Black Velvet...Reserve

Not this again. Some people like Cognac, or Mountain Dew better, but that doesn't mean we need to know about it here in this SMS group, LOL.

When this group was livelier, with dozens of posts daily and a lot of serious malt expertise on hand, diversions into other kinds of whisk(e)y were welcome. Single malts were the topic 90 or 95 per cent of the time, but tangents on Canadian, American, Irish, Japanese etc. whiskies, and occasionally beer, were welcome. Now that weeks go by without a single post, I wouldn't want to hasten the group's demise by being overly picky about subject matter.

There has been one poster in recent years who drones on about a particular Canadian whiskey, Black Velvet if memory serves. I'm not sure if that's bob or not, but if a particular poster annoys you, there are ways to deal with that.

Cheers.

In article ,

Heh. Just looked at the subject line. Yes, it was indeed BV.

Well, it's 8 years old, isn't it? And how long might it continue to improve with additional aging?

Scotch whisky must be aged at least three years before it can be sold as Scotch. At that point, it's still very immature. The youngest sm scotch I've ever encountered (in Italy) is aged five years. In the US, 8 years.

So a cheap Canadian whiskey aged 8 years to become drinkable and dumbed down to be smooth as "velvet" tastes better to someone who is not a whisk[e]y drinker than a premature, raw Scotch -- big surprise.

I'll bet good spring water tastes better than 8 yr. Black Velvet.

-- Larry

Does SMS mean Single Malt Scotch? Why are only single malts allowed to be known here? What about blended Scotch? Why can't they be discussed here?

Yes.

They can, and they are. But there's not an awful lot to say about them, since there aren't that many of them, and they're so consistent.

-- Larry

Oops. My mistake. Any scotch whiskey, even Canadian ones LOL, are fine.

i just looked up bv reserve i see they added a black bag with it now.and its only $12!!!!! im ordering tomorrow............whys it so cheap now....

Mr Russell. With all due respect, Scotch is a whisky, not a whiskey. There are also some fine ones from Japan and now, I believe, from Tasmania. However, Penderyn Single Malt Welsh Whisky is not a fit subject for discussion or consumption! ROTFLMFAO

Slainte mhrath!

i know you guys cant be trying to compare your 3 or 4yr old whiskys to Black Velvet Reserve...8yrs old. HahAHAhaHAHahAHA.....for over all taste.

On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:49:18 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@spamlessxhost.org wrote:

Becoming less and less consistent Larry. Its increasingly difficult to source good wood. Wood management is so essential to marrying a *good* blend. And there are quite a few decent good blends out there. The older expressions of Whyte and Mackay as example or even Asyla from the Compass Box people. Its frustrating to many master blenders that many people regard them as mere blends. Some of them are more than just an adding up of the individual components. A good master blender like Richard Paterson of Whyte and Mackay is an artist. Bringing light and havy single malts together with Islay malts and adding the more feminine grain whiskies. Some see this marrying together like an orchestra. All instruments are nice on their own, but together they can make fine music. But as I said there needs to be good wood for any spirit to end up in a decent state. Even a single malt. But the scarcity of oak barrels as a result of the rising popularity of sing le malt makes it harder and harder for a blender to source wood for the marriage of the blend and the result is often an inconsistency in batches of the better blends. Not an inconsistency for the bad all the time, but an inconsistency none the less. Lets not forget that 90% of all Scotch being drunk in the world is a blend. And without that cash flow, many CEO's of large companies like Diageo and LVMH ( a handbag maker) would close many fine single malt distilleries in the blink of an eye.

Peace,

Jock

Interesting discourse, Jock -- thanks. I wonder, since wood is going to become increasingly scarce for many uses, are people experimenting with other maturation media and methods? Approaches like using stainless steel casks, with wood chips for greater extraction?

As to blends in general, I always have two bottles of home blends around (as I do a big jar of our "house spice" mix). It's really interesting to track the impressions as new contributors are added.

And I've mentioned before that for many years here in the Washington DC area we've had a group of Scotch lovers who meet weekly in a pub explicitly for the purpose of creating and discussing blended single malts. It's a fun pastime.

-- Larry

Other maturation methods would not be possible if it were to be calles Scotch Larry. It must mature at least 3 years and a day in oak. Poeple can do as they please of course, but stainless steel casks with wood chips certainly would not be called Scotch. LOL. The SWA people would have a heart attack. I can tell you that Whyte and Mackay ( no I have no business interest with them) make very excellent blends. Of course they own Dalmore, Jura and Fettercairn among others and have great access to good barrels, butts and hogsheads. They have just brought out their Original 40. Its a gem of a dram indeed. The company got bought ovver by Dr. Vijay Mallya, and Indian entrepreneur for 600 million pounds. He has also made it clear to the SWA that if anybody wants a piece of the action in India ( where almost half of the worlds consumption of whisky takes place) they will have to play with him. I am interested to see what Diageo and LVMH are going to react. And even Morrison Bowmore under the Suntory flag now. Will there be a merger? One thing is certain, pretty soon the face of Scotch will change forever. Diage are opening he largest distillery ever pretty soon. See here:

I guess evrybody wants to be a monopolist. If one huge company becomes a monopoly, its bye bye to new innovations. Thank God for the few independants there are. I hope they keep their heads above water.

