How does a distiller get ahead of the competition? As I stress in my Workshops, that distiller has to offer something unique; something that no other distiller is offering. A case in point is Tanqueray’s portfolio of flavored Gins. Instead of adding more botanicals ($$$) and making a bigger, bolder Gin, Tanqueray has opted to add fruit flavorings. Recently while perusing the shelves at my local SLGA store (which is closing soon), I spied a bottle of Tanqueray Black Currant Gin on sale. To be fair, black currant is a difficult fruit to work with. They contain a bitter substance called anthocyanin (up to 250 mg/100 g of currants). I never buy black currants from the store and snack on them. So, why would I buy a black currant Gin? As for the Gin, it did not rate very high with me at all. Given the anthocyanin angle, I am not surprised. In fact, the Gin almost had a subtle grape flavor note to it. Maybe the flavor company had to add a trace amount of grape to the flavor compound? Maybe if the Gin was mixed with some soda or ginger ale it would be more palatable. But drinking it with just a wee splash of water just does not work for me and my taste buds. Sorry Tanqueray, you tried, but you came up short.
Here in Saskatchewan, the government is now exiting the retail sales aspect of liquor. All the SLGA stores across the province will be shuttered by mid-February 2023. In some cases, the vacated buildings will be sold to real estate developers. In other cases, entrepreneurs seeking to become private liquor vendors can buy the building and buy the liquor license.
To help clear off the shelves, SLGA has been having fire-sale pricing events. In many cases, wine and spirits were selling at more than 50% off.
One of the fire-sale products I picked up the other day was a bottle of Ketel One vodka that had been flavored with mint and cucumber. A lot of times, flavored spirits have a “fake”, almost chemical profile. NOT SO with Ketel One. This product hits all the high notes. Truly exceptional. My goal over the next month is to travel around to other SLGA stores. If I see this Ketel One product at fire-sale prices, I will literally back the truck up to the door and load up!!
Hey Gin drinkers! Was doing a bit of late night history reading over a few drams last night.
Did you know….. on Feb 20, 1736 a petition was presented to the British House of Commons asking for regulation on Gin. The petition alleged “that the drinking of Gin had excessively increased amongst people of inferior rank”. This excessive consumption had “destroyed thousands and rendered great numbers of others unfit for labour, had debauched their morals and had driven them into every vice”.
What came of all this was the Gin Act of 1736 which passed on Sept 29, 1736. The Act imposed a tax of 20 shillings per gallon on Gin plus a 50 Pound annual license fee on retail sellers of Gin.
BUT, the Act was evaded. People pretending to the “chemists” set up shop selling Gin as baby’s colick water. Gin also started to be sold under disguised names such as Tom Row, Make Shift and Ladies Delight.
By 1743, Gin intake had actually increased. To counter this, Gov’t encouraged the drinking of Rum from the Colonies, provided that it was sold to the retail consumer at 1 part Rum and 2 parts water. This came to be known as “2-water grog”. But that’s a story for another time…
source: The Historians History of the Word, vol 20, published 1904.
I recently received a bottle of this fine Gin from Distillerie Vent du Nord in Baie Comeau, Quebec. This creator of this fine nectar took my Workshop in 2017.
I drink all my Gins with just a splash of water to open up the flavors. In the case of this Gin, I get a wonderful hit of sweet earthiness likely from Angelica Root and Licorice Root. There is also some very pleasing citrus woven into this Gin. The finish is smooth with just a hint of spice.
I could drink this Gin every day, all day. I am giving it a rating of 96/100 on the Prohibition University Gin Scale.
If you are in Quebec, you will find this Gin at any SAQ store. Outside of the Province, you will have to ask your local private liquor store to contact Distillerie Vent du Nord and arrange for a shipment. This will trigger some provincial liquor taxes based on the wholesale selling price.
Irish Whisky is a misunderstood class of Whisky. I don’t know of many people that drink Irish Whisky on a regular basis, but those that I do know of will tell me they drink Bushmills. After I talk with them a while, I soon realize they have not explored the Irish whisky issue much deeper than to claim some degree of brand loyalty to a particular product.
There are actually 3 types of Irish Whisky: (1) Single Malt, (2) Irish Pot Still, and (3) Blended.
