Lassie's top 12 countdown of 2016 - Number 5, well worth the hype?!

After seeing Rogue One last week, I have to admit I wasn't overly impressed. Cue diving into the camera in slow motion while massive explosions go on, cue the sappy heart string music when Jyn's father dies in her arms. Well, at least she got 10 seconds with him after not seeing him in 16 years. Bla bla bla... Hollywood has ruined so many movies for me these last few years.

Many whisky enthusiasts will tell you that Marketing bullshit was likely just as rampant in 2016. In some cases I would say they were well justified so when Diageo came out with Lagavulin 8 for the 200th anniversary of the distillery, I'm sure a few people rolled their eyes as the marketing team gushed how Alfred Barnard had enjoyed an "exceptional 8 year old" back in 1880 something or other. Of course, others immediately started to complain about the price as well. Me, well... I'm about trying it at least and then making my decision on whether or not what is inside the bottle is worth the money. But, that's me ;)

I landed in London on April 22nd and went directly to my "big brother" Dave's house. After a short nap, a huge feast thanks to Kiat (MY GOD THAT WOMAN CAN COOK!?!), we settled in for a few drams, a proper catch up and a game plan for the next couple of days. When Dave asked what whiskies I wanted to ensure I bring home, first on my list to try and then buy if I liked it was the Lagavulin 8. Try and buy I DID! I didn't open it until June, after I got home where we brought it down to the boat. It was gone by August 1st. IT IS... that good. I want you to also consider the fact that we don't usually drink peated whiskies in the summer either.

Lagavulin 8 year old, 200th anniversary edition bottled at 48% ABV. 

Colour: Barely there, wisp of yellow

Nose: Delicate but the style of Lagavulin is there. More soft on the vanilla and hardly any cereal notes. The peat is not overly aggressive (that was my fear). After it sits in the glass for a few minutes, unripened pears or bananas. There's a bit of "green" in there but it's not unpleasant.

Palate: Alive! This is where the peat comes in. It's organic though, not overly smoky. It reminds me of a wet forest - damp earth and moss. A bit more time in the glass and it does become a bit more shortbread "cooky'ish".  Very nice, oily/buttery.

Finish: Eucalyptus, gingery with smoky overtones. Sweet, peat reek!  Lovely.

OF COURSE WITH LOBSTER!!

We made sure to share this with as many friends as we could over the 2 months we drank it and when it finally made its way to Canada in November, there was a lineup to get a bottle. Luckily, we got ours and it's now safely sitting in the collection. My only regret: Not getting 2, because here in my province it's already all gone....


Highly recommend getting a bottle of this if you haven't already. It may be Lagavulin 16's little brother but my goodness how I wish they would consider keeping this one in their regular line up because this is another Lagavulin done right.


Cheers,

Lassie 

Lassie's top 10 memorable drams for 2015 - #7 Glitter giggles

If you had or have small kids I know you know what I know... GLITTER.... makes you cringe!!! You can't get rid of that crap for years??!??? Speaking of crap ;) why or how this was started is beyond me but these are on the market and yes... they make you poop glittery?!

These are $7.00/two capsules but you can also buy the ones that have 24K gold for $750/capsule and apparently are a hot item on the Asian market. Who knew this was the new definition of luxury?

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTT! Marketing bullshit can apparently sell just about anything these days....

Case in point. I'm about to sprinkle a bit of glittery poop on Haig Club so if you are a huge fan, stop reading now and go do something else ok...

David Beckham (some soccer dude) and Simon Fuller (some bigwhig who created reality tv show Idol something or other) got together and partnered with Diageo to launch Haig Club. Interestingly enough this isn't the first time Diageo links up with celebrity status. Diddy Combs, Justin Timberlake and George Clooney = Tequila. Not a stupid move by any means since celebrity status brings a wider audience and appeal right? I mean after all if David Beckham dressed in is Armani suit drinks Haig Club, then damn it I'm going to put on my Jimmy Choo's and pour myself a tall glass of that stuff too!!! With celebrity status, HUGE marketing budgets for ads, videos and coming out parties around the world, the stuff in the fancy and mysterious cologne bottle, errr I mean whisky bottle is bound to be expensive? Well in the UK it retails for under £45. That's $100 Canadian...

I tried it... it's good but was it $100 good, nope. 

Meanwhile there was a dram I tried and loved in February 2015 at a whisky festival in Kingston Ontario. I believe they were the first whisky festival in Canada to showcase this one and then I was fortunate enough to try it again in March at Celebrate Whisky in Halifax Canada. It's half the price of Haig Club and in my opinion, twice as better. So value for money = excellent. It's less than $50 Canadian = less than £25. And you know what else... unlike Haig Club, it's available in Canada. Needless to say I bought two bottles for that price tag ;)

Ladies and gents:  

Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky, 43% ABV

100% grain whisky made at the James Sedgwick Distillery by highly respected master distiller Andy Watts in... South Africa (yup, you read that correctly my friends). 

Nose: My first thought was creamy MacIntosh toffee bars (from my childhood) and as it develops in the glass it turns into a creamy vanilla custard.

Palate: Sweet grains (reminded me a bit of a young bourbon) then with a few drops of water it softened the oaky aspect I was getting. Lots of ginger spiciness too!

Finish: This one lingers for a long time. It was a bit drying at first and then came the spices and warming sensation. From start to finish this is a well balanced and lovely dram. 

No fancy expensive bottle, no David Beckham 10 Million dollar deal, invitation to a big party or Jimmy Choo shoes but you will get excellent value for a great grain whisky! 

Because honestly most of us don't like anything with glitter anyway...

