April 29, 2015

Grain grain grain grain and grain

Grain whiskies. We’ll do them by ascending strengths if you don’t mind, and won’t care about the ages or vintages.

Ship Chandler 'Scotch Whisky' (40%, Scamark, blended grain Scotch whisky, France, +/-2015)

No kidding, blended grain, so the lower grade of them all. On the other hand, this is a cheap supermarket whisky, I believe I paid less than 10€ for 70cl of this diluted ethanol. Because make no mistake, grain whisky’s almost pure ethanol flavoured with oak. I said almost. Colour: gold. Nose: raw alcohol indeed, plus some fudge, caramel, vanilla, coconut and sawdust. It’s not repulsive, and it just couldn’t be anyway, since there’s almost nothing in there. Mouth: caramelly raw alcohol, plus various sweets. Marshmallows, Haribo’s best, a wee feeling of pears (great news in this context). The body’s rather thin. No, very thin. Finish: short and yet a bit burning. More cheap sweets, like these one-kilo packs that they sell in… supermarkets (sponsored by the Dentists Association). The aftertaste is akin to that of Diet Coke. Comments: not good, not extremely bad, just very, very bland. Would make Haig Club taste like Brora 1972 in comparison ;-). SGP:620 - 25 points.

Okay, let’s get down to serious business…

Cameronbridge 33 yo 1979/2012 (44.4%, Duncan Taylor, Octave for Glen Fahrn, sherry, cask #395111)

I don’t often try these Octaves, because the outputs are so small that I feel these bottlings and very anecdotal. And sometimes too much on the oaky side of things. Colour: gold. Nose: anything sweet from some virgin American oak, with a very, very bourbony feeling. Werther’s Originals, coconut liqueur (Malibu and stuff), then marshmallow, then grassier touches (around hay and blond tobacco), then Cointreau or Grand-Marnier. The whole’s very sweet, very easy, and pretty sexy. Reminds of a… oh forget. Mouth: uebersweet whisky, with more or less the same flavours. Coconut, orange sweets, sweet vanilla cream, butterscotch… Having said that there’s no straight oak, so I guess there’s been some heavy charring done. Alligator style? Finish: relatively short, easy, undemanding, rather thinner than a good bourbon. Comments: in a way, it’s perfect whisky if you like them sweet and easy, and so well done Glen Fahrn. As for this taster, well, I much prefer congeneric whiskies, if I may. SGP:640 - 76 points.

Invergordon 1988/2014 'Caribbean Crème' (46%, Wemyss Malts, barrel, 171 bottles)

Not the first ’88 Invergordon by Wemyss we’re having. Mixed feelings, let’s see… Colour: pale gold. Nose: ah, no, the name had scared me, but in fact it’s no coconut bomb, and even if there are touches of bananas flambéed and light rum, Cuban style, it remains light and pretty fresh. Some gentle oak, whiffs of varnish (cellulosic), a faintly sour side that’s not unpleasant (cider, perhaps) and quite some hay. So no tropical bomb. Mouth: it’s very okay, with a rather fresh fruitiness and rather more body than other grains (is that one of Invergordon’s marks? I couldn’t tell you). Orange juice, lemon grass, some light rum again, a drizzle of lime juice to make a ti-punch, and once again a feeling of bond tobacco. Finish: good length. Ginger liqueur, lemongrass, oranges and once again a feeling of rye. Comments: quite good if you ask me, although it may call for a few ice cubes. No Caribbean bomb, but indeed there’s something of rum. SGP:531 - 79 points.

Strathclyde 40 yo 1974/2014 (55.4%, Douglas Laing, XOP, refill hogshead, ref #10598, 150 bottles)

Possibly because they were/are blenders, Douglas Laing have always had some old grains, some pretty much to my liking – given that they remain grain whiskies. BTW, XOP means Xtra Old Particular. Makes it sound a bit Cognacqy, doesn’t it. Colour: full gold. Nose: sure it’s got the same rather simple profile, with caramel, fudge, butterscotch, shortbread, vanilla cake, coconut liqueur and blond tobacco, but it seems that balance is perfect this time. Once again it makes me think of some excellent bourbon, the only problem being that our Scottish friends seem to need four times more time to make the same high quality. Ah, weather! With water: more hay and tobacco. Nice. Mouth (neat): a bit fresher than bourbon, with rather more fruits (pineapples), but other than that, we’re finding the same kind of flavours. Even touches of rye, mind you. Rye? With water: becomes very sweet, with the marshmallows coming out. Very fruity hoppy beer, like (let me find an example amongst the five different beers I’ve tried since January ;-)… Say Anchor’s Liberty Ale? Like that one. Finish: good length, nice freshness, good vanilla, caramel and stewed fruits. Comments: what I really enjoyed in this one as the fact that there wasn’t too much of that dreaded coconut. Very high quality grain. SGP:641 - 88 points.

Invergordon 7 yo 2006/2014 (61.5%, The Whisky Barrel, Burns Malt, Pedro Ximenez sherry Octave finish, cask #901446D)

I know, sounds like it’s a weapon of mass destruction but we’ve had a sister cask earlier this year and found it pretty good. Some action! Colour: dark amber. Nose: I had found a blend of rum and armagnac in the other cask, and that’s what I’m getting again. I have to say this feeling is very pleasant, with dried bananas, raisins, prunes and plain sugarcane juice. And it’s even kind of light(ish) at this strength. With water: fun stuff. Pine cones in a barbecue, light pipe tobacco, artisan milk chocolate (no crappy vegetal greases and oils on top of cocoa), whiffs of thyme and rosemary… Its unusual, it’s very nice. Mouth (neat): bang! Tends to tear your head off. My, this is strong. I do seem to find notes of bacon, but I’m not too sure. Quick… With water: very good, even if it got a tad dry/planky. Chocolate, ham, grapes, gingerbread… Finish: quite long, with smoky bacon, chocolate and oranges. Sounds unlikely, but it’s not. Too bad the aftertaste is a little bitter. Comments: fun spirit. Who cares about how it’s done? It’s like the law and sausages, as the Germans use to say. SGP:651 - 83 points.

I think we’ve had enough. Dismiss.

Check the index of all grain whiskies I've tasted so far