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Glenfarclas 2017 Events Calendar
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Ardbeg Day 2017
Ardbeg Kelpie launched and underway on Ardbeg Day!
New York City provided the atmosphere via a Hudson River Cruise, while Ardbeg provided the memories
Even by Islay standards this new single malt scotch from Ardbeg has a distinctly maritime charter, with a leafy green spine of peat that is downright, well, kelpy! So they named it for the mythic water spirits called kelpies, which have beguiled and bewitched many a mortal in that part of the world since Pictsh times.
The wider release version of Ardbeg Kelpie made quite a splash, when introduced to the crowd after two hours of a breakfast buffet, raw bar, and the open spirits bar featuring core expressions, Corryvreckan and Uigeadail, along with the classic 10 year-old age statement expression.
This included trying them in new and novel ways, like this outrageously spicy/smokey potion I dubbed the “Bloody Skeery.” Skeeries being the wee rocky islets dotting the Scottish seacoasts, including the ones making up the protected nature reserve directly in front of the Ardbeg distillery.
A Most Wonderful Host
Ardbeg put on this cruise, and similar events in other cities, for their Ardbeg Committee members, an organization that is free to join, just as the entire event was free for any Committee member lucky enough to sign on for the 4 hour cruise.
Just when we began to wonder if we might not see any Kelpie, one actually came on board in the form of a giant pile of seaweed with enormous red lobster claws, similar to the ones that served up earlier in the day.
But the real starfish of the day was the new Kelpie expression itself, which contains Ardbeg matured in virgin oak casks from the Black Sea region of Southern Russia and then vatted with more typical Ardbeg aged in bourbon barrel casks.
As expected, this 46% is a tamer spirit compared to the cask-strength special committee release. But really, it is the very same whisky.
There is the big leafy green nose awash with maritime accents and fresh sage, between the balanced bookends of oak and smoke, and considerably creamy vanilla custard, while being a leaner Ardbeg than the others that tasted during the cocktail hours before the official Kelpie launch. It is not as oily or weighty as the core expressions, but so full of ever-changing flavor.
And like the special edition, which was bottled at 57.1%, a dash or splash of water spreads it out, while releasing even more flavors including the same lovely baking spices of clove and nutmeg, along with freshening up the smoke and maritime notes of seafood and kelp.
It does not pack they same wallop, but provides a calmer yet still very delicious single malt experience. As one venerable malt man with many years in the industry put it, “I could see this being my peaty whisky for the entire summer !”
May there be that much of Kelpie in its wider release to go around, and last that long.
Read our in-depth review of Ardbeg Kelpie HERE
Apparently Kelpieitis IS contagious!!
Highland Park’s New Bottle and Viking Branding
The magnificent single malt whisky of Highland Park will now be served from a new bottle
Designed to evoke Orkney’s Norse heritage, the core range 12 year-old expression is now titled Viking Honour.
New Name, Same Excellent Whisky
The name added to Highland Park’s traditional 12 year-old age statement single malt and the embossed glass relief imagery on its new bottle, hark back to an imagined history much older than the Victorian era suggested by the bottle it is replacing.
It will also be used for their European market 10 year-old, now named Viking Scar. The fabulous 18 year-old expression will be getting the new bottle and the name Viking Pride, later this year.
The previous, quasi-nineteenth century bottle of elegant understated design will be missed. But the folks at Highland Park felt it looked too much like a bottle of American bourbon. And that is exactly what I thought when it first appeared, before I got used to it and came to like it.
Although it was hardly traditional, I very much loved the bottle that held Highland Park when I discovered the singular spirit in my earliest drinking days, which had a map of the Orkney Islands embossed on the bottom of its base.
The soon to be retired bottle with the one that came before it.
Forward into the Past
The new bottle is quite lovely to look at, with a new line that is not radically different from its predecessor, and the artwork was inspired by the impressive iconographs decorating a church in Norway believed to be from about 1130, and now an official UNESCO World Heritage site.
