
August 25, 2022

Always good training,
another bag-o-blends

Indeed, while summer isn't over yet in our hemisphere, let's have stuff from Scotland, more or less randomly. Many will be good, for sure, which is always a little sad for the Distillers who will not be able to benefit from any good comments, as their names are hidden. I'll never understand those moves but they may be the right things to do since the first thing any indie bottlers who'd buy or build a Distillery will do is to prohibit the use of their own new brand names by anybody else. Indeed, I'm realising that I may well be the last one complaining…

Summer isn't over yet (magazine ad, 1972) - >

Base Spirits (40%, Base Spirits, Blended Scotch, +/-2021)

Ouch, they say that 'The Base Spirits range is all about providing you with tasty spirits that can be a great base for your cocktails. Hence the name.' Wrong direction, it seems, but at least it's pretty cheap and they haven't packaged it as if it were the Koh-I-Noor. Colour: white wine. Nose: no problems, no big coconut or vanillin in the way, no caramel, no English breakfast tea (nothing against that of course but it's not a tea for nosing, is it), and rather a lot of peat smoke, somewhat ala Ardmore. Some fresh paint too. Feels a bit like a good batch of Johnnie Black that would have been carefully filtered out. Mouth: good fresh combo, clearly peaty, with some pepper, green pears, green tea and then touches of light golden rum. I find it good! Finish: unexpectedly long, fresh, coastal, with a salty tang in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly liked the totally post-modern, post-brand packaging that needed no Bentley and no Aston-Martin logos. You would almost believe this bottle was found in a general store in East Berlin, circa 1975. The whisky's good too, and the grains really don't feel.
SGP:454 - 82 points.

Blended Scotch 5 yo 2016/2022 (46%, Thompson Bros., sherry cask, 621 bottles)

Again and again, no problems at all with young or even super-young whiskies, as long as they would tell us about their ages (unlike actresses, ha-ha). Colour: gold. Nose: fudge, millionaire shortbread, cappuccino, toffee, kougelhopfs, candlewax and walnut wine. No graininess, we're pleased. Mouth: you would indeed get a few bonbons, fudge and butterscotch, a touch of grated coconut, and perhaps a body that a notch thinner than usual, but this sure remains a pretty malty blend. Finish: medium, a tad more on coffee. Comments: the price is rather low, a good occasion to catch some of the Thompson's glamour for cheaper. The Thompson's Dino or 914, in other words, no bad cars at all. I mean, no bad whisky at all.
SGP:551 - 83 points.

Burnt Ends (45%, The Great Pitmasters of America, blended whiskey, +/-2021)

We'll see more of these, after all the world blends sold as Japanese whiskies, these are world blends actually sold as… world blends. In this very case, Tennessee rye whiskey (Dickel?) and peated Scotch malt finished in sherry. The packaging is very retro and you're expecting John Wayne to turn up at any moment – or perhaps W.C. Fields? I can already imagine punters, in ten years' time, contacting us asking for the value of this 'very old bottle' that they found in 'grandpa's stash'. Colour: gold. Nose: it's not that the rye and the peat don't tango, they do; but they're stepping on each other's toes. There's also more soapiness created, but in the end, it would start to grow on you, while getting somewhat medicinal. Good fun, actually. Mouth: it loses me now. Very spicy, joyful indeed (they have a point here) but a little too dissonant for me. A pretty piney side. Finish: long, smoky, better, but there's still this feeling of The Spinal Tap playing Bach. Comments: good fun. All tries are worth, err, trying as long as the prices are right, which they are in this very case. Good fun.
SGP:363 - 78 points.

Fine Blended Malt Whisky 18 yo 2001/2020 (45.6%, Whisky-Fässle, sherry butt)

Our favourite ducks are back on WF! It is, naturally, not impossible that an 18-yo at natural cask strength would drop to 45.6%. Not impossible indeed. Colour: full gold. Nose: when shoe polish, walnut cakes and old Meursault appear first in a nose, you know you're in for a treat. And when metal polish, old coins, beeswax, fresh walnuts and last year's apples are joining in, you just have confirmation. Superb nose. Mouth: very punchy and spicy arrival, despite the relatively low strength, with smoky figs, should those exist, and indeed more old chardonnay of high origins (we're not talking altitudes, all right). Lovely waxes and polishes of all kinds, I'm sure there's no Pulteney inside but in some ways, it is reminiscent of old Old Pulteney here and there. The sherry is just impeccable and in its place. Finish: long, more on spiced marmalade. Comments: absolutely excellent. We might try to blackmail the good folks at Whisky-Fässle to try to get a rundown of what was in this butt.
SGP:552 - 89 points.

