Water Of LiFe, travelling in Mexico to explore more deeply the fabulous world of mezcal

For several weeks, Water Of LiFe, has been travelling in Mexico to explore more deeply the fabulous world of mezcal (cf. post “Improbable Tequila and Mezcal tasting...in Brussels“, February).

Everyone knows about tequila, whether if they like it or not, but what does its brother mezcal taste like?
Mezcal won't appeals everyone, but when somebody likes tequila, definitely should try.

The word mezcal come from the náhuatl, the azteca language, “mexcalli”, derived from “metl” which means maguey (agave plant) and “ixcalli” meaning cooked or stewed. According to archaeological studies, this distillate of agave is the oldest distilled drink of Mexico and probably of the world. It’s a new taste for most of us, that's the reason as why we have to behave with it… we have to enjoy it, sip it, not shoot it. The Scotch fans and spirits fans in general, should consider investigating mezcal.

To my opinion, Mezcals have a lot to demonstrate us before to age it thanks to the 30 types of agaves which can be use to elaborate it, the geology of the soil, the sun exposition and the climate where it is produced. Once you age it, I think we lose some of the mezcal original flavour but some of the reposado ones could make me change my mind…

Today, mezcal has a big opportunity to become as important as o more than tequila.

The mezcal producers has to carry on creating small and reduced batches to not become industrial as Tequila is and preserve what it characterize and make it so special being one of the few drinks left which can accurately be called "artisanal". Unlike most of other spirits, production of mezcal is, on the whole, a smalltime affair, mezcal is largely handcrafted. Actually, most of the mezcals exported come from Oaxaca and are elaborated with the agave called Espadín, harvested by hand.

Mezcal has become trendy, chick among the Mexican middle and high class whereas it was still considered as a low class drink few years ago. Recently (≈ 5 years), the interest for mezcal is growing up in Mexico and abroad, Mezcalerias have mushroomed across Mexico City. People begin to know how to consume it and consume it more and more. In the Condesa neighbourhood, I had the opportunity to taste two brands which called me attention: Mezcales de Leyenda and Mezcal Amores (next posts)

Having a mezcal or two, this drink is considered as magical in some regions of Mexico. It goes well paring with food, as an aperitif or digestive sharing with friends, to celebrate, it allows us to have a short travel to Mexico.

Salud! 

The Water of Life's "Coup de coeur" (favourite): Domaine des Hautes Glaces

 Located at 892 meters high in the French Alps, The Domaine des Hautes Glaces (DHG) is a mountain farm distillery. It produces natural, handcrafted single malt managing the whole process on the same site by Jéremy Bricka and Fréderic Revol, both nature and whisky lovers. 

This full-integrated process is certified as fully organic using renewable and local sources.

From growing the grains to bottling the single malt, they work meticulously and are obsessed by the excellence through each step of the process. 

They daily make efforts to highlight and respect the particularities of their lands and the French historical distillation savoir-faire. 

The notion of terroir is at the heart of their approach meaning, as in wine making, each barrel is in link with a climate. Each plot used to grow their cereals has its own geographic characteristic: slope, microclimate, exposition, and geology.

After each harvest, the barley and rye grains are malted, brewed, fermented at the distillery and slowly double or triple distilled in their pot stills. This process allows them to elaborate a very aromatic distillate which will be transferred or not, depending of the product concerned, to barrels from various French vineyard regions (exclusively french barrels) waiting in the cellars to be filled. At this moment, the time takes its place for a more or less long maturation. At that stage, this is a question of patience…

As alchemists, they try to find the best balance between these six elements which take part in the single malt making process: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Metal, Wood in order to produce the best spirit as they can.

The DHG still not have whiskies available on sale and that’s not the most important. Their approach is to have the opportunity to carry on the different steps of the elaboration of their futures whiskies. Thus, they provide single malts at various stage of the maturation. 

L10#01, which was the first previous single malt made with barley available on sale, matured two months in French oak barrels. It allows to follow the influence of the barrels on the new make spirit.

Let’s have a look on their actual range…

Principium

From the first barley harvest of the Domaine des Hautes Glaces in 2009 (climate Les Gabert) were extracted 13 barrels of single malt whisky whose will be the oldest whiskies from the Domaine des Hautes Glaces.

In order to celebrate the launching of the distillery, the Domaine des Hautes Glaces has decided to share with us this historical beverage, through a very special vintage, PRINCIPIUM.

You acquire a labelled and corked… empty bottle.

The principle of this spécial serie of only 1616 bottles is the fortunate owners will have the oportunity to follow the maturation of their own whisky deciding to fill your Principium bottle whenever they deem the time is ripe with the original vintage of the Domaine des Hautes Glaces.

Whiskies lovers, let’s bottled our own 5 y.o, 10 y.o, 12 y.o, 15 y.o…and more ! A real dream for most of us.

It is a way to take part in the history of this amazing Alpine Farm Distillery, DHG.

Woska Serac

Woska is a generic name created by DHG defining a triple distillation (direct heat) of various grains harvested at the domaine. It’s an unageed, aromatic distillate reflecting the land from which it comes.

