Glenlevit, Glenfiddich, Glen Karlovitch

From a story about a visit to Springbank Distillery:

It really must have been something, back in the day. Getting out of our car on a quiet Sunday mid-morning in April, I could only imagine the scene that would have greeted us less than a hundred years earlier. Stuck out on a peninsula in south western Scotland, this tiny town once boasted an amazing thirty-four distilleries. Now there are three. After a marathon cross-country drive, we were finally in Campbeltown, once the center of the whisky world; now almost irrelevant. Almost.

Considering a bottle of Balvenie 21 Year Old Port Wood? Here's what Brett has to say:

The Port Wood starts out with the traditional Balvenie aroma of oranges and oak, but the port pipes add so much more; raspberries, honey, a sweetness somewhere between saccharin and marzipan, and above all, depth. Like most Balvenies, the Port Wood has a medium-weight body, but the finish is not starting to stretch-out. And that's a good thing, because the finish is full. With a mélange of mixed, salted nuts, sweet malt, bitter orange, light peat, fresh toffee, and recollection of a summer orchard, this is one 21 year old who's all grown-up.

We talked with Glen a bit about his whisky life: 

Do you have a first great Scotch story?  How did your appreciation of it begin? 

My Father always drank Johnnie Walker Red but I started to enjoy Johnnie Walker Black in my early 20s. It's a great blend that I still enjoy today. My first great Scotch story is probably going to a whisky tasting event in NYC. It really opened my eyes to Single Malt Scotch. I started drinking Craggenmore 12 year old, which is an easy drinking Speyside whisky and a great place to start if someone is new to Scotch. My brother and I started to attend whisky events on a regular basis and it all started from there. 

How did a love of whisky become a business and can you take us through the evolution of the website and magazine?

My brother owns a web design company and we designed a whisky site several years ago as a bit of a joke. We added some tasting notes and a few articles. The traffic to the site was much greater then anything we expected so we enhanced the site and started to hold small tasting events in Morristown, NJ. We then expanded to the magazine. Now we have four large events a year that typically sell out and draw between 500 to 600 people. We recently had an event in Boston and have one coming up in June in Washington DC. We have an event in Morristown at the Madison Hotel and a New York Event on a cruise ship in September. Due to the success of the business it became my brother's full-time job about a year or two ago. My brother-in-law Brett Calish is also involved and does most of our feature magazine articles. 

My greatest whisky experience was sampling whisky directly from (duty paid) casks at the Lagavulin Distillery on Islay in Scotland. Lagavulin is my favorite Scotch and it was great experience touring the Distillery. 

We are now invited to distilleries on a consistent basis and someone from the company travels to Scotland about 4 to 5 times a year, Kentucky twice a year and annually to Canada. We also receive whisky samples on a regular basis from all over the world. I'm still amazed at how successful it's become. 

We've been able to develop many great friendships with people in the industry especially from Glenmoranie, Macallan and Glenfiddich/Balvenie. 

What is your involvement in the business-end of the enterprise now?

I work in the Financial Industry and the past six months have been incredibly busy due to the market and the economy. As a result, I haven't been able to devote as much time to the business as I need too. My main responsibility is writing tasting notes for the magazine and website, an article or two, assisting with the tasting events, helping edit the magazine, and responding to the email we receive.  

What are some of your favorite industry events?

I think our events are run very well. We try to limit the number of people so everyone has access to the representatives from each whisky company. The best event I've been to was the Great Bourbon Festival Tasting and Gala at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Each Bourbon distiller is there and they spare no expense with the event.    I find that many of the events in New York have become much too crowded. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society still has nice small events in New York and Philly. 

I know you've travelled to Scotland and other distillery sites.  Can you share anything interesting about those visits?

The best experience I've had in Scotland was at the Macallan distillery. Macallan is a beautiful distillery that sits on the River Spey. We stayed in a cottage on the grounds with a representative of the company whom we have become good friends with. As he likes to say "Macallan makes the best juice in the World."  We had dinner with the Distillery Manager in the Ester Elchies house and had toasted the night away with many rare bottles of Macallan. After a few hours of sleep we took a tour of the distillery and sampled the full range of their current lineup. 

At Glenfiddich, we raked the malt at Balvenie and walked around the pagoda while is was drying the malt. We sampled some 50 year old Glenfiddich that was distilled during World War II. 

We had a great visit to Campbeltown, Scotland where we toured the historic Springbank distillery and were the first American Journalists to tour the Glengyle distillery which was recently opened by Springbank. We then went back to the office of Distillery Manager Frank McHardy and sampled some rare whiskies from his collection. 

