Belgrove Archives - The Distillates

Tasting Notes by Brand: Belgrove

Shane

Belgrove Distillery Young brandy made from salvaged smoke tainted grapes, Red Wine Cask 60.5%

Nose: The strangest desert of my life was at La Leche, a cotton candy “taco” filled with sugar fried corn and foie gras. Although ryan says more chicken liver mousse. Which could have been good but simply was not. A confection in a glass. Honeycomb. Limestone chalkiness.

Palate: Yipes. I don’t actually like it but I can’t look away. 7 flavors in seconds. Intense smoke and salinity. Hard core grape pommace. White vinegar. Lemon grass. White pepper on the finish. Chewing on a popsicle stick, trying to get the final fruit essence out but it’s all wood. A mouth coating that I need to find a word for it, but I guess oily. I highly advise you not to take a big sip. Industrial tractor cleaner. Vulcanized rubber. The legs on the glass are absurd.

Rating: 2 / 10 – Pure fucking chaos. It’s like the Joker (from batman) was given access to the still for a day. I refuse to rate this (but Ryan was perfectly happy to). It’s an experiment and a fascinating one. Would I want a bottle? fuck no. Would I give this to a friend? not a real one. Am I glad I tried it?!? damn skippy. And with one of my besties! Yup, never ever drink this alone friends. That would be a cry for help.

Belgrove Distillery Hopped Malt Whisky Distilled IPA 64.5%

Nose: Lychee white tea. Rose hips. Strong perfumey note. Honeydew melon milk hard candy. Sugar cookie. Lychee, did we say lychee? Tangerine and fresh hops. Organic herbal Oway body lotion, for the modern man. Honestly, the way Ryan sells it, I would use that but the odds they make it to western africa is low. Orange zest.

Palate: Palate mirrors the nose. Loads of that lychee front and center. Orange zest, fresh peeled orange wedges, and essential oils. White pepper. Jasmine. Rose hips. White chocolate. On the more astringent side.

Rating: 6 / 10 – How can this be so beautifully fruity? It’s completely off the charts palate volume. Def leopard of whisky. Could be a 6 or 7 but had too many to make the call.

Belgrove Distillery Wood Seep Rye 73.3% (this whisky seeped out of the wood after the barrel was emptied)

Nose: Powdered sugar. Cranberry orange relish. Metallic. Clover. Slightly hoppy with moist oats. Cow chow. Sauerkraut and cornichons.

Palate: Full on spearmint. Fancy rosemary herbed butter. The alcohol isn’t in your face, but you have to work your way up to here. An intense, intense woodniness. I feel nearly pine but ryan disagrees and thinks he needs to start licking the tropical hardwoods at home depot, perhaps tea tree.

Rating: 7 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – it’s down right absurd this is drinkable. And delicious. Fucking hazmat hoose juice. My mouth is completely numb. Ryan thinks I lack fortitude.

Belgrove Distillery Oat Whisky 65.5%

Nose: Sliced peaches on brown sugar oatmeal, Granola with dried goji berries, papaya and coconut flakes. Steel cut oats and honey. Tomato vines.

Palate: So peach forward. And raspberry coulis.Papaya frosting. A great fruity sourness on the finish that inspires the fan of lambics in me. Bitter on the finish but within the range of acceptable and adds dimension. Comes in hot and keeps on dishing.

Rating: 7 / 10 – a powerfully intense fruit bomb.

Belgrove Distillery Wholly Shit Rye Whisky Smoked With Sheep Dung 62.6%

Nose: Abbazabba–peanut butter wrapped taffy shell. in a Nutella, PayDay & 100 Grand candy bar, and Ferrero Rocher. So damn nutty. And fresh agave. What do these sheep EAT?!?! Yup, farmer Peter, all the sheep had their PBrotein shakes this morning. Whiffs of pipe smoke wafting out of your favorite bar. Toasted chestnuts outside the mall at xmas.

Palate: Warm spanish peanuts, and a brown ale while drinking at a bar with friends. Yeast cakes. Few slices of jamon serrano and grilled green onions. Deep dark cinnamon, earthy variety.

Rating: 7 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – It looks like those sheep were well hydrated. Proof that color is rarely an indicator of goodness. Same for booze, same for people. I’d buy a bottle of this hands down.

Belgrove Distillery 100% Rye Grain Cask PB 081 Ex Wine Cask 62.6%

Nose: Right as ryan came on zoom, he was rubbing tigerbalm into his eyes. Trying to break the evil spell and prepare himself for all that biodiesel potency. Fennel seeds, peach tea, potters clay, apple chutney, turnip, creamy black peppercorn sauce on smoked loin. Dried peppers. Reminds me a lot of some of the agave distillates like sotol with the earther green funk. With more time in the glass, canned pears and….very oddly….raw beef.

Palate: Strong pepper and leek notes, garden variety hot peppers. Arugula with grapefruit supremes. Much lighter smoke of touch than the others, like a nice chargrilled steak. Add green peppers, sharp onions and broccolini. Bouji fajitas, molcajete, rehydrated peppers.

Rating: 6 / 10 – the agave lovers will flip over this. This isn’t the type of profile I typically reach for, but dang it’s fun, interesting AND good. Peter thinks it was mostly likely a 200L pinot noir. 6.7 Years in the barrel.

Belgrove Distillery Apple Hatchet (apple brandy) 42%

Nose: Apple cider with a super tart apple, mulched ash and cedar, a light stilton cheese, saltiness, lime peel, unripe fig

Palate: Water that a cigar was extinguished in, smokey and deeply woody, salisbury steak tv dinner.. Where did the apple go?!?

Rating: 4 / 10 – loved the nose, but damn the palate is a major departure. I’m baffled at the disconnect. Made from a local cider that have surplus production. In australia brandy required 2 years, so he calls it a hatchet.

Belgrove Distillery Big Smokin’ Barrel 50.7%

Nose: It’s as if you stuck your head into a diesel truck’s exhaust. Burnt bbq with a big dose of mesquite wood. Walking into a smoking shed filled with white fish. Even the color captures the level of intensity of the smoke here. Tires. Nose evolves with more time in the glass, wood shop, varnish, and chamomile. Newspaper.

Palate: Smoking a cigar. I was kind of scared to taste this given the nose. Not only is it not bad, it is shockingly drinkable for about a second, and then I’m completely overwhelmed. This harkens to my first time drinking balcones brimstone. Or smoked tamarindo. Mid palette is a varnish. Whoooo this is so so intense.

Rating: 4 / 10 – Fascinating. I can’t even finish my glass. Octomore ain’t got nothing on this. If you like smoke, this is the penultimate, marked by delicious burps of brisket. I think I’ll actually keep this sample and use it as a replacement for liquid smoke in a recipe. It reminds me the very first time I tried a caroni 4 years ago in a restaurant with my wife.

Belgrove Distillery Single Barrel PB 128 Peated Rye Whisky 60.2%

Nose: Reuben in a glass form your favorite jewish deli, complete with the dill pickle on the side. With more time, maybe less deli and a bit more sweet. Leeks. Turkish dried sulfured apricots.

Palate: Intense dill. Fresh marbled rye bread. Did I say dill? Pickle with fresh dill, dilled pickle, pickled dill, whatever combo you want to go with fits the bill. A black cloud of tractor smoke. Bitter tractor ass.

Rating: 4 / 10 – Fuck it, I give up. Mercy me.