theperfectsip

Two in the Afternoon......

2011-04-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Time for a wee look at two of the newest expression that have found there way into the shop.........

The Duthies range comes from Wm. Cadenheads and is bottled at 46% abv and has no colouring added and has not been subject to chill filtration. They have a good selection but we went straight for the top drams to see what they have to offer.

Duthies Auchroisk-20 year-old, 46%.
A soft, sweet styled Speysider with a hard to pronounce name. It's not an easy malt to get hold of but there are still some out there but not many at this age.

Rich dried fruit on the nose with a real depth. Its almost like smelling a real mature dessert wine - a real great mix between the sweetness and savoury notes. On the palate its lovely rich, almost like honey and with just such a long finish.

Duthies Highland Park-18 year-old, 46%.
Who hasn't tried Highland Park? It's one of the most loved malts of the world and there 18 year-old has one more awards than I could even count BUT what about an independent bottle of this classic - Brilliant fresh and bright on the nose, with green grass and herb garden. It then moves onto a sweet orange and mangos. The palate is lush, tangy and with a slight cigar smoke notes. A great long constant finish. A lovely dram.

We try top avoid mentioning prices on the Blog but this time I have to tell the whole world that they are both £55 a bottle...or 2 for £100!!

A sample from down the road.........

2011-04-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you will know it's not long until the opening of the Good Spirits Co. just down the road from ourselves. Two of the best shops in Glasgow and just a short walking distance between them. Glasgow has never had it so good.

We can't wait to see what they have to offer but Mark was very kind and dropped off a small sample of their exclusive Ledaig 2005 to see what we thought of it.

So......it's peaty alright, the peat goes straight through the nose and out the top of the skull. Mixed in there are notes of woodlands and a sweet sea air. On the palate, its a fiery behemoth of a malt but not lacking in subtlety. A great lenght and a wee sweet finish too.

If this whisky is just 'good' we cant wait to see the rest!

Does it come in (Noval)Black.....

2011-04-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

The Noval Black is the newest release from one of our favourite port producers. Ever since we first tried the LBV back in our Oddbins days we have used Noval as our port of choice. What it has above the other ports on the market is a real quality wine behind it. A good port should be rich, thick, sweet(ish) and with a good length a GREAT port should have all of the above but with a real fruit concentration that makes you wonder why you don't drink it more often. We just received our first order last week and it has been watching us from the shelves begging to be opened so we gave in and thought we'd give it a try so...........

On the nose it's light crushed red currants with a savoury note of spices and dried forest floor. On the palate it's a lovely balance with coffee, leather and a touch of sandal wood.

We tried it straight from the bottle and slightly chilled - straight from the bottle(via a glass) worked the best. Time for another glass.

Arran: A Tasting of Two Dogs

2011-04-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Arran Distillery has only been around since 1995. The quality of the produce and the amount of flavours that is in every expression is one hell of a feat. We first encountered Arran back in our Oddbins days when the Arran Founder's Reserve was released to the general public - it was very unbalanced with the youthful fruits fighting to climb above the alcohol and often failing. That's always been the trouble with building a distillery from scratch, there is no mature stock to trade on. You just have to hold the ship steady until you can get to an age that shows the world exactly what you can do.

Arran is about to become 16, and the boys and girls at the distillery have been busy creating a fantastic range of expressions that we knew we had to get into 121. Here are our thoughts on some of the more harder to get bottles.........but in stock at Inverarity121....hahaha

Arran Amarone Cask, 50%abv: This was one that we were not going to stock until we tried it. The colour is more like a rose wine than whisky but that's part of the joy when they don't add any colouring, natural and honest. I thought it was a super soft, attractive malt that was enriched by a red berry fruit and a milk chocolate-a-like finish that made it even more moreish than i would've thought possible. Smiley Pete thought it was so nice and tasty and so rich that it was one of the smoothest malts on the market and he loved the attractive blush from the amarone cask.

And now to the two dogs........

Machrie Moor, 46%abv: Apparently when they were putting the packaging together for the Machrie Moor the printer tried to change the name of the dog on the tin to Brian instead of Bran! I doubt the giant Fingal would've had a dog called Brian! But now, the whisky - a summer dram, lightly peated, 14ppm and the first summer drinking peat whisky I've tried. This was Pete's favourite from the tasting...which is a shame considering there are no more bottles at the distillery and we only have a few left ourselves.

