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Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

Mortlach again? But of course.

This year, Santa will be enjoying a 28 year-old single cask Mortlach distilled in 1989, now that all is calm.

Mortlach 28 single cask

Although the new and long-awaited Mortlach 12, 16, and 20 year-old expressions have yet to appear in New York City, one must make the best of it as one can.

And Christmas night will include opening the last bottle of 22 year-old Mortlach, first fill European oak sherry butt, from the same bottlers.

And 2019 will see the return to this website’s operations full-time.

 

Highland Park’s New Bottle and Viking Branding


The magnificent single malt whisky of Highland Park will now be served from a new bottle

Designed to evoke Orkney’s Norse heritage, the core range 12 year-old expression is now titled Viking Honour.

Highland Park 12 new bottle Viking

New Name, Same Excellent Whisky

The name added to Highland Park’s traditional 12 year-old age statement single malt and the embossed glass relief imagery on its new bottle, hark back to an imagined history much older than the Victorian era suggested by the bottle it is replacing.

It will also be used for their European market 10 year-old, now named Viking Scar. The fabulous 18 year-old expression will be getting the new bottle and the name Viking Pride, later this year.

The previous, quasi-nineteenth century bottle of elegant understated design will be missed. But the folks at Highland Park felt it looked too much like a bottle of American bourbon. And that is exactly what I thought when it first appeared, before I got used to it and came to like it.

Although it was hardly traditional, I very much loved the bottle that held Highland Park when I discovered the singular spirit in my earliest drinking days, which had a map of the Orkney Islands embossed on the bottom of its base.

Highland Park bottles old and older Viking

The soon to be retired bottle with the one that came before it.

Forward into the Past

The new bottle is quite lovely to look at, with a new line that is not radically different from its predecessor, and the artwork was inspired by the impressive iconographs decorating a church in Norway believed to be from about 1130, and now an official UNESCO World Heritage site.

Highland Park borrows from Viking urnes-church-iconographyWhile some say this is the Lion of Christ defeating Satan in serpent form, it looks to me more like hound or possibly a horse, and I will not be surprised if HP’s modern day lore masters declare the serpents to be wyrms aka wingless dragons known to inhabit those parts back in the day.

Orkney was a Norwegian Earldom for centuries, which evolved from the original Viking settlers who either transplanted or intermarried with the Pictish occupants living there since the late Bronze Age. The islands were not ceded to the King of Scotland until the 1400s, as partial payment for a broken marriage agreement between the two kingdoms, something that happened quite often between Scotland and Norway in the medieval times. I mean the marriages between the Scottish and Norwegian royal families, not the broken engagements.

So the new bottle, and Highland Park’s brand revamping to focus on all things Viking isn’t just coming from the drawing board of some Aldwych and Kingsway ad exec. It comes directly from the rich and often turbulent history of Orkney itself.

The best news, for me, about all this, is that the core range of Highland Park expressions is remaining single malt whisky aged entirely in sherry barrels.

But outside the core range they are introducing exciting expressions that combine sherry-aged Highland Park with HP from American bourbon barrels, and two new expressions made entirely from ex-bourbon barrels!

Highland Park is adapting their looks and legends while looking progressively to the future and making the best of it they can.

And that is one man’s word on …

Highland Park’s New Bottle and Viking Branding

Other Reading:

Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017 – new expressions in a new look

Highland Park Valkyrie Expression in the New Viking Legend Series

Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page

Our HP Reviews

Highland Park Dark Origins

Highland Park 12

Highland Park 30

Highland Park’s Valkyrie Expression and the New Viking Legends Series

The tasteful new Highland Park Valkyrie bottle was created in partnership with Jim Lyngvild

The Danish fashion designer specializes in Viking-inspired looks, while also creating authentic, historically accurate Viking clothing. His endeavors include helping to create skin care products using natural Scandinavian ingredients. and a beer that used Highland Park whisky as one of its ingredients.

Highland Park Valkyrie appeared before the faithful at Whisky Live! London, earlier this month.

Highland Park Valkyrie at Whisky Live London

photo: whiskeyjack.net

There are two other Viking Legends expressions on the calendar for 2018/19, named Valknut and Valhalla.

