Articles by Stephen

You are currently browsing Stephen’s articles.

Various Brandies at Hawksmoor

October 28, 2009 in Brandy by Stephen | 1 comment

For a while, we were stumped as to where to go to taste Cognac, Armagnac, etc, as not many bars have a wide selection of them and these drinks do tend to be expensive, so finding a bar with a low markup is something of a necessity.  A quick visit to the Hawksmoor for lunch included a quick browse of the “digestif” menu, which included 3 or 4 each of Cognac and Armagnac, as well as Calvados and a few other curiosities in addition to their impressive and well renowned cocktail menu.  A quick chat with the very knowledgeable barman about rum, tequila and also brandies convinced me that it was the place to go.  So a week later, on a relatively quiet Tuesday night, we set about our task.

Francois Voyer XO Cognac
Medium amber with a brown tint
Medium(+) intensity, very aged nose of dried fruit, raisins, prunes, spice, vanilla, wet leaves, rancio and richness.
Soft, integrated alcohol with medium body and prunes, spice and rancio.
Complex, balanced finish with smooth alcohol fading to spice and fruit with rancio notes.

Hennessy VS Cognac (tiny sample this one)
Medium amber
Short aged, medium intensity nose of walnuts, spice, waxy, caramel.
Medium sweetness, medium body and integration alcohol with caramel, dried fruits and chocolate
Balanced finish

Armagnac (can’t remember the specifics – probably VS)
Medium(+) intensity, tinned prunes, Christmas cake, vanilla and marzipan.  Toast, waffles and maple syrup.

Armagnac 1968
Medium brown (no tawny, etc, just brown)
Chocolate, rum + raisin, dried fruits, prunes, caramel, Christmas cake
Very smooth, rich, medium sweet

Busnel Calvados 12 year old
Tropical fruit, apples, caramel, toffee, blossom
Caramel, apple, vanilla, dried fruit, toffee
Long length with balanced, complex finish

Grappa
Clear
Oily, cheese, socks, MSG, pear drops, vanilla
Full body, oily, cheese, strange cereal notes

Tags: , , , , , ,

Rum and Tequila at La Perla in Covent Garden

October 28, 2009 in Rum, Spirits, Tequila by Stephen | 1 comment

A few rums and tequilas tasted at La Perla one evening.  First the rums, then the tequilas, with some Mexican staples to eat along the way.  We had planned to taste tequilas here, but on arriving found that they had a fair range of rums too, so started on those.

Appleton Estate (Didnt’ take down specifics, but generic entry level version I expect…)
Pale amber
Pronounced nose of caramel, banana, cooked banana, vanilla, dried fruits, aniseed, pungent
Off-dry, medium(+) body, warming alcohol
Long length, balanced but simple finish

Angostura 1919
Medium amber
Pronounced nose of marzipan, praline, chocolate, coconut, vanilla, fudge
Medium, soft alcohol, medium body, similar characteristics to nose
Long length, balanced and complex

El Dorado 12 year old
Medium amber / brown
Pronounced nose of nuts, orange peel, cinnamon, cloves, cherry, vanilla
Sweet, soft alcohol, medium body, patisserie
Long length, balanced and complex

Cachaca is related to rum but is made from sugar cane juice instead of molasses and unintentionally bridged the gap between rum and tequila here quite well, because it had some rum-like notes but also had the pungent vegetal notes of tequila…

Sagatiba Aged Cachaca
Pale tawny
Pronounced, savoury, vegetal (sage?), grassy, fresh leaves, sugar, slightly fishy
Soft alcohol
Balanced finish

Then onto tequila… these are all 100% agave tequilas, so have a more distinctive flavour than the mass market tequilas which can be up to 50% “other fermentable sugars” in addition to the agave, which muddies the taste.  Reposado means “rested”, which is three to six months ageing.  Anejo means “aged”, which is at least a year of ageing.

Tapatio Reposado
Pale gold
Pronounced white pepper, lemon, fruit – mango?, pungent vegetal
Medium length

Tapatio Anejo
Medium gold
Pronounced white pepper, pungent vegetal, cabbage, tinned asparagus, savoury, lemon zest
Medium(+) length, complex finish

1800 Anejo
Medium tawny
Pronounced, pungent, vegetal, salty, spice, vanilla, caramel
Medium body, smooth alcohol
Long finish, balanced

Matusalem 10 year old (notes getting sketchy here…)
Soft, sweet, sugar, vanilla

Tags: , ,

Irish Whiskey at The Toucan

October 28, 2009 in Irish Whiskey, Spirits by Stephen | No comments

Various Irish whiskies tasted at The Toucan one evening.  The descriptions are generally in 3 or 4 parts – colour, nose, palate and maybe a comment on the finish.  The colour comments may well be meaningless as the light made it hard to tell.

Bushmills Malt 10 year old
Medium gold
Clean, medium intensity, aged nose of grain, biscuit, vanilla, dried orange peel, touch of smoke
Dry, integrated alcohol, full body, medium(+) intensity palate of barley, biscuit, smoke, spice, dried fruit and vanilla.
Medium length with complex, balanced finish.

