Impact
Chili & Whisky -- 2 goods that go way back by themselves... but rarely together. The best of Ancient Mesoamerica (chocolate chili) meets the finest of Northern Europe (Scotch Whisky).
Like old friends though they get along great. The kind of stuff Willie Nelson picks up on a layover / hangover in the UK waiting for a flight to the USA after having spent some afternoon in a token A'dam coffeeshop. Chili makes him feel right at home back in Texas, while whisky recalls late night Nashville recording sessions.
To set the bar straight, he understands that beer is to whisky what wine is to cognac: kids stuff for horsing around. Just like alkalized hot cocoa with milk & mommy -- it ain't chocolate but a far cry from the Olmec warrior draught.
Singalong a few bars, Willie: take all the rope in Texas / find a tall oak tree... / raise up against evil forces / whisky for my men, beer for my horses
Like old friends though they get along great. The kind of stuff Willie Nelson picks up on a layover / hangover in the UK waiting for a flight to the USA after having spent some afternoon in a token A'dam coffeeshop. Chili makes him feel right at home back in Texas, while whisky recalls late night Nashville recording sessions.
To set the bar straight, he understands that beer is to whisky what wine is to cognac: kids stuff for horsing around. Just like alkalized hot cocoa with milk & mommy -- it ain't chocolate but a far cry from the Olmec warrior draught.
Singalong a few bars, Willie: take all the rope in Texas / find a tall oak tree... / raise up against evil forces / whisky for my men, beer for my horses
Appearance 4.3 / 5
| Color: | boggy brown |
| Surface: | imposing undifferentiated slate (see photo above) |
| Temper: | poker faced |
| Snap: |
hard cake mash edge (see photo below)
|
Aroma 8.9 / 10
a foreshot of fruit cake besotten in some low-peated heat of Scotch whisky-cologne (Dark shell / Semi-Dark interior)
Mouthfeel 12.2 / 15
| Texture: | coarse grist smoothes out to... |
| Melt: | ... sugary wort liquid |
Flavor 47.4 / 50
fermented fruit mash centered around huge if early cherry cordial -> then a cut of sisal & oak -> peat & grain -> subdued alcohol lightly awakened by recessed chili pepper -> vapors melt the chocolate into a suspended sugar still (absolutely sensational) -> cocoa tannins subsume oak into condensed vanilla bourbon (sensational Part II) -> early-fruits wash-back as an angel's share of faint blossoms -> a cask with leather binding adds the finish to some fig-fennel
Quality 18.1 / 20
This bar arrives hard on the heels of Coppeneur's Walnuss & Cognac. Fitting because one of the events to precipitate whisky's popularity was when the Phylloxera bug destroyed grape harvests in France during 1880, thus ruining cognac production for awhile until its revival. People switched to whisky in the interim.
Probaby a blended Scotch type employed here; possibly Cutty Sark material, perhaps Speyside (once, & in some circles still considered, part of the Highlands).
Coppeneur really calibrates the chili in a similar way to how it fashioned coriander in its Walnuss Cognac Chocolate, using the spice simply to accent rather than to conflagrate the whole affair as so many in-your-mouth / burning-down-the house chocolateers are wont.
Very sly of Coppeneur; evil genius in fact, listing chili first on the wrapper to raise fears of a fiery meltdown, only to deliver finesse that's dangerously close to cloying more than it is to any overheating.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, cream, whole milk powder, whisky, sorbitol, glucose, lecithin, chili, vanilla flavoring
Reviewed July 18, 2012
Probaby a blended Scotch type employed here; possibly Cutty Sark material, perhaps Speyside (once, & in some circles still considered, part of the Highlands).
Coppeneur really calibrates the chili in a similar way to how it fashioned coriander in its Walnuss Cognac Chocolate, using the spice simply to accent rather than to conflagrate the whole affair as so many in-your-mouth / burning-down-the house chocolateers are wont.
Very sly of Coppeneur; evil genius in fact, listing chili first on the wrapper to raise fears of a fiery meltdown, only to deliver finesse that's dangerously close to cloying more than it is to any overheating.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, cream, whole milk powder, whisky, sorbitol, glucose, lecithin, chili, vanilla flavoring
Reviewed July 18, 2012