Pinch 15

Greetings from New England. More precisely, from Boston, from the Ames Hotel, looking out on the State Street meeting house, in the midst of what all the New England media are calling the blizzard of 2010. From our vantage point, it just looks like a winter storm. We’ll find out how bad it was in a couple days when we attempt to drive north to Andover and then Maine. The governor has declared today some sort of snow emergency, and only essential travel is permitted. We are planning to have lunch at the Last Hurrah, only a couple blocks away, and all of us agree that the Last Hurrah is always an essential destination in Boston. So we will be making the hike a little later. Another essential trip is a visit to Federal, only a block away, but that’s on tap for tomorrow.

One of the themes of this blog is single malt scotch whisky, and although we may enjoy other spirits, we rarely post about them. That goes for blended scotches as well. But today is an exception. We stayed a night with my sister Jill in Cambridge, and she happened to have a bottle of 15 year-old Pinch, which became our whisky of choice for a couple days. Pinch has been around forever, but I don’t recall seeing the 15 previously. So this was a new taste. And, I’m pleased to report, a very enjoyable one.

I can’t compare this Pinch to other offerings from that label, as I’m really not familiar with their standard blend. But I can tell you that the Pinch 15 had more flavor than almost any other blend I recall tasting. And it had a remarkably long finish for a blend. Most blends really don’t have much of a finish, the taste disappearing after the whisky is off the palate. But not this Pinch, whose taste remained with me long after the sip was swallowed. The only comparable blend I can think of is Johnny Walker Green, a blend of malt whiskies only (i.e., no other grains), all of which are 15 years old. To me the Pinch tasted of highland whisky, in fact, Speyside highland whisky, but when I went on-line to find out more, the postings I found claimed its backbone was Glenkinchie, a lowland. They also mentioned Linkwood, a whisky that I’m just not familiar with. So who knows? And who knows what this scotch sells for, my sister having bought it a couple years ago for a purported scotch lover who was visiting. I say purported, because according to Jill, her previous guest did not care for the Pinch, preferring his regular blend. John and I were not so critical; or perhaps we were more critical, and thus appreciative of the full-bodied flavor of this whisky. Whatever the case, we are pleased to report that there is yet another great whisky out there for all you readers to enjoy. You may have some trouble finding it, but if you do find it, you won’t be disappointed.

It’s now time to bundle up, venture out into the snow, and wind, and cold, and make the essential trip up State Street to the Last Hurrah.