Whisky Cabal Meeting 11 : Two soldiers down

The Cabal met last Tuesday, as we'd realised a number of new arrivals to our respective cabinet families had yet to be sampled. One Doctor down, but channeling the Dunkirk spirit, we battled on.
the photo, pre-attack, captures a rarity in the UK, sunshine coming through windows. Treasure this photo.

Tullibardine Port Finish 46% 
(Link to LFW Tullibardine, but no Port Finish)
Nose: port, rubber, raisins
Palate: port soaked raisins
Finish: medium length

A nice intro dram, not too complex, but very quaffable / easy drinking. We gave it a 6.5-7.5/10 and would be keen to have more of it. Huzzah !

Berry Bros & Rudd Braes of Glenlivet 46%
N: lavender sweets, bourbon, parma violets, green apple, general fruitiness
P:  fruit salad, violets, pineapple, oaky, hint of smoke
F:  short and light, stewed apples
Split the panel this one: 6/10 (A); 7/10 (R); 8/10 (B)

Braes of Glenlivet, or as it's known now, Braeval, distills booze to be put into blends, so a single cask bottling is rare. Which is why I bought it. See, on the edge.

Glengoyne Teapot Dram I
N: chocolate, raspberry, sherry, old leather in a car, golden syrup
P: sherry, chocolate, xmas cake, raisins, treacle
F: long, warming

First tasted by the Cabal in 7 - read the exciting review!
The Teapot Dram, it's kinda a marketing thing, but really when it's this good...from the Glengoyne website:

For almost 150 years, workers at Glengoyne were allowed three large drams while on duty throughout the day. It was the Brewers’ job to select a different cask each week from which to draw the drams. The workers would gather in the staff canteen at 9.00am, midday and 3.00pm to receive their share.   The agreed measure was for it to be “no less than the quantity indicated by the placement of three fingers upon the tumbler” which was usually calibrated by the man with the chubbiest digits. Served at full cask strength, some of the younger workers found it a bit of a struggle to finish. So instead of disposing with the leftovers, the drams were secreted in a copper teapot. The more seasoned imbibers would enjoy a little extra throughout the day – well, it beats a proper tea break. 

we revisited Teapot I as a prelude to Teapot II. Because, when it comes down to it, we're about scientific reviews. We work so you don't have to.

This time around we liked it - possibly even more than the first.
B+R 10/10; A 9.5/10

Glengoyne Teapot Dram II
N: sherry, dark chocolate, molasses/golden syrup, old leather in car.

Oh bollocks to that, it's exactly the freeking same as Teapot I. This is an excellent thing (as my Teapot I died in the tasting).
Like sherry monsters? just buy it.
Possibly apocryphal stories have it that T I was made from 4 casks, and T II from 6. Either way, they've nailed the flavour.

SMWS 'Full, complex and reassuring' 64.43 55.5% 23yo refill hogshead ex-bourbon
N: pineapple, tropical fruit, wood polish, bourbon
P: prickly, spiky
F: short-medium

Addition of water smoothed the profile down a bit, and introduced a more of a honeyed flavour.
7-7.5 /10

Glenglassuagh - Evolution 57.2%
N: bourbon, rubber, vanilla (hint), fresh ozone
P: sweet, bourbon, rubber, citrus
F: medium

Addition of water led me to suggest 'wet sheep' on the nose and palate. The others wanted it noted that I suggested that, not them.

This was one we'd tried at the Whisky Show a couple of years ago and liked (although it's fair to say notes were getting a bit vague by that point). So a tip of the hat to Rich for grabbing a bottle.

7.5-8/10
This was the second soldier left behind.

Longmorn Chivas Brothers 14yo 59.6% d1997; b2011
N: bourbon, apples, pears
P: pears, really good, tasty, prickly warm
F: medium (and more pears!)

