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Hi, you're in the Archives, March 2009 - Part 2 |
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March
31, 2009 |
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TASTING
THREE
OFFICIAL GLENDRONACH |
Glendronach
15 yo (40%, OB, US, 100% matured in
sherry casks, +/-1995)
Various batches of this older version
never quite convinced me, contrarily
to some stunning 12s and vintage 18s.
Colour: full amber. Nose: starts well
on raisins and prunes but it’s
soon to get rather weird, with herbal
(nice!) and cheesy notes (hard in
this context). Imagine a combination
of parsley/sage with gym socks and
camembert. Gets even mouldier then,
all on old rotten wood (old abandoned
wine barrels), saltpetre and mushrooms
(say, oyster mushrooms). It has its
moments (nice balsamic notes) but
the whole is frankly too shaky for
my taste, even if it does settle down
after a good twenty minutes (on walnuts).
Mouth: I must say this is nicer now,
even if the attack is a little thin.
Dry raisins (large black ones), mocha,
chocolate, cherries in eau-de-vie,
toffee… Not very complicated
but the style is very nice, kind of
antique, sometimes closer to some
brandy. Finish: not long but clean
and all on raspberry jam and dark
chocolate this time. Comments: it
is a very good dram actually, and
the shaky nose is entertaining. Probably
better than some other batches. SGP:551
- 83 points. |
Glendronach
15 yo 'Revival' (46%, OB, 2009)
This one is the brand new version
under new owners and Billy Walker’s
management. 100% oloroso matured.
Colour: amber. Nose: except for the
oloroso notes, this new one simply
hasn’t much to do with the old
15, but it sort of kept the best parts
(balsamico, mushrooms, raisins, parsley).
Much cleaner but certainly not monodimensional,
beautifully sherried, developing all
on walnut liqueur, beef stock, hints
of Madeira at some point (rather than
straight sherry), soy sauce, mint
sauce, a little camphor, maraschino
(very obvious after a while), horse
stable, coal smoke… Very complex
in fact, and pretty brilliant so far.
‘Wow’. Mouth: big, rich,
nervous and wonderfully sherried,
immediately remind us of some older
Macallan 18s (Gran Reservas). Coffee,
chocolate, prunes, dates, beef jerky,
dried bananas, figs, orange liqueurs…
And a very nice rancio in the background.
As for spices, we have cloves, cinnamon
and just a little star anise. Finish:
rather long, with the spices getting
bigger and just a faint dustiness.
Fades away on blackcurrant jam. Comments:
the fact that some distilleries still
have such old style sherried whiskies
may well be the best of recent news
from the whisky world. Adorable whisky.
SGP:462 - 92 points. |
Glendronach
18 yo 'Allardice' (46%, OB, 2009)
100% oloroso matured. Allardice was
the name of the founder of the distillery
in 1826 but some other sources claim
that the name was rather Allardes.
Well, that shouldn’t change
anything to this new baby’s
aromas and flavours… Colour:
amber. Nose: less aromatic and playful
than the new 15, with a sherry that’s
kind of subdued and straighter malty/nutty
notes. It’s also a tad grassier
(walnut skins, apple peelings, cut
grass). Picks up steam after a few
minutes, with beautiful whiffs of
wet earth and just hints of old roses
(surprise!). Keeps developing for
a long time, more and more on roses
and Turkish delights, which was unexpected.
Orange blossom water. Mouth: curiously
‘younger’ than the 15,
and a tad more on fruit eaux-de-vie
(kirsch, raspberry). Maybe the percentage
of first fill casks was lower than
in the 15 – or maybe not. Very
good but less complex. Finish: medium
long, on oak-matured raspberry eau-de-vie
(or something like that) Comments:
once again, a very good whisky but
the 15 is in a different league in
my view. SGP:651 - 87 points.
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| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the Dub
Narcotic Sound System
- Monkey
Hips And Rice (from their 1996
CD Boot Party). Good fun. Please buy
the Dub Narcotic Sound System's music. |
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March
30, 2009 |
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TASTING
– TWO NEW SPRINGBANK |
| Springbank
18 yo (46%, OB, 2009)
Let’s see if this brand new
Springbank is anywhere near the excellent
Longrow 18 from last year. It was
matured in 80% sherry, the rest being
bourbon. Colour: full gold. Nose:
what strikes me first is the youthfulness
here, as it starts all on notes of
blueberry yoghurt and fresh ripe strawberries
as well as hints of gamay (Beaujolais
nouveau) and muesli. It’s a
rather big smokiness that enters the
dance after that, with whiffs of lapsang
souchong tea, espresso coffee and
brown coal (stove) as well as a little
putty, fresh walnuts, soaked grains
and candle wax. The fresh fruits/’wet’
smoke combination works very well
in our view. Oh, and Barbour grease…
Extremely well composed. Mouth: assertive
and a little rougher than on the nose,
maybe a tad less ‘forthright’.
Rather oily mouth feel. The sherry
is a little more obvious too (redcurrants,
cassis buds)… Bubblegum, liquorice
allsorts, raspberry jam… Also
oranges, and once again a rather obvious
smokiness. Hints of chilli (spicy
pizza sauce). A tad roguish, pleasantly
so. Finish: long and in the keeping
with the palate. Notes of bitter tea
but also strawberry sweets and a hotness.
Comments: a magnificent nose, rather
old skool, and a full-bodied palate
that’s more than just very good.
The spirit talks. SGP:653
- 90 points. |
| Springbank
11 yo 1997/2009 ‘Madeira Wood’
(55.1%, OB, 9,090 bottles)
This one was fully matured in Madeira
wood, not just finished. Colour: full
gold. Nose: this is rougher and wilder
than the 18, and not just because
of the higher strength. First whiffs
of distillation, wash, boiled cereals…
Then the very same kind of rather
superb smokiness as in the 18 (maybe
a tad more towards a garden fire under
the rain), and finally a lot of cereally
and mashy notes again, not quite porridgy
but… Hints of Madeira indeed
but it’s anything but winey
as such. Old walnuts, cake, malt.
With water: impressive, we’re
very close to the 18 now! And whiffs
of a farmyard after the rain. This
one takes water perfectly well! Mouth
(neat): hot, rich and very fruity,
starting on loads of overripe oranges
and notes of violet sweets and just
a very faint bitter rubber –
nothing unpleasant. Quite some liquorice
too, orange liqueur… and more
liquorice. With water: once again,
it swims like Mark Spitz. Smoked orange
liqueur (uh?), Darjeeling, nougat.
Finish: long, with some soft spices
(cumin?) and notes of orange cake
like on the nose. Comments: very good,
maybe just a tiny tad more, say sloppy
than the 18. SGP:541 - 87
points. |
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STEPHANE
THE MAD MALT MIXOLOGIST
proposes his malt
cocktails for the
Springtime
TODAY:
"Versailles
on the other side" |
Pour into an old-fashioned, with ice:
- 6 cl Woodford Reserve bourbon (batch
of your choice)
- 4 cl old cognac
- 2 cl Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 1/2 lemon juice
Stir and finish moderately with Perrier.
Decorate with various fruits.
One old rule in the art of making
cocktails is to never blend grain
and grape alcoohols... well there
is also something that says "rules
are to be broken" isn't it ?...
