Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wines - Sherry

This month's Mixology Monday theme is fortified wine, so for my first post I decided to dip into the variety I know best - sherry. This nice little punch comes from Imbibe magazine.

Misa de Gallo is the mass celebrated near midnight on Christmas Eve in Spain and Portugal - a tradition going back to the second century. The name comes from the cock's crow that would herald the start of the day.

Misa de Gallo Punch
2 oz bourbon
0.75 oz sherry
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.125 oz allspice dram
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 oz soda water

Build over ice, saving soda water for last. Stir briefly to combine.

The nose is dominated by corn and barrel notes from the bourbon along with savory hints of sherry. The sip begins smoothly, along with bubbles. The proceeding flavors are rather dry, trending towards acidic, with bourbon, sherry, and spices from the allspice dram and bitters.

While this drink was designed with PX sherry, I decided to take it in a slightly different direction with a full dry oloroso. The drink becomes more of an aperitif/digestif, even with the healthy dose of bourbon, as the soda water keeps it relatively light and the dry/bitter finish gives it snap. I think this would be a great warm-weather punch. You can adjust the final flavors with different sherries. Oloroso for full dry, amontillado/East India Solera for medium-sweet, or PX for lots of sweetness.

Looking forward to all the other MxMo contributions!

Rum Review: Oronoco

Oronoco was, in a sense, the first rum I ever bought. I say 'in a sense' because it's actually a blend of Brazilian cachaça and aged Venezuelan rum. As I came into the world of rum via cachaça, this was my bridge.

From what I can gather, the cachaça portion of the blend is produced from fresh sugar cane, which is fermented and then distilled in a mix of copper pot stills and continuous stills, for a total of three distillations. The cachaça and Venezuelan rum are married together in Brazilian Amendam hardwood casks, adding another unique layer to the product. The spirit is then diluted down to the standard 40% ABV for bottling. The bottle is definitely eye-catching, with a big leather map of Brazil wrapped around it (being a good resident of the PNW, I do wonder what the recycling people will think when I finally get rid of the bottle).

If you want to read more of the history behind the producers, it's written up here. It's surprisingly difficult to find solid information, as there isn't even a proper product website these days, just a Facebook page (that's nearly a ghost town). While there was a lot of hype in the mid-2000s around this rum, the lack of information doesn't speak well for its sales.

Oronoco Rum

Nose: strong vegetal notes, berries, apple blossoms (though a bit artificial like hand soap), bubblegum, light coffee, cream, earthy vanilla. After adding a few drops of water it becomes creamier, with the vanilla dominating even more, while retaining a cachaça edge, and gaining a bit of pineapple.

Taste: light, creamy alcohol, sugarcane sweetness and grassiness, pepper kick mid-palate, bitter towards the back. After dilution the bitterness is more pervasive, but more in balance, due to the sweetness extending further back along with a healthy dose of vanilla.

Finish: vegetal, slightly bitter, astringent

I can see why this tickles some people's fancy, but it just doesn't do too much for me now. The cachaça and Venezuelan rum components seem to form layers rather than an integrated whole, making for a slightly unsettling experience.

What I really can't tell is what kind of consumer this is aimed at. The MSRP is rather high for a white rum, usually running around $30 a bottle (which is a price-point where you can get a lot of nice rums). The copy on the bottle is rather confusing, simultaneously claiming that "the cane has an intensity of flavor and complexity leading to a rum with a light smooth flavor". The two halves of those statement are almost diametrically opposed. That does seem like the fundamental flaw - the producers couldn't decide whether they would rather emphasize the unique funky flavors of cachaça or the smooth vanilla of Venezuelan rum. In trying to split the difference, I'm not sure they accomplished either. It's got too much going on to pull in vodka drinkers, but not enough to satisfy those looking for a robust rum. This saddens me, because I think they could have had something really interesting on their hands if they had gone full-bore on flavor instead of trying to make it a white rum. However, that's just my opinion and you can find other reviewers singing its praises, so it seems to have hit the mark for some people (though not Cap'n Jimbo).

