Bains Single Grain South African Whisky, 70 cl

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Today I look at my favourite whisky food pairings that I have tried over the last couple of years. I capture my whisky tastings in a pretty notebook. I love the act of scribbling notes, pictures and drawing emotions on paper. Sometimes a whisky creates such strong feelings that it is easier to draw an emotive face on paper than to write down the emotion words. Old school, I know. John loves technology, and he captures his thoughts via speech recognition software. I first tasted the regular release of Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky a few years ago as part of an international whisky tasting that I co-organised. Bain’s is from South Africa and so it added not just another country, but another continent to the line-up. It had other things going for it too, as it was well reviewed, balanced the budget for the tasting, and seemed to be a good opening dram because it is a low ABV single grain. It is not for the faint of heart or for a newbie. Let it breathe for 5 to 6 minutes before trying it. Andy Watts, the Master Distiller, has again shown his brilliance and his amazing skill. COLOUR: Golden-yellow wheat, and here in the Kruger National Park, it is the colour of the setting sun. The Bill: R350p/p | Welcome drink, distillery tour and three whiskies paired with five food samples.

PALATE: Spicy with bits of oak intermingling with the sweetness and treacle notes. After adding water, more winter spices come through. There are cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg on the palate. The oak is also more pronounced. It is not a ‘big mouthful’ whisky but is smooth and easy drinking. I wrote down my tasting notes for this whisky on the beautiful island during our holiday and just captured them here to remind us of our fabulous trip. Smooth and delicious but not an easy drinking whisky. Well balanced and complex, this grain whisky is uniquely different. It is unlike anything I have tasted before. It flows past pine forests and areas rich in fynbos and Protea species. Bainskloof, situated in the Cape’s Floral Kingdom, is unique in that it has the highest ratio of plant species per land area in the world – a total of 8 600 species, of which 5 800 is endemic to the area. JSD released a total of 6,000 bottles. The standard Bain’s is bottled at 43%, the Bain’s Symphony whisky is bottled at a respectable 48.6% ABV.

The James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington

It has enough peat to be typically Islay, but not so much that it would frighten a non-peat lover. The Ardbeg is robust enough to stand up to the Garlic and Rosemary flavour and the richness of the lamb. The peat and smoke in the Ardbeg enhanced the lamb’s earthiness and made it simply delicious. Bain’s Whisky and Camembert Cheese Andy Watts, the current Master Distiller, is only the 6th since the distillery was established in 1886. [3] Awards [ edit ] Bain’s is a single grain whisky, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks for 3 years, and then filled into another set of first-fill ex-bourbon casks for a few more years, making it around 6 years old. I wanted to make a single grain whisky and after some tests I chose maize, and so the only thing left to play with was the wood.”

Perhaps I also prefer paper because paper does not complain about my bad spelling. Capturing my thoughts digitally leaves me with many red-underlined miss spelt words that I first need to fix before I can continue. My beautiful book is more forgiving. My shorthand doesn’t need to be spelt correctly. However, there have been some excellent whisky food pairings. Pairings I whip out time and time again. So I decided to compile my top 5 whisky food pairings that are a staple in my house. The whisky pays tribute to Andrew Geddes Bain, who conquered the Cape Mountains and built the Beyerskloof Pass, which connected Wellington in the Western Cape to the interior of South Africa in 1853.

The Bain’s 15 yo whisky is the first in the Founder’s Collection series and pays tribute to Andrew Geddes Bain, who built the Bain’s Kloof Pass. More editions in the Founders collection include the Bain’s 18 yo PX Cask, Oloroso Cask, and Fino casks. The Bain’s range has also expanded with a 10 yo Shiraz cask and even a 21 yo Double Cask. NOSE: As I opened the bottle, the red wine nearly overpowers everything else. After the glass stood for a few minutes, the more traditional Bains tropical fruit and sweetness came through. Hints of oak, vanilla and red fruits with pepper. The parent company for Bain’s is Distell, which also has brands such as Amarula, Savanna and Hunter’s Dry. In 2013 it bought Scotch whisky producer, Burn Stewart Distillers.

We deliver to a number of international destinations including the USA. Please use the 'Change Location' link above for an estimate in your local currency or find out more about international delivery Finish: Medium on dark chocolate and cloves. With water, the cloves are still there but accompanied by vanilla and varnish instead. The cross-dual dishes were selected in such a way that they don’t only match one particular whisky – try them with the various whiskies and decide for yourself which pairing strikes gold,” Simon adds. FINISH: The finish is relatively short, but that might be because it is a grain whisky. The Bain’s ends in notes of warming spice and bitter citrus. It remains one of our favourite easy-drinking whiskies. The whisky is then revattted into a fresh set of casks for an additional 18 to 36 months of maturation, with this double maturation process ensuring “maximum extraction of flavours” resulting in a finish of spice and toffee, according to the producer.Nose: The nose of this dram seems to change every other sniff. At first, the nose brought a rich opening on old wooden furniture and cocoa dusted brazil nuts. After a couple of minutes, some Jamaican rum funk briefly comes out to play – rotting bananas and petrol. A few more minutes adds some grain whisky varnish on to the old wooden furniture, plus some cloves and flashes of prunes and caramel. After a longer time in the glass, it becomes a more typical grain with heavy varnish, some prunes, and occasional flashes of rotting bananas and caramel. With water, the focus is still on the varnish, with cloves still present and some added vanilla and cream.