Chivas appear to be releasing a number of interesting single cask bottlings from their prodigious supplies. These are coming in 500ml bottles, which keeps the price down (slightly).
7.5-8/10

SMWS G10.5 'A schweppervescence moment' 61% 21yo refill hogshead, ex-bourbon
N: pinenuts, lemonade, iodine, 'wet nuts'  [no, i don't know either, let's just leave it...]
P: effervescent, fizzy sherbet dibdabs
F: fizzy, effervescent, sweet, very long finish

It's a grain whisky, and we're not convinced that it wasted like a whisky at all. But having said that, we liked it.
And in a rare moment, SMWS appear to have a description that *actually fits* what's in the bottle !
A 7.5/10; B 8/10; R 7/10

Slainte, B

Cycling and badgers

I like cycling. Mainly the speed aspect. This makes life interesting on a number of our roads which are of crap quality, particularly to the side where I bike - potholes galore. Brilliant, especially at the speeds I've managed to hit (73.5km/h is the top, so far...).

But since my phone has GPS it seemed silly to not use it and see how long it takes to bike to/from work.

There's a longer route into work which has a few hills (actual, real hills) which makes the ride more interesting, and sweaty.

The distance is pretty much the same either way, although the hills are different which made me think going in was always going to be quicker than coming home.

Morning : heading into work
Apparently: 133m gain; grade -14% to 11%

Date                    Time(min)     Ave Speed (km/h)    Max Speed
22 March 2012    42.09            15.74                        49.92
23 April 2013      38.19            17.28                        56.42
3 May 2013         34.53            18.96                        63.78
12 June 2013       35.25            18.62                        63.11
23 Aug 2013       31.48            20.66                        55.6
26 Sept 2013       28.36            21.97                        53

So that's all heading in the right direction, although I find it interesting that the max speed recently is down, but the average speed and time taken are better. But this year I've cut 10mins off on my new bike, and 14mins from last year on the old bike.

Evening : heading home
Apparently: 171m gain -15% to 21%

 Date                    Time(min)     Ave Speed (km/h)    Max Speed
21 March 2012    37.17            17.93                      
23 April 2013      31.42            20.80                      
20 May 2013       36.49        
11 June 2013       33.19            20.30                        59.42
09 July 2013        32.01            20.62
23 Aug 2013       31.42            20.80                      
20 Sept 2013       29.40            22.14                      

Sadly, I can't do any more morning rides as it's too dark to go hurtling down hills. This was brought home to me the other day as I flew past a dead badger.

For avoiding the Daily Fail

TBH, I'm more likely to click on a link for Nigerian princes than to the DF, but for those of you less in control of your fingers there are plugins which redirect those links to other pages (http://www.teaandkittens.co.uk/ mainly).

Available for Chrome and Firefox here

But the point of this blog is to draw your attention to a comment posted on the Firefox plugin site.

So huzzah and stuff to DeadCars for an inspired review :) Personally my love for the comment reached bursting point around the 'Maybe Princess Diana was a bit overrated?'.

>>

I used to be a massive racist and so naturally turned to the Daily Mail and Daily Express websites for my regular dose of ignorance and thinly veiled race-hate. But this plugin has really turned my life around. I've started having thoughts like "Maybe it's not all the fault of the European Court of Human Rights?","Perhaps there are some substances that neither cause nor prevent cancer?", and "Maybe Princess Diana was a bit overrated?" Thanks to Kitten Block, my fear of imaginary crime has rapidly dissipated and so I last week I left the house for the first time in 18 years. I've also stopped endlessly checking the price of my property on rightmove and started, y'know, being nice to people instead. Thanks Kitten Block, I'm not a unthinking dufus anymore. First class.

<<

Cooking with Bruce : Spicy vegetarian soup

So it's getting chillier (well it is here anyway), and I like spicy food. So in a nod to cultural norms that say autumn/winter is soup time, here's a spicy soup.

