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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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October 15, 2018 |
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As much grain as we possibly can, vertically |
In theory, that wouldn’t be a lot, but let’s see what happens… |
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Strathclyde 11 yo 2005/2017 (55.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #11952, 638 bottles) 
Not too sure why this young ethan… I mean grain whisky managed to make it into the Old Particular range. There might be something unusual, I guess, I hope… Colour: gold. Nose: there are raisins, there’s a little cake, there are whiffs of cigar humidor, there’s a little chestnut purée, and there’s a little rum (say around some pretty good Cuban, Santiago-style, which isn’t half bad in my book). With water: really very nice, still kind of ‘Cuban’, all we’d need now is an old Lusitania. Mouth (neat): not as interesting as on the nose, very spirity, and actually rather harsh. Tends to blow your head off, as they used to say amongst the Vikings. With water: rather better, but it’s still a little rough around the edges. But I believe you couldn’t do much better at eleven, it’s almost baby whisky. Finish: medium, a tad varnishy and bonbony. Comments: notes of sherry in there. Really enjoyed the nose, but the palate was way behind. Twenty more years might work.
SGP:640 - 77 points. |
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Invergordon 21 yo 1997/2018 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #12185, 279 bottles) 
In my book, 21 is still very young for grain whisky. And let’s try to forget the very sad recent news about Invergordon’s workers… (but boo!) Colour: straw. Nose: vanilla, light varnish, a leisurely stroll at Ikea’s, some coconut balls, barley water, and all that. Arc-classic rather empty grain whisky ex-American oak. With water: same. Mouth (neat): Scottish bourbon, as some friends used to say. Vanillin, sugar, cellulosic varnish, marshmallows. With water: rather the same, but there are also nice nots of oranges coming through. Citrus would save any whiskies, just like… say Zorro. Finish: short, rather light. Vanilla and barley sugar. Comments: really quite good, just a little… well, empty.
SGP:630 - 76 points. |
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Strathclyde 26 yo 1990/2017 (55.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #11600, 174 bottles) 
Colour: white wine. Nose: Havana Club! This is really very light. Touches of banana sweets, vanilla, coconut, light fudge… With water: nice! Barbecued marshmallows. Mouth (neat): ah, some action! Some kind of interplay has started to occur here, and flavours got a little more complex. Herbal teas (rosehip, orange blossom), biscuits, candied almonds, some green tea from the oak… Rather nice, this one. With water: indeed it is really nice. Still light and rather, say all-purpose whisky (frankly, in my book, grains belong to blends) but these lightly spicy cakes and biscuits work well. Amaretti! Finish: short, almondy, cake-y. You could blend this with limoncello and have it on a terrace in Tuscany. Comments: certainly one of the better grains I’ve tried this year. Aren’t we making good progress?
SGP:540 - 82 points. |
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Cameronbridge 26 yo 1991/2018 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #12661, 639 bottles) 
Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s a fair age for grain, it appears. Nice nose, with some cider and some orange juice, honeysuckle, touches of mangos, butterscotch, Jaffa cake… Really nice, this nose! With water: yes! A little tobacco, a little pine resin, a touch of camphor… Mouth (neat): back to rum, but it is good clean ex-column (naturally) rum. A little grass, other than that lemon pie (with meringue!) and a very funny touch of tinned sardines. Could we speak with the cask? With water: the cakes are back and there are many kinds. Excellent. Finish: medium, rather more complex than others, and yet soft and well balanced. A little gingerbread with lemon zests inside. Comments: we’re really making good progress. Well, Douglas Laing are.
SGP:551 - 84 points. |
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Girvan 28 yo 1989/2018 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask #12544, 255 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: this time it’s really a vanilla-ed extravaganza that’s happening right below our nostrils and indeed we’ve known bourbons… Even wondering if there isn’t a little rye inside. Could that be? Oh and some chamomile tea. With water: a little sawdust, loses a few years once further reduced. Mouth (neat): it’s a whole cake. Orange, mocha, honey, vanilla… Some kind of panettone, perhaps. With water: gets sweeter, not quite in the best of ways. Sweetish. Drop water! Finish: medium, very sweet, almost sugary. Comments: it doesn’t swim too well, and lost a few points once exposed to H2O. Still a really good grain, but the Cameronbridge was my favourite.
SGP:630 - 80 points. |
Don’t Douglas Laing deserve some rest?… |
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Port Dundas 29 yo 1988/2018 (50.7%, Cadenhead, World Whiskies, bourbon hogshead, 215 bottles) 
Always found it funny (although probably legitimate) that Cadenhead would put their grains into their ‘World’ range, as if the grains weren’t really Scottish… Colour: white wine. Nose: some action, at last! Eucalyptus and thyme at first, then Vick’s, camphor, stewed rhubarb, a lot of angelica, and touches of elderberry and woodruff flowers. Some very remote whiffs of kelp smoke, could be that this was an ex-peater cask. With water: lit cigars, garden bonfire. Mouth (neat): yeah, it’s the cask’s former content that’s doing all the work here. No ideas what it was, but it wouldn’t surprise me that some Lagavulin was involved. Or else from the Kildalton shore. With water: same feeling, just even bigger. Jack White playing with a large baroque ensemble. Finish: the grain is trying to fight back, with a few marshmallows, but it’ll never win. Comments: not ‘grain whisky’ as such, rather some kind of funny blend if you ask me. Funny and excellent. And smart.