Black Goupil 8 yo (40%, Distillerie du Planty, blended malt, +/-2022)

This is imported malt whisky, finished in cognac wood and bottled in the Charentes, France, by Cognac Chollet's Distillerie du Planty. Again, that's just like what many Japanese do, except that these good folks at Planty would tell and not try to make us believe that this is French malt whisky. Goupil is an old name for 'renard', so fox, so this is actually 'Black Fox'. I find the bottle lovely. Colour: gold. Nose: immediately cakey, with good maltiness, some croissants since we're in France, a little demerara sugar, a very moderate oakiness, then good slowly simmered soups (leeks, marrow, potatoes, kale, tofu…) plus a little peanut and sesame butters. Pretty particular and pretty nice on the nose. As always in these cases, we're very curious about the palate… Mouth: great fun here! Olives, Jamaican rum, seawater, those soups again, tobacco, Thai spices, peat smoke, seashells, tequila… What I don't quite get is cognac, rather bizarrely, but that must be me. Great fun, they should just bottle this at a higher strength. Finish: pretty long, smoky, with notes of brine, gherkins, olives and mezcal. What does the people want! Comments: surely a kind of UFW (Unidentified Flying Whisky) and there must be some mysteries in there, but I like it. But 45% vol. please.
SGP:563 - 82 points.

Campbeltown Blended Malt 5 yo 2017/2022 (57.1%, Watt Whisky, Watt Whisky & Friends 2022, 150 bottles)

Campbeltown Blended Malt 5 yo 2017/2022 (57.1%, Watt Whisky, Watt Whisky & Friends 2022, 150 bottles)
Hey, last time I checked I was a member of Watt Whisky & Friends, was I not? But this bottle is only available in Campbeltown, which isn't exactly London, Berlin or Paris. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: there's only a handful of possible combinations, is there not? In any case, this is true Campbeltown, with old metals, chalkboards, grist, engine oil, coal smoke, some very black toffee, some semolina, waxed papers, carbon, metal shavings, mole sauce… But no obvious peat this far. With water: porridge, mud and raw wool, what's not to like. Mouth (neat): brilliant lemony chalk and gristy flour. There. With water: takes off. Dirty citrus, always a hit at Château WF. Finish: very long, chalky, muddy, yeasty, with a drop of lemon liqueur to keep it civilised. Comments: some could call this totally distillate-driven malt whisky 'CV-y'. Sometimes, with whisky and as the adage goes, value does not wait for the number of years, which is certainly true in Campbeltown. CV-y indeed.
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Fine Blended Malt Whisky 12 yo (44.4%, Whisky-Fässle, Speyside, 2021)

Colour: gold. Nose: I don't see why, this reminds me of the old Glenfarclas 17 yo, with its notes of Pimm's. Also whiffs of lit cigarettes, then malt soup, ale, glazed chestnuts, walnuts and agave syrup. Corsican chestnut-flavoured beer (it's called Pietra). A little unusual, but the palate will tell… Mouth: pretty dry, a little austere, really malty, spicy, marmalade-y and once again – and again – full of fresh walnuts. Finish: rather long, malty, with beers and green walnuts. Comments: very good, I think, but the Fässle's 18 yo blend was in a higher league, in my opinion. A little MOTR, perhaps.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Another go at the Ducks...

Fine Blended Malt Whisky 'Islay' (46%, Whisky-Fässle, 2021)

Colour: pale white wine. Nose: coal, plaster, carbon, crushed oyster shells (great fertiliser!) and mercurochrome. Loads of chalk too. Mouth: great fun, almonds, more oysters, more peat, more chalk, lime, lemon, olive brine. Finish: same, with a good length. Comments: no quibbles, no objections, no protests and no nit-pickings, this is as good as it gets and should go straight into your favourite hipflask. The one you bring to hunts, to walks or to the nearest church.
SGP:455 - 86 points.

Since we're doing peat, there's also this renewed line by 'London'…

Elements of Islay 'Cask Edit' (46%, Specialty Drinks, Bourbon and Sherry casks, 2022)

Approved by the brand owners, does it kind of say on the label. Good to hear. Colour: white wine. Nose: just plainly, totally and epitomically Islay. That walk on any beach, those meetings with friends that you haven't seen since the Covid outbreak, those long nights chatting about old bottles, and just this irreplaceable sense of the place. Aromas, what aromas? Peat, seashells, chalk, wool, seawater, seaweed, grist. There. Mouth: immaculately tense and vertical. Lime, seawater, ashes and smoked fish. Finish: long, same. Comments: same high quality as that of the Fässle, this one being just a notch purer. I say the sherry is anecdotal here. How many hipflasks do you own?
SGP:456 - 86 points.

Elements of Islay 'Bourbon Cask' (54.5%, Specialty Drinks, 2022)

There's both some first-fill and some refill bourbon wood in use here. Beginner 101: when they say first fill, that means that it's been filled before (I know, how tricky) but that that was with other liquids than Scotch whisky. Colour: white wine with greenish hues. Nose: perfection. Raw wool, fresh almonds, cigar ashes, and whelks and winkles. Do not laugh, whelks and winkles are seminal to many a peater. With water: perfect gristy smoky barleyness and leaven breads. Mouth (neat): iodine, lemon juice, seawater, and twenty-four oysters (like, No.2). Indeed, that's a minimum. With water: no changes, but that's not a problem. Finish: very long, very much on iodine and anything from both the sea and a proper kiln. And ashes. Comments: it's a simple, well-carved whisky, but that's probably one its main assets. The smoke's actually pretty huge.
SGP:557 - 88 points.

There's also a sherry but we'll have it later. Good night/morning/afternoon/evening.

Always good training, another bag-o-blends

Always good training,
another bag-o-blends