Choose a good V.S.O.P. or even X.O.
cognac (e.g. Hennessy VSOP, Gourmel
10 or 20 carats) rather than a too
young and "biting" one. |
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| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the nasty, very nasty
F.U.N.K.
by Betty
Davis (1975). Please
buy Mrs Miles Davis' music. |
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March
29, 2009 |
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| CONCERT
REVIEW
by Nick Morgan
FRANZ FERDINAND
HMV Hammersmith
Apollo
London, March 9th
2009
In
a word, Serge, disappointed. Very
disappointed indeed. Don’t
get me wrong. You couldn’t
fault the effort of a band who pounded
away relentlessly for an hour, and
then returned for another twenty
minutes’ encore. And those
who thought it a short set obviously
can’t imagine just how knackered
these four now-not-so-young men
must have been when they finished.
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| Maybe
I should have seen them sooner –
about five years ago to be precise.
But I’d expected so much more
than art-school-smart image projection
and a wall of remorseless mono-rhythm
sound, so loud that it left me with
a throbbing head for almost twenty-four
hours. I had thought that
Franz
Ferdinand were supposed
to be clever, the saviours of post-punk
British guitar music, tightly constructed,
fashionably discordant, with wry and
knowing lyrics beyond their years.
Well maybe they are – but any
subtlety was washed away in a tide
of sub-disco rock and roll, with every
song starting to sound dangerously
like the one before and the one after,
and that famous riff from ‘Take
me out’, the chart success that
broke the band, seemingly cropping
up in every song. |
| And
lest anyone get the wrong opinion,
I was in a very small minority, because
the packed HMV Hammersmith Apollo
(yes – HMV have decided to invest
in the venue game, a sure sign that
live music must be on its way out)
loved every minute of it, the crowd
close to the stage screaming like
it was 1966, and everyone baying for
more when the set reached its slightly
premature end. |
| Upstairs
they had deserted their seats in favour
of standing by the third song, ‘Do
you want to’, and the majority
of the audience, including the late
Giant
Haystacks who was helpfully sitting
in front of me, stayed on their feet
for the whole night. Clearly unable
to dance in such confined space instead
they jerked and twitched like Shakers
at a meeting, or was it, I wondered,
the onset of a collective bout of
irritable bowel syndrome? Talking
of irritable reminds me of the Photographer,
who sat firmly in her seat all night,
looking like she was sucking a soor
plum, occasionally rolling her eyes
heavenwards, and mouthing unrepeatable
obscenities at various members of
the entranced audience. No chance
of any pictures here, even if she’d
been inclined to try. As you might
have guessed, she didn’t like
it much either. |
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| The
faux Glaswegian four have a new album
out: a bold departure into keyboard-driven
disco said some of the reviews; simply
poor, said others. It’s certainly
hard to pick the albums from the songs
– indeed although the set list
of around 16 songs is only slightly
tilted towards the new work, you might
have thought that heard live, they
all came from the same disc. But new
or old, the crowd know their stuff,
when to sing and when to chant. Front
man Alex Kapranos manages to whip
them up into a frenzy with ease. As
you may know, he’s something
of a gourmet (he’s been a chef),
having written extensively about the
culinary adventures of rock and roll
tours, so I had half expected to see
him in Hammersmith’s
finest where we ate our dinner.
Then I remembered that it now takes
his people over two hours to fit him
into his famously skinny-fit jeans
before he goes on stage – so
no pre-gig feast for him. |
So
that’s it really. The lesson
of the evening, if there is one,
is that you shouldn’t wait
until bands are releasing their
third album before you go and see
them. It’s often too late.
But of course, you can make your
own mind up – as I write they’re
starting a tour of continental Europe
after which they head for the States,
so go and have a look. - Nick
Morgan
Listen:
Franz
Ferdinand's MySpace page |
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TASTING
– THREE OLD GRAINS |
Invergordon
43 yo 1965/2009 (52.7%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #15532)
Good news that Duncan Taylor
still have casks of these 1965 Invergordons.
My favourite so far was cask #15539
that was bottled in 2002 (91). Colour:
full gold. Nose: almost violent and
kind of acetic at very first sniffing,
but that rapidly vanishes and then
we have ultra-bold notes of varnish
and acetone plus a lot of vanilla
and coconut, as expected. Most probably
a bourbon cask. The varnishy notes
get then rather more discreet, in
favour of more vanilla, coconut, café
latte and a little orange liqueur.
Still a bit violent, let’s add
water. With water: another planet,
really. No more varnish and much more
high-end orange and coconut liqueurs.
Or Mandarine Imperiale? Old rum? Very
fruity. Mouth (neat): this is plain
orange liqueur at cask strength with
a few spices (cinnamon first, then
star anise) and rather less coconutty
notes than in other ‘expressions’.
Very creamy, almost thick on the tongue.
And good. With water (although water
isn’t obligatory here): well,
water brought out more ‘tannins’
and I wouldn’t say it improved
the whisky. Finish: long, clean, orangey
and cococnutty. In short, a classic.
Comments: actually, this one is very
tricky, as you’ll need two glasses.
Indeed, the nose really improves with
water whereas that doesn’t work
with the palate! Great old grain anyway,
but give it a little time so that
the rather heavy varnishy aromas can
vanish. SGP:730 - 88 points. |
North
of Scotland 1964/1981 (100° proof,
George Strachan, cask #37526)
A very rare old bottling by a rare
bottler, from a rare distillery that
was closed in 1980. Colour: gold.
Nose: this one is a little smoother
than the Invergordon despite a higher
strength (most probably bottle ageing
that smoothened it) but there is a
little acetone remaining and the overall
profile is a tad bland and simple.
I’d dare to say ‘vanilla
and orange-flavoured vodka’
to give you an idea – but remember
we’re no grain freak. Something
by Absolut. With water: rather in
the same vein but there’s also
a little caramel. Pleasanter for sure
with water, smoother and fruitier.
Mouth (neat): once again, this one
isn’t ‘coconutty’,
nor orangey by the way. Rather on
lemon marmalade and something like
gin-fizz plus quite some vanilla again
as well as lactones. Big notes of
cloves. With water: it’s good
but there’s a quick ‘varnishiness’
happening (S, c’mon!) Also more
Malibu if you see what I mean. Finish:
long and rather spicier, with quite
some ginger. Comments: a good old
grain, and it’s not everyday
that one can try North British at
less than 20 years of age anyway.
Maybe just a tad ‘wonky’.
SGP:541 - 78 points. |
| Carsebridge
28 yo 1965/1994 (57.8%, Signatory,
cask #155112, 600 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: almost silent
at first nosing, extremely different
from the two others, with little vanilla
and little wood influence. Rather
a growing grassiness and pleasant
notes of wet limestone and chalk that
give it a very singular profile. Something
smoky/tarry as well. Unlike grain
whisky and unlike malt whisky! With
water: unexpected notes of parsley
and lovage and whiffs of freshly squeezed
lemons, skins included, and wax. Very
nice. Mouth (neat): once again, this
is different and rather grassier than
the usual old grain, but it’s
also quite powerful and a little bitter
- a little hard to enjoy without water.
