Blog — Page 149 of 279

Water of Life – Kavalan Solist

Whisky distilleries pop up in the most unexpected regions these days. Unfortunately, often, apart from the novelty factor truly great drops are not commonplace outside the confines of established whisky regions, however, every now and then you come across a gem that pumps out consistent quality expressions.

Case in point, Kavalan Distillery located in Taiwan.

While living in China I embarked a few times to Taiwan and instantly fell in love with the hustle and bustle of the night markets, the temples, Western comfort in terms of highly developed public transport and the local cuisine, however, a whisky distillery was not on my radar.

This has changed now as Kavalan Distillery has established itself as a veritable player in the worldwide whisky game.

After a recent tasting of some of Kavalan’s emissions at The Whisky Show, I was intrigued and having now been exposed to Kavalan’s Solist single cask release, which was matured in ex-bourbon cask at cask strength, I am a believer.

The swanky limited-edition bottling makes an aesthetically nice edition to any liquor shelf and upon uncorking the bottle, the waft of vanilla, sweet nuances reminiscent of cookies and fruity notes evoke instantly a Pavlovian response.

What materialise on the palate is an exquisitely calibrated melange of sweet- and spiciness, unveiling the whole spectrum with dominant waves of pepper coming and going, washing around a shore of apple and pear fruitiness, which is amplified by vanilla and tannins. Sounds delicious? It is. Simply beautiful.

Now, if you think the journey continues in the same manner you are mistaken as things are being taken up a notch: There is still vanilla, yet it is pervaded by bitter grapefruit notes and woody oak makes an appearance.

The Solist proves to be a vehicle that takes one on a wonderfully diverse journey paved with well-calibrated taste sensations that warrants a deep dive into Kavalan’s other expressions.

The Watch – Thoroughly Revised

Thames and Hudson

I used to collect watches and do appreciate a well-crafted timepiece, despite an Apple watch having taken over the real estate around my wrist for quite a while now.

For the uninitiated and the ones merely familiar with the old-guard brands, this beautiful tome does not only contain a section on the major brands accompanied by great photos (some could have been more detailed / would have benefitted from a tad less photoshopping as they miss crowns and other integral parts and it is a shame that some watches are merely mentioned but not pictured), but also depicts emissions from independent watchmakers.

Furthermore, it has additional inspirational sections on the intricacies of collecting, stories from other collectors and a glossary shedding light on the myriad of technical terms.

The Watch – Thoroughly Revisited is not only a feast for the eyes but both a comprehensive and holistic resources in terms of horology that should appeal to both aficionados and neophytes alike as it goes into detail about a microcosm that has never been more popular than in the age of instagraming.

While not being familiar with the first edition of Gene Stone’s The Watch, this Thoroughly Revised version documents the status quo of what the art of watchmaking and the collectors’ craze around it has evolved to.

Needless to say that there is a subjective tinge when it comes to e.g. portraying a selection of fifty brands that are considered to be leaders and that it is to be taken with a grain of salt as it is informed by personal preference rather than an inclusive take of this luxury industry at large.

Summa summarum, a brilliant book for both new and experienced watch fans with great practical information, specifically when it comes to inducting the novice to the art of purchasing pre-owned watches and what to pay attention to.

Water of Life - Port Askaig and Kilchoman

Oh Islay, glorious Islay!

Every time when one thinks that the main distilleries of the island have been covered and the prime expressions have been sample, something comes your way that makes you reassess the state of play in the best way possible.

Case in point: Port Askaig – an elusive “distillery” on the eastern part of Islay. Why the inverted commas? Well, because technically it is not so much a distillery in the traditional sense in the, but it stands for an independent range of whiskies, which is where things get intriguing as the exact sources are not necessarily detailed, yet the fact that the drop is from the island makes it very relevant to my interests.

The straw-coloured Port Askaig Cask Strength is a formidable exercise par excellence in oily smokiness kissed by citrussy nuances. It took me a split second to become infatuated with this expression, i.e. when the zesty, saline, wood fire infused aromas started tickling my nostrils.

Once it hit my palate, there was radio silence for a while as I kept swirling it and found it hard to let this big bodied one go down. There’s char, there’s smoky meats, there’s a bit of spice, just the right amount of smoked fish all laid out on a bed of peat and once the ashy peat takes over, things are being taken to another level by yet another layer of Islay goodness.

Delicioso!

One cannot help but have the guessing game going strong in the back of one’s head – what exact distillery might it be from? Ardbeg, Caol Ila (which seems to be the closest distillery to the little town of Port Askaig) and Lagavulin all come to mind in equal measures.

One delightful mysterious dram that made me wonder why whatever distillery it is sourced from did not release it themselves. Either way, I am glad it found its way to me.

Kilchoman is another independent distillery that we have not covered yet, and somehow had not been on my radar and eclipsed by the other more prominent distilleries. Criminal mistake. How could I?

