Glenmorangie "Sensory Pairing" lunch with Dr Bill Lumsden - Hong Kong

It's been a pretty great month of whisky events this month, and in particular, whisky lunches. Barely a few days after The Glenrothes Vintage Reserve 12yo & Peated Cask launch lunch, I was off to the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong for a "Sensory Tasting" lunch with none other than Dr Bill Lumsden - the man responsible for pretty much every Ardbeg and Glenmorangie you've ever tried. 

Having had a riotously good time at lunch with Dr Bill just over a year ago, I was looking forward to what he had in store for us again...and maybe to see if he could give any hints about any upcoming releases (which he did)!

Hong Kong had turned on a suitably Scottish day for Dr Bill (one of the wettest in a while), but no matter - there was whisky to be drunk and senses to be played with! Hong Kong's resident whisky expert / good bloke Eddie Nara was co-host for the lunch, and kicked off proceedings not by asking us to pick up our Glencairns, but by asking us to put on the blindfold that was in front of each of us.

Ok then...?

With eyes promptly obscured, the mysterious black boxes in front of each of us were opened, and we were instructed to (carefully) grab a Glencairn, and nose it, one at a time. The intention behind this sensory nosing experience was to see who could discern the (relatively common) items in the glasses based on nose alone.

After a thorough nosing, we removed the blindfolds which revealed Orange peel, peach pieces, vanilla pods and honey, which Dr Bill then introduced as all the flavours in Glenmorangie Original (10yo) - the base of the cocktail we'd just enjoyed.

A quick peek at the menu revealed the drams that were to feature for the rest of the lunch:

• Glenmorangie Lasanta 12yo
• Glenmorangie "Extremely Rare" 18yo
• Glenmorangie 25yo
• Glenmorangie Signet (always a favourite)

Our previous lunch with Dr Bill didn't feature Lasanta, so we'd never heard the tale of how and why the recipe changed a few years back. To simplify - extensive feedback (largely from Asia where it was highly popular) suggested that it could be a bit sweeter, and so Bill modified the recipe to include more PX-matured stock. Bill explained such feedback came from interactions with customers, like one he had with a bloke in a Guangzhou nightclub, who said he loved Glenmorangie but it gave him a terrible hangover. When asked how much he was drinking, the man responded - 2 bottles a night....

Bill was asked why the whisky is only finished in Sherry, and doesn't undergo full maturation in ex-Sherry casks. He explained that attempts to do so have resulted in the delicate Glenmorangie characteristic being lost, and so Bourbon maturation with a sherry finish is seen as the best of both worlds.

Paired with Langoustine tartar, superior oscietra Caviar, cauliflower panna cotta, hazelnut crumbles and micro herb leaves (a fussy-sounding, though delicious dish) the Lasanta paired well, especially with the hazelnuts. In fact, that's a combination I think I'll have to revisit...

Next was Glenmorangie "Extremely Rare" 18yo. Dr Bill has a well-documented love-hate relationship with old whisky, and regularly mentions his preference for younger (not "young") whisky. Nonetheless, the distillery does produce a limited amount of 18 and 25 year old each year (although the latter is going through a slight identity change next year, and will be released with a vintage each year).  Aged in American white oak (ex-Bourbon) casks, and finished for three years in Sherry casks, the 18yo requires careful cask selection to ensure that age hasn't dulled or lost the trademark Glenmorangie characteristics.

Paired with Tuscany porcini mushroom soup, french pigeon roulade and lack truffle whipped cream, the two were an excellent match - both delicate, neither overpowering the other.

Glenmorangie 25yo was the third serve, and whilst the paired dish (Char-grilled US beef sirloin, roasted pumpkin and potato puree, chanterelle mushrooms, turnip, beetroot and Lasanta & mustard seed jus) was delicious, the focus here I have to admit was on the whisky by itself. Always a lovely dram, and a skillful mix of ex-Bourbon, ex-Oloroso and ex-Burgundy cask matured stock.

As we mentioned last time, Glenmorangie 25yo was never intended to be a permanent part of the line up, but it has been since the early 2000s, and for that we should be thankful. It'll be interesting to see how (or if) the new Vintage 25yo changes, when the first release appears next year.

Glenmorangie Signet is often paired with dessert, and this lunch was no exception. Interestingly, the menu described it as a blend of Glenmorangie from "15 - 30 years", whereas last year we learned it contained up to 45 year old Glenmorangie. Dr Bill did say that each batch differs from the last, so I guess it's not surprising that some of those aged stocks would be either depleted, or saved for something even more special.

No matter though - it was still just as good as always, and again, the highlight dram. Paired with Jivara milk chocolate, passionfruit mousse with crispy praline and praline sauce, it was another skillful combination, although to be honest, I'd be happy with a nice big glass of Signet alone as dessert!

