Lord knows I’m an obnoxious Steeler fan, and for many of my friends in the NY metro area, who’ve suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with their home team (not to mention an occasional stray bullet in the leg), I’m to be humored and tolerated during times like these: LIKE WHEN WE WIN MORE SUPER BOWLS THAN ANY OTHER FOOTBALL TEAM IN THE WORLD WHILE PLAYING ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING SUPER BOWL GAMES IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! See, I told you I was obnoxious. Please, humor me.
Finding a kindred Steeler spirit is easier these days: we’re all on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and of course, you can always call your family back in the 'burgh; but apart from the Second Life creepiness of trading football mania with a virtual person, Steeler fans are visceral beings: shouting, Towel waving, gregarious and friendly, we need someone to slap hands with, spill beer on, scream with and pull us off the table top before the owner comes from across the bar. No matter what part of the globe you hail from, put on the Black and Gold and you’re part of the rowdiest fraternity on the global campus.
So if you’re a Steeler fan AND A WHISKY FAN (sorry, I’m getting obnoxious again) and you’re able to share both of these visceral passions with others, well, its like being Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left on the clock and they just wrapped up the mandatory review in the control booth: its time to shout and jump for joy. Which brings us to a little neighborhood bar in the West Village called Daddy-O and its proprietor, Phil Casaceli. Hailing from Rochester, Phil is the quintessential Steeler fan: a Roethlisberger doppelganger, tall, powerful, bearded, draped in Black and Gold and the nicest guy on the block (unless you’re spilling beer while jumping on top of the table). But even more important, Phil is a big whisky fan. So while you’re admiring the Steeler helmet on the back bar, encased in Lucite and bearing the signatures of Bill Cower and Terry Bradshaw, with a Terrible Towel tucked in the face mask, look a few feet lower and gawk at the great spread of single malt Scotch whiskies for such an unassuming place. And if you look closer, you’d spot what I did: a 1986 Cask Strength Glenglassaugh Mission Gold Series from Murray McDavid. If you think 6 Super Bowl rings is rare, here’s another champion to keep the competition away.
One of the reasons for rarity is Glenglassaugh was mothballed, or went silent, in 1986, the year this bottle’s contents were put to wood, so it makes it one of the last runs of the distillery. Another is the independent bottler, Murray McDavid, strayed from their signature style (like most independents) of a lower ABV of around 46%, so a cask strength spirit of 55.3% ABV is uncharacteristic. Most of the bottlings I’ve researched have been from casks purchased mostly by Gordon McPhail. The back label reveals that the bottler was Jim McEwan, Master Distiller of Bruichladdich, which was purchased by Murray McDavid in 2000, and this cask was bottled at that distillery. Since it’s only a shy note over 20 years, there may be other casks in the wings that have yet to be bottled by him. Only 608 bottles were drawn. As expected, it was non-chill filtered with no caramel coloring.
Amid the boisterous Thursday evening crowd, the smell of tater tots in the air and ESPN on the wall, Phil poured us a wee dram. Here’s what I found:
Color: pale gold (of course, I was holding it up to the TV screen in the dark bar, so it could actually have been magenta, with a hint of Boomer Eliason).
Nose: Light sherry off the front, followed by cherry and shortbread; some toffee and light vanilla at the end. Then cereal, marshmallow and toasted coconut (I was trying not to be distracted by one of the reputed best burgers in the city nearby).
Palate: Full bodied, even and bold. Strong and astringent even with some water (couldn’t be the 110 proof could it?)
Finish: Big. Round, billowy oak and tobacco (no smoking allowed in most NY bars).
Coming away, you have to remember how difficult it is to sample cask strength single malt. There’s a tipping point for how much water to apply before diluting it past what the bottler intended the spirit to be sampled. Apply water lightly at first, and nose it a few times before applying more before drinking. Otherwise, you'll end up in the Mon (ask someone from Pittsburgh about that).
In all, Billy and I had a good dram in great company, and Phil proved to be as big a whisky fan as a Steelers fan. Which means around time for WhiskyFest in November, we should be seeing him sporting a lovely, miniature spirit still on his head, going nicely with the #46 Polumalu jersey on his frame.