The Rusty Nail is back - Drambuie's new look

Sometimes you want a nice, complex well-aged single malt, bourbon or even a rye (and we've got plenty of tasting notes to whet your appetite if so)...but then other times, you just want a nice whisky-based cocktail.

Enter Drambuie - the classic and much-loved Scotch-whisky based tipple, blending whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices into a seriously mixable liquer. Patented in 1893 and bottled for sale in 1914, it became big in the 1960s, particularly thanks to the famous "Rusty Nail" cocktail (see below).

Drambuie is gearing up for a big 2018 globally, with a new bottle design (that's it above), and a big assault on the cocktail scene (and with classic cocktails having such a large resurgence over the past few years, why not?)

William Grant & Sons (no strangers to high quality whisky) took over the brand in 2014, and have big plans to spread the word in 2018. One way they've started to do sois via the "Drambuie & You" cocktail competition (#Drambuieandyou), inviting bartenders around the world to create their own cocktail using 1 part Drambuie. I particularly like the sound of this one from Adelaide's Barlow Room - cleverly incorporating Balvenie, which mixes brilliantly with Drambuie).

The competition entries have just recently closed, but if you can't wait for the results, here are a few easy to make Drambuie cocktails we've been experimenting with lately:

Rusty Nail (the classic):

• 1 part Drambuie
• 2 parts Scotch whisky

Stir over ice, garnish with a lemon twist.

Drambuie Collins:

• 1 part Drambuie
• 1/2 lemon
• 8 mint leaves
• 2 parts soda

Squeeze the 1/2 lemon into a highball glass, drop in the mint and fill with ice. Pour in the Drambuie, then top up with soda and stir slowly.

Of course, it's a nice liquer on its own too (I personally prefer it with ice) - sweet and refreshing, with huge honey notes, some Christmas spices and a little lemon.

The recipe may not have changed in 270 years (nor does it need to), but that's not to say its use in cocktails can't change. Whilst the Rusty Nail will always be a favourite, we look forward to seeing what global bartenders come up with as part of the #Drambuieandyou competition.

Drambuie retails for $59.99 at Dan Murphys and can also be found at any good bottleshop. Thanks to William Grant & Sons and Agent99 PR for sending us a bottle for review.

Cheers,

Martin.

Ardbeg Day (Night) Sydney 2017 (Tasted #367 - #368)

Ardbeg Day which became a global event in 2012 is now one of the most anticipated whisky events of the year, held as part of Feis Ile; the Islay Festival of Malt and Music that has attracted significant fanfares globally.

Ardbeggians around the world have joined the Ardbeg Committee in huge numbers (currently estimated to be 100,000+) to not only access early exclusive Committee Releases of the annual Ardbeg Day special bottlings, but also to take part in Ardbeg Day (or shall we say Ardbeg Night) gatherings and celebrations around the world.

As is tradition, with Ardbeg Day also comes the annual Ardbeg Day release and it was back in August 2015 when we were the first blog globally to break the news that Ardbeg were playing around with Russian Oak, and suggested that this would likely be a future Ardbeg Day release. Fast forward to 2017 and the Ardbeg Kelpie was unveiled. A limited-edition bottling that saw Ardbeg's malt matured in virgin oak casks sourced from the Adyghe Republic, on the coast of the Black Sea region and married with traditional ex-bourbon Ardbeg malt. In our view, Kelpie was a particularly exciting and unique release.

Black Sea oak is renowned for imparting deep flavour notes and only a handful of whiskies have ever been matured in these casks - hence the excitement. Sweet, powerful, herbal and maritime notes describe the Kelpie. See below for our tasting notes on both the Kelpie Committee Release and Kelpie Retail Release.

So...what's a Kelpie anyway (other than this whisky)? The story goes that kelpie is the name of a mysterious beast that have been said to live beneath the waves. Being a Scottish shape-shifting water spirit, the Kelpie was rumoured to take the form of a horse or a bull and prey on unwitting travellers.