It's always a fun time when Dr Bill is in town, and this lunch was no exception. I loved the little sensory twist at the start, and the food and whisky pairings were all spot on. If it wasn't for the 90% humidity and 26degC temperature to match the rain, we could have almost imagined we were enjoying our drams in Scotland...

TimeforWhisky.com would like to thank MHDHK and WhyNotAsia for the invite to a wonderful lunch.

Cheers,

Martin.

The Balvenie whisky pairing dinner with Sam Simmons & DCS 1978 launch (Hong Kong)

Back in 2013 we were lucky enough to attend a dinner with The Balvenie's Global Brand Ambassador Sam Simmons - aka "Dr Whisky". The food was great, the whisky was fantastic (especially this one) but more than the food or whisky, Sam made the night a blast by being a genuine, funny, down to earth bloke (who just happens to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of whisky).

It was therefore not even something I had to think about when, two and a half years later, I was asked if I'd like to attend another dinner with Sam, this time in Hong Kong at new bar/restaurant Maison Eight. The answer was instantly a "yes!".

Sam was in town to launch the DCS Compendium, a selection of 25 bottles from The Balvenie to be released (in sets of 5) over the next 5 years, celebrating The Balvenie's five rare crafts and the incredible 54 year tenure of David Stewart, The Balvenie's Malt Master (who himself was in Hong Kong a year ago).

Whilst the entire Compendium Chapter 1 (at a retail price of £28,000) is not available in HK, one of the bottles has been made available - the 37 year old 1978 bottle, limited to a total of 140 bottles (90 to be sold individually).

We (unfortunately but understandably) were not able to taste the 1978, but we did enjoy a fantastic 5 course dinner, with courses paired with The Balvenie 12yo DoubleWood, 14yo Caribbean Cask, 17yo DoubleWood, 21yo PortWood and 30 year old, all of which we examined in-depth here.

Attendees included a mixture of people who had completed the Whisky Ambassador accreditation, and readers of the newly-launched Whisky Magazine HK & Macau (which happens to feature yours truly!)

Sam opened proceedings by explaining the night would be open and informal, and after telling us that "Handcrafted is a lovely BS word", which Sam mentioned he'd also seen used at Pizza Express at HK Airport, we knew we were in for a night without the marketing guff that sometimes accompanies these events.

Sam introduced each course/whisky pairing, always keeping it light and informal, taking input from the audience, and generally just ensuring everyone had a good time. When it comes to entertaining an audience (often with a wide range of whisky knowledge), you'd be hard-pressed to find a brand ambassador who does a better job than Sam.

The first course, grilled Haloumi, asparagus, semi-dried tomatoes and endives was simple yet the perfect entrée. The smokiness from the grilled Haloumi matched very well with the honied notes of The Balvenie DoubleWood 12yo, with the balsamic dressing also pairing nicely.

Next was sautéed forest mushrooms, madeira jus and chives, paired with The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14yo. The sweetness of the rum-finished Balvenie was toned way down with this pairing, with the mushrooms taking the fore and giving the whisky a more earthier, robust characteristic. Interestingly I even got a hint of bananas from the pairing!

Onto the mains and it was Roasted duckling, Armagnac sauce with ratatouille, paired with The Balvenie DoubleWood 17yo. An interesting dish this one, with many commenting they hadn't seen duck done this way before - very different to the usual slices of duck breast you see at restaurants like this.

The duck itself was delicious, though quite gamey. The 17yo DoubleWood toned down the gaminess, while the duck added a mouth-filling viscosity that wasn't there with the whisky on its own. An interesting and unexpected pairing.

Next it was time for dessert (Orange almond cake with "exotic" honey) and what better whisky to pair with a dessert than The Balvenie PortWood 21yo? Many said this was their pairing of the night, with the sweetness of the orange cake complimenting the equally (though differently) sweet notes of the PortWood.

During this course, Sam made the interesting comment that Balvenie don't have a "core" product between 21 and 30yo, so it's a pretty safe bet that most of the PortWood 21yo out there is carrying some much older whisky inside - in some cases even up to 29 years old. Of course we know distilleries do this, but a lot of distilleries have an intermediary core offering between 21 and 30 years old - The Balvenie doesn't (the 25yo single cask and triple cask releases not withstanding).

Last, but certainly not least came the petit fours - chocolate cake and nougat matched with the always-delightful The Balvenie 30 year old. This proved another excellent match, though for me the winners were the first and fourth course pairings.

With the meal finished, Sam stuck around to share a few more drams with attendees (including a bottle of Wolfburn someone had snuck in) - again proving his genuine love of whisky.

All up a hugely enjoyable night - as I knew it would be!

Cheers,
Martin.

TimeforWhisky.com would like to thank Sam and Telford International Co Ltd for the invite to this fantastic dinner.

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.