Scotch Roundup: August

While I had gotten quite interested in scotch back in college, with many thanks to my roommates most notably for their encouragement, I had not really built up much of a scotch collection after moving to Boston.  More recently, my visit to Jack Rose in DC had rekindled my interest in scotch.  Having remembered a friend back in St. Louis giving me the recommendation of getting in touch with a fine fellow named Joe at Federal Wine and Spirits for all things regarding scotch in Boston, I sent off an email and was quite pleased to learn about a monthly scotch tasting program there.

Perhaps I should not have been too surprised, but upon my arrival a couple minutes late, I was told that the tasting session had become quite full with an excess of attendees.  Fortunately, an impromptu tasting had been spontaneously scheduled for later in the evening since there were a number of us who could not get in.  Thus, after a bit of a wait, we were rewarded with a tasting of five scotches from the collection of independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail.  My tasting notes in summary:

 

Gordon & MacPhail in the cellar at Federal W&S

• Connoisseur's Choice: Littlemill 1991, bottled 2007
  Savory malts, fennel seed and other spices, dried orange peel, chicory, very peppery, apples
• Benromach 10 year
  *Distilled from peated barley at a Speyside distillery owned by G&M; aged in both bourbon and sherry casks that are then blended and married in oloroso casks for a final year
  Sweeter toffee, a hint of peaty smoke but without the brine, mulled wine, spiced cake, candied oranges, dried fruit
• Connoisseur's Choice Glenesk 1984, 20 year
  Pears, cooked apples, banana, full of fruit, heather, honey, warming spices
• Macphail 25 year
  Honey, nuts, very buttery, smooth and mellow, nectarines, sandalwood
• Mortlach Cask Strength 1993
  Lemons, heavily spiced, Sichuan peppercorns, oak, grapefruit, gingerbread, challah

In addition to these 5 lovely scotches, the visit to Federal also gave me a chance to pick up a scotch for my own home collection.  While I would have liked to pick up one of those featured in the tasting, they were all sold out by the time I came around.  They were also out of the Ardbeg Uigeadail that I was interested in.  Instead, Joe introduced me to a bottle of Murray McDavid Laphroaig 1998 11 year, aged in Château Pétrus casks from one of the most prized estates of Pomerol, Bordeaux.  The aging in former red wine casks certain gives it a very distinct wine-like character, not to mention a pinkish color.  At first, toasty malts with a touch of smoke, but that develops into citrus peels, cherries, blackcurrants, and strawberry shortcake.  Its certainly on the sweeter side of scotches with the merlot heritage shining through, but it does not ever lose balance.  Extremely tasty, eminently balanced, and too easily quaffed as a nightcap.

Murray McDavid Laphroaig 1998 11 year

L'Entente Cordiale

A few weeks month* ago happened to be not only Bastille Day, but also the First Night of the Proms two days in a row.  Thus, in order to celebrate the occasion, I threw a little bash with a Franco-Anglo theme.

Invitation

 I must thank Felicia immensely for her wonderful artwork and the effort she put into designing both the invitation seen above and the menu seen below.  For the invitation, I had simply asked for something along the lines of Alphonse Mucha's recognizable art nouveau style.  Since Mucha invariably had female figures in his posters, I suggested Britannia and Marianne as symbolic figures.

Menu front

Menu back

As is obvious on the menu, half the drinks were inspired by the Union Jack and the other half by the Tricolore.  There are number of classic cocktails on the menu, including the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Lion's Tail, English Rose, Blue Train Special, Absinthe Frappé, Boulevardier, Vermouth Cassis and the French 75.  In addition, I included a couple drinks from the local bar scene: the Parisian Orchid from Green Street and the Thames River (which I misremembered as the River Thames when writing my menu) from Fred at cocktail virgin slut.  Lastly a couple drinks are variations of my own.

The cucumber gimlet is an idea that I've seen floating all over the place, but I think my method is slightly unique.  To be more correct in my nomenclature, the drink is rather a sweetened rickey rather than a gimlet.  At the time I wrote the menu, my intention was to use cucumber juice to make a syrup to sweeten the fresh lime juice in a gimlet rather than using Rose's lime cordial.  However, I drifted away from this idea in favor of making a cucumber-infused soda because I wanted more subtlety.  The soda was made by first shredding a whole cucumber and letting it steep for 4 hours in 1 L of water.  Then, I transferred this cucumber flavored water into my iSi soda siphon along with 4 thin wedges of cucumber, seed removed.  I proceeded to carbonate, borrowing a trick seen at Clio and Drink of flash infusing the liquid inside.  The resultant soda had a noticeable cucumber taste, but one that was more subtle and fragrant.  This flavor was not lost when used in the rickey, and provided a refreshing, herbaceous background that flitted in between the gin and lime.

