Water of Life

Chief’s Son Distiller’s Select and Bourbon Brothers’ December box

If you have been following this series attentively or, even better, have had the fortunate of sampling a dram from the vibrant, family owned small batch Chief’s Son distillery, there is a high likelihood that you have been waiting with baited breath for their 2021 incarnation of their much fabled about Distiller’s Select series: An annual, limited and coveted release in nature, this hand selected release is by many considered to be the watermark of what has been achieved in terms of exciting and new styles in the respective year.

This year’s release clocks in at  47.5% ABV and is a truly special expression as it is derived from the exquisite base that has matured in Chief’s Son’s richest French Oak ex-Apera barrels, before having been further refined with a range of 20 liter casks. 

Clear yet viscous in appearance and mahogany in colour, what tickles the nostrils upon approach is a complex mélange of roasted coffee beans, honeyed maple syrup and caramelly marzipan notes, backed by a subtle hint of tobacco. 

On the palate, a bold and rich avalanche of flavours unleashes its powers with malty oak highlights, which set the stage for cidery, citrussy and pop rocks nuances to dance and intertwine with roasted nuts and toffee.

The elongated finish reverberates with exceptionally more-ish and Pavlovian response evoking marmalade flavours, which with the piquancy courtesy of the old oak flavours leaves one lusting for another dram.

I have yet to taste an underwhelming drop from the Mornington Peninsula and this year’s Distiller’s Select expression is another example par excellence for Chief’s Son pushing the envelope in terms of depth of flavours without ever running danger of diluting its DNA.

Bourbon Brothers – December Subscription Box

I find subscription boxes to sometimes be hit and miss in that it is nice to receive curated samples, which offer the opportunity to discover an expression or even distillery I normally would not have gotten my mitts on, but quite often I find lacking in the “bang for the buck” department.

Then there are subscription services like Bourbon Brothers.

As the name suggests, the focus is firmly set on Bourbon, which is a territory I am fond of yet not one where my top ten drops are located in. This is where Bourbon Brothers comes to the rescue as I have yet to come across one of their variety pack subscription boxes that makes me not rejoice in the discovery in a drop that makes me take not and seek out to get a whole bottle of. 

The fact that the samples come not only with obligatory tasting notes and flavour profiles (including links to exclusive tasting videos), neatly and securely packaged but most importantly in generous trios of100ml bottles, makes it a curated delivery service both a novice and Bourbon connoisseur will be bound to forward to every month.

While Bourbon Brothers delivers on a monthly service, they have knocked it out of the park with their beautifully presented end-of-year December box as it contains the equivalent of Bourbon porn:

I popped the Barrel Bourbon Blend #D01K straight after the box materialized and I was in for a treat: Being one of only forty-nine micro-blends made in the first ever series of Barrell Bourbon Private Release Bourbon, the nostril are tickled with dominant nutmeg notes, backed by dark cherry nuances that are pervaded by subtle hints of vanilla, seamlessly transitioning in a medium-bodied and oily manner to balanced notes of toffee, walnut and caramel on the palate. The long finish culminates in notes of toasted oak, cinnamon and a hint of deep plum preserves. Delicious.

Next up was the Bulleit Bourbon, the aromas of which reeled me in with strong scents of oak, rye and the faintest trace of smokiness.
As the name suggests, Bulleit does not lack impact on the top of the mouth. What starts with darkly sweet notes and layers of woodiness and acidity, quickly transitions to targeted shots of a pronounced bold spicy oakiness.

The lingering finish continues of the spicy oak trail, interweaved with butterscotch and dark fruity notes. A memorable sipper thanks to its deep and complex flavour profile.

The last component of Bourbon Brothers' December box is another discovery for me, i.e. Old Virginia: Despite clocking in a comparatively tame 40% ABV, this baby hits big with a strong ethanol note that is flanked by cidery, oaky and burnt toffee notes.

On the palate, honeyed decadence is the name of the game as syrupy flavours play the claviature from dark chocolate to crème brulee, with the finish rounding things out beautifully with a reverberating oakiness.

Cannot wait to see what Bourbon Brother’s has got in store for 2022...

Welcome to a new playlist share. Each SPB writer handles the "Search/Play/Repeat" concept a little differently. The important thing is we're sharing music instead of talking about it for once.

Here's an 11-song playlist filled with things SPB has covered this year, plus a couple items from yesterday that showed up in our inbox but didn't get much of a writeup at the time.

Enjoy.

(And if you enjoy something on here, I encourage you to search our archives for coverage.)

The Formative Years

Deichkind

There are bands that make complete and utter sense within the cosmos they have created for themselves and the linguistic realm they are thriving in and while they would not lack appeal when it comes to their music being accessible to non-German speakers, there is a je ne sais quoi to them that proves to be difficult to translate.

Case in point Deichkind, a band that started as a hip-hop outfit in 1997 and evolved to not merely a veritable electropunk phenomenon that channels its alchemy in a myriad of layered ways, including an incarnation with their own opera.

The beauty of Deichkind is embedded in their inherent irony, often grotesque and humour laden lyrical content, which more often than not aims at provoking a reaction yet never not also entails a melancholiac and serious underlying dimension.

Musically, Deichkind has always pushed the envelope ever since they emerged out of the hip-hop scene in Hamburg and what they have recently arrived at in terms of targeted experimentalism and fusion of styles really defies any definition, which is further cemented via their live shows, which are more excessive happenings, parties and raves than anything else. Done up with their own costumes and props to inform conceptually intricate show elements inviting audience participation, Deichkind shows are reminiscent of children’s birthday parties aimed at adults.

