Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/26650
OLD WORLD WHISKIES IRELAND KILBEGGAN F rom Ireland’s Cooley Distillery, Kilbeggan may be a small- volume 100% pot-still whiskey, but this is one brand with big personality. Matured in old granite warehouses and aged in bourbon casks for 15 years (this 15 Year Old blend will soon change over to a 18 Year Old), the distiller uses 25–30% more malt in the recipe for this twice-distilled spirit, leading to a super smooth and creamy profile that will have you clamoring for more! (SRP $100) THE SAZERAC COMPANY Our Panel Votes: “Brown-sugar glaze with a lush, peachy- cherry honey tone. Smooth and silky.” —M.M. “Besides a sweet bourbon-like quality, I enjoy the notes of black tea. Clean!” —T.V. Chuck Kane, West Regional Sales Manager for Gemini Wine & Spirits (the sales division of The Sazerac Company) represents Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey and Glenfarclas Single Malt Scotch. SCOTLAND LAPHROAIG QUARTER CASK L aphroaig’s Islay single malts are true testaments to the sea-and-peat mastery of the Western Hebrides (some have even called them medicinal). These super- drams clear the way for the Quarter Cask, a calmer version. It’s the use of small casks that allows this non- chill-filtered expression to have 30% more contact with the wood. The wood charac- ter impresses the spirit with a creamy coconut nose, but the unmistakable peaty Laphroaig roar is still underneath it all. (SRP $44) BEAM GLOBAL SPIRITS & WINE Our Panel Votes: “Unctuous and salty, stinging nettles and roasted pear; sweet and powerful.” —M.S. “Sweet, but the iodine notes are clear; charred wood in a creamy mid-palate leads to smoke and cedar flavors with a crisp finish.” —D.P.W. 76 / the tasting panel / march 201 1 GLENFARCLAS 40 YEAR OLD I n the U.S. for less than a year, this 40 Year Old single malt has no peat and is aged in sherry casks. Although new stateside, Glenfarclas is well-established over the pond, and owner/distiller George Grant remembers that it was his great- grandfather who put the first Glenfarclas in the barrel. Says Grant of his whiskey’d upbringing, “My only playhouse growing up was the barrel house.” (SRP $460) THE SAZERAC COMPANY Our Panel Votes: “Distinct tawny core and yellow- green rim. Complex, smoky aromas of graphite and dried fruit that repeat on the palate; salty finish.” —D.P.W. “Deep, meaty, honeyed…wonder- ful.” —E.A. “Nougat and toffee nose, with scents of fresh bread; viscous and rich.” —T.V.