What I’m Drinking – March 29, 2017
One of the things I love about single malt scotch whisky is the vast number of distilleries that are available, all with their own unique taste profiles and characteristics. I’ve been drinking scotch for a long time now, and even though the selection of single malts available near me is fairly limited (bourbon is king around here), there are quite a few distilleries available that I still haven’t tried. This week I checked one of those off my list, as I opened up my first bottle of Edradour—specifically a 10 year old single cask bottled by Signatory (an independent bottler who also happens to own Edradour).
I’m not sure why I’d never tried Edradour before now. The bottle I bought is fairly easy to obtain, bottled at a decent ABV, and aged in a single sherry cask, all facts which I look for in a whisky. Well, I’m kinda glad I never did try it before, because it was exciting to try it now for the first time. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit and will probably post a review of it eventually.
Another whisky I’ve been enjoying this week is Caol Ila 12, which will be the subject of my next whisky review. Caol Ila is one of those whiskies I buy once every year or two and then wonder why I don’t buy it more often.
On the beer side, I’ve had a few interesting things lately, the most memorable of which was a black currant farmhouse ale from Black Abbey. A taproom-only release (I believe), it was terrific, and I hope they make it again soon.
Funny story—Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales recently became available in Nashville, and I’ve been wanting to try a bottle of one of their sour ales. Last week when I was at Craft Brewed, I decided to pick up a bottle of their Sobrehumano Palena’ole, an oak aged sour brewed with cherries and passion fruit. When I got home and put the bottle in the refrigerator, I discovered that I already had a bottle of the exact same beer. I had completely forgotten that I’d previously bought a bottle. Oh well.
The Sobrehumano Palena’ole was tart, slightly fruity, and rather bitter. Some oak influence, but not much. The cherries and passion fruit were there, but not prominent at all. What I love about a good aged sour is the complexity of flavors. There is no other style of beer that can match the complexity of a good sour that’s spent enough time in oak. Unfortunately this one did not exhibit the level of complexity I would have expected (or any complexity at all, to be honest). And on top of the lack of complexity, the bitterness was not particularly pleasant. It seems like this one should have stayed in oak for a while longer before being bottled. At $15 for a bottle (750 ml), I expected more. And due to my forgetfulness, I bought two of them. Ugh. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it more the second time around.
A few other beers I’ve had lately include North Coast Old Rasputin (a wonderful Russian imperial stout), Stone Enjoy By 4/20/17 IPA (solid, but overrated), Tin Man Damascene Apricot Sour (one of my favorite kettle sours), and Victory Kirsch Gose (another good kettle sour).
Sláinte mhaith!
