PATRICK LECLEZIO recommends five fine whiskies to accompany the festive season’s feasting.
First published in Prestige Magazine (December 2016 Best of the Best edition).
The end of another year looms, so reassuringly close now. We’re in the final straight, the finish line in sight and beckoning. There’s something about this period that’s exciting, in such a deep-seated sense that it’s more physiological than cerebral – a simmering exhilaration that gets you deep in the gut. It’s a time to devote undistracted quality time to friends and family, to step away from the frantic pace of modern life, and to reward yourself for some sustained hard toil. It’s that once a year culmination – and it should be fittingly anointed. If there is ever a time to spoil yourself then this is it. Life is short, this end-of-term hiatus even shorter; these are moments to be seized and savoured to within an inch of their existence. In whisky terms – and revelling’s not revelling without great whisky – it’s the moment to let loose with the lucre, to drink something a little more special, to embrace some celebratory catalysts for sharing time with your favourite people. Here are my five picks to fire the flame of your festive season.
Irish – Midleton Barry Crockett
It’s only recently that Irish Distillers renewed the Single Pot Still style, beefing up what had been – given its spectacular attributes – a criminally sparse offering. The new range is still limited but it’ll get you on enthusiastically and it’ll keep you riding indefinitely. Redbreast, the “Spots”, Power’s – these are heralds enough to convince us emphatically that this style is the equal of single malt, but for all their worth they are blunt instruments in comparison to the Barry Crockett, a whiskey of such subtlety and refinement as to leave you in awe. Using an uncommon combination of both ex-bourbon and new casks, the Midleton distillery has a created an uncommon whiskey indeed. I’m a sceptic when it comes to NAS whiskies, but this one honours all the justifications that are spouted on the subject. There isn’t any indication of immaturity; the younger whiskies used in these vattings contribute to and complement the array within with no detraction whatsoever – and what an array it is! It’s something you’ll have to keep revisiting: sweet creaminess and autumn leaves one moment, treacly honey, orchard fruitiness, and tangy candy the next, new twists layer after layer. Drink it in slow reflection of a year well spent.
Unpeated Single Malt – Bruichladdich Black Art 1990 edition 04.1
Great whiskies can grow on you gradually, or they can announce themselves immediately. Black Art is unequivocally amongst the latter. I came upon an earlier edition some three to four years ago at a whisky show, with no prior knowledge of it whatsoever. There was no fuss. I thought it was just another release from a distillery known for its prolific experimentation. Until I tasted it. It rocked me where I stood. The universe suddenly came into focus – I kid you not. I felt like I had unearthed genius, if you’ll allow me to be a bit liberal. I’ve since sought out subsequent editions at every opportunity. There is something particularly special about a series, whether it be vintages or editions. You know what you’re getting in broad terms but each is a little different, carving out new nooks and crannies to explore, and offering fresh surprises to keep things interesting. The wood profile is top secret – we’re told that there’s American oak and French oak (seasoned by “premium wine”) involved, but that could mean many things. There’s no point hypothesising – it’s a sideshow. The cascade of fruits, the hints of spice, the honey, toffee, chocolate and molasses, gather and swell into a sensational deluge of flavour that’ll keep you riveted from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day and well beyond.
Peated single malt – Bowmore 15YO Darkest
I first experienced the Darkest sitting at the magnificent bar at Bowmore (my first stop on the island) looking out over the bay under a brooding sky. Classic Islay. It may have coloured my perceptions at the time: how could you not enjoy the place’s peated whiskies with that weight of geography and heritage and atmosphere weighing upon you? Well, after many further stops, with the passage of the years, and with a few other bites at the cherry since I’ll admit, the Darkest still lives large if not largest in my memory. This is Islay as it should be – at least for my taste. The unmistakeable smokiness is there, but it knows its place: as an equal not an oppressor. The result is a rich and beautifully calibrated whisky – drifting, briny smoke with a balancing scale of raisins and dark, dried fruits, and butterscotch sweetness. I can’t think of a better whisky with which to conclude the season’s typically banquetlike meals.
Blended – Johnnie Walker Platinum Label
Johnnie Walker has its place and purpose, but on the whole I find its range of blends to be obvious, and somewhat overstated (appealing for many). The Platinum is an exception. It’s bold and big, yes, but there’s also a depth to be plumbed. Candied cherries, nutty granola, and vanilla dance amongst dark chocolate crumbles and sparks of citrus and spice, with a fine smokiness, the traditional Scotch signature, playing a mellow music in the background. There aren’t too many blended whiskies of this class and complexity on our local market – so I’d consider Platinum a get-in-the-festive-mood go-to: something to “session” as you clink crystal tumblers with old mates, and regale each other with the highlights of your year.
South African – Three Ships 15YO Pinotage finish
I’m referencing this one as local, but let there be no misconception – this is a whisky that stands down to no other. It is quite simply world class. I was lucky enough to delve into some Pinotage experiments at the distillery about two to three years ago, and both the concept and the liquids intrigued and encouraged me hugely. They spoke of a day when “we” would make a truly South African whisky, so both in provenance and style, and a truly great one to boot. That day has now come. The whisky that has materialised is full and well balanced, with fruits, sweet spice, dusted nougat, and mineral loaminess appearing and then disappearing like well-choreographed actors on a stage. There’s peat smoke too, flitting around the edges of tongue and palate, clearly polished by a decade and half in wood, but still in burnished evidence. Spend some time with this one. It reveals more and more as you nurture it, the wine only showing itself directly to me when I nosed my emptied glass. The whisky was finished in twelve Pinotage barrels for about two years, which makes it unusual in two senses: it’s the only mainstream (if not the only, period) release to have used this type of cask, and it’s one of a very few blended whiskies to have been either double matured or finished – so I’ll suggest that it’s a blend that’s been crafted with a level of attention, care and passion typically afforded only to single malts. You’ll note from the number of casks I mentioned that supply is finite; only 3500 bottles are available, so don’t dawdle. Stake your claim to a piece of whisky history whilst you can.
As it appeared – p1.
As it appeared – p2.
The Indy 