LASSIE ENJOYING BAIN'S ON WORLD WHISKY DAY!

2014 confessions of a closet CR drinker....

PALAIS DE VERSAILLES - ROYALTY AT ITS BEST

OK... the first thing I am going to do is apologize, publicly. My father was a Gibson man as it was the only whisky he had in his cabinet. My uncles, grandfather and some of dad's other friends all drank Crown Royal, or CR as they called it. They constantly made fun of my father for not drinking the "good stuff". Now that I think about it, many of them also rooted for the Maple Leafs and my dad the Habs.. Hmmm, coincidence possibly? All I know is dad certainly enjoyed ribbing them and took great joy in making fun of anyone who drank CR or was a Leafs fan. It only seemed natural that I did the same after all I am my father's daughter. So I'll admit fully that for years I jovially teased anyone who drank or thought Crown Royal was "good" Canadian whisky. Although I owned a bottle of CR I seriously never drank it and saved it for the hardcore fans when they visited. This went on for almost 25 years...

Then comes 2011 and a blind competition I was taking part in. I was utterly gobsmacked when I found out I had given Crown Royal Limited Edition the highest mark. I absolutely refused to believe it and chalked it up to a bad day, a stuffed up nose or whatever other excuse I could think of. But then in 2012 and 2013 it happened again when a few CR's made me reevaluate my well rooted dislike for anything Crown Royal. 

BEST MARBLE BAG EVER

I continued the ruse of ridiculing any one who drank their entry level whisky however I now was a closet CR drinker who secretly began trading with others and constantly trying their higher level whiskies and... for shame Lassie, enjoying them immensely. The final straw came when talking to my father in July of this year and he asked me about my recent trip to the UK where I said, without even thinking, that I had led a Canadian whisky night and that I had chosen to showcase 6 whiskies (not one Gibson's). He seemed confused so I went on to talk about the ones I had picked and mentioned the CR Limited Edition as a surprise whisky I had enjoyed. The phone line went dead and I seriously thought he had hung up or dropped the phone!? I said: "Dad?" He sort of chuckled and asked me if my uncle had put me up to playing a trick on him. Nope, I replied as I giggled. "But Johanne", he said, "It's CR". So, that's when I decided it was time to come out of the closet (sorry for the really bad pun) and declare that I actually liked many of the Crown Royal whiskies that were on the market. "Many?" he said almost surprised. I talked to my dad for about an hour that day about some great Canadian whiskies on the market and although I know dad will never try any of them, at least I felt like I had finally said my peace and wasn't hiding my love and respect for ALL the really fantastic Canadian whiskies. It was in reality, a very freeing experience.

Fast forward to when Davin de Kergommeaux and Blair Phillips came to visit in November where I was gifted with a bottle of Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary Limited Edition bottle and it's where we end up in this story. This limited bottling was created by master blender Joanna Scandella (Yes whisky world, Canada has females all the way at the top in the industry too) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the existence of Crown Royal. 

Arriving in Saint John NB (my hometown)

History 101: Let's go back to 1939 where for the first time ever Canada was to welcome King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. This was to be a historical moment as no reigning monarchs had ever visited North America before. Being the Canadian business man of the time Sam Bronfman (Seagram's) decided to create a special blend of whisky that would be fit for royal consumption. After much research and after trying over 600 different prototypes he settled on a blend he thought was perfect and the name Crown Royal was born. The purple & gold velour bag now synonymous with CR was chosen to represent the colors of royalty. Sly as he was, he managed to get their cross Canada train stocked with 100 bottles of his "exquisite" whisky. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the whisky to develop a large following and reputation. The proof of course is that Crown Royal is still to this day, the number one selling Canadian whisky in North America and one of the few available around the world. 

MONARCH 75th

Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary Limited Edition Blend, 40% ABV 

Color: Old gold (no joke)

Nose: Although delicate at first, I can detect a subtle but distinct smell of oak. A little time in the glass and it becomes quite aromatic with creamy butterscotch and slight hints of baking spices. Very inviting indeed.

Palate: I was quite surprised to find rich and deep flavors of sticky toffee pudding. Followed by just a hint of peppery ginger root at the back.

Finish: Not overly long, but quite delicious. Then it dries up and becomes a bit tannic in nature, like after you have eaten a good quality dark chocolate. 

Of all the Crown Royals I have had the pleasure to try in the last 3 years, I have to say this one is my most favorite. It starts out quite delicate and then turns into a well balanced, light and quite enjoyable sipping dram. Surprisingly for me even though it's only at 40% it doesn't feel thin and almost has a bit of an old, rich and oily mouth feel to it. I liked it so much, I sent some samples to some friends who live overseas to demonstrate that Canadian whisky can be quite good, even Crown Royal, hehehe! Again it's in my Canadian nature to apologize for towing the line of my father's Gibson's legacy for so long (Sorry dad...) and I proudly state Crown Royal Monarch Whisky is definitely fit for a queen like myself. 

Be reminded this is a limited anniversary edition that is available across Canada and parts of the United States, mostly selling for... (you guessed it) $75.00

Might be a nice bottle to get to ring in the new year or hold on to for a little while. Oh hell, what am I saying, it's meant to be drunk and shared... even with a Leafs fan. What?? I'm still my father's daughter on some level :) It pleases me that I ended 2014 reviewing a Canadian whisky and even more pleasing it was a brand that I was willing to reopen my palate to.

Thanks for following my blog and stay tuned on January 1st for a profile of the person who rocked my 2014 to the core. 

CHEERS #WHISKFABRIC see you in 2015!