Good evening! And
welcome to the new year, 2016. You know what that means, don’t you? It means
that it’s time for one of my favourite blog-related tasks (besides the
drinking), and that’s announcing the three spirits I drank in the previous year
that I deem to be worthy of special attention (so to speak). It was quite a
good year for special spirits, but I won’t be mentioning those that didn’t
quite make the cut. As ever, there’s no overall winner, and these are in no
particular order.
Rum: Plantation 3
Stars (41.2%, £22 for 70cl)
This is the first
time a rum has made it into the top 3 – sure, there’s only been two other years
so far, but that’s still two years without recognition for rum. Rum has just
never struck me as a particularly interesting spirit – too easy drinking, you
might say. Nevertheless, the discovery of this excellent value, excellent
quality white rum was a revelation and
one that has since encouraged me to delve a little deeper into the rum world.
Apparently it’s aged, but the colour then filtered out, or some such thing. I
have no idea why anyone would want to do that, but you can’t deny this is a
wonderfully tasty rum. It’s a couple of percent stronger than your average and
certainly worth the extra pounds it costs compared to lesser and cheaper
alternatives. If I had enough money to keep favourite spirits in stock as well
as trying new ones, this would have a permanent place in my cabinet. I’ll be
posting more about it in the coming months.
Another first for Spirits of the Year here, as brandy
makes its first ever appearance. Yes, finally a brandy that looks delicious,
and tastes as good as it looks – soft and luxurious, with just the right
balance between sweet and savoury. Slutty with just the right amount of class,
if you will. Or should that be classy with just the right amount of sluttiness?
Whether you do or you don’t, I just like saying that. You can read more about
this one here.
The final place in
this year’s hall of fame is reserved for an example of my favourite spirit
genre, grappa. It was a difficult choice between this one and two, perhaps even
three others, but in the end this soft two year old just oozed class and
emerged as the pick of the bunch. You’ll be able to read more about this one
later in the year.
So there you go, a
mixed bag this year, and no place for a whisky this time. I look forward to
trying a whole new slew of spirits throughout 2016 and seeing who makes the
grade this time next year. In the meantime I’ll contact the various producers
of this year’s winners and announce the good news.
Finally, I haven’t
done it before, but since I’ve been drinking so much beer of late, and also since
there was one absolute standout of the genre last year, I thought I might do a
2015 Beer of the Year. And that accolade goes to Harviestoun Brewery’s Ola Dubh
18. This is Old Engine Oil that has been aged in casks that were
previously used to age the 18 year old Highland Park whisky. It is even better
than it sounds. So congratulations to Harviestoun Brewery also.
And what about 2016?
What do we have in the pipeline? Well, in all honesty, it could be a more
modest affair this year, as I might not have quite as much money for fancy
booze, but I’ll do my best. I’ll let you into a little secret though; it’s only
a few days into the new year and I’ve already found some contenders. On a more
positive note, we’re already planning a return to the area around Lake Garda,
which means even more top quality grappa! Whatever happens, I promise I’ll keep
doing my best for you, so please come back and see what I’ve been getting up
to. Feel free to give me some feedback an’all. I’d love to hear what your
favourite spirits were in 2015.
