Old Malts with Old Friends - Glenfarclas 25 and Highland Park 21

We're posting from Great Barrington as 2012 comes to an end. And looking back on the past year, there's no sense writing about the RedSox, who had a catastrophic season, and now seem to be floundering toward another unsuccessful campaign. We could write about the Orange, who seem to have picked up where they left off last March. Only thing is that it's really too early in the season and who wants to jinx their chances as conference play begins?  So let's post about a topic where many of us had precedent-setting years -- a topic about which all of us can agree -- and a topic that brings good cheer to all as we welcome the New Year.  I'm talking whisky, of course.

We have gathered in Great Barrington once again to celebrate the New Year, and have brought some malts to share with old friends. What's different this year is the quality and rarity of the whiskies we are sharing -- all thanks to G-Man and his friends, the Carey's. I thought we had a good line-up of whiskies at the Ball last summer; and we did, primarily because I had taken advantage of singlemaltsdirect.com. But G-Man has brought some exceptional malts to GB this winter -- not just great whisky, but legendary whisky. However, that's for another day. Today, we intend to post about a couple outstanding, and still readily available malt whiskies -- Glenfarclas 25, and Highland Park 21.

Joe Howell at Federal Wine and Spirits claims that Glenfarclas is the best malt one can buy for the money. That's exactly what The Bottle Shop in St. Andrews, Scotland told G-Man's friend, Sean Carey. So then it must be so. From the standard issue 12, up through the higher registers, this whisky is more favorably priced than almost all of its competitors. Whether it's the 17, that one can occasionally find behind better stocked bars, or the 21 that I picked up from singlemaltsdirect.com for under $100, I have to agree with Joe and the folks at the Bottle Shop -- Farclas delivers big bang for the buck.

Chuck brought the Glenfarclas 25 to GB, to share with old friends. It's 43%. Color is gold - surprisingly bright for a malt that sat so long in the cask. We got all sorts of notes from the nose. There's a bit of citrus, orange mainly, and then lots of vanilla, maybe a touch of caramel. Peggy detected a hint of the forest floor, autumn leaves. All in all, a beautiful and complex nose.  On the palate, the 25 opened up nicely with just a couple drops of water  There were two characteristics that stuck us right away, a thick mouth-feel, and a softer character than one would expect for such a full-flavored malt. But its most distinguishing characteristic was, as one would hope for a 25 year-old malt, its long finish. And not just long, but rich as well. That's one of the pleasures of drinking an old whisky. You can take your time, sip slowly, lingering over the glass; but all the time you're sitting there, maybe talking whisky, perhaps reminiscing about old times -- maybe even telling the Carvel story for the five-hundredth time -- the flavor of the malt remains in your mouth with no change in its character. And best of all, you can enjoy this great whisky, if you can find it, for a not-exorbitant price.

We compared the Farclas to HP 21, which is bottled at 47.5%. We all know and love Highland Park; it might be the favored all-around whisky for many readers of MannyMontaigne. But here was a chance to comment on the 21, which we've had far fewer chances to sample over the years. The color is a bit darker, less gold and more amber. Chipper found the nose is more pungent than the Glenfarclas. We had trouble locating the specific notes within the nose: G-Man detected some citrus, Susan, who has a highly developed sense of smell, found pepper; and Andy reported that, "The nose burns my nose." That must be some sort of Zen koan, or maybe Andy was just overwhelmed by the rich HP aroma. Who knows?
We also found it hard to describe the flavor of Highland Park, because to us, it's so recognizable. We have become so familiar with the flavor of HP, that we've stopped caring whether it's citrus, or caramel,  a touch smoky, or as Peggy said, sweet tree bark. What it is, is Highland Park, but richer, smoother, and longer lasting than the younger whiskies. Like the Glenfarclas 25, this HP 21 had a long, satisfying, and rewarding finish.