Icons of Arran No. 3 "The Westie", 46abv: ahhhhhhhh it's so cute - love the bottle, wish we had it in stock for mothers day. Put together by James MacTaggart from 22 Ex-Oloroso sherry casks. This is one of those whiskies you wouldn't even have to drink, you could just nose it! Luckily, we're professionals and we also drank it. For you. As research. On the nose it was intensely fruity with tropical notes, and a punnet of pears. Intensely addictive. On the palate, it was drier than you'd expect from an Arran with green herbs (thyme), a lovely balance and a gorgeous long finish. Embrace the westie...we'll take the hair of the dog anyday! We love it and we'll hopefully see you at the Arran Open Day, Sunday 29th May. Please visit http://www.arranwhisky.com/ for detatils

Spirits Master Class @ 121

2011-04-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

Pete studies hard for the bombarment of questions at the Naked Spirits Master Class that we had on Wednesday night!

With the increase in the spirits range we thought now was the time to show off some of the new bottles as well as revisit some old friends. We had around 20 people in the room all ready and eager to try some spirits and, hopefully, learn something too.

What we had on the night...

Old Raj Gin, 46%abv: The perfect start to the night. We served it neat straight from the fridge and then offered everyone a wee dash of tonic to complete the deal. Old Raj has become one of our favourite gins and although its great neat it makes damn near the perfect Gin and Tonic that you could taste.

Inverarity Blend, 40%abc: A fantastic wee blend that is very drinkable without being overly complex - think more large measure in front of the TV than tasting sample beside the fire.

Rum......served blind. A possible addition to the range from the West Indies that didn't capture the crowd but we thought it was a great wee sipper! However, we let the public decide and we wont be stocking this one.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille,43%abv: Fantastic! See our last blog for our thoughts.

Bruichladdich First Growth Haut Brion Cask ACE'd, 46%abv: Yum! This is one of the best of the range with just the right amount of tannins on the plate. It would be brilliant to try this next to some Haut Brion but the wine is around four times more expensive than the whisky.

Arran Amerone, 50%abv: This was one malt that we were not going to stock until we were offered a sample by the distillery and fell in love with it. The colour is almost rose pink but thats what happens when distillers don't worry about adding colouring. To taste it is mouth watering good - tonnes of the Arran style flavours but all with undertones of red berry fruit and milk chocolate - we sold out of this one after the tasting....must order more.

Springbank-15 year-old, 46%abv: A constant favourite since we first started stocking it. Much sweeter in style than the Springbank-12 year-old and full of elegance, and citrus richness.

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood Finish, 55.9%abv: We reviewed the complete Hazelburn range at the start of this week and I was more than happy to try it again. Such a complex dram for such a young whisky. See its not always about the age of the whisky but the quality.

So until the next time keep sampling!

Cognac Tasting.....gets the thumbs up!

2011-04-01T05:23:00.001-07:00

Not one of the spirits that we head straight to but who could resist the chance to try three fantastic releases from the famous cognac house Delamain.

Founded back 1n 1824(the same year as Macallan!) the house of Delamain has been releasing top range cognacs - their entry level selection is an XO - why bother with VSOP's! What we tried....

Delamain XO "Pale & Dry", 40%abv: A lovely grapey nose with touches of coffee and cream. On the palate more soft grapes and a long soft, silky finish.

Delamain Vesper, 40%abv: More fragrant and integrated than the XO, green grass and subtle oak too. To sip it is sooooo much smoother than the XO but it is a light bit tougher to pull out any distinctive notes but a beautiful drink none the less.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille, 43%abv: This is a single, vineyard, single cask cognac of around 50-60 years old. The nose was impressive with tobacco, soft oak, leather and touch of sulphur. On the palate it was sweet, rich, full of plums, raisins and more tobacco. Sweet oak and dried herbs come just at the finish. smooth and beautiful.

So three cognac and thumbs up all round - no wonder Pete looks so happy.

A Trio of Hazelburns....

2011-03-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

We got a lovely surprise when Springbank popped some samples through our door and an even bigger smile when we realised that we can now have a go at a vertical Hazelburn tasting.

For those in the 'know' Hazelburn is the name used for the un-peated triple distilled malt from Sprinbank. Taking the name from one of the number of Campbeltown whisky distilleries that closed down in the 1920's. They have only been producing the Hazelburn since 1997.

So now the whiskies.....

Hazelburn-8 year-old, 46%abv: Sweet styled, vanilla pods and short bread. On the plate there is a real sweetness that just makes the mouth water.

Hazelburn-12 year-old, 46%abv: I thought that the nose was not as distinctive as the 8 year-old but on the palate - WOW - It's still sweet but now its massive! Vanilla, sweet oak, chocolate, oranges and some dried spices.
For another opinion check out Ralfy's review of the Hazelburn-12 year-old http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhnyjwYT6w4

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood, 55.9%abv: A limited edition expression (9180 bottles world-wide) that has spent 5 years in Refill Bourbon Cask and a further 3 years in Sauternes Cask...........a heavenly experience in a glass! The nose is rich and strong with aromas of oranges, raisins and a lovely touch of salt that stops it becoming too sweet. On the palate it really has a great mouth feel, it also has a lovely whiff of smoke at the back.

