tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78520852024-03-13T08:32:16.049+00:00Smell the Cork!Yet another booze blogrodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-91366692768245509632022-10-12T23:27:00.003+01:002022-10-12T23:27:16.025+01:00Flash Blog: Rebel 10 Year Old Single Barrel This post is part of a flash blog / mass blog / blog mob / flash mob organised by Steve Rush of the Whisky Wire, who kindly organised for samples to be sent out to the mob / the mass / the flashers (ok sorry I'll stop now).It's part of range that includes whiskeys bottled without age statements, but presumably much closer to the four year mark that designates a Straight Bourbon. What with rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-10988635585742036782022-06-14T01:23:00.006+01:002022-06-14T11:53:04.843+01:00Flash Blog: Yellowstone Select Many years ago I worked in a caff. A moderately greasy spoon, where
the chicken in a basket was deep frozen (and occasionally, still deep
frozen when it reached the table). One of the weekly jobs was to swap
over the five litre keg of cola syrup attached to the soft drinks
dispenser, replacing the empty with a new, full one. That this was a
once a week job will give you some idea of rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-1383673856842108002021-07-15T00:08:00.001+01:002021-07-15T00:11:20.346+01:00Cider With Honeysuckle (and no Indole)I'm working through all the episodes of the Neutral Cider Hotel podcast. In the one I listened to last night, No Quilt For You, Queenie, James from Little Pomona talked about an aroma that I've encountered in a different context this week. It seems that the planets were aligned last night, for I recently shared a magnum of the very cider he mentioned, and there is honeysuckle in the garden, and Irodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-23750223899891516302021-05-20T22:04:00.002+01:002021-07-15T00:13:18.257+01:00Horse ChestnutsBack in 2019 I learned from twitter that horse chestnuts are not just on trees, they're also on horses. I read a couple of blog posts, including this one, about the equine version, and then, seeing as I'm lucky enough to know some folk who are very horsy, I acquired some horse chestnuts.They look like very thick chunks of dried skin. You could even mistake them for some sort of mineral (or rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-12134480386752550442019-04-24T16:53:00.001+01:002019-04-24T20:16:17.956+01:00Pure Dead CramantI recently attended a lunch event with Hervé Jestin of Champagne Leclerc Briant.
We tasted four of their wines, and he spoke at length about how they are made, and about biodynamic viticulture, and about Champagne. One of the ideas raised, which I didn't really understand, was the notion that the dosage for a champagne should speak to the wine, otherwise it won't benefit the finished product. Herodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-55091958424697287072019-01-04T23:27:00.002+00:002019-01-04T23:27:43.795+00:00A Negative Tasting NoteMy main interest in writing about booze is trying to capture flavours in words. This is, of course, a doomed enterprise, but it has the merit of being entertaining (and offers the side benefit of occasionally getting me sloshed).
Over the years I have tinkered with many different structures or schemas or layouts for tasting notes, from many different sources, which aim to help one record variousrodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-60772661003381745062018-10-01T15:42:00.000+01:002019-04-24T15:44:19.649+01:00Knightor Trevannion 2016I tasted this as part of a "West Coast Wines" themed evening for Sweet Wine Wednesday. I dithered for quite a while between this wine and a Camel Valley Bacchus. I know, I know, I should have gone for the other, seeing as it's located that bit closer to the Atlantic, but on the few occasions I've had Bacchus I've not been particularly impressed.
Knightor are a small outfit located close to the rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-43269387929681930852018-08-26T13:38:00.000+01:002018-08-26T14:05:15.472+01:00Beavertown Sapling IPA
On the one hand: oh dear, another Beavertown special. If only I still used ratebeer I could look it up and see what it is. Nice graphics tho.
And on the other: 65 IBUs? Yep, I'll take one ta! And hey, it's Beavertown - gotta be good, right?
