Mark's Blog

10 August 2006

I recently had the good fortune to be invited to a Whisky tasting at Simply Simpsons in Kenilworth.  The event was arranged by the guys at Moet-Hennessy and the tasting was hosted by Graham Eunson, the distillery manager of Glenmorangie.  The tasting was very informative and Graham proved to be an excellent speaker.

We started off tasting the Glenmorangie 10 year old which as always, showed very well. Then we tasted the Artisan cask, a 9 year old aged in specially selected casks coopered from trees especially grown in the Ozark Mountains; the result is a lively, spicy malt that was very pleasant.  The 3rd Whisky was the 15 year old, which I thought showed excellently how Whisky evolves in the cask.

Whisky number 4 was the Glenmorangie 1977; I hadn’t tasted this Whisky for a long time and if my memory serves me right I wasn’t impressed with it the first time.  This time was no different. I could detect an off-note and when I added some water it didn’t get much better.  Next up was the Portwood finish; this Whisky divides opinions amongst Whisky lovers, with the purists not to keen on any wood finishing at all. I myself think it is an excellent malt and this expression did not disappoint.

Whisky number 6 was the new Sauternes cask finish.  Oh dear.  Now I am a big fan of the limited edition 1981 Sauternes cask bottling and even own a bottle.  This expression however was very poor.  The first thing I got when I nosed it was a big waft of sulphur and the addition of a splash of water didn’t help matters.  It tasted ok but I just couldn’t get past that sulphur note, a shame, because I was looking forward to tasting it.

We finished up tasting the always wonderful Ardbeg 10 year old. This is truly a great malt Whisky and always astounds me how that even such a heavily peated malt can retain such complexity and elegance.

The meal which followed was excellent.  The starter was a cannelloni of crab meat in Loch Fyne smoked salmon.  The main was a trio of lamb with aubergine gnocchi and potatoes followed by a refreshing lemon parfait with raspberries.  So thanks to everyone at Moet for an enjoyable afternoon.

Whilst in Kenilworth I took the chance to go to The Kenilworth, a bar that I’ve been hearing great things about.  The place itself was very well decorated and had a very cosmopolitan feel about it.  The bar is tiny but without doubt has the finest selection of premium quality spirits in Warwickshire.  The owner is a huge Bourbon fan and has about 60 different expressions behind the bar.  Unfortunately, as I was driving I couldn’t get stuck in to a cocktail list that would give most West End bars a run for their money.  I shall definitely be going back and will give a proper review then.  Stratford could do with a classy place like this instead of all the terrible bars offering the same old tired brands.

I am currently reading Peat Smoke and Spirit by the excellent Andrew Jefford.  It is all about the Island of Islay and its whiskies.  I am about 40 pages in and am really hooked. As someone who has friends mentioned in the book and loves the island I suppose I was going to be interested in it.  However, the writing of Andrew Jefford is superb and I can think of no better book ever being written on Whisky.

On to a pet gripe of mine, buskers.  In my last blog I mentioned the guy who busks in Polish.  It has been pointed out that he is probably on a winner as it is increasingly the first language in Stratford.  Anyway, this guy has been superseded by a man who plays the bottles.  He is awful and only knows 3 tunes, and yet still manages to perform a 5 hour set.  I did use to like Beethoven’s 9th but to hear it butchered by a fool blowing in to empty Becks bottles is just too much.

Cheers.