We spent several days on Islay which is known as the Whisky Island. It's a small island that has 7 large working distilleries. The Island offers amazing views of the Island of Jura and the Scottish Mainland. Whisky from Islay are the most pungent and medicinal and many argue the best in the world. 

Jim Beam sends us to the Bourbon Festival every year which is a week long event that has dozens of activities you can enjoy. During one of these trips we attended a BBQ/tasting at the home of Fred Noe, who is a direct descendent of Jim Beam. Fred is pictured on the Jim Beam bottle. It was a very fun night and we had the opportunity to meet several folks in the industry who really made us feel at home. Great food and great whisky. 

Jeff and Brett were invited to Glenlivet for the release of their new 25 year old expression. They tried the new malt on the shores of Loch Ness and I'm still bitter about missing that trip. 

We have season tickets to the Jets and our friend from Macallan was over from Scotland last December and we sampled Macallan's new Duty Free line during while tailgating. Needless to say we were a big hit with our fellow Jet fans parked around us. We also had a similar experience with a friend of ours who Reps from Glenmorangie. 

Is Great Britain still king when it comes to Scotch or are there products from other countries on the rise?

Bourbon is on the rise and you can find many great Bourbon's that are still reasonably priced. I love Scotch but I'm probably the biggest Bourbon fan in our company. Bourbon is also made with a higher standard then scotch. Unlike Scotch, Bourbon can't contain any artificial coloring. I also find Bourbon to be the most consistent. I've had many terrible Single Malts but few terrible Bourbons

Japan also makes very high quality whisky. I think the Japanese make some of the best whisky in the world but little of it is imported to the United States.

I also enjoy Irish whisky but usually enjoy the heavier pot-stilled expressions.   

I know the website recommends products (Peat sounds great) but can you share some of your favorites/recommendations?

Many people I talk to always think older is better but I find Scotch whiskies are at their peak flavor between the ages of 15 to 18 years old. Many older whiskies tend to be over-aged. Some of my favorites that can be bought in the US are:

Scotch (from strongest to lightest)

Lagavulin 16

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength 

Caol Ila 18

Talisker 18

Highland Park 18 

Spingbank 15

Oban 14

Macallan 18

Macallan 15 Fine Oak

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban

Glenfarclas 17

Glenlivet 18

Bourbon

Booker's

Wild Turkey Rare Breed

Eagle Rare 10

Japanese

Yamazaki 18

Irish 

Redbreat 12

Midleton Very Rare

If anyone is thinking of a Scotch-inspired vacation (sort of like a Napa Wine vacation) what would you recommend?

Speyside is the center of Whisky making in Scotland. Most of Scotland's distilleries are located in this small North Eastern Region of the Country. They also tend to be the smoothest and most popular. I would recommend staying around Dufftown were Glenfiddich and many other famous distilleries are located. Macallan is close by in Craigellachie. The Craigellachie and the Highlander Inn are two of the best whisky bars in the world and Loch Ness and the mountain of Ben Navis are only an hour or so away. 

I think the nicest part of Scotland is around Loch Lomand but not many distilleries are located around there. The western drive up the coast is also amazing. The Lochs and Mountains are breathtaking. Scotland is a land of contrasts. From towering mountains and beautiful lochs to flat farmland. 

Islay is also fun for the Whisky freaks out there and they have an annual festival. 

The Bourbon Festival in Kentucky is also a great time. 

What do you think is the best way to drink Scotch?  On the rocks or straight? With water or soda?  Twist of any sort?

I drink my Single Malts neat or with a splash of water. Ice or soda mask the true flavor of the Scotch. I usually add ice to blends like Johnnie Walker. 

Where did you grow-up and (if not Metuchen) what brought you here and when? 

I grew-up just up the Parkway in Kenilworth.  My wife is from Edison and we've been in Metuchen for about 11 years (where now it's Glen, Melissa, and their two children who call it home).

Busy on September 10^th?  The Whisky Guild is hosting a whisky dinner cruise on the Spirit of New York.  Full dinner, whisky tasting, and an evening sail around Manhattan. Click here for more information (and don't wait, it will probably sell-out this summer).  But until then, why not try to make it onto the Karlovitch's holiday party invite list?  My guess is it's one of the best in town.

As for me, the bottle of Balvenie in my cupboard is calling.  I wonder what music is best with Doublewood.  Glen?  Brett?  Jeff?  Any suggestions?