
December 15, 2017

Convalmore and a proper sparring partner

Those crazy (yet very engaging) people at G&M’s have just (re)issued a new Convalmore! But oh terrible inferno, I haven’t got any other yet-untested Convalmore in WF’s tasting library. A crying shame, I agree, but we’ll find something else. Such as, perhaps, a Coleburn…

Convalmore 1975/2015 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Rare Old, lot #RO/15/06)

Convalmore 1975/2015 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Rare Old, lot #RO/15/06) I realise that younger whisky lovers may not quite know what Convalmore exactly was. In that case, have a look there before reading this note… Colour: gold. Nose: what’s noticeable in these gone malts is the fatness and the depth, something that’s not always to be found in current distillates. In this case, we’re finding beeswax, graphite oil, then rhubarb and hay, then rather some kinds of earthy oranges and a few mushrooms. Shitake, perhaps? Antique shop, furniture polish… There’s even something coastal, perhaps seashells, clams, something like that… Mouth: truly lovely. After forty years the oak remained discreet (say a little tea-ish), while oranges and ripe pears and apples are running the show. It’s all rather delicate, softer than expected, and even a little cidery. We’re talking proper cider, not those atrocious things such as Strongbow. Finish: medium, perhaps a little too dry now, tea-ish… More and more cider, especially in the aftertaste. Even pear cider – not Perry pear cider, mind you! Something slightly prickly in the aftertaste. Comments: excellent, with many things to say. As often, it’s in the finish that things go a little less well. That’s normal… SGP:441 - 88 points.

So, we said a Coleburn… Let’s try to find one that was bottled more or less at the same strength, so that it wouldn’t crush the slightly fragile Convalmore… Oh, this, perhaps?

Coleburn 35 yo 1964/1999 (46.9%, The Bottlers, cask #2210)

Coleburn 35 yo 1964/1999 (46.9%, The Bottlers, cask #2210) How rare is that? You may check this page on Malt Madness to know more about Coleburn. Now I remember The Bottlers used to be #1 independent bottlers in the Malt Maniacs’s list. So sad that they became inactive quite some years ago… Colour: gold. Nose: astounding. No currently active Scottish distillery is making something like this. Such depth, such body, such complexity… We’re talking soot, coal, burnt cakes, parsley, earth, Pu-erh tea, new tyres, lamp oil, basalt, cigars, old leather, re-waxed Barbour jacket, old ink bottle, porcinis, Woolite, smoked ham, shoe polish… and hundreds of other tiny aromas. Fir cones, for example. Wow! Mouth: wow indeed. Old fir liqueurs that went dry, 1960s riesling, grapefruits, green bananas, turmeric, ginseng, rhubarb, the best green teas, oysters sprinkled with lemon juice, cider… It’s huge whisky, with a complexity that’s not often to be found in modern wood-technology-dominated whiskies. They say wood technology ought to rule the show, I say that’s like choosing Coldplay over John Coltrane. Bad and boring, but the masses like them. And yet, elitism sucks, I rather agree… So we’ll all die dumb and happy! (Serge, we have to talk, this is going too far – Ed.) Finish: long, a little drying. But this is a 1964 Coleburn… Comments: didn’t we just taste a brilliant 1964 Coleburn? SGP:462 - 91 points.