Bell's Brewery - 2018 "Third Coast" barleywine

Avid readers will recall my various barleywine reviews over the years: offerings from Uinta, Southern Tier, numerous Stone variants. of course Sierra Nevada, and even local Atlas Brewing Co. have all been investigated. For those unfamiliar, barleywine (also spelled 'barley wine') is a type of strong ale originating in England that generally weighs in at 8% to 12% ABV. Barleywine is called such as it has close to the ABV of wine yet is made with grains like barley. There are two main kinds of barleywine: American and English. American barleywines are hoppier, more bitter, and lighter. English style is sweeter and darker. Both, I find, are rather delicious and generally have higher alcohol content than ordinary beers.

I want to say that the style is going strong, but it isn't. I've been seeing fewer and fewer barleywines on the market today, in part due to the death of the 22oz bottle format. There are a few, to be sure, but not like their used to be. So of course whenever I see one, I'm game to try. Today's is one of the only barleywines I've ever seen sold in 12oz six-packs; and is a 10.20% ABV "old ale" made by Comstock, MI-based Bell's Brewery. This one was made in 2018, and as you may recall, barleywine ages well, so now's a good time to see how it's progressing. 

It pours slowly, and generates a generous, uniquely-barleywine aroma...sort of a mix of booze, crackers, and caramel. It's medium-full bodied, with nice oak, and some apricot. The bitterness has melted away somewhat, quickly actually for a barleywine (in my experience, it usually takes 5+ years for the character to dissolve into a more malty, murky state.) 

Lovely and a good example of a barleywine that's prime for drinking. I constantly make the mistake of letting this age too long, so I think now's the time to finish this. Apropos of nothing - Each Peach Market in Mt. Pleasant has started carrying this, and I was able to snag a 2020 variant there as well. 

Orin Swift Cellars - 2020 "Palermo" Cabernet Sauvignon

A little Christmas Eve tradition I have for myself is to make a fancy meal, drink high-quality wines, and watch the most non-Christmas movie of all, The Hunt for Red October. So I grabbed myself a porterhouse, made some mashed potatoes, and found a California cabernet to pair. 

It's a 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from famed producer Dave Phinney, making wines under the Orin Swift label. We've carried Orin Swift stuff at D'Vines for a while, easily recognizable by their funky labels. This 15.30% ABV wine is aged for 14 months in French Oak barrels, 30% being new oak (not second fill, etc.) 

Also, the bottles are very heavy and thick...initially, judging by the weight, I thought it was a liter bottle. Nope, it's just a big, chonky 750mL. 

I left it out to decant for a few hours in my Reidel magnum decanter, giving it a swish and swirl every 30 minutes or so. Initial aroma is of tobacco, leather, and some earth. Not much fruit or spice. 

On the tongue, it's not as big and burly as I'd expect a Napa cab to be, but that's fine by me. California cabernets have a reputation for being powerhouse reds; while they can be, they can also present like the Palermo: silky, delicious, dark and smooth with some good structure and complexity. There's some dark fruit notes in there, like blueberry with some chocolate. It's off-dry, which I find fits nicely with the meal. There's very little alcohol flavors to speak of, and the moderate dryness gives it a nice feeling as the wine is sipped. I kept some in the decanter and came back to it the following day; the flavors didn't change too much, and perhaps the wine was a touch softer than directly out of the bottle. 

I picked this up at Irving Wines & Spirits in Mt. Pleasant, DC, for $54.99, and while it's beyond what I'd suggest most people spend on a bottle, it's a a holiday treat for me. 

Scotch & Cigars at the Wharf

Thanks to a chance encounter at El Cielo with a portfolio manager, I was able to snag an invite to the exclusive LVMH whisky and cigar night at Officina at the Wharf, a fancy Italian spot on the waterfront in DC. LVMH stands for Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, a luxury brand conglomerate which owns a wide variety of goods (you can probably guess a few of them.)

Despite recovering from the previous night's Premium Cigar Association holiday party, in which I definitely overextended myself, I made it out to Officina at the Wharf for some whiskey, cigars, and holiday cheer. 

Started out with a Penicillin cocktail, using house-made ginger syrup and Ardbeg (also a LVMH product.)

I mingled and networked, connecting with a few of the LVMH folks I know, and as the clock struck 9, we lit up. My first cigar was a Cohiba Red Dot, which was fine for the first half before deciding to burn unevenly then self-destruct. So I turned to the star of the night: Cohiba Royale, a medium-full bodied smoke made with Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran tobaccos. It was remarkably well-rolled with a nice structure, presenting some darker natural flavors (soil, coffee, wood) with a touch of sweetness. 

Glenmorangie was the other part of the night, with three whiskies on offer: the 14yr "Quinta Ruban" port cask; the 15yr, and the 18yr. All were good; I have not had the 15 or the 18 before. Both were lighter than I expected, and I used distilled water only for the 15. The 18 was quite delicate and wasn't overly sherried, which was nice. 

Aside from great networking, I was able to meet some new folks and also got to reconnect with Sam Huston, one of my old vendors at D'Vines. He's now with Westward Whiskey, and we'll talk about them in the New Year once I have the chance to try some of their stuff. Overall, a nice event, private and fun, with some promo cigars to boot on the way out (and a Glenmorangie gift bag!)