Book Review: Punch - the Delights of the Flowing Bowl

Where did cocktails emerge from? To find out, David Wondrich takes us back to the proto-cocktail - punch.

Distilled spirits became available for public consumption near the end of the 14th century, having previously been restricted to the domain of alchemists, apothecaries, and monks. However, early distilled spirits were often of poor quality - distillation techniques had not been refined, which meant that significant quantities of volatile chemicals like methanol and acetone, as well as heavier fusil oils remained in the final products. These spirits were rather harsh to drink on their own - remaining primarily a method for getting drunk, fast, and producing an absolutely atrocious hangover the next morning. While there were often tinctures made by soaking herbs and spices in spirits, as the higher proof allowed for greater extraction than fermented wine or beer, these were primarily seen as medical products, not a tipple to enjoy of an evening.

However, a new use was found for spirits due the burgeoning international trade beginning to flow into Europe at the end of the 17th century. Most importantly, trade with with Asia was expanding - the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was in its heyday and the British East India Company was growing as well. This meant that exotic spices and fruits were becoming more common in Europe, especially in the hands of the upper classes. This set the stage for the creation of punch.

Wondrich takes the reader through the pre-history of punch, then goes on to describe how it evolved over the centuries, trickling down to be the drink of more common men as well as the upper classes. Read about how much punch George Washington budgeted for serving to constituents while running for the Virginia House of Burgesses or how the coffee house culture of Enlightenment London was turned on to punch, sparking drunken discussions (and brawls) between some of the most notable men of the day. Punch was ascendent for almost two centuries until it was overtaken in the 19th century by the American innovation of the cocktail - a small, personal, bracing punch that could be drunk quickly instead of sitting with ones compatriots around the flowing bowl.

Throughout the book, there are recipes in their original state, which are also translated into more comprehensible modern measurements. Punch-making details are provided, such as how to make a proper oleo-saccrum (extracting citrus oils into sugar). This is a fantastic read, making a rather esoteric subject entertaining and enthralling. I highly recommend this book, especially for those of a booze nerd-y disposition.

Bombay Presidency Punch (adapted from David Wondrich)
1 oz Batavia arrack
0.5 oz Smith & Cross Jamaican rum
0.5 oz cognac
0.5 oz lime juice
1 oz palm sugar syrup (1:1)
1-2 oz soda water

Build over ice. Stir to combine and dust a little nutmeg on top.

The sip begins with mild sweetness, which carries through in balance with the lime. The funky notes of arrack and rum are smoothed out a bit by the cognac, while the soda water provides a bit of snap. Over time, the nutmeg filters into the drink.

This is possibly the ur-punch, being composed of ingredients that would have been available to members of the British East India Company stationed at their fortress in Bombay. The original version was made exclusively with Batavia arrack along with nutmeg from the Dutch East Indies, as well as locally-souced limes and palm sugar. However, splitting the base spirit with strong Jamaican rum and mellow cognac gives it even more depth. The soda water isn't really in keeping with the original (soda water wasn't invented until the late 18th century), but I find it adds a nice something to the drink that you won't get with less fizzy water. This punch is quite a crowd-pleaser - I've served it to people ranging from members of my lab to my own family and friends, always with great results.

Whisky Review: Old Pulteney 17 Year Old

First off, thanks to my reader Florin for a sample of this whisky.

I was quite intrigued by Old Pulteney, especially after their 21 year old was declared 'Best Whisky in the World' by Jim Murray at the end of 2011. Now, I'm not one to ascribe too much weight to awards, but that's some pretty high praise. However, I also heard some pretty good things about their 17 year old expression as well.

Old Pulteney has a history stretching back to 1826 when the distillery was founded on the extreme northeast corner of Scotland (Old Pulteney is the northernmost whisky distillery on the mainland) in the town of Wick. The location is not so peculiar when you consider that the distillery was built at a time when it was far cheaper to ship supplies by water, as good roads did not reach many of the distant parts of Scotland, making it much less remote than it would seem at first glace. The town was also a major center for herring fishing until the mid-20th century, until stocks precipitously declined. The distillery has two very peculiar stills - one where the lyne arm appears to have been chopped off and another with a strangely twisted lyne arm. Additionally, Old Pulteney is one of the few distilleries to still use copper worm-tubs instead of more modern condensers. The distillery passed through a number of different owners before landing in the hands of Inver House in 1995.