With water: now it’s very good
even if more typically ‘grain’,
with notes of oranges, coconuts, nougat
and bubblegum. Simpler pleasures,
but pleasures. Finish: rather long,
maybe a tad sugary, with quite some
wood at the retro-olfaction (pencil
shavings, sawdust). Comments: multifaceted
– as they say. Good old grain
whisky. SGP:552 - 86 points.
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March
27, 2009 |
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| TODAY
IS THE INTERNATIONAL WHISKY DAY |
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It's
also Michael Jackson's birthday and
we're all invited to raise a dram
or three to his memory. (drawing:
Bruno Marty, a member of the excellent
French whisky-
distilleries forum) |
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TASTING
– THREE OLD SPIRITS FROM AROUND
WWII
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| It’s
usually said that high-class golden
spirits such as cognac, armagnac,
rum, calvados and malt whisky do converge
when they get very old, to the point
where some say that it’s often
quite difficult to distinguish between
them. |
| But
that may be a legend, as it’s
not that often that one can try some
at very similar ages, not to mention
similar vintages. Now, we had the
opportunity to gather three very old
ones, one Armagnac, one Speyside and
one Jamaican rum, so let’s see
if that ‘convergence’
is plain mythology or not. |
| Château
de Laubade 1945 (40%, OB, Bas Armagnac,
bottled July 1985, 70cl)
Château de Laubade is the best
known of all Armagnac producers (not
merchants/bottlers). This vintage
was probably the first post-war, as
the Gers region was liberated from
the German army around harvest time
in 1944. Colour: amber. Nose: starts
unexpectedly spirity and oaky at the
same time, with a kind of roughness,
but it’s soon to get softer
and wonderfully ‘roasted’
(torrefaction, burnt cake, espresso)
and, believe it or not, a little malty.
A lot of prunes as well, fruitcake
(dried pears), old cassis liqueur,
old leather… And finally these
typical notes that one should get
in most very old golden spirits, involving
mint, camphor, eucalyptus and precious
woods (including thuja.) Could one
say this is an old sherried malt whisky?
Most probably! There’s more
and more sherry actually. Mouth: starts
a little more vinous and certainly
more oaky/tannic, with the same kind
of harshness that we already had at
first nosing. Softens up after that,
developing all on prunes and chocolate
liqueur, ganache, cocoa and plain
coffee beans (that we were crunching
when we were kids – remember?)
Notes of figs as well, and even a
slight saltiness. Very good but maybe
not spectacular, the body being maybe
a tad thin. Finish: short to medium,
drier, all on coffee and cocoa. Quite
a lot of oak. Comments: great nose,
good palate – the fate of most
of the very old spirits when they
were integrally aged in wood. SGP:350
– 86 points. |
Avonside
Glenlivet 39 yo 1938 (43%, Gordon
& MacPhail, Italy, Pinerolo)
This one was distilled just before
WWII. We already had a 33yo 1938 that
was extremely good, albeit quite ‘mushroomy/mouldy’.
Let’s see how this older version
behaves. Colour: pale amber. Nose:
indeed, we are not too far from the
Armagnac here, with roughly the same
kind of oaky tones, but instead of
coffee, prunes and fruitcake we have
rather notes of kumquats, bergamot,
quince jelly and fresh almonds. Even
freshly cut apples (granny smith).
In short, this is somewhat fresher
than the Armagnac but the general
quality is roughly the same, that
is to say pretty high – provided
you like old spirits. Mouth: very
good at the attack but gets then very
dry and oaky, very close to the Armagnac
in that respect, even I the Armagnac
was globally better. Gets very resinous
– wrongly so – and very
tea-ish (strong over-infused black
tea). A few very nice fruity notes
do linger on (green bananas, apples)
but other than that this is too drying
for my taste. Finish: shortish but
very tannic and oddly peppery. Comments:
too much wood, too much time in cask.
Too bad because most of the other
whiskies in this ‘black label’
series are quite
superb and sometimes totally stunning.
SGP:261 – 80 points
(for the nose). |
| Long
Pond 1941/1999 (50%, Gordon &
MacPhail, Jamaican Rum, cask #76)
This cask was shipped to the UK right
after the war in 1946, and finally
arrived at G&M’s warehouses
in Elgin in 1967 (not that it spent
21 years on the road, mind you), where
it spent 32 further years. Colour:
gold. Nose: well, this is rum and
it could certainly not be anything
else, and certainly not wine brandy.
Starts extremely aromatic, on ultra-huge
notes of sugar cane and fantastic
herbal notes (dill, Colombo spices),
then fabulous woods (red cedar and
sandal plus the same hints of thuja
as in the Armagnac), then quite some
incense, then ripe plums, then puréed
black olives (what we call tapenade
here in France)… What a stuning
nose! Endless development on all things
woody and spicy – absolutely
terrific spirit. And these wonderful
‘rancid’ notes that one
can find in old rums. Mouth: punchy
and majestic – and certainly
not overly woody this time. Beautiful
notes of Corinth raisins, sugar cane
of course, bitter oranges and very
ripe bananas, then all kinds of spirits
such as date or fig from the middle-east,
then fir honeydew, then rum-soaked
(obviously) sultanas, then a little
ginger, turmeric and cardamom…
And more oranges, more cane sugar
syrup, crystallised pineapples…
All that in a perfect oakiness, not
dominating at all. But beware of rumoporn,
better cut this here. Finish: rather
long, wonderfully raisiny and orangey.
Comments: amazing to which extent
the original notes of sugarcane remained
intact here. Absolutely superb but
dangerously drinkable… Could
this have been whisky? No way! SGP:651
- 92 points. (and thank
you, Heinz!) |
| And
another horror on WF: a quick
mix of all three spirits
(equal parts). On the nose, it’s
the rum that really dominates its
buddies, even if the whisky does have
it say in the background (cut apples,
mushrooms). The palate is very good,
but once again it tastes more like
old rum. The latter does tame the
Armagnac’s and the whisky’s
excessive tea-like tannicity, the
whole displaying a very appealing
spicy/chocolaty/raisiny character.
Anyway, this is a fun drink, and maybe
some bottlers should try to combine
various golden spirits and to produce
such a ‘global dram’ (even
if I doubt they would ever use spirits
from the ‘30s/’40s). But
how would one call it? Rumskignac? |
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: best of Krautrock, these
guy were really in advance! They
were the German superband
Can,
this time playing Spray
in 1973... Please buy Can's music! |
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March
26, 2009 |
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TASTING
– THREE GLENFIDDICH |
| Glenfiddich
1991 'Don Ramsay' (40%, OB, 2005)
Don Ramsay is Glenfiddich's head cooper.
This batch was made out of no less
than 225 casks. Colour: pale gold.
Nose: typical Glenfiddich, maybe a
tad drier than usual at first nosing
and a tad more vanilled. Whiffs of
dandelions, cornflakes, fresh mint
leaves, then roasted nuts and overripe
apricots. Quite some milk chocolate
as well, and finally obvious whiffs
of newly sawn oak. Nice nose. Mouth:
rather punchy at 40%, with the oak
playing the first parts (hints of
pencil shavings – no, that isn’t
as bad as it sounds – and strong
tea.) Gets then fruitier, more on
light banana notes and strawberries,
and finally quite spicy, all from
the oak I guess (a lot of nutmeg and
cinnamon.) Finish: medium long, with
added notes of crystallised oranges
that go well with the spices. Comments:
the oakiness is just at the limits
when considering Glenfiddich’s
soft profile, but otherwise it’s
excellent malt whisky. SGP:431
- 83 points. |
| Glenfiddich
21 yo 'Rum Finish' (40%, OB, Cask
selection #19, Bottled +/- 2008)
This is the older Havana Reserve,
now with batch numbers ala A'bunadh.
