Shooting for the stars

It was great to catch up with American-based whisky enthusiast turned independent bottler Mahesh Patel, who was over in Britain this week to launch his new independent whisky company Sirius and to train Whisky Shop staff.

The four whiskies are very old, very rare  and very special – and they’re on sale exclusively through The Whisky Shop.

The four whiskies are:

Carsebridge 1965

Fettercairn 1966

North British 1962

Dalmore 1967

They all taste great – i’ll be posting full tasting notes in the coming days – but they’re also pretty special. Two of them are stunning, easy drinking and perfectly matured grain whiskies, for instance: Carsebridge and North British. The Fettercairn – of which there are only 39 bottles – has a delightful red liquorice and hickory taste – and The Dalmore  has been fully matured in a rum cask and when you add water to its 60% plus ABV all sorts of wonders happen to the taste – indeed, in keeping with the Sirius theme, I’d say it’s the oral equivalent of Aurura – the Northern lights in all their glory.

The whole range costs £7500 but if you buy the set – and that’s the only way you’ll get to taste the Fettercairn – The Whisky shop is offering the four for £6,500.

Don’t miss my filmed interview and tasting with Mahesh Patel which will be up on line next week.

Out of this world

I carried out my interview with Mahesh in the Paternoster Square branch of The Whisky shop in St Paul’s, London. If you’re in the area you need to pop in just to see the amazing new Dalmore display, with the stylish bottles all beautifully back lit, as well as an amazing new and huge Constellation display. All 21 bottles in the £158,000 collection are on display in a black hemmed display with sparkling lights. Quite amazing and a wonderfully apt way to show off luxury items of this class.

Expect more exciting news soon.

Single malts might have grabbed all the headlines in recent years, but there’s a growing feeling that there are two whisky categories that have been somewhat neglected but whose time will eventually come. And I’m starting to get the feeling that that time really isn’t that far away at all.

The first is grain whisky. Grain whisky is made in a totally different way to single malt whisky, on continuous stills which extract high strength alcohol by forcing grain beer against pressurised steam in large columns. It is the whisky which is mixed with single malts to make blended whisky, and it has had limited success on its own.

That’s partly because it has unfairly earned a reputation for being bland an uninteresting. But there are many examples where its sweet and vanillery components make for a delightfully refreshing alternative to single malt, and more than that, there are grain whiskies which are world class.

Indeed its biggest weakness can be its biggest strength. On the down side, grain whisky does not have as much flavour as single malt when it is first made.  – but the upside of this is that it is a blank canvas and if you put it in a high quality cask and leave it for long enough, all sorts of magic happens. Leave it for in excess of 30 years and it’s capable of developing the bourbony characteristics of the American oak bourbon cask but combining them with distinctly Scottish notes.

I’m fortunate enough to have tried a 50 year old grain whisky, and it is stunning example of what grain can be about.  Independent bottler Mahesh Patel is so convinced by grain that two aged grains from the 1960s form part of his four whisky Sirius range..

I think these sort of releases will become more common in the coming months as distillers look to new areas as they try to meet the huge demand for whisky worldwide and people discover the joys of aged grain. Grain also tends in general to be less expensive than single malt whisky, so it provides a great opportunity to taste genuinely old whisky.

The other category which is growing and set to stir the excitement is blended malt whiskies – and there’s an irony in this because blended malts are different to blended whisky because they don’t use grain. In the right hands they offer the opportunity to create something genuinely new taste-wise while moving away from traditional whisky imagery and packaging.

There are some real crackers around. Peat Monster and Spice Tree from Compass Box are blended malts, the Double Barrel range from Douglas Laing bring together malts from just two distilleries, and Clan Denny Islay and Speyside do exactly what they say on the tin, bringing together the best flavours for each region from a range of distilleries. And don’t forget The Big Peat, a surefire winner with Whisky Shop customers for nigh on two years now.

Exciting stuff – and absolute proof that  there’s always something new to excite the palate.