Ingredients
Spice Mix
Vege oil
onion chopped
3cm chopped ginger
3-4 cloves garlic
cinnamon (stick?)
2T toasted cumin seeds (I threw them in with the onion)
2 chillis - roughly chopped

Other Stuff
mushrooms - as many as possible
4-5 smallish spuds chopped
2x 390gm tomato tins
500ml vege stock


Cook the onion over gentle heat until soft. Throw all in blender, and process until smooth (may need a bit of water or oil).

Place into pan and cook until dry, add mushrooms/spuds/tomato and mix until boiling, add stock and simmer for 30-45 mins.

I added a bunch of other things (coriander leaves, asafoetida, tumeric etc), but hey, that's just me...

xx

Metal - cheesy metal brilliance

It's fair to say I have a soft spot for folk metal. It's cheesy. And great.
Alestorm have made a few appearances on this page, but there's an Alestorm offshoot - Gloryhammer.
here's the single:


and now a hero who ride a mammoth.


and to end, some more Gloryhammer:


Ahhh bliss.

Cooking with Bruce : Chocolate and Cherry torte

Welcome, again, to the occasional cooking with Bruce series. This time, overloading on chocolate and cherries.

I'd been ordered to make a chocolate cake, however telling me what I'm going to do and me doing it ... herding cats ... etc etc. Which is how I ended up with a chocolate torte, reasoning a) I wanted one b) it had chocolate and c) it's cherry season and I like them.

Not sure where I found this recipe, there's bits I've adapted...

Probably don't need to say it, but:

* chocolate : high quality and 75-80% cocoa

* cherry jam : again the better you can afford, the better the taste - cheaper ones don't have as much fruit and generally more sugar which can lead to bitterness when it's heated

Heat oven to 180C

Base

100g unsalted butter

300g flour

pinch of salt

1t bp

100g sugar

2 eggs

Butter and line a tin with baking paper - I think mine's about 20cm, and that got pretty high and took awhile to cook, so 24cm maybe better.

Place all (except eggs) into blender, pulse to breadcrumbs, add egg and pulse until it comes together. Press pastry over the base and up the sides of the tin. Refrigerate.

Chocolate

150g caster sugar

4 eggs

3T flour

500ml full cream milk

1t vanilla extract

200g 82% dark chocolate [minimum 70%] broken up roughly

200g fresh cherries, and stoned (man)

2-3T good quality cherry jam

1. Whisk sugar and eggs together until thick, stir in flour. 
2. Bring milk to boil, then pour into the eggs mixture while whisking
3. Add vanilla, and place over low heat
4. Add chocolate+jam and stir until mixture thickens and coats the spoon
5. Pour mixture into the tart, sprinkle cherries over the top

Cook for at least 45 mins (my 20cm tin = 70mins), allow to cool before removing and chopping up.

Even I will admit this doesn't need any cream. I know. I'm as shocked as you.

Tomorrow, you may get some indian food as I quite liked the ones I made last night...

Smoochies on your cherry [torte], me

More Wagner

So my first ring cycle, how'd that cherry popping go? 

This was a semi-staged performance, which as far as I can see, is one of two settings for performing opera. Staged is where there's scenery and stuff. Semi-staged covers everything else. I'm sure someone will try and argue there's a not-staged, but it's impossible for opera singers to just stand there and not emote/move at some point, at which point I'd argue it become semi-staged. This one went a little further with some acting, and singers wandering around and on/off the stage.

I loved it. And it had some very good reviews: Das Rheingold; Die Walkure; Siegfried;  Gotterdammerung

The reviews (times, torygraph, etc) were all exhibiting much the same love fest for the cycle. 

