Stalking the luxury spirits

Since seven weeks ago when we last wrote of our serendipitous dalliance with an excellent variety of single malt whisky, the trail to our sort of Holy Grail continues to attract with new finds and rediscoveries. 

We cited then our latest tastings of Bowmore 12 Years, Glenlivet 18, Glenfiddich 15, Glenmorangie 10, Isle of Jura 10, Lancelot 12, Talisker 10, Macallan 12, and The Singleton 12. Now we follow up with more labels that have kissed our lips of late. 

Yes, the impression might occur that we’re due for entry to Alcoholics Anon. But, oh, excuse us — myself and the spirits stalker inside me — we’re a lush, no doubt, but no daily tippler. We can’t afford it. Rather do we rely largely on the gallantry of friends and the kindness of strangers — who soon turn into friends. And sometimes we even demur from golden opportunities to add to our continuum of reflections on liquid gold.

Why, as a result of that last exposition on luxury spirits, we received an invite from the right honorable Atty. Frank Chavez for a bonding session at his legal aerie, together with nine other selected gentlemen.

We had expressed a wish for a wee dram of our fave Lagavulin island malt, of which we had heard he still had a stash. But quite sadly, we had to issue a rain check to Frank, whose taste for uisge beatha (that’s Gaelic for the “water of life” or good old Scotch whisky, ye dummkopfs!) evidently approximates the high caliber of his wardrobe. We just had to hope for another invite, because on that fateful Friday, good friend Marne Kilates was launching a book of poetry at the exact same hours.

You may glean from our easy resolution of a possible dilemma where our loyalties lie. Of course it helped that Timog Avenue in Quezon City was closer as the crow flies through EDSA, compared to Makati’s choked core. 

But next time, Frank. I repeat, next time, Frank, I assure you of my celestial presence. Please do invite me again. And I’ll certainly be accompanied by my internal doppelganger, the bibulous one.

In any case, off to the Crown Colony for a comedown, the B.O. (bibulous one) just had to have a card swiped at the NAIA Duty Free for a TraveLite bottlekeep of The Singleton, always of value-for-money as it’s a full liter in a nice bottle with a flat backside, for less than $40 before a seven-percent discount. And it stands there on the shelves until one’s return. For the three lonely nights in a hotel in HK, we carried a Glenlivet 12 for company, at an even more modest price. We brought back more than a third of that 750 ml bottle.

Then serendipity struck anew! At the HK Duty Free, the ever-thirsting nag inside us gave alert. It had espied an unfamiliar bottle on the hallowed racks. Hand in hand, er, mouth, we drew close for an inspection. It said Matisse 15 Years single malt on the hourglass-shaped liter bottle that looked more like it contained a lifetime supply of lady’s perfume.

Matisse! Now, what the heck? No single malt whisky goes by that name, the wizened front man intoned. Check it out, get it! cried the imp inside. And so we did, enticed by the impression that the bottle alone — with a sword emblem attached to its front — had been designed by a French artist.   

Until the time that we broke it open, the bottle intrigued us. Could it have been a Chinese pirate’s scam of a single malt, maybe even laced with melamine, especially since the first web link we Googled had all these inscrutable characters for text?

Upon further conduct of scholarship, however, we learned that Matisse was a Speyside malt, or, again strangely, that it was from a cross between an independent bottler and a blender located in Speyside, albeit claiming Highland Region origin as well. Thus was Matisse 15 said to be typically appealing to the eye, with its honey or amber nectar color.

Nosing this strange new malt, we confirmed the website’s boast: that its aroma had the fruity characteristics bespeaking oranges, limes and lemons, attended by a floral bouquet that recalled apples and pears. It tasted fruity, too, a little too sweet, with a hint of spice, and lingering on the palate as promised.

Ah, Matisse! There is also a 12 Years and a 21 Years, the former selling online or in New York shops for nearly $60 a bottle. Yet surprisingly, the HK duty free price was $40 for the 15 years.

Launched in 2002, the Matisse seems to be marketed almost exclusively in what the distillery calls Greater China, while proudly claiming half of Taiwan’s market share, with about 500,00 cases shipped to this “Greater China” in 2005. The Matisse 15 won a gold medal in the 2007 International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) awards. Well, welcome to the club, Matisse!   