The second original drink on the menu is the Stone of Scone, named after the legendary Scottish stone upon which the monarchs of Britain are crowned.  As should be obvious from the name, the drink uses scotch as a base.  I was thinking about the use of tea in a number of punches and cocktails, and while the tea is usually brewed separately as an ingredient or turned into a syrup, I wanted to use tea without the dilution.  Thus, I decided to infuse the scotch with tea, using Earl Grey in particular because I wanted the rich citrus fragrance of bergamot in addition to the tannic tea.  For the infusion, I used 4 Earl Grey teabags in 2 cups of scotch and allowed it to infuse for 2 hours.

To balance the tannins and the scotch, I added lemon juice to the mix.  During this thought process, I also saw a guest post in cocktail virgin slut about damson gin.  I rather like the idea of damson gin and was about to start from scratch to make a cocktail featuring it instead of scotch, but I was sadly unable to procure a bottle in time, so I found the next best thing to be Japanese plum wine.  As the plum wine is quite sweet already, only a dash more grenadine was needed to round it out.  I also used a dash each of Angostura and orange bitters.  Lastly, the Famous Grouse I used for the infusion was not smoky enough for my tastes, so I decided to rinse the glass with a bit of Bowmore, the only Islay I had on hand.

Stone of Scone
2 oz Earl Grey-infused scotch
3/4 oz plum wine
1/2 oz lemon juice
Dash grenadine
Dash Angostura bitters
Dash orange bitters
Shake and strain into a glass rinsed with an Islay scotch. Lemon twist.

Stone of Scone

 As for the name, there's an extra bit of wordplay.  The stone is so named because it was kept at Scone Abbey in the village of Scone near Perth.  However, the word scone is also often associated with afternoon tea.  Pronounced differently despite the identical spelling, perhaps, but I thought the idea of Earl Grey and plums also hearkened of afternoon tea.  The next step would be to somehow incorporate some clotted cream..

Whistler/Vancouver

 If only there were no high-voltage transmission lines..

I would rather not bore you with all the quotidian details.  Suffice it to say, weather was lovely for refreshing constitutionals and the scenery most charming.  Aside from the sunshine, coastal breeze, montane air and abundant verdancy, the comestibles have been delightful.  A quick summary of particularly noteworthy nosh follows:

• Nita Lake Lodge charcuterie, Caprese salad with balsamic sorbet, and roasted pheasant with potatoes au gratin (Alta Bistro, Whistler)
• Steamed mussels with coconut, lime and white wine; venison with mushrooms and spatzle (RimRock Cafe, Whistler)
• Late night snack: Nostrala raw cows' milk cheese from Kootenay Alpine Cheese Co. and venison prosciutto from Oyama Sausage Co. on Granville Island paired with Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Valley merlot 2009
• Local cherries and blueberries from the farmers' market; wild blackberries picked at a scenic overlook off the Sea to Sky highway

Abundance of fruit at the Granville Public Market

• Food truck hopping: Okonomi dog at Japadog and Korean short rib taco at Roaming Dragon
• Beard Papa! (nostalgically reminds me of Taipei)
• Takoyaki, seared marinated ahi tuna steak, grilled beef tongue, yaki udon, and stewed pork belly at Guu Garlic 
  

Takoyaki at Guu Garlic

• Miso ramen at Benkei
• Dim sum at Good Choice including some very good congee, har gow, pea shoots, fupi juan and dan ta.  The dan ta were so good in fact that we ended up tripling our initial order after having relished the first.

While I was unable to try any of the cocktail bars in Vancouver for one reason or another, the trip was marked by a significant consumption of local wine from BC's Okanagan Valley.  I certainly was not really aware that BC had a wine growing region, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.  Other than the Jackson-Triggs mentioned above, a couple favorites:

• Cassini Pinot Noir 2008: strawberries, cherries, floral hints of violet or lavender, earthiness of damp loam lurking, silky tannins, but noticeably still a bit young, would definitely improve with a couple years of age
• Cedar Creek Merlot 2008: lots of ripe blackberries, blackcurrant jam, round and satiny, chocolate covered cherries, the type with a bit of kirsch, touch of warm wood sitting by a fire to dry

Sad to have missed many things including cocktails, oysters and sashimi, but that simply means that I'll have to return in the future.  The climate definitely suits me.

