While I have a few original gin cocktails to showcase here soon, I was recently forwarded a few from Hendricks in the spirit of the national drinking holiday. While most will opt for Guinness and Irish Whiskey, why not throw a little gin into the mix? Have any of your own St. Patrick’s Day themed cocktails? Please submit them below!

The Silent Symphony
Sweet, sour, and definitely green, this cocktail will help launch the drinker into the St. Paddy’s celebration.

1.75 oz Hendrick’s Gin
1.5 inch piece of half shaved cucumber
Half a kiwi muddled, with a tsp of sugar
0.75 oz fresh lime juice
2 pinches of salt
1 pinch black pepper
½ oz sweet and sour (equal parts fresh lemon, lime and sugar syrup), spiced with a pinch of wasabi

Muddle and stir all ingredients together in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a wheel of kiwi or cucumber.

Mr. Pickles
For something really unusual, try Mr. Pickles. The mixture of Chartreuse and honey may elicit a true Irish jig!

2 oz Hendrick’s Gin
0.5 oz Honey
1 tsp Green Chartreuse
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Ice and stir well into a chilled glass (a coupe is suggested). Garnish with a thin slice of black radish and if you really want to kick things up a notch, include a demitasse spoon with a little caviar on it.

In the spirit of Hendrick’s, just a friendly reminder that the next round of Iron Bartender, sponsored by Hendrick’s Gin, takes place on Tuesday, March 23rd at Johnny Rocco’s St. Catharines. Competing that night will be bartenders Wes Galloway (Black Beans Steakhouse and Lounge, Port Hope), and Ashley Gendron (Johnny Rocco’s Italian Grill, St. Catharines)

Popularity: 22% [?]

If you’re familiar with Cocktails and Cordials, it’s not likely to come as a surprise to you that I’m a huge fan of G’Vine gin, particularily their “Nouaison” expression. Late last year, I added a few posts about their educational contest, the G’Vine Gin Connoisseur’s program (view the posts here and here), headed up by Philip Duff.

The competition strove to not only test gin-inclined bartenders, but also to educate on things like gin history, production, cocktails, marketing, and of course, the G’Vine brand. After the first round of education received such an overwhelming response, with more than 300 participating bartenders worldwide, the initial deadlines were extended. That gave G’Vine the opportunity to bring in one of the forth-most authorities on gin: Gary Regan.

Well, it appears that G’Vine has finished marking the first round of entries, and they’ve selected my 17 page submission as the first one to be featured! To see my submission, along with comments and critiques from Gary Regan (last page if you want to skip to it), click the following link:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27055177/Gin-Marketing-in-the-21st-Century-Defining-a-Brand-Through-Marketing-by-Nick-Nemeth-Canada-and-Comments-by-Gary-Regan

Popularity: 25% [?]

Earlier this year, Knob Creek made headlines with their much-publicized “Thanks For Nothing” campaign, celebrating having run out of their 9yr Old Bourbon. Globally, over the course of the past few years, whisky consumption has risen at a rapid pace, and many suppliers are now finding it increasingly difficult for their supply to meet the market’s demand, without compromising quality.

In February, Spirits Canada announced that, for 2008, Whisky was the largest spirits category in Canada. Of those sales, three quarters belonged to Canadian whisky and Rye, accounting for approximately 3.6 Million cases sold in 2008. These kind of numbers aren’t without their consequences.

Most recently, Canadian Whisky makers “Gibson’s Finest” announced a looming shortage of their 12yr Old product. Shelves across Canada may already be finding themselves light for the holiday season, but supply of Gibson’s flagship “Sterling Edition” Canadian Whisky won’t be affected this year. In an effort to not compromise the quality and flavour Canadian’s are accustomed to, Gibson’s has no desire to rush the next batch of their 12yr Old Whisky. Instead, fans of the product will just have to wait until the whisky in the casks fulfills all of Gibson’s age standards.

What else can we expect? As the whisky market in Asian countries begins to surge at an uncontrollable rate, the demand for 12yr or older whiskies is putting the pressure on distilleries worldwide. In 2007, Singapore alone saw a 121% surge in imports, and as drinks like green tea and whisky become the norm in Chinese and Japanese clubs, we can only expect the demand to surge further. For bartenders, what this means is that, assuming we can get ahold of enough of the product, the prevalence of neutral spirits like vodkas, which once dominated the market, are being forgotten in the consumer’s search for quality within their cocktails.

Viva la revolution!

Popularity: 60% [?]

Initially, my intention in reviewing The Balvenie’s latest offering was to be concise, and to finish writing about the spirit that had been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now as soon as possible. After reading about the rich history of Madeira wine, though, I realized my job was going to be significantly more difficult than that. So in case you missed it, make sure you check out Part 1 of my review here.

So why the wait? In case you’re part of the vast majority of the world that doesn’t follow my tweets, I’ve been very busy. In less than a month, I am getting set to open the second restaurant for Johnny Rocco’s, and with that comes a huge overhaul of the bar, cocktails, and staff.. but more on that later.

A few weeks back, the good folks from The Balvenie were kind enough to drop off a bottle for me that we can’t get here in Ontario – In fact, most of Canada will miss out as it’s only being released in select New Brunswick and Alberta markets this month.

The Balvenie 17yr Old Madeira Cask is matured in traditional oak, and finished in casks used previously in the creation of fortified Madeira wine from Portugal. Unlike Bourbon producers, who are limited in using new, charred, American white oak barrels, Scotch producers have many more options, and can even employ the previously used barrels of their American competitors (ex. Glenlivet Nadurra Triumph 1991).