Old Pulteney 17

Nose: pleasantly sweet malt with a sour edge, light vanilla, caramel creme, citrus, toffee, salted chocolates. After adding a few drops of water, the nose becomes creamier, the sourness disappears, and more chocolate emerges.

Taste: sweet/sour up front, then malt, wood smoke, and mildly bitter oak tannins, with cacao throughout and some sherry buried under the malt. After dilution, it becomes less sour, but the remaining sourness carries through the palate, there are pepper and floral notes added on top of the wood and chocolate.

Finish: bittersweet malt, light milk chocolate, charred oak, pepper

This was a very nice, sweet whisky. However, I can't say that I found it to be more than that. I kept looking for more depth, but couldn't quite find it. It reminds me a lot of one of its northern cousins, Glenmorangie Original. The salty maritime notes were a nice addition to that template, but not enough to push it into a higher plane. I was a little bit surprised by the lack of sherry influence, particularly its absence on the nose. The 17 year old is a mixture of whiskies from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, with the sherry casks mostly coming from PX and oloroso sherries. However, there is a significantly greater proportion of bourbon cask whisky in the mix, so the sherry cask whisky may just be too minor of a component to really shine. I will give the distillery some points for bottling this whisky at 46%, especially seeing as the it's also very smooth for its bottling strength, which makes it an easy sipper. At this point I need to try the 12 year old version, which is usually priced fairly competitively, to see if the 17 year old is worth the extra cash.

Tiki Classics: Paradise Cooler

This drink comes from the Denver Hilton, circa 1960, via Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Paradise Cooler
1 oz light rum
1 oz orange juice
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz falernum
0.25 oz cherry Herring

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then pour unstrained into a chilled rocks glass with more crushed ice.

The nose is dominated by the falernum's spice notes. The sip opens with sharp citrus acidity and vanilla from the rum, which segues into the ginger spice of the falernum, inflected by dark fruit from the Heering.

This drinks verges towards the dreaded 'muddled flavor profile' that late-stage tiki drinks often fell prey to. However, there is a distinct evolution of flavors, which keeps it from falling apart. I would suggest using falernum syrup in this one rather than falernum liqueur, because the stronger ginger note from the alcoholic version tends to overwhelm the other components.

Rhum Agricole Review: Saint James Royal Ambré

Continuing my rhum agricole kick, this is the first of two reviews I'm going to be doing of aged rhums from the Saint James distillery on the French island of Martinique.

Saint James is the oldest distillery on the island in continuous operation. While rhum production goes back even further, the brand came out of a decision by Louis XV in 1763 to allow rhum from the island to be exported. The Saint James brand was established in 1765 near the town of Saint Pierre, with the name designed to appeal to English-speaking colonists in New England. Saint James is also distinguished by having put out the first vintage rhum on the island in 1885, which has continued ever since. Disaster struck in 1902 when Mount Pelée erupted, destroying Saint Pierre and most of the distillery's building. However, the main house largely survived. The distillery was consolidated on the other side of the island in the town of Saint Marie in 1974, where production has been located ever since.

The sugar cane harvest for Saint James begins in February and extends into summer. The cut cane is transported to the distillery as quickly as possible, where it is pressed in mills to extract the juice. The juice, or 'vessou', ferments naturally due to the yeast present in the cane. Fermentation is kept between 25-30º C and is fairly quick, taking only a day or two. The mash is at 4-5% alcohol when it is added to the column stills, which give a raw spirit of 65-74% alcohol. The fresh rhum is then either rested in steel vats for a few months to produce blanc rhum or aged in oak barrels to produce everything from their paille rhum to rhum vieux. Saint James has a fairly high angels share of 8% a year, which goes a long way towards explaining their prices.

Saint James Royal Ambré

Nose: oak, sweet berries, vanilla, slightly floral, strong grassy/cane note, somewhat harsh musty funk notes. After adding a few drops of water, the nose becomes a bit flatter, and while the grassy notes dominate at first, it eventually reveals creamy berries and very strong floral perfume notes.

Taste: dry cane up front, which becomes a bit sweeter and creamier mid-palate, a huge blast of pepper, a bit of oak and dry cacao near the back, which all smoothes out with time. After dilution, it becomes thinner, but sweeter and creamier, with lighter pepper and the addition of nutmeg and more cacao.

Finish: oak, vegetal, residual pepper heat, slightly bitter. After dilution it becomes raspberries, pepper, nutmeg, dry cacao/coffee.

