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The more friends you tell, the more chances you have to win.

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SFChefs 2010 presented by Visa Signature®, is a food and wine event celebrating the unique flavor, diversity and bounty of Northern California. The main tasting tent will be in Union Square, where chefs, wine makers and distillers will offer an exploration of taste featuring local products. Classes and seminars will offer interactive opportunities for the public to participate with local farmers, ranchers, chefs, winemakers, distillers, media, luminaries, authors, vintners, mixologists and culinary experts in an entertaining forum.

http://www.sfchefsfoodwine.com/

by Nate from WhiskyWall

While drinking does not always need to be a battle, and hopefully most of the time it is not, of fundamental importance to the savvy and seasoned imbiber of spirits is how one stocks the war chest. And this isn’t just any war chest, this is the cache of whiskies that must have a proper balance of bottles to fortify one’s abode against any unprecedented or decidedly welcome peril.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. One must stock a celebratory-grade whisky. This is something you tend to ignore, perhaps dusting it off occasionally and admiring it, pondering when the day will arrive when you will be justified in cracking the seal. This object of your fawning, this grail of sorts imparts to you a sense of purpose. The mere idea of trying to justify savoring such a pour will inspire you to set the bar higher, to clearly state goals in your mind, the achievement of which will permit you to raise a chalice of this superlative spirit. Simply possessing the celebratory-grade whisky can make you a better person. And if you torture yourself for long enough, holding out till the moment when you feel you’ve earned your reward, you will probably be so deranged that the whisky will taste as nectar and in the manner of self-fulfilling prophecies, you will love it no matter what. Depending on the depths of one’s wealth this prized bottle can be astronomically expensive. Thoughts of bottles from now long gone distilleries like Port Ellen or Brora come to mind.

Then there is your guest whisky. This term may be bifurcated depending on your relationship with your guests. If your guests are limited to solid friends and family, this should be something a cut above. More importantly, it should be an expression of you. This whisky is an opportunity to let those you invite into a private setting to get to experience an aspect of yourself that you have come to terms with and that you entrust to those around you. It is easy to impress a guest with something rare or fine, but to share a whisky with them that reflects something of your own tastes and personality give them insight into who you are, brings them into your inner-circle. An expression that might surprise them or that you think to yourself “you have to try this.” As you can see this is a highly personalized choice and will vary from drammer to drammer. For my purposes I like to have an independent bottling of an Islay or Lowland malt. Independent bottlers do not produce any whisky, instead they go around to the distilleries and purchase what is usually a single cask. As a result, the whisky they bottle is unique and different from regular releases from the distillery. Some independent bottlers that I enjoy are A.D. Rattray, Signatory, Duncan Taylor and Old Malt Cask.

Then there is the other guest whisky. If you have occasion to suffer guests that aren’t particularly welcome but seem to occasionally wash up on your shore, you might need something to make them feel special while you hide any whisky of real value. A decent blend serves this purpose well. Something you can use on your own when you need to inject several ounces of medicinal booze into the system and you don’t have time for sipping. And when you need to serve it you start out with the old, “I stumbled upon a surprisingly decent blend, you’ve got to try it…” They won’t question you. They are a guest. Such bottles are not difficult to think of or find as there are many at your local supermarket. Perhaps the most important component of the war chest, one that is overlooked or under stocked at your own peril, is the table whisky. The table whisky, like it’s name implies, is your daily dram. Of supreme importance is to not be lulled in by the somewhat proletariat common-sounding term “table whisky”. The whisky is easily the most difficult to settle upon and requires far more research then any of the previously mentioned bottles. This whisky has to be eminently sip-able but also able to be gulped without a tinge of wasteful regret. This is the whisky you will spend most of your time drinking. And if you value your time, your quality of life, you will make sure you really like this whisky. It serves as both comfort and medicine depending on the situation. It can precede a meal and/or round a meal out. And unless you are rolling in it, it can be inexpensive. For a whisky to satisfy all of these things, you usually have to move on to a new table whisky every 3-to-6 months, or so. Otherwise the familiarity takes away from the overall experience. Solid table whiskies can be found in the $40-$60 price range, and when you find one you need to keep it well stocked. The table whisky is the last line of defense. Failure to properly stock a good supply of table whisky and keep that supply well tended will result in you coming through the door one night and decimating every more rarified, special occasion whisky in your collection in a misevaluated need to get further lit. Even a few beers can trigger a run on your whisky stash, and to avoid any next-day recriminations over your rare moment of rashness, you need the table whisky to stand up against your temporary lack of judgment. I recently picked up a new table whisky: Cardhu 12. This is a very approachable whisky with a surprising amount of complexity and flavor. However, it is dangerously smooth – so much so that I might have to buy 2 bottles at a time from now on.