And after all that hard work I think I deserve a wee glass of Old Raj Gin!!

Japan Whisky Experiance - Story & Taste

2011-03-29T03:27:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to to be able to attend this talk and tasting hosted by Dr Koichi Inatomi , a senior advisor for Suntory.

We covered the history of Suntory from building Yamazki Distillery in 1923 -it's first manager Masataka Taketsura was an apprentice at Hazelburn in Campbeltown- to a tasting of some of the modern expressions.

The presentation was very informative but still with a relaxed atmosphere that helped us all get a real feel for Japanese whisky.

What we tasted.....

Yamazaki-12 year-old, 43%abv: A light, soft malt that has a very Speyside freshness to it. It is drenched in tropical fruits and pineapples.

Hakushu-12 year-old, 43%abv: Still very fruity but more pronuced than the first whisky, this time the main fruits were more plums and raisons. On the palate more of the same fruit but with a very smokey edge - lovely.

Yamazaki-18 year-old, 43%abv: Not as quick to jump out the glass but a wonderfull well integrated malt. Lovely richness of raisins, cherries, coffee and chocolate. A sweet styled malt but worht it.

Hakushu Peated, 48%abv: Peated up to 25 p.p.m. for that Islay-styled whisky. I thought it was like a more fruit driven version of Laphroaig but with red currants and a dash of lime.

A huge thank you goes out to University of Glasgow's School of Education for putting this event on - Many Thanks.

We've have been busy.....

2011-03-24T03:50:00.001-07:00

Hi folks...sorry its been so long since our last post - expect more to start popping up over the next few days.

So what have we been doing since the last time we blogged, more tastings, more sales and, even better, more stock.

Over the past few weeks we have increased the range that we carry in the shop by a factor of 10.

Pete was beside himself with excitment when the new German and Austrian wines came in - Siegal Reisling 2009, Louis Dry Reisling 2009, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2009, Karl H Johner Pinot Blanc/Chardonnay 2007 and the Pinot Noir 2007 from German and Little J Gruner Veltliner 2009 and Zweigelt 2007 from Austria. Expect a full report from Pete soon.

My excitment came in the form of the increase of the whiskies that we now stock. Our plan was to concentrate on the West Coast independants and increase the range when we can. In the past couple of weeks we added Arran-10 year-old, 14 year-old, the Amarone Cask and a small order of Machrie Moor. From Bruichladdich we concentrated on the First Growth range and brought in the Lafite, Margaux and Haut Brion ACE'd casks and from Springbank we were able to increase our range and get in the Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood.

We were also able to get some old and new vintages of some of our top wines...

New vintages of Meerlust Red, Rodney Strong Charlotte's Home Sauvignon, Rusden Boundaries Cabernet and also the new La Nina Verdelho from Argentina.

Old friends that we have managed to rescue from the back of our warehouse include a large selection of Rhone wines including PJA Condrieu Les Cassines 2006, PJA Cote Rotie Les Jumelles 1998 and 1999, PJA Chateauneuf Du Pape Les Cedres 2006 and the excellent PJA Hermitage Le Taurobole 2001.

Next time your passing just stop in and we can show you everything else.

Andy

Dalmore: The King in his Castle

2011-03-24T03:33:00.000-07:00

A very generous friend dropped off a wee sample of the new Dalmore Castle Leod for us to try and asked us for our thoughts..............

Andy: I've always been a large fan of Dalmore (even popped into to the Distillery on my honeymoon - thanks Gillian). The 12 year-old is a dark chocolate fruit filled delight and affordable enough to find its way into my drinks cupboard every now and again. I'm also very lucky to right now have a 20 year-old cask strength and a 21 year-old bottled for the American market - a report on them to follow.

Now Castle Leod.....its definitely a Dalmore! The nose is attractive, clean full powered with raspberries and fresh strawberries mixing with chocolate orange. On the palate its got a touch of spice and more dark chocolate with a red berry juice undercurrent. All in all it's another fantastic malt from up north.

Pete: Has yet to try his sample but we'll keep you updated.

Italy "That's Amore!"

2011-02-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

We had long promised to put on an Italian Tasting and last Thursday I have to say that we knocked the ball out of the court, and the wines were great too.

We tried to cover as much of Italy as possible but you have to remember that the 1000 plus wines from Italy stretch from the Alps in the North to 'almost within sight' of Africa in the south.

To start we jumped into one of Itlay's most known wines Montepulciano d'Abruzzo BUT this one was a rose! It was a great introduction as all the soft, dark red berry fruits were there but in a much lighter style of the wine. The whites were typical Italian with fantastic aromatics and rounded white fruit bodies - the stand out for me was Soave Singat Adalia.