This was the first rhum agricole I ever bought, largely because it was the only one available in Oregon at the time. My first taste was... not good... as the strong and somewhat harsh flavors were just too much for me to handle. So it got relegated to the back of my liquor stash. I've slowly worked through the bottle, with an experiment here and there, but now that I have a better appreciation for rhums, I've returned to find it a rather tasty dram.

Saint James Royal Ambré holds a position between the lightly aged Élevé Sous Bois and Paille rhums from various distilleries, which tend to be aged for about twelve months, and the VSOP and Vieux rhums, which tend to be aged for four to five years. Royal Ambré is aged for eighteen to twenty-four months, which is long enough to add quite a bit of oak-derived flavors while leaving the grassy, funky vegetal flavors of raw cane undimmed. The rhum is bottled at a very reasonable 45%, which gives it heft without making it quite as strong and ethereal as its 50% ABV brethren. Most notably, Royal Ambré is the only AOC rhum agricole I've seen in the States going for under $25 for a 750 mL bottle, which makes it an exceptionally good value. The closest I can find in the same range would be La Favorite Ambre, but it's a bit more expensive, younger, and requires committing to an entire liter bottle. If you're looking for a rhum, especially for making tiki drinks, Saint James is a pretty easy choice.

Hale Pele Mai Tai
1 oz Smith & Cross Jamaican rum
1 oz Saint James Royal Ambré
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 orange liqueur
0.5 oz orgeat

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then pour unstrained into a double rocks glass. Fill with crushed ice and add a sprig of mint for garnish.

The mint garnish dominates the nose, though some funk from the Jamaican rum also makes itself known. The sip begins with moderate orgeat and orange liqueur sweetness. But soon enough its time for the funk, with the Jamaican rum and rhum agricole tag teaming your taste buds. With time, the mint begins to infuse the drink, coming in around mid-palate, adding its herbal notes to the funky r(h)um esters.

This mai tai is a kick in the face - but in a good way. It is almost exactly the mai tai you'll get from Blair Reynolds' new tiki bar, Hale Pele. I tried one back on opening night and found it brash but delicious. While Smith & Cross is likely to be more attention-grabbing, the Saint James rhum is almost as important. I feel like it's the only rhum that's bold enough to stand up to all that unadulterated Jamaican funk. However, adding a little bit of extra orgeat seems to be important to both mellow and integrate the rough 'n ready flavors of r(h)ums, transforming them into something absolutely exquisite. This is stiff competition for the best mai tai I've ever had.

Whisky Review: Rosebank 1989/12 YO Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur's Choice

Inspired by Michael Kravitz's most recent post about tasting an old Rosebank, I decided that it was high time to find out what all the hype was about. Stuart Ramsey declared it to be one the distilleries that he misses the most during his talk at Cocktail Camp. So I took a trip down to the Highland Stillhouse, which has an amazing selection of hard- to impossible-to-find whiskies.

Rosebank 1989/12 YO Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur's Choice

Nose: gobs of fruit and floral notes - almost perfumed, estery, unripe bananas, sour malt, a bit of vanilla, grape juice, a dusting of cocoa powder. After adding a few drops of water, the nose becomes sweeter, with the floral notes dominating the fruit, and more vanilla, which integrates with the malty notes.

Taste: sour malt - becoming sweeter with time, creamy, light grape juice, then pepper and bitter oak near the back. After dilution, the palate becomes much richer and more integrated, with lots of vanilla-tinged malt, and more pepper.

Finish: bitter malt, a bit of vanilla, floral

This is an interesting whisky. I found it a bit disappointing at first, as there wasn't a lot of complexity. It also sounds like it might not be the most exemplary offering from the distillery. However, this does have the distinction of being the only whisky I've ever had that was bottled at 40% and got better after adding water. The little bit of dilution really improved the body of the whisky and transformed it into an engaging sort of simplicity. I have a feeling that this probably came from a relatively inactive refill cask, which would explain the almost invisible cask influence. Instead, it seems to be almost all about the malt, mellowed only a little bit by time and oak.

While nearly impossible to find now, this probably would have been a $35-40 whisky when it was originally released, which sounds like an amazing deal in this day and age. I can imagine this being a great whisky to sip on a warm spring day, with breezes blowing the smells of growing vegetation drifting.

