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Water of Life – Jameson Deconstructed

Chances are that no matter if where you roam and you enter a bar, the Irish whisky available will be Jameson, which not only helped to make evenings during e.g. my travels in the more remote regions of Northern China immeasurably better, but also serves as a reliable constant. In other words, Jameson – and specifically its core expression - is known the world over, widely accessible and while unfortunately a lot of it is still shot, it lends itself exceptionally well to sipping.

Once one delves a bit further into the Jameson cosmos and the way Head Distiller Brian Nation, Master of Wood Management Ger Buckley and Master Blender Billy Leighton channel their alchemy, things get even more refined and delicate, especially with its Whiskey Makers Series, the expressions of which are named after each of their respective key tools.

Aged between twelve and sixteen years and having matured in first and second fill American, virgin oak and sherry casks, the Cooper's Craze expression is not surprisingly oak driven with an aroma comprised of honeyed vanilla, tropical fruits and toffee.

What materializes on the palate is a creamy, velvety extension of what the nose promised, resting on a backbone of cinnamon, raisiny gingerbread, nutmeg and culminating in a spicy, warm finish – an expression that expertly showcases the personality that casks infuse.

The Blender's Dog is, as the name suggest, a masterclass in blending: Not only in terms of different distillates but also cask styles and ages. The result is a well-orchestrated calibration of each component, culminating in a bouquet of floral and perfumed notes, tropical fruits and butterscotch. Flavour-wise, chocolate and toffee notes dominate, which are accentuated by spicy highlights, hints of smoke, liquorice and an elongated, rounded finish, bookended by nutmeggy, woody spices.

The logical next step for an appreciator of Jameson, was to examine the DNA that makes the core expression idiosyncratic and to explore the Deconstructed series, which is exclusively available at travel retail outlets.

The underlying idea of the Deconstructed series is to highlight individual defining aspects of the standard expression and my first exposure to it, was the Round variant.

Focussed on the impact of the barrel wood, the deep golden dram tickled my nostrils with a melange of leathery vanilla, toffee and cereal, which seamlessly transitions to a creamy, raisiny and nutty maltiness on the palate, before it is pierced by delicate peppery spices.  An interesting twist that I had not noticed in such form with the standard expression. With the spiciness dialled up, I found the elongated finish specifically enticing as it wonderfully exhibits the contribution of the oaky wood casks.

I cannot wait to try the Lively and Bold expressions, to see how the remaining two variants of the Deconstructed series differ.

With the number of distilleries in Ireland having nearly quadrupled over the last years, it brought quite a bit of innovation to the game. Jameson’s Caskmates Stout Finish is part of an experimental series where barrels are used that were used for the brewing of beer. With the cask exchange collaboration with Young Henrys having knocked it out of the park and not being the biggest aficionado of dark, top fermented beer, I was curious as to how Jameson’s Stout Cask treatment would go.

Caramel in colour, aromas of coffee, honeyed malt, citrussy hop notes and spices result in a complex and multi-faceted, punchy bouquet, which hints at what can be expected to materialize on the top of the mouth.  Flavours are further amplified and enriched with notes of nutty cinnamon, citrus fruits, dark chocolate and syrupy coffee. It is quite astonishing what the Stout cask finish elicits, with the finish not only extending the aforementioned flavours but adding a grounding earthiness.

In quite a few aspects, the new limited Jameson Cold Brew bottling resembles the Stout Caskmates expression, as rustic coffee notes are front and centre along with lemon and vanilla both on the nose and the palate. What I missed with this expression is that the whiskey itself does not play a prominent role, which also explains the short and abrupt dark chocolatey and syrupy finish. An expression that could possibly serve as an entry point for an Expresso Martini fan to transition to whiskey.

The Formative Years – All the Jazz

The connection between Rock’n Roll, its derivates and Blues is amongst the more obvious and commonly accepted when it comes to the evolution of guitar driven music.

When it comes to punk rock, Jazz does not tend to jump to the top of one’s mind as an influence, however, once one dares to scratch the surface of the breadth of music that resides under the label of this often improvisational musical form, things might start to look like quite differently.

Me delving into Jazz started with not only investigating the roots of proto punk bands like The Stooges and MC5 but having the fortune of being gently pushed towards listening to Ray Charles, the  solos of Jimi Hendrix, the spastic rhythms of Captain Beefheart, John Coltrane and Sun Ra.

An early epiphany I had was that to my surprise, their emissions did not lack grittiness and raw attitude but just managed to channel it in a different if not slightly more sophisticated form via employing different instrumentation, with horns and the brass section being a definite point of difference.