 If I had to define the common denominator of Deichkind’s approach throughout the years, it would essentially punk rock even though it hardly ever manifests sonically.

A uniquely fantastic imaginative prototype of a band that was never designed for mass consumption yet has garnered mainstream success as it is so much more than the mere sum of its individual parts.

Matisse: Life & Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris

Art Gallery of NSW

Sydney, Australia

November 28, 2021

Henri Matisse has channelled his alchemy in an idiosyncratically fluid, vibrant  radically simplified way of painting that had the focus of his draughtsmanship firmly set on the electrifying effects of its style rather than what is actually depicted in the works.

Sourced almost exclusively from the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris and further substantiated by artworks sourced from collections on terra australis, the Art Gallery of New South Wales set out to shed light on the oeuvre of Matisse via paintings traversing Matisse’s emissions ranging from his smaller toned down paintings to large-scale, coloured paper cuts to culminate in impressively bold compositions that would reverberate and prove inspirational to later schools of abstract art. 

The focus of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ exhibition is set less on Matisse’s wild experimentalism and rather zeroes in on his more elegant and calm explorations in the decorative realm of colour and form, which are characterized by the use of strident hues and confident, often unconventional abstract brush strokes.

In essence, Matisse: Life & Spirit is not only the largest exhibition of Matisse in Sydney but an intimate, well curated journey through Matisse’s life that spans six decades and documents via over one hundred exhibits in a contextualised and immersive manner both the becoming and later reinvention of a complex artist.

An artist whose legacy in terms of pronounced and playful use of colours to bring objects to life continues to lift spirits, which defines the very core and DNA of the fauvist movement and artistic modernism.

Matisse: Life & Spirit is accompanied by Matisse Alive, which extends the core exhibition by offering a gallery-wide free endeavour to inspire dialogue via performance, music and art informed by Matisse’s life and dynamic approach to the use of colour and energy.

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image from AGNSW website

Rain Like the Sound of Trains

As the king of the road and grand seignior of honk-tonk songs, i.e. Roger Miller, put it ever so eloquently, “some people walk in the rain, others just get wet”. Well, others are singing in it in the most blissfully ignorant, cheerful and chirpy way, not unlike Gene Kelly.

With the region I currently roam in having recently been subjected to torrential rainfall, it made me wonder how many great songs are inspired by wet weather – both pro and con as well as a metaphorical vehicle to signify something entirely different.

Some of the more obvious choices include Prince’s homage to the end of the world as we know it, i.e. “Purple Rain”, and Travis’ ditty “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?”, which is one of the more relatable and less obtuse ditties on the subject, encapsulating British non-chalance – not unlike the eurythmics did with a bit of a euphoric sprinkle with their timeless “Here Comes the Rain Again”.
It would not be Bob Dylan is his “A Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall” was not offering a myriad of ways to interpret it in a political manner. Chances are he meant something entirely different and much more mundane.

Another song from the sixties is The Beatles’ “Rain”, which was covered by Oasis early on in their career sans reversed vocals, and Buddy Holly’s heartfelt and self-explanatory “Raining in My Heart”, which thematically is closely related to The Temptations’ “I Wish It Would Rain”, which with its catchiness will soothe the most heartbroken soul. A job parallel in a slightly more epic and symphonic realm is the power ballad "November Rain" by Guns N’ Roses.

“Raindrops Keep Falling On M Head” certainly remains one of the more accomplished tunes Burt Bacharach has written and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” was widely received as a Vietnam war inspired protest tune.
It would not be Butch Vig if Garbage did not deliver a banger with “Only Happy When It Rains”, which was a derision of the alternative’s scene for enjoying wallowing in their misery when it came to find themes for songs in the 1990s.

One of my favourite rain related songs comes courtesy of the imminently powerful female duo, The Weather Girls – hallelujah!
Led Zeppelin’s “Fool In The Rain” is a timeless capture of the feeling one gets when you are stood up and Robert Plant & co did it again with their atmospheric tour de force that is “Rain Song”.

And then there’s of course pop culture’s saccharine musings like Rihanna teaming up with Jay Z with her anthemic “Umbrella”, which is a utensil I recently had to acquire as I lost two umbrellas as they feel prey to the elements.

It was not really until Tony Sylvester of Turbonegro fame introduced the notion to my world, that an umbrella can be the ultimate statement of style as he hosted me in the London Undercover shop he looks after in Shoreditch, London, as before that epiphany it was just an ideally cheap replaceable utensil.

He created a monster as ever since, going umbrella shopping has become a fun exercise and my standards have risen exponentially – not merely in terms of colours, but specifically when it comes to the calibration of the combination of durability and sophisticated style, along with sturdiness and wind resistance.

A crafted and engineered umbrella that is built to endure had become something I was happy to invest in, which eventually led me to the beauties that Davek designs.

The downside with Davek’s umbrellas is that the pleasure of acquiring a new one is dramatically limited as their waterproof canopies are built for life courtesy of their patented RigidFlex system, meticulously engineered frame system and tightly woven micro weave fabrics. I have yet to encounter a thunderstorm that will put a dent in my Davek and if it was to ever malfunction, it is covered by an unconditional lifetime guarantee and a loss protection serial number.
Now, is it cheap? Certainly not. 

However, the point is that the authentic quality and composition of high-grade steel, fiberglass, zinc alloy and aluminium results in a construct that is exceptionally strong, stable while lightweight and small in size, which makes it a worthwhile investment in austere elegance instead of a disposable product that will end up in landfill once wind intensifies.

Davek’s craftmanship that makes me enjoy what Roger Miller referred to when he talked about taking a walk in the rain and the fact that it is easy on the eye does not hurt either.

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Image from Davek website