Drinks of the Month

My top drops in August

My top drops in August

I’ve not been sure what to do with this section since I moved most of my recommendations to my Substack newsletter Eat This, Drink That (which helps to support this website by the way if you feel inclined to take out a subscription).

A monthly round-up may not be the ultimate answer but at the moment I haven't got time to do a weekly one.

So here are my top picks in August. (The categories may vary depending what I’ve been tasting or drinking (i.e. not much cider or alcohol-free this month but a lot of whisky!)

Well priced wine of the month

Chateau Bel Air 2020, If you’re a Bordeaux fan you’ll love this very similar wine from neighbouring Bergerac. £7.99 if you buy it on Majestic's mix six deal, £8.99 if you don’t but that's still reasonable.

Natural wine of the month
(which could also qualify as ‘most obscure wine of the month, possibly of the year as I don’t expect I’ll be tasting many other Serbian pet nats!),
I discovered it at The Black Bull in Sedbergh which is where this week's match of the week also came from and it's the Pannonian Treasure Sauvignon Blanc pet nat from the Deuric winery in Fruska Gora. It's light, aromatic, gently fizzy and absolutely delicious. Worth the money (£16.95 from a craft beer and natural wine shop called Niko) for bragging rights alone.

Fine wine of the month


Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva rosado 2011
This is the most extraordinarily complex rosé which, as you see from this post, goes with not only lobster but steak. I shared a bottle of the 2011 with my son Will at Hawksmoor Edinburgh where they sell it at roughly retail price. If you're feeling flush you can place a bid for a case at Berry Bros & Rudd or, a better option if you're in Dublin, nip into The Corkscrew which is selling it for €59.95

Beer of the month
I wrote an article for the Guardian on gluten-free beers. They were all impressive but I particularly liked Round Corner Brewing’s joyous, sessionable Jandals and Togs (Kiwi for flip flops and bathers) the latest batch of which is due to be released by the brewery at the end of this week (September 2nd). Freshly brewed beer is always best. Just 3.5% and £26 for 12 x 330ml cans.

Whisky of the month
REALLY hard this one as I’ve been tasting a lot of great whisky but I guess the one I was most surprised by as I don’t normally go for the rich sherry cask style, was Tamdhu’s 15 y o, which I was told to look out for by whisky writer Joel Harrison. Master of Malt has the best price I can find it online at £78.50 which is not cheap but by the standard of many whiskies these days not outrageously expensive either.

Gin of the month
I’m struggling to whittle these down to one suggestion too but I’m going for the Rhidorroch Distillery’s Locah Achall gin from Ullapool (above), even though it’s only 38%. It’s flavoured with gorse flower, rowan berries and heather along with the standard botanicals which makes it prettily but not overpoweringly flowery and a great gin for a G & T. That's £38.85 from the distillery.

 Six of the best drinks to carry in a hipflask

Six of the best drinks to carry in a hipflask

Since we’re incarcerated for the forseeable future with only a daily walk as light relief it struck me we need to go back to the days when people carried a hipflask of something warm and sustaining, particularly given the current icy conditions.

If you haven’t already got one you might even find one in the sales or give yourself one as a post Christmas present. Aspinall has some very classy ones (apart from the Union Jack version) for £49 at the moment although I’m not sure why they’re labelled ‘Men’s Collection’. Women have hips too.

Farrar & Tanner also has a wide selection including a Barbour hipflask that’s on offer at the time of writing at £20

What to pour in it? Well it has to be strong, warming and even fiery. It’s just a quick nip, after all, not a long drink. Here are my top six candidates.

Six drinks to pour in your hipflask

The King’s Ginger £23.50 for 50cl bbr.com

Possibly the best ever drink for a hip flask not least because it was specifically created by Berry Bros for King Edward VII when he went out on his morning rides. It’s also been rather beautifully rebottled with more lemon than I remember. It IS very gingery though although that is rather the point.

Stone’s - or Crabbie’s - Ginger Wine

A cheaper and more widely available choice. I like the Stone’s Special Reserve £7.50 at Waitrose which at 18% is still strong enough to perk you up on the coldest of days. Or you could always go for the basic ‘original’ 13.5% version as a whisky mac - 50/50 or 60/40 whisky to ginger wine depending on your taste.

Mother Root Ginger Switchel £19 for 480ml (16 serves)

This alcohol-free mixture of ginger, apple cider vinegar and honey would be a good option if you don’t drink or are doing dry January. It’s designed to be diluted but would be fine with just a drop of water.

