Raise a Glass

Aberlour

From: Aberlour, Speyside

Age: 16 years

Cost: $70

43% Alc./Vol.

'onemalt' Rating: 7/10

"People were buying cigarettes before Freud was born" and Don Draper was drinking scotch when he was ten. Mad Men is back and so is the 'onemalt' scotch blog. Madison Avenue's top ad men are back on the scene and the season promises to be more scintillating than ever.

That being said, it is required that we choose the proper scotch to toast the occasion. This time, I chose from the top shelf: The Aberlour 16. A rolling smoky cheek and a comfortable rich flavor envelopes the mouth. The Speyside Scotch classic salutes the man who swigs the swill with the best of men. May he make the devil himself sell his soul!

As we begin a new season of wine and sin, raise your amber glass and indulge.

Palates Welcome,

CH/AZ

Romantic Advice

Glen Moray

From: Scotland, Elgin

Age: 12 years

Cost: $36

40% Alc./Vol.

'onemalt' Rating: 6/10

For the Glen Moray Speyside 12 year, I am not fooled. This sweet scotch slowly kindles a warming sensation in your chest, not the burn of a Ardbeg style scotch. This, to me, is light scotch. Paired well with a candle-lit meal, it's sweetness begs a salty counter part. I am partial to lightly oiled, dry roasted peanuts myself.

When one's heart overflows with honey, sometimes the experience can be sickly sweet. Just like valentines day come and gone, the extravagance and romanticism of one evening can sour the rest of the relationship. Not due to any fault of his/her own but due to an overabundance of quixotic euphoria.

I'm just saying... as a romantic, don't enshrine yourself by your first impression. Reveal your deeper layers and notes as the relationship progresses. Don't make the mistake of the Glen Moray and out do yourself. Save some sweet lovin' for later.

In Romance: Palates Welcome,

CH/AZ

The Young and Restless

Wasmund's Single Malt Whisky

From: Sperryville, Virginia

Age: between four and thirty-six months

Cost: $36

48% Alc./Vol.

'onemalt' Rating: 6.5/10

When you are young, the world is an open chayote squash in your hands. Old man mouth is not on your mind. Instead, you chase impulses and throw caution to the wind. At 4 am, you fall asleep on your friend's couch, with only your pea-coat to keep you warm. You make snow angels in your boxers during the first snowfall of the year. You are footloose and fancy free!

The Copper Fox is stunningly young. This Virginia based distillery has had its grain floors malting for only 6 years! Is it enough time for a single malt to season? Yes! Part-owner and distiller, Steve, tells us that the secret is in the apple-wood aging. The sweet flavors of local apple trees house the whisky as it distills from four to thirty-six months. Currently, Copper Fox is working on releasing a 5 year batch. You can't start a single malt whisky distillery overnight you know...

For me, the flavors are young and ravishing. Fairly shallow but suggestive of a deeper body. It is warm and pleasing to the tongue, leaving a light tingle and warmth. The apple-wood flavors are sweet and floral. Enjoyable on the superficial level, however, it is lacking some key depth to elderly and more traditional single-malts. Not the hot-peaty mess we are used to.

Many times in life, you are expected to know what to do or how to act. When you are young, you are given the chance to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes so you don't make them when you are 'older and wiser'.

In my experience, I recommend you make mistakes for a lifetime.

Palates Welcome,

CH/AZ

With A Note of Sentimentalism

Caol Ila

From: Scotland, Islay

Age: 12 Years

Cost: $46

43% Alc./Vol.

'onemalt' Rating: 6.5/10

It is the New Year. The boxes from Christmas and Hanukkah are packed away, New Years resolutions are already being broken, and you can't wait to open that new 12 year bottle of scotch that you received for the holidays. Although tomorrow will be 9 degree Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius for our rambling readers), warmth is still to be found! And an essence of nostalgia seems to be a growing in my writing style .

On the love of scotch and noble things, early January is a time to ruminate on the self. What is in store for me this coming year? Where will I be tomorrow? Who do I want to be this year? Perhaps most importantly: How did I get here? Thoughts as these have brought me to a point of reflection in my glass of light amber liquor:

Sentimentalism:

Forging deep emotional bonds

on contact

to animate and inanimate objects

Living life in the past

constantly.

You carry your memory on your back

You carry a heavy burden.

Willingly, with great joy.

Sentimental for yesterday, yestermonth,

yesteryear.

Attempting to recreate the past

in the present.

Quixotic, fool-hearty, Romantic.

You tilt at windmills.

Anticipation for the future baffles you

love baffles you

You write the script to your own life

and forget the words

Curiosity of your eulogy pulls you forward

and in that

You are nostalgic for tomorrow.

Next stop, nine-forty,

New York City

Palates Welcome,

CH/AZ

Whisky or Nothin at all...

I learned a valuable drinking lesson the other night.  Currently, I am on the road in New Zealand situated in New Zealand's sunshine capital.  The city of  Nelson is a bay town resting on the Northern coast of New Zealand's South Island.  The region is known more for its beers and wineries but imported scotch whisky can  be found in most local bars/liquor outlets.

The climate here is warm and perhaps because of this many of the drinks downtown tend to be on the sweeter side. Cider is more popular than beer and chalk board drink specials exist without shots of Tequila or Rum and Coke.   Beware drink names that sound like Arnold Swartzenegger films 'Grenade',Tropical Bliss, Punchy' are to be avoided no matter how alluring the price is.  Unfortunately, I learned my lesson the hard way.  I slurpped down my 'No Prinsoner'  thingy with melancholy, longing for the hard smoky taste of a Laguvilin or the brisk caress of my beloved Oban.

I sat at the bar feeling a little dissatisfied with my self and I am now convinced that when drinking alcoholic beverages you should always do so with palate NOT wallet in mind.  I just don't understand drinking things that are colored like flowers, rainbows, and bubblegum.  The drinks I prefer and continue to appreciate are not meant to be hidden behind 'cherry liqueur, this' or 'syrup flavored, that.'    Appreciate the scientific end product of a good beer, wine or wiskey straight up as it was meant to be consumed.  Do not dilute, infuse, or corrupt your beverage as a marketing ploy. As a whisky loving, French friend of mine has said: "Whisky or nothing at all..." She is absolutely correct my friends.

Palates Welcome

ZA/CH