Cracking open the can I can smell the smell that means lots of bitter hops - but what is it? Resinous? Green? Dank? (However nebulous a descriptor rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-86488303777603931282018-08-21T16:58:00.000+01:002018-08-21T16:58:59.196+01:00Little Pomona C'est Si Bon-Bonne
My first thought is that the tannins are beautiful. Present, prominent, yet in no way abrasive. They curl round your tongue and in behind your teeth like a cat settling on your shoulders; it's lovely but if it it weren't lovely the cat wouldn't care and would still do it. Purring, rounded, but irresistible.
Then there's a metallic, earthy note, which isn't quite iron. Is this bottling perhaps rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-81453110317717434392018-07-24T13:30:00.000+01:002018-07-24T13:30:36.195+01:00Pilton IceIs it just me, or does everybody think of the Piltdown Man when they see a bottle of Pilton? Just me? Right. Fair enough.
This empty bottle held a most rare, and most tasty, liquid. Britain doesn't have the right climate to permit cider makers to make ice cider al fresco, so there's a good deal of faffing about with chest freezers, not to mention the difficulty of pressing frozen apples, or,rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-35672393772093579772018-07-18T01:53:00.000+01:002018-07-18T01:53:34.083+01:00Tannins of Wood and SkinI've thought about it every time I opened the cupboard and saw the can looking at me (and it's been in there for a solid month and a half). I can't escape the feeling that I'm missing some sort of cultural reference or in joke or something. I've googled 'BAE' and think I have a handle on that, but then, a badly formed search term can throw one off the scent forever.
Despite all that, I'm rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-26674538634462175222018-05-03T16:37:00.000+01:002018-05-03T16:37:34.481+01:00I Might Change My Name To Hendre Huffcap
My very good friends TallAsAVan and DrinkBritain kindly gave us this bottle last Christmas. They said that it was something rather special, so when the Prodigal Wean came up the road for a few days that seemed like a good occasion to open it.
I could tell straight away that it was something out of the ordinary. The muzzle took nine half twists to remove. Nine, I tell ye! And take a look at rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-39614443532004916672017-09-21T15:58:00.001+01:002017-09-21T15:58:43.183+01:00Things Not To Do With A PineappleThat Boutique-y, the hydra-headed bottling offshoot of Master of Malt, produce some very fine drinks. Indeed, I was lucky enough to attend a tasting hosted by the estimable and very congenial Dave Worthington earlier this summer where he let us try a two decades old Tormore which was quite the best expression I've ever had from that distillery.
However, their approach is somewhat scattershot. rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-77020161584981185302017-09-12T22:00:00.000+01:002017-09-21T16:43:11.282+01:00Sweet Wine Wednesday - Aged Sauvignon BlancsSweet Wine Wednesday, a Glasgow-based wine trade tasting group, has been on the go, sporadically, for nigh on ten years, and for most of that time it's been a running joke that one of us would threaten to bring along his vertical of aged Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Well, it finally happened, and it was a delightful surprise. (I hesitated over my choice of adjective there. Really, I need a word rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-15876986677011280772017-09-09T17:34:00.000+01:002017-09-09T17:34:06.886+01:00A note on Nicolas François Billecart 2002I hosted a champagne tasting last night, with wines from Pierre Peters, Fleury Père et Fils, Palmer & Cie, Moutard, and Billecart-Salmon.
It was my first tasting of a Pierre Peters wine, in this case the Cuvée de Reserve Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, and rather disappointingly I didn't really understand the wine, although I suppose that's an excuse for another bottle.
But that's not the main rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-53208082980038039432017-09-03T18:53:00.000+01:002017-09-03T20:59:00.919+01:00Tasting Notes: Some Things To ReadThis post gathers up some links to articles (and one or two books) I've read which have some bearing on the matter of Tasting Notes, and which I've found useful. I then give a brief summary of Peynaud's classification of types of tasting, and finish with a quote from the master.
I ended up in the booze trade by accident, and stayed because I found it congenial. Over the years my particular rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-43039127831644214532017-06-14T23:11:00.000+01:002017-07-23T22:54:53.867+01:00Domaine Trimbach: Some WinesTo the capital city and to Good Brothers for a tasting with Julien Trimbach, the young man who will one day be the 13th generation winemaker at Domaine Trimbach, one of the best Alsace producers (top three, I'd say). He's a remarkably accomplished speaker, and had some very interesting things to say.