Sloe (or damson) gin

Sweet, warming and plummy - a great option if you’re not into ginger. Particularly delicious if it’s home made (a neighbour has been giving me some of hers) but almost every distiller who does a range of flavoured gins has one (try Warners or Sipsmith’s)

Sherry cask-aged whisky

I’m a fan of peaty whiskies myself but have to admit they’re better suited to a fireside than a flask. I’d go for a richer sherry cask-aged style for the extra warmth - The Macallan 12 year old if you’re feeling flush or have a lockdown birthday to celebrate, Lidl’s medal-winning Abrachan at just £17.49 if you’re not.

Spanish brandy

Actually any kind of brandy would do the job* but Spanish brandy is somehow warmer more generous and fruitier than cognac or armagnac. Cheaper too. There’s even one called Soberano which is a bit of a laugh. You can buy it for £15 from Asda and Morrisons. Stepping up a bit, the Torres 10 Gran Reserva - at £21.13 from Master of Malt - is worth a place in anyone's flask.

* Such as cider brandy or calvados for example which I should arguably have included but this list would become unhelpfully long if I incorporated everyone's favourite drink. Should you fancy the idea I'd go for the rather charming Somereset Cider Brandy 3 y.o.

See also 10 tips for cold weather drinking

Top photo by Vitezslav Malina at shutterstock.com

Shackleton blended malt whisky

Shackleton blended malt whisky

I’m not a big fan of buying whisky for Father’s Day - it always seems a bit of a cliché - but this new blended malt from Whyte & Mackay is such a great bottle it’s an absolute must for any whisky-loving dad (or mum, come to that!)

Named after the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton who led the Endurance expedition to the antarctic, the whisky is based on the Rare Old Mackinlay’s, that Shackleton took with him on his voyage. It’s comes in beautifully packaged bottle but the contents are really great too - it’s a rich, sweet, peaty dram laced with tropical fruit (mainly mango and roasted pineapple) flavours. Although it would be great on its own or on the rocks it would work well with a ginger ale and packs quite a punch for its 40% ABV

You can buy it for £34.95 from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt and around £40 elsewhere.

Incidentally there’s a fascinating post on Shackleton, an extraordinary man, on the BBC website

Which foods pair best with whisky?

Dunville’s Very Rare Old Irish Whiskey

Dunville’s Very Rare Old Irish Whiskey

If you’re looking for a whiskey to celebrate St Patrick’s Day try to get hold of a bottle of Dunville’s Very Rare Old Irish whiskey.

It’s a cask strength 10 year old single malt with a lot of personality that strikes me as a cross between an Irish whiskey and a scotch. Served neat you notice a slight smokiness and peatiness but let down with a few drops of water it’s the fruit character that shines through - apricot and peach to my palate although one commentator detects apple Jolly Ranchers and spiced custard! There’s a lovely touch of sweetness from the Pedro Ximenez casks in which the whiskey is finished but it’s all kept beautifully in balance.

The whiskey, which has was bottled by the Echlinville distillery in Co Down, Northern Ireland’s first new whisky distillery in 125 years, was nominated Best Irish Single Malt Under 12 Years at the 2015 World Whiskies Awards. I love the retro label too.

You can buy it from Master of Malt for £44.62, Amazon for £45 and Royal Mile Whiskies for £46.95.

Compass Box Whisky: The Lost Blend

Compass Box Whisky: The Lost Blend

I’ve long been an admirer of Compass Box whisky who were one of the first blenders to create and package sophisticated modern ‘artisan’ whiskies as they like to describe them.

This is one of their latest expressions which pays homage to one of their early releases Eleuthera which they no longer make. The name refers to a short story by the American writer O. Henry about two guys who try to recreate a blend of spirits with supernatural properties - which seems particularly appropriate for Hallowe’en night.

It’s a blend of two Highland single malts Clynelish and Allt-a-Bhainne and Caol Ila from Islay - and manages to be both scented and floral and peaty. At the risk of stereotyping I’d say it was a very feminine whisky. At any rate I love it.

Apart from sipping it on its own it would be great with smoked salmon or maybe a crumbly cheese like Caerphilly. Not cheap, I’m afraid at £77.54 (Master of Malt) and £78.95 at The Whisky Exchange but a terrific present for any whisky-lover.

* One of the ingenious touches is that there are three different labels which I suppose encourages collectors to buy all three. Clever.

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