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Where is my beer opener?
Where is my beer opener?
A while ago, (no, seriously) I moved from Leiden to Gouda.
Back in Leiden, I used to have my favorite liquor store, specialized in whisky, at about 100 meters from my home. Lucky me.
Moving in the end of 2019 to Gouda, I did not have the chance to find a good new local liquor store. You know, the one that can order special or reserved bottles for you. And I needed such a bottle. I was hunting for the Glenturret Managers dram. I could have imported it myself, but hey, a great opportunity to build some connects. Walking into a store I had never visited before at the end of October, I had a great conversation with the guy managing the store. He promised me he would contact me when he got the Glenturret and I decided to check his inventory.
On one of the bottom shelves in the corner with whiskies that were not from the Netherlands or Scotland or Ireland (Australia, Germany and in this case, the USA), I spotted a weird looking bottle. First of all, It had a label I had not seen before. And secondly, I spotted a flip top at is neck and noticed the bottle was closed with a bottle cap. It got my attention.
Asking the shopkeeper about it, he could not tell anything about it.
(This should have been my warning for the Glenturret Managers dram.)
Since I simply love weird things, I decided to get the bottle and go home. Mission accomplished, I got my hook-up foor the whiskey I wanted and got a weird looking bottle for a fun price. A double win!
Arruving at home, I decided to contact Rogue Ales to see if they could tell me anything about this bottle. Just looking for the information a Single Malt snob like myself would look for. This was their response: "That’s a piece of history right there!! One of our first bottles of our award winning dead guy whiskey. The recipe has changed over the years but we’re still making that whiskey at our headquarters in Newport, Oregon!" Followed by a link to their webstore. I guess they thought I would like it so much, I would order more!
To be honest, I was disappointed with this response. I only told me I got an older bottle and that they still sold this whiskey, but with a changed recipe and a whole other bottle design. But hey, it won several awards!
I left the bottle in my whiskey drawer and almost forgot about it. Until I encountered it at my quarterly bottle turn and decided to open it. Which I did, live on Instagram.
So let's discuss this whiskey. First of all: It has only aged for one (1) month.
I found that insane short. They called it ocean aged, because the barrel apparently was stored near the ocean. I could not find anything on chill filtration or coloring, but with one month of age, I decided not to bother with finding out.It was bottled at 80 proof, which is 40% vol.
Now normally when I open a bottle cap, I expect a "Pssht". But I heard none. Silly me, of course whisky is not carbonated!
After a twirl, I got some fine legs but not really a line. The whiskey itself looks a bit cloudy.
On the nose: I got some funky notes like dusty attics, potpourri, maybe the smell of a crypt? Some fruity notes and blossom. I got some kiwi, pineapple, fresh pear and some vanilla. I even got some coconut!
Taste: The flavor was less exciting . A lot of spirit on the tongue, some oak and honey. After the fruity and sweet notes, I got some oak and dark chocolate. But for a whiskey that had only seen the inside of a barrel for one month, I was pleasantly surprised!
Finish: Quite long on the tongue. Almost a little bit of an acidic feeling and fresh flavor. Some fuller notes of tannines and oak.
I was very surprised for what this whiskey had to offer for the age on the label. I am very curious what would happen if Rogue would let this whiskey age for a bit longer. I would want to try it!
And finally, if you read this far wondering if I ever got the Glenturret managers dram: The shopkeeper did not deliver and I missed out on that bottle.
So, if any reader is able and wants to share a dram of the Glenturret Managers dram, please contact me!
I will send you a dram of the Dead Guy Whiskey in return if you want to! And if anybody got a tip for a local liquor store in Gouda, specialized in whisky that could get me such bottles, let me know!
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