An Irish Single Malt whisky is made from 100% malted barley. Distillation is carried out via the triple pot distillation method. Three copper pot stills are used in this method and what emerges from the final still will be a nice, clean distillate at about 80-85% abv. The following image shows a 16 year old Irish Single Malt from Bushmills that I found in Calgary at Willow Park Spirits. I was so happy to have found this, I did not so much as flinch at the price. By the way, the book in the image is one of my textbooks from my studies at Heriot-Watt University. If you want a top notch book about Whisky, let it be this one edited and compiled by two world renowned experts.
Bushmills 16 Yr Old
An Irish Pot Still whisky is made from a combination of malted grains and un-malted grains. There must be at least 30% malted grain and at least 30% un-malted grain in the recipe. Triple pot distilling is usually employed, although a double distillation method could be used. Check the label of the bottle. If the label bears the words Triple Pot Distilled, then you know.
An Irish Blended Whisky takes us into the realm of what people refer to when the loudly declare that they drink something like “Bushmills”. A blended Irish is not unlike a Scotch blended whisky. It is comprised of about 2/3 base alcohol and 1/3 single malt or pot still product. The base alcohol has come off a column still at about 95% abv and has likely been made from wheat. A trip to your average, ordinary liquor store will have you come face to face with blended products because they will carry a cheaper price point and will appeal to a wider audience.
There is nothing wrong with an Irish blended whisky. Just like there is nothing wrong with most Scotch blended products. Clean and approachable are two apt descriptors.
But, if you are looking for a deeper experience, take a look at something like Bushmills 16 year old single malt Irish whisky. When I poured a wee dram my first instinct was to use my eye-dropper to add several good drops of water. This is what I normally would do when tasting a fine Scotch. But, in the case of Bushmills 16, a couple small drops was all it took to open the whisky up. Being triple distilled, it was softer and more elegant than many of the Scotches I drink. I was in a near state of nirvana as I finished my dram. Needless to say, I will not be sharing this whisky with anyone else.
Treat yourself right during these challenging times. Get yourself some really good whisky. Make it a Bushmills 16 year old single malt.
You have no doubt noticed that the big name commercial Gins (Bombay, Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Beefeater….) all pretty much taste the same. True – there will be minor variations on the finish at the back of the tongue, but these commercial offerings are otherwise all characterized by a Juniper forward profile. There is actually a reason for this. The British people, for whom these Gins are made, drink Gin by way of a Negroni or a Gin & Tonic. That being the case, there is no need to make these Gins overly complex.
In my studies at Heriot Watt University, we engaged in a Gin Lab where we were given full access to the library of botanicals. I proceeded to make a complex recipe (similar to the one I make at my house) that entailed increased amounts of Juniper balanced by increased amounts of citrus and a touch of lavender for aroma. The pH.D. student who was supervising us promptly scoffed at my creation, proclaiming ” that’s not a Gin !”. I remarked back – “Yes it is. Come to to Canada sometime and we will show you what craft Gin is all about”. Funny thing about that encounter. We really have not gotten along since…
In the Distillery Workshops that I offer, one of the components is the Gin Master Class. I emphasize that the craft Gin maker is like an artist standing before a blank canvas. He can craft something that is well above and beyond all those London Dry Gins that populate our liquor store shelves.
One person who has taken this message to heart is Brett Shonekess from Bragg Creek, Alberta. Brett along with a couple investment partners will soon be turning dirt on a craft distillery in Oktotoks, Alberta. Along the way, the have captured the hearts of several equity investors who are eager to own a piece of a craft distillery. To help build the investment case, Brett and his partners have done something totally unusual. They engaged a craft distiller in B.C. to create a Gin using a recipe developed and fine tuned by Brett himself in his garage in Bragg Creek. This Gin is called Sno Day Gin – a reference to the concept of taking a day off for personal enjoyment during a winter snow storm. People curious about investing in the distillery project have been advised to visit their nearby liquor store and buy a bottle of Sno Day Gin. This Gin is obviously a good salesman. People tasting it have circled back to invest with Brett!
How can I best describe it? Well…..how about rich and full on the palate with Juniper notes singing in harmony with a choir of citrus flavors.
In a less superfluous manner – all I can say is – this is just a damn good Gin – whether you drink it with tonic or whether you just add a splash of water to it in a martini glass. It makes those British offerings pale by comparison. One sip of Sno Day and your days of Bombay and Tanqueray will be over…for good.
Brett gave me a bottle to take home. My wife – the Gin connoisseur – discovered the bottle soon after I arrived home from my recent Workshop in Calgary. Either the bottle sprung a leak or she drank it, because the bottle is nearly empty. Hint – I doubt the root cause of the bottle emptying was a leak….
