Jun. 29: Drammers Kansas City......
Hello Kansas City Drammers!
Our next tasting in KC is Wednesday, June 29th at 7pm. A big thank you to Paul Zeps for hosting (address: 533 Macgrantwood Street, Bonner Springs, 66012)
M&H Israeli Single Malt - Fortified Red Wine Cask Finish. We selected three M&H Israeli Single Malt casks last year, and they’ve just arrived. Our US members selected 2 barrels, and our Tel Aviv chapter selected one. All three were matured for just over 3 years (closer to 3.5), and bottled at cask strength, which ended up being particularly high. This is the lowest abv of the three at 64.7% abv! This one is also the one that is most affected by adding a few drops of water. Neat it tastes delightful, and the bright red wine notes are there though it’s maybe a little more dry than you might expect (this doesn’t have the sweetness you sometimes associate with a fortified wine cask finish). But when you add a few drops of water it is transformed — mint notes dominate a suddenly much longer finish, bordering on peppermint some say. This was the first choice of our USA members during the barrel pick.
M&H Israeli Single Malt - Ex-Rum Cask Finish. This was narrowly the second favorite of the options given to our USA members, and it came with big expectations — the SCN M&H ex-rum cask release was arguably the highlight of the SCN M&H releases to date, and we went in with all eyes on this sample. It didn’t disappoint — is it something about M&H that makes their single malt particularly well suited to a rum cask finish? At the recent tasting of our Barcelona chapter, this was the favorite of the members there by a longshot, though nearly everyone preferred this one before adding water. And hey, 66.7% abv doesn’t hurt.
M&H Israeli Single Malt - STR Cask Finish. Our Tel Aviv members selected this single barrel, easily the smokiest of the bunch, even has notes bordering on peat. This was the favorite of Scotch purists among our European members who tasted it last week. And again, check out the abv — 69.4%!
Clynelish Single Malt Scotch, 10yo, Single Malts of Scotland, Jack Rose Single Barrel, 1 of 213 bottles (cask ref: 800314, d. 17.05.2011, b.13.07.2021), 60.4% abv
Caol Ila Single Malt Scotch, 13yo, Single Malts of Scotland, Jack Rose Single Barrel, sherry hogshead, 1 of 260 bottles, cask ref 313260, d.04.07.2008, b.14.07.2021), 59.4% abv
Hughes Belle of Bedford Straight Rye Whiskey. Distilled March 2012, bottled October 2021, barrel #3748, bottle #165/198, 55.44% abv. Big dill pickle notes on this, which prompted Jack Rose to name this bottle “Kind of a Big Dill”.
Sensei Imported Blended Whiskey - Mizunara Cask. Until recently, there were few restrictions on what could be called “Japanese” whisky — most importantly, it didn’t need to be distilled in Japan, which was beginning to affect how Japanese whisky was perceived in the market. So they’ve now adopted non-binding guidelines (which among other things require it to be made in Japan), which will likely eventually become law. Watching this all unfold, and how brands are reacting, has been fascinating to watch. Here we’ve got a great example. It doesn’t call itself “Japanese Whiskey”, rather it calls itself imported “Sensei Whiskey” with a very Japanese-looking label, plus it’s aged in a “Mizunara Japanese Oak Cask”. Would this pass muster under the new Japanese whiskey laws? It very well might. Plus it’s getting some good reviews (Wine Enthusiast recently rated it 92 points and a “Best Buy”. So we figured we’d give it a look. 40% abv, and a blended whiskey (so presumably a blend of grain and single malt barley distillates).
That’s our lineup -- or at least most of it, we'll likely add a bottle (any requests? Perhaps our Buffalo Trace single barrel?)! Or want to try an unusual Moroccan fig distillate?
In any case, we hope you can join us. We’ll have food on hand as usual. A big thank you to Holly Twaddell and Paul Zeps for organizing!
Cheers,
Charlie, Holly, Paul and Drammers Club