Zotter: Scotch Whisky chocolate bar: "Highland Harvest"

I love chocolate. And Scotch. I was delighted to find Zotter's whisky cream filled bar in Probieren Geniessen in Mannheim, Germany when I took a day trip there in October.

Cute shop, they sold more than just whisky, and you could bring or buy a small vessel to fill! Or buy an entire bottle.

Anyway, the chocolate was lovely. I wish I'd purchased 2 bars so I could taste some more as I write this post! Google found me Chocablog's review, which you can read here. Good picture of the bar itself, too.

I'm making truffles with a friend on Black Friday. Perhaps I should try mixing in some Scotch?

Singlebarrel: San Jose, CA (USA) & Scotch-based cocktails

Pardon for the lapse in posts. I've been lazy.

So, I love me a fancy cocktail, however I haven't explored many Scotch-based cocktails. The ones I have heard about or tried were all mixed with Islay Scotches, not my favorite type (but beloved by my co-blogger).

In San Jose the other weekend with a good friend, we checked out Singlebarrel. This establishment has been open about a year and a half and at 7ish in the evening, was already sporting a line out the door. I thought this was ridiculous, I'm in San Jose, right? But it was all about to make sense.

The very nice ID-checker/guard/host explained to me, as a Singlebarrel n00b, that we would go downstairs, talk to the bartenders about what we like, and that a lovely cocktail would be suggested to us. Oh, and to spit out any gum we might be chewing because their real cloth napkins are made by some lady in the South.

We waited our turn and proceeded down the stairs. Nearly too dark but perfect for the mood, kind of like Bourbon & Branch. However, too dark for me to easily read the bottles of Bourbon, Scotch, etc that were displayed behind the bar. You could just teasingly see the beautiful bottle shapes and colors of the delicious liquids within. Loved the suspenders & caps sported by the bartenders. My friend and I found stools at the bar which we were allowed to perch & stay on (if standing, you must leave the bar area after you receive your drink, and head to the spacious lounging area). I had two rather sweet/girly drinks (yummy in their own right), but my friend had two cocktails with Laphroaig. Great establishment, this place. I hope to go back!

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that I need to research/create a yummy Highland or Speyside based cocktail to order so I can encourage these bartenders that not all Scotch-based cocktail needs to be done with Islay... *grumble* In the meantime, here is a link to a recipe for Butter, Lemon, Smoke, featuring Peat Monster.

Duncan Taylor The NC^2 Range 15 yr Ben Nevis

That's a mouthful. Some of these scotch whiskies don't have concise names. Duncan Taylor is an independent bottler. NC^2 apparently stands for non-chill-filtered and non-coloured. And Ben Nevis is the distillery (not the mountain), in the Highland region. Aged fifteen years in oak casks, with a final abv of 46.0%.

The color is pale piss, but it gets better moving to the other senses. The nose made me think of milk chocolate and grass and some kind of fruit I can't identify. Maybe melon? I think I only know the smell from liquid hand soap, so maybe that's confusing me.

The taste is tangier than any whisky I've tasted. I taste that melon or whatever it was from the nose. And I experience it again while exhaling. The mouthfeel was interesting. Seemed tingly, and not because of the alcohol. Just a little bitter at the back of the tongue. Not unpleasantly; more like lemon zest.


Overall, a very good and interesting whisky, good and interesting enough to warrant its own post; don't be deterred by my unfortunate choice of descriptors (like piss and soap). It doesn't have much of an Internet presence however, as I discovered while trying to see what other folks had to say. I bought it for about $75 at the Whisky Shop in San Francisco, which deserves its own post one of these days.

Cooperage Wine & Whiskey Bar: Philadelphia, PA (USA)

Sorry its been so long since we've posted! This week I'm in Philadelphia for work. As usual, I slacked on planning any off-hour "fun" for myself short of trying to schedule video dates with my co-blogger.

In my research for scotch + Philadelphia, this establishment kept popping up. Yelpers said the service was slow, but everyone loved their mac n cheese. The menu looked good and within my budget, so I grabbed my umbrella (ah, warm summer rain!) and went out the hotel doors.

A while later, this blogger arrived in the restaurant/bar inside of Curtis Center (note: the location through me off a bit, especially compared to Google maps which made me think I was looking for something directly on the corner of 7th and Walnut) damper than she would have liked (I packed sandals and flats, not rain boots!). It was a nice place - I liked the decor and the big pillows on the bench half of the tables. Though a bit dark inside for my taste, given they are more of a true bar/restaurant blend than a bar. I ordered the mac, the soup of the day, and a bottle of Original Sin hard cider. I was really tempted by a chocolate stout they had but figured that wouldn't make sense with dinner.

Anyway, that's as far as I got. I was too tired to order another cider or a glass of scotch, and too annoyed at Philadelphia's high prices. And its not just Cooperage. I walked by Village Whiskey last night to check out the scene. I guess I just don't understand why their prices have to be as high or higher than some of the fancy-pants places in SF? Especially when their selection is nothing to write home about.

Address: 123 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA

Online:  www.cooperagephilly.com

Nikka All Malt

This one is a blend, and at 40% abv, it is quite quaffable. I think it would be good for any whisky beginner, especially if the budding enthusiast comes from a rum background. Because, of all the whiskies I've had, this one reminds me the most of a fruity rum. Fruity nose (my worst sense, and thus my lack of adjectives). It is really light on the palate. And it has a candy flavor, hence the similarity to rum.