This marks the sixth year that The Balvenie has released a 17yr Old limited edition of their single malt Scotch Whisky. Building on the success of previous bottlings such as the Sherry Cask, master blender David Stewart describes each years bottling as: “…its own alchemy of spirit, wood and time, but knowing how well port and Oloroso sherry cask maturation complements The Balvenie’s honeyed sweetness we were sure that a Madeira cask would produce interesting results.”

And it did. The result is a spirit whose traditional spicy, earthy tones are matched with a dry sweetness that’s fruity and reserved, with a soft finish on the palate.

Colour
Light to medium honey, with a light tinge of green reminiscent of green tea.

Nose
Subtle earth notes, with hints of peanut butter and soft spices, vanilla, and oak. The Madeira comes through in a faint sweetness coupled with fruity flavours, apples and honey.

Palate
The Madeira has a soft initial mouthfeel, not overpowering, but with a sweetness residing on the tip of the tongue, matched by a spicy cinnamon and nutmeg to follow. With water, more earthiness and vanilla tones become prevalent, and softer fruit notes expected from the Madeira become more apparent.

Finish
Bold and apparent for very short period of time, but leaves a soft lingering taste of vanilla and smoke that linger for quite a while.

Overall, the Madeira makes for a superior finish. While last year’s Rum Cask overdid it slightly on the sweetness, The Balvenie 17yr Old Madeira Cask pairs the wine’s sweetness with a spicy, yet delicate balance of flavours that form a soft, yet flavourful dram. If you happen to track down a bottle, it will set you back about $120 USD, but as the list of whiskeys being finished with fortified wines continues to grow, the Madeira cask may well just top that list for the time being.

Popularity: 33% [?]

A few weeks back, I was smitten with the latest addition to my home liquor collection: the Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve, and believe me, my feelings still haven’t changed – if you have access to a bottle, grab it before it’s gone.

While softening a bold, spicy spirit with a wine isn’t a new practice by any means – sherrys and ports have been the norm for quite some time now – lately it seems that more and more distilleries have been eager to introduce fortified wines to their whiskys. One of the latest introductions to this category is The Balvenie 17yr Old Madeira Cask, and the good folks from the Balvenie were kind enough to drop some off for me recently.

Before I get to the spirit itself, I wanted to introduce you to Madeira, and why the use of a Madeira wine was such a great fit for The Balvenie’s latest addition.

Madeira is a Portugese fortified wine made in the beautiful Madeira islands, with roots that go back hundreds of years. The production process used in the creation of Madeira wine is what makes it so unique. Here’s why.

Through the course of the 15th to 17th centuries, Madeira was often used as a port of call for ships traveling to the New World and East Indies. By the middle of the 16th century, Madeira’s wine industry was thriving, and farmers were able to supply ships with the wine needed to last the long trip across the ocean.

Unfortunately, the long trips exposed the wine to constant agitation and intense heat in the ships holds, which in turn would end up spoiling the majority of the product before it was consumed. To remedy this, farmers began to add small amounts of brandy to the wine, increasing the longevity of the product, and making it more resilient to the adverse conditions where it was stored on the ships.

Heating and Aging (Estafugem) of Madeira Wine
After that long voyage, the resulting product was often preferred over the original wine. Vinho da roda (wines that have made a round trip) as it was now called was quickly becoming popular, but the cost of producing it was quite high, so winemakers on the island began experimenting to find ways they could simulate the conditions faced at sea. What resulted were three styles of heating and aging, with the approach determined by the quality and cost of the finished wine.

Cuba de Calor, the most common of these approaches, is used for the production of lower cost Madeira. The wine is aged in stainless steel or concrete tanks which are surrounded by piping or heating coils which allow hot water to circulate around the tank and heat it. The wine’s temperature climbs to as high as 130°F (55°C) for a minimum of 90 days.

Armazem de Calor, the second approach, is only used by the Madeira Wine Institute. For this, the wine is stored in wooden casks, and placed in a room outfitted with steam-producing pipes, essentially creating a large sauna that heats the room and wine. This process introduces the heat more gradually to the wine, and imparts the flavours slower, over the course of 6 to 12 months.

Canteiro (pictured below), means “attic”, and is the third approach. Not entirely dissimilar from the heating and aging process many whiskeys go through in hot rickhouses, by storing the barrels in the highest parts of the warehouse, the Madeira is exposed to extremes of temperature. The Madeira wines aged by the Canteiro approach are often quite expensive, and are aged to upwards of 100 years in hot rooms heated naturally from the sun.

Winemaking and Varietals
There are four major types of Madeira wine, each named according to the varietal used. These include Malvasia (or Malmsey), Boal (or Bual), Verdelho, and Sercial. Others varietals exist, but due to the island’s climate conditions, fungal grape diseases are fairly common, and because of this, other varietals have become scarce.

The initial steps to creating a Madeira wine start like most others: grapes are picked, crushed, fermented, and then aged in a stainless steel or oak cask. Depending on the type of Madeira, however, some steps very slightly.

• Boal and Malvasia, sweeter forms of Madeira, are often fermented with their skins, in order to extract phenols (which carry acids and tannin) which help to balance the sweetness of the wine. The drier wines, such as the Verdelho and Sercial varietals, are fermented separate of their skins.
• Depending on the level of sweetness desired, fermentation of the wine is halted at some point by the addition of neutral grape spirits. The wine is then subject to Estafugem, the aging and heating process described above, unique to Madeira wines.

The result of the Estafugem is the trademark, heavy-caramelized flavour of Madeira, not dissimilar from many whiskeys. How did it play out in the creation of The Balvenie’s 17yr Old Madeira Cask? Stay Tuned.

There are only 13 types of Madeira wine available here in Ontario through the LCBO, and range in price from $18 to $300. For a decent, mid range Madeira, I recommend the Henriques and Henriques 10yr Old Malmsey Madeira (Available through Vintages #553719, $39.95)

Popularity: 41% [?]