Whisky enthusiast, collector and show organiser Mahesh Patel is about to become an independent bottler with the launch of four whiskies under the Sirius name. All four – two malts and two grains – are high quality, super premium releases and The Whisky Shop will be stocking them. So I asked Mahesh what Sirius is all about.

DR: Please tell me about Sirius?

MP: Sirius is all about my travels around whisky. It brings together my love for whisky and my search to find the best whiskies the World has to offer.  I am trying to bring these very limited whiskies to share with fellow whisky lovers. That’s why all my whiskies will be all natural and straight from the cask.

DR: Why did a whisky fan decide to turn in to an independent bottler?

MP: After 25 years of enjoying and collecting some of the finest whiskies, I decided that it was time for me to share my passion through the liquid itself. What I mean is that I have tried and collected many whiskies, but I wanted something unique and different, so I started searching for whiskies that were still maturing in casks, which I could bottle and enjoy, but most of all share with others.

DR: You have gone for the top end of the market. Why?

MP: Well, I wanted to have a very boutique product that reflected my experiences, which involve the rare and high end whiskies. There are many independent bottlers out there producing some great whiskies, but many do not cater for the older, rare end of the market.  I understand this area well, so that’s why I decided to focus at the top end. Plus I had a lot of fellow connoisseurs encourage me to pursue this, and they will support me.

DR: How much work went in to picking the casks and why these ones?

MP: A tremendous amount of work. As this was going to be a high-end whisky line I wanted to have the very best. I went through all the casks initially and got a small group of friends to help with the narrowing down of the selection.  I sampled over 300 casks from not just one company, but several.

DR: Why two grains, cask strength and of such age?

MP: I personally feel that single grain whiskies and particularly aged ones have been totally overlooked by the whisky world.  I have known for a while that these whiskies have great merit, and had to create a range of aged single grains in my brand. I feel that this is going to be one of the new trends in the whisky world and I want to be a part of this, because I strongly believe in the product.

DR:. How did you set about pricing them?

MP: As you know the liquids that we are bottling are all very old, rare and limited in quantity, which when you purchase from a distillery, come at a high sticker price. I also felt that when you have a product of this high calibre it has to be presented equivalently, so I decided to make the bottle and packing very premium also.  I have spent a lot of time and money developing this line plus all our first release products are limited in quantity, so the pricing is reflective of this.

DR:. Who are they aimed at?

MP: These whiskies are aimed at connoisseurs of premium whiskies, collectors and whisky investors, as this whiskies will appreciate in value, simply due to their rarity.

DR: Are they attracting interest already?

MP: We have done a series of tasting around the United States as well as having them at the last Nth – (Ultimate Whisky experience this march in Las Vegas). The response has been fantastic. Each expression has got it followers, but I was very pleased with the positive reception of the single aged grains, even from hard core single malt drinkers.

DR: All the whiskies are from one company. will that change in the future and how are you going about sourcing more casks, how often do you think you might release them, and have you already identified future casks?

MP: Yes the first release casks were bought from one company, but they are all different distilleries.  This will change as I have already bought and put away a small quantity of casks for future releases, including grains.  I am actively sourcing casks from all over the world, through my contact in the industry.  My current goal is to release  something every 15 to 18 months and yes, I have identified one or two gems for future release.

DR: Demand for whisky is very high at the moment, putting pressure on supply. How will you ensure you get stock for future releases?

MP: You are absolutely right – demand is high and scouring casks is very hard. But I am a boutique producer in search of the high-end stuff, so I am able to negotiate with different companies to buy a few from their stock – after a lot of persuasion!

DR: You’re becoming a big name in high end whisky – what are you planning in the next 12 months?

MP: I have many plans, but in the near future I want to grow the Sirius range and place it on a world platform as a uber-premium independent bottler of fine whiskies.  We will continue to develop the whisky show and I will be launching some new concept whisky soon.

DR: And what are your aims for Sirius going forward?

MP: Well as I mentioned above I want to grow Sirius into a very luxury premium boutique brand.