While some say this is the Lion of Christ defeating Satan in serpent form, it looks to me more like hound or possibly a horse, and I will not be surprised if HP’s modern day lore masters declare the serpents to be wyrms aka wingless dragons known to inhabit those parts back in the day.
Orkney was a Norwegian Earldom for centuries, which evolved from the original Viking settlers who either transplanted or intermarried with the Pictish occupants living there since the late Bronze Age. The islands were not ceded to the King of Scotland until the 1400s, as partial payment for a broken marriage agreement between the two kingdoms, something that happened quite often between Scotland and Norway in the medieval times. I mean the marriages between the Scottish and Norwegian royal families, not the broken engagements.
So the new bottle, and Highland Park’s brand revamping to focus on all things Viking isn’t just coming from the drawing board of some Aldwych and Kingsway ad exec. It comes directly from the rich and often turbulent history of Orkney itself.
The best news, for me, about all this, is that the core range of Highland Park expressions is remaining single malt whisky aged entirely in sherry barrels.
But outside the core range they are introducing exciting expressions that combine sherry-aged Highland Park with HP from American bourbon barrels, and two new expressions made entirely from ex-bourbon barrels!
Highland Park is adapting their looks and legends while looking progressively to the future and making the best of it they can.
And that is one man’s word on …
Highland Park’s New Bottle and Viking Branding
Other Reading:
Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017 – new expressions in a new look
Highland Park Valkyrie Expression in the New Viking Legend Series
Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page
Our HP Reviews
Highland Park’s Valkyrie Expression and the New Viking Legends Series
The tasteful new Highland Park Valkyrie bottle was created in partnership with Jim Lyngvild
The Danish fashion designer specializes in Viking-inspired looks, while also creating authentic, historically accurate Viking clothing. His endeavors include helping to create skin care products using natural Scandinavian ingredients. and a beer that used Highland Park whisky as one of its ingredients.
Highland Park Valkyrie appeared before the faithful at Whisky Live! London, earlier this month.
photo: whiskeyjack.net
There are two other Viking Legends expressions on the calendar for 2018/19, named Valknut and Valhalla.
Sometimes kindly described as Viking angels, the Valkyries were supernatural female spirits who decided which Viking warriors would die in battle, and escorted certain chosen ones to Valhalla, the feasting hall of the God Odin, where the Valkyries serve them mead until they are called to the last battle at the end of the world.
While it might be said that Highland Park single malt Scotch whisky has some heathery honeyed notes, it is a long way from meade. And this new Valkyrie expression kicking of the Viking Legends Series may be even farther from it, since it is reputed to be peatier and smokier than most Highland Park.
The bottle Lyngvild designed is not embossed like the new bottle being used for HP’s core age statement expressions. But they share the same silhouette, while Valkyrie’s label and carton reflect Viking artwork and literary sagas, including the stylized Valkyrie on the box, which resembles talisman pendents from Norse jewelry made between the third to the seventh century CE, which include Valkyries as a common theme.
As for the whisky itself, it is bottled at 45.9% ABV and comes from a combination of sherry barrels made of European oak, sherry barrels of American oak, and American Bourbon barrels, which HP has been incorporating into the various exotic expressions among the No Age Statement whiskies with names taken from Norse gods and legendary Viking heroes.
Official Distillery Tasting Notes
Nose: Sharp tang of sweet green apples and ripening lemons.
Palate: A bewitching mix of oriental spices. Driven by European Oak sherry seasoned casks, American Oak sherry-seasoned casks and Bourbon casks, the flavour profile is creamy vanilla with spicy, sweet, preserved ginger and lingering smokiness with hints of liquorice.
Finish: Exquisitely balanced, the long and lingering finish delivers waves of warm aromatic smoke and richly ripened fruit.
Whisky.com quotes HP’s Jason Craig as saying Valkyrie “dials up more of our smoky notes by incorporating more of our heathery peated malt… This creates a richer, fuller phenolic note that has balance due to the sweeter, heathery character of our moorland peat, but it is a slight departure from our core 12-year-old whisky.”
Um, yeah, if you can call adding whisky aged in bourbon casks into a bottle of Highland Park a “slight departure,” which is something I certainly cannot do, because it is a major departure with serious implications of the endangerment of classic Highland Park, which is aged entirely in sherry casks.