So how does it fare in cocktails? In a standard daiquiri, the nose is rather flat, with just a hint of grassy vanilla. The sip begins lightly, with flavors of lime, cane, light coffee, and vanilla building towards the back. The finish is peculiarly bitter, but still light It's a rather unique experience that I haven't found in any other rum. I think I would appreciate this more on a warm day that in the middle of winter, as it presents a daiquiri on the lighter side without being insipid. It also might work better in a caipirinha, where the lime oils from the lime shell would give it a bit more dimension.

Leito de Rio
1.5 oz Oronoco rum
0.25 oz Luxardo Bitter
0.25 oz Bénédictine
1 dash Regan's orange bitters
1 dash Fee's orange bitters

The nose is very vegetal/herbal, a melange of the rum and liqueur, with floral vanilla. The sip is bittersweet, continuing through mid-palate. The flavors are in turn herbal- and coffee-centric, with orange wending its way through and a very smooth mouthfeel. The finish is bitter, split between the rum, Luxardo, and orange bitters.

Even with all those flavors, the overall effect - like the appearance - is fairly light. The Luxardo and Bénédictine accent the rum's flavors without overwhelming them. This would be a fairly good pre-meal cocktail as the various bitter ingredients give it something of a palate-cleansing effect. It might be even better as a highball and with the soda water helping to balance out the sugar.

I think this rum works much better in cocktails, where depth can be added via other ingredients. However, for the money there are just better options. Banks 5 Island has much more richness and depth, while still retaining white rum crispness, for a fair bit less cash.

Whisky Review: the Many Faces of Johnnie Walker Black Label

Even if you're not a whisky drinker, you know what Johnnie Walker is. The most ubiquitous whisky brand in the world is found just about everywhere people belly up to a bar.

Johnnie Walker is the focus of the spirits behemoth Diageo, who put very nearly every single one of their scotch whisky distilleries to work producing fodder for their blends (Oban is the one exception). Thus they have a broad pallet with which to construct one of their main products, Johnnie Walker Black Label, a 12 year old whisky that is sourced from nearly all of those malt distilleries (primarily Cardhu, Lagavulin, and Talisker), along with a large percentage of grain whisky.

What's especially peculiar about this whisky is that it tasted very different each time I tried it, despite coming from the same miniature.

Johnnie Walker Black Label Type 1

Nose: medium-weight sherry, a little nougat, slightly floral, tiny whiff of peat, distant maltiness, raspberries. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes lighter, creamier, and more vegetal, with a bit of cinnamon.

Taste: sherried sweetness throughout, a bump of pepper and vanilla near the back. After dilution, it becomes maltier, with less sherry, more bitterness at the back, and a prickle of peat.

Finish: bittersweet, sherry, vanilla, oak - but not tannic, cinnamon

This is a very pleasant mode for JWBL. Very sweet and relatively light, emphasizing the sherried component of the whisky. I found this very comparable to Compass Box Oak Cross, but lighter and with less intensity (which is unsurprising given that Oak Cross is a blended malt with no grain whisky in it).

Johnnie Walker Black Label Type 2

Nose: Caol Ila/Lagavulin/Talisker savoriness minus the peat, oloroso/amontillado sherry, toffee, maritime salt, nougat, sweet oak. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes even more savory, with a hint of creamy dry sherry and berries, oak, and some underlying sweetness.

Taste: sherry sweetness and berries up front, something savory (vegetal peat?) mid-pallate, tannic oak and bittersweet chocolate near the back. After dilution, the sweetness become syrupy sucrose, with a tingle of pepper, some sherry and oak near the back.

Finish: bitter oak, vegetal peat, residual sweetness

This is a very different side of JWBL, emphasizing the coastal distilleries in Diageo's portfolio. What's interesting is that while it's much more savory, I didn't pick up much more peat. Caol Ila does make unpeated whisky on a semi-regular basis, so that might be what's going on, but it may just be that there is so little peated spirit going into the blend that it's not really showing itself. Overall I would rate this mode as interesting, but not something that I want to be drinking on a regular basis.

