Sheep Dip

Hi Daniel,

I had my first Sheep Dip when I visited Scotland a few years back and I was hooked. I've found it hard to find it in local stores.

I'm starting a wiki and would love someone with your expertise to contribute. Let me know what you think

I checked out your site. Hope it gets fleshed out. I submitted a recipe.

Checked out the Wiki and added it to my shortcuts for rapid and repeated referencing :-)

On the Sheep Dip, I thought I would share my latest Whisky Chronicle with the group so you would have the whole story. There's even more if anyone is interested. The tasting notes are obviously one man deep as your experience will be different, I'm sure. Regards to all.

The Whisky Chronicles

Volume I Edition VI

The Road to Perdition

In my quest to sample all the fine spirits of Scotland, Kentucky and Tennessee, I hit a roadblock. Madison County was exhausted of a great many of the award winning expressions from each of my targeted distilleries. I hit them all and there was no plan to add new inventory for a single maniacal fan of whiskey and single malt scotch. "What to do? Oh, what to do..?"

I resorted to surfing the net on Google for any hint of a nearby purveyor of fine spirits. Nothing. Then I hit upon the website of Buffalo Trace distillery, one of the many fine distillers on the Kentucky whiskey tour. Buffalo Trace is the born again Ancient Age distillery under new and much better management. Some of the old standbys are now distilled with new life and the new expressions in small batch whiskies are heaven sent, or so it would seem. The whiskey of the same name is an award winning whiskey. So why would I not yearn for a bottle or two?

I decided to follow the link on the website that promised to tell me where I could find this fine whiskey and soon I was planning a trip to Fayetteville, Tennessee.

I left after work and headed out on Highway 431 North. The traffic was thick as blow flies at a cowpie-throwing contest. As I zoomed up to 60 mph the person in front of me braked hard to avoid smashing into Gramps, nicely making way at 10 knots in his Lincoln Marquis DeSade. Yes he did torture us and laughed insanely at all the idiots doing high-speed maneuvers all around. I neatly made my way around Gramps by taking the grassy median and had a little revenge myself as I slung mud and horse poo all over the bow of his great pleasure ship. Looking back to admire my work, I barely noticed the flashing red lights of a school bus in the opposing lane. The entire populace of North Alabama making the journey North screamed a collective; "Oh Crap!" and the hard braking began anew. There was something diabolical about this trip and a little voice in the back of my mind began to narrate Dantes Inferno to me as I tried once again to maintain 60 mph and a distance of six inches from the person in front and back of me.

After what seemed like an eternity of terror, I broke over the state line and ascended into Tennessee. The clouds were folded up on each other like fine linen sheets well slumbered in. The sun shining low through the clouds gave the rolling hills and granite canyons a soft warm final glow as the colors of fall shown brightly on the trees. The escape from Purgatory was complete and now I traveled on to Fayetteville.

I found a liquor store just off the side of the road as I entered Fayetteville. It reminded me of the little roadside stores of the early sixties. The store was very small, old, and had lots of glass. I went in and the proprietor gave me a menacing glare. He either hated his customers or he could tell I was a foreigner. I told him I brought greetings from the outer banks and had cash. His frown relented a little. I asked for the Buffalo Trace that he was reported to have and he took me over to the shelves piled high from floor to ceiling with whiskey and lots of it. There, calling to me were the last two bottles of Buffalo Trace in the half-gallon size. Think big I thought. A half-gallon will probably last through at least two tasting sessions with the thirsty like of our small group.

I grabbed the bottles up and snarled at a little old lady who was eyeballing me like I peed on the carpet or something. She backed off and picked up a bottle of Old Charter and searched for the proof rating to make sure it was the medicinal edition. I whispered to her that it was distilled with lots of magnesium. "Keeps you regular, you know," I said. She winked and smiled. All was forgiven as she lifted two more bottles and headed for the counter.

I drove through 35 miles of Hades to get here and no little ole lady or disgruntled whiskey salesman was going to deter me from my mission. It so happens that the salesman had lightened up considerably as soon as he saw me pick up the two half gallons. He began to engage me in the light banter of seasoned alcoholics as I decided to look around just in case there were other things in the store worth considering.