Don’t Panic!
My personal copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy states as fact that the core age statement HP expressions are remaining all-sherry for now. I just get a little uneasy when marketing speak implies that bourbon barrel Highland Park in core range expressions would somehow not qualify as a radical abandonment of HP tradition, because it sounds too much like an attempt at grooming the public to accept such a departure in the future.
And whilst the future may indeed dictate such a change, no matter how much HP tries to conjure up a mythic Scandinavian past, I will not go gently into any such good night and shall put up a fight worthy of a one-way ticket to Odin’s mead hall.
And that is one man’s word on…
Highland Park’s Valkyrie expression and the New Viking Legends Series
Highland Park’s New Bottle for the Core Range
Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017 – other new expressions and the brand identity
Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page
Our HP Reviews
Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017
Highland Park Fans take notice of the big changes happening at Scotland’s northernmost distillery, in the Orkney Islands.
There is good news and there is bad news
Highland Park bids farewell to some core range expressions, and launches new expressions outside the core range, including the new Viking Legend Series, part of their revamped image announced today, which is inspired by Orkney’s Viking era during the Dark Ages circa the year 800 CE.
The Bad News
Highland Park 15 is discontinued. Fans will want to budget accordingly and scour the shop shelves. Made with a higher percentage of sherry casks made from American oak, it has a sweeter taste with notable flavors of mango and other tropical fruits.
Dark Origins is also discontinued. It had been the first No Age Statement expression in HP’s core range. Including a higher percentage of first-fill sherry casks made from European oak, some re-charred, this expression is smokier than other HP and has a more-savory character overall.
[UPDATE May 21, 2017: And perhaps the worst news of all, Highland Park 21 is is also missing from their brand new website.]*
The Good News
The folks at Highland Park have the good taste to leave alone the great taste inherent to the rest of their core age statement expressions! And there was much rejoicing – yea.
In fact a new 50 yo will be appearing in the next year or two.
Highland Park makes their classic core range whiskies from 100% single malt whisky aged entirely in sherry casks, and thus they shall remain, according to my sources.
But the core range expressions are getting a new bottle, with a somewhat different shape and embossed glass relief designs inspired by the twelfth century iconography on the famous stave church at Ornes (Urnes,) Norway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Martin Markvardsen Senior Brand Ambassador for HP is quoted by Imbibe as saying “What we heard about the old bottle is that it looked a bit like a bourbon.” That is something I recognized the moment it first appeared on the market, before I got used to it and came to like it. He went on to say, “I think the new bottling and positioning will stand out well and look like a (Scotch) whisky.”
The important part in all of this is that the newly christened 10 yo Viking Scars (not available in the USA,) 12 yo Viking Honour, and 18 yo Viking Pride have been promised to stay the same incomparable Highland Park we all have come to depend upon. The 18 yo will now be made two batches per year, the first dated February 2017.
It is just the Highland Park brand that has taken on a new look and language to imbue its image with Orkney’s ancient Viking past.
This is not just about evocative advertising in the drinks industry. The trend in Scotland toward a national identity separate from that of the rest of the UK has revived old sentiments suggesting the culture of the Scottish Highlanders has more in common with Norway and the rest Scandinavia, than with their English and Welsh cousins to the south. And the Orkney Islands have always had considerable Scandinavian connections, belonging to Norway until the 1400s.
Besides, who doesn’t stir with some romantic attachment to the idea of intrepid Viking explorers and the brave and hearty people who sent them out on their legendary adventures?
New Ways to Experience Highland Park
Full Volume and Valkyrie
As for the new expressions, the soon-to-be-missed 15 will be replaced later this summer, by something called Full Volume, which has a marketing spin of comparing a whisky blender’s flavor engineering to an audio engineer’s mixing of music. It is made entirely from Highland Park aged in American bourbon barrels. Bottled at at 47.2% ABV, HP Full Volume will cost about £75 per bottle.
