March 10, 2015

Youngster Madness

Today we’ll have very young whiskies that do not hide their ages. But warning, I have selected these youngsters upon their quality, this is no ‘random’ session. And no worries, we’ll carefully avoid any immature or wine-ised ones … No I don’t consider sherry as ‘wine’ – although of course, sherry’s wine. Well, it’s complicated…

Benromach 5 yo (40%, OB, +/-2015)

Benromach! What a coup! Their rebranding (and their whiskies) are doing wonders, and this is yet another smart move, a very young, unassuming malt that did not take the NAS plus silly-names-straight-from-Wikipedia route. Just the opposite! Of course the chatting circles are applauding, and rightly so if you ask me. Colour: white wine. Nose: there, and it’s not been doped with new oak and/or wine! This is some immaculate, smoky/ashy and lemony malt whisky that’s also full of ripe apples and acacia honey. Tight, clean, fresh and lovely. Mouth: extremely summery, fresh, mildly peppery, saline, with apples and this wee ashy sootiness that sometimes hints at Springbank. And it’s so b****y drinkable… Finish: not short, with a bit of fudge beyond the ashes and pepper. A touch of salt in the aftertaste. Comments: nothing’s hidden in this baby. I wouldn’t like to overrate it, but there… SGP:452 - 84 points.

Miltonduff 7 yo 2005/2012 (46%, Douglas Laing, Provenance, cask # 9239)

These humble babies usually go unnoticed (maybe sometimes because they’re too expensive). But… Colour: deep gold. Nose: do you like fudge? Shortbread? Butterscotch? Werther’s Originals? Milk chocolate? Deep-fried Mars bars? Right maybe not deep fried Mars bars, but this in quite perfect if you like those sorts of things. And there are also finer notes of linseed oil and orange liqueur in the background. Sweet oak. Mouth: you could thinks this is bourbon at times, and the oak was very active for sure, but this very rounded mix of maple syrup, butterscotch and oranges works pretty well. Simple pleasures, but pleasures. Finish: quite long, rounded, bourbony and fudgy. Cinnamon cake in the aftertaste – the oak again. Comments: on par with the Benromach, while it’s its antithesis. In the Benromach, it was almost all about the distillate, while in this case, it’s the sweet oak that did the trick. Quality’s equivalent in my book. SGP:541 - 84 points.

Tomatin 2004/2014 (59.1%, Svenska Eldvatten, sherry butt, 168 bottles)

I agree, this baby’s not that young. Colour: gold. Nose: moist blond tobacco everywhere, then the same kind of fudgy, shortbready notes as in the Miltonduff. The sherry brought raisins, as usual, but also very lovely notes of old earthy tea. Salted butter fudge, love that! With water: oh soaked barley and hay and malty beer and custard and fudge and orange cake! And honey. Mouth (neat): sweet oak, even rye, pepper, nutmeg, ginger liqueur (do you know Domaine de Canton?) and bitter oranges. Almost entirely cask-driven, and yet that worked a treat. A lot of custard after five minutes. With water: sweet malt and sweet spicy oak all over the place. Isn’t that what we came for? Finish: long, sweet, malty, oaky… Could someone bake an oak cake or something? White pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: oh, that was a Tomatin? I haven’t noticed. Only half-joking here, this is excellent woodwork. SGP:651 - 86 points.

Edradour 7 yo 2006/2013 (59.2%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, oloroso sherry, cask #240, 452 bottles)

I’m meant to do a large Edradour session one day. I will, I will… But in the meantime, let’s have only one. Colour: dark rich amber. Nose: once again, this is fully cask-driven, and once again, that was a great cask. Pencil shavings (cedar wood, of course) and stuff ending with ‘-ol’, then raisins and pipe tobacco, then, oh, ripe mangos! The whole’s not subtle, but balance is perfect and, well, this nose is almost perfect in its non-tertiariness (aren’t you a bit tired, S.?) With water: bready sherry, does that exist? This is fresh pumpernickel dipped into genuine muesli (not those ugly supermarket mueslis). Mouth (neat): Willet! I’m not joking, and I know this was sherry wood, but we’re close to some old Willet bourbon at super-high strength. Sloe, pepper, flower jam, caraway, wholegrain bread, juniper, spicy chutneys… It’s just huge, a true spice cake (not a space cake, eh!) With water: rather fantastic. More spacey spice cake. Finish: long, even spicier, but there are now bags of bitter oranges. Some almonds and plasticine in the aftertaste, that’s the distillate talking. Comments: Edradour’s spirit has improved a huge lot since it was taken over ten years ago or so. This is more evidence – even if the cask helped a lot. SGP:571 - 87 points.

Bunnahabhain 2005/2010 (55.9%, Malts of Scotland, oloroso sherry barrel, cask #3990, 242 bottles)

I think this one’s not even five. Colour: gold. Nose: it is a little extractive, but what it extracted from the cask consists in menthol, eucalyptus and natural vanilla (pods), while the clear and loud notes of raw malt give it a ‘natural’ side that works really well. Very lovely whiffs of horse stable, farm, hay… With water: perfect peat! As if you were burning lemons in a giant seaweed and hay fire. Mouth (neat): some explosive peat and pink grapefruits! Straight, in your face, but while it’s a little mono-dimensional, the focus is perfect (pure logic, don’t you think?) Excellent lemony mouth feel, and notes of yellow chartreuse as well. Some salt playing around on your lips. With water: amazing straightforwardness. This is peaty limoncello. Finish: long, zesty, yet rounded and polished. Ashy aftertaste. Comments: to be poured blind. Most friends will tell you this baby is 12 or 15. Superb! SGP:566 - 88 points.

Kilchoman 2008/2013 (61%, OB for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, bourbon, 473 bottles)

Another one that wasn’t quite 5 when it was bottled. Colour: white wine. Nose: very elementary, in a good way. So ultra-narrow, so very sharp, so perfectly chiselled. Lemon juice, seawater, cider apples, beech smoke, and basta. Almost riesling, in other words. With water: we’re locked in a working kiln. Mouth (neat): a blend of lemon juice with white artisan mezcal. It’s very minimal, almost Japanese in a way (we’re talking Japanese design, not whisky). There, I even find sake. With water: brine. Finish: brine, lemon and ashes, for a very long time. Comments: when some whisky’s that narrow, what’s there has to be totally perfect. That was the case here, in my opinion. Almost more Chinese calligraphy than whisky, if you see what I mean. SGP:357 - 87 points.

Port Charlotte 2003/2014 (62.9%, Svenska Eldvatten, 156 bottles)

I know, this baby’s not that young either, but I just couldn’t resist the urge to try a PC after the Kilchoman, while we were in the Rhinns of Islay. I think it’s going to be this session’s last whisky. Colour: white wine. Nose: much rounder and fruitier than the Kilchoman. Fresh butter, cut Golden Delicious, plenty of custard, and not much smoke. But yeah, that may be the super-high strength… So with water: there are a few fermentary notes (sportsmen might quote gym socks) but in a strange way, those do go very well with the heavy ashes and the kilny whiffs. Old coal stove. Touches of pears in the background – I told you, this is still quite young. Mouth (neat): the strength makes you yodel. High lemon, grapefruit and, now it’s coming, ‘green’ brine. Probably as finely chiselled as the Kilchoman, it’s just that I need my tongue (for respectable purposes, mind you). With water: almonds, anchovies, lemon, kippers… You name it. Coastal ashes. Finish: long and very ashy. You’d think you just had the ashtray instead of your sandwich. Ha! Pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: very funny, very entertaining, and very extreme. For big boys – or Swedes ;-). SGP:358 - 88 points.