UBC Rose Garden looking across the Strait of Georgia

Restless

I, upon waking,
felt overwhelming ennui.
Bow tie, salvation.

Government work, Part II

The next day, we decided to head up to the Adams Morgan area to visit Jack Rose, a new bar that had just opened a couple weeks before.  Having read about it on UrbanDaddy as a "library of whiskey," I was quite intrigued.  As we walked closer, however, I immediately noticed a line that had formed in front of the establishment, with the people standing in line dressed as if to go clubbing.  This sight gave me significant consternation and other feelings of foreboding.  Good whiskey and club are not words that are commonly associated.

Thankfully, we discovered upon reaching the door that the line was for the rooftop bar, and that there was no line for the main bar downstairs.  Later we learned that the ground floor bar had only just opened for service a couple days prior, and there was a general feeling of being unfinished around the edges.  However, the description of the place as a "library of whiskey" is not far from the truth, and not just any library.  The Library of Congress and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault come to mind, any available wall space in the rather large room was covered in shelves stocking whisk(e)y.  Purportedly, there were close to 500 bottles of rye and bourbon, and twice that of scotch.  We were lucky to snag a nice booth in the far corner with a semicircular banquette, and we had arrived just in time as the bar soon began to fill with those people outside who decided that having a drink inside beat waiting in line.

 Many whiskies adorn the walls of Jack Rose

There did not seem to be service at our table, so we went over to the bar to order drinks.  One difficulty with such a large selection of whiskey is curating it and presenting the list in some comprehensible form.  In this department, Jack Rose needed work as there was no list.  Thus, ordering a dram depended on what labels one could read and what labels one can remember offhand.  For my first drink, I wanted something to ease into as I had not had much scotch in some time.  I ended up getting the Glenkinchie 12, as the distillery is one that I had heard of, but never tried before.  This whisky came across with a lot of heather, honey and nuts; it was good, but nothing fantastic.

As some in my group had been before, they caught the attention of Rachel, the beverage director, and Bill, the proprietor.  Both of them were rather amiable despite the increasingly hectic atmosphere as more patrons filled the bar.  After being introduced, Bill asked what my pleasure was, and I joked that being a Tennessean, born and raised, I had to have certain loyalties.  This quip turned out to be quite fortuitous as he mentioned that he was about to open and try a bottle of George Dickel 10 year old special barrel reserve with another patron and that he would pour me a taste as well.  In addition to notes of corn, oak and straw that I expect from George Dickel, there was also strong hints of sugarcane and banana.  It ended up being a particularly special treat as I have since learned that this expression of George Dickel is no longer bottled.

My next dram was Abelour A'bunadh, another whisky that I had heard of before, but which I have never tried.  This one also came with both Carlos' and Rachel's recommendations.  Despite being a whisky that is certainly on the sweeter side, it definitely had far more depth and intensity than the Glenkinchie.  Full of caramel, chocolate sauce, dates, raisins, PX sherry, but put into frame with strong spice on the tongue.  Unfortunately, I did not catch which bottling of the A'bunadh it was, as bottlings can vary in taste quite distinctly.

In the mean time, Arthur and Casie started with Yamazaki 12, but then moved into cocktail territory.  Clare also stuck with cocktails, including the namesake Jack Rose.  Of what I tasted of the cocktails, I would personally stick to the whiskies.  Whereas the quality of cocktail served was not bad, it was nothing extraordinary, unlike the multitude of whiskies from which to choose.  Carlos, on the other hand, drank only scotches, like me.  However, his tastes led him to the smokier end of the spectrum, getting the Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990 first and the Ardbeg Corryvreckan second.  The Airigh Nam Beist was simply superb, one of the best whiskies I think I have thus far tasted.  At first, the nose brought iodine, peat and the idea of a Norse funeral.  However, the taste was quite balanced for an Islay.  Smokey peat was there, but subsumed by the symphony of other flavors: velvety cashew butter, tart apples, salted toffee, coffee, lavender and black pepper.  On the other hand, the Corryvreckan struck me as tasting exactly like burnt toast, maybe spread with a bit of Nutella, but thoroughly burnt nonetheless.