As great as the whites were the reds were outstanding. The Italian big boys of Barolo and Chanti were textbook examples of what the grapes can do. The Barolo could use a year or two on its side but if you like your wine as chunky as it is ethereal then the Patrizi is the one for you.

To finish we had Corte Sant' Alda Recioto - a wine so good I tried to run off with both bottles before we had tasted them. Recioto just means that the wine is from semi dried grapes and that the frementation was stopped early to give you a full bodied wine but still very sweet. If you've never tried a sweet red wine it can be a litte bit of a shock but it is a once in a lifetime wine, the red berry fruit is layered with bitter cherry and sweet raspberries.

From the crowd I could tell that they all had a great time and we'll be seeing a lot of you at future nights.

What we tasted in full

Gran Sasso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Rose
Ponte Pietra Trebbiano-Garganega
Soave Singat Adalia
Fiano Di Avellino Mastrobardino
Lacrimarosa Mastroberadino
Ponte Pietra Merlot-Corvina
Valpolicella Allegrini
Barolo Patrizi
Chanti Classico Berardo Riserva Castello di Bossi
Recioto della Valpolicella Corte Sant' Alda

Keep watching this space as next up is the German and Austrian Night.

Old Firm Wine Part Two

2011-02-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's a wine to balance our Vin de Pays de Gers from yesterday. It may not have Celtic in the title, or indeed a green and white striped label, but the Montepulciano Paradiso is a nod to Celtic park nicknamed Paradise by Celtic fans.

The wine is soft, juicy and fruity and is literally made to go with lasagne, or anything in a tomato based sauce. Ideal also, for sitting in front of the telly watching the match on Sunday. Enjoy :)

A Wine For Sundays Old Firm match(Part 1)

2011-02-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

Okay its a big jump but we have just got in this Petite Gasconne(As in Paul) which is a Vin De Pays Du GERS!

The blend of grapes is very high in Colombard but includes a great a number of the regions other white grapes, and is a great example of what the region can do - it's South West France, under the Armagnac region.

The wine is a wee beauty at only 11.5% abv. On the nose it's quite full bodied but very refreshing, citrus and stone fruits mix together for ultimate enjoyment.

On the palate it's light, zesty, slightly fizzy, off-dry and just crying out for a warm summers day*

We got just over two cases in so jump at it before it's gone.

Don't worry we'll find a Celtic linked wine tomorrow.

*Warm summers day not included.

Whisky and Ginger

2011-02-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry we've away for so long but with over 20 tastings in this month alone we're fighting through the back log......

Anyway the lovely folk at Fever Tree offered us a few samples of Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer for us to try with our own Blended whisky SO

Inverarity Blend with Ginger Ale: The ginger is quite strong with out dominating. It added a pleasant spicy kick that grows on you with every sip.

Inverarity Blend with Ginger Beer: A bit too strong for us and the cloudy haze dose not make for an attractive drink.

And just to add an Islay twist we had a little bit of Laphraoig Quarter Cask left so lets see what happens....

Laphroaig Quarter Cask with Ginger Ale: Beautifully balanced between smoky, ginger and a sweentness that came from nowhere and swept us away. Huge thumbs up from all three of us!

Laphroaig Quarter Cask and Ginger beer: Guess what we love the Laphroaig and Ginger Ale so much we're just going to have another one!

A great wee tasting for a Wednesday afternoon and a big thank you to the guys and girls from Fever Tree - they also do one of the best tonics on the market.

Still time for a glass of red

2011-02-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

In the busy tasting month that is February we have decide that we should find some odd moments of calm to let you catch up with some new wine, whisky and even rum!

First up is this stonking great big Chilean red Amplus One (75% Carmenere, 20% Syrah and 5% Carignan). We let it decant for at an hour before we jumped in and boy what a rush.....it has that typical Carmenere herbal nose with layer of dark berry and red berry fruit. The palate had a richer style fruit but with a soft milk chocolate mouth feel.

Good news - utterly brilliant wine for under £15!

Bad news - let one of our customers try it and he bought all that we had left!

Classic French Tasting @ 121

2011-01-26T04:23:00.001-08:00

We had a full house, some new faces and a number of French Classic wines open in the shop last night.

We kicked off with the sparkly Baumard which is Pete's ideal aperitif. Fresh, zesty and crucially TASTY.

The Picpoul was a wee revelation..aromatic with an acidity to make you go weak at the knees.

The Cattin Pinot Blanc ticked all of the Alsace boxes and the Sancerre and the Rully were great.

And then we got into the reds...Nuits Saint Georges, Margaux, Fleurie and Vacqueryas! The Fleurie was by Potel Aviron from old vines (making for a bigger, richer wine) and would have gone perfectly with beef wellington. The Vacqueryas had a stinky blue cheese nose, and was the definition of power over elegance.

The favourite wine on the night was a tie between the Rully and the Vacqueryas, and the best value was undoubtedly the Cattin Pinot Blanc.

