Whisky Grapevine

Thought it would be fun to round up some monthly observations from the public TTB label-approval registry (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in the US). This is a public registry that shows label approvals for spirits to be sold in the USA. An approval is no guarantee that it will eventually be sold in the US and sometimes labels change or are missing final information such as age and cask no. However, sometimes you get a glimpse of what's to come several months ahead of release date.

June offers several interesting labels, not least of which is William Grant & Sons, including an official 40-year-old release from the closed Ladyburn Distillery. The 40% ABV might disappoint some though. Kininvie 23-year-old Batch 002 looks destined for the US as expected. Batch 001 was a Taiwan-exclusive but found its way to European auction sites quickly. It remains to be seen if Europe will be left out again and has to wait for it to hit the secondhand market. A 25-year-old single barrel Balvenie and the 26-year-old Glenfiddich Excellence are among other approved labels from William Grant & Sons.

A whole slew of independent bottle releases from Berry Bros. & Rudd has been approved. Fun to see more independents on the US shelves. Among the more interesting ones:; a Littlemill from 1992, a 1995 Caperdonich and a 1974 Glenlivet.

Looks like Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has gotten approval for a single malt from Ireland (most likely distillery number 117). If the society is allowed to import Irish releases, why not Japanese? Since there seems to be some issues with whisky produced in one country and bottled in another.

Official distillery bottles from the rarely seen Speyside Distillery (the distillery with the same name as the region) seem to be on their way.

Those were just a handful of the bottle labels approved this past month that caught my eye.

Whisky Reading

A bad cold put my whisky reviewing into a grinding halt for the last month or so, but it did at least give me an opportunity to catch up on some reading. I’ve recently read three whisky-related books that I can recommend.

I was very excited to grab a copy of “The Science and Commerce of Whisky” by Ian Buxton and Paul S. Hughes [1]. Coffee table-style books about whisky are plentiful but more technical books or textbooks aimed at people that actually study chemistry and distilling are rare. Although I lack the background to really grasp the chemical aspects of distilling and maturation of whisky, I found that the book still offered a wealth of information for a layman and enthusiast like me. Each chapter is jam-packed with information but still well-written. Compared to the previous reference text on whisky making, “Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing” edited by Inge Russell [2], I find Buxton and Hugh’s book more approachable and easier to read. After reading this, I was tempted enough to pick up a textbook on organic chemistry, just to get a better understanding of the more technical chapters of the book.

Dave Broom’s new book I pre-ordered without knowing anything about it. I’ve found Mr. Broom very entertaining at other occasions and with a title such as “The Manual” [3], what could go wrong? To my surprise when I got a hold of the book, Mr. Broom has decided to educate us on how to drink whisky mixed with soda, ginger ale, and even coconut water and green tea. Just the thought of diluting your precious single malt with something other than water makes some whisky drinkers see red. Not discouraged, I dove right in and found Broom’s book to be very entertaining. It starts out with the almost obligatory whisky history chapter. Very informative as expected but also with a focus on how whisky has been enjoyed throughout history. What then follows is Mr. Broom’s guide on how to enjoy whisky. A multitude of whisk(e)ys are presented with a description and rating on what the whisk(e)y mixes well with. I must say I’m instantly intrigued and can not wait to try out some of the recommendations. The book ends with a chapter on cocktails.

The last book I finished was “MacLean’s Miscellany of Whisky” by Charles MacLean [4]. It’s a collection of essays on anything between heaven and earth related to whisky. This is a nice book to read while enjoying your favorite dram in front of your fireplace. Informative but most of all entertaining. The essays vary in length but most of them are pretty short, which makes it easy to pick up this book and just read a chapter at random when time allows. It also contains many illustrations from the era.

[1] Ian Buxton and Paul Hughes, The Science and Commerce of Whisky, ISBN: 978-1-84973-150-8, Royal Society of Chemistry (2014)

[2] Inge Russell et al, Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing (Handbook of alcoholic beverages), ISBN: 978-0-12669-202-0, Academic Press; 1 edition (August 28, 2003)

[3] Dave Broom, Whisky: The Manual, ISBN: 978-1-84533-755-1, Mitchell Beazley (Octopus books) (2014)

[4] Charles MacLean, MacLean’s Miscellany of Whisky, ISBN 978-1-906251-42-0, Little Books Ltd (2010)