SERAC is the first opus of the serie, made from rye grown and harvested in Serre in 2010, where DHG grows this cereals. It is a unique concentrate of captivating flavors which can be enjoy as an aperitif, a digestive and also for stylish cocktail hours.

It can be perceived as a Irish whiskey ( because of the triple distillation tradition) but not aged and using rye or such as a tasty vodka…

Each one call it as he wants, the essential is to taste at least ones, it worth it!

Tasting notes

Colour: Colorless

Nose: Smooth, fresh and fruity through pear. Gentian and green anise notes. Hints of acacia honey.

Palate: Creamy and smooth. Malted rye combinated with fruity taste such as pear and plum. Pepper and cloves flavours. Almonds notes.

Finish: Soft, well-balanced and long finish.  Powerful spicy taste through  nutmeg and pepper. Emergence of fresh white floral notes. Persistence of malted rye.

ABV: 43%

S11#01

S.11#01 is the previous of the rye single malts serie, the « S » meaning rye in French, "seigle", harvest 2011, serie n°1.

Elaborated with rye harvested in 2011 (Climate Les Gabert) and matured 12 months, it’s the product of a direct heat double distillation matured in french oak barrels: ex-cognac barrels and new oak barrels (Tronçais forest). It allows us to discover the typicity of the rye cereals.

Tasting notes

Colour: Copper coloured

Nose: Almonds and gentian notes.

Palate: Grown and supple. Cereals, malted rye caracteristics (spicy and earthy) notes followed by prune taste.

Finish: Long and spicy through pepper, liquorice and tabacco notes.

ABV: 46 %

L10#03

L10#03 is the third and newest opus of the L10 serie, made of barley from the 2010 harvest (climate Andrieu), an ascending tasting from the spirit still to the whiskies. Matured 22 months in French oak barrels, this new single malt get closer to the universe of the malts of exception, taking its distance with the juvenile aspect of the two first L10 serie opus.

A real single malt in your own right!

Tasting notes

Colour: Pale gold

Nose: Smooth and subtle. White flowers and slight candied white flesh fruits (peach) combined with malted barley notes. Hints of truffle

Palate: Well-balanced and silky. Almond paste notes associated with citrus fruits, vanilla and pastry taste

Finish: Long and lingering. Malted barley fade down little by little. Roots, Ginger with slight camphor retro olfaction. Pleasant apricot tart note in the end of the glass.

ABV: 46%

Seductive by its fineness, its fruitness and its smoothness..

Love it!

Very promising range...Awesome!

From this summer 2013, we'll be able to enjoy the distillery visit...

More informations on the DHG website: 

http://hautesglaces.com/home.html (version FR)

http://hautesglaces.com/english/home.html (version EN)

A seductive whisky for a first introduction to the whisky world

Auchentoshan distillery is the nearest distillery from Glasgow. 

Auchentoshan whiskies are produced in the Lowlands traditional style meaning that they are elaborated through a triple distillation such as Irish whiskey: Wash still/low wines still/spirit still. This is the only Scottish distillery to permanently do this and It is well explained on their own website: http://www.auchentoshan.com/triple-distillation-(our-way)/triple-distillation.aspx

This triple distillation allows to obtain pure and soft distillate which reach 80% of alcohol, which is not common in Scotland (≈ 70%). Those whiskies are renowned to be light, smooth and delicate.

For several weeks, I had a mission to find a whisky that can be appreciated by some of my female friends which usually define whiskies as too strong aged alcohols. To resolve it, I chose an easy-to-drink whisky and we tasted together an Auchentoshan 12 years old.

They changed their mind, new people to share spirit experience with. Mission accomplished!

The same experience can be reproduced with a Glenkichie 12 years old to introduce non-amateur to the fabulous world of whiskies. They are two entry-level whiskies for new whisky amateur.

Tasting notes

Colour: Gold/amber

Nose: Light. Citrus and apple (cider) notes. Caramel, toasted almonds.

Palate: Light and smooth. Floral. Citrus fruits: Orange zest/lemon. Spicy: Cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and ginger taste. Honey, caramel notes. Bourbon and Sherry mark.

Finish: Medium and dry. Spiced and barley malted notes. Slightly bitter tasting (dark chocolate)

ABV: 40%

Slainte!

A story of oak maturation

The Balvenie distillery was founded by the William Grant & Sons family in 1892 in Dufftown. This same family started the Glenfiddich and the Kininvie distilleries in the Speyside region. It is one of the few Scotch distilleries which has its own malting floors, also supplying its neighbour Glenfiddich. The Balvenie whiskies are elaborated for more than 50 years by David Stewart, the masterblender. The company enjoys a excellent reputation in the whisky world with several whisky awards.

Today, let’s taste one of his realisations, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 y.o. It is a Single malt Scotch Whisky which is matured in two distinctive casks. Over its period of maturation, it’s transfered from an ex-Bourbon oak cask to a Sherry oak cask. 

Tasting notes

Colour: Amber

Nose: Citrus fruits (Orange dried peel), honey, vanilla. Hints of oak.