In fact, legend has it that long ago, a farmer walking near Ardbeg's shoreline was almost dragged out to sea by a water bull. Managing to overcome and rope the creature, he locked it in a barn where it cried for mercy. At dusk, the farmer's daughter was chased by a water horse seeking revenge for its kin. The terrified girl ran to the barn and released the water bull, whereupon the malevolent beasts took flight back to the sea.

Interesting folklore to complement an interesting release. In Sydney, the Ardbeg Day celebrations were equally interesting, with the main celebration taking place at Sydney Aquarium and others throughout Ardbeg embassies across town. Ardbeggians were able to score tickets in the weeks leading up to the day through the purchase of Ardbeg cocktails across a selected number of bars around Sydney CBD.



We joined the celebration at Sydney Aquarium where the Kelpie theme was well and truly alive with guests being presented cocktails amongst all the slithering sea creatures that swam around them. It was undoubtedly a unique and once in a lifetime experience to be able to walk the shark tanks at night with an Ardbeg cocktail in hand surrounded by dugong, sharks and all kind of sea creatures swimming about. Kudos to the creativity, ingenuity and passion of the Moet Hennessy team for putting this together for this year's Ardbeg Day.

Guests joined in, with props that breathed life into the Kelpie and maritime theme. Everything from dressing up as seaweed to strewing sea lanterns and fishnets around. Even Shortie joined in hanging out by the tanks with his favourite companion - Ardbeg Ten.

The main event was held at the Great Barrier Reef room with a couple of divers entertaining the guests and crashing a few selfies throughout the night. The unveiling of the Kelpie involved divers stretching out the Ardbeg flag and showcasing the 4.5L Kelpie to the guests before Garth Foster of Moet Hennessy welcomed the guests and spoke about the release.

Nothing like celebrating and sharing a dram with your mates and also a couple of hundred maritime creatures!

Having tasted the Committee Release few months ago, it was interesting to compare it to the Retail release on Ardbeg Day....thoughts below.

Ardbeg "Kelpie" Committee Release (57.1% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, no longer available)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colour: Sauvignon Blanc

Nose: Sea breeze with whiff of cured seafood. The nose is pungent - though nice and salty, maritime. There's also an interesting mixture of milk chocolate, smoked / grilled fish, mediterranean spice. I love the nose of this particular release.

Palate: A mixture of chilli spice, beach bonfire, more of the smoked fish and maritime notes come through followed by some sweetness; milk chocolate, perhaps chilli chocolate. Lots of spices; pepper and nutmeg follows.

Finish: The finish is exquisitely long, oily, full of spices from the palate, briny and reeks of dying amber smoke

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 93/10


Ardbeg "Kelpie" Retail Release (46% ABV, NAS, Islay, Scotland, A$169.99)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colour: Sauvignon Blanc

Nose: Just like the Committee Release, the smoke is there and there's almost a layer of umami; nori / seaweed with also hints of chocolate. Less smoked fish and maritime than its Committee Release counterpart and bringing it closer to your typical Ardbeg Ten.

Palate: The lower ABV has calmed this expression though there's still plenty of bonfire ash smoke, salted pork. The palate is also oily, maritime, sweet and citrusy and filled with spices. Not as varied as the Committee Release though more balanced and again draws you closer to that typical Ardbeg Ten.

Finish: Lingering smoke and salt with a touch of citrus

Rating (on Hendy's very non-scientific scale): 91/100.

Of the two releases, I personally enjoyed the committee release more where the nose and the palate were both more eccentric and perhaps played to what the black sea casks offer. The retail release is definitely well balanced and brings out more of the typical Ardbeg smoke and characteristics. Nevertheless, I would still have both as my everyday dram - especially in these cold and dark Sydney winter nights. Both releases are interesting in their own right and the use of the black oak casks introduced some maritime and briny characters which were both exciting and surprising.

Until next time Ardbeggians!!