You Gotta’ Try This Gin
What Brett has illustrated and showcased is the creative, artistic possibility that craft Gin can offer. This is the type of craft product that will elevate the entire craft movement. We consumers have suffered far too long at the hands of the big name commercial players. It is time to break free. It is time to make sipping a spirit an enjoyable sensation. It thrills me that people like Brett Shonekess are stepping up and leading the way. Take a visit to the Sno Day website at https://snoday.ca/. If you are outside Alberta, get in touch with Brett and see if he will mail you a bottle of Sno Day. Take some time to chat with him about the Okotoks project. Who knows, you could become the owner of a small piece of a real craft distillery.
As for me, here and now on September 27th, 2020…I am looking out the window and I think I see a snowflake falling. Yes!! It is time to take a Sno Day. I think there is a wee dram left in that bottle Brett gave me….
This past week-end, I was offered a taste of a recently launched hard seltzer product. What I was offered was some White Claw cherry flavored seltzer.
Call me strange, but I was expecting to see a colored liquid emerge from the can into my waiting glass. Instead what I saw was a clear liquid. My thoughts immediately turned to a segment of my Distilling Workshops where I discuss flavored alcoholic beverages. My message to Workshop attendees is to “keep it real”.
There are many vendors across North America that will sell you flavor additives. At one of my Workshops back in 2018 it so happened that the regional sales rep for one of these flavor companies stopped by the Distillery on a routine sales call. He was gracious enough to take 15 minutes to speak to the class. What he emphasized was that there are Natural flavors and Artificial flavors. Natural flavors are extracted from real sources. In other words, a natural cherry flavor derives from real cherries. An artificial flavor is a chemically created substance. What this sales rep told the class next came as a surprise. He pointed out (obviously) that there are natural flavors that contain the color of the source material. He went on to explain that additional flavor (think … terpene type molecules) can be extracted from the source material using chemical solvent type compounds. This additional extract will tend towards being clear. Ever since this startling revelation, I have been very leery of any flavored drink that appears clear. Think about all those (clear) flavored vodkas you see on liquor store shelves. These represent a good example of flavors that are derived using some solvent material. When I ask people if they have ever had these flavored vodka products, the observation leans heavily to the ‘cloying’ sensation left in one’s mouth. This is no doubt due to the remnants of the solvent extract.
As I raised to the glass of White Claw to my mouth, I commented to my host that there was a very strong cherry aroma emanating from my glass. As I took a sip of the liquid, the cherry flavor was also very much present. But, then it hit me. That sickly, cloying sensation that made my taste buds scream – “one of these will be enough, thanks!”. And in fact, it was a struggle for me to finish drinking the contents of my glass. At one point, the thought of dumping the contents down the sink even crossed my mind.
White Claw is the brainchild of beverage giant Mark Anthony Group. Think Mike’s Hard Lemonade…. I am shocked at the decision to resort to a clear color format. Surely the calorie count and other metrics demanded by the demographic pursuing these seltzers could still largely have been adhered to by adding some natural type flavor that contained the color of the source material. In my mind, this display of color would have added to the marketing sensation of the product, AND steered the profile away from the cloying sensation.
I plan to now include a sampling of White Claw products in future Workshops to firmly illustrate much of what I have mentioned in this blog post. Meanwhile, this recent experience has heightened my resolve to AVOID clear, flavored alcoholic beverage products.
How’s that for a screaming headline? I recently went to a small private liquor store in Regina, Sask where I live. As a matter of habit I breezed through the Whisky aisle to see what was exciting. A stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted Wiser’s 15 Year Old Whisky priced at $46. I am accustomed to paying in excess of $100 per bottle for something from Scotland that sports a similar age statement. I am accustomed to paying way more than $46 for something from Kentucky that is half this age. I very reluctantly purchased the bottle, all the while thinking that this price point for a 15 year old product made no sense at all. Once home I poured a generous 2 finger dram and proceeded to add drops of water to open it up. I can assure you I added no more than 1 ml of water before the aromas coming from my tasting glass were heavenly. This is NOT a $46 product. This should be a $100+ product. True – it is blended and not a single malt, but the depth, mouthfeel and complexity of this Whisky places it right up there with many of the single malts I enjoy. A tip of the hat goes to Dr. Livermore and his team at Wiser’s. I returned to the liquor store on the week-end and walked off with 3 more bottles, laughing all the way home at what I told the store sales associate was her 50%-off Wiser’s deal. Get yourself a bottle(s) of this precious nectar before Wiser’s boosts the price upwards. And maybe that is the game plan. Wiser’s has not carved out its reputation in Canada as a maker of 15 year old Whisky. Its reputation rests on lower price point 3 year old Canadian Whisky. Maybe the $46 price is designed to move customers upscale without inducing price sticker shock. I am not going to wait to find out. I plan to return yet again to this liquor store and stock up on several more bottles. And maybe while I am there, I might get some Wiser’s 18 year old which was priced at a ridiculous $72. Cheers!!