Full Volume will fit in between the 18 yo core expression and the newly released Valkyrie expression, which is launching the new Viking Legend Series, while also replacing Dark Origins, at least in the minds of Highland Park management. Where Dark Origins was smokier than other Highland Park, Valkyrie is officially peatier.
But unlike Dark Origins and the age statement expressions in the core range, Valkyrie has bourbon barrels involved, along with sherry barrels of European and American oak. The official line stresses the latter as a tie-in with traditional HP, but the published tasting notes, of lemons with vanilla and spicy sweet preserved ginger, suggests the former is prominently featured.
It was reputedly distilled in 1999 and bottled in 2017, at 45.9%, but Valkyrie does not have an age statement. This might be to avoid having to re-label future bottles, should some younger spirit get mixed into later editions. Or it is simply that is the way HP does their non-core range expressions.
There are two other expressions scheduled in this Viking Legends Series over the next two years, named Valknut and Valhalla.
All-Bourbon HP for Bourbon’s Homeland
Mangus
There is also an all-bourbon barrel Highland Park heading to the American market called Mangus, which is sadly bottled at 40%, but happily priced well under $50. Mangus was the name of both the King of Norway and the King of Sweden at the same time that stave church was being built. But it does not distract from the fact it is much more about America in its creation than anything to do with Vikings. But the same can be said for all of those special edition whiskies HP has been coming out with for years.
As I just said to a friend last night, Highland Park should feel free to follow industry trends and come up with all the expressions they can that utilize bourbon casks, virgin oak, or oak seasoned by other wines or spirits, put them in various bottles and wooden cradles and charge a Viking’s ransom for them, if they can get away with it – if that is what it will take to insure that my beloved all-sherry-all-the-time Highland Park bottled with guaranteed age statements will continue unmolested into the foreseeable future and remain available for those who know it and love it so well.
*If they have discontinued Highland Park 21, arguably the most fresh and intensely flavorful expression of their core range, it would be a tragedy indeed, and a crime if it is not longer being made to make room for one of their newfangled non-traditional expressions.
And that is one man’s word on…
Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017
Further Reading:
Highland Park’s New Bottle for the Core Range
Highland Park Valkyrie Expression in the New Viking Legend Series
Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page
Our HP Reviews
Highland Park’s new website design has launched!
Rarest Whiskies for those with the Deepest Pockets
Six of the Rarest Scottish Whiskies in Living Color
Black Book (bbook.com) offers up some mouthwatering photography of six exceptionally rare Scotch whisky expressions.
Five of the six are single malts and one is a blend. All but one show age statements of 40 years old or older.
Terse tasting notes of the “rarest whiskies” give a tantalizing hint at what a price tag in the thousands could lead to for the discerning palate.
The lone no age statement single malt being Macallan’s M, from the 1824 Series, which was produced in 2013 from casks stretching back into the 1940s. Part of its high price comes from the Lalique crystal bottle, which is dwarfed by the auction price of a six-litre crystal decanter of the same stuff. The “normal” 750ml version can still be had in the U.S., for about $5,000 after taxes.
The list includes expressions from some of my all-time favorites, Highland Park, Ledaig, Balvenie, and Glenfarclas.
Most of my nose-on experience with high-end whisky tops out at 25 year age statements, but there have been some exceptions.
While I have yet to publish my review of the serenity in a whisky glass that is Balvenie 30, the most indulgent review I have published was for a most indulgent whisky, yet to be surpassed in my estimation, the Highland Park 30 from the 2013 bottling.
However, it comes nowhere near the prices of the whisky in the article, which you can check out HERE.
Broader Perspectives
And if you would like to read about more about some exceptionally rare and expensive whisky, this run down at moneyinc.com, which includes both whiskies in ultra-expensive decanters, and those costing a king’s ransom simply because of their rarity.
And here is a quick and easy list from winesearcher.com of “the most expensive whiskey” even if everything on the list is a whisky, and almost all of it comes from the extinct distillery of Port Ellen, on the Isle of Islay, or Brora, which existed in the town of the same name on the northeast coast of Scotland.