Das Rheingold is the shortest of the four, a mere two and half hours, and in order to maintain the descent into general nastiness, there were no breaks. I thought this seemed reasonable, but I did overhear some complaints from the more elderly prommers around me. Thoroughly enjoyed it, I did feel that Wotan was a bit light in places, and Loge, although good, seemed to be playing more for laughs than I'd prefer. But those are minor quibbles. The orchestra under Barenboim was on superb form, and the singing was (overall) excellent. I felt it rocked along nicely, and actually set the scene for next three very well. I've seen a couple of performances where DR was played as a light weight appertif to the others. That's wrong, it sets out the major themes including how/why Wotan is a prick. The giants were great, and along with Alberich, quite dominating (as they should be).

Die Walkure, the one everyone knows one bit of, was the following night. OMG Nina Stemme as Brunnhilde. I felt this was stronger in the singing, in particular Bryn Terfel added far more authority and depth to Wotan. But Nina Stemme, Brunnhilde is a demanding part, and she nailed it. Mesmerising. The ride of the valkyries was good, but I may, just may, have preferred Opera North's version I saw a couple of years ago. I think that was due to the Leeds opera house being smaller, so the power and sheer fuck off-ness of the valkyries was amplified and became almost claustrophic, which seems right. 

Still, brilliant performance. 

Couple of days break, then back for Siegfried. Fatigue? pah. It's by this point that the storyline has become more convoluted than a Deep Purple family tree. Wotan is, in some way, related to over two thirds of the cast (either directly fathering, or grandfathering them), it may be higher, I'm usually confused by this point. In a typical dramatic offering, the main dude (Wotan) turns up in disguise, which doesn't help things. It's long. But it didn't feel like it, in fact Act 2 and 3 rocked along. The main focus is Brunnhilde, and her ability (stamina!) makes or breaks Siegfried. Nina Stemme was perfect. Power, grace, subtle, nailed everything, clear, emotional. It was stunning. She did show up Siegfried a bit. But his performance was excellent at pulling the audience with him, engaging actor that chap. 

Minor sideshow with Tristan and Isolde to break up the Ring cycle.

And then culmination, Gotterdammerung. Which is just the best name (means twilight of the gods) for an opera. Another 6 hour, two interval festival of Wagner. And still the orchestra didn't put a foot (?finger?) wrong. Storyline: quick summary by the Norns, which seems fair enough after roughly 15 hours of opera. Yet another stunning performance by Nina Stemme. And I enjoyed this Siegfried (Andreas Schnager). It's emotionally draining this opera, the first time I've seen it, and things don't go too well for the gods - as you'd guess from the title.  The rest of the audience seemed very appreciative with a very very long sustained applause for the entire ring cycle.

Truely worth every penny, and probably then some. Such engaging performances, absolutely perfection from Barenboim and the orchestra. Thanks BBC Proms. I'd looked at other cycles for the centenary year, but on hearing the rumours of a Proms cycle, held off for that. Glad I did. 

i would also like to say, you don't need to visit a sauna when you've been at the Royal Albert. Some air con wouldn't go amiss...

B

The ring, Wagner, and me.

I've harboured the desire to experience the full Ring cycle at least once. And with this being the 200th anniversary of his birth, this did seem to be the year. But why Wagner?

I grew up in a musical family, there was always something either on the stereo/radio or being played on various instruments. But not opera. There was a plethora of musicals and light/comic opera. To this day I can't stand Gilbert and Sullivan, I've come around to admitting that Sullivan was a very good composer, but his work with Gilbert does not make me feel good. I get the same response that hard-core born again god botherers get with Slayer, homicidal. I blame the name, nothing good can come from a name like Gilbert.
Musicals in general have the same effect on me. There are a few I like/love, but they weren't the ones I grew up with, namely: Rocky Horror; Chess; and err I thought there were a couple more. Oh yeah I can, at a pinch, tolerate Jesus Christ Superstar. And obviously the entire ouevre of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. That's all good. Today's trivia fact: Murray Head (one night in Bangkok / Chess) is the brother of Anthony Head (Buffy and many other excellent things)

So not a lot of opera, and thinking about it, I don't think there was any in the LP collection which I worked my way through as a nipper.  Mmm vinyl. There might have been some Puccini and Verdi in my grandparents collection, but I generally ended up playing Andy Stewart's stuff (stop cringing Neil).