Having now been exposed to two expression, I can wholeheartedly attest that their on-site aged single malts play in a class of their own in a myriad of ways, let alone the fact that they source their own peat which they use further in their own malting house before they channel their alchemy in small stills that allow for a maximum of alcohol / copper contact, resulting in a light footed spirit.

Exhibit A: Kilchoman Sanaig has just won Gold at the 2018 Whisky World Cup with Best Peated Whisky of the competition. The fact that it has matured in both Oloroso sherry and twenty percent ex-bourbon casks should give a hint at this not merely being an interesting peaty Islay whisky but a fruity one.

What hits the nose are floral and fruity notes that are subtly pervaded by smoke, cinnamon and peat. Needless to say that I was infatuated immediately, and a session of aromatherapy ensued.

The creaminess that materializes on the palate is dominated by the sherry fruitiness of the casks, nice accents of iodine, saline and peaty notes.

A great whisky is nothing without a finish and the moderately long dark fruity well-balanced while still veiled in smoke.

Exhibit B: Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2019

Again, aged in Oloroso sherry casks, this expression is dominated by a delightful dark chocolate and fruity nose, revolving around the centre of smouldering peaty smoke.

Giving the dram a bit of air exposure, saline nuances materialize on the palate that create an interesting melange with citrussy fruit flavour and the dark chocolate the nose promised, which is finds its peak via the elongated spicy finish.

I cannot wait to delve deeper into Kilchoman’s portfolio...

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photo provided

MOULD - A Cheese Festival

Carriageworks

Sydney, Australia

May 24, 2019

Fromage, fromage!

One does not need to have French heritage to harbour a thorough appreciation for cheese – be it aged, soft, hard, blue, white or even vegan variants.

MOULD is the mecca for anyone related in cheese and its related products as it serves as a comprehensive forum for artisan producers to showcase what Australia has to offer.

Organised by REVEL, the industrious entity of people that we have shed light on as part of our coverage of the fantastic wine festivals, most prominently Pinot Palooza, the MOULD extravaganza becomes more than a mere tasting event as it is framed in an engaging program that is comprised of curated masterclasses, food to cater to each palate and more.

The Fermentary Class with Nick Haddow from the much fabled about Bruny Island Beer and Cheese Company and fermenter Sharron Flynn was both an entertaining and delectable exercise. We have covered Bruny Island Cheese’s excellent raw milk emissions before and specifically the oozy Saint variety with its firm middle part was a winner with its flavour nuances.

It was fantastic to taste Grandvewe’s Cheeses, specifically the seasonal Sapphire Blue cheese and the Gin Herbalist, of which Hartshorn Distillery uses the whey for their gins, which we recently covered, and which were offered as well. A barrel-aged one was proffered to your humble narrator and I cannot wait to sample more when they incarnate as Dark Mofo’s Feast next month.

Other than cheeses of all couleur, Newtown’s BLOODWOOD offered sustenance in burrito form, which I enjoyed a vegetarian variant offer and downed it with a fermented kimchi juice. Delicious!

Black Market Sake and their emissions went perfectly well with they Gruyere cheeses on offer and I would be hard pressed to find any sort of culinary experience that would not be crowned with a dram of Melbourne’s Starward Whisky Distillery, which offered their fantastic and affordable drops, i.e. Nova, Solera as well as what has been nominated as the Australian whisky of the year 2018.

A fun event that has established itself firmly on my event calendar for more reasons than merely cheese appreciation.

Slow Art: The Experience of looking. Sacred Images to James Turrell

University of California Press

James Turrell was first exposed to me via his on-going collaborations with MONA, specifically with his emissions focusing on light and him tinkering with perceptions, the interactions between real and artificial lights and him managing to fully immerse the audience the beholder in his works and make them an integral constituent.

Sounds intriguing?

Well, it is. Turrell’s dabbling in the sublime has yet to produce an outcome I have not been impressed with and what I have grown to love about Turrell’s work is that its creation feels effortless while dealing with such big concepts like infinity.

As the title suggests, the book asks for an investment of time, which is a commodity hard to get by in this day and age. Enabling oneself to experience a new aesthetic field by deceleration is a key tenet of this book.

It has an interesting point to make when it comes to the relationship between stillness and motion, layering and adding dimensions as well as approaching art from a “slow” angle instead of the artwork itself necessarily carrying such qualities.

What seems to be a fad and neologism, is actually based on a concept that harks back to ancient times yet what is exemplified in the book is that it is inextricably with our current state of affairs and the future.

What seems to have shifted is that times became less slow with the advent of capitalist endeavours and urbanization coupled with the fact that the pace of life has increased at a devil’s pace, which more often than not results in a reduced attention span and an expectation that art needs to equal entertainment.

Given that we live in the secularized era vulgaris, the outcome of following the train of thought the book entertains could be a source of consolation and that is one that everyone is in dire need of.