Colour: full gold. Nose: much richer
than the 1991 of course but not exactly
rummy. Quite some sultanas and honey,
then sweet white wine (late harvest
gewurz’), vanilla crème,
tinned litchis, oriental wood (sandal,
cedar), even incense… Gets more
and more fragrant but, once again,
not rummy. Mouth: round and creamy,
more powerful and candied than the
1991 but, once again, not exactly
rummy. White-fruits fruit cake, soft
oak and soft spices (white pepper,
cinnamon), gingerbread and speculoos.
Finish: just like the 1991 this time,
the finish is a tad too oaky for our
taste but still clean and fresh. Comments:
simply very good. SGP:531
- 85 points. |
| Glenfiddich
21 yo Millennium Reserve (40%, OB,
+/-2000)
Colour: gold. Nose: quite superb,
complex, delicately flowery and perfumy
(musk, old roses) and then wonderfully
fruity, with some of the fruits that
we already had in the ‘Rum Finish’
(litchis) but also kumquats and tangerines.
Hints of coriander. Gets maybe just
a tad too milky/buttery after a moment
but nothing unpleasant. Mouth: very
excellent now, nervous, fruity, spicy,
complex, subtle, balanced… A
good step above its bros, with a little
more of everything actually, and very
distinctive notes of blood oranges.
Also hints of cranberry juice –
pretty unexpected. Finish: rather
long, still very complex, with added
notes of milk chocolate and more spices
too. Comments: a great dram, too bad
there were these slightly offbeat
milky notes on the nose, otherwise
we would have reached 90 on our modest
scale. Oh, and it’s so drinkable!
SGP:631 - 88 points. |
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STEPHANE
THE MAD MALT MIXOLOGIST
proposes his malt
cocktails for the
Springtime
TODAY:
"Strawberry
field" |
Pour into a tumbler, with ice:
- 6 cl Auchentoshan Classic 40%
- 2 cl strawberry liqueur
- 1/2 lemon juice
- Finish at will with orange juice
Stir and decorate with berries and
(if you have one!) a wheat leaf.
You may change it into a "so
trendy" smoothie, substituting
the strawberry liqueur with strawberry
juice, using a blender/mixer, and
with crushed ice instead of big ice
cubes. |
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|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: André Prévin's
ex-wife Dory
Prévin sings
a very scary song in 1970, called
With
my Daddy in the attic. Or the
art of contrasts... Please buy Dory
Prévin's music! |
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March
25, 2009 |
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A
PEATY GLENMORANGIE OR GLENFARCLAS?
OR AN EVEN PEATIER ARDBEG OR LAGAVULIN?
|
| DO
IT YOURSELF!
This is no joke, this is not April
1st, it seems that you can indeed
smoke any beverage yourself, just
like Portland’s Lance
Mayhew does. According to him,
you could use a barbecue and ‘draw
smoke off of the barbecue, cool
it and give it a place to pass over
the alcohol.’ Another
solution is to buy a smoking
gun and to load it with peat
(widely available, just google peat
briquettes). We didn’t try
to do it yet, but be sure we will,
maybe in summer (with due precautions
and not using cask strength whisky!) |
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TASTING
THREE
SCOTS IN ASIA |
Prime
Blue (40%, OB, Morrison Bowmore, Asia,
Pure Malt, +/- 2008)
Prime Blue (http://www.primeblue.com.tw)
is a very successful brand in Taiwan,
with more than 1Mio bottles sold per
year. Nice music on the website too!
Colour: full gold. Nose: round, malty
and caramelly, pretty inoffensive
but certainly balanced. Goes on with
pleasant notes of yellow flowers,
honey and bananas flambéed,
apricot pie and just hints of peat
of the background that prevent it
from being too soft. Perfectly composed,
I’d say, despite the rather
heavy notes of hot caramel that get
a tad too obvious after a while. Mouth:
sweet, malty and caramelly, reminding
me a bit of JW Black even if this
is no grain. Apricot pie, apple pie,
roasted peanuts, brownies, malt, honey,
café latte… You see what
I mean. No traces of peat at this
stage. Pleasant. Finish: here’s
the flaw, it’s very short, leaving
an obvious bitterness in the aftertaste,
maybe from E150 – or maybe not!
Comments: perfectly fine, and the
lack of finish will get unnoticed
anyway, as soon as one or two ice
cubes will be added to this baby.
SGP:331 – 75 points.
|
| Prime
Blue 12 yo (40%, OB, Morrison Bowmore,
Asia, Pure Malt, +/- 2008)
Colour: dark gold. Nose: strangely
enough, this older version is less
expressive than its younger sibling,
as well as a little grassier. It also
seems that there’s a little
more peat, leaves and leather, and
less straight ‘caramelly honeyness’.
Very nice nonetheless on the nose.
Mouth: good attack, once again rather
drier than the NAS version. More peat,
more spices (quite some pepper, cardamom
powder, nutmeg), more oak and more
orange marmalade. Good body too. Finish:
not too long but ‘existing’,
with more citrusy notes. Hints of
bergamot. Comments: this is simply
good and pretty flawless. A good surprise,
and most certainly a high-level discotheque
whisky, nicely packaged. SGP:352
- 80 points. |
| Update:
Ho-cheng tells us that these good
malts are marketed by Suntory Taiwan
(not Japan) and that the 12yo was
rated No.1 in a pure malt blind tasting
competition in 2008. |
| Dam-ba
(40%, Ian McLeod, Asia, Pure Malt,
+/- 2008)
On the front label: ‘very extra
old pure malt scotch whisky’.
Very extra old? Let’s see…
Colour: full gold. Nose: strange,
very strange… And completely
different from the Prime Blues. Much
drier, kind of tea-ish, peatier as
well, leafy/grassy, on the verge of
being cardboardy. Old walnuts. Actually,
it’s rather nice once again,
only very different. Hints of diesel
oil and plain kerosene come through
after five minutes. Let’s see
what happens on the palate, it could
either be great, or a complete disaster…
Mouth: no it’s no disaster,
quite the contrary, even if this is
in no way as balanced (some would
say commercial) as the Prime Blues.
Starts spicy and leafy, with a lot
of peat (say half a Talisker’s
peatiness) and a lot of spices (first
pepper and ginger, then paprika, soft
chilli), lacking maybe only a little
more depth. Goes on with quite some
lemon marmalade and even more ginger,
the peat getting even more obvious
at the end. Smoked tea. Finish: we’re
back on more malt and caramel but
there’s always quite some peat.
Comments: big surprise, this is very
good despite the 40%, and despite
a little lack of balance. Recommended!
(if you live in South-East Asia).
