Named after the small stream that flows through President Abraham Lincoln’s childhood home in Kentucky, today is time for some Knob Creek Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey. It is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced by Beam Suntory at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.
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
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
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
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.