Just like a balanced financial portfolio you must maintain a nicely diversified whisky war chest. One that will be able to competently ride the waves of a fluctuating market of guests and fend off an unexpected run on resources. So go forth friends and give your war chest a check up and re-balance where needed.

I remember once having a conversation with a friend who was ranting about a co-worker who had sent him to get an item that she described as being chartreuse. So I pick up the phone and hear, “What the FUCK is chartreuse, Katie?” It was a tough one to answer because it could’ve been one of two things. “It’s either a slightly yellowish green or a slightly greenish yellow,” I answered. It was apparently enough to end the dilemma but not enough to end the questions. “How in hell did you actually know that? I was only calling because misery loves company—I wasn’t expecting a coherent answer.” The most likely answer would’ve been that I’m a graphic artist, and we artists are supposed to know our colors if nothing else (and often times, believe me, it’s really nothing else). Chartreuse happens to be the most visible color to the human eye.

But the truth of the matter was that I knew the answer because I am, as my family lovingly calls me, a boozehound though I personally prefer the term “spirits sage.” So I was honest: “Well the French have a liqueur called Chartreuse but there are two versions, yellow and green. It’s actually pretty interesting…apparently King Henri IV had sent the Carthusian monks an alchemical recipe for an “elixir of long life” that used something like 130 different aromatic herbs. The monks modified it and starting making it as “Green Chartreuse” but when they were expelled from France they stopped making it. Then, when they were finally allowed to return years later, they started making “Yellow Chartreuse” which is sweeter and milder. The color supposedly comes from the addition of…(click, dial tone)…uh, saffron.”

Lesson: not everyone is as passionate about, or as interested in, alcoholic history as you are.

There’s actually a really cool back story to Chartreuse and the monks, but I won’t bother anymore here—Google it, Wikipedia it, or read it in Drink Me’s Issue 7. I was inspired to write about it after finding a bottle of Liquore Strega in a small wine shop recently. The two (and Galliano as well) taste rather similar and are equally powerful, which is why cocktail recipes usually call for really small amounts of them. Trying to describe its flavor is futile, but one of Chartreuse’s most evident aromas is that of anise, which normally makes me want to hurl, but when used in tiny doses and blended with other spirits, is inspiring. It’s kinda like the bassoon—a lot of it will make your head spin, but just one or two sprinkled into an orchestra adds a little something extra that’s not quite tangible. Here are a couple of great Chartreuse symphonies…err…I mean cocktails:

Cloister
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz simple syrup

Shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Bijou Cocktail
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir with a spoon in a mixing glass, strain into a cocktail glass, add a cherry, squeeze a piece of lemon peel on top and serve.

Pearl of Puebla (served at PDT)
2 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/8 oz Ricard Pastis
1/8 oz agave syrup*
4 sprigs fresh oregano

Muddle lime juice, agave syrup and oregano in a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients, along with ice, and shake. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

*To make the agave syrup, combine equal parts agave nectar and water.

The second annual SIP awards took place a couple of weeks ago in San Diego. The event brings in a 50 person consumer panel to do a blind tasting and judge a slew of some new and some accomplished spirits. The competition seems to be an extremely eclectic and bizarrely diverse selection of spirits.  They’ve announced the winners of the competition, and here are some of them (congrats!):

Platinum – “Best of Class”

New Amsterdam Gin, Shakers Original American Vodka, 360 Double Chocolate Vodka, Antiguo Blanco Tequila, Ambhar Reposado Tequila, El Jimador Anejo Tequila, Semillero Joven Mezcal, Don Q Anejo Rum, Deadman’s Mango Rum, A.de Fussigny XO Fine Champagne, Nature’s Own Strawberry Delight, Don Q Mojito, Bong Spirit Vodka

There’s been a lot of rumors and commotion lately about the new relationship between Proximo and St. George Spirits, specifically in regards the Hangar One Vodka line. To get the scoop, I got a chance to sit down and talk to St. George Spirits master distiller Lance Winters and distiller Dave Smith.