Palate: Soft, medium body. Sweet fruit taste. Honey, vanilla, cinnamon, spices notes. Slightly tannic (sherry notes) and oaky. Citrus taste and bitterness. Duality of flavours (Bourbon+sherry maturation)

Finish: Medium. Dry vanilla notes and spicy.

ABV: 43%

A pleasant Single malt whisky with an interesting nose, very aromatic. An easy to drink Scotch whisky, great for introducing people to single malts. I recommend without hesitation and it is available at a reasonnable price.

Slainte!

Back to the origin...

Today, let’s talk about one of the first whisky which made me up my fascination for whiskies: The Aberlour A’bunadh (a-boona), A’bunadh meaning “the origin” in Scottish Gaelic.

Tasted for my first time at the distillery, appreciated several times, I recently had a glass in the Café Brun in Bordeaux.

Let’s have a dram together. As usual, a great trip! …

A’bunadh is a cask-strength single malt whisky from the Aberlour Distillery (Pernod Ricard) in the Speyside region (Scotland).

This cask-strength is produced as the 19th century traditional way of making whiskies, exclusively matured in Olorosso sherry barrels, unchilled and unfiltered.

It has no age statement. Each batch is blended from 5 to 25 years old barrels and each batch carries a unique number, mentioned on the label. Thus, depending from which batch the elixir come from, colour, nose, palate and the ABV vary. For example, the ABV can oscillate from 59% to 63%.

What does it taste like?

Tasting notes

Colour: Dark amber/Deep copper

Nose: Powerful. Spicy and fruity. Citrus fruits notes. Sherry, winey notes. 

Palate: Well balanced. Citrus fruits (orange), black cherry and dried fruits notes. Ginger, dark chocolate. Spiced and woody. Intense Olorosso sherry notes.

Finish: Long and warming. Chocolate, honey. Oaky and spicy notes.

A superb after-dinner malt, complex and powerful for sherried lovers. 
To match also with an onctuous molten chocolate cake (fondant au chocolat)

It’s also a very good value for money for a cask-strength malt whisky. An advice, always have a bottle of it in your whisky collection or some if you want to compare the different batches.

I really recommend the Aberlour Distillery Experience, an excellent visit where you can unbolted your own Aberlour whisky, direct from the cask (Sherry or Bourbon).

Slainte!

The jewel of Indian whiskies

Indian Whisky? Tasted during the Whisky Live Belgium 2013, let’s introduce you: Amrut  Fusion (no age statement).

Amrut is part of the phenomenal of internationalisation of whisky. India is an important whisky consumer and also a big whisky producer but the majority of the Indian whisky are unfortunately made with molasses, which means they can’t be considered as whisky but rums.

Anyway, Amrut is definitely a single malt whisky made with 100% malted barley. It is produced by Amrut distillery Ltd founded since 1948, few months after the Indian Independence, in Bangalore (South of India).

Why Fusion? This unique product, it associates Indian barley from Himalaya (75%) with peated Scottish malt (25%). A true fusion of culture. Original but not really ecological!

It’s usually matured in bourbon barrels from 3 to 5 years at nearly 1000m above the sea level. It represents a real maturation accelerator combined with the hot climate. The angel’s share is quite important, around 12% of evaporation each year, the equivalent of ten years in Scotland.

Tasting notes

Colour: Bright gold

Nose: All-round. Citrus notes. Honey, barley and almonds. Spicy: Vanilla, cinnamon, liquorice. Hints of peat.

Palate: Rich. Fruity: orange, mango. Oaky, malted barley notes. Vanilla, dark chocolate and coffee taste. Hints of peat and leather.

Finish: Long and rich. Well balanced between the sweetness, spiciness and peated. Touch of marmalade.

ABV: 50%

Pairing it dark chocolate or a tiramisu must be excellent…

Bowmore, the oldest distillery of Islay Island

Founded in 1779, Bowmore is the oldest distillery on Islay Island. It's one of the only five distilleries in Scotland to still produce its own floor malted barley. 

Bowmore makes well balanced, subtle whiskies with a phenolic content (peaty) slightly lower than the others Islay whiskies producers. It uses a big proportion of sherry casks, 1/3 of the global production is matured in it. It makes the elixir rounder. 

Situated on the shores of the Loch Indaal, Bowmore vaults are literally placed on the waterfront, even below sea level, justicating its marin notes.  

Springbank 10 y.o and Bowmore Enigma 12 y.o tasting
Let's taste together the Bowmore Enigma 12 years old...

Tasting notes:

Colour: Dark amber

Nose: Fresh marin breeze. Floral: lilac, lavander. Touch of honey. Sweet citrus, tangerine, very matured orange notes. Salty butter, caoutchouc.

Palate: Warm and complex (oily). Peated and salted. Fruity: light sherry, tangerine, lemon zest notes(bitter taste). Spiced. Nose characteritics confirmed.

Finish: Long, sweet and fresh. Peated, lightly salted with hints of Gentian.

ABV: 40%

The Bowmore Enigma is sweeter and richer than the standard Bowmore 12 y.o. It's a great value whisky. Well balanced between the peat and smoke and the sweetness of the sherry. I just expected more sherry tastes. Very pleasant dram! 

Slainte!