Sometimes kindly described as Viking angels, the Valkyries were supernatural female spirits who decided which Viking warriors would die in battle, and escorted certain chosen ones to Valhalla, the feasting hall of the God Odin, where the Valkyries serve them mead until they are called to the last battle at the end of the world.

While it might be said that Highland Park single malt Scotch whisky has some heathery honeyed notes, it is a long way from meade. And this new Valkyrie expression kicking of the Viking Legends Series may be even farther from it, since it is reputed to be peatier and smokier than most Highland Park.

The bottle Lyngvild designed is not embossed like the new bottle being used for HP’s core age statement expressions. But they share the same silhouette, while Valkyrie’s label and carton reflect Viking artwork and literary sagas, including the stylized Valkyrie on the box, which resembles talisman pendents from Norse jewelry made between the third to the seventh century CE, which include Valkyries as a common theme.

Viking Valkyrie Pendants Highland Park Viking Legends

As for the whisky itself, it is bottled at 45.9% ABV and comes from a combination of sherry barrels made of European oak, sherry barrels of American oak, and American Bourbon barrels, which HP has been incorporating into the various exotic expressions among the No Age Statement whiskies with names taken from Norse gods and legendary Viking heroes.

Official Distillery Tasting Notes

Nose: Sharp tang of sweet green apples and ripening lemons.

Palate: A bewitching mix of oriental spices. Driven by European Oak sherry seasoned casks, American Oak sherry-seasoned casks and Bourbon casks, the flavour profile is creamy vanilla with spicy, sweet, preserved ginger and lingering smokiness with hints of liquorice.

Finish: Exquisitely balanced, the long and lingering finish delivers waves of warm aromatic smoke and richly ripened fruit.

Whisky.com quotes HP’s Jason Craig as saying Valkyrie “dials up more of our smoky notes by incorporating more of our heathery peated malt… This creates a richer, fuller phenolic note that has balance due to the sweeter, heathery character of our moorland peat, but it is a slight departure from our core 12-year-old whisky.”

Um, yeah, if you can call adding whisky aged in bourbon casks into a bottle of Highland Park a “slight departure,” which is something I certainly cannot do, because it is a major departure with serious implications of the endangerment of classic Highland Park, which is aged entirely in sherry casks.

Don’t Panic!

My personal copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy states as fact that the core age statement HP expressions are remaining all-sherry for now. I just get a little uneasy when marketing speak implies that bourbon barrel Highland Park in core range expressions would somehow not qualify as a radical abandonment of HP tradition, because it sounds too much like an attempt at grooming the public to accept such a departure in the future.

And whilst the future may indeed dictate such a change, no matter how much HP tries to conjure up a mythic Scandinavian past, I will not go gently into any such good night and shall put up a fight worthy of a one-way ticket to Odin’s mead hall.

And that is one man’s word on…

Highland Park’s Valkyrie expression and the New Viking Legends Series

Highland Park’s New Bottle for the Core Range

Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017 – other new expressions and the brand identity

Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page

Our HP Reviews

Highland Park Dark Origins

Highland Park 12

Highland Park 30

Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017

Highland Park Fans take notice of the big changes happening at Scotland’s northernmost distillery, in the Orkney Islands.

There is good news and there is bad news

Highland Park bids farewell to some core range expressions, and launches new expressions outside the core range, including the new Viking Legend Series, part of their revamped image announced today, which is inspired by Orkney’s Viking era during the Dark Ages circa the year 800 CE.

The Bad News

Highland Park 15 is discontinued. Fans will want to budget accordingly and scour the shop shelves. Made with a higher percentage of sherry casks made from American oak, it has a sweeter taste with notable flavors of mango and other tropical fruits.

Dark Origins is also discontinued. It had been the first No Age Statement expression in HP’s core range. Including a higher percentage of first-fill sherry casks made from European oak, some re-charred, this expression is smokier than other HP and has a more-savory character overall.

[UPDATE May 21, 2017: And perhaps the worst news of all, Highland Park 21 is is also missing from their brand new website.]*

The Good News

The folks at Highland Park have the good taste to leave alone the great taste inherent to the rest of their core age statement expressions! And there was much rejoicing – yea.

In fact a new 50 yo will be appearing in the next year or two.

