Latest news with #Oloroso
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
If I weren't a chef - I might have ended up as an extra on EastEnders
Located in one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the building was once among the first public houses in the capital. Montrose is led by the Radford family, the team behind Timberyard and is their second project, opened in 2023 as a relaxed neighbourhood counterpart. It serves generous, modern dishes and low-intervention European wines in an ethereal space with gothic accents. Sustainability lies at the core of Montrose's philosophy. The kitchen focuses on waste reduction, using a 'nose to tail' and 'root to shoot' approach to ensure minimal waste and maximum flavour. Montrose works closely with a select group of local farms to source ingredients that are dictated by the seasons, and the restaurant's design and operational choices are made with sustainability in mind. Read more: This week, Montrose head chef Moray Lamb answers takes on our Q&A: What was your first kitchen job? Oloroso in Edinburgh, a shocking 14 years ago. Where is your favourite place to eat out? In Edinburgh, L'Escargot Bleu Restaurant is a timeless classic. Traditional French food with brilliant Scottish ingredients. What is your guilty pleasure meal? Anything Sichuan with all the offal-y bits. Can you share a memory of your worst kitchen disaster? Undercooking beef Wellingtons for a wedding party. What is your signature dish? I don't have one, I don't really think I'll ever have a signature dish. I like changing the menu too often. Who would you say is your biggest inspiration? The staff. Talking daily about dishes, wine, and what we want to achieve within the restaurant is a big inspiration and drive for me. What is one of your pet peeves as a chef? Chefs who don't get excited about food and drink. If you weren't a chef, what do you think you would be doing with your life? I once was an aspiring actor. I probably would have ended up as an extra on EastEnders. Pictured: Montrose head chef Moray Lamb (Image: Supplied) What's your favourite trick for making cooking at home easier? Deliveroo. What has been one highlight that stands out in your career so far? Being part of an opening team for a restaurant is something I see as a highlight. I've been part of several openings now, and it's always so rewarding seeing people and an idea come together
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Celebrate 20 years of Redbreast 15 Year Old with this exclusive Cask Strength release
Redbreast has announced the launch of Redbreast 15 Year Old Cask Strength — a small-batch release crafted to celebrate 20 years since Redbreast 15 Year Old was first introduced. Redbreast 15 Year Old Cask Strength is bottled at its natural strength of 56.3% ABV and will be available exclusively via Crafted from a marriage of 15 specially selected casks — a deliberate tribute to its 15-year age statement — the release honours both the whiskey's heritage and the sustained popularity of Redbreast 15 since its launch in 2005. First released as a one-off bottling, Redbreast 15 Year Old was so well received that it was soon added permanently to the Redbreast family. Two decades on, this cask strength edition pays tribute to this milestone by intensifying the rich, distillate-driven style that fans love. Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry-seasoned casks, Redbreast 15 Year Old Cask Strength remains true to the signature Redbreast style, showcasing the bright and crisp citrus flavour notes, herbal undertones and a lively spice character alongside the familiar notes of dried fruits and toasted oak. Nose: Opens with sweet- scented aromas of dried fruits and toasted oak accompanied by crisp citrus and herbal undertones, all the while the pot still spices build to create a robust and vibrant character adding notes of clove spice and crushed black peppercorns. Taste: Rich and intense with a medley of spice notes including cinnamon and nutmeg along with a mild prickle of chilli oil. Notes of fruit and oak impart luscious waves of red berry, toffee and vanilla flavours with the sherry seasoned casks contributing delicate tannins and a nuttiness that complement the herbal and spicy nature of this wonderfully complex whiskey. Finish: Lasting finish which sees the fruits softly fade, allowing the oak and pot still spices to have the final say. Speaking about the launch, Master Blender Dave McCabe said, 'This release is a celebration of everything Redbreast 15 Year Old represents — heritage, craftsmanship, and character. Bottling it at natural cask strength allows the whiskey to fully showcase its complexity and vibrancy. Selecting 15 casks for this expression was a meaningful choice, connecting the whiskey's age to its creation story." He continued, "In Redbreast's world, each batch tells its own story. This limited edition gives fans the chance to experience the spirit of Redbreast 15 in a new way, while staying true to the style they know and love." Master Blender Emeritus Billy Leighton added, "When Redbreast 15 was first created it was intended to be a one-time release. Its overwhelming success led it to become a permanent part of our portfolio. This cask strength edition captures the spirit of that original moment — delivering a whiskey that is both deeply familiar and thrillingly new. It's a bold tribute to our fans and a reminder that every batch, like every Redbreast, has its own unique personality." Each bottle carries a batch stamp, marking its place as part of a single-release, one-off edition. Redbreast fans, who often celebrate the subtle differences between batches, will find much to discover in this rare expression. This launch also harnesses Redbreast's wider global brand campaign "Quite the Find", which celebrates the joy of discovering hidden gems — whether it's an extraordinary whiskey or a rare story — a theme recently brought to life through Redbreast's partnership with actor Andrew Scott and the Redbreast Unhidden short film award at the SXSW Film & TV Festival. Redbreast 15 Year Old Cask Strength will be available from from 12pm on Wednesday 11th June 2025, at RRP €130.
