The Restaurant Guys

The Spirits Project: Bruichladdich's Octomore 'Orpheus' 6.1; Islay

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $169
  
• This Thursday at 6:30 p.m.,
  we will pour one ounce for $5.50

One of a Kind on Islay

One of my favorite of all Scottish Whisky regions is Islay. Distilleries there are known for the peaty (smoky) nature of their whisky. The lads at Bruichladdich make some of the most daring of all Islay malts, yet they constantly surprise me with the way the peat is integrated wonderfully and seamlessly into their rich and elegant whiskies.

Their Octomore project is completely wild. With Octomore 1, several years ago, they created the world's peatiest whisky with 131 parts per million. Their next released Octomore 2 was 140 PPM. They've constantly upped the ante, while maintaining well-made and interesting whisky. This most recent release, the Octomore 6.1 clocks in at an astonishing 167 PPM! I can't wait to see if they've done it again. I should say, I look forward to seeing how they've accomplished it THIS time.

'Ochdamh-Mòr' translates roughly as The Big Eighth. It's an old Gaelic term for a measure of land. Octomore, on the hills above Port Charlotte, is a farm on the site of a small, ancient distillery that has long since disappeared, though signs remain in some of the out-structures of its presence.

About the Distillery

Bruichladdich was built in 1881 by the brothers Robert William and John Gourlay Harvey in an idyllic spot on the shore of Loch Indaal. At the time, the distillery was state-of-the-art. The equipment continues to be used unchanged.

The distillery closed in 1994, but was purchased by Murray McDavid on December 19, 2000. The machines, roasting ovens, and piping were renovated by a team of engineers. In the entire distillery, not a single computer is used (apart from the ones in the offices and the webcams and such). It is a museum of a distillery, but operational! This is the only distillery on Islay which bottles on-site. In May 2004, a cooperage hall was opened, and since December 2004, the malt used is grown on the island.

Tonight, Thursday, we will open just one bottle at precisely 6:30. When it's gone, it's gone. I do hope you can join us.

Next week in The Spirits Project
Rare Single Cask Brandy tasting From Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

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The Spirits Project: Duncan Taylor Bruichladdich 19 Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The Spirits Project: Springbank "Amontillado Sherry Cask" 16 Year (Cask Strength)

Midsummer-Lobster Dream, with Bubbles by Laetitia (Sunday, August 3)

Laetitia is one of those Mark and Francis Finds. Winemaker Dave Hicky (pictured above) makes some fantastically well-structured and delicious sparkling wine in the Arroyo Grande. The Laetitia Estate Vineyards were first planted to grapes in 1982 when French viticulturists found ideal growing conditions in the Arroyo Grande Valley for producing wines of similar character to those of their homeland in Epernay, Champagne. Nineteen years later, the property was acquired by Selim Zilkha, who is committed to making world class wines and doing it sustainably. More importantly, these bubbles go perfectly well with lobster.

Sunday August 3rd (a week from this Sunday) at Stage Left, we will offer 1.25 lb Lobsters for $25. TWO for $39! We'll also have Lobster Rolls and Lobster Lasagna and Lobster Mac and Cheese. We will pour a complimentary toast upon your arrival and then we'll dive deep into our Crustaceous offerings. Our wonderful regular menu is also available.

Make a reservation here, or call 732-828-4444.

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The Spirits Project: Glendronnach Grandeur 31 Year Single Malt Scotch; Speyside

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $650
• We will pour one ounce for $20
  

Here is a reprise of an extraordinary whisky we poured back in December. Mark and I felt it was time to spice up the summer so here in a rare reprise is Glendronach 'Grandeur' has been specially selected from some of the oldest and most unique Oloroso casks at Glendronach. The whiskies chosen have been maturing in a wide variety of barrels, hogsheads, puncheons and butts since the 1960s. This prestige "one-off" bottling is made up of a blend of some of the very best of these by Glendronach Master Distiller, Billy Walker. He finished much of the whisky in Oloroso sherry casks and was looking to epitomize the smooth, rounded style for which Glendronach is known, coupled with a generation and a half of complexity of flavor and aroma. It was bottled cask strength at 45.8% Alcohol by Volume. About 1,000 bottles produced.

Tonight, Thursday, we will open just one bottle at precisely 6:30. When it's gone, it's gone. I do hope you can join us.