I'm left unsure quite what to think about JWBL. If I could be sure to taste what I got out of it the first time, I'd actually be tempted to buy a whole bottle. It wasn't a complex set of tastes, but it was very, very pleasant. The second tasting really threw me off, as it was rather unexpected and less approachable. I may have to return to this whisky another time to really nail it down. Right now I'm just a little baffled.

For some different perspectives, check out reviews from Diving for Pearls and Scotch Noob.

New Cocktails: Bobcat Special

Looking to try out my new cardamom bitters, I decided to reach for the earthy flavors of tequila and ginger to complement the spice notes in this Negroni/Boulevardier variation.

Bobcat Special
1.5 oz añejo tequila
0.5 oz sweet vermouth
0.25 oz Luxardo Bitter
0.25 oz ginger liqueur
1 dash Scrappy's cardamom bitters
1 dash orange bitters

The nose is dominated by the cardamom bitters, with only a hint of the Luxardo's vanilla peeking through. The sip begins sweetly with an undertone of cardamom, which grows towards the back where it is joined by a complex interplay of orange, bitterness, and vanilla. Throughout the tequila plays a supporting role, giving some barrel and agave flavors.

This drink worked out nicely, though I would go easier on the cardamom bitters next time. A few drops should be enough to provide an accent rather than having the bitters dominate the drink. The Luxardo and sweet vermouth were also surprisingly pushed to the background, though they did become more present near the end of the sip. A tasty drink, but you do have to be careful about properly balancing the ingredients.

Rum Review: Cockspur 12

Cockspur is a Bajan rum company founded in 1884 by a Dutch sailor, Valdemar Hanschell and located right on the beach north of Barbados' capital Bridgetown. The company was passed off to the Stade brothers, who installed a continuous still alongside the company's original pot still. While less well known than Mount Gay, the other big distillery on Barbados, Cockspur puts out solid products at very reasonable prices.

Cockspur 12

Nose: dusty berries, dry toffee/caramel, a bit of vanilla and light oak. After adding a few drops of water, the nose becomes richer, with increased but well-intengrated oak presence, brown sugar, and more vanilla.

Taste: caramel sweetness builds from the front, a bit of muddled berries mid-palate, very light oak tannins and pepper near the back. After dilution, the sweetness becomes more like simple sucrose, which is also a bit overwhelming.

Finish: oak, pepper, residual sweetness

Cockspur 12 (it never actually says 'year' on the label) is a blend of 8, 10, and 12 year old rums. For as old as this rum is, I suspect that it is mostly made from rums aged in refill barrels, though they claim to use both ex-bourbon and fresh oak barrels. The rum has clearly been impacted by oak, with the strong caramel and vanilla notes, but there is very little of the tannic quality one finds in a lot of long-aged rums (which would be especially evident from new oak barrels). I find it very comparable to Cruzan Single Barrel, both in terms of flavors and price. However, Cockspur 12 gains an edge by having more natural flavors than Cruzan, the latter of which is slightly marred by an artificial cast to its vanilla notes. So if you're looking for a sweeter, easy sipping rum, Cockspur 12 is going to be a very good choice. It's also a solid value, usually retailing for under $30. With a bit more complexity it would be elevated in my estimation, but it does what it does very well.

Earthly Delights

2 oz Cockspur 12

1 tsp allspice dram

0.5 tsp vanilla syrup

1 dash Angostura bitters

3 drops cardamom bitters

The nose is a delicious blend of rum, vanilla, and cardamom. The sip begins sweetly, building towards the back. Molasses notes from the rum, vanilla, and spice from the dram and bitters all come in mid-palate.

While not the most complex drink, the ingredients add to the rum without overwhelming it. Quite a satisfying sipper.

