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Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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July 4, 2020 |
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Angus's Corner
From our Scottish correspondent
and skilled taster Angus MacRaild in Edinburgh |
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Enrico’s mini adventure |
So, I have this Italian friend, Enrico, and he sent me these cool old bottles that he says his grandmother brought back from a bothy when she was on holiday in the Torridon mountains in the 1950s with Sean Connery… |
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Actually, this is a very cool and very legitimate set of minis bottled in the 1970s, samples of which have very kindly been provided to me by Mr. Enrico Gaddoni who does fine work at Catawiki auctions and is a source of great knowledge about old whiskies. I never saw this set before, but it features 7 ‘regional’ single malts at high strength. All presented in the guise of a ‘How to blend your own whisky’ kit - complete with mini shot glasses. As we all know, blenders traditionally slam several shots before rolling up their nostrils for a hard day’s sniffing. Let’s see what we find and try to go in an order that traditional ‘regional’ whisky marketing theory would suggest… |
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Lowland Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
The label for all these minis one says ‘prodotto da Stanley P Morrison’, so I think we can comfortably say this should be Auchentoshan. Not sure what it’ll mean for some of the others though… Colour: light gold. Nose: high alcohols for sure, definitely comes across like youthful triple distillate. But beyond that there are plenty nice things: a scraping of honey on soda bread, brioche, sun lotion (factor 15 - trust me, I’m a pale Scotsman!) and some lemon cough drops. With water: pumpernickel, plasticine, a splash of Tabasco, condensed milk - unusual! Mouth: ouch! Big, hot, peppery and alcoholic. But by the same token there’s barley sugars, breakfast cereals dusted with icing sugar and some rather cheap limoncello lurking behind. Slightly cardboardish as well, could be OME - old mini effect! With water: lots of cheap cooking oil, some gravely and rough minerals, concrete, cardboard, green asparagus and grass. Finish: medium, vegetal, slightly mashy, cooked grains, newspaper ink and more condensed milk. Comments: Hmmm, not the most inspiring, but it certainly feels very ‘old young Auchentoshan’ if you get what I mean? This one was probably for blending with coke to keep the non-whisky drinkers of the household busy while you got on with the serious stuff of creating your masterpiece.
SGP: 441 - 74 points. |
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Glenlivet Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
This one is probably the biggest wildcard in the set in terms of distillery of origin. Unless it is actually Glenlivet of course. Colour: yellow/gold. Nose: what’s funny and rather cool is that this is very much what you would think of as ‘Speyside’, just as the Lowland was very much ‘Lowland’. Not that I put much stock in regionality in Scotch whisky, but it’s funny how the concept of it re-enforces ideas about perception and flavour sometimes. Anyway, this is a tasting note Angus, not one of your overlong essays! Very grassy, buttery, cereal, quite a bit of olive oil, sunflower seeds, fresh breads and scones. With water: gets increasingly buttery now, slightly herbal too with some parsley and bay leaf. Very pleasant. Mouth: sharp and grassy with rather a lot of citric acidity, but also many white and yellow flowers, meadow freshness, grass, nettles, plain cereals and sunflower oil. With water: obviously quite a young whisky, but it’s well made, rather old school distillate with these very punchy and aggressive cereal, grassy and natural sweetness notes. Finish: medium, very cereal, lightly herbal, buttery and more cooking oils. Comments: I could not possibly tell you the distillery, but it really feels like the kind of whisky SMWS were bottling a lot of in the early-mid 80s. That is to say, young, hot, powerful and very ‘naked’ malt whiskies from plain wood, made in a decidedly uncommercial style by today’s standards. Anyway, quite fun and interesting that they thought of this is ‘exemplary’ in style.
SGP: 551 - 78 points. |
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Inverness Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
This is most likely one of three rather notorious concrete factories form the grand city of Schneck! Colour: pale gold. Nose: haha, pure cement! Cactus, gravel, steel wool, wet sack cloth, fabrics, pebbles, chalk, aspirin. The very definition of kooky Invernetian austerity in whisky! Some mashed potato and cooking oils. You cannon not think of some young 1970s Glen Mhor. With water: sharp cereals, fermenting lemons, putty, mineral oil, some mud, more hot concrete and struck flints. Mouth: big arrival, lots of white pepper, a rather grainy waxiness, herbal medicines, a whole scuttle of soot, tobacco leaf and olive oil. Pretty good actually and I would say an improvement on the nose. With water: a neater fusion of medicines and cooking oils, some barley sugars, salty miso and camphor. Finish: good length, white flowers, chalk, a kind of dirty minty flavour and more brutal minerals and peppery notes. Comments: The nose says Glen Mhor, but the palate speaks with more of a Millburn accent. Quite fun and gets better as you go along, even though it’s still totally bonkers old Inverness whisky.
