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By Nathan Chantrell, on December 23rd, 2009
One of my vices is single malt whisky, my favourites being the peaty Islay whiskys, particularly Laphroaig (pronounced La-froyg).
Each bottle of Laphroaig comes with a little booklet with a unique code printed on it which you can use to register as a “Friend of Laphroaig”. This gives you a lifetime lease on a square foot of land on Laphroaig’s land on the island of Islay which you can visit and claim your annual ground rent of a dram of Laphroaig.
You can use the codes from subsequent purchases to accrue points towards merchandise such as engraved glasses, clothing and so on, it’s all a bit of a marketing gimmick really but occasionally there is something a bit more special on offer exclusively for the “Friends of Laphroaig”. Such was the case with the Triple Wood special edition. Only 700 bottles were made available for the Friends of Laphroaig with the rest going to duty free sales so I quickly snatched one up which arrived on the 3rd December and I wasted no time in opening it.
Triple Wood is, as the name suggests, triple matured in 3 types of wood cask; Firstly in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, then small 19th century style quarter casks and finally in large European oak Oloroso sherry casks, it is non-chill filtered and bottled at 48% ABV. So this is very similar to the excellent Quarter Cask bottling but with a second finishing in sherry casks. I found the nose to be very woody with toffee and strong on the iodine but a lot less of the peaty smokiness than is usual for a Laphroaig. The mouth feel is quite creamy like the QC but it’s sweeter than expected, the sherry influence is noticeable and there is quite a bit of vanilla and wood followed by the usual long Laphroaig finish. It’s an excellent whisky and makes a nice alternative to the standard 10 Year Old and Quarter Cask I usually keep ‘in stock’. Having demolished half of it already I’ll be trying to keep the rest for an occasional treat.
By Nathan Chantrell, on December 1st, 2009
Jim Murray of The Whisky Bible fame was on Chris Evans’ show on Radio 2 today with a tasting of his top 3 ever whiskys.
I won’t spoil it by mentioning what they are but I’ve made an mp3 file with all the unrelated music/travel stuff edited out which you can download here: Jim Murray – Chris Evans – 01-12-09.mp3 It is 7.8 MB file with a runtime of 17 mins 7 secs.
Update 2/12/09: If you just want to know what they were see comments below!
By Nathan Chantrell, on November 4th, 2009
 Click to enlarge The ChileFoundry’s review of the Fruit & Spice Chilli Chocolate from The South Devon Chilli Farm was just too tempting, an order had to be made. It turns out they do several other varieties of chilli chocolate too, resisting the urge to order them all I eventually settled for one each of the fruit & spice, orange and coffee bean chilli chocolates plus a bottle of their Extreme Bhut Jolokia sauce and a jar of the Extreme Bhut Jolokia Green Chilli Jam.
I’ve had chilli chocolate from the likes of Lindt and Montezuma before and as nice as those are, the South Devon Chilli Farm’s products are something different. Much more of a craft product and obviously hand made, these chocolates are noticeably hotter than the mass produced stuff you will find in the shops.
The extra heat was most noticeable in the case of the Fruit & Spice Chilli Chocolate which was my favourite of the three – the mix of sultanas, cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves works with the chilli and dark chocolate perfectly. The coffee bean one also worked very well with a really nice crispness to the bite and lots of coffee taste, the orange one less so but still very nice. I know a lot of people balk at the very thought of chilli and chocolate together but, for me at least, the counterpoint of the smooth chocolate versus the heat of the chilli is magnificent. It is something that sounds so wrong but works so well. Admittedly these weren’t cheap, £3.30 for 100g each but ultimately they are quality products and so worth it.
As for the Extreme Bhut Jolokia Sauce, wow, this is good stuff, again it’s not cheap, £6 for 100ml but it’s a quality product packed with real ingredients. There is no extract here, just Bhut Jolokia chillies (aka Naga Jolokia, the hottest chilli in the world), red peppers, cider vinegar, lemon juice and a little salt. If you are used to very hot sauces it probably won’t blow your head off but make no mistake this is a proper chilli sauce with plenty of heat and real chilli flavour. It’s just right for a cheese sandwich or cheese on toast, you can put enough on to really enjoy the taste of the chilli without it being too overpowering. I’m sure it will also work as a great additive to just about anything you fancy, curry, chilli, bolognese, beans on toast, you name it! Although I had initially expected this to be hotter given the Bhut/Naga Jolokia’s reputation, on reflection I think they have got it just right. It is excellent.
The jam is equally brilliant, £4 for a 227g jar, it’s quite sweet and has the same consistency as a fruit jam or marmalade unlike the Nitro Naga Chilli Jam I had from Scorchio recently which was too thin for a jam really. I really like this just spread on toast or with cheese on crackers and again there is no chilli extract used here, just Bhut Jolokia chillies, green peppers, lemon juice and sugar. Simple and straightforward. It’s fantastic.
