Tag Archives: Sydney

Johnnie Walker Ghost and Rare Port Ellen

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Yes, it really does have Port Ellen in it.

The Johnnie Walker ‘Blue Label’ moniker is synonymous with luxury and rarity, so it’s fitting that when Diageo decided to blend together some of their rarest whisky stocks, they would release it as an extension of the Blue Label range. But that’s pretty much where the lineage to the ‘common’ Blue Label ends, as this new release from the striding man is almost in a league of its own.

Johnnie Walker Port Ellen

The new release I’m talking about is the Johnnie Walker Ghost and Rare Port Ellen and I was fortunate enough to attend a special preview tasting last week held at one of Sydney’s finest diners, Bennelong, at the Opera House.

The story of Ghost and Rare

The ‘Ghost and Rare’ element of the name comes from the malt and grain whiskies used in this blend, specifically those from the closed distilleries of Caresbridge and Calendonian (both grain distilleries), along with the fabled golden child of Islay, Port Ellen distillery.

Port Ellen’s history dates back nearly 200 years to the 1820s when it was founded on the south coast of Islay, the little island we now know as home to Scotland’s peated (or ‘smoky’) malt whiskies. It produced whisky for over 100 years before being sold to DCL, who we now know as Diageo, the parent company of the famous Johnnie Walker brand. After only a few years of ownership, Port Ellen was temporarily closed for some 37 years, before it was eventually brought back to life in 1967. The resurrection would be short-lived though, as the whisky glut of the 1980s hit hard. Diageo – owners of Port Ellen, Lagavulin and Caol Ila – had a tough decision to make, and in 1983 Port Ellen was closed for good. In the decades that have passed since, the ever ageing (and dwindling) stocks of this lost Islay distillery have become some of the most sought after single malts in the world. So when you see a Johnnie Walker release with the name ‘Port Ellen’ on the bottle, it’s the kind of thing that piques your interest.

Tasting notes

The other thing to note is this; with Port Ellen and Caresbridge closing in 1983 and Caledonian closing in 1988, you have some seriously well-aged whisky in this blend. Aside from those three Ghost and Rare distilleries, malts from Mortlach Dailuaine, Cragganmore, Blair Athol and Oban also make an appearance, so this should be interesting.

On the nose I found it quite tropical, with some overripe, almost effervescent stone fruit. Behind that though were some interesting heaving notes; workshop grease, wet rocks and a salty maritime note.

The palate had a strong link to the nose with much of the above, along with a touch of citrus and a classy, tropical maritime peat note.

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Is the Port Ellen really evident?

Normally I would be a bit skeptical and wonder whether my mind was playing tricks on me. I know it has Port Ellen in it. It even says so on the bottle. So am I just convincing myself I can taste the influence on that rare malt? That would certainly be plausible, but I don’t think that’s the case with this one.

Here’s an interesting thing about this release. The absence of a certain detail makes this just as interesting as the inclusion of detail (top marks to Diageo for telling us what’s in the bottle!). The peat influence in most Johnnie Walker expressions comes from a healthy dose of Caol Ila, but a quick glance at the bottle confirms that Caol Ila is indeed absent from this release. In actual fact, the only whisky in this bottle with any kind of discernible peat and maritime note is the Port Ellen. So while we don’t know exactly how much Port Ellen is in there, it’s enough to let you know it’s there!

Johnnie Walker Ghost and Rare

So as I asked last time – a clever marketing move? Of course it is! But it’s so much more than that. It’s genuinely tasty whisky, with some genuinely old and rare liquid in it and it’s been put together in a very clever way. To think of this as a standard bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label with a splash of Port Ellen is missing the point.

The Johnnie Walker Ghost and Rare Port Ellen is now available from major stores with an RRP of AU$480

 

 

Canadian Club 8 year old

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Canadian Club probably isn’t the first whisky brand that comes to mind for the average reader of this site. But just because it’s not, doesn’t mean you should ignore the the history of the brand and the impact it’s had on whisky-drinking markets the world over. Long before it became a top-selling brand in Australia it had some seriously strong links to a very pivotal period in whisky history; the era of prohibition in America.