SGP: 463 - 83 points. |
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It’s been a tad tricky so far, but in theory things could pick up from this point onwards… |
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Campbeltown Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
Colour: yellowish gold. Nose: rather Springbanky, which I suppose isn’t a surprise. Lots of overripe yellow and white fruits, lemon-tinged waxes, citronella candles, soft coastal notes, sandalwood and these wonderfully syrupy notes of aged yellow Chartreuse. Pretty glorious so far! With water: gets straighter, more bready, more medical and a nice balance between salty and savoury. Mouth: pow! Amazing texture and power. Super silky and oily yellow fruits. Plum jams, sultans, mango and apricot. Also olive oil mixed with brine, soft peat smoke and a wonderfully thready saltiness popping out between everything. Preserved lemons and herbal cough syrup. With water: perfect balance of waxy, medical, coastal and fruity. Finish: long, lemony, waxy, faintly peaty and wonderfully coastal, mineral and fresh. Comments: Now we’re talking! This just cannot be anything but a top notch late 60s/early 70s Springbank. Impeccable distillate! (This is the point at which Enrico emails to tell me he has proof it’s Glen Scotia)
SGP: 663 - 92 points. |
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Kirkwall Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
I think we can comfortably assume this is Highland Park. Colour: deep coppery amber. Nose: pristine old school sherry. But a very assertive and powerful style. Tons of roasted nuts, espresso, leaf mulch, salty bodega funk and old leather. Grows deeper with these gloriously resinous and concentrated notes of soy sauce, umami seasonings, tar and the most sublime Orcadian peat: which is to say deeply rooty, earthy, dry and herbal in style. Just magnificent. With water: exquisite! Al manner of leaf mulches, tobaccos, leather, coffee, medicines, chocolate, peat, mushrooms - one of those whiskies that you could go on dissecting for hours. Mouth: Excuse me but what the F**K! Concentrated black tar, soil, smoked black bean curds, iodine, anchovy paste, the bitterest dark chocolate, the saltiest Dutch liquorice. Utterly stunning! Maltoporn central I’m afraid. Just heart-stoppingly deep, powerful and intensely flavoured. With water: it’s really a colossal ballet of umami, earth and deeply resinous and rooty peat smoke. Herbs, meats, tar, medicines, aged black teas… gah! ENRICO! 1cl? Really!!!? Finish: endless, stunning, immense. This captivating muddle of soil-laden, oil, greasy, herbal peat just wanders on forever. Comments: This whisky, bottled in some obscure and silly miniature pack. Welcome to the 1970s, aka: whisky’s ‘age of innocence’! Reminds me of the 1960 17yo OB green dumpy but a cask strength version. Glorious to the point of ridiculousness. This miniature pack is laughing at us God dammit!
SGP: 574 - 94 points. |
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Ok, it’s possible I have been too hasty in the ordering of this tasting. We will have to take a short intermission I fear. I’ll just spend half an hour expressing my feelings in a brief 3000 word email to Enrico… |
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Skye Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
Who wants to make the obligatory joke about which distillery this could possibly be? Colour: orangey gold. Nose: very herbal at first nosing, a mix of seawater, cough medicines and vapour balms. Deeply enchanting with these rather complex aromas of citrus peels and piths. In time it evolves a more honeyed side and the fruits start to become more exotic, but still remaining dried and crystalised. Also heather flowers now as well. Undeniably pretty stunning I have to say. With water: a beautiful abundance of coastal wildflowers, gentle peat smoke, herbs and exotic fruit. Fresher and more specifically on guava, mango and papaya now. Mouth: bags of Cheng Pi aged orange peel, exotic fruit teas, salty ramen broth, white and black pepper, soy sauce, caraway and more of these herbal medical aspects. Salty, waxy and with a bigger and more obvious presence of peat smoke than on the nose. Superb power and freshness. With water: beautifully peppery and waxy now. Absolutely classically Talisker I would say. Vividly coastal, citrus, heather ales, dried herbs, miso, umami broths, wet beach pebbles, hessian. Just brilliant. Finish: superbly long, nervously fruity, light citrus acidity, minerals, olive oil, black pepper and herbal teas. Comments: What rogue lunatic was allowed to assemble this ridiculous ‘blend it at home’ set at Morrison’s in the 70s? Did the supervisor leave the room after they’d done the Inverness one? No doubt the rest of this cask was butchered in whatever batch of ‘Morrison’s Select’ needed bulking out that week!
SGP: 664 - 93 points. |
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Islay Pure Unblended Malt (57%, Stanley P Morrison, Importato E Confezionato Da Bairo, 1970s)
Sigh! I’m sure we all know what distillery this should be ‘in theory’… Colour: gold. Nose: ok, we’re reasonably in control of ourselves so far. Beach pebbles, some heather, seawater, lemon peel. All good and very ‘Islay’ so far. Get’s more coastal and more fragrant with time, more sandalwood and… ENRICO! … lots of supple and ripe exotic fruits. Passionfruit, pineapple, fruit salad juices. Then swings back to crystal clear salinity, lemon juice and a lively minerality. With water: despicable, salty fruity gorgeousness! Mouth: I could weep. Stunningly saline, umami and then fruity. Crystalised exotic fruits drenched with pure seawater and wrapped up in animal furs! Menthol tobacco, lime zest, chalk, putty and a rather petrol-accented peat flavour. Gets leaner, meatier and more savoury with time. With water: oranges, grapefruit, lime, seawater, herbal teas, fruit salad syrupy gunge, ramen with dried seaweed! Pfft, who likes whisky anyway! Finish: yawn! Brilliant. Pfft. Stunning. Whatever! Comments: Enrico, I will destroy you!
SGP: 755 - minus 105 points. (ok, 93!) |
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I’m beginning to understand why Enrico gave me these samples at a time when I have to legally remain at least 2 meters away from him! At least one thing is for sure, I am suitably reminded of why I hate miniatures. Fiddly, emotionally manipulative wee bastards that they are. |
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