I've never heard another winemaker (or perhaps I should say apprentice winemaker) talk so much rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-37674780538832534292017-05-09T19:54:00.000+01:002017-05-10T19:56:57.801+01:00Beech Leaf Gin
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so I picked a load of freshly budded beech leaves and put them in a glass jar with a litre of gin dregs.
It must be seven or eight years since I last made noyau, but I was inspired to have another go by @_littlebrowndog, a fellow member of the whisky world who is also responsible for the fascinating #projectPEAT.
The discarded scraps of bud. rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-81118318004502866282017-04-05T00:38:00.000+01:002017-04-10T09:39:35.975+01:00My Big Book of GrapesA few years back I received the wonderful gift of Wine Grapes : A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, including their Origins and Flavours, by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, and José Vouillamoz.
It came in very handy last night on tasting this Lyrarakis Psarades Dafni 2015. It was by far the most unusual wine I have tasted in the last I don't know how many months. Just look at my tasting rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-84301175636911080662017-02-17T21:35:00.000+00:002017-02-26T01:43:45.103+00:00Tasting Note: If Savoury Frangipane Were A Thing
To be honest, I only wrote this tasting note because I wanted to use the title. That aside, I'm enjoying a great glass of wine.
Vajra is an absolutely top notch producer of wines in Piemonte, Italy. This bottle is from an estate that Vajra bought towards the end of the 2000s. It's Luigi Baudana Dragon 2015, a fantastic blend of 50% Chardonnay, 30% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Riesling and 5% Nascetta rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-58678266810449077962017-01-15T22:10:00.000+00:002017-06-11T22:13:24.755+01:00Dom Pérignon
One of the many benefits of working in the booze industry is the quality of the drinks on a staff night out. Our latest expedition began by setting a fairly high bar, with a mini Dom Pom vertical, of the 2006, 1999, and 1982.
(It's interesting to note, by the way, that Dom Pérignon these days doesn't mention Moët et Chandon on the label - perhaps they feel it makes the brand seem more rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-85161339764914115582016-11-11T02:13:00.000+00:002016-11-11T02:13:21.538+00:00Needs More JuniperI'm currently working my way through four dozen gin samples for the World Drinks Awards, a process which was delayed by an absolute stinker of a cold (necessitating a rather busier than anticipated weekend ahead).
Oddly, and despite the name being a bit of a clue as to what the drink should taste like, some of these gins need more juniper.
Or perhaps it's not odd. Perhaps, in the current rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-31398172549413650782016-09-11T05:39:00.000+01:002016-09-11T05:39:58.718+01:00Classier Than Your Average Pocket Rocket
I bought this a while back, not really knowing what it was. Well obviously, it's Mural do Favaios, a fortified non-vintage Moscatel from the Douro, but why is it in this tiny crown capped bottle?
It sat around, not being drunk (for want of a suitable occasion), until tonight, when I had a sudden eureka moment - it's a pocket rocket! Which is to say, a small, strong, readily consumed slug of rodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-73696212673408341732016-04-16T20:00:00.000+01:002016-09-24T14:38:00.416+01:00Tasting Note: Chassenay d'Arce Pinot Blanc 2006
Nose: yellow fruit. Clean and fresh. Nothing to say that it's a ten year old wine. Tangy. Citrus and pineapples. Under-ripe honeydew melon rind.
Palate: there is some evolution, but it still feels pretty fresh. Very tangy and tart. Real yellow fruit character, along with a light body.
Conclusion: this is a lovely wine, and distinctively different - I've never encountered that pineapple noterodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7852085.post-38474412961044922012016-03-07T21:54:00.000+00:002017-05-11T00:57:30.648+01:00A Visit to Westons
After spending an intense day and a half helping my very good friends at Little Pomona bottle up a batch of their cider, it was instructive to go and see Westons at Much Marcle, who are most decidedly at the other end of the spectrum, both in size and in their practice.
The site is visible from quite a distance, thanks to the dozens of vast storage tanks which give it something of the airrodbodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00367022736620887918noreply@blogger.com0