Tag: Beam Suntory

Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan, and the company’s headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois. It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide. The company’s principal brands include :

Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Booker’s, Knob Creek bourbon
Laphroaig, Bowmore, Ardmore, Auchentoshan, Teacher’s Highland Cream whisky
Connemara and Kilbeggan Irish whiskey
DYC whisky
Yamazaki, Hakushu, Hibiki, Chita whisky

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 02/16/2015

In Bourbon whiskey

Time for a bourbon again; well, some kind of bourbon anyway. This week I try the Devil’s Cut Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey from Jim Beam. Jim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory.

The name “Jim Beam” is in honour of James B. Beam, who rebuilt the business after Prohibition ended. Launched in 2011, Devil’s Cut bourbon comes with a long story. According to the Jim Beam website: “As bourbon ages, a portion of the liquid is lost from the barrel due to evaporation—that’s the “Angel’s Share.”

After ageing, when the bourbon is poured out of the barrel, a certain amount of whiskey is left trapped within the wood of every barrel.” Jim Beam calls that the “Devil’s Cut.” According to Jim Beam, to create Devil’s Cut bourbon, they developed a proprietary process that extracts the whiskey trapped inside the wood after emptying.

Jim Beam claims they can extract some of this “lost” liquid by filling the emptied casks with water and spinning them at high-speed. The water containing a large amount of this ‘devil’s cut’ is then used to cut down the traditional 6 yo Jim Beam bourbon.

I am not so sure if the theory behind it all adds up, but it is certainly a clever way of selling more of their 6 yo whiskey. For me, however, the only important thing that matters is how does it taste.

Related Article: WL Weller Wheated bourbon

Jim Beam Devil’s Cut Bourbon Whiskey Review

COUNTRY: USA

ABV: 46%

COLOUR: Dark copper in colour. It is quite an oily whiskey.

NOSE: It has a typical bourbon sweet nose. The sweetness intermingles with hints of oak, warm spice, caramel and condensed milk. There are notes of toffee and fresh doughnuts hiding in the background.

PALATE: Not as sweet as we expected it to be. Notes of wood and spice are enhanced when you add a dash of water. The Jim Beam Devil’s Cut has a medium body and is very smooth. There are hints of vanilla sweetness in the background. Not a very complex bourbon.

FINISH: Builds slowly. There are notes of spice and wood, and it ends in caramel and burnt nuts.

RATING: VERY GOOD

It should make a good addition to bourbon-based cocktails. Not sure if I will rebuy this Jim Beam release though, I find it a bit gimmicky.

I have also tried the Jim Beam Double Oak Bourbon, and you can see what I thought about it if you follow the link.

Also Read: Top 5 Single Malt under R750

Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/15/2014

In Single Malt whisky

Today I look at something peaty, the Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Laphroaig is a whisky distillery on the beautiful Islay. It is named for the piece of land at Loch Laphroaig’s head on the south coast of Islay. Islay’s history is a timeline of people who can be traced back to the earliest recorded communities.

The granite hills behind Laphroaig are scattered with the Neolithic standing stones that the ancients used to predict the seasons. Laphroaig even has its own Laphroaig menhir behind the distillery. The Laphroaig distillery was established in 1815 by Donald and Alexander Johnston.

Laphroaig’s distinctive flavour comes from its proximity to the coast and its peat’s high moss content. The Laphroaig distillery and brand is owned and operated by Beam Suntory, the American subsidiary of Japan’s Suntory Holdings.

The Laphroaig An Cuan Mor whisky is the final release in a series of three travel retail exclusives. It follows on from the Laphroaig QA Cask and Laphroaig PX Cask. An Cuan Mor means ‘The Big Ocean’ in Gaelic. This Laphroaig An Cuan Mor single malt is double matured, first in first-fill-only ex-American white oak bourbon barrels, then in European oak casks.

Related Article: Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Whisky

Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 48%

COLOUR: A dark, almost smoked, amber colour. It is a thick oily whisky with long fingers in the glass.

NOSE: Brilliantly Islay. The salt, the sea, the iodine, and peat smells pour from the glass. Classic Laphroaig on the nose. There are notes of leather that also comes through. Hints of honey sweetness with bits of spice and rich fruits make this Laphroaig An Cuan Mor whisky special.

PALATE: Without water, the palate has notes of spice on the tongue, but the peat is mild with sweet hints. Some medicinal tones in the background. Adding water makes it surprisingly sweet in addition to the classic peat. The Laphroaig An Cuan Mor Scotch has faint orange notes with iodine and fruit. A rich, smooth whisky.

FINISH: Bold and quite lingering. It warms the soul as few whiskies do. The An Cuan Mor ends with notes of oak, spice and honey.

RATING: EXCELLENT

It is a wonderfully complex whisky that even non-peat heads can appreciate. The peaty Islay style is front and centre in this Laphroaig An Cuan Mor, but it is not overwhelming. It allows the other aromas and notes to come out gently.

I have also tried someLaphroaig and Stilton Cheese before, and it is a fantastic combination.

Update: These Laphroaig releases are not limited to travel retail any more and are now widely available in trade. You can even get it here in SA.

Also Read: Penderyn Whisky

Yamazaki 12 year old Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 12/15/2013

In Single Malt whisky

This week I tasted one of the international whiskies in my collection – The Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky. The Yamazaki is distilled by Suntory, whose founder Shinjiro Torii built Japan’s first malt whisky distillery in the Vale of Yamazaki.