I picked this one up at some whisky store in Stuttgart, Germany. I forget the name of the place, but it's fairly close to the town center, and maybe one street parallel to the main pedestrian drag. It costs about a song: I think it was 24 euros. This was a pleasant surprise for me, as most Japanese whiskies are spendier, though the Yamazaki 12 year doesn't exactly break the bank. I have no idea about availability in the US. Incidentally, I've noticed far fewer Suntory/Yamazaki whiskies in Germany, and more Nikkas, whereas in the US, the opposite seems to be the case. In the US, Yamazaki 12 and 18 and the Hibiki blend are about the only Japanese whiskies you can find, but they're much rarer here. The Yamazakis are quite good by the way, but I haven't had them recently enough to offer any notes.

Widder Hotel Bar: Zurich, Switzerland

At the recommendation of a friend, we sought out this well-stocked bar while in Zurich at the very end of April this year. This establishment made me wish I had packed a fancy dress!

Enter the bar from the hotel or from the street (through a hallway, with restrooms down the stairs before you enter the bar) and you'll find yourself in quite swanky surroundings. Red leather half-booths & chairs along a wall, baby grand in one corner (we enjoyed live music later, even if the songs wouldn't have been at the top of our list), large bowl chilling bottles of bubbly at the bar. As usual, we aimed for the bar so we would have a view of the beautiful bottles of Scotch.

And plenty of Scotch here (see the link below if you want to oooh and ahhh at their inventory) - an excellent opportunity to try something extraordinary, if your travel budget allows! Paul and I read the list and decided on the Glen Ord 12 year and Caol Ila moscatel cask. We ordered 2 cL pours (about .68 ounces) to conserve our Swiss francs, but that detail got lost between bartenders and we ended up with the 4 cL pours. While this did mean our bill was 38 SFr, I would say it was worth it for the fancy-pants experience and since we were in vacation-mode. No shortage of water refills here, or of bar snacks (a lovely assortment of dried fruit & nuts). Appreciated, considering we were obviously tourists.

As usual, the average age here is older than us, mid 30s and up. Folks mostly came pre-coupled. We were there late in the afternoon/early evening on a Saturday and it wasn't too busy, just how we like it. Ttis post is based on one visit, so I can't speak to the general feel of the place late at night or during the week.

Address: Rennweg 7, 8001 Zurich (near the Rennweg tram stop off of Bahnhofstrasse, just E of Lindenhof, the old castle)
Menu online: http://www.widderhotel.ch/pdf/E_bar_maltwhiskey.pdf

Bray Head whisky tasting

As a sequel to my coblogger's post on Bray Head, I thought I would write my first post here about a whisky tasting I attended Saturday at that same bar. So far as I've found, Bray Head is the best place for whisky in Karlsruhe. To be honest, as a starving postdoc it's been hard for me to make much use of the ample selection there (spendier than some of the places in San Francisco Jeanine and I will discuss in future posts), so I was pleasantly stunned by the value of the tasting. The tasting consisted of seven 2 cl pours, along with a nice potato soup, for 35 euros. And these were not your everyday drams by any means. I warn readers that the following and all future tasting notes by me are those of a rank amateur. But here goes.

Ferghal (the proprietor) started us off with the only Irish whiskey of the night, the Connemara Sherry Finish. No age was given, and it was 46% abv. I really couldn't come up with a way to describe this one: it just tasted and smelled like a really good Irish whiskey. Very pleasant, if simple, and with just a hint of the sherry in the finish.

The second pour was an Islay Selection the Whisky Agency's Liquid Library. Out of the Laphroaig distillery, and aged 11 years in former Bourbon casks, 59.6%. With that level of booze, it clearly needed water. After the water, it had a thin mouth feel, and tasted only lightly peaty. I couldn't detect the bourbon. Fairly simple. Not bad, but not my favorite Islay.

The next was another Islay Selection from the Liquid Library, this time from Bunnahabhain. A mature 32 years, 45.8%. This one was excellent. Smelled grassy to me, with just a bit of citrus cleaner. Very smooth. Tasted like a Speyside to me, again with grass and citrus, and a pleasant finish. I would definitely consider owning this one, if I could find it at postdoc prices.

Number four was from Bruichladdich: Port Charlotte An Turas Mor. 46%, and a tender seven years. Smelled of peat, with a faint touch of stinky cheese. Sweet and peaty, with the sweetness present more in the beginning and the peat following. A bit of water doused the peat. Quite good, and according to the Nets, I might be able to find it on the (relative) cheap.

Moving away from Islay, the next was Talisker 57 deg. North. It had a lovely gold color, and was 57% abv. No age was given. This was intense, and needed about a tablespoon of water before I started to like it.  I still didn't get much out of the whisky, as evidenced by my patchy notes. It had cinnamon notes.

Back to Islay for Ardbeg's Airigh nam Beist "the Beast". 46% alcohol, and I believe 16 years old. It's a good whisky, tasting of peat (of course) and caramel. That said, it's hard for me to not compare it to the Uigeadail, which is cheaper (last I checked) and I think has more character. I think Airigh nam Beist is milder however, if that is preferred.

Finally (seven whiskies!), there came a Whisky Agency bottling from the Tomatin distillery. 51.3%. This one spent a whopping 34 years in refilled sherry butt, which imparted to it a pleasant reddish color. The wood is really evident in the nose. The taste was quite fruity and just a little tart. The wood returned for the finish. Either I or the whisky evolved over the next few minutes: when I returned to it after a pause, I tasted caramel in the front. Really a fantastic dram, and probably my favorite of the tasting.