SGP:553 - 87 points. |
While we’re at Cadenhead’s… |
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Caledonian 30 yo 1987 (51.7%, Cadenhead, Cask Ends, hogshead)
Edinburgh’s Caledonian is getting really rare. Colour: white wine. Nose: coconut and sawdust aplenty. Not too sure, water may be needed and fast… With water: candy apples. The reddest ones! Some delicate touches of tamarind jam in the background, ripe plums, quinces, small berries (holly, sorb)… That’s nice but you have to take your time not to miss these. More complex than others. Mouth (neat): vanilla, pineapple and coconut all over the place, this is some kind of loco Pina Colada at high strength. Crushed bananas as well, perhaps… With water: well this time it wouldn’t get any more complex, and all those smaller things we’ve found in the nose seem to have gone elsewhere. Finish: medium. Apple sugar, cider. Comments: it’s very good, undoubtedly, but it’s still… grain whisky (so not quite whisky, ach, err…)
SGP:640 - 80 points. |
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Strathclyde 30 yo 1988/2018 (54.3%, The Whisky Barrel, Glasgow Gardens Festival 30th Anniversary, barrel, cask #62125, 138 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: well, this time again, the casks’s previous content is leading the band. It’s a tad medicinal, rather coastal, smoky for sure, with nice whiffs of fir and pine smoke (after ski in the chalet), and only then more grainy, cake-y elements. With water: may I write that this reminds me a wee bit of Highland Park? Mouth (neat): nice, balance was achieved, the previous whisky does let the grain speak (even if it hasn’t got really a lot to tell). Really a feeling of good smoky blend, but we’re not quite in old White Horse territories. With water: oh excellent! Honestly, I do not know how they made this, but if this is ‘only’ pure single grain, I’m Alfred Barnard. Now I’m sure it is from a legal point of view, don’t get me wrong. Finish: long, smoky, even a little salty. Salt in grain whisky! Comments: on par with Cadenhead’s pretty perfect Port Dundas.
SGP:553 - 87 points. |
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Invergordon 44 yo 1974/2018 (51.6%, The Whisky Exchange, The Future of Whisky, 249 bottles) 
I’ll tell it like it is, if grain is the future of whisky, Britney Spears is the daughter of Montserrat Caballé (R.I.P.) and Nadia Murad that of Theresa May. And I’ll soon start to blog about gin (may God forgive me). Colour: gold. Nose: very soft, with ripe bananas at first, then pineapples, white chocolate, rhubarb, Haribo’s crocodiles, grated coconut, and a drop of rhum agricole. Doesn’t quite feel old so far, I have to say. With water: this is pure milk chocolate (I was about to write Milch Schokolade). Mouth (neat): nah, this works very well, mainly because we’ve gone towards nuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, macadamias… all those have been topped with the softest honeys (lavender, acacia) and a few drops of Cointreau (or Grand-Marnier, whichever suits you best). With water: indeed, that’s what you need to come up with a great single grain, forty-four years (you’re right, or an ex-Lagavulin cask). In short, any Chief Financial Officer’s worst nightmare! Finish: medium, rather perfect, soft, rather on gingerbread this time. Perfect marmalade in the aftertaste. Comments: of course.
SGP:641 - 91 points. |
A last one, perhaps. Back to Carsebridge with Diageo’s new Special Release… |
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Carsebridge 48 yo 1970/2018 (43.2%, OB, Special Release, refill American oak hogsheads, 1,000 bottles)
1970? Wasn’t that one of the greatest years for rock and roll? Let it Be, Morrison Hotel, Big Yellow Taxi, Spill The Wine, After The Gold Rush, Abraxas, Lucky Man, Layla… But also Janis… Okay, enough brochure-y little writings, let’s try this oldie… Colour: gold. Nose: it’s a thrill to have both the futuristic Invergordon and this one side-by-side. Both make you further understand that time is a key component, and that no whisky could be genuine whisky without time. In this very case we’re finding sweeter aromas, especially the ones that we often call ‘pina-colada-y’, mainly pineapple and coconut. We’ll add tinier notes of honeysuckle, orange blossom, marzipan, potpourri, ylang-ylang and perhaps hollyhock. Mouth: it is rounder and mellower than the Invergordon, but quality’s very equivalent. Crushed bananas, hay wine, overripe apples, quince jelly, hazelnut oil, a few drops of chardonnay (not the oaked junk they’re making at some places)… Finish: medium, rather fresh, and rather on bananas and vanilla fudge. Comments: the Invergordon was a wee notch more complex, but this ones just great as well. It’s fabulous that the oak hasn’t taken over one bit – but it’s also true that they have proper blenders at Diageo’s. Blenders that aren’t just salesmen.
SGP:640 - 90 points. |
Good, we’ve had enough grains and anyway, I think we haven’t got any older ones in the library at this time. See you. (and thanks Tom) |
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