Cheers,
Hendy

The Macallan Masters of Photography: Steven Klein Edition launch party

Last Friday night saw Edrington Hong Kong launch The Macallan Masters of Photography Steven Klein Edition, the Sixth official release in the series (not including the Steven Klein edition of Rare Cask Black). Priced at $2,999USD and bottled at 53.9%, the NAS release includes whisky distilled "in the 1940s or 1950s", and for the first time ever, Macallan aged in ex-Rioja wine casks. 1,000 bottles are available, with just over 30 coming to Hong Kong (HKD price TBC).

Now I'm no art critic, but based on what I've seen, Steven Klein's aesthetic seems to bring together fashion, sexuality, dystopianism, with a good dash of colour. Just like the video below, produced as part of this Macallan.

...hang on...why am I talk about Steven Klein's "aesthetic" on a whisky blog, you might ask? Because that aesthetic seems to be exactly what Edrington were seeking to re-create for the launch party, and they absolutely nailed it. As soon as we read the location on the invitation (an entire hall of the HK Convention & Exhibition Centre), Steph and I knew the event would be impressive, but we didn't quite know what to expect...

What we were met with upon arrival though could easily have been the set of the next Steven Klein shoot, only with everyone looking a lot more animated and happy than in the above video! Happiness which was no doubt partially a result of the cocktails on offer - including a Double Cask 12yo Rusty Nail, a smoked ginger Old Fashioned and a cherry cocktail which was delicious, but definitely one for the sweet tooths.

(The cocktails were particularly fitting, given MoP Steven Klein edition includes a number of cocktail tools, presumably a nod to whisky "blasphemers" who would be happy to mix the whisky in a cocktail. I'm sure it'd make for delicious cocktails.)

Cocktails were passed around the room, or available from the three bars each offering a different one, with bartending theatrics (liquid nitrogen etc..) on show, whilst two large countdown clocks loomed in the background.

When those clocks finally did strike 00:00:00, Brand Director for The Macallan Ken Grier (who we first met 12 months ago at the launch of the 65yo in Lalique) took the stage to introduce the whisky, and explain a little about the collaboration, and the liquid itself (although the aforementioned details - whisky distilled in the 40s or 50s, and ex-Rioja Macallan, were about all the details we were given on the whisky's make-up).

With all those cocktails, you might think there was a noticeable absence of neat whisky (a point some attendees made too), however before long, drams of Rare Cask made their way around the room, followed by a lovely Rare Cask cocktail (whose ingredients I didn't manage to note, but seemed to include some sort of PX Sherry. Either way, it was delicious).

Whilst we didn't get to actually try the The Macallan Masters of Photography Steven Klein Edition (not unexpected, given the crowd size), the event was a huge amount of fun, and a testament to the ongoing creativity that the Edrington Hong Kong team put into their events. 

We can't wait to see what's in store for the next launch.

Cheers,

Martin.

The Elysian Whisky Bar (Melbourne, Australia)

This article on The Elysian Whisky Bar isn't a bar review (though we have 21 of those and counting), for the simple fact that we haven't yet visited - the bar being in Melbourne, us being in Hong Kong and Sydney.

Having said that though, we don't need to visit to know this place is going to be fantastic. With Kelvin Low and Yao Wong at the helm (both ex-Whisky+Alement, another brilliant Melhourne whisky bar we reviewed here), a constantly-refreshed selection of incredible independent bottlings, great cocktails and the vibe/feel of a Japanese whisky bar, all in the heart of Fitzroy, it has all the makings of a gem of a bar (and the many reports we've heard since it's December opening have all confirmed - it's more than earned its stripes).

If that doesn't scream "awesome Japanese-style bar, we don't know what does!"

Kelvin and Yao have built up a "modest but eclectic" selection of whiskies, in a way that's only possible with indie bottlings. They've even got their own single cask Indie bottling coming out soon - a 19yo First Fill ex-Sherry Glenrothes, bottled for The Elysian along with 2 bars in Taiwan, a bar in China, and 2 bars in Japan (including the brilliant Mash Tun Tokyo, where owner Suzuki-San does not select bad casks!) Not bad for a 3 month old bar...