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After founding his distillery in 1858 in Detroit, prohibition (among other things) would prompt Hiram Walker to up and move across the border to what’s now known as Windsor, Ontario in Canada. Although there was a constitutional ban on alcohol in place, prohibition didn’t exactly hurt Canadian Club’s sales, far from it. They’d already made a name for themselves in the United States before 1920 thanks to their well-aged, ‘Canadian’ style of whisky.

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So when the laws kicked in and local whiskey became hard to find, Canadian Club would go on to become one of the most heavily smuggled brands, thus cementing itself as a solid whisky favourite once the laws were eventually repealed in the 1930s. By the 1940s Canadian Club was sold in over 90 countries; fast forward a further six decades and it continues to be hugely popular the world over.

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In recent years in Australia we’ve seen big-spend campaigns marketing ‘CC and Dry’ as a beer alternative and you’ll even find it pre-mixed on tap in plenty of venues around the country. It’s been hugely successful for the brand and has been responsible for attracting plenty of new people to the whisky category. In fact it’s done so well that that Canadian Club has recently become the fastest growing spirit brand in Australia. So whilst it might not be the single malt whisky-sipper’s whisky of choice, there’s no denying CC’s immense popularity. Thanks to this success, Canadian Club have recently chosen the Australian market as the global launch pad for their newest release, the Canadian Club 8 year old and have kindly sent over a bottle to Whisky Ledger HQ for a bit of a road test.

Canadian Club 8 year old

The new expression sits firmly between the standard release and the 12 year old (in terms of age), but I’m told that it’s not actually the same whisky. With the 8 year old expression, the mashbill of grains used contains a higher malt and rye content compared to its siblings, so I’m expecting to get some nice ‘rye spice’ notes on this.

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Tasted neat, the nose has plenty of caramel, creamy vanilla and a touch of baking spice. This same general profile carries through to the palate delivering flavours of creamy caramel, honey, pastries and baked goods and nice gently spice on the finish.

There’s a good chance this will be consumed mixed though, so I put it to the test in a classic highball (CC & soda with a squeeze of lime) along with the ever popular CC and Dry (ginger ale) and yep, they’re both pretty darn refreshing. Whilst it won’t convert me from being a beer drinker, I can definitely imagine this going down a treat in summer!

The Canadian Club 8 year old is exclusively available in Australia (for the moment, at least) at a recommended retail price of AU$50.

The Glen Moray Mastery

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Glen Moray celebrates its 120th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion they’ve released something pretty special. But I’ll get to that in just a sec.

My experience with Glen Moray

I was first introduced to Glen Moray in a slightly unconventional way after tasting their whisky bottled as a single cask for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS). On paper, the whisky I tried sounded fairly pedestrian. It was from a refill bourbon cask and was mid-teens in age, but the spirit quality that came through on that particular cask really caught my attention. SMWS have gone on to release some pretty stellar casks from Glen Moray and I’ve bought many of them (especially those toasted oak releases).

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Trying big, punchy single casks is all well and good, but it dawned on me a little while ago that I haven’t really tasted that many of Glen Moray’s original bottlings, the ones you can easily find on the shelf at your favourite bottle shop. That’s been on my to do list for a little while now and thankfully I recently had the chance when Master Distiller, Graham Coull made the trek to Sydney to launch his latest creation.

Mastery launch time

I was generously invited to a long-lunch one Friday, held at The Roosevelt in Potts Point to taste through not only the core range, but also the range-topping, limited release known simply as the ‘Mastery’.

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On arrival we were treated to the flare that’s synonymous with The Roosevelt, enjoying a nitrogen Glen Moray ‘Triple Wood’ cocktail, garnished with a thistle and served alongside a moreish haggis oatcake. That would have done me just fine, but moving through to the dining space we were in for a treat as a five course meal followed, each dish paired with a whisky from the core range, including whiskies from the Classic range, along with their age-stated siblings.

