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I'll Drink to That! What is your favorite beverage to have with a cigar? Juice? Cola? Beer? Port? Single Malt Scotch? This room is for the discussion of beverages, especially alcoholic beverages that go well with cigars!

 
 
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Old 01-13-2007, 06:35 AM   #9
jazznut
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Some further thoughts:

Quote:
Originally Posted by parshooter
As in cigars, you can age a dog rocket, and it will still be a dog rocket.
There's certainly more than a grain of truth to this. As I've already mentioned, the key lies in the inherent quality of the casks into which the fresh distillate has been racked. Substandard casks will leave their imprint on the spirit regardless of the amount of time the whisky has slumbered in the wood. And tampering in the bottling hall to attempt to conceal flaws does occur.

Then there's the matter of age...

If there's a single important piece of advice I can offer to potential purchasers of whisky, it is to not be overly seduced by the element of age. Even though older whiskies normally cost more, the idea that greater age necessarily makes for an inherently better pour is a blatant misrepresentation of reality. Each wooden vessel filled with whisky is its own unique beast. Some casks will reach their peaks of perfection sooner than others. And even the concept of peak of perfection is itself a misnomer, as it merely denotes what the distillery manager, cask manager or bottler has deemed an appropriate time for racking from cask and preparing the spirit for bottling. The rationale behind this decision may (hopefully) be tied to the actual quality of the liquor, but it could just as easily be related to financial considerations or - and it happens! - a wish to get an overly mature whisky into bottle before it tires even more. This is why reputable distilleries and independent bottlers are usually one's best guarantee of piece of mind.

The other aspect of age to consider is one's personal taste preference. Despite the sometimes unpredictable time-frame interaction between spirit and wood, extended maturation normally leads to a rounder whisky in which the sharply-etched intrinsic characteristics of the fresh make are overtaken by the calming influence of the cask. Also, in the case of whiskies aged for long periods in 1st-fill ex-Bourbon barrels or 1st-fill ex-wine (Port, Sherry, etc.) casks, one will normally discern a far greater presence of spice, vanilla and/or winey-resiny overtones derived from the wood. 2nd-fill vessels (i.e. those which have already held whisky) will usually impart a less intense smattering of wood-extracted nuances, though re-charring can alter this fact.

There's no denying that I've tasted some astounding whiskies of great age, where the additional flavour characteristics formed from long years spent in wood have rendered spirits of uncommon depth and deliciousness. A 29-year old single-cask Glen Garioch from a Sherry butt, with its almost edibly sweet textural richness playing off against rumbling peat, immediately springs to mind. Nonetheless, I've also experienced more than a few well-aged duds. A certain sense of caution, a willingness to part with serious cash and a preparedness to be disappointed are required.

Furthermore, there's something to be said for the benefits of youth and for whiskies that don't even boast an age statement on their labels! Give me an invigorating dram of 8 or 9-year old Rosebank, a bracing sip of the long-vanished 8-year old Talisker from UDV, a sumptuously soothing and enlivening pour of Aberlour a'bunadh or some of that 1980s-era 12-year old Lagavulin, and I'll be as happy as can be.
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