In their words, Kelvin and Yao

"want to bring the feel of the kind of cosy bar you would find in Japan and transport that feeling to Fitzroy…which we felt needed a whisky bar. Many of the great cocktail bars you visit in Japan would have a killer whisky selection and the whisky bars there would absolutely blow you away. We just wanted to bring a taste of that Japanese bar culture back here and maybe jog a bit of nostalgia in those that have been over there and experienced it.”

Having experienced Japan's brilliant whisky scene first hand on many occasions (including once with Kelvin and Yao, at Whisky Live Tokyo 2015), we know exactly what they mean.

Both Sydney and Melbourne continue to show an insatiable appetite for whisky tastings / masterclasses, and The Elysian have stepped up in that regard too, having already hosted a tasting with independent bottler Eiling Lim (whom we recently had the pleasure of meeting in Hong Kong), as well as a Kilkerran WIP tasting, and an upcoming Signatory Vintage tasting with The Whisky Company.

Whilst the focus is clearly on whisk(e)y, Kelvin and Yao haven't neglected the food (nor wine/beer/cocktail) side of things by any means:

"there are seasonal fruits and herbs focused cocktails, a tight wine list and a small constantly rotating beer list. The capacity of the bar is relatively small (about 35) but is specifically designed to enhance the personal interaction between patrons and the bartender. There is a small offering of snack items focusing on charcuterie and cheeses that will be on frequent rotation. We are also working with Chef Ryo Kitahara (of Assiette de Parti), a chef that Kelvin used to work with in his previous restaurant (Heirloom), for some bar snacks. Chef Ryo is providing us with some tasty Chicken Liver Parfaits, Home-made Pork Rillettes, and Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulders."

With The Elysian joining Boilermaker House, Whisky+Alement, the new Melbourne Whisky Room, Melbourne now has a range of fantastic whisky bars which all offer a slightly different take on whisky. Which one should you visit? That's easy - all of them.

The Elysian Whisky Bar is open Tuesday to Saturdays, 4:30pm to 1am, and is located at 113 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. See Facebook for more details and The Elysian website to subscribe to the newsletter. Phone: +61 3-9417 7441.

Cheers,
Martin.

Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo 2016 review

Call me a creature of habit, but a few weeks ago I did exactly the same thing I did last year, and flew to Tokyo for 36 hours to attend the 2016 Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo - aka "TIBS".

Why? A few reasons:

• The whisky culture in Japan is just incredible. Not just Japanese whisky either - Japan's love of all whisky, especially Scotch and American, is endless. It shows in their expos (like TIBS and Whisky Live / Modern Malt Market, which we also attended last year), it shows in the special Scotch releases that no other market receives, it shows in their absolutely incredible whisky bar scene, and it shows in their own local whiskies too.
• The cocktail / bar scene is equally as impressive - I'd go so far as to say the best in the world; and
• The annual bottlings released at the show are always high quality, well-priced, varied and fun to bring home.

It helps too that Cathay have flights from Hong Kong that drop you into Tokyo at 6am on Saturday, allowing you to leave 6pm Sunday, all without taking a day off work.

..and so it was decided - I'd follow the same routine as last year and fly into Tokyo Saturday morning, have a quick shower and change at the hotel, then head to the show for a day of whisky....

As is tradition, the show kicked off with an introduction from the invited guests, who assembled on the main stage and included:

• Cocktail legend Gary (Gaz) Regan (of Regan's Bitters)
• Angus Winchester (Global Tanqueray Brand Ambassador)
• Islay native / expert Christine Logan (aka "Lady of the Isles")
• Stewart Buchanan (Global Brand Ambassador for GlenDronach, BenRiach & Glenglassaugh); and
• Local legend Ichiro Akuto (who should need no introduction!)

Following the brief introduction, and noticing the annual bottle queue had already snaked around the venue, I headed over to the Shinanoya stand to see what was on offer, and started my day with a dram of 20yo single cask 1995 GlenDronach from a PX Puncheon, bottled exclusively for Shinanoya. There are worse ways to start the day...

