So, what does a squillion dollar tequila taste like? The color is a deep gold/bronze, not dissimilar to an aged rum. The nose is both powerful and mellow, with dried fruits, orange rind, cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, honey, even cassis and Christmas cake. The palate is quite stunning, as smooth and seductive as one could imagine.
For Ken Gargett, the Veuve Clicquot 2012 La Grande Dame is a special champagne. It walks the tightrope between dense and coiled power with delicacy, finesse, and elegance. Great intensity, finally balanced acidity, early complexity, and it is still wonderfully youthful with a long future ahead of it. But what interesting story lies behind this fantastic champagne?
Old wine is always a lottery. The provenance, the chances of the wine being a fake, did the cork hold up, how was the storage, and so on. But sometimes the Gods smile and you taste history!
Sometimes, people have really good ideas. Not something I normally say about marketing departments of any kind, but whoever first came up with the concept of the annual Diageo Special Releases deserves all the credit which can be showered upon them. A fabulous idea and one that other regions, spirits, producers could adopt and adapt.
Ken Gargett thought that his Montecristo Churchill Añejados cigar was stunning. But things could never be that simple. His fellow video smoker had a completely opposite experience, so variation is the name of the game.
An exceptional tasting of vintage champagnes provides great insight into the enormous differences between the styles made by the various houses, variations in vintages and also in the different versions of champagne available. Ken Gargett took one for the team and lets us know what he thought of these superlative wines.
As with every aspect of our lives, the world of wine and spirits is heavily regulated. Growing grapes, making the stuff, distilling, selling, even (perhaps especially) drinking it. Here Ken Gargett takes a light-hearted look at some of the newer and crazier laws and regulations around the world.
For many people, anchovies are one of those foods to be avoided like the plague. But for Ken Gargett anchovies are not a love-it-or-hate it food. Rather, they are a love-it-or-you-have-not-discovered-how-good-they-can-be food. A lunch of a freshly baked loaf of hot, crusty bread smothered in good quality anchovies is just magic. Here he takes you on an aquatic journey through the culinary aspects of this small fish.
The Marchesi di Grésy estate is now one of Barbaresco’s most highly regarded, if not the region’s greatest – for many, Barbaresco’s first – Grand Cru, even if not officially designated as such.
“So marvelous, so delicate was the bouquet, it seemed an impertinence to go further and taste this miraculous liquid; and yet, on the palate it almost made one regret the waste of time the moments spent in taking in the perfume.” Ken Gargett didn’t write that, but he feels the same way about the fabulous wines of Burgundy. Find out here why this is the golden age for this region.