But another way to look at it is in terms of whisky as an investment tool. If that sounds interesting, you may want to give this article a read over at Australia’s ExecutiveStyle.com, which includes some relatively affordable malt whisky bottles, expected to rise high as their numbers dwindle.
Cheers!
Evan Cattanach R.I.P.
A legend among malt men, the venerable Evan Cattanach has died.
When I met Evan Cattanach he taught me a gentle lesson in looking on the bright side.
By that time, he was spending whisky shows sitting in a comfortable chair as the industry paid their respects to the man who once mentored many of them, and shared stories from a career that saw him managing a long list of distilleries, including Balmenach, St. Magdalene – Linlithgow, Lagavulin, Dalwhinnie, Rosebank, Towiemore, Coleburn, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Cardhu from where he retired in the early 1990s, before becoming what is now called a brand ambassador for Diageo’s Classic Malts range.
I told him how I discovered single malt whisky at university, in a little basement bar just off campus in Athens, Ohio, which offered Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and, of all things, Mortlach, which even he was surprised to hear. And I lamented how much I missed the old 12 yo Mortlach all these years, and how in mourning I was, now that Diageo had retired the five-star expression that was the 16 yo Mortlach Flora and Fauna edition.
A serene and thoughtful grin appeared across his face, as if he mused upon many an irreplaceable spirit. And then he said, “Well, at least you got to enjoy it.”
By all accounts it is Evan Cattanach who will remain an irreplaceable spirit for so very many.
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Rest in peace, malt man.
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Glenfarclas 150 Years of Excellence
June 8, 1865 John Grant bought Glenfarclas 150 years ago today.
His 5th and 6th generation decedents, John and George Grant, filled 10 sherry butts and 10 sherry hogsheads earlier today in commemoration.
The Grand Old Speysider
Saturday, the Men of Malt had a Glenfarclas celebration of their own.
Understated and traditional in presentation, Glenfarclas represents the classic, elegant Speyside style of European oak casks drenched with luscious Spanish sherry in a judicious vatting with some sherry barrels of American oak.
The vibrant splendor of the 17 year old, the polished singularity of the cognac-like 21 year old, and the mature and oaky depth of the regal 25 year old, all provide an elegant and luscious dram, effortless, beguiling, and oh so quaffable.
£511.19s.0d Family Reserve
They also announced the release of a commemorative bottling, named after the £511.19s.0d their forefather paid to acquire the distillery. From the official newsletter:
“The £511.19s.0d Family Reserve, a non-chill filtered bottling at 43%, is a vatting of predominantly first fill sherry butts which proudly embodies the distillery’s sherry profile, bringing together all the character of this great spirit across the generations. Sweet and rich sherry, like a toffee syrup over a freshly toasted French baguette, the nose promises fresh fruit smothered in heather honey, ending almost like a sweet port. Then a dry yet sweet taste, a lovely balance of fruit, light nuttiness and milk chocolate develop, followed by a very palatable long and easy finish. A copy of the original bill of sale is included with each bottle along with a note from George Grant explaining the significance of the £511.19s.0d Family Reserve to the Grant family tradition.”
Sign up to get the Glenfarclas newsletter at:
Website: www.glenfarclas.co.uk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/glenfarclas/
Lords of the Isles Challenge Combines Golf and a Marathon
Only on Islay do the fittest survive on whisky and pies as they cheer the heroes of the Lords of the Isles Challenge.
September, 2015, will see the second Lords of the Isles Challenge take place on Islay. This amateur sporting event combines a round of golf and a marathon run.
While the race is open to 100 participants, the golf is limited to just 15, and the prizes are only awarded to those who do both.
More can be learned at the official website for the Lords of the Isles Challenge.
And while this may sound a bit daft at first light, the connection between running and golf is not new. Both are considered great ways to get healthy exercise out-of-doors. At least, when you are spending the day in a golf cart. But it is well-known that people maintaining high levels of fitness excel at golf, and those who undergo a fitness transformation through other forms of exercise find their skill at golf go up, while their scores come down.
The principles of running-based fitness and the game of golf has been formally crafted into a lifestyle, practiced by those who enjoy Speed Golf, where the running takes place on the golf course, between shots! Learn more at http://speedgolfinternational.com/.