Related articles

The Spirits Project: Duncan Taylor Bruichladdich 19 Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The Spirits Project: Springbank "Amontillado Sherry Cask" 16 Year (Cask Strength)

The Spirits Project: Charbay Pilsner III Whiskey, Cask Strength and Unfiltered

The Spirits Project: Bookers "25th Anniversary Ltd Edition" Bourbon

Big Night, The Ultimate Foodie Movie: Friday, August 22

Very Funny - Very Jersey

Click image For trailer and info

This is one of Mark and my favorite nights of the year and Big Night is our absolute favorite Foodie Film. A cult classic, it's a hysterical account of the sometimes heated relationship of two brothers who open a very forward-looking Italian restaurant in not-so-forward-looking New Jersey of the 1950's.

It stars Stanley Tucci, Tony Shaloub, Isabella Rossellini, Mark Anthony, Minnie Driver to name just a few. The Italian Feast at the center of the film will be recreated immediately following. We will dine at large communal tables in Catherine Lombardi.

The Private Screening Room at The Heldrich Hotel right across the street is a wonderful place to see a film and the bar remains open during the movie. If you haven't seen the film, you should! If you have, you know you should come.

It's just so darned civilized.

The Menu:

Italian Wedding Soup

Trio of Traditional Risotto

Timpano Stage Left Style

Mixed Family Style Feast:
Roasted Organic Chicken, Whole Roasted Branzino,Roasted Suckling Pig, Zucchini
Flowers, Roasted Garlic with Broccoli Rabe and our famous Garlic Bread

Flambé Pascal

Dinner and the movie is $99.

Film starts at 6:30 - Dinner immediately following in Catherine Lombardi. Why not make a night of it? We'll make the hotel reservation for right across the street at The Heldrich Hotel!

Click Here For The Trailer

The Spirits Project: Bookers "25th Anniversary Ltd Edition" Bourbon

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $129
• We will pour one ounce for $4
  

Back when we first opened our doors in 1992, we didn't realize that we were at the dawn of a great revolution in American whiskey. American wine had really taken off. American craft beer was just getting going and American distilling was about to turn a corner. In the prior 40 years, the number and quality of American whiskeys and distilleries had done nothing but decline. Two men turned this whole thing around. Booker Noe over at Beam Distilleries and Col. Elmer T. Lee at Ancient Age Distillery. Booker was in the sixth generation of the Beam family to produce Bourbon. Col. Lee had been at Ancient Age since returning from WWII.

Elmer pioneered "Single-Barrel" Bourbons while Booker Noe produced "Small-Batch" Bourbons. These were novel concepts at the time. They revolutionized and reinvigorated American Whiskey. Booker was the first to release a "Cask-Strength" American Bourbon, or at least it was the first one Mark and I had ever seen. I remember learning what that cask strength meant the day after encountering my first bottle of Bookers. Those were delicious Manhattans and that was one mean headache. But in moderation, Bookers is delightful and a benchmark whiskey.

Booker's son Fred Noe runs the place now. He has released this special edition Bookers to commemorate its 25th anniversary. Only about 1,000 cases of the special edition will be released. Booker’s is always a cask-strength spirit with a proof that ranges from 120 to 130. It is normally aged for six to eight years, but this special-edition batch is over 10 years old.

“These barrels were laid down in January 2003. Dad passed in February 2004, so I guess essentially you could say that these are some of the last barrels that dad produced before he passed away,” said Fred Noe. “The extra-aged Bourbon here is very special, so we’re going to do this one in honor of my dad.” Here's to Booker. See you at 6:30!

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The Spirits Project: Casa Noble Anejo "Santana Reserve" 5-Year

The Spirits Project: Casa Noble Anejo "Santana Reserve" 5-Year

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $449
• We will pour one ounce for $14
  

Casa Noble is a distillery located in the city of Tequila and also an agave grower with more than 3000 acres of agave fields under cultivation. Casa Noble's roots can be traced as far back as the mid-1700s, as a hacienda surrounded by a vast land full of Blue Agave. In a just few years, this particular hacienda became one of the most important producers of the region.

At the distillery, the centuries-old traditional ovens with thick stone walls are filled with Agave hearts. They only use agave from their own hillside fields. The sweet juice of the agave (mosto) is set to rest for five days in a natural fermentation from wild yeasts. Traditionally, tequila is distilled twice but Casa Noble is distilled three times in small stills. The Tequila is aged (atypically) in white French oak barrels from Limosin.