Thinking about it, aside from limited exposure on the radio (my parents didn't listen to ClassicFM very often, more usually National Radio which would occasionally play opera), what opened me to Opera (capitalisation intentional) was TVNZs Sunday afternoon/evening Opera. In retrospect it seems somewhat incongruous for a sports mad country, with 2 (maybe 3?) TV stations, to devote Sunday viewing time to Opera. Anyway, I clearly remember being utterly entranced by Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Strauss. I have no idea who was singing, but I loved it. Drama, music, brilliant singing, staging, conflict (well ok, not much in this one), humour - so pretty much everything you want from entertainment. And for an entry point to Opera, very approachable.

I also remember Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) by Mozart, which again is a nice gentle introduction. And with the hook-ins to the Smurfs, I had something to get into it from. Looking at that list of Smurf classical music, I'm beginning to wonder how much influence that TV series had.

But the one that utterly wrapped itself around my little head, was Die Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman), by - wait for it - Wagner. I also remember being told I had to go to bed, so it must have been an evening show and therefore missing half of it. Why no, of course I don't harbour grudges. However the passion, excitement, storyline, musicianship, conflict sunk into my impressionable head.
And this, I believe, is where my addiction began.

Over the years I've explored more opera. Not in the same way as I've gone through other genre's, probably as it's best experienced live and you need to have 2-3 hours (unless it's Wagner...) to set aside. I used to suffer from a lack of people to go with, and was a little intimidated by popping along to the opera - although not, oddly to symphonic performances - but got over that and have no issues going on my own. I reached a point many years ago when I realised my musical tastes, best described as diverse (and more accurately as slutty), meant finding companions would often be difficult.
I like Puccini, Verdi, Mozart etc and musically I often listen to excerpts from their operas, but Wagner. Oh Wagner. There's something there that makes you sit back and get involved in the music, you can't just switch it off. The music and drama sucks you in.
Yes, Wagner was a bastard and his social legacy hasn't been the best. But then a lot of great artists weren't the nicest of people. And look at Cliff Richard, he seems a thoroughly nice chap and his music is crap.
Far better writers than I have explored this, and I would recommend Stephen Fry's documentary 'Wagner and Me'.

And so to the BBC Proms Ring Cycle. I'd looked at other options, but in terms of cost/availability and convenience, the Proms won out. And when the singers were announced, it seemed like I'd made the right call. Sitting online waiting for queue to reduce from 2700 so I could buy tickets was slightly nerve-wracking, but ended up only taking 2.5 hours (so half an opera).

I'll continue this with some reviews of the actual shows ...

B

Dealing with cold callers

Phone rings.
I answer.

Other: is there?
Me: who?
O: My name is Jack, from and I'm calling about some missold PPI  In very broad Indian accent
Me: I don't think your name is Jack. Are you lying to me? Is it really Jack?
O: err.

Whisky Cabal Meeting 10 : in which we fall in a bog, big time

We'd all acquired a number of new drams, and so a tasting was called. The line up looked, and indeed was, intimidating. But all cabal members showed up for work, albeit feeling a little quieter than normal.
Unnecessary comments querying my handwriting were made. Of course I can read it.
Evidence for our group learning new tricks, we clarified scoring before we started - half marks are OK, nothing less.

As always, thanks to Loch Fyne Whiskies for keeping us inebriated. A little disappointed in their speed this time, 2h15min from ordering to shipping. Bloody appalling.

Look ma, visual aids.