From there it was a short hop over to the always-popular Venture Whisky (aka Ichiro's Malt / Chichibu) stand. Unfortunately the annual Chichibu bottling (a 5 year old single cask ex-American Oak) wasn't available for tasting on the stand, but the core lineup bottles, along with a number of cask samples, were.

One thing I love about Akuto-San (and his wonderful brand ambassador, Yumi-San) is that no matter how popular their small distillery has become, they still go to the trouble of bringing along a few rare / unique / interesting / cask sample bottles (often accompanied by a "Bottle 1 of 2" label). TIBS 2016 was no different, with samples from four casks, all bottled in May 2016:

• French Oak ex-Wine Cask (1st fill), distilled in 2011 and bottled at 61.4% ABV. My favourite, with a deliciously earthy, tannic (but not bitter) palate and a lovely nose of berries.
• American Oak Bourbon Barrel (1st fill), distilled in 2010 and bottled at 60.6% ABV
• Virgin American Oak "Chibidaru" (literally "small") quarter cask, distilled in 2010 and bottled at 61.9% ABV.
• American Oak Bourbon Cask (1st fill), containing peated spirit distilled in 2012, also bottled at 61.9% ABV

All were fantastic, and showed incredible variety considering the new make in 3 of them was identical, and they'd only had between 3 and 6 years' maturation. A true testament to Akuto-san's skill.

With Ardbeg Day / Night just around the corner, Ardbeg were offering attendees cocktails, drams of the core lineup, and the chance to win tickets to the Tokyo event. 

The stand also featured Shortie (Ardbeg's famous Jack Russell mascot), but unlike the toy Shorties of 2013, or the real Shorties of 2014, this was a taxidermied Jack Russell, which was more than a little creepy....

Moving next door and keeping with the Islay theme, it was onto Lagavulin, who were showcasing the new 200th Anniversary 8 year old, available once visitors "Liked" the Lagavulin Facebook page. Having tried it a few weeks earlier, I didn't partake (though it is a good dram - notes up shortly).

The stand also offered visitors the chance to have their photo taken "inside" a 3D glass of whisky, which worked well when the photographer got the angle right... (as not evidenced here):

A few short steps away was the Scotch Malt Whisky Society stand, which had an impressive selection of over 20 bottles. While all required at least a few tokens (sold at ¥1000 for a book of 5, and required to sample the rarer whiskies on offer), the prices were very reasonable and they were offering generous member discounts.

I took the opportunity to try a young Rocktown Bourbon (B3.2 "Ooey-gooey Cinnamon Bun") which friends back in Australia had raved about - and with good cause. It was a brilliant dram, very reminiscent of a big fruity jam donut. Delicious.

As you can probably tell from the photos above and below, I brought my own Glencairn glass to Tokyo. Extreme? Perhaps, but Japanese whisky shows tend to be notorious for not offering proper glassware, as was the case again this year with most drams being poured into tiny little ~30mL plastic cups.

I get the hassle involved with having to provide thousands of glasses (and either collect them at the end, or build them into the price of the ticket), but small plastic cups are not really conducive to properly tasting / assessing quality whisky. It's literally my only complaint about the otherwise brilliant Japanese whisky expo scene, and it's a minor one.

Kavalan had a large range on offer, but the prices to taste most of them were (in my opinion) unreasonable, especially for the recent award-winning Amontillado cask, which ran about $25AUD / $145HKD for a small taste.

As the giants of the Japanese whisky industry, Nikka and Suntory had large stands, but (understandably) with no standout products, and only the basic NAS single malts on offer. As distributors of Edrington and William Grant & Sons products in Japan, Suntory were also offering pours of The Macallan and Glenfiddich, including Macallan Rare Cask and Glenfiddich 21.

Mars were offering their "Wine Cask Finish" Komagatake (which, like the aforementioned Chichibu, balanced the deep berry notes without being overly tannic or bitter), although on later reflection I realised we'd never heard of this particular release, as it's neither the blended "Wine Cask Finish" that was released in 2014, nor the 10yo single malt "Wine Cask Finish" that was released in a short squat bottle. Google was little help, so we're still not sure exactly when this one was released!

