Kilchoman: Machir Bay 2012

Frankly, I am young impressional whiskey drinker in love with the new, the novel and so I am a bit naive. This makes me and the Kilchoman Machir Bay 2012 a perfect pairing for this review. Kilchoman (R540) is a young distillery in the Islay Region, so you I decided to try and match it with it's obvious competitor, Laphroaig 10 year (R490). These whiskey's price range is in the same whiskey neighbourhood. Let's call them my com-peat-ing neighbours and I'm new guy in the neighbourhood. The question is whose house will I frequent?

So first to visit is the unknown next door: Kilchoman. What a surprise. This unknown (the whiskey is has a mixture of 60% 3 years, 35% 4 years and 5% 5 years whiskey) is not only new, but so complex. At first our unknown neighbour can seem a bit crude, I'd admit but spend some time with it, let it sit in your glass and then you'll start to appreciate its full potential. As a friend of mine, who has been a whiskey drinker for several years, said after letting in sit in his glass for a while: 'Potential I see for this one, I think'. (Ok, he is a weird crossbreed of Star Wars nerd and Whiskey nerd).

Now for my other neighbour's visit, the old friend that convinced me to move to peak-town in the first place, Laphroaig 10 year. I love this friend of mine. He always tells the same old jokes. He has that warmth of "you've known me for a while." I feel like time collapses into these peaty arms of his. Yet I immediately notice he is a bit more peaty than my new neighbour. A bit less energetic maybe? I'll still visit him, but might do more things with my new friend. Then again, Kilchoman and I has something in common: we're both new, novel and so a bit naive on our new journey.

Sadly I have to say that my new neighbour Kilchoman is a bit scarce. It is difficult to get hold of him. In South Africa the best availability is Whiskey Brothers in Hyde Park Mall. Go there, you won't we disappointed. Even if he's scarce I'm going with the new guy.

Ps. For technical detail concerning Kilchoman Machir Bay 2012 check out: http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/kilchoman/kilchoman-machir-bay-2012-whisky/

And Laphroaig 10 years:
http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/laphroaig-10-year-old-35cl-whisky/?srh=1

Nosing whisky

 

When we had the whisky talk with Marc he focused on learning to smell to assist in recognising the "nose" of a whisky. This stuck with us and we are now focused on smelling as much as we can. We're even playing around with a special tasting focused on the concept.

Credit

We have realised that nosing is part talent and part skill. Some are born with the talent and they are able to make a living of this, while the rest of us need to master the skill.

When most of us pick up a glass of whisky we get a deep whiff of alcohol. We need to learn to take that second breath and to pick up the scents underneath the alcohol. We received a very good tip to "taste with your mouth open" allowing you to breathe in the smell and help you to identify the smell.

A nose can detect over 35 000 different smells and can recognise a smell when diluted to one part in a million. Your tongue picks up four tastes - salt, sweet, bitter and sour. So let's give the schnoze some credit here!

Let's accept that the nose of a whisky is up for interpreation. I may smell caramelised sugar and you may smell burnt toffee - similar? It all depends on your experience of the smell before. It's important to find a common ground. If I smell sugar and you smell wood, we're missing something.

To smell whisky, make sure you use a glass that enhances this experience. You're looking for a tulip shaped glass as opposed to the standard tumbler. The shape helps channel the aromas.

Then, get your nose into the glass and take a good long breathe. For beginners, it's recommended to start with one short breathe to get used to the alcohol. The second breathe is the deep one where you try to pick up the aromas. But the first few breathes are important

Identify the first notes - maybe smoky? toffee? caramel? The nose links to the brain, so it is important to concentrate and to get your thinker involved. The nose will pick up the scent but the brain needs to name it.

If you're new at this, don't overthink the smells. Trust your first instinct. If you smell toast it's ok to say toast. We're not asking for burnt toast or buttery toast. That will come in time. If it smells like Christmas to you, think about what that means. Do you think or roaring fires (smoky) or do you associate Christmas with spice (cloves, cinnamon) or mince pies (stewed fruit)?

The easy notes are the obvious ones - look for them when you're starting out - peat, smoke, fuit, vanilla, oak.
Once you're comfortable with these you can look more specific aromas within this range.

Enjoy learning about smells, the scents, the aromas that lie within whisky.

 

 

 



If you have tips for beginners, please share them here

30 April: Whisky Tasting with Whisky Brother

30 April an enthusiastic mix of club members and new comers, met up at Hyde Park Shopping Centre at Whisky Brother Shop. The aim of the tasting was to introduce us to whisky and to go through the basics of producing whisky.

Marc is knowledgable and provides an informal environment for learning more about the spirit we so enjoy. Facts and processes are explained and then illustrated through tasting of various whiskies. Questions at any stage are encouraged and answered well.

As a club we have discussed the distillation process and the differences in Scoth whisky (single malt, blended etc) but it was refreshing to have someone who has seen it explain it to us. One can't learn everything from Wikipedia.

Whisky is complex and Marc carefully broke down the various stages that the product goes through to finally reach the golden liquid we drink so often. We never understood the various factors that influence the colour, flavour and nose and Marc opened our eyes to all these factors. He carefully explained each aspect and made us appreciate whisky and it's flavours even more.

Marc selected 6 whiskies for us to taste. The notes below are based on memories of the night and hopefully the list is correct!

To start with, Marc let us taste South Africa's Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky. Floral, vanilla and toffee nose and sweet with a hint of spice on the palate.

Clan Denny "Islay" was our second whisky and consists of single malts from 5 distilleries on Islay. As the island is famous for, the nose has an obvious earth and peat hit softened by a vaniall and salt combination. The palate delivers on the smokiness but adds a spicy vanilla finish. A long finish, some found that the whisky lighter when water was added

Next up was Compassbox's Great King Street Artisan's Blend. What was interesting is that the exact breakdown of the whisky and wood is available. We all thought Marc was impressive when he revealed the percentages! A sweet, citrus nose with definite "apple pie" descriptions and a hint of hay. The palate is soft with spicey tropical fruits, vanilla, almonds and creme brulee coming together for a nicely balanced finish.

The Glendronach "Original" 12 year old was next. A sweet and creamy vanilla nose with stewed fruits and Christmas cake hints, the Glendronach is a single malt matured in sherry casks. The palate is silky-smooth and full of sweet fruits and oak and sherry tones.

Marc then shared a rather special whisky in our eyes - the Balvenie 15year Single Barrel Cask. This whisky is bottled from a single cask and each bottle bears the cask number, cask fill date, bottling date and bottle number. This note taker missed the cask we tasted from. That means that the tasting notes won't be accurate and irrelevant. We certainly enjoyed it and loved the concept.

The final whisky for the night was Lagavulin 16year old. This whisky is a single malt that is finished in mature sherry barrels. The nose is a mix of roasted nuts, cinammon and caramelised sugar. On the palate the rich toffee combines with a sweet smokiness to create a lingering finish.

Marc has frequent tasting at the shop and is also available for groups, corporates or just 8 enthusiastic whisky drinkers! Visit his site here and sign up for the newsletter.

Thanks again for hosting us and for teaching us so much!