A groovy night all round, and only five sleeps till the Champagne tasting!

If you would like to attend some of our future tastings please visit our website www.inverarity121.com

Chairman of Islay's Gin Gang Loves Old Raj

2011-01-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to have the Chairman of Islay's Gin Gang - John Bell in the shop and we couldn't resist letting him try our new favourite gin - Cadenhead's Old Raj.

The Old Raj gin is a rather special gin as it is the only one to be saffron infused which gives a lovely herbal kick. It is also one of a small number of gins that is bottling at 46% abv and we even have cask strength 'Navy style' bottle at 55% volume.

After trying them both Mr Chairman agreed that both were lovely but the 46% bottle was top tipple 'a beautiful gin, that when mixed with tonic makes one of the best drinks around'

.....and who are we to argue with the Chairman!

Tasty rose wine :)

2011-01-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Arguably the prettiest bottle in the shop from the lovely region of Campania in Italy (think Amalfi Coast, south of Naples). This dry rose has depth, character and complexity and is made using the local Aglianico grape. It's food friendly and de-lic-ious!

Tell me why I don't like Mondays?

2011-01-17T07:53:00.001-08:00

So statisically the third Monday of January is the most depressing day of the year - it must be true I read it in the paper! Luckly I have a way to beat the winter blues - Wine Tasting!!

We don't really open up wine on Monday but we have a possible large order for a future function and we were able to open up five bottles of wine that would hopefully seal the deal.

Some of what we tried....

Terres Fumees Sauvignon-2009 and Merlot-2009, both £7.99 and both from the warm Mediterrain terrior of the Carcassonne region within Languedoc.

The sauvignon has a fresh, fruity nose that has touches of gooseberry and a hint of dry spice. On the palate it's even softer with a lush off-dry note that makes this one very easy drinker. The merlot smelled warm and inviting, dark red currents and just a hint of bramble jam. To taste it's almost like juice with very little to suggest the 13.5% abv. and finishes with classic merlot charm of spices and lushness.

And to finish we opened a bottle of our own house claret - and my wine of 2010 - Chateau La Croix St. Benoit-2009, £9.99. The wine is an Inverarity exclusive and is one of the most accessible clarets I have come across. It's 75% cabernet franc and 25% merlot with the fruit coming form 30-40 year-old vines. The nose is quite big and beefy and laden with ripe dark berry fruit, blackcurrents and cigar box spice. The palate is softer and gentler but lasts for a lot longer than you would expect. Much of the same fruit as the nose but thats not a bad thing. For the value this was my wine of 2010 and it will take some thing special to stop this being one of my top recommendations.

Keep tasting.......tomorrow is another day

The Future of Whisky..........

2011-01-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

The future of Whisky is now here in Inverarity121 - 185a Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, Europe, The World!!

I might be guilty of some hyperbole in my time but it is your humble blogger's opinion that Kilchoman is the future of whisky -smalll scale, artisan, beautifully created, non-coloured, non-chill filtred and bottled at the right strength.

Kilchoman is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland - a farm distillery none the less, on the beautiful Isle of Islay. They only opened in 2005 and have been causing waves ever since just by making great whisky in a very traditional way.

We have just recived our very first delivery of Kilchoman Winter Release... we got 2 cases in, but there are only 5 bottles left - and we even sold one to a very famous Scottish Celebrity - let's hope he drinks it! The collector in me wants to buy the rest and put them away - imagine buying an Ardbeg bottled four years after the distillery was founded. The whisky lover in me wants to buy the rest and drink it (responsibly) as there is so much flavour in there for such a young whisky. The peat dominates but in the glass there are some fantastic notes of nuts and vanilla essence and the finish just goes on and on. It is no wonder this is my main drink when at the bar of the Port Charlotte Hotel.

Come in and see us before we run out.......

Brave New World Tasting

2011-01-14T04:54:00.001-08:00

Our first tasting of the year was a total sell out last night with over 20 guests sampling 9 wines - 2 bottles of each just to get around everyone.

As ever the aim was to be as informative as possible but still keep it informal. I'm sure that by the laughs had that everyone had a great time.

We started with a cheeky wee off-dry California rose that went down better than we thought it would. Then it was a round trip through the whites taking in New Zealand Sparkling, Argentina Verdelho, South African Sauvignon Blanc and finishing with Chilean Chardonnay. As interesting as they all were it was the Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc that was the most impressive for me - the ripe green fruit was right up your nose but the palate had a fantastic balance. This one can give any of the New Zealand Sauvignons a run for their money.