These are quality products using quality ingredients and are priced accordingly, if you like your chilli then I’m sure you will enjoy them as much as I did. I will definately be buying from the South Devon Chilli Farm again.
By Nathan Chantrell, on October 20th, 2009
BrewDog is one of my favourite brewers, I love their extra hoppy IPAs and the whisky cask aged Paradox stouts are some of my all time favourite beers. BrewDog’s James Watt has been teasing us for weeks now about what he described as “the single most exciting, influential and ground-breaking thing to happen in the British brewing industry for decades”. Speculation abounded. Interests were piqued. Beer was drunk.
Today was the day and I have to say that after all the build up BrewDog has slightly disappointed me for the first time… I was hoping for something amazing beer wise but it turns out that it’s just a share offer and shares don’t excite me at all. The deal is £230 for a share which includes a lifetime 20% discount for orders from brewdog.com and “a say in how the business is run”. The money will go toward expansion and a new green brewery, see equityforpunks.com for a PDF with the full details and financials.
Now I’m no financial wizz but looking at the PDF the valuation seems very high. £230 is for 1 of 10,000 shares so the total share issue is £2.3 million worth and the 10,000 shares are 9% of their total shares so they are valuing themselves at… £25.6 million!
Turnover to year end 2008 was £789k with a net profit of £84K and they estimate a 2 million turnover for 09. In the 7 months to 31/7/09 turnover was £851K and given their growth 2 million isn’t out of the question but they have a lot of work yet to do. The rapid expansion has seen the cost of sales in that period has increase a lot though, resulting in a net profit of only £1337 for those 7 months. They appear to have £645K in assets at the end of July, plus the brand and IP I guess but I’m struggling to see where the £25.6 million valuation comes from. I don’t “do” shares though and I’m not a gambler so maybe this is too simplistic a view.
Sure, the 20% online order discount for shareholders is worth something, and is the most tempting aspect for me but you would need to spend £1150 just to break even. As much as I love BrewDog, that’s a lot of beer!
So as far as this offer is concerned, just let me say… I’m Out!
Update: James has blogged on their rationale for the £25m valuation. It’s all in the brand and its potential.
By Nathan Chantrell, on August 3rd, 2009
So I thought it was time to get some more BrewDog beers in considering how well they went down last time. Kicking off was the very limited edition Rake Raspberry Imperial Stout which is very unusual indeed, smokey, whisky to the taste and not too overpowering with the fruit as some fruit beers can be but quite tart. Something I would try again but don’t think I could drink two on the run.
I also got some of the Paradox Smokehead Imperial Stout (10%) which, incredibly, was even better than the Paradox Speyside I had last time. Very peaty, smokey whisky taste & aroma as you would expect from the 6 months it has spent in the Smokehead whisky casks. This is a strong contender for my favourite beer ever! The biggest surprise though was the “How To Disappear Completely”, at only 3.5% I wasn’t expecting much from this IPA; How wrong was I? Incredibly hoppy and bitter, I dare say most people will find this too hoppy but for me it was heaven. I could drink this all day.
Also tried the Zeitgeist black lager (4.9%), completely unlike any lager I have ever tasted, chocolatey and malty to the taste and very easy to drink. Finally, I tried Dogma, a heather honey infused ale (7.8%), taste is very strong on the honey with hints of cola but too sweet for me, slightly sickly towards the end of the glass.
They’ve also just released the 2009 version of Tokyo at 18.2% which has already caused a bit of a fuss but at £9.99 for a 330ml bottle it’s too rich for me!
By Nathan Chantrell, on March 24th, 2009
 Scottish brewery BrewDog is producing some exceptional beers including some incredibly hoppy IPAs and a variety of unusual stouts. In particular the Paradox Speyside stout (aged in Speyside whisky casks) is spectacular.
BrewDog produced its first brew in April 2007 and its bottled beers can now be found in many shops and supermarkets. The unusual and sometimes contoversial labelling makes BrewDog stand out as something different from the traditional real ale fare, open the bottle and things carry on in the same vein. These are not your dad’s beers!
Pictured right is a selection I ordered recently from BeerVentures. I can recommend every single one.
By Nathan Chantrell, on January 23rd, 2009
There will be a Twitter whisky tasting this Sunday evening at 8pm, for more information see the information page from creators Dubber & Clutch and follow @twhisky on Twitter.
On Sunday night at 8pm, we’re going to start the first official Twhisky tasting event. And of course, we’re getting a lot of people asking how it’s going to work.
There are people who have joined Twitter just so they can be part of the Twhisky community, and there are others who already use Twitter, but can’t see how it can be used for anything other than overhearing a couple of guys drinking whisky and saying how nice it is.
Sunday is Burns’ Night, what could be more appropriate!
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