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I didn’t take detailed notes on each, but it was great to be able to taste them all back-to-back and be able to form some general observations. I genuinely like the spirit character of Glen Moray and feel as though it lends itself well to ex-bourbon cask maturation. The young Glen Moray Elgin Classic was spritely and fresh, whilst the older age stated expressions like the 12 and 15 year old definitely showed more maturity and depth.

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The Chardonnay cask is really quite interesting, bringing an earthy oakiness to what’s normally quite a light fresh spirit, whilst the port cask finish is entirely moreish (to me, anyway). Graham let us in on some interesting info on this one, informing us that it starts life as a five year old ex-bourbon matured Glen Moray before being finished in a port pipe for a whole year. Why a year? Well, in Graham’s words “If you’re finishing something, you should always give it a full summer as that’s when the real wood interaction happens”. A super drinkable dram that comes in at only $50 a bottle! I’m struggling to think of another whisky at that price point with that level of flavour.

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Graham also let slip that there are a few other finishes being added to the Classic range in the near future, include whisky finished in Cab Sav, Rum and Sauternes casks, so keep an eye out for those!

The Glen Moray Mastery

Back to the main subject of this post though, Glen Moray’s 120th anniversary and the new Mastery! The whisky can best be described as a multi-vintage single malt, which combines Glen Moray distilled in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Graham wanted to include some of the oldest stocks in the warehouse when putting this together, so 20% of the make-up includes ex-Port cask whisky distilled in 1988, whilst 80% of the whisky in the Mastery was distilled in 1994 or earlier. The heart of the whisky was finished in Madeira casks and to really lift the sweetness even further Graham also blended in some ex-sherry casks from the 1990s. That’s about as much as I can tell you, as Graham insists on keeping the final recipe of The Mastery a closely guarded secret!

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On the nose it’s completely different to any other Glen Moray I’ve tried. It’s rich and deep, with notes of beeswax, dried fruits and chocolate. It’s jammy, with raisins, apricots, toasted nuts and even something a touch smoky, like dried tea leaves or coal ash. Super inviting stuff and a dram you could nose for hours.

On the palate it’s thick and oily, with a chewy sweetness of dried fruit and dark jammy flavours. There’s a touch of spice, some dark chocolate and oak, but not in an overwhelming way. The port casks used in this really shine through nicely.

It’s a properly tasty whisky, but then again, you’d hope it would be considering it comes in at a cool $1,400 a bottle. Just eight of the individually numbered decanters will be arriving in Australia, so if you’d like to get your hands on The Mastery, get in touch with your nearest Dan Murphy’s flagship store.

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A special thank you to the truly down to earth Graham Coull and his lovely wife Faye for making the trip down here to present this great experience. I look forward to seeing you both again, hopefully at Glen Moray next time.

Glen Garioch 21 year old for Abbey Whisky

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I buy a fair amount of whisky from different retailers all over the world, but one of my favourite online stores would have to be Abbey Whisky. They’ve got a slick website, great prices and above all, the service – from communication, to packaging and delivery times – is absolutely top-notch.

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I recently bought a Springbank from them and noticed a little something extra in the box when my delivery arrived and it turned out to be a sample of their latest bottle from their Rare Casks series, a 1994 21 year old Glen Garioch. Here’s what Abbey Whisky have to say about it:

“We continue The Rare Casks story with this magnificent Glen Garioch, the sixth release in the series. Distilled in 1994 and fully matured in a refill hogshead until 2016, only 126 bottles have been filled exclusively for Abbey Whisky. As with each previous release in The Rare Casks series, the whisky has been bottled in it’s natural form, at full cask strength, without chill filtration or colour additives.”

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What I’ve got to say

On the nose it’s bright and citrusy, with fresh cut pineapple, lemon and grapefruit zest, a touch of honey and a mossy herbal vegetal note. Is that some peat influence in there?

On the palate it’s oily and thick, with the spiky citrus and honey hitting you first. Pineapple, custard and more citrus follow, with chalk and a sooty, grassy vegetal note arriving toward the finish.