With the reds we started with a very soft, fruity, easy going Aussie Shiraz that lead perfectly into the Obvio Malbec from Argentina. The Obvio was a big, juicy, fruit pumping beast that was picked as the best value wine of the night and at £6.99 a bottle who are we to argue. Then came the last wines of the tasting Grove Mill Pinot Noir and the Meerlust Rubicon. These two produced the most discussion - the Grove Mill had quite a distinctive Burgundy-esque style but more red berry fruit and would be a good one on a blind tasting. The Meerlust Rubicon was a Cabernet/Cab. Franc mix that I would go for over most of the same priced Bordeaux's.

Question of the night: If all the vines in France have American root stocks does that not mean they are New World?

What we tasted in full...

Humbolt Coast Zinfandel Rose(USA)

Pelorus Brut NV(New Zealand)

Don Cristobal 1492 Verdelho-2008(Argentina)

Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc -2009(South Africa)

Santa Ema Chardonnay-2009(Chilie)

Dry River Shiraz-2009(Oz)

Obvio Malbec-2009(Argentina)

Grove Mill Pinot Noir-2009(New Zealand)

Meerlust Rubicon-2005(South Africa)

If you wish to attend a future tasting or set up a night of our own please visit our website http://www.inverarity121.com/ or call us at the shop on 0141 221 5121.

A Jura Kind of Afternoon

2011-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

How to pass an afternoon while reading up for a wine tasting - an impromtu Jura tasting.

Two offerings from one of our top distilleries the Isle of Jura, the superstition and a single cask release from 2005.

For those of you who have never visted the 'Isle of the deer' it is well worth the trip over and the distillery is one of the must see distilleries of Scotland. The still room is magnificent and you will not believe the size unless until you see the stills.

Anyway.......

Jura Superstition is the slightly more peated version and is widley available. We found it to be such an approachable malt - while Pete was wishing he was sitting back in leather chair with a Romeo & Julietta cigar enjoying the mix of smoke to the peaty notes I was thinking more of sitting on a pier, near a peaty fire, as the fishing boats come in. Either way this is one very drinkable malt and I have to say so much beter than when it was first released. If you've not had this one for a while give it another try.

Jura-13 year-old Cask Strength was a completely different drink. Distilled 12th Feb. 1992 and bottled 20th May 2005, at 56.6% volume. The nose is quite dense with both touches of fruit but also a rather strong wood element, both fresh oak and old dunnage warehouses. With water there was a lot of fresh fruit and a lovely penny sweetie note but with a constant oaky edge. Pete felt it was tasty but the higher abv. dominated his enjoyment and I have to agree - when compared with the superstition this is not the best example of Jura. It should be repeated that this bottle was released over 5 years ago and is no longer for sale.

Keep tasting.....

Review: 3 Stones Riesling 2007

2011-01-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

To prepare for the Brave New World Tasting tonight we thought we would try the 3 Stones Riesling 2007 from Hawkes bay in New Zealland. In order keep our highly trained senses of smell and taste trained to the top level I served this to Pete blind.

Pete's tasting note: On the nose lemon skins, slightly oily, touch of ripe sweet fruit. A little off-dry on the palate but very balanced and very drinkable.

For a blind tasting I have to say that he got the wine spot on. We will have on tasting for the rest of the day or until it runs out.

Pop in if you want to try it.

CAO Gold Maduro Review

2011-01-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Maduro wrapper from Brazil adds a dark, sultry spiciness to this creamy, medium bodied cigar. One to enjoy with a strong coffee and a good book.

Hazelburn-8 year-old

2011-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

Springbank but with a twist....

Hazelburn is the triple distilled single malt from those fantastic boys and girls down in Campbeltown. They only started producing this style in the early 1990's with a limited edition picture image.

This is one of the malts that I had always wanted to try but never really got around to. Boy did I miss the boat on this one - it is such a different malt to Springbank but I loved it. The triple distillation has added another layer of sweetness and taste.

We have one open for tasting if pop in.

2011-01-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

On tasting now Inverarity Ancestral-14 year-old. A very easy drinking Speysider that has that classic sherry influence on the nose and plate.

Come in and see us...

2011-01-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

theperfectsip is now the online blogspot for Inverarity121 the retail arm of Inverarity Vaults. The shop is located at 185a Bath Street, Glasgow and is run by comedy duo Peter Stewart and Andy Bell.

We will be posting up blogs of anything new that we feel you maybe interested in.

If you have any questions please contact us social@inverarity121.com or give us a buzz 0141 221 5121.

The Perfect Slip Will Return

2010-09-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

The Perfect sip will be returning with a bang soon and a great number of tasting's and events to be reported.

Watch this space.....ps I will not be trying the macallan it just looks great.

S.M.W.S Tasting Night

2009-03-06T02:06:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night and another tasting for Glasgow's Whisky Club Tasting Panel. Five brave souls travelled throught the rain to meet at the Bon Accord bar to go through 5 new bottles from our friends in Edinburgh. Here are the results.