Peace,

Jock

I was being ironic when I said Handbag maker. Or sarcastic if you will. Anyway I hve nothing against blends at all. In fact have a few in my collection and enjoy them too. But in the past these huge corporate people have closed many distilleries and often not always the worst ones. Take Rosebank for example. Now that Bruichladdich is doing quite well without them, they are kicking themselves on hindsight ( a wonder is hindsight eh?) that they closed it. As a Scot who grew up in the industry and had most of my family working in it, I have seen too many jobs just thrown away in the name of cutbacks. Sorry, but I dont like these huge corporations. Lagavulin has two people per shift working. When was the last time they made any new bottling? They have a success number and the bosses in their large cities who never ever even go to Islay just want them to keep making money and cashing in on the success number.

Peace,

Jock

Black Velvet isn't awful, as Canadian whiskey goes. But it's not outstanding, either. It's a consistent middle-of-the-road blend. And if you've tasted one Black Velvet, you've tasted them all.

\i believe the Canadians call the product Whisky as well. Without the "e" . Sorry to nitpick:-) Anyhow, I have a bottle of Canadian Lot.40 here in my cabinet. Very nice dram indeed. Smooth, sweet, fruity. It finishes on the aftertaste allmost like a liqueur. I like quite a few Canadian whiskies, but not Black velvet.

Peace,

Jock

Somewhere on teh intarwebs Jacues Loofjes wrote: [snip snip]

LOL! A handbag maker? OK, the "LV" part is named for the massive Loius Vuitton luxury goods conglomerate (itself named after the designer who established it) but the "M" is for Moët et Chandon, an old and well respected champagne house and the "H" is for Hennessy. Anyone who's ever enjoyed a brandy or cognac and wanted to learn more about them would know that name for sure. That they are named partners in the conglomerate makes it rather more than a "handbag maker". They own Château d'Yquem for goodness sake, and they've been around since 1593! I have only had the pleasure of trying a bottle of Y'quem once in my life, back in a previous incarnation as a winery worker / assistant winemaker but it's an experience I'd love to repeat.

Also, a large part of their income may come from blends they *are* a luxury goods conglomerate and their focus is on the high-end of the respective markets. (Didn't you just mention the rising popularity of SMSW?) It simply makes good economic sense to buy blending houses if you're buying distilleries, it allows you to continue to make good profit from your malts if the market *doesn't* rise by selling them to yourself for blending.

The fact that they have fall-back positions like blending houses actually helps ensure that the SMSWs will survive as, regardless of demand for the luxury end of the market, the product will always be profitable. In these times of global reccesion, the fact that so many niche-market companies

The folks at the head of LVMH know the value of a name and are hardly likely to kill off a golden goose. They may restrict a less profitable distillery's production for a time, or even suspend bottling and put all production into blends if the SM market drops away but you can bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn't close it. After all, half of the value of most SMSW distilleries is in the name and the history. They might be moth-balled but, in these difficult times, I for one are pleased that they're in the hand of handbag makers rather than left to sink or swim depending on the vagaries of the economy.

Cheers,

Having used that approach myself I know that all it does is speed up the 'oaking' of the spirit which isn't always a good thing. Ultimately there's only so much flavour to be added from the oak of a cask and 90% will get into the spirit in the old fashioned way, although it may take years as the cask gets older. What you suggest could be an option for very old barrels in which the oak is nearly depleted, except for the outer skin of the cask. Putting it through a chipper and using the chips would get the last little bit out but it does taste different to the traditional method as that outer layer of oak has been exposed to the air for many years and imparts quite a different flavour to the spirit.

It is indeed. Some may call it sacrilege but I sometimes mix four parts of Vat 69 with one part Ardbeg Ten in a bottle. I find Vat 69 to be an affordable smooth blend that takes on the distinctive Ardbeg character rather well and allows me to enjoy it more often than I could if I were to have Ardbeg alone. I love the flavour of Islay but, alas, am an invalid on welfare so I have to take it as I can.

Cheers,

Yeah, I knew that. I just couldn't resist.

Yeah, I understand, and agree with the sentiment. Alas, such is the way of the modern world. At least some of the distilleries that could possibly have gone under during not-so-good times have more of a 'buffer' when they're owned by a big corporate.

Cheers,