky out and create a more of a rounded integrated feeling.

Not a bad whisky at all! It is a versatile addition to my collection. And it is affordable as well. In South Africa, it retails for around R350. With all the spicy notes, it might make an excellent dram to pair with food. Let me go and experiment.

Have you tried this Loch Lomond release? I have also tried the Loch Lomond Original whisky, and you can read all about it to. There is a new batch of Single Grain available with a new label, and I captured my tasting notes about it as well

Also Read: Glen Scotia Victoriana whisky

Bowmore 12 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/20/2016

In Single Malt whisky

This is a dram I have tried a few times with food, but never written about. The definition of Enigma is a thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. Will this Bowmore 12 year old Enigma single malt Scotch whisky show its secrets?

Situated on the Inner Hebrides, the Bowmore distillery lies on the South-Eastern shore of Loch Indaal. Loch Indaal is a sea lock that opens out into the Atlantic Ocean. On the other side, sits Bruichladdich.

Islay is the Queen of the Hebrides. Early hunter-gatherers have inhabited Islay from around 7500 BC, and the area is seen as an archaeological treasure trove.

John P Simons established the distillery in 1779, before passing ownership to the Mutter family in 1837. It has changed ownership a few times since and is now owned by Suntory.

Similar to the Islay whiskies, Bowmore is known for their peaty smokiness due to their peat-fired kiln. Looking at Islay on a map, I want to get on a plane to go and explore! The island is home to only around 3 000 people and eight distilleries.

The Bowmore Enigma is a 12 year old Islay single malt whisky with a higher proportion of sherry matured spirit than the standard bottling. The Bowmore 12 yo Enigma Scotch is bottled for the travel retail market.

Also Read: Ardbeg 10 yo whisky

Bowmore 12 year old Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 40%

COLOUR: Darkish gold

NOSE: Initially the nose is sweet quite sweet with a sticky, overripe fruit sweetness to it. Oak, peat and bits of grassiness follow. Hints of sherried fruit, grape jam, candied Christmas pudding float about.

PALATE: The Bowmore Enigma has an interesting palate. In the beginning, there are lots of peat, oak and spice and then slowly transforms, and burnt caramel comes through. There are notes of peat and ashy smoke with a few sharp alcohol edges mixed with bitter citrus in the background.

It starts boldly but dissolved into a thin drinking experience at the end. Adding a few drops of water smooths out the rough edges, but take away the bit of complexity and almost neutralises some of the interesting bits to this dram.

FINISH: Medium length and end in notes of oak, smoke and pectin.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It seems that the notes just don’t gel together. It is as if the flavours are disjointed. This 12 year old Bowmore Enigma is appropriately named. It is a bit of an enigma. The Bowmore Enigma single malt leaves you hanging in terms of what it’s trying to be. Is it sweet, peat or smoky? Nothing fits quite right. It does, however, work very nicely with Blue Tower Cheese.

What did you think of this Enigma?

Also read: Longmorn 15 yo whisky

Ballantine’s 17 yo Scapa Signature Distillery Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 06/13/2016

In Blended whisky

Today I look at the Ballantine’s 17 yo Scapa Signature Distillery blended Scotch whisky. I have often written about my love for Ballantine’s whisky.

Ballantine’s Finest was the first blended dram to earn a Divine rating. The highest rating on my rating scale. I try to extend my Ballantine’s whisky collection whenever I can. I also love the standard 17 year old whisky from Ballantine’s.

Then I saw that Chivas Brothers launched four Ballantine’s expressions under the new line, Signature Distillery Editions. Scapa (targeted at the Korean market), Glenburgie (release for travel retail), Miltonduff and Glentauchers.

According to Sandy Hyslop, Ballantine’s master blender:
“Ballantine’s 17 Year Old is a blend of more than 40 different malt and grain whiskies from all over Scotland, but Scapa, Glenburgie, Miltonduff and Glentauchers stand out as having played a monumental role in the blending process of our master blenders over the years.”

The Signature Distillery Editions are intended to highlight each of the blend’s major contributing distilleries’ character and influence.

The Ballantine’s 17 yo Scapa Signature Distillery Edition whisky has been created to enhance the influence of Scapa and to highlight this Orcadian part. Situated on the island of Orkney in the Northern Highlands, Scapa is not far from Highland Park.

John managed to find a bottle on his travels and brought it home. However, this blend has stood on my shelf for nearly a year, and I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to taste it. Today turned out to be that opportunity.

Also Read: Glengoyne 17 yo whisky

Ballantine’s 17 yo Scapa Edition Whisky Review

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Light golden.

NOSE: There is so much going on in the nose. It is a riot of ripe fruit, marshmallows, toffee, cherries and raisin pudding. In the background, there are faint hints of salt, seaweed and smoke. There is a wonderfully rich, complex, layered nose to this whisky.

PALATE: On the palate, there is sweetness, followed by loads of spice and oak. There is fruit sweetness balanced with toffee, smoke and warming spices. Even without water, this whisky is delicious and smooth. A huge mouthful. The addition of water further transforms this dram. It becomes rich and creamy and absolutely brilliant.

FINISH: Long and lingering, and build slowly. It ends in the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.

RATING: DIVINE

I fell in love with the flavour profile of the Ballantine’s brand. It has the perfect balance of rich, robust spicy sweetness; the flavour profile is for me, what whisky should taste like. There has been only one Ballantine’s that I have not rated Divine and that was the Ballantine’s 12 year old whisky.

The biggest problem with this Ballantine’s Scapa Edition? It is not available in South Africa, and it is sadly a limited release. All I want to do is sit back and pour another one. But I will be strong and save it for a special occasion.

I have also tried the Ballantine’s 30 year old whisky as well as Balantine’s Limited Edition, and you can see what I thought about it.

Also read: Johnnie Walker Platinum Label vs Gold Label whisky