Located on the outskirts of the ancient capital of Kyoto, the pure waters and climate proved ideal for the maturation of whisky. Japanese whisky has an exciting journey dating back to the 1860s. The Japanese consumed all the whisky distilled domestically until the 2000s.

The Yamazaki 12 year old became the first Japanese whisky to be exported and to win awards. With its reputation preceding it, we were looking forward to finally tasting it. The whisky is presented in a box that evokes echoes of ancient paper with its faded yellow colour. Proudly displayed on the box is the note that the whisky won a double gold medal in 2009.

The Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky is matured in three kinds of wood – toasted American oak, Japanese Mizunara oak and ex-sherry casks. The Mizunara oak is native to Japan. It is both scarcer and harder to work with than American or European oak.

It reputedly imparts a seductive aroma of incense sticks, flowers and spice that is quite unmistakable.
Related Article: Benromach 10 yo whisky

Yamazaki 12 year old Whisky Review

COUNTRY: Japan

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Deep golden caramel. There are clear hints of sherry coming through in the colour, but it is not as intense as some of the other ex-sherry cask whiskies that we have.

NOSE: The nose is complex with caramel, fruit and florals the first impression. The dram reminds me of subtle perfume!

PALATE: There is lots of honey, spice and oak. More subtle is the barley and malt, which floats around in the background. The spice is quite pronounced with hints of pepper.

FINISH: The finish is luxurious, velvety and smooth.

RATING: EXCELLENT

I missed a longer, more sophisticated finish, but the Yamasaki 12 year old is a superb whisky. It may be that at a future re-tasting, I upgrade it to a divine rating; it’s that interesting.

This lovely single malt reminds one of a Speyside whisky with lots of fruit and honey. Jeannette dug around to see which food would pair well with it. It should come as little surprise that it seems to pair well with sushi – also one of our favourite foods.

The Yamasaki flavour notes match ginger and soy sauce well, and thus it should work well with Makizushi or rolled sushi. Salmon rainbow rolls, vegetable maki rolls or futomaki all spring to mind. Whatever sushi you pair this with, I think it will be awesome, and we look forward to doing just that.

Other interesting whiskies from Japan that I have tasted include the Nikka from the Barrel, Nikka Coffey Grain as well as the Nikka Miyagikyo.

Also Read: Amrut Intermediate Sherry Whisky

Auchentoshan Heartwood Whisky

By Jeannette Wentzel

On 08/20/2013

In Single Malt whisky

On our trip to Dullstroom, we stopped off at the ‘Wild about Whisky’ bar. There we worked our way through a tiny bit of their selection. I tried to taste whiskies that I have not seen before. At one of the tastings, I tried various whiskies aged in sherry casks, and one of the nicest ones was the Auchentoshan Heartwood single malt Scotch whisky.

Lucky for me, Wild about Whisky had one in the store that I could buy. Auchentoshan (pronounced ock-en-tosh-an) is a Lowlands distillery, and the name translates as ‘corner of the field’ from the local form of Gaelic. Auchentoshan is unique among Scottish whisky distilleries in that they triple distil using three stills.

Elsewhere in Scotland, the common practice is to distil twice. Triple distillation produces a spirit that is lighter and more delicate in flavour. Auchentoshan has a core range that include the American Oak and 12 yo whisky release and have also produced a range exclusively for the retail travel market.

What it means is that if you are not travelling through Heathrow airport – or get lucky – this bottle may elude you in the usual places. That would be a tragedy, for this is a fine whisky indeed. The Auchentoshan range consists of four core expressions, with two limited-edition releases coming out each year.

The whole range pays tribute to the wood, and each whisky in the range is inspired by the phase of a tree’s life cycle and named to reflect the whisky’s flavour as if it were part of the tree’s life. The Auchentoshan Heartwood single malt whisky is aged in Oloroso sherry casks, as well as charred American oak bourbon casks.
Related Article: Glenkinchie 12 yo whisky

Auchentoshan Heartwood Whisky Review

REGION: Lowlands

ABV: 43%

COLOUR: Some commentators have described the colour as a dark honeycomb. To me, it looked far more copper in colour. It reminded me of beautiful copper pots that had been polished and caught the light just the right way in sunlight. It is indeed a warm, inviting colour.

NOSE: From a nose perspective, the Auchentoshan Heartwood is quite complex. I picked up some sherry and notes of orange. Other commentators have picked up honeycomb – proof if any was needed that it’s a complex nose because I did not pick that up.

PALATE: Whilst you may not remember the Auchentoshan Heartwood for its nose, you won’t easily forget it on the palate. On the palate, the Auchentoshan Heartwood feels lighter than other Scottish whiskies. It may be a testament to the triple distillation rather than the standard double distillation.

The Heartwood flavours that came through were sherry, vanilla and honeycomb. I thought of ice cream at first! While it is light, there is a richness to it, with oak coming through as well as some hints of citrus.

FINISH: The finish is not long, with quite a short tail to it. It does not distract in any way, and it finishes in a nice, mouth-filling, fresh way.

RATING: EXCELLENT

The Auchentoshan is a wonderful whisky, and we both instantly reached the same verdict. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also probably one of the most “moreish” whiskies I have tasted, and you quickly find yourself pouring another glass before you realise it.

I’m glad it’s a 1L bottle because it’s not going to last for very long! I have also tried the Auchentoshan American Oak whisky and captured my tasting notes.

Also Read: Singeton 12 yo whisky