By the end of the night, as the bar was clearing out, Carlos and I both got half pours of the Bunnahabhain 12 and the Bunnahabhain Heavily Peated Unchillfiltered Signatory 1997.  Trying the 12 first, I was struck by how extremely slight the presence of peat is, despite Bunnahabhain being an Islay distillery.  Instead, I tasted a lot of dried grass, papaya and other tropical fruit.  The contrast was even more notable after sipping the Heavily Peated, which tasted more similar to what I have come to expect from Islay whiskies.  The latter was characterized by roasted nuts, seaside driftwood, throwing wet hay on a campfire, burnt toffee.

Bunnahabhain Heavily Peated Unchillfiltered Signatory 1997

Bill was a great host, and it was truly wonderful to try some of these delicious and rare whiskies.  Of the ones we tried, I believe the Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, the George Dickel 10 year Special Reserve and the Bunnahabhain Heavily Peated Signatory are no longer bottled expressions.  There were a few snags in service, slowness and bartenders who are not thoroughly educated on the offerings, the latter problem exacerbated by the lack of a menu or list.  The slowness seemed to be caused by unfamiliarity on the one hand and only one cashier terminal with which to do all the monetary transactions.  Hopefully, both issues will be resolved soon as I would love to return next time I am in DC.

Government work, Part I

A couple weekends ago, I went down to DC for one of my frequent trips to visit my parents.  Ever since they have partially moved to DC this year, it is much easier to visit them as airfare between Boston and DC is relatively inexpensive and convenient.  Although this time, the flight down proved to be somewhat of a pain since thunderstorms in the DC area led to one flight cancellation and numerous delays.  Sadly, I was planning on having dinner with my parents, but the delays meant that that was not to be.  Instead, I had to grab a quick dinner at the Legal Test Kitchen next to the gate.  In hindsight, it did not need to be quick, as more delays soon followed.  In any case, with my dinner of a scallop and shrimp topped gumbo, I ordered a martini and specified 4:1, stirred, lemon twist.  What I got was a glass of cold gin with very little, if any vermouth, and it was shaken.  As my confidence in the bartender was similarly shaken as a consequence, I finished dinner with a dram of scotch neat and went back to waiting gate-side until we finally commenced boarding.

A couple hours later, the plane lands at DCA, but we sit on the tarmac for a good 20 or so minutes because apparently there were no open gates for us to debark.  By this point, the flight has not only ruined dinner, but became very close to ruining a reservation to go drinking as well.  Thus, as soon as we finally pulled into a gate, I ran off straight to the Metro to catch a train up to Columbia Room.  I arrived a few minutes late much to my dismay, but thankfully, I had not missed too much.

First off, you may be wondering why I was in such a hurry to make it to the bar on time.  Granted, I generally do not like to keep people waiting for me regardless of where I am meeting them.  However, in this case, being punctual was not simply a courtesy towards friends.  To better understand, allow me to explain what Columbia Room is.  Unlike most bars where one can walk up and take a seat at one's leisure, Columbia Room requires a reservation at a specific time for a specific number of guests.  Not only is the reservation to guarantee a seat at the bar, but also represents a commitment to a prix fixe tasting menu that consists of a trio of beverages and an amuse bouche alongside.

Upon arriving, I could see why such a policy exists.  I had been to Passenger, the watering hole within which Columbia Room resides, before, but I had not been to Columbia Room itself before.  After fumbling for a moment before knocking on the correct unmarked door, I was ushered into the antechamber of the speakeasy.  I was amiably greeted by the host, who checked my name off of the reservation ledger set upon the side table in the small, dimly lit room that felt in some ways like a parlor given the decor.  Off to the left was a private powder room separate from the facilities for Passenger, where I quickly freshened up from my journey.  Within the door to the right was the sanctum sanctorum, the bar itself.  Along one length of the oblong room was the bar with ten seats, and along the opposite wall was a raised banquette.  In some ways, it felt like a theater where the bartenders performed behind the stick and everyone else in the room faced this stage.

Joining my friends already seated at the bar, I was first presented with a cool, damp towel, an extremely welcome refresher given the heat of the day.  Small gestures such as this really elevated the experience above and beyond the ordinary.  Another example of seemingly trivial details was that the drinking water even had a hint of cucumber, thoroughly refreshing.  By the time I sat down, the bartender was already hard at work crafting a round of drinks.

The first drink we were served was the DCA to LAX, a light, punch-like tipple with Cocchi Americano, lemon juice, cane syrup, crème de mûre, prosecco and a blackberry garnish.  The name was even rather apropos as Arthur was to be moving out to the west coast in a week's time.  Certainly seasonal, I found it a touch sweet, and I felt that a bit of gin perhaps may have given it more balance for my palate.

