Daily Dram #2 Kilchoman Sherry Cask 46%.
In honor of the Gentleman behind the table my daily dram for Monday, February 25 is Kilchoman Sherry Cask (Read on below to figure out what the heck I'm talking about?).
On the nose this whisky starts with a smooth velvety smoke. There is a lovely hit of heat like cinnamon heart candies and then sweet spices and nutty like banana bread fresh out of the oven.
The peat smoke is obvious on the palate with cloves and mace. The cinnamon appears again in the back corners with chewy mouth feel and a medium to long finish. I love the belly warming that comes with this dram, which is why I originally wrote about it in What to Drink for the Next 7-8 Months! Cold Weather Drams! Enjoy!
People: on both sides of whisky
The people of this world fascinate me for a variety of
reasons. Christmas tradition among my father, brother and I used to consist of
heading to the local shopping mall on Christmas Eve, grabbing a hot beverage
and watching the madness of extreme last minute shopping unfold in front of us
while stress and time constraint expose the best and worst of people’s
personalities. Weirdo watching at its best! A sadistic tradition you say? I
would agree, but a tradition nonetheless.
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| Beautiful Victoria Harbour, Victoria, BC |
Fast forward to our post Xmas trip to the Victoria Whisky
Festival and am presented with a weirdo watching extravaganza as people come
together with a common interest! Whisky you say? No, expressing their common
distain for the apparently outlandish, self-indulged, and controlling behavior
of Jim Murray. There I said it, but that’s not exactly the purpose of this
post. You see, although I don’t buy into the rock star hype, I can sort of
understand it. I can see how anyone who had had the stones to entitle their book
“Bible” on any topic might easily make the self proclaimed leap to God or at
least Moses and in turn issue commandments: “Thow shall warm thy cup close to
thy chest.” I should also mention that although I heard a lot of rumbling,
screeching, etc… I didn’t actually have the pleasure (or displeasure) to meet
the man formally or be in some way insulted by him. So, until that day comes
I’ll simply listen to Johanne tell her story (although I did see a TV interview
with him where he described the Glencairn nosing glass as being mostly useless
except that the large solid crystal base could be well used as a bludgeoning
tool).
The sad side of this little tale is that jackassery is not
limited to superstars. The great part of attending this type of event is the
honor and pleasure to meet so many wonderfully kind, friendly and intelligent
people! As I have written before, I have a special little spot for the whiskies
of Kilchoman Distillery and it was a great pleasure to meet Anthony Wills, the
driving force behind Kilchoman’s birth and success. For those who have not had
the pleasure, The impression I got was Anthony Wills is a very tall, modestly
spoken individual who seems to quietly gush with pride for what he is a part of
at Kilchoman. In the animal world he might be a giraffe…wearing tartan trews
(as oppose one of those loud, bare-arsed baboons… err, wearing a fedora; I
digress...).
What happened next I still can’t quite wrap my head around,
but while the three of us were engaged in conversation a man approached from
the side and leaned in. The table was adequately staffed with two others
pouring and there was no line up. When he realized that we were not
ready to give up our conversation he reached out and wrapped the base of his
glass on the rim of the bottle in the hand of Anthony Wills and then thrust his
glass forward looking for a pour. The three of us stopped talking, looked at
one another and blinked, then turned our heads in unison to look at the
obviously parched man. Not missing a beat Mr. Wills poured him an ample serving
and carried on with our conversation obviously electing not to dignify poor
behavior with a response, a true Gentleman. All the while the man went on his way without a thank you.
I’m ranting, I know. The point of all of this is not to single
out one well known personality. Rather it is call attention to the fact that
for all the inappropriate behavior that gets put under the spotlight for
someone like Jim Murray there are 10 others who are simply rude without the celebrity.
“Whisky Snobbery” is alive and well but it doesn’t need to be. Just because you
bought a ticket doesn’t give you entitlement. Just because you have “X” number
of bottles in your collection doesn’t make you better, smarter, more important
then the next person. Whisky is just a beverage. Yes its often-steeped in lore,
history and tradition but so is tea. Whisky is meant to be shared and enjoyed,
examined and assessed, but still for our enjoyment. Have fun with it; share your
knowledge and enthusiasm if you like, but why be rude?
The light at the end of the tunnel is that for every 10 of
those jackasses there are a hundreds or more who want nothing more than to
share a dram, celebrate and enjoy. The Victoria Whisky Festival is a premier event I would
recommend to any and everyone. The people were warm, welcoming, enthusiastic
and very knowledgeable; and the people make the event.
Speaking of people. The funniest thing of all was that despite
what people were saying in the crowds at the festival, Jim Murray turned out to
be absolutely correct. The solid crystal base of the Glencairn does make an
excellent striking tool, the guy at the Kilchoman table proved it! Sláinte!
LOL! Wonderful post, Graham (aka "Metal Man"). Since I've been doing gigs behind the table pouring Gordon & MacPhail I can relate 100% and add a few such tales of my own. Like the large number of people people who come up to the table and don't want to hear about the whisky - but demand "pour me the oldest one". Never mind whether its the best one - or the one that might fit their palate. One particular evening there was a bottle of Glenrothes 30 on the table. However the highlight of the array, from a flavor perspective happened to be a 1998 Mortlach Cask Strength - that turned richly milky and brown with a drop of water. The sudden non-chill-filtered transformation the amber dram into chocolate milk with a few drops of water was a crowd pleaser: a bit of whisky theater. And the dram itself was stunning in its richness, freshness, and amazing complexity. A certain young gentle man came by, but retreated when I attempted to serve him. A few moments later a crowd had gathered for the Mortlach cloud show at the other end of the table. As I was thus occupied, the shy young man boldly grabbed the Glenrothes 30 and glugged his glencairn absolutely full - to the brim and rapidly retreat again into the crowd. A hoggish and utterly preposterous thing to do (no way to enjoy or nose such a pour - let alone the fact that the bottle was for the event's audience to share). What could I do but hold my tongue and wonder. He just wanted a lot of some old and expensive whisky to feel like he had gotten more than his money's worth for the evening. This kind of thing is quite common in my experience. But for every fool or glutton there are ten more who are actually curious, warm friendly and engaged. I live for those kind of people and they are the standout majority. Whisky people are humans with the full spectrum of human variability - but the majority are extraordinarily good people. That's a big part of this stuff's allure for me.
ReplyDeleteJosh...this post is one small element of a larger conversation I have been chewing on since November. This conversation I keep having in my head is about the disconnect that often happens in that space over the table at whisky shows. In my general experience the "People of the Whisky Industry" are remarkable, friendly, open and welcoming (as are a most whisky fans). That being said, the whisky snobs and free booze hogs leave such a terrible taste. This has been a progressive theme that has been advancing the deeper we go down the rabbit hole and I suspect will culminate as I take on a similar role as you. I will be on the pouring side of the table for a company that represents Morrison Bowmore here in eastern Canada at the Halifax Celebrate Whisky Festival at the end of March. I am excited but also treating it as a bit of a social experiment along this theme and will be blogging about it afterward.
ReplyDeleteI'm not naive, it takes all kinds, I know there are people like this everywhere and in every type of common interest social group. I'm just fascinated with how people behave (I should have been a sociologist or psychologist) and whisky is my passion so the two often collide in my world.
On a completely different note: I love those two drams you spoke of! I still have a bottle of the G&M Glenrothes 30 in our collection and have had the Mortlach. I was actually at a Mortlach vertical At G&M in Elgin a few years ago and feel in love with that distillery! A dram from each decade from the 30's-60's plus a 15 and 20yo...
Thanks as always for your feed back Josh!