This isn’t what you’d call an ‘obvious’ whisky, as in it doesn’t leap out of the glass at you, hitting you with big vanilla, or peat, or sherry. Instead, I get the hallmarks of a quality spirit, rested in a cask that allows the spirit to shine through, without being dominated by oak. A really nice change of pace, if you have the patience for it. The smallest amount of water (or a good amount of air) doesn’t go astray with this one.

Abbey Whisky’s 21 year old Glen Garioch is still available on their site now for a smidgen under a hundred quid, so go check it out. Thanks to Mike and the team for kindly slipping this one in with my delivery, it was a lovely surprise and is a top little dram!

Jägermeister, with Nils Boese

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What do I know about Jägermeister? Very little if I’m being honest, which is why I jumped at the chance when I was recently invited along to a rather special dinner at Mjølner to find out more about this iconic liqueur.

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Like the vast majority of people, up until this point my experience with Jägermeister has been limited to two very specific drinking scenarios. Shots, or the Jagerbomb (Jägermeister + Red Bull). They both have their time and place and I’m sure these serving methods won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. But as a liqueur, it turns out that Jägermeister is a whole lot more versatile than you might originally think.

What is Jägermeister exactly?

Jägermeister is essentially a bitter herbal liquer (think of the Amaro category of liqueurs), one that’s been around since 1935. It’s made up of 56 different aromatics that are ground and steeped, then stored in oak for a year; a process that’s done not so much to age them, but more to marry the flavours together.Other familiar names in the category include Chartreuse, Benedictine and Unicum, but unlike its counterparts, Jägermeister is slightly sweeter.

An evening with Nils Boese

Unofficial Jägermeister ambassador and all-round cool guy Nils Boese was in town to open our eyes to its versatility, and school us he did. Nils, the owner/ operator of Manhattan Bar in Hildesheim, Germany, is based less than an hour away from the very home of Jägermeister in Wolfenbüttel.

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He’s the kind of guy that does things to perfection and is hands on in every respect, so when he’s not at home, Manhattan isn’t open. So it was a genuine privilege to have him here in Sydney doing his thing.

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The evening unfolded with multiple courses coming out of the Mjølner kitchen, each featuring Jägermeister and each matched with one of Nils’ signature Jägermeister cocktails. The premise was simple, but I can assure you the that the complex flavours in the moreish food and the amazing drinks were anything but.

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First up was a dish of Jägermeister-cured ocean trout paired with a ‘Pretty Amber’. If no-one told you, you’d never know there was Jägermeister in the mix, but at the same time if it wasn’t there this drink would’ve just been, well, a Gimlet!

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Adding a couple of barspoons-worth of the herbal liqueur to the gin and lime mix lifted the drink with a delicious, refeshing floral note. This one is definitely going into a spring/ summer cocktail rotation for me.

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Course two showed off Jägermeister’s versatility as the bitter agent in a Negroni, mixed with sweet vermouth and London dry as a ‘Count Mast’. We were asked to try the drink as-is, but before taking a second sip we were invited to express a lemon peel over the drink (I went the whole hog and dropped it it there). Sans-lemon the drink was great, albeit a tad on the sweet-side for me, but the addition of the lemon brought a whole new level of balance to it. A seriously tasty reinterpretation of the Negroni, this time paired with perfectly blushing duck breast.

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Course three paired a super moreish 14 hour Jägermeister-infused short rib with the ‘Jagerrye Old Fashioned’ – a concoction of Jägermeister, Old Forester Bourbon, Cointreau and lemon zest – which worked incredibly well in cutting through the richness of that meat.

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No epic dinner is complete without dessert and this particular one was absolutely cracking. Jägermeister and cherry truffle topped with mascarpone, macadamia and a touch of chocolate paired with the ‘Wake Up Call’, a combination of cold brew coffee and Jägermeister siphoned into a glass.

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This dessert and cocktail pairing was part black forest gateau, part tiramisu and 100% decadent.

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I’m not sure about you, but next time I see that iconic squat green bottle on a back bar, I definitely won’t be pigeon-holing it as a shooter. It’s so much more versatile than that. Big thanks to Nils and Jägermeister team for the eye-opening experience!