Miami Herald
14-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Wine and Food Pairings
I believe far too much is made of the "proper" wine and food pairings. I realize that many people have made their life's work all about telling others which wines go best with which foods, but there are rarely perfect answers here, and even though certain basic guidelines are applicable, even the most authoritative experts often debate with one another. Many of the food-wine conversations to which I have been a witness have ended up with one person thinking the other is an idiot, and they almost never agree on the specifics. Generalizations, however — well, that's another story. A hearty plate of pasta with a deep, rich, red tomato-based sauce, most experts would agree, calls for a tart red wine that has enough acidity to contend with the acid that's in the sauce. Like Chianti or barbera. And experts agree also that a typical chargrilled steak calls for a gutsy red wine such as a cabernet or syrah — a wine with enough oomph to handle the protein and fat in the steak. When you get down to specific recipes, however, experts usually diverge, with one suggesting one thing and another suggesting another. And for me such precious arguments are like discussing how many angels can disco on the head of a pin. Veal Forestiere, for example, typically calls for a flavorful, fairly intense red wine that can compete with the mushrooms, Marsala, and butter and red wine sauce. I had this dish several years ago with a fabulous older red French Burgundy, and it was phenomenal. So, I was a little surprised when I interviewed a wine collector decades ago at a restaurant where he ordered that very dish and chose a gewurztraminer from Alsace to go with it. I asked why he chose that wine. He said that when he was in his 20s, he had visited Europe and had had that dish, and that a waiter had suggested the white wine to go with it. He said he never forgot how well the flavors married. Many sommeliers think pinot noir and salmon are the perfect pairing, but I often prefer another wine with that fish. I usually order salmon rare because it's a rich, oily fish, and overcooking causes it to lose some of its charm. When it's rare, I find it often works well with a pinot gris, notably one from a cold region. Such a wine then will have good acids and tannins to contend with the richness of the fish. Most cream soups also could use assistance from wine. But not just any wine. I adore dry Oloroso sherry with cream soups, and often put a teaspoon of the sherry in the soup! One basic rule that's easy to remember: Try to match up the basic flavors of the food with the basic structure of the wine. Oysters, for example, are briny and tart, so the best companion wine is a lean and tart French Chablis or a sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley. And the simplicity of pizza calls for a simple, quaffable red wine, such as Barbera or a zinfandel. And if a buffet table is laden with numerous different kinds of foods, from meats to light cheeses, probably the best all-purpose choices are a dry rose, or one that's sparkling, or a light red Beaujolais. In the final analysis, however, I live by one creed: I'd rather have an excellent "wrong" wine than a poor "right" one. Wine of the Week: 2021 Triennes Rose, Vin du Pays du Var ($19) — This is annually one of the finest pink wines you can find, with a gorgeous aroma of strawberries and subtle earth tones. It is basically dry and still has some of the rich red-wine notes imparted by the four grapes in the blend, Cinsault, syrah, grenache, and merlot. Really tastes like a white wine with red wine influences. Frequently found at about $15. To find out more about Dan Berger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at COPYRIGHT 2025 Last Updated: Monday, May 12, 2025 16:43:10 -0700 Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate
The Herald Scotland
04-05-2025
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Why sherry is more than just 'seasoning' for whisky casks
I would describe that whisky as a "sherry bomb" which is a term that a lot of whisky enthusiasts use to describe certain whiskies that are really rich in character and have a strong sherry influence. Some classic Scottish examples of "sherry bombs" are Glenfarclas 105 and Aberlour A'Bunadh that are both bottled at a higher strength as well. (Image: Newsquest) Whiskies matured in sherry casks are a popular category and can, for some, be a good way into whisky as they often tend to have a sweet flavour profile, and you will often find "Christmas cake" amongst the tasting notes. If you can't see the type of sherry cask specified on the whisky, it's most likely ex-oloroso casks, which are very common for maturation. There are a lot of different kinds of sherry that can be used for maturation and a lot of the time the casks that are used have been "seasoned" which is when a cask holds sherry (or another type of liquid) with the sole purpose of seasoning the cask and adding flavour to the wood, rather than to be used for sherry production. The cask is then emptied and ready to be used for maturing whisky. Read more: The casks can be either American oak or European oak, where the former often brings more sweetness and the latter more spice. Some distilleries have also managed to get hold of bodega casks that have been used for sherry production, but they tend to be seen quite rarely. Sherry is not very popular nowadays and I do sometimes wonder what it would've been like to experience the heyday of the drink. I wish more people would appreciate this fortified wine, which is wonderfully complex and varied within its own category and not just good as a seasoning liquid for whisky casks. I think people who really enjoy their rich sherry bombs could easily appreciate a sweet Pedro Ximénez - which has a flavour profile I often describe as melted alcoholic raisins, or the nuttier Oloroso, which is one of my favourite types of sherry to drink neat. I would definitely recommend whisky drinkers try a little sip of the same type of sherry that has been used for the maturation of your favourite whisky, alongside a dram of that whisky to explore and discover what characteristics the two share and what the maturation might've imparted. My whisky of the week is the Swiss Mountain 12 Year Old Ice Label 2025 from Rugen distillery at Interlaken. This whisky has been matured exclusively in oloroso sherry casks made from American oak. The first four years of maturation take place at the Rugenbräu in a historic rock cellar before moving to an ice grotto at Jungfraujoch for another eight years of maturation. The nose holds leather, honey, pears and toffee. The palate is a rich and vibrant sherried character with sweetness, dried fruits and a long lingering finish. The character of the Oloroso sherry really shone through, which I very much enjoyed. I thought this was a lovely whisky and especially so if you like a really powerful and rich flavour.