SGP:245 - 83 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: Texas' very famous country
singer Kimmie
Rhodes singing All
In all (from her CD Walls fall
down). Please buy Kimmie Rhodes'
very sweet music. |
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March
24, 2009 |
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| TASTING
– NINE RECENT SPEYSIDERS BY
DUNCAN TAYLOR IN THEIR FORTIES (almost!) |
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<-
Leafing through Duncan Taylor's original
bond book in 2006. What an impressive
list of old casks! |
| Macduff
39 yo 1969/2008 (40.8%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #3668)
Colour: straw. Nose: rather shy at
first nosing, maybe a tad cardboardy,
but gets then more emphatic, on fresh
almond milk, walnuts and pine resin.
Hints of green bananas, freshly sawn
oak. Returns on a lot of almondy notes,
which we find nice. A lot of fresh
mint after ten minutes, even plain
menthol. Mouth: quite some oak of
course but balance is kept. This old
whisky is well alive, even if the
big mintiness and the growing notes
of green tea and nutmeg makes it more
and more drying. Finish: a little
bitter at this point. Olives picked
directly from the tree, liquorice
wood, aniseed. Comments: somewhat
pastis-like. Wood matured pastis?
That’s an idea! Anyway, cask
#3681 bottled in 2006 by Duncan Taylor
was way better in our opinion –
quite a stunner actually (WF 91) SGP:361
- 80 points. |
| Glenrothes
38 yo 1970/2009 (42.3%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #10577)
Colour: pale gold.
Nose: very different from the Macduff,
much fruitier (bananas, ripe apples)
even if there’s a slight feintiness,
which is a little bizarre here. Butter,
beer. More kirschy notes as well.
This one does not smell ‘old’.
Closes up a bit after a moment, which
was unexpected and reminds us of some
wines. Needs a long time before it
opens up again, more on pineapples
and verbena. Mouth: good attack, balanced,
more candied and almost a little caramelly,
with an obvious maltiness and notes
of cornflakes and café latte.
Coffee liqueur. Finish: rather long,
just a tad tannic. Slightly rummy.
Comments: this one doesn’t quite
match some of the stellar 1968s and
1969s by the same bottler –
many have reached 90+ in y book, but
it’s still very good old whisky,
not too tired. SGP:461 - 85
points. |
| Caperdonich
39 yo 1969/2008 (42.2%, Duncan Taylor,
Lonach)
These old Caperdonichs are almost
never disappointing, and probably
some of the best BFYB old malts on
this little planet. Colour: straw.
Nose: unusual for sure, starting on
something like cold herbal tea. Chamomile
is very obvious, as well as a little
anise and mint just like in the Macduff.
Goes on with beautiful hints of citrons,
tangerines and even mangos, and finally
a little vanilla crème and
an unusual grassiness that reminds
us of Japanese green tea (the one
they use for cooking). Beautiful nose.
Mouth: as always, this could have
been overly drying and woody but it
isn’t the case – at all.
Good attack, good body, a fresh fruitiness
(fresh pineapples) and just a little
mint. Alas, the whole drops quite
a bit in the middle, leaving just
some notes of lemon and white pepper.
Finish: rather short but clean and,
once again, not drying. Comments:
an excellent old dram for whisky lovers
that aren’t always seeking power
(and glory, err…) Too bad there
was this slight weakness on the palate.
SGP:441 – 87 points.
|
| Caperdonich
36 yo 1972/2009 (55.6%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #7421)
Colour: full gold.
Nose: this is superb! Magnificent
notes of dried apricot, figs, prunes
and dates combined with notes of mocha,
nougat and cream puff. Maybe a tad
decadent? I’m joking…
With water: some rather superb farmy/vegetal
notes arise and the fruitiness gets
even bigger. High-end coffee, soft
spices, aromatic woods, ‘arranged’
rum… Wonderful! Mouth (neat):
wonderful, punchy, rich, nervous,
with a lot of fruits that sort of
keep the obvious oakiness at large.
Lemon sauce, quinces, aniseed cake...
With water: more of the same, with
the citrusy part getting bigger. Unexpected
saltiness (smoked fish?) Finish: long,
clean, fresh, fruity and spicier now
(mustard, 4-spices). Comments: well,
this is no surprise. Most of these
1972 Caperdonichs from DT’s
are brilliant, with the one for The
Nectar (50.3%-126 bts) topping the
list (WF 93). Highly recommended.
SGP:542 - 91 points. |
| Glen
Grant 36 yo 1972/2009 (46.2%, Duncan
Taylor, Rare Auld, cask #8948)
Colour: straw. Nose: we’re
obviously a little below the Capderdonich
in terms of complexity but the ‘pleasure
factor’ is almost as high. We’re
a little more on ripe apples, butter
pears, vanilla custard and crystallised
oranges. Develops towards more notes
of fresh oranges, with just a little
ginger and nutmeg. Very, very elegant.
Mouth: fruity, fresh, youthful yet
complex, delicately spicy (cinnamon)…
Tangerines and gooseberries, ripe
apples (do you know star crimson?),
praline and nougat… Simply very
good. Finish: rather long, with the
spices playing louder now. Quite some
pepper and a lot of ginger (you have
to like that). Comments: an excellent
old malt that proves that Glen Grant
can be great even without a heavy
sherry treatment. A little more complexity
would have pushed it towards 90/91
points, and maybe it had a death seat
after the Caperdonich. By the way,
you don’t ignore that Caperdonich
and Glen Grant are very close neighbours,
do you? To the point where Caperdonich
had been christened ‘Glen Grant
#2’ when it was built in 1898.
SGP:531 - 89 points. |
| Glen
Grant 38 yo 1970/2009 (49.9%, Duncan
Taylor, Rare Auld, cask #3494)
Colour: gold. Nose:
this one has a hard time after the
1972. Closed, then simply very grassy.
Water should help. With water: wow,
water really works like a 1000W amplifier
here! Fab ‘fruity grassiness’,
stunning ‘mouldiness’
(I know, mouldiness shouldn’t
be stunning)… Not unlike the
inside of a well-kept cigar humidor.
If the palate matches this nose, we
have a winner. Mouth (neat): very
close to the 1972, only more powerful
and with added flavours of lemon squash
and drops. Lemon balm syrup. With
water: oh, too bad, that did not work
this time. Don’t get me wrong,
water did not make it weaker or anything,
it just didn’t add any extra
flavours. Maybe just a slight ‘farmy
grassiness’ which is what often
happens when you add water. Finish:
rather long, rather grassy. Comments:
I had thought this one would defeat
the 1972 but that didn’t happen
on the palate, quite the contrary.
Oh well… SGP:451 - 88
points. |
| Glenlivet
39 yo 1968//2008 (41.4%, Duncan Taylor,
Lonach)
Colour: straw. Nose: hard times! The
Caperdonichs were superb, the Glen
Grants were excellent… And this
Glenlivet is shy and silent, mostly
on cut grass, fresh almonds, fresh
walnuts and hints of hay and wet papers.
Blackcurrant buds. Whiffs of paraffin
and linseed oil. This seems to be
for lovers of grassy whiskies! Mouth:
better than on the nose for sure,
and more directly enjoyable even if
we’re curiously close to plum
spirit here. Slightly bubblegummy
(and on strawberry sweets). Cake.
Finish: medium long, with a little
more wood. Comments: let’s face
it, I’ve made a mistake when
I decided to put the Glenlivets after
the Caperdonichs and Glen Grants.