Cardhu 18yo 40% LFW
Nose: sherry, raisins, caramel, xmas cake
Palate: sherry, dry, high cocoa chocolate
Finish: med-short
6-6.5/10
We've added this to our pub whisky list, which at some point we will curate. That's a guide for brands to look for in pubs.
Generally we thought this was ok, nothing special, and probably not deserving of its price point (£64). The bottle came in for criticism, with the members of the cabal who didn't own it, casting aspersions on its sexual orientation. A very happy bottle.

Teaninich 10yo 43% Flora and Fauna LFW
N: oak, cut grass
P: tangy, citrus, pepper
F: medium length, peppery
It's very smooth for a 10yo, quite light.
5.5-6/10

SMWS 1.165 10yo 58.4% (Glenfarclas) ex-bourbon "Coquettish, intriguing, seductive"
N: cut grass, marshmallows, vanilla, PVA glue
P: fresh, sugary, vanilla, sherbert
F: med-long
8/10  addition of water smoothes it but 7.5/10

We believe this dram was named after our Cabal. All the classic bourbon flavours present and correct, very nice, and ticks many of the 'farclas flavours too. Win.

Glendronach Batch 2 Cask Strength 55.2% LFW
N: sultanas, raisins, molasses, caramel, toffee, vanilla,
P: sherry, heavy chocolate, orange chocolate, rum'n'raisin icecream
F: short-med
9/10
Addition of water emphasised chocolate and honey flavours.
We like this. We liked Batch 1 too. I think it's becoming obvious our love for sherry monsters maybe coming through. Oh well, it's a curse we'll have to live with.

Glenburgie 14yo 60.5%
No link as it was a gift, but it was from LFW so I'm sure you can find it...
N: caramel, sugar, pears, strudel, apples, candyfloss
P: sweet, lemonade, sherbert, honey fruit
F: medium
8/10 (avoid water)
Described by the cabal as 'nice whisky' which, for this group, is quite a compliment. We've had some Glenburgie from SMWS before and it was rated 5-7/10 and failed with water (3-4).
So win from Suz and Neil.

Bruichladdich 46% 11/09/01 9yo
N: burnt rubber, leather, whisky (yeah, it appears things were getting to us)
P: honey, pepper, dry, salt, peaty
F: short
5.5/10
Not a win for the Cabal, described as a prick teaser (or hot nun) promised much on the nose, then promptly went soft on delivery.

Bruichladdich 15/06/08 12yo (bourbon)
N: toffee, musty, oil, lime/citrus
P: warm, yummy, sweet, banana, vanilla, hazelnut, puddings, fudge
F: med
7.5-8.5/10
"You want the experienced woman."
The older cousin to the 01 [Alec, did I get the right date?] and it's much better. Very very quaffable which worried the cabal, although we felt better when we realised it's only 46%. phew

Talisker - Port Ruighe 45.8% LFW
N: salt, port, cinnamon, warm
P: spicy, warm, salty, sweet, honey roasted cashews, chilli, flat
F: short
6.5-7/10 [or 5/10 from Garry]
I'm beginning to suspect that I may like Talisker more than I've given them credit for. But it's generally older ones. This ain't bad tho'.

Ardbeg Ardbog Festival bottling. 52.1%
N: fuuuuccckkkk, aniseed, rubber, burnt to fuck, peat, salt, what the fuck is that, oh jesus, oily.
P: sherry, smokey, warm, honey, fuck !
F: long
9.5 (Alec)/10 10/10 (me, Rich)  11/10 (Garry)
It's far to say this was a hit. in a fairly big way. Ardbeg have been hit and miss for me, I loved the Almost There, Still Young was very nice, and it all went to hell with the 10yo. But this. It's fair to say the excitment on the nose was delivered.

Glendronach Batch 1 cask strength
N: rough, poor
P: rough, sherry
F: long
6.5-7.5/10
Didn't cope very well after the Ardbeg. We had previously loved this whisky here, giving it 9/10.

And so we ended. Us taking the hits, so you don't have to.
But if you can beg/steal/borrow a taste of the Ardbog, do so.

Love, B