Malt 1,
SMWS 129.19 (Loch Lomond-16 year-old), 50.1% volume, £50, one of 79 bottles
The nose quite intriguing starts with a touch of salt, then fruit into cinnamon. At times the fruit is very pick’n’mix confectionary. To taste it is like being hit with a piece of rough peat. First sip -Full rush of peat quickly developing into a sweet finish. Second sip – rough, charcoal, dry and unmemorable.

70/100

Malt 2.
SMWS 93.33 (Glen Scotia-16 year-old), 64.3% volume, £49, one of 177 bottles
Fruit driven nose, blueberries and cherry chewits jump straight out at you. A touch of lime and lavender at the edges and you have a very well put together experience. The palate was not the best for me but if you like liquorice to dominate with the edges of prunes and Root beer then this malt is for you. With water the liquorice does die down and the prunes turn slightly too raspberry jus. A great malt but not for my personal tastes.

80/100

Malt 3.
SMWS 1.141 (Glenfarclas ## year-old) 48.1% volume.
A boy band malt! Synthetic, clean, trying to hard to impress, and as always one member who wants to be the rebel. A fake fruit nose that is very like apples mixed with polish cleaner gives way to a slightly oaky, tangerine and concentrated orange juice palate. With water the there is more fruit, a hint of chocolate and some spicy white heather. I like it but I’m not sure why?

85/100

Malt 4.SMWS 37.40 (Cragganmore ##year-old) 56% volume
A classic grassy Speysider! Floral, rose water, fresh green fruit – strawberries and sugar on a summer day (while watching Wimbledon on the TV). With out water there is a strange mid-palate sour moment where the rollercoaster ride stalls but with the addition of a touch of water this turns into mouth watering fruit. Almost perfect.

95/100

Malt 5.
SMWS 27.72 (Springbank-12 year-old), 57.3% volume, £51, one of 292 bottles
A darker richer monster than the previous drams. At first it’s a fruit cake mixed with to much sherry then it’s a ginger cake that could do with some sherry. Great complexity. The palate is at first peppery then smoky, touch peaty, then just when it’s about to finish it turns sweet. I had a great time trying to work out the distillery and I had to go for Talisker (peaty, smoky, peppery) but it was Springbank! Another brilliant dram and a great one to finish on.

95/100

If you would like to more about SMWS please visit there site.

http://www.smws.co.uk/

Henschke Wine Tasting

2009-03-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

Another fantastic tasting at Inverarity 121 – why they keep inviting me I’ll never know. This week Peter was presenting the Henscke Wine range and I could think of no better way of spending a Saturday afternoon.I have to admit that my palate is designed to love wines from the New World – big, powerful fruit bombs filled with concentration and berry juice. First up was the Riesling (£12.99), a fresh fruity, slightly sweet but with a limey-citrus crispness tipple 85/100. Following on was the Tilly’s Vineyard 2004 (£9.99), a Semillon, Sauvignon and Chardonnay mix. Again a lot of fruit but not to much complexity 85/100 and then to finish the whites Louis Semillon 2003(£11.99), quite powerful for a Semillon but just the right wine to finish on, it has brilliant toasty notes (which is down to the 26% French oak aging). A year on your wine rack and you will get the ‘runny honey on toast’ notes that real good Semillon is capable of 90/100.

As is Inverarity 121’s key idea it is the Henschke family who own and run the winery for more details please visit.

http://www.henschke.com.au/

On to the reds and there was no messing about. To dive straight into the Johann’s Garden GSM (Grenach/Shiraz/Mouvedre - £18.99) is like running through a dense bramble patch eating all the brambles, and a few leaves, as you go. A green herby, almost spearmint notes follow. Give this wine a year or two and you will have a true Australian great 92/100. Then is the Shiraz/Cabernet 2002 (£18.99) a true battle of Shiraz’s blackberries and the Cabernet’s eucalyptus – the berries win by the way 92/100.

To finish Peter really threw his best at us the straight Cabernet (okay 91% Cabernet and 9% Merlot - £39.50). I swear that I thought that this was a Pinot on the nose – inky, oily, burnt raisins and dark forest fruits. I may have been wrong about the grape but the wine was magnificent 95/100.

6 wines, one Saturday afternoon – brilliant tasting!

Chivas Tasting

2009-02-16T03:04:00.000-08:00

If you are lucky enough to visit the Distilleries that are under the Chivas Brothers protective arms you will have the chance to purchase some Cask Strength releases from some of there top Distilieries.

On Friday we were able to put together a tasting of four of these bottles – Strathisla(pictured), Longmorn, Glenlivet and Glenallachie. I have to admit that after a night at Linn House last year that I have been a huge fan of what Chivas Brothers release. For a company of it’s size it is very refreshing to see them push the product forward.