Highland Park makes their classic core range whiskies from 100% single malt whisky aged entirely in sherry casks, and thus they shall remain, according to my sources.

But the core range expressions are getting a new bottle, with a somewhat different shape and embossed glass relief designs inspired by the twelfth century iconography on the famous stave church at Ornes (Urnes,) Norway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Martin Markvardsen Senior Brand Ambassador for HP is quoted by Imbibe as saying “What we heard about the old bottle is that it looked a bit like a bourbon.” That is something I recognized the moment it first appeared on the market, before I got used to it and came to like it. He went on to say, “I think the new bottling and positioning will stand out well and look like a (Scotch) whisky.”

The important part in all of this is that the newly christened 10 yo Viking Scars (not available in the USA,) 12 yo Viking Honour, and 18 yo Viking Pride have been promised to stay the same incomparable Highland Park we all have come to depend upon. The 18 yo will now be made two batches per year, the first dated February 2017.

It is just the Highland Park brand that has taken on a new look and language to imbue its image with Orkney’s ancient Viking past.

This is not just about evocative advertising in the drinks industry. The trend in Scotland toward a national identity separate from that of the rest of the UK has revived old sentiments suggesting the culture of the Scottish Highlanders has more in common with Norway and the rest Scandinavia, than with their English and Welsh cousins to the south. And the Orkney Islands have always had considerable Scandinavian connections, belonging to Norway until the 1400s.

Besides, who doesn’t stir with some romantic attachment to the idea of intrepid Viking explorers and the brave and hearty people who sent them out on their legendary adventures?

New Ways to Experience Highland Park

Full Volume and Valkyrie

As for the new expressions, the soon-to-be-missed 15 will be replaced later this summer, by something called Full Volume, which has a marketing spin of comparing a whisky blender’s flavor engineering to an audio engineer’s mixing of music. It is made entirely from Highland Park aged in American bourbon barrels. Bottled at at 47.2% ABV, HP Full Volume will cost about £75 per bottle.

Full Volume will fit in between the 18 yo core expression and the newly released Valkyrie expression, which is launching the new Viking Legend Series, while also replacing Dark Origins, at least in the minds of Highland Park management. Where Dark Origins was smokier than other Highland Park, Valkyrie is officially peatier.

But unlike Dark Origins and the age statement expressions in the core range, Valkyrie has bourbon barrels involved, along with sherry barrels of European and American oak. The official line stresses the latter as a tie-in with traditional HP, but the published tasting notes, of lemons with vanilla and spicy sweet preserved ginger, suggests the former is prominently featured.

It was reputedly distilled in 1999 and bottled in 2017, at 45.9%, but Valkyrie does not have an age statement. This might be to avoid having to re-label future bottles, should some younger spirit get mixed into later editions. Or it is simply that is the way HP does their non-core range expressions.

There are two other expressions scheduled in this Viking Legends Series over the next two years, named Valknut and Valhalla.

All-Bourbon HP for Bourbon’s Homeland

Mangus

There is also an all-bourbon barrel Highland Park heading to the American market called Mangus, which is sadly bottled at 40%, but happily priced well under $50. Mangus was the name of both the King of Norway and the King of Sweden at the same time that stave church was being built. But it does not distract from the fact it is much more about America in its creation than anything to do with Vikings. But the same can be said for all of those special edition whiskies HP has been coming out with for years.

As I just said to a friend last night, Highland Park should feel free to follow industry trends and come up with all the expressions they can that utilize bourbon casks, virgin oak, or oak seasoned by other wines or spirits, put them in various bottles and wooden cradles and charge a Viking’s ransom for them, if they can get away with it – if that is what it will take to insure that my beloved all-sherry-all-the-time Highland Park bottled with guaranteed age statements will continue unmolested into the foreseeable future and remain available for those who know it and love it so well.

*If they have discontinued Highland Park 21, arguably the most fresh and intensely flavorful expression of their core range, it would be a tragedy indeed, and a crime if it is not longer being made to make room for one of their newfangled non-traditional expressions.