They were in the corner wedged beside the large counter on the top shelves. Single malt scotch. Highland Park came into view, then Bunahabhain, Aberlour, Glen Morangie and others I had only dreamed about. I began to blubber like a fat kid in a candy store when I spied the golden monkey, Sheep Dip. They had Sheep Dip! I restrained the urge to sing a hymnal or two and quietly thanked his Greatness for guiding me to the Pearly Gates. The proprietor winched a little when I began to speak softly to the bottle. "Come to daddy." "I have great plans for you." You're going to come home with me and.." I looked around as several men dressed in lumberjack shirts and huge brown dirty brogans gave me a disapproving glare. I felt obligated to explain how difficult the journey to find the Holy Grail had been and I was just momentarily dumb struck by my good fortune. One of the guys whispered to his buddy to go get the squirrel rifle. I thought that a bit odd. What game could he possibly be planning to shoot in the middle of town?

I exercised as much restraint as I could under the circumstances and decided to take home the Sheep Dip, Aberlour 10 year-old, the two half-gallons of Buffalo Trace, and the vary rare indeed Wild Turkey Kentucky straight rye whiskey. My newest and best buddy, the salesman, explained the discount program for volume purchases and I left for the trip back home feeling like a teenager after the first kiss. The promise of a delightful evening was greatly anticipated but not guaranteed.

And how does Sheep Dip taste, you ask?

Color: Golden straw.

Nose: On the nose, Sheep Dip is very light indeed with no nose tickle to speak of. The aroma is that of fresh sweet buttermilk biscuits and honey with a hint of fresh cut alfalfa.

Taste: The taste follows the nose, a medium body with sweet buttery biscuit flavors riding on a hint of malt and some hay. The flavor is much like one could imagine walking out to the barn on a brisk Spring morning with mom's buttery biscuit wrapped in a napkin soaked through with real, lightly salted butter and sticky warm honey. You walk into the barn and smell the clean scent of freshly spread hay in the loft, as you savor the taste of the biscuit melting in your mouth. It's going to be a great day.

Finish: Exquisite and velvety smooth. The biscuit gives way to a light malt and fades gently on a bed of hay.

Rating: I've determined that rating a scotch whisky can only be done expertly if one can divorce oneself from the total experience. My novice blundering in this endeavor leads me to a rating of Nirvana-5.

Color: Reddish brown

Nose: The BT nose is complex with many aromas swirling in the glass. There is the expected honey, vanilla, and light oaky notes characteristic of Kentucky Bourbons but then there is much more to contemplate with each inhalation. There are hints of molasses, toffee, coffee and trail mix.

Taste: The taste is bold and satisfying with a full mouth feel. This is no weenie-boy whiskey. The taste follows the nose with additional hints of allspice and clove. There is black tea and dried fruit in the background swirling on the palate in a maelstrom of flavor.

Finish: The finish is long and slightly dry giving way to light pepper, mint, and ginger.

Rating: This whiskey stands on its own. To compare it is to cheat the Buffalo or the benchmark. I'll give it a Nirvana-5 as well.

Color: Light golden straw.

Nose: On the nose, this rye bourbon is characteristically very light, almost completely flat with very light notes of champagne and honey sweetened toasted crackers, vanilla, and caramel.

Taste: The taste is surprisingly light and smooth for a 100 proof whiskey. The large percentage of rye (51%) in the mashbill gives the whiskey a moderately dry palate with only background flavors of unsweet tea and crackers with a hint of the champagne (minus the bubbles of course) detected on the nose.

Finish: The finish is long, slow, with a Kentucky Bourbon accent and a warm glow. There is little of the pepper or throat burn one might expect. This would be my idea of what a sippin' whiskey ought to be.

Rating: Once again, I am conflicted by the previous tasting. This is truly one smooth whiskey but it lacks the bold notes of the Buffalo and the well-defined flavors of the Sheep Dip. Contaminated by the diverse whisk(e)y experiences and too broad a brush to paint with, I give this whiskey an Excellent-4.

The Aberlour remains unopened. I have not come to grips with how to manage the 92 bottles of premium spirits I now own. One day at a time. One Whisky Chronicle at a time. Every night is a new experience lasting for decades to come at the current consumption rate.

I have a Sheep Dip tie, which was a promotional offer some years ago.

Also a Pig's Ear one, which was a whisky from the same "stable"

Ian

Daniel wrote:

IanR,

The Sheep Dip and Pig's ear tie has got to be a good conversation piece. I only found out about Sheep Dip this year from a friend who brought a bottle back from Scotland a while back but never tried it because the name made him think it wasn't a serious scotch. We finally broke it open and both of us really liked it. I think it's the enjoyment of the humor as well as a nice dram. I looked all over for it and couldn't find it. I couldn't find much information about it either. I finally found it by accident in a small roadside liquor store in Tennessee. I guess I'll need to plan another road trip and stock up on it.

Keep that tie on!

Daniel

pig's ear or is it the 5yo pig's nose (as in 'soft as a pig's nose')?