Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/21004
COVER STORY through Dewar’s Decision” get an in-depth brand experience including a history of the brand and instructed tasting. After nosing test tubes of vari- ous aromatic notes, examples of single malts with those profiles are presented. Then participants are asked to blend their own whisky, tasting it against a just-blended Dewar’s. “The goal is to re-introduce men to Scotch whisky,” states Young. “In the hippie days of the ’60s and ’70s, men refused to ‘drink what their father drank’—they never got educated in the grandness of scotch.” Young knows that scotch takes education. “The scotch lover will almost always admit that ‘Somebody taught me how to drink it,’” she says. “Dewar’s wants to be that mentor.” TASTING NOTES Here are my notes on the four Dewar’s expressions. Prices are for 750 ml. format. —A.D.B Dewar’s White Label (SRP: $21.99) Toasty nose with nice, full notes of oak and bread; smooth, mellow and showing toasted barley, wood, honey and soft dried fruit; charming, lovely—one of the best basic blended scotches on the market. 90 Dewar’s 12 Year Old (SRP: $28.99) Smooth and rich with toasty notes plus burnt orange, caramel and sweet vanilla oak; long, silky and ripe with gorgeous creamy flavors. 92 Dewar’s 18 Year Old (SRP: $79.99) Smooth and mellow with lovely toast, honey and light smokiness; rich, luscious and fruity with long, creamy notes; flavorful and expansive with all the finesse required of a top-notch blend. 93 Dewar’s Signature (SRP $199.99) Smooth toasty nose; subtle on entry and then it explodes on the palate with orange zest, creamy caramel and mellow wood; long, dense, complex and, above all, elegant and luscious; clean, crisp and bright with focused flavors: a pinnacle of blended scotch. 95 66 / the tasting panel / december 2010 Rock Star Retailers PeTeR Yi PJ Wine, New York, NY liquor supermarket. Located in Inwood, an area of New York so far uptown it is often referred to as Manhattan’s nosebleed section, one almost has to squint to see the back of the 20,000 square-foot store amid the clink and clank of shopping carts full of liquor bottles being pushed by customers down its aisles. Owner Peter Yi strolls the long length of the sales floor and opens a door leading to an upstairs space that turns out to be a recep- tion lobby flanked by an unimaginably swank conference room. Hip chandeliers glisten from the ceiling as Yi’s voice echoes A t first glance, PJ Wine is a veritable Peter Yi. within the glass conference room doors.“The high-end trade is done upstairs,” he says matter-of-factly. High-end trade? Fourteen-year-old PJ Wine—named for the first initial of Yi and his wife Jennifer—serves double duty as a low-price liquor emporium as well as a far-flung destination for savvy New York wine connoisseurs. The store’s location, which may seem like a hike for anyone living below 96th Street, was chosen purposely, since most of Yi’s clientele hails from Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut. “Our clientele is diverse,” Yi explains. “Local clients drink a lot of cognac and blended scotch such as Dewar’s, but we also get a lot of people who aren’t from the city looking to buy interesting wines. We stock a good representation of boutique wineries.” While the huge retail space allows Yi to store an endless supply of stock, much of it at very favorable prices, it also provides an excellent opportunity for showcasing a wide range of wines and spirits. With all that room to call his own, Yi is something of a rock star among retailers and decidedly master of his domain. Boasts Yi: “There are few stores able to create displays quite like ours in New York City.” — Adriana DiGennaro PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG