
April 20, 2017

Unknown singles by well known bottlers

May I ask you a seminal question? What’s more important, knowing about a single malt’s distillery of origin or knowing about its age/vintage? I know, some cruel dilemma, as the great Frank Zappa would have said… Excuse me? Yeah, both… But that won’t be the case today…

Speyside Region 2001/2015 (44.7%, Archives, sherry butt, 180 bottles)

The only independent bottlers who’re using fish instead of birds ;-). No, Speyburn aren’t ‘independent’. Colour: gold. Nose: would it be surprising that we would find echoes of Glenfarclas 12 yo? Porridge, butterscotch, bitter oranges, marmalade, dry black raisins… And in the back, some pipe tobacco and a wee earthiness. Does its job, really does its job. Mouth: good, solid, marmalade-y, with a touch of lemon and Schweppes (all right, Schweppes-Lemon), then a wee bit of dried ham and some dry marzipan. Finish: long, maltier and nuttier, but there’s always this meaty side in the background. Chestnut purée. Comments: all very fine. Does the job and does it very well. SGP:551 - 85 points.

Speyside ‘Very Old Selection’ (46.3%, Sansibar and S Spirit Selection, sherry butt, 322 bottles, 2016)

So we don’t know about the age, and we don’t know about the distillery. Thank God we know about the bottler… Colour: gold. Nose: smoke and seawater? Excuse me? And roasted chestnuts, used matches, stewed asparagus, damp black earth, new leather jacket, pine cones… Ah… Mouth: no, really, there’s some smoke, some ham, some tangerines in the back, some seawater even… It’s as if this Speysider spent its life in some ex-Islay cask. Which, obviously, did work very well here. Shall we ever know? Finish: long, lemony and smoky, with a Bowmore-y side. No, that is true. Comments: a surprising baby. Chance or destiny? It worked very well. SGP: 453 – 87 points.

Sherry Cask ‘01’ 23 yo 1993/2016 (53.5%, Svenska Eldvatten, 355 bottles)

Hold on, I’m just seeing that this is a blended mat and not a single, apologies. But there’s no way back, it’s already in the tasting glass… Colour: gold. Nose: butter and vanilla are ruling the thing for a good one minute, then we find some kind of waxy oranges, then plasticine and IPA beer. Did they hire John Glaser? With water: goes towards hay and earth. Dried porcini. Mouth (neat): extremely to my liking. Sour oranges, leather, tobacco, salt, and these small figs that they have in the best parts of Turkey (best as far as figs are concerned, eh). Great waxy structure. With water: takes water very well. Smoked tea, cigars, orange peel. Finish: quite long, wonderfully bitter and orange-y. Comments: they always do it well in Sweden. So, what’s inside? Isn’t that somewhere on some website? SGP:452 - 88 points.

Eagle of Spey 27 yo 1989/2017 (45.4%, Riegger’s Selection)

Picture of an older bottling. Said to be Glenfarclas. Yeah, as always ;-). Colour: full gold. Nose: wonderful. Starts with a touch of manure and old cigars, gets then rather mentholated and apricoty, with also notes of plum jam and even Turkish delights. Late harvest pinot gris. Mouth: sour and sweet arrival, then artichokes and heavy black tea, then raisins and sour fruit juices. Totally unorthodox, but there’s much fun to be had with this rather un-Scottish Scotch malt whisky. Finish: long, gritty, a little rough, but funnily challenging. No that’s not just me being PC. Comments: it’s a finishing, and it’s a tad freaky at times, but I really like it, mainly because it’s totally un-boring. SGP:561 - 84 points.

Speyside Region 40 yo 1975/2016 (52.8%, Club Qing, Hong Kong, fino sherry butt)

Wonderful label, congrats. Colour: gold. Nose: oils at first (sunflower, linseed), then fresh artisan butter and paraffin. Then bags of fresh hazelnuts and walnuts, as well as cut grass and mango peel. A lovely floral side. All very nice delicate, and complex. With water: pretty exceptional, on patchouli, pot-pourri, walnuts, and barley syrup. Always great to find barley in some very old malt whisky. Mouth (neat): yes. Orange liqueur, honey lemon, spearmint, lemongrass, blue-green tea. Superb zestiness, and a supreme elegance. See, we can do it quick. With water: the menthol and other –ols came out of the cask, all for the better. Green tea, herbs, walnuts, and waldmeister. Do you know waldmeister? Touches of old white Sancerre. Finish: medium, very herbal, with a great dry bitterness. After all, it was a fino cask. Comments: did it really spend all of its life in a fino butt? That may have pushed up the G in the SGP. Make of that what you can. Great bottle! SGP:371 - 90 points.

Sherry Cask ‘06’ 36 yo 1980/2016 (47.2%, Svenska Eldvatten, 102 bottles)

Blimey, I’ve been caught again, this is another blended malt. Colour: gold. Nose: old plaster, wine cellar, vase water, ink, old magazines, asparagus peelings, graphite oil… Now for something different! I’m not sure there’s much sherriness in here, perhaps a wee walnut? It’s rather more dry Madeira than sherry if you ask me, but I do like this very unusual dry style. Mouth: wait. Let’s gather our thoughts… In truth this is bone-dry, even mustardy, with some tobacco, more walnuts, some ashes, very bitter oranges (those oranges that you may ‘steal’ from the trees while in Andalucia, and that you just couldn’t eat since they’re so acidic and bitter, you know…) And there are some ashes, some carbon or something, some black salt, many leaves, some leather… In short, you got it, you can’t make drier whisky. Finish: rather long, and very fino-ish indeed. Manzanilla Pastrana. Comments: this was ultra-Jerezian. Now if you would excuse me, I have to call the travel agency… SGP:272 – 89 points.

Perhaps a last one for the road…

Speyside Region 43 yo 1973/2017 (46.9%, The Whisky Agency, refill sherry)

There’s no doubt whatsoever that this will be excellent. Colour: pale gold. Nose: walnut oil, ink, paraffin, beeswax, plantain bananas, and a wee slice of white ham. Austere, beautifully so. Also leaves, bay leaves, cut grass, and apple peel. Mouth: hell. Mint, sauerkraut, turnips, green olives, green bananas, manioc, turmeric, and some guava juice to make all that sweeter. We’re clearly in riesling territories, and since the bottler is German, I’d say Knipser’s Steinbuckel. Great German Riesling – this from an Alsatian, so take my word! Finish: medium to long, a tad sweeter and rounder. Orange and passion fruit compote, and a wee touch of lavender honey for good measure. Comments: these are the malts to buy these days. There’s no better new old Speysiders, anywhere. Yeah, unless, you know, at auctions for hefty prices… Seriously, buy this if you can find it! Or its siblings… SGP:561 - 92 points.

Check the index of all undisclosed malts I've tasted so far