It would have been better off after
the Macduff. Pretty good, but rather
uninspiring spirit. SGP:341
– 79 points. |
| Glenlivet
39 yo 1970/2009 (52.6%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #2009)
I guess cask #2009 had to be bottled
in 2009! Colour: dark straw. Nose:
rougher than the 1968 but just as
grassy. Cut grass and almonds. Not
much else but maybe water will help.
With water: improves a bit indeed,
but we’re still very grassy
and austere here. Unusual coastal
notes (even twenty minutes after it
was watered down), seaweed, sea breeze.
Other than that it’s shy whisky.
Mouth (neat): this is obviously better
than the 1968 but just as on the nose,
it’s rough and grassy spirit.
And dry as a bone! With water: no
development I’m afraid. The
good news is that it’s very
‘straight and clean’ now.
Finish: medium long, hard to define.
Many friends would just say ‘good
malt whisky’. Comments: very
good old whisky but as several official
bottlings have already shown, Glenlivet
may need quite some sherry to rise
above standards. SGP:341 -
81 points. |
| Glenlivet
39 yo 1968/2008 (53.6%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #5246)
Colour:
full gold. Nose: unbelievable that
this comes from the same distillery!
It’s much more assertive, almost
wham-bam, interestingly spirity (top-notch
white rum) and getting wilder and
wilder (game, shochu). Also wet stones,
wet dead leaves, mushrooms…
A tad whacky but we like this! With
water: more mushrooms and even something
slightly peaty/smoky. Old leather
and kumquats, mild grassy cigars (Dominicans).
Mouth (neat): very big attack, really
punchy and, once again, very ‘different’.
Chlorophyll, resins, pink pepper,
saffron… All that is a little
rough, bitterish and ‘green’
I must say. With water: right, water
helped a bit this time. Very nice
notes of grapefruits and bitter oranges.
Cinchona, ginger tonic. Who said Campari?
Finish: long, with more oak and more
spices, all from the pepper family.
Not drying, though. Comments: unquestionably
the best of the three Glenlivets,
but not quite in the same league as
the Caperdonichs/Glen Grants. SGP:352
- 83 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: Australia's brother-sister
duo Angus
& Julia Stone do
this very nice song called Here
we go again (from their 2007
CD A book like this). Please buy
the duo's music! |
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March
23, 2009 |
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TASTING
– TWO FINISHED TALISKERS |
| Talisker
1991/2004 'Distillers Edition' (45.8%,
OB, Amoroso finish)
Colour: full gold. Nose: it’s
always quite noticeable that the ‘DEs’
do let the original distillery’s
character shine through (right, maybe
not Glenkinchie’s…), which
is the case once again with this Talisker.
We get a lot of leather, shoe polish,
soot, fresh walnuts, freshly ground
pepper, peat, new rubber boots (just
hints) and seawater, then an added
layer of chocolate and orange jam
(maybe Pimm's No. 1) that work well.
More coastal notes (oysters, oyster
sauce) and even more leathery tones
after a while. Mouth: big, extremely
creamy and zesty at the same time,
with a lot of pepper (they must be
throwing ground black pepper into
the casks at some point!) and a lot
of peat combined with orange marmalade
and lemon blossom honey. Very rich,
almost thick, evolving towards cloves
and more orange, the sherry as such
being rather discreet even if this
is thicker and sort of fatter than
the average Talisker. Gets maybe just
a tad sugary (orange drops) but the
pepper keeps it balanced. And there’s
more and more dark chocolate…
Finish: long. Ever tried peppered
chocolate filled with orange marmalade?
Comments: maybe the sherry finishing
was aimed at making a smoother version
of Talisker, but like we already checked
with other batches, that failed miserably
;-). SGP:546 - 88 points.
|
| Talimburg
24 yo 1984/2008 (52%, The Whisky Fair,
rum finish, 244 bottles)
Maybe more double maturing than finishing
here, as this one spent more than
two years in a rum cask (maybe not
first fill, having said that). Colour:
straw. Nose: unusual! Much more buttery
and ‘creamy’ than expected,
and much more flinty/mineral as well.
Keeps changing, passing by lime peeling,
wet wool, wet chalk, fermenting hay,
Jägermeister, oregano, chives
(very huge notes of cooked chives,
actually)… A different fruitiness
only comes through after a looong
time, with an oranges/molasses combo
that’s rather unusual once again.
Finally gin fizz. This one needs a
lot of time on the nose, but then
it gets very pleasant. Mouth: a little
disconcerting at the attack, as if
it was hesitating between some sort
of ‘lemon confectionary’
and a full load of peppery notes.
There’s also more rum than on
the nose (vegetal/sugarcane). It’s
finally the traditional Talisker character
that wins the game, with as much pepper
as in the DE, maybe even more. Also
traditional mustard (‘moutarde
à l’ancienne’),
not the sweetish swill that some make
‘somewhere’ and a growing
grassiness. Finish: long and unexpectedly
similar to the DE (chocolate, pepper,
oranges). Comments: it’s as
if Talisker will always defeat the
invaders, no matter who they are (read
which kind of wine/spirit). Anyway,
his is very good once again. SGP:357
- 87 points. |
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: best of noise. This amazing
band is Japanese and they're called
Boredoms.
Have a try at this great track called
Ante
10 (warning, large file) and
maybe, just like us, you'll think
that there's still something new
and interesting to come out of the
rock scene (yes, even after FZ)...
Please buy Boredom's music. |
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March
22, 2009 |
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TASTING
– FOUR 1976 ARDBEG (a perfect
Sunday session) |
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| Ardbeg
1976/2004 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Connoisseur’s Choice)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: wow, even
at 43%, this tells us how much Ardbeg
was a fabulous whisky back in the
mid-1970s (not that it isn’t
anymore, mind you.) Exceptional mix
of leather, tar, liquorice, warm butter,
cough syrup, iodine, horseradish,
kelp, caramelised apples and diesel
oil. Only lacks a little length on
the nose. Mouth: excellent body and
powerful attack but once again, that
doesn’t last for too long, which
may well be this one’s only
flaw. Both ashier and fruitier than
on the nose (more cooked apples) but
also beautifully salty and coastal,
with notes of cough syrup and almond
milk, getting then more citrusy. Finish:
too bad it’s a tad shortish
but other than that it’s perfect,
with something flinty like in some
white sauvignons. Comments: top notch
Ardbeg as far as the profile is concerned
but lacks just a little oomph to make
it to 90+ in my book. SGP:457
- 89 points. |
| Ardbeg
24 yo 1976/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing
OMC, for World of Whisky, 648 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: a more powerful
and more austere version of Ardbeg,
much more mineral, flinty, lemony
and almondy/resinous. On the other
hand, there’s rather less medicinal
and coastal notes than in the G&M,
although those do show up a bit after
a few minutes. Different, but high-class.
Smells way younger. With water: unexpected
whiffs of cooking cabbage –
well, not really unexpected, we already
had that with various old Ardbegs.
Leek, wet wool, stale seawater, then
tobacco, fresh newspapers and a return
on porridge and other soaked grains.