And while my father’s first love was golfing, and he was known for his impatience with friends who had not his ability to approach a ball, take one look down the fairway before whacking an excellent shot without hesitation and moving on, it was suspected his main goal was to get to the 19th Hole as soon as possible for his second great past time, drinking scotch whisky!
Putting Dave Broom’s Whisky Mixers to the Test
Reading and reviewing Dave Broom’s latest book, Whisky: The Manual was a life-changing experience for me.
I have enjoyed experimenting with the five main mixers he sampled with the 202 whiskies mentioned in the book. And I tried this with a number of whiskies, including some that were not featured.
The blend Great King St., which is light, oaky and bourbony, tastes so much like American Cream Soda when mixed with club soda I could barely believe it. And when I looked it up in Broom’s book, he made the same comparison. Otherwise we sometimes differed in our preferences, even if we see to have similar tastes.
For instance, he scored Johnnie Walker Black Label with a high 5 for coconut water, but scored the Red Label as only a 3. I found that Red Label, when left to marry with the coconut water and melting ice, turns into a liquid form of a Brach’s caramel candy. And it might make them a lot of money if they bottled as a liquor along the lines of Bailey’s Irish Cream. But I also liked the Black Label and great deal too.
Of the whiskies included in my tastings not sampled by Broom, the two most significant were Buchannan’s and Bank Note, both blended whiskies.
Buchannan’s is one of the old original scotch brands, just like Walker, Dewar’s, and Chivas. It is the most popular brand of whisky in Mexico, and it is finally making some headway the U.S. even if many parts of the country never see it. Generally speaking, it rather light and grainy, but the malt whisky contribution has a very nice balance of sherry, wood, spice, herbals, and notes of peat smoke, but by no means is it as outwardly smoky as White Horse or Teacher’s Highland Cream. Everything but the grain seems to be about hints and essence when it comes to flavoring. Still, I consider it a blend of quality and not the scotch flavored swill of some brands riding on an old name, but putting out corporate-excreted well scotch.
Just like on the rocks, the 12 year old expression was mildly pleasant in all of the mixers, with ginger ale and soda topping the list. But the richer 18 year old expression makes what may be my favorite ginger ale highball of any blended whisky. Using Broom’s scale I give it a 5*, but coconut water did not work very well at all. So in that case I would give it a 1 for Avoid.
Bank Note, which will be formally reviewed at One Man’s Malt in the coming weeks, is a very affordable blend from independent bottler A.D. Rattray. It is not very well known, even among UK whisky aficionados, but it is terrific, especially for the price. It would qualify for the B4 – Rich and Fruity flavor camp, in Broom parlance. It is malty, with a good dose of sherry and orange peel and heads more toward a Black Label sort of profile, if not nearly as refined or as smoky.
It is 40% single malts and clearly good quality grain whisky for the remainder, and it is officially 5 years old, which is one reason they chose the name, Bank Note, with artwork similar to an old 5 Pound Note, just like the brand of whisky of that same name from 100 years ago.
It does have some mineral and herbal bitterness that put me off a bit at first, but it passes during the second glass, and overall it has more character and meat on the bone than any blended scotch close to it in price, found in some shops for $20 per liter. Unfortunately, it is not found in many shops.
But when it comes to mixing, it absolutely excelled in every respect.
In three separate tastings hosted in New York City and Connecticut, almost everyone preferred Bank Note over other blends and single malts in every mixer. One woman preferred Teachers with ginger ale because of the smoke. One man hated everything that got near coconut water. But otherwise, Bank Note took the most top honors, in the opinion of anyone where it was present.
It was the only whisky that anyone actually liked with green tea. While I found some of them interesting, Bank Note and green tea morphed into a drink truly different than the sum of its parts. While I did not pick it as my first choice for ginger ale, soda, or coconut water, it rated very high for me in every instance. And like the green tea, a taster said Bank Note was the one that did not seem like it was enveloped by the coconut water, or was doing the enveloping. They blended together and became well integrated. And it was the clear winner in cola, which really doesn’t do much for me as a mixer.
