No pilgrimage to a revered shrine is undertaken without adequate preparation: what infidel arrives at a temple with unwashed hands and impure thoughts? So the Knuckleheads prepared for their journey to St. Andrew's Pub in NY by a Ride on the Whisky Rails of NJ Transit. Scott said he had a "surprise" in the homely paper sack under his arm, and as he, Matthew and I gathered on the benches of the "tasting car", out came tiny tasting glasses, water and...Cragganmore 12yr. A great start, and Cragganmore's accesible, honeyed oak nose and lingering, sweet finish was made more pronounced by a droplet of water. The click-clack of the rails quickened up the pace of the evening's excitement and the 2 lesbian women going to the Gay Pride parade in the city that evening were eyeing our merry making with jealous eyes (they revealed themselves, and their orientation, on the same train home at the end of the night). Then Robin broke out the flask and poured the only whisky appropriate for pulling into the Secaucus station: Ardbeg 10yr, with enough peat and smoke to bring back the golden age of rail travel. Once we hit Penn Station, we were primed for meeting up with the rest of the Knuckleheads of Scotch waiting for us at St. Andrews.
But being early, we found accidental refuge at the Spanish Taverna, off the beaten on 37th off of 6th, and what a great find. Our bartender Juan not only started our video journey for us, but made a "kick-ass Sangria" and delivered tempting tapas to our bocas. Matthew rightly understood this to be the "settling in" necessary to any good whisky tasting and we not only adopted this as Standard Operating Procedure for future tastings, but envisioned a companion blog to OneMalt.com, to be known as OneMeal.com. The Knuckleheads will travel to off-beat, culinary way stations to sample their offerings, disorient the owners and maybe even bring our wives (to drive us home).
Arriving at St. Andrews, we conned a family rushing to see "Passing Strange" on Broadway to serve as our video cameramen to document our passing through the portals. Mark, the Dad, was a little purturbed that we impeded their journey, thinking we were yokels from out of town (well, hell, we are). He was purturbed further when we suggested that perhaps they were out-of-town yokels, and being good Manhattanites, they recoiled in horror, and later, when we suggested eating haggis, added revulsion. Talk about passing strange.
The St. Andrews staff were, as usual, gracious and fun, and Laura, the manager was sly enough to get me to buy a raffle ticket for something while waiting for the haggis. St. Andrews, for those of you who don't know, has one of the largest inventories of single malt whiskies in New York, and its a grand old-style pub that they're growing out of. The tasting menu offers either a Dram (1 oz.) or Taster (2 oz.) size of stemmed thistle tasting glasses and an enormously wide and deep selection of great Scotch.
Tristan and Zac rounded out our table for the evening. The accompanying video pretty much tells the story, and its evident I have to buy some lights for the camera, because our scintillating conversation was obscured by the fact that you couldn't see anyone's faces very well. But then, the Knuckleheads crave anonymity, othewise we'd be mobbed everywhere we go.
Here was the evening's lineup, in order:
Talisker, 18 yr.:
Nose: musky, sweaty, "under the steps" mustiness
Palette: Sugar, cane syrup, salt brine, peat and smooth smoke
Finish: wet leaves, oyster shells, vegetation, lingering and long
Springbank Dunbeagh, 31 yr Cambletown
Color: cognac
Nose: Sherry, Dark cherry, chocolate, custard
Palatte: dry, sharp, astringent, floral, chewy
Finish: sea air, dried fruit, medium, salt at the end
Auchentoshen Signatory, '92
Color: pale yellow, chablis, pinot grigio
Nose: turpentine, PineSol, pine nuts, flax seed
Palette: oily, rich, full of yeast and sourdough
Finish: tongue depressors, phenolic, yogurty, wood finish at end ("finish the deck in summer with some lemonade as a chaser")
Ladaig, 1990
Color: pale gold
Nose: malt, yeast, cereal, scones, buttery shortbread
Palette: chewy, doughy, yeasty, soft pretzel
Finish: short, sweet, raisins, struedel, salt at the end; all seasons and accessible
Bowmore, 25 yr
Color: deep, oloroso sherry red
Nose: Sherry, pepper, spice, yeast, winey, malty, hint of peach
Palatte: Smooth, spice, peat, warm and smoky
Finish: medium, buttery, vegetation
On the table: oysters, haggis, calimari, steak, some sort of potato thing, etc.
Lads, those of you who didn't come, how kin ya' miss oot on somethin la 'dis?