Tag: Scotch

Alexander Murray and Friends

“Good friends, good books, and sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” ~ Mark Twain

I’d personally add good booze into that mix but starting with Twain is never a bad idea, he weaves a good story. But the problem lies in what kind of story are you trying to tell with your whisky? Are we telling a historic tale? That would start with the founding of the Caol Ila Distillery in 1846.  But that’s a little dry.

It could be a business biography. That starts in 2004 with the creation of Alexander Murray. An essential newborn in the world of independent Scotch bottlers they took a different tact. instead of focusing on small, rare bottlings they focusedIMG_0783.jpg on volume. If you’ve ever noticed that the hosue labeled Scotch whisky at Trader Joe’s and Costco was surprisingly good, that’s because it came from these guys. But business is so impersonal.

Except it’s not. While moving volume, and checking history the gang at Alexander Murray made friends. And that allowed them to grow and bring out more quality under their own label. Take their 8 Year Old Caol Ila. Some may argue that it’s an unnecessary bottling with the quality the standard issue 12 year has. But they’re like two small town friends who move away to different cities. Same underling base, but a heavier oak presence gives this a more NYC feeling bite versus the original delicate, seaside village feel that Caol Ila usually has. But even more than that’s it’s opened their eyes to larger collaborations.

Yet another friend is David Walker, of Firestone Walker Beer. Working together they took 60 barrels used for aging the Firestone DBA and finished 6-8 year old single malt in them for another 3 months to a year. The resulting ‘Polly’s Cask’ is a complex melding of friendships, even just in the character of the whisky. Beer and Whisky are natural friends, and the barrels linking them here started as ex-Bourbon, turned into beer, and then finally into Scotch barrels. If that’s not a sharing between friends I don’t know what is. The result is an exceptionally nutty malt.

Both are a great example of the best times with friends. An everyday encounter, and a special occasion, too. And as I tell my friends all the time, I don’t care what you drink as long as you drink it with me. 

Auchentoshan Three Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Happy accidents are all around us. They often start simple. You wander into a bar, look around, find yourself presented with better than average options, and end up with a glass full of Auchentoshan, which is surprisingly light and delicate, but with enough complexity to be no accident.

Then there are the not so simple accidents. Like the quirks of history that created the style of whisky now swirling in your glass.  Auchentoshan is one of the last remaining Lowland distilleries in Scotland, a region with a style as unique as it’s Speyside and Islay cousins, yet wholly unusual in scotch making and is fully created by the accident of it’s location. Founded in 1823 by Irish refugees on the outskirts of Glasgow it’s seen the city rise into an industrial complex, the bygone glory days of it’s shipbuilding and engineering prowess, and is still tucked away in it ‘corner of the field’ watching the trade city grow more
cosmopolitan. All of these pieces come together. The shipping and trade gave massive Clyde-Shipping-Glasgow1.jpgaccess to barrels of all kind for excellent aging but more importantly the whisky itself was primed for bigger barrel interaction by the influence of those Irish refugees and their tradition of Triple Distillation. Coming off the stills at a higher proof leaves the raw spirit lighter and more ready to soak in the plethora of barrels floating in and out of the port city.

And then there are the literal accidents. Years ago, the Head Distiller Jeremy Stevens was working on a batch of sherry finished malt. It had already spent time in ex-Bourbon barrels, and had been aging in Olorosso Sherry casks. After the initial dump he felt it need some more time in the sherry wood, ordered the malt to be rebarreled and left for a trip out of the country. When he came back he found that instead of Olorosso it had gone into Pedro Ximenez sherry barrels.Rather than losing his job the distillery discovered one of their most popular expressions: The three wood..

So, the accidents of place, time, history, barrels and communication have granted you a glass of delicate, rich toffee, with candied plums, blackcurrents and a hint of hazelnut. So let’s raise a glass to accidents. May they be few and happy.