When it comes to my being a straight scotch sort of drinker who is learning to love the benefits of mixed drinks, here are my thoughts on the various mixers.
Soda Water
Since American club soda is made with bicarbonate of potassium, thanks to the modern obsession with all things sodium-free, it is a bit too bitter than classic soda water for many modern drinkers. Therefore, seltzer (carbonated purified water without the added minerals) was better received when making a whisky and soda. Besides, it is the bubbles that matter here, more than minerals or a lack thereof.
The bubbles act as a flavor delivery device, while also adding a wakeup call to the tastes buds. And, according to Broom’s sources, the carbonic acid created by infusing water with carbonation creates a mild toxic reaction on the tongue, which the brain counters by releasing endorphins. In other words, when we drink fizzy drinks we feel happy. And it follows that when we drink fizzy drinks with whisky in them we are happier still.
Since club soda and seltzer are sugar-free, it tends to work best with sweeter whiskies like Irish whisky, bourbon, and particularly scotch with a lot of bourbon cask influence, as well as smokier scotch for people who dislike drinks deemed overly sweet.
Ginger Ale
Ginger ale is a fizzy drink that adds sugary sweetness matched with some spicy snap. It has been used to mix with whisky since it was first invented Northern Ireland in 1852, and the modern “dry” form was designed with whisky in mind and vice versa. So it is not surprising that many people take to the combination like ducks to water. And it excels with both spicy whiskies and smoky ones.
Cola
I am not much of a cola drinker, but it does work well with some whiskies, particularly those that are themselves heavy and full bodied. Before you get out the torches and pitchforks at Dave Broom’s recommendation of 16 yo Lagavulin and Coke, give it a try. You may just be surprised. I was surprised to find Jack and Coke ranking rather low, considering its popularity in the States. So if you like it, you may want to try Wild Turkey or Jim Beam White Label, both of which get a high 5 rating when mixed with cola. But for me ginger ale is the soda pop for spiking.
While not for everyone, the remaining mixers are not carbonated, and not something most westerners have ever considered for use as mixers, at least those of us in the northern hemisphere. But they are certainly interesting in terms of mouth feel, flavor, and how they affect the character of a whisky.
Green Tea
The green tea and whisky combo is unusual to say the least. It often tastes either like green tea with some booze in it, or booze with some tea in it. But when it works it can really work, and melds with the whisky to become a new and completely different drink (as per Bank Note,) one which is very good when severed very cold on a very hot day.
It should be pointed out that the green tea used for whisky in the Far East is NOT the grassy green Japanese variety that is found throughout the U.S. Rather it is a cold Oolong that is mildly sweetened. So my tastings were done with either unsweetened tea, or the sweet Japanese varieties.
Coconut Water
It is coconut water that proved most successful for me. It also works best chilled and on ice. I have learned I do not care much at all for coconut water, when drank on its own. But mixed 1 to 1 with whisky, or sometimes 2 to 1, it becomes a lovely, sweet and creamy caramel-like beverage that really needs to be experienced. It works particularly well with smoky whisky and spicy whisky, but rarely disappoints with lighter, oaky, or fruity whisky. And, as one taster put it, you can hydrate while dehydrating.
I have taken to using some traditional ethnic brands of coconut water like Goya or Jamaica, as they include some young coconut pulp, which adds a certain festive confetti appearance to the glass. But they are sweeter, with more sugar added than the hipster on a health kick brands like Vita Coco or Zico, although most have at least some added sugar.
If more bars had coconut water on hand I would likely be drinking that with whisky when away from home as well as my highballs. And you can check out own tasting notes via the link below; if you would like to read about which combinations of whisky and mixers I liked best.
I must recommend to everyone who is reading this article and finding it impossible to imagine that whisky and coconut water could possibly work. You are likely no less skeptical than I was, and may find yourself as pleasantly surprised as I and my several tasters have been.
And that is one man’s word on…
Putting Dave Broom’s whisky mixers to the test
Related Reading:
Whisky: The Manual – My Review