Casa Noble makes the only “single barrel” Tequila in the world. This single barrel reserve is named for the musician Carlos Santana, who has recently become an owner at the hacienda. Please note the above review, where The New York Times rated Casa Noble very highly. I’m not one for celebrity endorsements but…

My family roots date back to the 1700's in Jalisco. My father is a Huichol Indian. When I visited the distillery, I immediately felt spiritually connected to the Hermosillo family and Casa Noble. Together we celebrate the gift of life and all of the blessings that come with it. Together we can all make a difference in the world.

– Carlos Santana

Next Week in The Spirits Project
Bookers Bourbon 25th Anniversary

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David O'Reilly - Wonderful Washington Winemaker Dinner - Thursday, August 7

I first met David O'Reilly over lunch in Manhattan circa 2001. Rarely do I accept an invitation to lunch with a new winemaker or new property. A vertical of Chateau Margaux with the winemaker? Yes. Peter Michael? Yes. Mark Aubert? Yes. But in all honesty, those are as much about enjoying the perks of my job as they are in executing my responsibility to find you the best and most exciting wines on the planet and curating our thousand label collection.

At a New York trade-tasting, Mark and I can work our way through upwards of 250 different wines in our ongoing quest to bring you the best, the newest the brightest and the most delicious. A winemaker lunch can take 2.5 hours to taste 12 wines.. and what if the wines suck???? Reluctantly, I went along, partially because the importer who invited me was a friend and partially because I knew David was from Belfast and their might be some good craic.

I was blown away that day at lunch. Mark and I purchase maybe 2-3% of wines we taste over the course of a year. I purchased 80% of what I was shown that day at lunch. Shortly thereafter, we invited David to show his wines at a dinner in Stage Left. He obliged. We were all dumb-struck by the awesomeness of this producer none of us had ever heard of. We were likewise charmed by this gracious, good-humored, extremely intelligent winemaker and his great wines.

Since 1999, Owen Roe Winery has garnered an increasingly impressive reputation for tremendous Oregon Pinot Noir and unusually and excellently well-structured Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux Varietals from Washington State. David has become a darling of the press, but he still does not quite have the recognition that he deserves. Rarely have I seen such a wide range of wines so well-done. His Bordeaux varieties have great structure and concentration. His Rhone varieties are spicy, sometimes with great barnyard qualities. His pinot noir are earthy and lush and his pinot gris are some of the most exciting crisp and mineral reminders of Austria that I've come across in the New World.

I've gone on at great length about the merits of David and his wines. This is as abridged as I can get. You need to know this winemaker and to taste these wines. He improves with each vintage and we are proud to call him friend. David O'Reilly will be at Stage Left on Thursday, August 7th to host a Tasting and dinner with our great food and his great wine. I do hope you can join us. Reserve at 732-828-4444 or [email protected].

The price for dinner and tasting is $129 plus tax and service

Wine Tasting with Passed Hors d’Oeuvres
6:15 - 7PM

Ex Umbris Syrah 2011
Corvidae "Mirth" Chardonnay 2012
Abbotts Table Red 2012
Killmore Pinot Noir 2012

Seated Dinner 7 PM

Lake Trout with Kumamoto Oysters and Saffron
"Crawford Beck" Pinot Gris 2012

Duck Roulade with Nuts
"Sinister Hand" Red 2012

Lamb Three Ways: Lamb Belly, Lamb, Porterhouse, Lamb Stuffed with Merguez Sausage
Rosa Mystica Cabernet Franc 2010
Red Willow Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

White Peaches with Almond Semifredo, Pistachio and Mint

Elijah Craig 21 Year Single Barrel Bourbon

Making the experience of super-luxury spirits crazily affordable and accessible!
Read more about the Spirits project.

• Suggested retail price: $149
• We will pour one ounce for $4.50
  

7th generation Master Distiller Craig Beam reports that “a number of years ago we carefully identified several hundred barrels that are at middle to high storage in our best rickhouses, and these are the source for this very special 21-Year-Old and for future Elijah Craig Single Barrel editions. These are some of the best older barrels of traditional High-Rye Bourbon we have in our inventory.” That's Craig Beam. Listen-up.

Founded in 1934, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. (www.heavenhill.com) is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. These small-batch bottlings are some of the best finds in the bourbon universe.

Next Week in The Spirits Project
Casa Noble Rare 5-Year Tequila