Green Spot (pot still)
Medium amber
Clean, waxy, soapy, grain.  Spice – coriander / cardamom.
Dry, integrated alcohol, full body, medium(+) intensity palate of grain, barley, wax and spice.

Greenore single grain whiskey
Grain, spice, vanilla, spirity
Dry, warming alcohol, full body, spice, vanilla

Red Breast 12 year old (pot still)
Light amber
Floral, grain, dried fruit, sherry
Smooth alcohol, medium body, medium intensity palate of grain, malt, biscuit, dried fruit, spice – cumin?
Long length, balanced finish with grain / malt and fruit.

Hewitts
Medium amber
Sour, burnt sugar, fruit, raisins, orange zest
Dry, aged, honey, spice, grain, malt

Locke’s 8 year old malt
Medium gold
Grain, malty, lemon, spice, honey, anise / carraway
Dry, medium body, integrated alcohol, medium(+) intensity palate of grain, anise, dusty spice, malt
Medium(+) length, malt lasting with light spice

Dunville’s
Pale gold
Spirity, heady, grain
Full body, warming alcohol, grain, spirit, spice, cumin, white pepper
Medium length with unbalanced alcohol, spice reminiscent of American rye whiskey

Connemara
Peaty!

Tags: ,

Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru 2003 – Gagnard

July 5, 2009 in Burgundy, White by Stephen | 2 comments

chassagne-montrachet

A month or so ago I ordered a couple of mixed cases from the Wine Society.  I thought it would be a good way to get some interesting varied wines for everyday drinking, but I didn’t look much into what was actually in the cases.  When they arrived though, I realised that they were not everyday drinking wines; most of them were rather good.  So of course we then had to order a separate case of everyday drinking wines but that hasn’t arrived yet.

Wondering what to drink when we were having a barbecue on Friday, and not having much in the way of everyday drinking wine lying around, I had a look through the aforementioned mixed case and picked out this one which looked like it would be ready to drink.

The colour was a lovely clear, medium gold, but what hit you immediately after pouring was the intensity of the nose, which was full of citrus, a bit of peach and a rich buttery vanilla with minerality in the backround.  The palate was similar, quite full in the mouth with the buttery richness balancing well with the fruit and minerality and a hint of spice – both the vanilla and a mellow oakiness.  It had a long length and although it didn’t need much air after pouring, it did open up a bit further, revealing more complexity.  Very good indeed.  This is the sort of wine that I dream about getting in a tasting exam because there is just so much to say about it.

Tags: , , ,

Double Dragon Beer

July 1, 2009 in Beer by Stephen | No comments

double_dragon

I bought this because I loved the name.  Double Dragon.  I was wondering if it would be really strong, like an elbow in the face.  It turned out to be fully flavoured with an agreeable bitterness and not much sweetness.  Which is a flavour profile that I particularly enjoy in beers.

It calls itself “The National Ale of Wales” but I’m not sure what that is based on other than that it is brewed in Wales.  In Felinfoel to be exact, which is near to Llanelli.

Tags:

Bourgogne “Les Sétilles” 2007 – Olivier Leflaive

June 14, 2009 in Burgundy, White by Stephen | No comments

We ordered a case of this en primeur from the Wine Society and when we opened the first few bottles, it seemed a little closed still; as if it needed a little more time.  A few months seem to have made all the difference though and it’s opening up nicely.

Bright and pale gold, it has fairly high acidity which carries rich lemon, peach and mineral flavours with a touch of butter and vanilla and a whiff of toast on the nose.  The finish is moderately long, with the acidity and fruit lasting, ending with a hint of the buttery toast.

les_setilles_closure

A curious thing about this wine was the unusual closure.  It is plastic, but not one solid piece.  It seems to be a sort of capsule of expanded plastic, with a ring of harder black plastic inside and a transparent, harder piece of plastic around the end of the closure that’s in contact with the wine.  Putting a corkscrew into it is a little strange; trying to aim it into the middle of the black circle.  Apart from that though, it does seem to behave pretty much exactly the same as a more conventional cork.

Tags: ,

Coursodon St Joseph “Le Paradis Saint Pierre” 2005

June 12, 2009 in Northern Rhone, White by Stephen | No comments

st_joseph

Something of a low key start to my new Drink Diary blog, but might as well get started somewhere.  I’ll post a proper introduction soon.

Tonight we drank a 2005 St Joseph white.  A short while ago I ordered a mixed “mystery case” of whites from The Wine Society.  I did it in a hurry and planned to get some wines for everyday drinking.  When they arrived though, they were all Rhone whites, most of which were not “everyday”.

This was one of them, and we opened it this evening due to lack of much else.  It had a very buttery, peachy, orangey, floral nose.  For a while I contemplated whether or not St Joseph could include Viognier due to the nose as the peach and floral notes were very strong.  However, after a bit of air the butter and vanilla came through more, changing the character.

Interesting photograph, with the magnolia of the rather modern (especially for somewhere such as St Joseph) label matching the magnolia of the wall behind it.

Tags: ,