Looking back and having gained a deeper understanding of music at large, the link between Jazz and Punk becomes more obvious, especially as far as the free form approach is concerned. An example par excellence is Velvet Underground and the way they were influenced by John Cage’s minimalism and Coleman’s guitar work.

It appeared that apart from clearly visible blues roots, jazz elements were present and channelled in a dirtied, simpler and louder form with X-Ray Spex, The Stooges and early “No Wave” bands being early adapters from the realm of punk rock, and which again provided the foundation and template the first stage of punk rock bands calibrated their music against.

Later on and once I felt the urge to explore music further than the at times very dogmatic, purist and confined hardcore punk I was listening to, bands like Sonic Youth and other that were more accomplished on the musical front, opened new horizons as far as the incorporation of jazz elements were concerned.

Once my musical horizons expanded, I revisited the more twisted, distorted, and frantic jazz that bordered on the atonal and never lacked surprise or to ability to startle, which again found it contemporary punk equivalent in how e.g. Greg Ginn infused Black Flag or bands not unlike Saccharine Trust with jazz spirit.

In essence, I found Jazz and its improvisatory essence and boundless willingness to explore free of any form to be a conglomeration of outside sounds, with a core attitude that resemble that of punk both in terms of adventure as well as creativity.

October: Detroit Rock City

Hey folks! I seriously could not be typing this up at a worse time. Between work, Halloween, and the election, I've been stuck between busy, stressed, and unmotivated. This probably won't be much. October's Search/Play/Repeat playlist is a shorter one that focuses on artists from, or at least very associated with, Detroit, Michigan.

Earlier this month, my wife and I took a vacation to visit her family in a suburb of Detroit, so I thought why not focus on some artists from the Motor City. All were fairly older releases. I didn't listen to any new albums this month. There's also a slight Halloween/Horror-esque theme. Whenever I browse people's record collections, particularly Hardcore-Punk collectors, one release that always pops up is a 7-inch which is graced with the horrifying image of Linda Blair as Regan from The Exorcist. I finally decided to check out Negative Approach's Self-Titled EP. This lead me down a rabbit hole of early Hardcore-Punk and Proto-Punk where I came across bands like Necros and The Gories. While Necros isn't technically from Michigan (from a town on the edge of Ohio), they're considered a staple in the early Detroit-Punk scene.

I decided it was time to give more of The Stooges a listen as well. I've never been that big on The Stooges. They just don't do much for me. I prefer Iggy Pop's Lust for Life more, although to be fair, I've really only spent time with Raw Power. I hadn't checked out their second album, Fun House, before so I gave it a shot. I enjoyed it more than Raw Power, but it's also been awhile since I revisited that album. Listening to The Stooges lead me to discovering Destroy All Monsters, of which guitarist, Ron Asheton joined at one point. Destroy All Monsters was essentially a band of art students playing punk music. Though they deemed themselves "Anti-Rock."

My wife most likely would have killed me if I hadn't listened to/included Alice Cooper on this. He was pretty much apart of her upbringing. Besides the main singles, I wasn't familiar with anything else. I went with Killer and the album was solid! My only complaint is a few songs overstay their welcome. Same could be said for some tracks on Fun House as well. The last of the Rock albums I checked out are the debuts from Garage-Rockers, The White Stripes and The Von Bondies. I haven't listened to either of the albums from The White Stripes before White Blood Cells and honestly, I didn't even realize The Von Bondies released anything other than Pawn Shoppe Heart (Quick note: "C'mon C'mon" is such a damn good song.) I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Lack of Communication. I really wish it could have PSH's production though.

I couldn't get away with a Detroit oriented playlist without some Motown. I'm disappointed in myself for not listening to more though. I listened to The Temptation's first album, but decided against including a song on the playlist simply because nothing fit too well. However, "Oh Mother of Mine," was my favorite from Meet The Temptations. I, of course, also had to give The Queen of Soul some respect and listened to Aretha Franklin's first album, Aretha: With the Ray Bryant Combo. A track from that album did make it at least. Closing out the playlist is a song from Ray Parker Jr.'s, Women Out of Control -- the album that came out before he did the "Ghostbuster's Theme." The album is primarily R&B/Dance-Pop, but there was one track that was pretty different, "Invasion," and clearly sounds like something from the artist that gave us the "Ghostbuster's Theme." There's even a synth-progression that's very similar to the Ghostbuster's hook.

As always, thanks for checking in. Time to get back to closely watching election results and stressing.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer - Young Henrys IPA

Breweries are emerging like mushrooms the world over, especially craft beer ones with special brews and idiosyncratic twists and limited releases that keep an ever-expanding audience on its toes and lusting to try the never ending array of new expressions.