And that is one man’s word on…

Highland Park – Big Changes Ahead in 2017

Highland Park banner

Further Reading:

Highland Park’s New Bottle for the Core Range

Highland Park Valkyrie Expression in the New Viking Legend Series

Official UNESCO Urnes Stave Church Registry Page

Our HP Reviews

Highland Park Dark Origins

Highland Park 12

Highland Park 30

 

Highland Park’s new website design has launched!

Ardbeg Kelpie Committee Release Review

Casks of virgin Black Sea oak from the Republic of Adygea have a powerful influence on this tumultuous free-spirited Kelpie, Ardbeg’s latest Committee Release for 2017.

Region: Islay      Style: Maritime – Peaty – Herbal     Class: Premium No Age Statement

Strength: 57.1%

Virtually unattainable, an upcoming version of Ardbeg Kelpie bottled at 46% is scheduled for wider but limited release in mid-May.

Ardbeg Kelpie Committee Release Review
With a portion matured in virgin European oak from near the Black Sea, Ardbeg Kelpie is aptly named for a mythic shapeshifting aquatic nature spirit, as its unbridled flavors gallop along, ever changing around a golden heart swathed in seaweed.

“But that sinewy tendril of seaweed winding its way through the palate acts like savory herbs for the tasty elements of raw cacao, roasted coffee, maple sugars, buttery scallops, a dab of vanilla bean to go with the coconut, and a ghostly memory of smoked fish. And that scrumptious nutmeg continues to surface, along with other spices bobbing up from the deeper riptides of this compelling dram with the deceptively serene looks of a burnished sauternes lake.”

Tasting Notes and Full Review Here

Out of Mothballs for 2017

Happy New Year from One Man’s Malt

Our holiday harvest included some rare Mortlach and some scrumptious Glenfarclas, along with Caol Ila and Highland Park.

Okay, the last bit was a gift from my cat. But the larder looks mighty festive for the coming winter.

But since it was 50 degrees today in Brooklyn, New York, I may have to turn to a nice summery 18 yo Hazelburn, or a 28 yo single American oak cask Bunnahabhain if this keeps up. Good thing Climate Change is a hoax, huh?

Many new reviews on the horizon, including the two malts just mentioned.

Cheers and a happy, healthy, malty 2017 to you all!

Glenfarclas 150 Years of Excellence

June 8, 1865 John Grant bought Glenfarclas 150 years ago today.

His 5th and 6th generation decedents, John and George Grant, filled 10 sherry butts and 10 sherry hogsheads earlier today in commemoration.

The Grand Old Speysider

Saturday, the Men of Malt had a Glenfarclas celebration of their own.

Glenfarclas 150 years celebration

Understated and traditional in presentation, Glenfarclas represents the classic, elegant Speyside style of European oak casks drenched with luscious Spanish sherry in a judicious vatting with some  sherry barrels of American oak.

The vibrant splendor of the 17 year old, the polished singularity of the cognac-like 21 year old, and the mature and oaky depth of the regal 25 year old, all provide an elegant and luscious dram, effortless, beguiling, and oh so quaffable.

£511.19s.0d Family Reserve

They also announced the release of a commemorative bottling, named after the £511.19s.0d their forefather paid to acquire the distillery. From the official newsletter:

The £511.19s.0d Family Reserve, a non-chill filtered bottling at 43%, is a vatting of predominantly first fill sherry butts which proudly embodies the distillery’s sherry profile, bringing together all the character of this great spirit across the generations. Sweet and rich sherry, like a toffee syrup over a freshly toasted French baguette, the nose promises fresh fruit smothered in heather honey, ending almost like a sweet port. Then a dry yet sweet taste, a lovely balance of fruit, light nuttiness and milk chocolate develop, followed by a very palatable long and easy finish. A copy of the original bill of sale is included with each bottle along with a note from George Grant explaining the significance of the £511.19s.0d Family Reserve to the Grant family tradition.

Sign up to get the Glenfarclas newsletter at:

Website: www.glenfarclas.co.uk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/glenfarclas/

 

Dark Origins Now Out of the Shadows

Highland Park’s new Dark Origins expression has hit American shores.

And while my review has many favorable things to say about the whisky itself, the packaging and marketing is a bit much.

Highland Park Dark Origins box review 1mansmalt.com

Out of the shadows and first fill sherry casks of European oak comes a mysterious no-age-statement expression, the first deemed worthy of Highland Park’s core range of classic single malt.