Since my last post to this site I embarked on a strict diet of reduced carbohydrates ( read….reduced beer intake…). Only a temporary measure I keep telling myself….
I recently bought some low alcohol beer at the grocery store made by German brewing company Becks. I was disappointed when I cracked open a bottle. The skunky, foxy aroma was overwhelming. I was further disappointed when a family member told me that Becks low alcohol beer always has that aroma – that’s why he never drinks it.
My thoughts immediately hearkened back to the brewing course I took in Semester 1 at Heriot Watt University taught by Dr. Dawn Maskell. I learned that the skunky aroma in beer is an aroma-active compound called 3-methyl-2-buten-1-thiol. Called MBT for short, it has an aroma threshold of 0.2–0.4 nanograms/L in water and 4–35 nanograms/L in beer. MBT was detected as early as 1875 by a scientist called Lintner who described it as having meaty, sulfury, and skunky-foxy notes. Modern day science has now determined that when a brewer adds hops to the wort boil, the alpha acid in the hops changes structure slightly (isomerizes). The isomerized molecule present in beer stored in clear or green bottles that get exposed to UV light of wavelength 350 to 500 nanometers will shed a chunk of its molecular structure called an isoprenyl leg. This isoprenyl leg portion of the alpha acid molecule is the MBT.
Science has also revealed that during fermentation yeast can assimilate amino acids. Ssulfur-containing amino acids, cysteine and methionine also have been implicated in the formation of skunky flavor. There are a number of ways of creating low alcohol beer. I am not entirely sure how Becks does it, but somehow in the fermentation process, cysteine and methionine have not completely been taken up by the yeast. And the use of green bottles then only adds to the problem.
I long for the day when I can resume my beer consumption. In the interim, I see no grounds for continuing a relation with Becks Low Alcohol Beer.
This week I had a unique opportunity to visit Simpson’s Malt plant at Berwick Upon Tweed (England). This facility malts about 6 different varietals of 2-row barley for the distilling industry. Other Simpson’s locations do malting for the beer industry.
The annual intake into this facility is something like 8 million bushels per year. In a word – HUGE!
When we were there on site, trucks were coming in fast and furious loaded with barley.
Each incoming truck was sampled by the receiver technician. He was examining his collected samples for evidence of bugs and other debris.
Received barley is stored in huge silos until needed. When a quantity is needed for malting, it is washed to remove dust and debris. The wetted barley is then moved to massive steeping tanks. The general approach is to wet the barley for 8 hrs, drain and let rest for 10 hrs, wet for 8 hrs and rest for 10 hrs. Through it all, the barley is periodically stirred and wetted to control temperature.
What was interesting was the fact that not all distillers want the usual malted barley. Some of the barley at this Simpson’s plant was passed through rotating drums where the grains were wetted and air rested alternately. After sprouting, the so called “green malt” was loaded onto trucks and hauled away to the North British distillery near Edinburgh. By accepting non-dried / non-kilned malt, North British is saving $$$$ a lot of money. This is important because North British is simply making the grain alcohol that comprises the bulk of blended Whiskies (such as Johnny Walker).
For the rest of the barley, after the wetting routine, it is transferred by conveyor to the germination / kilning vessels (GKV’s). Here the grain is allowed to develop its root and shoot (acrospire) over a 96 hr span of time. Once the acrospire is about 2/3 the length of the kernel, heat is applied to the GKV vessel to halt any further progression of the acrospire. The moisture level of the grain is reduced to about 4%. It is then sent via truckload to distillers across Scotland.
We also learned that some distillers request peated barley. To accomplish this, Simpson’s takes some of the dried barley malt and loads it into a separate vessel where peat smoke at ambient temperature is allowed to filter through the grain for a set period. The longer the time, the more ppm phenol content of the barley. I was surprised to learn that the barley need not be wetted prior to smoke exposure.
This was an amazing trip. If you ever have a chance to visit a malt plant, I suggest you jump at the opportunity. You will be amazed….
