"Natural" is clear as mud

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's blog, I discovered the food blogs on The Atlantic's website. There's a good little piece about the problems with regulations on "natural" meats. If you really want to get a headache, follow the links to the government's website requesting comments on new regulations regarding the label "natural". You would think the term would be easy to define, but it is in many people's interest to give it counter-intuitive meanings. (Be careful if you are reading this after May 11, 2009, because the comment period ends/ended then and this link will no longer work).

Wine Prices Heading Down?

Excellent piece in the New York Times today about the slow decline in pre-arrival prices for Bordeaux wines. The prices are still much too high given the giddy heights they reached in 2005, but perhaps an extended recession will provide the downward pressure needed to bring them back down to earth. That having been said, I doubt I will be in a position to afford a case of first growths ever -- the demand and awareness is just too great and very different from the early 1960s and 1970s when they were relatively unknown to a broad audience of wine-drinkers.

Trying Some Blended Scotch

I have written about a couple of blends in the past, but I wanted to try a couple of more widely available blends head-to-head to see how they stacked up against each other as opposed to weighing them against single malts.

The two I have chosen are the Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark. Obviously blends like Dewars and Johnnie Walker are very famous, but these other two are very respectible brands and surprisingly popular in the United States. Cutty Sark is produced by Berry Brothers and Rudd, which belies its incredible reach with its modest store near St. Jame's Court in London. The Cutty Sark (named for the ship which graces its label) is a lighter-colored blend that looks a bit like a chardonnay in the glass, while the Famous Grouse is a deeper, copper color. The Cutty Sark's nose is a little sharp with a whisp of sherry and plastic. I expected a stronger sherry note from the Grouse, but was surprised at how subdued this one was as well (I am also recovering from a cold, which may be effecting it, but I had some Laphroaig later which came through loud and clear). Some biscuit and a little pear or other light fruit. The Cutty Sark is easy on the tongue, a little sweet and some oil, whereas the Grouse is much softer. Both have some spice, but not overly so. The Grouse's nose opens a bit with water, particularly the biscuit, but neither explodes with new smells. The Cutty Sark didn't change at all. With water the Cutty Sark is almost too diluted. It is a brasher, younger-tasting whisky than the Grouse, which needs no water at all to enjoy.

Both are enjoyable whiskies that one can enjoy on the rocks, neat, or with a splash of water. I haven't tried them with ginger beer, but I have read that the Famous Grouse goes particularly well with a well-crafted ginger beer. In any case, I would probably choose the Grouse in future and rank it now above the Dewar's White Label as a "house" whisky. The Cutty Sark is too rough for my taste as a blend.

Additions to the collection

Thanks to recent trips, I have added a bottle of Laphroaig 15 year old and Bowmore 25 year old to the collection. I will also have a comparison of two great blends -- Cutty Sark and The Famous Grouse -- in a post in the near future.

About that Highland Park Single Cask

I've tried it diluted with a bit more water (it is a cask strength) and have found it to be less rough and rounder, but still too sherried for my taste.

Boston Beer House

I was up in Boston this past weekend for a good friend's wedding. We had a form of bachelor party on Saturday night. We sort of forgot that this was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. In Boston. In a major college hang-out. So our wait to get in the beer mecca Sunset Grill was more than two hours (thankfully the White Horse Tavern just down the street was a decent place to spend a few hours getting, ahem, warmed up). One of the best things about the Sunset Grill, as opposed to Brickskeller in Washington DC, is the prodigious number of beers they have on tap, not just in bottle. The difference from Brickskeller that I was less enamored of, was the division of the menu by beer type (e.g., stouts, blonds, lagers) rather than region. I suppose it makes sense if you want to explore new beers in a style you like, but the divisions were more than I thought possible. Who knew beer could be divided into so many different categories? The best thing to do is go to the Sunset Grill and discover for yourself. The food is pretty good too, such as the pulled pork sliders, fajitas, and potato skins.