Like many old Ardbegs, this one tells
you a story. Mouth (neat): indeed,
this is one of these ultra-zesty Ardbegs,
probably not too complex but stupendously
lemony and salty (frankly, somebody
must have thrown two or three fistfuls
of salt into this barrel!) With water:
oh nohhh! It falls apart and gets
cardboardy, dry and tea-ish. This
one swims like a horseshoe, so much
for an islander! Finish: superb when
@50% vol. but not too nice @+/-40%.
Strange! Comments: I shouldn’t
have tried it with water (hah, amateur
conscience), it would have gone much
higher on my scale. SGP:367
- 88 points. |
| Ardbeg
1976/1999 (56%, OB, Manager's Choice,
sherry cask, warehouse #10, cask #2391,
497 bottes)
Colour: dark amber. Nose: oh, this
is another variation, and another
interesting one. Starts on quite some
coffee liqueur and chestnut liqueur
that get progressively more tarry
and meaty, to the point where it starts
to smell almost like plain beef stock
after a while. Spectacular heavily
sherried malt so far, ‘Ardbeg’
working almost as a seasoning here.
At deeper nosing there are myriads
of leathery and resinous smells, wonderful!
With water: superb. We’re very
close to an exceptional Havana cigar
(nothing to do with the cheapy-crappy
whisky+cigars marketing lines.) Mouth
(neat): bang! Immensely rich, salty,
smoky, tarry, chocolaty, raisiny (not
sweet raisins) and fantastically dry.
Cough drops (Pulmoll), tar liqueur,
bitter oranges, brown tobacco (untipped
Gauloise)… Can malt whisky be
bigger? With water: it’s a kind
of fruitiness that comes out with
water, somewhere between orange marmalade
and, quite unexpectedly, lychee liqueur.
Right, just a drop! Maybe a tad disconcerting
at this stage. Very fruity. Finish:
maybe not the longest old Ardbeg but
balance is perfect – and everything
is there, well in place. Comments:
a very ‘wide’ malt whisky,
let’s only hope it’s not
only history. SGP:467 - 93
points. |
| Ardbeg
1976/2002 (53.1%, OB, cask #2390,
Feis Isle 2002, 494 bottles)
Of course we tried this one several
times before but we never wanted to
publish tasting notes as it was part
of a very traumatic experience back
in 2002. To cut a long story short,
somebody stole several bottles of
this one (and other fab Islayers)
while we were flying back from Islay
in 2002, thanks to the interstellar
level of incompetence of both Heathrow
and Swiss. We needed seven years to
recover… Colour: dark amber.
Nose: we are not very far from the
old MC (a sister cask!) but this is
certainly more ‘chiselled’
and both more austere and more majestic.
An amazing nose where beef stock (yes,
again), leather, bitter oranges, eucalyptus,
chocolate, unlit Habano, game, old
car engine, cooked seashells, dried
seaweed, wet leaves, smoke and pumpernickel
(wet black bread) keep whirling tirelessly.
With water: this cask must have been
touched by a god (pick your favourite).
Mouth (neat): okay, the sister cask
was a scoundrel, this one is a lady.
Same flavours and feelings (please
read above) but subtler, more serene,
more appeased… In short, simply
more elegant, and isn’t elegance
what we all miss and lack in f****g
2009? I don’t know why, this
one makes me think of Joni Mitchell
(strange how our brain works, eh!)
With water: more of the same, with
a little more salt. Finish: eternal.
Comments: you should try to put your
hands on one of these bottles. SGP:457
- 96 points (unchanged).
PS: if I remember well, this was priced
at £99... |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: The New Pornographers'
Neko
Case does a rather
rooty song called Buckets
Of Rain. Please buy Neko Case's
music... |
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| |
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March
20, 2009 |
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TASTING
– THREE PITTYVAICH |
| Pittyvaich
12 yo (54%, James MacArhur, cask #15096,
+/-1989)
James MacArthur had several young
Pittyvaichs, all rather good. Colour:
gold. Nose: very powerful, rather
aggressive, hugely grassy and a tad
soapy and spirity. Doesn’t sound
too nice but water may work here…
With water: it got much more approachable
but still big, with more overripe
apples but also quite some wood smoke
and toffee. And ‘a peatiness’.
Mouth (neat): ultra-sweet attack,
all on pineapple sweets and strawberry
sweets, with a lot of alcohol. Indeed,
unreduced fruit spirit. With water:
I wouldn’t say it got any more
complex. Fruit spirit and liqueurs,
quince, apples and hints of orange
blossom water (oriental pastries,
Turkish delights.) Finish: long, still
very fruity, with just a little pepper
from the wood. Comments: a rather
simple malt but its ‘natural’
side makes it appealing. Less smokiness
on the palate than on the nose. SGP:642
- 83 points. |
| Pittyvaich-Glenlivet
13 yo 1977/1991 (58.4%, Cadenhead,
black dumpy)
A sherried version that I already
tried (and loved) but I never wrote
proper tasting notes. Time to repair
that. Colour: dark amber. Nose: rather
aggressive again but there’s
a lot of chocolate and coffee, which
I like. Then parsley and chicken broth.
A bit hard without water, though,
so with water: once again, water worked
beautifully. Superb espresso coffee
with high-end schnapps and a faint
peatiness. Mouth (neat): strong, very
sweet just like the JMcA but with
the added layer of sherry (chocolate,
prunes) that make it more complex.
With water: excellent, huge fruitiness
(oranges and grapefruits first, then
pineapples and strawberries) and always
these coating notes of coffee, prunes
and chocolate. No meatiness on the
palate, though. A little liquorice.
Finish: extremely long, on fruit-filled
chocolates. Comments: I had scored
this one 90 a few years ago but I’ve
been a little dubious about that score
since then… I was wrong. Big
whisky and another great old dumpy.
SGP:653 - 90 points. |
| Pittyvaich
29 yo 1979/2008 (50.2%, Duncan Taylor,
Rarest of the Rare, cask #5640, 139
bottles)
Sister casks #5637 and #5639 haven’t
been much to my liking (sugary) so
let’s see… Colour: gold.
Nose: austere, raw, grassy, not far
from the 12yo by JMcA, only more vanilled
and a little more polished. Porridge.
With water: it doesn’t develop
as much as the youngsters, getting
only easier and more rounded. Vanilla,
hints of wet paper, grass. Mouth (neat):
exactly the same happens on the palate,
a huge, raw whisky with a big grassiness
and notes of candied fruits plus quite
some oak. Not easy. With water: this
is better and we’re now extremely
close to the 12yo by JMcA. Frankly,
it’s exactly as if 29-12=17
more years of maturing didn’t
change anything to this Pittyvaich.
Probably a multiple refill cask. Finish:
long, fruity and, well, very young.
Comments: it seems that this cask
is rather better than former bottlings
from the same series, but don’t
expect to find the mellowness and
zenitude of an old well-aged Speysider.
SGP:631 - 83 points. |
|
STEPHANE
THE MAD MALT MIXOLOGIST
proposes his malt
cocktails for the Springtime
TODAY:
"Danish
in the bush" |
Pour into a shaker, with ice:
- 6 cl Bushmills Malt 10 yo 40%
- 1,5 cl Cherry Heering
- 0,5 cl white mint liqueur (e.g.
Get 31)
- 3 cl pink grapefruit juice
Shake then strain into a cocktail
glass decorated with a shamrock.
