A few undisclosed malts, session two


July 9, 2019

Knock knock, who’s there?
A few undisclosed malts, either blended or single. Session two.

Cause we had more of those bastards.

Elderly Elvis Tilting (WHAT?) 25 yo (51.2%, Dramfool, Spirit of Speyside 2019, bourbon, 109 bottles)

Elderly Elvis Tilting (WHAT?) 25 yo (51.2%, Dramfool, Spirit of Speyside 2019, bourbon, 109 bottles)
Sure I can take a joke. I suppose the name’s an anagram? It’s neither Macallan nor Ardbeg then… Or something by Jim McEwan, as he sure is an ‘Elderly Elvis’ (no offence, Jim). Colour: pale gold. Nose: barley fields, vanilla, sugar eggs, Golden Grahams, liquorice allsorts, candyfloss, marshmallows, all that. With water: love this softer rectitude! Mouth (neat): the 25 years do not feel, but those are the wonders of a lazy cask that let the distillate unfold. Wonderful notes of pink grapefruits, mead, and un-oaked cool-climate chardonnay. But do cool climates still exist? Anchorage? Nuuk? With water: perfect, minimal and yet very fulfilling, with simply more barley goodness. Finish: long, fruitier. A touch of mango. Comments: not quite complex enough to fetch 90 within the WF scale, but we’re pretty close. By the way, forget about water, it does not need any.
SGP:651 - 89 points.

Granville 22 yo 1996/2019 (51.9%, Maltbarn, sherry cask, 177 bottles)

Well, some say this is Clynelish, which would suggest the owners may start to try to control the brand name. Listen, if the indies cannot call their Clynelishes Clynelish anymore, I turn to gin! Oh the utter horror, sweet Vishnu, what have I just written?! Now Granville is also the name of a wee town in Normandy, but they haven’t got any distillery, so I suppose we could remove that option as a possibility. Colour: full gold. Nose: hey hey, this is no ‘obvious’ Clynelish, but it’s to be said that the dry sherry’s big enough to offset a large part of any distillery character. Yep, even Clynelish’s. Cigars, hay, biofuel, and there, beeswax, more cigars, miso, steamed Chinese dumplings, soy sauce… Well the Clynelish part isn’t obvious, but at least there is no clash. Because Clynelish and sherry often clash. With water: lovely but frankly and to be honest, Clynelish is hard to recognise. And yet I know this is Clynelish, since the very engaging bottler told me so! Mouth (neat): very good, and rather more Clynelish than on the nose, although things remain not exactly obvious. Dry sherry, walnuts, white pepper, ginger… With water: yeah, there, more marmalade-y waxes, ginger liqueur, Turkish raki… Finish: long, spicy, and even more ‘Turkish’, whatever that means. Comments: it was probably a lighter kind of, Clynelish. Of course this couldn’t have been Auchentoshan or Glenfiddich, but again, I would say no Clynelish markers managed to get their heads above water here. But it’s a damn fine whisky!
SGP:552 - 86 points.

The Hive ‘Batch Strength’ (55.5%, Wemyss Malts, batch #2, 9000 bottles, +/-2019)

The Hive ‘Batch Strength’ (55.5%, Wemyss Malts, batch #2, 9000 bottles, +/-2019)
What is ‘batch strength’? Probably another expression that’s supposed to make up for the loss of any age statements… (S., that’s too cynical!) I remember batch #1 was a little difficult (WF 78). Colour: straw. Nose: a blend of lemon and apple juices, say 20/80. Add some notes of tequila joven (white) and a spoonful of proper yogurt and there, you captured it. No hives in sight this far. With water: there, a little beeswax indeed. Some Clynelish involved? Mouth (neat): this is good! Raw sweet barley, orange juice, lemon zests, drops of Aperol (with apologies to the world) and a wee glass of ginger tonic. It’s rather vibrant, as they say at fitness centres. With water: you bet, this is excellent! Mandarins, manuka honey, beeswax and mead, pollen… They really nailed it this time. Finish: long and clean. Fig jam and honeydew. Comments: sadly, I haven’t got batch #1 up my sleeves anymore, I would have loved to compare them. I could buy a case of batch #2 for when I retire. Like, around 2049.
SGP:552 - 87 points.

Naturally, this was coming…

Spice King ‘Batch Strength’ (58%, Wemyss Malts, batch #2, 9000 bottles, +/-2019)

Spice King ‘Batch Strength’ (58%, Wemyss Malts, batch #2, 9000 bottles, +/-2019)
Thought batch #1 was good back in 2006 (WF 83), and rather smoky. Colour: white wine. Nose: yeah, it’s pretty Ardmore-y. Peaches and coal smoke, muscovado sugar, metal polish, lemon squash, burnt bread, ham, charcoal… It’s not a consensual profile, for sure. With water: that old jacket that you’ve forgotten near the fireplace. Mouth (neat): more Ardmore than Ardmore, really, but don't bet on that, you'd lose. Lemonade, preserved peaches, charcoal, smoked tea… With water: it’s very good, but I’m having trouble assessing it. Too sweet for a proper peater, too peaty for a proper Highlander, and a little too superficial, I mean, lacking depth. And yet, it’s very good malt whisky. Oh there, let’s move on… Finish: medium, on something like smoked lemons. Which no one has ever dared doing, I would suppose. I agree we’re getting nowhere here… Molasses honey in the aftertaste. Comments: this one lost me, but it’s very good. Hello, anybody on the ground?
SGP:554 - 81 points.

One more, but no more… Eenie meenie… Oh, noooooooooh!

As we get it (66.1%, Ian McLeod, Highland, +/-2018)

Assassins! Colour: full gold. Nose: is it me or is it almost gentle and easily noseable? And do we not detect some perfect cake-y and nutty sherry as well as a good deal of metallic walnuts? Metallic walnuts, doesn’t that sound like the title of an old LP by the Flamin’ Groovies? Or perhaps by the band Gong? Next to their Flying Teapot? I agree we’re really getting too spacey now… With water: wonderful tobacco-y and metallic sherry, with loads of nuts (pecans, macadamia) and simply some old oloroso. As well as, perhaps, those very old chardonnays or rieslings that got oxidised and that most people would consequently not touch. Wrong! Mouth (neat): too strong and too good. With water: I have no ideas why these cheapo bottlings are constantly wonderful, since the swinging 1960s. What’s the idea behind that? Are they manipulating us? Is there some hidden message? A secret cult or a sect? The Saudis? The Mossad? A kind of statement? Or just some fun? (my preferred option, no need to say). Finish: yep. Glazed chestnuts. Comments: massive doses of pleasure with these very understated single malts. They never fail us and for that, I say let’s bow our heads in thanks.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Great, but I shall ask you, should I really gon on tasting all these bastard vatted or undisclosed single malts, espcially the NASses? Am I not wasting my time? Your time? Not too sure…