Having now tasted it, I am surprised they aren’t marketing it as a recreation of a pre-Prohibition version of Highland Park, due to the prominence of European oak, Oloroso sherry, and peat.

Instead, they have taken things further into the realm of romantic fantasyland when it comes to the packaging and the marketing that goes along with it.

The name Dark Origins is meant to harken back to the founder of the distillery, who was a clergyman by trade, while engaging in illicit whisky making before he was granted a legal license to distill in 1798.

I guess if Jameson’s PR folks can invent tall tales about their Kraken-slaying founder, Highland Park can turn theirs into a figure of manly mystery, whose secret dealings as a “dark distiller” is equated with defending the common folk of the Orkney Islands from “from the villainy of the tax collectors.”

Are your eyes rolling yet?

The Dark Origins box sports the image of said founder’s head partially obscured by a hooded cloak. He even has the stubble of a Hollywood action figure on his chiseled unshaven chin, ala Braveheart or Aragorn son of Arathorn. At least they left him off of the bottle, which is is also black and all done in silver writing.

Perhaps this Robin Hood vs. the tax collector slant is all a poke at the legal restrictions in Scotland that say thou shall not display an age statement on a bottle of whisky older than the youngest spirit contained therein. So the ages of the casks blended to create Dark Origins shall remain a mystery, and so will be the whisky itself, unless you buy it and free it from the obfuscation of the black bottle.

However, the use of the word “dark” also signifies the larger portion of the expression that was aged in first fill sherry casks – which is proven in the nose alone.

And while it is a bit darker than the 12 year old expression, and notably darker than the 15 year old, which is the closest to it in terms of price, the post-production enhancement of the “rich mahogany” color seen in the official video advertisement for Dark Origins, conveniently held up in front of a stained mahogany wall, bears no resemblance to what actually comes out of the bottle.

Hardly cricket, that. But at least they resisted any temptation to introduce caramel coloring, something Highland Park does not use, and hopefully never will.

I found the pale amber of the actual color, with its blackish accents, and rich golden highlights quite attractive, even if Dark Origins comes nowhere near the “rich mahogany” color of the 30 year old expression, which we tasted along side it.

The published wording (here as it actually appears on the box and bottle) is:

“DOUBLE first fill sherry casks for a DARKER richer flavour.”

At first that sounds as fine an example of marketing DOUBLE speak as I can remember. Double compared to what? They do not say. And how can a flavor be darker when light or its absence has no bearing on the senses of taste and smell?

But since I often use metaphors such as “dark” when trying to describe sound during many guitar reviews, I will grant them this allusion to a darker flavor.

In fairness, other marketing copy makes clear it has twice the first fill sherry casks involved than the standard 12 year old expression – and it certainly tastes like it. It is full of darker fruit like figs, prunes and cherries than the usual oranges and banana often floating around a glass of Highland Park, and the peat, both the green mulch and the smoke itself are also denser and pervasive. So dark isn’t such a bad metaphor for this spirit, since it is denser and more somber than typical HP.

And this branding of Highland Park Dark Origins is a good deal less brash than something like Talisker Storm, or the highland cow adorning Glen Scotia’s colorful if misguided packaging, the nouveau color schemes of Bruichladdich, or for that matter the over-the-top presentation of the new Mortlach line. It is hard to believe such displays actually bring in more sales than they discourage. But this sort of fanciful marketing seems to be trending, sad to say.

While its black bottle and action hero packaging is bit much, Highland Park’s tasty new Dark Origins expression fits more with the traditional distillery character than many of their other non-age-statement expressions, like those from their absurdly over-priced Valhalla series. But if they wish to use up their old bourbon casks and virgin oak casks in special editions to raise capital while saving their sherry casks for the core range, I am all for it!

Even if the fanciful packing might suggest otherwise, Dark Origins is well worth tracking down, and should be available across the U.S. very soon.

Highland Park Dark Origins review 1mansmalt.com

Read the Full Review

 

Mortlach Rare Old – Exclusive Review

Mortlach single malt whisky has returned to the wider world, with the much anticipated debut of four new expressions. The one with the lowest price, but by no means inexpensive, exhibits no age statement and is simply named Rare Old.