Announcing Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wines

Fortified wines began, in large part, as a way to deal with the difficulties of shipping wine long distances in the holds of sailing ships. Without the rigorous sterilization that is possible today, wines would often spoil en route. However, increasing the alcohol concentration to around 20% ABV was enough to keep them from going off. Coincidentally, this also made it possible to age those wines for very long periods, increasing their richness and depth.

These wines held an important place in the ur-cocktails of punch and have continued on in cocktails proper, the personal punches of the past several hundred years. Though less common nowadays, sherry, port, and, to a lesser extent, madeira and marsala, all find their way into various mixed drinks.

For this month's Mixology Monday, I'd like to see what you all can do with these versatile wines. They can play many different roles - from taking the place of vermouths in classic drinks, to providing richness and sweetness in winter tipples, to serving as a base for lighter aperitifs. Whether forgotten classics or new creations, let's see what you can put together.

Here's the plan:

•Write up your thoughts and the recipe, take a picture, and post it on your own blog, Tumblr, or eGullet's Spirits and Cocktails forum. If you don't have any other way of posting, you can also email it to me.

•Make sure to include the MxMo logo, a link to the Mixology Monday page, and the announcement post. If you want to go back and add a link to the round-up post, it'd be much appreciated.

•Let me know about your submission, either by commenting on this post, tweeting to @cocktailchem, or emailing it to me via gmail at cocktailchem. Do all of this before midnight PST on January 21st so I can put the round-up together. Some slop will be allowed, but the sooner the better.

Thanks to Fred Yarm for keeping MxMo going and see you all back here on the 21st.

Whisky Review: Compass Box Oak Cross

I purchased a sample of this whisky from The Party Source a while ago but only got around to trying it during the holidays. Which is a shame, because I wish I had cracked it open sooner.

Compass Box is one of the most innovative companies in the scotch whisky industry today. Headed by John Glaser, they have been working since 2000 to change the way people thinking about blended whiskies and blended malt whiskies (now that the 'vatted malt' designation has gone the way of the dodo). The company has put together a wide range of whiskies, from the more value-oriented Asyla and Great King Street blended whiskies, to high end blended malts like their annual Flaming Heart releases. But the goal is always to create quality products that couldn't be put together by any one distillery.

Compass Box Oak Cross

Nose: floral, very rich, creamy, mildly sweet oloroso sherry, wine notes, banana, tropical fruits, mineral notes, malt. After adding a few drops of water, the sherry becomes more assertive and shifts towards bittersweetness, a lot of vanilla emerges along with some dusty oak and sour tang, plus there's a sort of floral bubblegum note, with the floral aspects becoming more vegetal.

Taste: floral malty/honey sweetness throughout, sherry and pepper build towards the back, vanilla and mocha plus mild oak near the back. After dilution, it becomes sweeter - shifting towards sucrose and wood sugars, with more intense flavors of sherry, berries, sweet wine, and coffee beans or cacao nibs mid-palate, with slightly bitter oak at the back.

Finish: floral, vanilla malt, bittersweet oak and mocha, a bit of sherry, and a hint of soap

Oak Cross is a blended malt (i.e. no grain whisky in the mix) sourced from Clynelish, Teaninich, and Dailuaine. The whiskies are first aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, then married together in a mix of 60% ex-bourbon and 40% 'Oak Cross' casks, which are ex-bourbon barrels with new French oak heads. The latter are designed to impart more spicy notes to the whisky, which is evident in the big pepper notes mid-palate. Bottling is at 43% ABV without coloring or chill-filtration.

The results remind me a lot of the Rosebank I tried last year, with the combination of sherry and strong floral notes mixed with tropical fruits. However, Oak Cross has more intensity and stronger spice notes to help counterbalance its sweetness. It's easy drinking without becoming boring. Additionally, Oak Cross can actually be purchased without much trouble, whereas Rosebanks are getting pretty thin on the ground.

John Glaser has, in my opinion, hit one out of the park here. It's an exceptionally tasty malt for a very reasonable price. I'm really looking forward to trying more of his company's whiskies.