Then there’s breweries that have a bit more to offer.

Young Henrys is of the latter calibre as what was initially inspired by a love for beer and music, has evolved into an entity that has not only taken the Australian craft beer scene by storm but slowly and steadily infiltrated mainstream territory and with its innovative initiatives and endeavours that go far beyond the allure of gimmicky marketing, has created a lane for itself.

Based in Sydney’s suburb of Newtown, the DNA of Young Henry’s neighbourhood  has had a tangible impact on their endeavours, which not only inspired their credo to “Serve the people” but remains to this day  fundamentally the same and serves as the brewery’s solid foundation yet has now geographically transcended into the creation of an Australia-wide following that abides by the core values of the brand, i.e. music, art, culture and community.

The brewery’s independent status allows them to channel their alchemy in whatever way they feel suit to bring the best out of Australian hops and malts with only a fantastic core range but limited releases that allow the brewers to flex their creative muscles - specifically when it comes to exclusive collaborations with local and international bands, for which specific beers are brewed that are then housed in custom-designed tinnies, with the hazy lager that was brewed for The Foo Fighter’s last incarnation on terra australis or local bands like Frenzal Rhomb and You Am I  - to this day one of my fave YH’s releases - only being some of many examples.

Given my beer-related preferences, it should not come as a surprise that I am specifically taken by Young Henrys’ hoppier emissions and after quite a few of seasonal IPA releases, including the fantastic Rye IPA, it was fantastic to see a regular IPA to join the core range permanently.

In essence, the YH IPA seems to be the culmination of deliberate experimentation that has been finetuned to marry the best qualities of nine varieties of Aussie and American hops, resulting in a delicately complex blend of aromas and flavours.

Not unlike Young Henrys’ other releases, the IPA is dangerously more-ish as the alcohol is veiled by opulent citrussy notes and tropical highlights that are backed by a piney backbone, only to make one lust for more with the well-calibrated dry finish that hits exactly the right spot in terms of bitterness. I can only hope that the IPA will be as widely available as the rest of YH’s core range at upcoming shows and gigs, which again Young Henrys is actively supporting to return in collaboration and support of bands and venues.

Needless to say that the Young Henry’s spirit pervades every facet of their operation with the common denominator being care and passion for the things they produce, from their HQ in Newtown and the brewpub, to the designs of their merchandise in collaboration with other brands, bands and artists to constantly pushing things to the next level, which saw them e.g. branch out to dabble in spirits and complement their brewing with the distilling of their own gin range, which I hope to be able to feature as parts of our spirits-centric “Water of Life” series.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer - Helios Brewing

Some claim that essentially, “redemption through chaos” forms the very essence of Greek mythology, in which the sun god Helios moved the sun across the firmament during the day, only to return to leisurely sip from a golden cup once it dawned.

In Helios Brewing’s case that golden cup is of course filled to the brim with beer, but it gets more literal as all their emissions do not only benefit from the rays of the Australian sun being channelled through solar panels to power the brewery, but have also been named after the deities of the pantheon and their counterparts from the netherworld.

Specifically within the confines of the Australian craft beer scene, sustainability ranks high on the agenda yet with both of Helios Brewing’s founders having background in environmental science, things are taken to the next level as deliberate efforts are made so sustainable practices pervade every facet of their operations – starting with solar power and fuelling both the heating of water for the mash and subsequent cooling in the cold liquor tank, to the composting of yeast via the treatment of wastewater to leftover grains being donated to farmers.

The first of Helios’ beers I sampled was the Cyclops IPA, which has an interesting twist as the hop forwardness one would expect from a West Coast IPA is counterpointed by a dominant syrupy malt backbone and a delicate bitterness, punctuated by toffee, citrussy and piney highlights.

Next up was the Medusa Black IPA and as the name suggests, not only in terms of colour things get more rustic, with the brew combining roasted coffee notes with subtle hints of pine and grapefruit. A complex one for the colder months of the year.

Ready to take things up two notches and feel the thunder?

Enter the Zeus' Thunderbolt Double IPA.

The name is quite a mouthful and the beer does not disappoint. Think intense sweet maltiness meeting fruity hops suffused by a hoppy delicate bitterness, countered with caramel-y, bready malt aromas.

An exercise par excellence in the creation of rich sipping Double IPA, which despite its comparatively high ABV of 9% still maintains drinkability and would prove to be an ideal accompaniment for savory meals.

Given the expertise and efforts that comprise the DNA of Helios Brewing, it should not come as a surprise that the attention to detail does not stop with the design of the cans, with the respective Greek gods and beasts not only being depicted in the most glorious ways, but the silver backdrop of the cans being used for some cool visual effects.