According to Lance, “neither the Hangar One brand nor the distillery have been sold,” and that the only thing that has changed is that marketing and distribution rights for Hangar One vodka have moved from Craft Distillers to Proximo. Craft Distillers is best known as the folks behind the Germain-Robin brandy and Danzantes (recently changed to Los Nahuales) mescal brands, and Poximo are the marketers and importers of the 1800 Tequila and Three Olives vodka brands.

When asked how this change would affect the distillery and production, Dave and Lance both emphasized that the product would continue to be made at the distillery in Alameda and that consumers should notice little change in the vodka. They seemed hopeful that Proximo’s “resources and know-how” would help improve retail availability of the vodka line and result in more product support for retail and bar outlets.

For Dave Smith, his focus will be on making some of the more esoteric and unusual spirits commercially viable and refining the production process to be more efficient and improve yield. Will this ever result in the Foie Gras vodka ever making it to the market?

Lance is excited to have an alliance with a company that is keen on tapping into his creativity, by allowing St. George to create new flavors, products and brands associated with Hangar One vodka.

“Hangar One is great, but I also want to keep doing new things,” added Lance. In the near future, he hopes to release a gin, an aged and unaged rum made from California cane, along with a white dog (unaged bourbon) as a value spirit. Keep an eye out for new whiskey expressions like bourbon, made with a blend of malts along with the corn, and a single barrel single malt offering. “Whiskey brings me closer to my roots and the reason why I came to the distillery,” he said handing me a glass of the barely aged bourbon. Tasting it, I knew it would bring me back too.

http://www.craftdistillers.com/

http://www.proximospirits.com/

http://www.stgeorgespirits.com/

We traditionally think whisky (or whiskey) comes from Scotland, Ireland or the United States.  OK, maybe from our neighbors to the north too – Canada.  However, June saw another entry into the single malt whisky world from of all places…India.  Yes, that is right India.  Amrut distillery based in Bangalore India released 5 new expressions here in the United States.  The whisky nerds here in the U.S. were clamoring for it prior to the release date, including me.  I ended up preordering a bottle just in case.

Amrut distillery has actually been in existence for some time.  According to its website the distillery was founded in 1948.  Amrut is the golden pot that contained the Elixer of Life according to Indian mythology.  This distillery is unique as it utilizes barley grown at the base of the Himalayas as well as the water from there to make its whisky.  These ingredients along with aging in the ndian climate make for a very unique flavor profile.

The expressions released this month were: Amrut Single Malt, Amrut Single Malt Peated, Amrut Fusion, Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength and Amrut Single Malt Peated Cask Strength.  I was particularly interested in the Amrut Fusion as it received high praise from the whisky community, including Jim Murray who releases the “Whisky Bible”.  In fact, he scored it the third highest whisky in the world by rating it a 97/100.  Fusion utilizes a mix of barley grown in India as well as barley imported from Scotland, thus the name Fusion.

The day finally came when my bottle of Amrut Fusion arrived and I popped it open to give it a try.  It is complex and interesting with different flavors than scotch whisky.  You can taste the oak, sweetness, malt, unique spices and hints of smoke.  Definitely a solid and great tasting whisky – but third best in the world?  In my humble opinion I really don’t think it lives up to that moniker.

Amrut, however, is not the first “exotic” whisky to enter the market.  Japan’s Suntory Yamazaki line has quietly been building up a following here in the United States as well as in Europe.  Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery, like Amrut, has a long history.  The Yamazaki distillery was founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii with the help of Masataka Taketsuru who later went on to establish another Japanese whisky powerhouse Nikka Whisky.  Suntory has collected many prestigious awards for its whisky and is now appreciated by many whisky “concessioners” as a true contender with traditional scotch whisky.  Currently, in the United States market Yamazaki 12, Yamazaki 18 and Hibiki 12 are available.  All three expressions are very good, with flavor profiles that are unique to Japanese whisky.  The Yamazaki 18 in particular has very deep and rich flavors of caramel, dark fruits, sherry and oak.  Definitely one to try if you haven’t had the opportunity.

So next time you are at a whisky bar or retail shop keep an open mind.  There are more whiskies out there than you might normally think of and a pleasant surprise might be waiting for you.  For more information and tasting notes on Amrut you can visitwww.amrutdistilleries.com. For more information on Suntory Yamazaki you can visit www.suntory.com/yamazaki