Sadly, I didn't get to try the sherry cask Rosebank that was on the Stillhouse's list, as it appears to have been finished off. Hopefully I'll find another some day, but this was an interesting experience - add me to the list of people who wish that Diageo hadn't demolished the distillery.

Mixology Monday LXVII: Garnish Grandiloquence

It's time for another Mixology Monday! This month's event is hosted by Joseph Tkach over at Measure & Stir. The theme is Garnish Grandiloquence - my one weakness. If you haven't noticed, I don't tend to go in for garnishes very often, despite my love of tiki. Especially because 9/10 I'm making drinks for myself, I care much more about how the drink tastes than how its presented. But for once, I'll make the effort to throw in a little flair.

Mekhong Southern Thai Swizzle
1.25 oz Mekhong
0.75 oz dark falernum
1 oz palm sugar syrup
1 oz lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters

Build over ice, swizzle until the glass frosts, then garnish with several sprigs of mint.

The smell of the mint garnish meshed beautifully with the vanilla and spice of the spirits along with some funk from the palm sugar - I could sit and smell this one for a long time. The sip is sweet & sour, with the lime just edging out the syrups, while the falernum's ginger and the bitters team up at the back to give the drink a serious kick. The Mekhong provides a peculiar twist, giving the drink a slightly vegetal edge from the rice component of the spirit.

This drink is a small tweak on a recipe from Imbibe, substituting palm sugar for simple syrup and tweaking a couple of proportions to make the drink more spirit-forward. The result is fairly aggressive, but definitely tasty.

Thanks again to Joseph for hosting and see you all again next MxMo!

Book Review: Peat Smoke and Spirt

Islay is one of the most well-known regions of scotch whisky production. The products of the island are very much 'love it or hate it', so it evinces some strong emotions.

Andrew Jefford's book is a chronicle both of the island and the distilleries that have made it famous. He clearly has a love for the island and made numerous trips to learn about the place. Importantly, he doesn't appear to have any particular biases towards or against any of the distilleries, appreciating each equally for what they have to offer.

Each chapter is broken up into two parts - first, a section looking at a historical period or feature (weather, terrain, etc.) of the island, then an overview of one of the island's distilleries.

The historical sections are very in depth, ranging from geologic (the island is composed of two landmasses that came together via tectonic drift), to the Medieval (the island was the seat of power for a Gaelic-Norse empire encompassing much of the western maritime Scotland), to the modern (the turbulent history of the 19th century). Admittedly I found these sections to be a bit much at times, as Jefford is rather... exhaustive. However, some of it, especially the sections on the 19th century, are useful for understanding the context in which many of the distilleries were created, but I found myself skipping large chunks after a certain point.

The sections about Islay's distilleries are an absolutely treasure-trove. Each is chock-full of history as well as first-hand experiences at the distilleries. Jefford makes a point of visiting the water sources for each distillery, both to get a sense of how they contribute to the whisky directly and the role they played in the distilleries' histories. There is also a vast amount of detail about the production methods each distillery uses, from the source of their malted barley, what kind of washbacks they use, the length of fermentation, the size, shape, and degree of filling of their stills, the shape and type of condenser attached to each of the stills, how long each distillation run takes and where cuts are made, and the conditions in which their whisky ages. While direct questions to the various master distillers about what makes each spirit unique were often met with negatives (I began to wonder what it was that actually made each distillery's product unique as the list of possibilities was officially whittled down significantly), Jefford does a lot to speculate what might make an impact (still shape and run dynamics seem to come out ahead). If you're ever wanted to know about the details of whisky production, this will provide you all sorts of information.

The book is especially interesting as it presents a snapshot of the distilleries in transition. The book was published in 2004, not long after the revival of Ardbeg and Bruichladdich, two of the island's most celebrated brands. Ardbeg had been under its new Glenmorangie/LVMH ownership for about seven years - long enough to start releasing new whiskies from their old stocks (the 17 year old and Uigeadail), but still new enough that their first bottles of 10 year old made from entirely new stocks were still in the future. Bruichladdich had been saved only a few years before the book was published and was still struggling to find its footing, throwing out a wild assortment of cask finished whiskies made from old stocks. Looking ahead, Kilchoman's foundation was still several years off. All of this is useful for someone who wants to understand the state of the scotch whisky industry in the 21st century.

Overall I think this is a very good book to read if you'd like to learn more about the history of Islay and its whisky. It's thorough, well-researched, and evinces a clear love for the place and its whisky. Highly recommended.