These are two great malts, and I don't mean they're just good. There are wonderful. And although you have to reach above the normal price range, neither one is outrageously priced. And both deliver good value for the money spent. Save them for a special occasion, or maybe just drink them with old friends. Either way, you won't be disappointed.

Sour Orange

Let's hope that what we saw last Saturday was nothing more than an off-day for the Orange, and not a harbinger of what will come when conference play begins. Looking back to the Arkansas game, there's no way the Cuse would have won that game without Southerland's unconscious shooting. But I had figured one strength of this year's team to be their balance, and the likelihood that, on any given night, at least one guy would be hitting from the outside, keeping the offense awake when some of the shooters were dormant. But against Temple, in the Garden of all places, no one could hit from the outside. Cuse went 2 for 12 from beyond the arc. Not to mention fifteen, yes fifteen, free throws that were missed. The real question is whether Temple's D exposed a defect in the SU offense, one that wasn't visible when they were playing inferior teams, or whether they just had an off-night all around? Let's hope it was the latter.

But then, how about the D? How come the defense surrendered almost 50 points in the second half. Two games in a row remember, because Detroit had stormed back and almost took the previous game. So are there big holes in the 2-3 zone, or are the new guys just taking time to adjust? Once again, let's hope it was just the latter.

All in all, a loss in the pre-season, even a couple losses, isn't necessarily a big thing. Mike and I think they need to play with a chip on their shoulder. They need to feel disrespected, like they have something to prove. That won't happen with they are ranked number 3, or even number 9. I'm hoping that this loss removes any complacency, without impairing their confidence.  But we won't really know for another couple weeks.

So that might bring us to the end of 2012 for MannyMontaingne. Happy New Year to all my readers, and as always, Go Orange!!

Winter Smoking

Several years ago, shortly after we had begun smoking, the guys were home for the annual Andolina Christmas party, and the weather that weekend was mild -- warm enough to inspire us to spend an afternoon smoking fish in the pit. Having fired up the old smoker, we were just about to sit down with a glass of whisky when one of the kids recalled that there were NFL games that Saturday. So we plugged in a little portable TV from the basement; the guys ran to Radio Shack for some rabbit ears; and we all sat in the pit, drinking whisky, watching football, and keeping an eye on the smoker. Some of the neighbors, having seen us sitting out in the backyard in front of a TV, came by to find out why we would choose to sit out in the cold, instead of watching football in the comfort of our family room.

This year, the weather wasn’t quite nice enough that one would want to sit outside all afternoon; in fact, we had our first winter storm the other night. However, the big difference now is that the Bullet does not need tending every fifteen minutes. So when Susan went to Wegmans the other day, and found Steelhead trout, plans were made to fire up the smoker. We smoked scallops, which we’ll take to the Andolina’s for Christmas Eve; and the aforementioned Steelhead, which we’ll take to Great Barrington to share with everyone on New Year’s Eve.

I used more wood chips than usual this time (hickory, for the record), tossing an extra handful onto the fire box after I had placed the hot coals. Whether it was the extra handful of chips, or perhaps the fact that I had mixed in a bigger quantity with the briquets to begin with, but the bullet was generating smoke the whole time. In fact, as I sat down to write this post, it was over four hours since I had fired up the bullet, and I could still see smoke pouring out of the vents.

For those of you who care -- we smoked for two hours and forty minutes, never getting hotter than 160. However, I’m starting to think that the lower tray cooks hotter than the temperature registering on the thermometer, which fits into the lid of the bullet. The conventional wisdom has been that, since heat rises, the thermometer registers hotter than either of the trays where the food sits. Plus, the lower tray sits only an inch or so above the water bowl, which is supposed to moderate temperature. So we have always assumed that the lower tray cooked cooler than the upper one. I’m not so sure any more. Maybe we’ll have to run it with a couple oven thermometers on the two trays.

Lastly, what to drink after running the bullet on a winter Sunday morning? Van Winkle 15. What else??