Our next foray was a night of serial debauchery cum live jazz held at a couple of good buddies’ places, one in South Forbes and the other in North Syquia Apartments in mad Malate.

A double shot was offered by Tito Yuchengco, our Consul General to Hungary, who kept a Caol Ila 12 in his pantry, said to be just for yours truly. But we were in a hurry that night, so that what remains of his Caol Ila, meaning “Sound of Islay” thus an island malt (smoky, peaty, briny) would have to wait till our next caroling session.

Butch Perez then drew deep into his pantry to show off an uncommon Old Pulteney 12, and allowed us serial doubles so that we even came away from that live jazz gig with more than a wee dram in our handy flask.

Research regaled us: “Since 1826, the Pulteney Distillery has crafted a Single Malt Scotch Whisky that is the very essence of its remarkable location. In the very far north of Scotland, by Wick’s historic harbour, the quietly maturing spirit lies in hand-selected oak casks, slowly capturing the unique character of this stunning landscape with it’s long seafaring history. Old Pulteney is the embodiment of history, people and place: the Genuine Maritime Malt.”

Wow. So that’s why we felt all anchors aweigh as we crossed town anew.

For yet another Bedan gathering at the Villamor clubhouse, a couple of lions came roaring in from the airport: Ding Wencesalao with a Laphroaig 12 and Joey Tiangco from Tokyo with a Yamazaki 12. The Laphroaig is another old fave, from Islay, and reputedly the brew of choice of Prince Andrew, albeit he royally favors an older vintage. It’s rough on the throat, rugged, saline, and I love it. Now that’s the unified “I” speaking. In any case, the bottle was killed to the full at Villamor.

It wasn’t the first time that Joey, who often does business in Japan, came back with a Yamazaki. In fact it would be my third tasting of the brew from Suntory. Unbeknownst even to most initiates, Japan has been distilling single malts, including the excellent Karui-zawa which has topped even the genuine Scotch malts in taste polls among experts in recent years. Sounds sacrilegious, but it’s true. And the Yamazaki bids fair to continue the growing tradition, the way Japanese carmakers have taken over the field from Detroit to Los Angeles.

For the nonce, anyway, I have been enjoying Joey’s Christmas gift, but will leave some wee drams for the Bedan pride to relish, if and when they catch me.

Our ultimate experience since Advent was a glorious night at Kipling’s In Mandarin Oriental for a taste test hosted by Ronaldo Paul B. Unson, business development manager of Moet Hennessy for Asia Pacific. The firm now also handles Glenmorangie, the 10-Years-Old of which, now called The Original, has been a familiar standby.

It seems the current program is to expand the brand into what’s called “Expressions” — bottles of distinct labels that don’t exactly spell the exact number of years of aging, but are known as signature titles, such as The Lasanta, The Quinta Ruban, and The Nectar D’or, apart from the even more upside Glenmorangie 18 and 25 Years. Randy Uson explained that all three are at least 13 to 15 years old in terms of ageing.

The Lasanta, which in Gaelic means “warmth and passion,” has been extra-matured in Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks after a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon casks. My, indeed, it was luscious, and of sweet aroma and taste. A double of that and we were off to Quinta Ruban, of velvety texture, further matured or “finished” in ruby port pipes from the “Quintas” or wine estates of Portugal. The adjectives bestowed on it by the distillers include “voluptuous” — and being easy, I agree.

Then came The Nectar D’Or, which is “captivating... for the sophisticated luxury spirits drinker who enjoys delicious extravagance and sensuous pleasures.” Holy men of Tain, that refers to me! This special brew is aged in Sauterne wine “barriques” or barrels after the bourbon casks. So you get a whiff of Bordeaux while sipping, sipping, savoring, savoring...

Sheer nectar these spirits are, and now we have even more of a choice from one fine distillery. The Glenmorangie Original remains sumptuous, too, and is available in select supermarkets in Metro Manila for roughly two thou only, while the special “Expressions” will be available by early next year, at not much more than that original’s price, or ranging from P2,300 to P2,500. Not bad, only a little more than your usual boring blends.

With Glenmorangie, variety becomes the spice of life and not only its divine water — “Exquisite finesse and alluring complexity” affirmed with every sip and savor.