Region: Speyside      Style: Spicy/Fruity/Sweet      Class: Premium

Strength: 43.4%

Diageo sunk an enormous amount of money into refurbishing the Mortlach distillery, increasing production, and positioning it as a premium brand for international and travel markets. Given the changing climate in the whisky world, the anticipated release of Mortlach Rare Old will be seen by many as an early and important test of the no-age-statement era of malt whisky that is already upon us.

Would the Rare Old prove to be the latest greatest no-age-statement single malt? Or would it fall short of expectations? After all, this is not just any whisky being reimagined as a premium no-age-statement expression.

This is Mortlach.

And here is my review of Mortlach Rare Old

Putting Dave Broom’s Whisky Mixers to the Test

Reading and reviewing Dave Broom’s latest book, Whisky: The Manual was a life-changing experience for me.

I have enjoyed experimenting with the five main mixers he sampled with the 202 whiskies mentioned in the book. And I tried this with a number of whiskies, including some that were not featured.

The blend Great King St., which is light, oaky and bourbony, tastes so much like American Cream Soda when mixed with club soda I could barely believe it. And when I looked it up in Broom’s book, he made the same comparison. Otherwise we sometimes differed in our preferences, even if we see to have similar tastes.

For instance, he scored Johnnie Walker Black Label with a high 5 for coconut water, but scored the Red Label as only a 3. I found that Red Label, when left to marry with the coconut water and melting ice, turns into a liquid form of a Brach’s caramel candy. And it might make them a lot of money if they bottled as a liquor along the lines of Bailey’s Irish Cream. But I also liked the Black Label and great deal too.

Of the whiskies included in my tastings not sampled by Broom, the two most significant were Buchannan’s and Bank Note, both blended whiskies.

Buchannan’s is one of the old original scotch brands, just like Walker, Dewar’s, and Chivas. It is the most popular brand of whisky in Mexico, and it is finally making some headway the U.S. even if many parts of the country never see it. Generally speaking, it rather light and grainy, but the malt whisky contribution has a very nice balance of sherry, wood, spice, herbals, and notes of peat smoke, but by no means is it as outwardly smoky as White Horse or Teacher’s Highland Cream. Everything but the grain seems to be about hints and essence when it comes to flavoring. Still, I consider it a blend of quality and not the scotch flavored swill of some brands riding on an old name, but putting out corporate-excreted well scotch.

Just like on the rocks, the 12 year old expression was mildly pleasant in all of the mixers, with ginger ale and soda topping the list. But the richer 18 year old expression makes what may be my favorite ginger ale highball of any blended whisky. Using Broom’s scale I give it a 5*, but coconut water did not work very well at all. So in that case I would give it a 1 for Avoid.

Bank Note, which will be formally reviewed at One Man’s Malt in the coming weeks, is a very affordable blend from independent bottler A.D. Rattray. It is not very well known, even among UK whisky aficionados, but it is terrific, especially for the price. It would qualify for the B4 – Rich and Fruity flavor camp, in Broom parlance. It is malty, with a good dose of sherry and orange peel and heads more toward a Black Label sort of profile, if not nearly as refined or as smoky.

It is 40% single malts and clearly good quality grain whisky for the remainder, and it is officially 5 years old, which is one reason they chose the name, Bank Note, with artwork similar to an old 5 Pound Note, just like the brand of whisky of that same name from 100 years ago.

It does have some mineral and herbal bitterness that put me off a bit at first, but it passes during the second glass, and overall it has more character and meat on the bone than any blended scotch close to it in price, found in some shops for $20 per liter. Unfortunately, it is not found in many shops.

But when it comes to mixing, it absolutely excelled in every respect.

In three separate tastings hosted in New York City and Connecticut, almost everyone preferred Bank Note over other blends and single malts in every mixer. One woman preferred Teachers with ginger ale because of the smoke. One man hated everything that got near coconut water. But otherwise, Bank Note took the most top honors, in the opinion of anyone where it was present.

It was the only whisky that anyone actually liked with green tea. While I found some of them interesting, Bank Note and green tea morphed into a drink truly different than the sum of its parts. While I did not pick it as my first choice for ginger ale, soda, or coconut water, it rated very high for me in every instance. And like the green tea, a taster said Bank Note was the one that did not seem like it was enveloped by the coconut water, or was doing the enveloping. They blended together and became well integrated. And it was the clear winner in cola, which really doesn’t do much for me as a mixer.