Second, we were presented with a cocktail that contained Bulleit rye, acid phosphate, wild cherry soda, Bitter Truth aromatic bitters and an orange twist (the name for which I failed to write down).  Accompanying this drink was a small plate of roasted and candied peanuts with dried cherries.  Cherries were the direct link, but the pairing went beyond that as the crunchy, caramelized, slightly spicy and buttery snack complemented the cocktail well.  The use of acid phosphate in this drink also stimulated a conversation with one of the bartenders, Katie, over Darcy O'Neil's book, Fix the Pumps, and a  recent New York Times article on the subject.

The last drink of the night is not set, unlike the previous two, and gives both the customer and the bartender a chance to explore further.  Casie started things off by ordering a Martini upon Katie's recommendation.  Made with equal parts Tanqueray No. 10 and Dolin Dry with a dash of orange bitters and a lemon twist, this martini was infinitely better than the one I had in the airport just a few hours prior.  In addition to the unusual proportions of gin to vermouth, the other notable feature of this preparation was the use of a thermometer such that the drink is stirred to a temperature of no greater than 31ºF.

Next, Arthur requested something with applejack since he is a fan of the Jack Rose, and Katie obliged with a Pink Lady.  Quite similar to the Jack Rose with applejack, lemon and grenadine, the addition of Plymouth gin and the white of an egg rather changes the complexion of the cocktail.  It is drier without losing the fragrance of the applejack.  Carlos then challenged Katie to make him something with rum, which resulted in the Getaway: Cruzan Blackstrap, lemon juice, Cynar and cane sugar syrup.  The richness of the Blackstrap was nicely balanced by the other ingredients, and the combination with the Cynar brought out somewhat of a smokiness.

When I asked for bartender's choice with open-ended parameters, Katie quickly asked whether I was up for something funky, to which I replied in the affirmative.  Whether its a rhum agricole from Martinique or George Clinton's Parliament, I do love funk.  The drink that resulted was a Mezcal Old-Fashioned made with Los Nahuales Blanco, chai-infused maple syrup and Bitter Truth Aromatic, Grapefruit, and Celery bitters.  While I have had other mezcal old-fashioned cocktails before, the different bitters and unique sweetener resulted in a novel experience.

Mezcal Old-Fashioned

Columbia Room was a pretty fantastic experience.  Small, quiet and intimate, this bar is one for serious tippling.  However, the gravitas therein did not obscure the camaraderie.  Katie, PJ and the other bartender whose name I did not catch were all very hospitable, and we all had a great time drinking and chatting.  Perhaps because we were seated in the very center of the bar, or perhaps because we were among the last people there at the end of the night, but I felt like we were spoiled with the amount of attention that we received.  My one complaint is that it is not cheap, but as with fine dining, one pays just as much for the atmosphere and service as one pays for the quality of food or drink.

Overcoming sickness

As some of you may know, I was stricken down with some nonsense midsummer's illness for a couple weeks in June that really put me out of commission.  After my initial fever subsided, I was still struggling with a particularly bad sore throat and persistent coughing, which still bugs me a little even now.  Since benzonatate, codeine, pseudoephedrine and guaifenesin failed to really help, I turned to home remedies: salt water gargles, hot tea and Chinese loquat syrup.  Oh right, and a touch of bourbon.

For instance, adding a touch of bourbon to Korean yujacha (citron tea) was quite soothing for my sore throat.  However, as my cough became the biggest issue, I decided to ratchet up the intensity a bit.  First, I made a Frisco Sour, but I quickly realized that my taste buds were shot, making the Benedictine taste quite bizarre.

Frisco Sour

2 oz rye

1 oz Benedictine

3/4 oz lemon juice

Next, I decided to just focus on therapy, combining bourbon, lemon juice and honey to get what I euphemistically called my cough medicine for a few days.  You'll note in the picture below that its not too dissimilar in appearance to the Frisco Sour above.  Having tasted it again after having recovered, its actually quite overpowering.  Note that I didn't dilute the honey at all.  However, when sick, it didn't taste too bad and actually let me sleep for a bit before it wore off and the coughing started again.

Cough Medicine

2 oz bourbon

2 oz 1:1 syrup of lemon juice and honey

Happily, despite my lingering cough, I can sleep fully and taste properly again.  Moreover, for me, this impromptu cough medicine worked better than the prescription codeine, so I might as well save it in my back pocket for future ailments.