Smaller distilleries were well-represented too, including Chicago's Koval (which we first tasted back in 2014) and Finland's Kyrö Distillery Company, who were offering their gin (tasty) and rye (young but showing promise). 

Independent bottlers were also well-represented, and continued to showcase the level of quality we've come to expect from indie bottlings made available to the Japanese market.

GlenDronach, BenRiach & Glenglassaugh were also well-represented, as was their recent new parent company Brown Forman. In addition to the core GlenDronach line-up, a 1995 single cask and the latest cask strength, there was also a bottle of GlenDronach new make - a rare opportunity to taste the raw product that, 18-20 years later, becomes one of my favourite sherried whiskies. With lots of oats and breakfast cereal, it was smooth, flavoursome and very drinkable. I suspect this was a recent batch of new make, and not the pre-2004 spirit from coal-fired stills.

BenRiach's new Cask Strength Batch 1 was also a treat - I'd heard good things before and they were all true. Lots of tropical fruit and gummy bears for me.

After all that whisky, it was time for a cocktail to reset the palate, and who better to share one with than bartending legend Gary (Gaz) Regan? Gary hosted a small masterclass focusing on a few of his creations from years gone by. including one odd creation involving chilli powder (which was interesting, but two sips was enough...)

With the cocktail class over, it was back to the drams, a quick visit to Bacardi's "pop up speakeasy" (a cool idea for a 2 day bar expo, but one we're reliably informed was already done by Hendrick's several years ago), and then time to call it a day and head back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before heading off to my favourite whisky bar in Tokyo - The Mash Tun in Meguro, where I tried this ridiculous 1979 single cask ex-Mizunara Yamazaki, and a 43yo Longmorn (amongst others).

Day 2 saw me arrive early enough to lock in a bottle of the annual Chichibu, as well as a 20 year old Springbank single cask bottled just for the show. There was a ~16yo Karuizawa too, but at ¥145,000, it was a lot more than I was happy to spend (and others too it seems - as there were still some left long after many of the other bottles had sold out).

Whilst not for sale, there was also a hand-filled Bowmore on tasting which was delightful, and a great way to kick start the day. We'll have full tasting notes for Chichibu, Springbank and Bowmore up in a separate post shortly.

My second masterclass of the show was with Christine Logan (aka "Lady of the Isles") - an Islay native, expert, and former Bowmore employee of over 25 years. Christine's class focused on pairing Islay produce with Islay whiskies, and whilst the first two whiskies themselves were pretty standard (Laphy Select and Bowmore Small Batch, from memory), the final was something much more special. One nose and I knew it was something I'd enjoy very, very much...

...and it turns out I was right - it was one of my all time favourite whiskies, the 1989 Bowmore Port Cask! Every single time I've tried this whisky, I've absolutely loved it, and this was no exception.

With my flight back to Hong Kong looming, there was just enough time to drop by the Chichibu / Venture Whisky stand a second time for another dram, grab an obligatory photo with Akuto-San, and then plan my exit.

...but not before I was convinced to make a brief stop at the Hendrick's stand for a de-constructed gin tasting. I've always said gin is the whisky drinker's white spirit, and the chance to do a tasting of all the components that make up one of my favourite gins (including a full-proof example at 70% ABV) was too good to pass up. Big props to Hendrick's for using real glassware at their booth too - both for tasting and cocktails.

So after nearly 36 hours on the ground in Tokyo, that was it - another Tokyo International Bar Show done and dusted. It's hard to say if there was more or less whisky present compared to 2015 (possibly a bit less), but the quality was high, the variety was great, and the people, as always, awesome.

Would I recommend the show? Absolutely. Will I return next year? Probably!

Until next time Japan, Kanpai!

Cheers,
Martin.

TimeforWhisky.com would again like to thank Ueno-San (of the excellent Bar High Five, which we finally visited on this trip) for the press pass and kind hospitality at the show.