First up was the Strathisla-15yo (Distilled 1991, bottled 2006, 55.4%) – Rich all spice on the nose, dry, then a rush of heather honey. The palate comes forward as powerful coffee that’s been brewed to long. The addition of water adds a vanilla undertone and bananas to the nose and a whiff of smoke to the palate. 90/100

Glenlivet-16 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 59.8%) – A vast impovment on the 12 year-old and the 15 year-old French Oak, I’m thinking that the higher ABV just gives the flavours a little push in the right direction. Again the nose had that sweet style heather honey notes but it was mixed with floral garden notes. The palate continued on with these flavours. Water brought out an extra note of liquorice. 88/100

Longmorn-17 year-old (Distilled 1991, bottled 2008, 49.4%) – This is the bottle that cause the disagreements on the night. To my nose and palate it was a rich, textured dram that was put together with armchair drinkers in mind. The flavours were well integrated and the finish was lingering BUT I just could not pull any individual notes out of the whisky. My vote was that this was a brilliant dram – I don’t need to challenged by everything I drink. 92/100

And to finish our Speyside tasting…..Glenallachie-18 year-old (Distilled 1990, bottled 2008) - One of my favourite drams. Yes it has been in a sherry cask for to long but I just adore all those rich, nutty flavours. Cask Vs Distillery and the cask comes out the winner by a first round knock out. 95/100

Now, as those who know me will know, I am a huge supporter of Bruichladdich Distillery and just to finsih off the evening I brought out a Bruichladdich Valinch "Blandola" that I picked up over Christmas. You really need to see the label to see the sheer brilliance behind the name

http://www.laddieblog.com/laddieblog/Blog/Entries/2008/11/4_Blandola_Valinch.html

Stunning whisky from my top distillery 95/100

Glen Breton - one bottle, one distillery a whole lot of controversy!

2009-02-16T02:26:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Ralfy (www.whiskystuff.blogspot.com) presented the group with a blind sample to taste and discuss. I have to admit that nose was outstanding constantly changing, always developing – fizzy sweets, citrus, old leather, lemon sherbet. The palate, however, did not live up to the ‘hype’ of the nose – a bit too spirity, too young to be an enjoyable drinking. At a guess I said it maybe one of the malts from the Loch Lomond Distillery but I was wrong.

When the malt was revealed it was none other than Glen Breaton-10 year-old Canadian Whisky. Yes the small distillery that has fought off the wraith of the SWA twice only to find that it is again back in the courts. As a malt I was not overly impressed, and at the price (£40, thewhiskyexchange) I would not be buying a bottle BUT as a stand against the short sightness of the SWA I recommend that we all buy a bottle.

For further reading on the SWA may I recommend that you visit http://www.maltmaniacs.org/ and read the comments by Johannes van den Heuvel.

Aged Grenache

2009-02-07T10:07:00.001-08:00

It takes patience and passion to age a wine, to ignore its calling and let it mature.

On Friday we opened an aged bottle of D’Arenberg ‘The Derelict Vineyard’ Grenache 2003 (£11.99 when purchased 2 years ago - £13.99 now, Oddbins). It did not take long to decant and let lose a furry of flavours. The best description was that this wine was a very fruity alcoholic sherry that has been made with amontillado sherry. The warmth of the alcohol just stays on the palate and conjures up fantastic memories of Christmas and fruity puddings.

I have always been a huge fan of the D’Arenberg wines and I highly recommend them for ageing – I still have some old vintage of Feral Fox Pinot Noir, and Dead Arm Shiraz waiting to be released.

Jack Frame Exhibition at Inverarity 121

2009-02-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

As a guest at the opening of the Jack Frame Exhibition I was able to view some wonderful pieces of some very fine art and take part in a small but very interesting Burgundy tasting.

Our host for the evening Smiley Pete took us through 4 different wine, 2 whites and 2 reds. The whites were very the complete opposite of the traditional way of viewing Burgundy – the Chablis Louis Michel-2004 (£25 – in a magnum) was soft, fresh, citrus fruity approachability defined. While the Macon-Villages Joseph Drouhin- 2007 (£8.99) was a dry, steely, complex wine that didn’t just break the mould of Macon-Village wines but destroyed it.Onto the reds and it was Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits verses Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune. I have to admit that I have never been overly fond of red Burgundy – when it tastes great it tastes slightly like dirty vegetables, not my scene. The first wine was Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits Chartron et Trebuchet-1999 (£14.99) was an enjoyable drink, aged perfectly well and even I have to admit that the dirty vegetable flavours were very appealing. It was paired next to the Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune VV 2006 Nicolas Potel (£11.99), a young wine from old vines. They were both very similar in style but the Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits just had the edge.

If you are in Bath Street I highly recommend that you stop in at Inverarity 121 to view Jack’s fantastic work – oil and paint on glass. They will be displayed until the end of the month.