When it comes to my being a straight scotch sort of drinker who is learning to love the benefits of mixed drinks, here are my thoughts on the various mixers.

Soda Water

Since American club soda is made with bicarbonate of potassium, thanks to the modern obsession with all things sodium-free, it is a bit too bitter than classic soda water for many modern drinkers. Therefore, seltzer (carbonated purified water without the added minerals) was better received when making a whisky and soda. Besides, it is the bubbles that matter here, more than minerals or a lack thereof.

The bubbles act as a flavor delivery device, while also adding a wakeup call to the tastes buds. And, according to Broom’s sources, the carbonic acid created by infusing water with carbonation creates a mild toxic reaction on the tongue, which the brain counters by releasing endorphins. In other words, when we drink fizzy drinks we feel happy. And it follows that when we drink fizzy drinks with whisky in them we are happier still.

Since club soda and seltzer are sugar-free, it tends to work best with sweeter whiskies like Irish whisky, bourbon, and particularly scotch with a lot of bourbon cask influence, as well as smokier scotch for people who dislike drinks deemed overly sweet.

Ginger Ale

Ginger ale is a fizzy drink that adds sugary sweetness matched with some spicy snap. It has been used to mix with whisky since it was first invented Northern Ireland in 1852, and the modern “dry” form was designed with whisky in mind and vice versa. So it is not surprising that many people take to the combination like ducks to water. And it excels with both spicy whiskies and smoky ones.

Cola

I am not much of a cola drinker, but it does work well with some whiskies, particularly those that are themselves heavy and full bodied. Before you get out the torches and pitchforks at Dave Broom’s recommendation of 16 yo Lagavulin and Coke, give it a try. You may just be surprised. I was surprised to find Jack and Coke ranking rather low, considering its popularity in the States. So if you like it, you may want to try Wild Turkey or Jim Beam White Label, both of which get a high 5 rating when mixed with cola. But for me ginger ale is the soda pop for spiking.

While not for everyone, the remaining mixers are not carbonated, and not something most westerners have ever considered for use as mixers, at least those of us in the northern hemisphere. But they are certainly interesting in terms of mouth feel, flavor, and how they affect the character of a whisky.

Green Tea

The green tea and whisky combo is unusual to say the least. It often tastes either like green tea with some booze in it, or booze with some tea in it. But when it works it can really work, and melds with the whisky to become a new and completely different drink (as per Bank Note,) one which is very good when severed very cold on a very hot day.

It should be pointed out that the green tea used for whisky in the Far East is NOT the grassy green Japanese variety that is found throughout the U.S. Rather it is a cold Oolong that is mildly sweetened. So my tastings were done with either unsweetened tea, or the sweet Japanese varieties.

Coconut Water

It is coconut water that proved most successful for me. It also works best chilled and on ice. I have learned I do not care much at all for coconut water, when drank on its own. But mixed 1 to 1 with whisky, or sometimes 2 to 1, it becomes a lovely, sweet and creamy caramel-like beverage that really needs to be experienced. It works particularly well with smoky whisky and spicy whisky, but rarely disappoints with lighter, oaky, or fruity whisky. And, as one taster put it, you can hydrate while dehydrating.

I have taken to using some traditional ethnic brands of coconut water like Goya or Jamaica, as they include some young coconut pulp, which adds a certain festive confetti appearance to the glass. But they are sweeter, with more sugar added than the hipster on a health kick brands like Vita Coco or Zico, although most have at least some added sugar.

If more bars had coconut water on hand I would likely be drinking that with whisky when away from home as well as my highballs. And you can check out own tasting notes via the link below; if you would like to read about which combinations of whisky and mixers I liked best.

I must recommend to everyone who is reading this article and finding it impossible to imagine that whisky and coconut water could possibly work. You are likely no less skeptical than I was, and may find yourself as pleasantly surprised as I and my several tasters have been.

And that is one man’s word on…

Putting Dave Broom’s whisky mixers to the test

Related Reading:

Whisky: The Manual – My Review

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