May also be served on crushed ice
to obtain a "Frozen Danish in
the bush" |
 |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: let's have some funk
today with India's 'original diva
of soul' Asha
Puthli and her Lies
(1973). Asha notably sang with Ornette
Coleman and Tom Jones, which says
long about her ecclectism. Please
buy her music! |
 |
| |
|
March
19, 2009 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
– TWO OLD SPRINGBANKS |
| Springbank
1965/1988 (46%, Moon Import, The Birds,
cask #367, 504 bottles)
From a butt. Colour: dark amber. Nose:
a very evanescent fruitiness (oran…
whoosh) and then the most magnificent
meatiness one can find in whisky,
combining plain beefsteak and venison.
I’m not kidding, this smells
just like a wonderful piece of cooked
meat. Make that tournedos Rossini
(beef filet topped with foie gras
and mushrooms). Mouth: no, it does
not taste like tournedos Rossini!
We have rather a huge yet complex
fruitiness involving tropical fruits
(dried lychees, avocado milk, kumquats,
coconut liqueur and so on) and countless
soft spices. The rest will remain
between me and this malt ;-). Finish:
not excessively long but rich and
candied, mainly on dried dates and
orange-flavoured caramel. Comments:
the only problem with these whiskies
is that their greatness is expected,
so no surprises. What a pity! Now,
this at cask strength would be…
unimaginable! SGP:532 - 93
points. |
| Springbank
34 yo 1964/1998 (52.2%, Cadenhead's,
sherrywood)
Colour: amber/brown with red hues.
Nose: aw! Once again, there’s
a lot of sherry but this time we’re
much more on old Chambertin, with
these exceptional notes of wild cherries
and a smokiness that’s not to
be found in Springbank anymore. You
may add to that a litany of ‘secondary’
aromas such as prunes, cigar box,
‘old Jaguar’ (sounds very
pre-credit crunch, doesn’t it!),
horse saddle, black truffles (and
something petrol-like), old books…
Better stop now. Mouth: punchy and
invading, thick and oily yet elegant,
still on crystallised cherries and
prunes, with quite some chocolate,
Grand-Marnier, hints of malt extract
(just hints!), stout and burned cake
(brownies). More cherries after that
and an unexpectedly growing fruitiness
(even more cherries!) Finish: medium
long, with a very faint sourness that
may be this one’s only flaw
– and a tiny one. Comments:
an old liqueur with a Springbank label
;-). Superb anyway! SGP:641
- 92 points. |
| BONUS
– The grand
horror! We secretly took this photograph
at Oostende’s whisky festival
last year and we think it should give
you a good idea of the current state
of affairs in the whisky collectors’
world. Some seem to be ready to go
to any extremities! What a wonderful,
terrible world… ;-) |
 |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the very excellent (and
Scotsman) ex-Men at Work Colin
Hay singing the sad
but beautifully soulful Up
in smoke. Please buy Colin Hay's
music. |
 |
| |
|
March
18, 2009 |
|
|
NEW
ON WHISKYFUN
MIKE
NICOLSON'S LIFE IN THE TRENCHES |
 |
“I
can't think of anyone else with lower
editorial standards, prepared to sanction
such low quality drivel. God bless
you”, wrote Mike Nicolson in
a note attached to the ‘little
scribble’ that he just sent
us. Agreed, a strange way of pitching
but actually, many whisky bloggers
or even real life press tycoons would
kill to be able to publish some of
Mike’s drivel, because
just in case you don’t know,
he’s one of the most famous
- albeit iconoclastic - retired distillery
managers (think Lagavulin, Caol Ila,
Blair Athol or Lochnagar and several
other dream factories). Mike does
also share with us the love of The
Blues – he’s a guitarist
and singer extraordinaire - and a
propensity to ride motorcycles faster
than he should, according to some
of the most skillful surgeons who
officiate near Vancouver Island, where
Mike now lives because the place ‘has
roads, not just a lot of corners joined
together.’ So, with no further
ado, here’s his ‘low
quality drivel’, carefully
unexpurgated for Whiskyfun’s
most distinguished and indulgent readers.
- S.
PS: Mike, can
we have more of this drivel?
|
 |
MIKE
NICOLSON's
LIFE IN THE TRENCHES
The Distillery
Engineer
A
Distillers’ life is not
a happy one. Well, not true
really. Most of the time it’s
cool. Even self depreciating,
weirdo, insecure, socially challenged,
paranoid Scottish persons, can
have a good time being a Distillery
Manager. |
| It’s
just that when you visit the
distillery, you usually only
see the “front of house”.
The manager will be wearing
the slightly frayed, subtly
stained, tweed sports jacket,
the checked shirt, the flannels
and the round toed lace ups.
The tie will be completely wrong
but, if you’re lucky,
it will subtly match the antique
nicotine stain on his fingers.
This, by the way, is a sartorial
“Great leap forward”
from thirty years ago, when
archetypal Distillery Manager
chic involved a brown workcoat,
a tweed bunnet and being forty
pounds overweight. |
| The
completely forgiving thing is,
that the inhabitant of this
unfortunate style disaster will,
usually be a very nice man………
or woman. Which reminds me,
I completely forgot any reference
to moustaches or sabre scars.
|
| In
spite of carrying the great
traditional burden of Scottish
low self esteem he /she will
be, charming, interested, welcoming,
effusive and, will roll his/her
“r’s” in a
completely engaging way. Amusing
stories and anecdotes of distillery
life will spring from his/her
lips, the tour will be great,
and everyone will have a good
time. Who says these Scots fellas’
don’t know nothin’
about public relations? |
| This
being so, it’s not the
Manager that I would like to
feature in this brief epistle
but, the unsung hero of Malt
Whisky making,……………….the
distillery engineer! |
| Who?
Well I’m not surprised
you’ve never seen one,
sightings are registered on
a similar frequency to those
of Bigfoot. As far as distillery
visitors are concerned they
may well be fleeting, illusory,
ethereal beings, due mainly
to their fear of strangers,
particularly white ones but,
to the Manager, they are an
essential and integral part
of keeping the supply of the
magic liquids flowing, for your
continued delectation. |
| (God
bless you all. Keep up the good
work.) |
| As
far as this particular species
is concerned there is no derivative
type as their personal attributes
will range wildly from obsessive
compulsive to spaced out hippy
trippy “think good thoughts
and it’ll go…………..man”.
They will be however, similar
in appearance, in that they
wear the same torn overalls,
their battered boots will be
forever strangers to polish
and one arm will probably be
slightly longer than the other,
from habitually carrying the
toolbox in the same hand. The
oil is so ingrained in their
hands that sometimes you catch
yourself wondering if it isn’t
actually leaking out of them.
They do share, disarmingly and
unaccountably, one common trait,
optimism. Good people to have
around. |
| My
own experience of distillery
engineers has been significant,
rich and varied, ranging from
Callum, whose conventional approach
to mechanical adversity was
to use a forever bigger hammer,
to Alistair, whose finest work
was done on the back of a cigarette
packet. From George, who was
a sort of, before his time Paul
Teuttle to Billy, a not so borderline
lush. |
| Managers
and engineers share stuff. They
will be there with you, lying
in the oil filled culvert, with
the blow torch, trying to thaw
out the oil supply to the boiler
at three o’clock in the
morning, in January. They will
be apparently happy to help
you work in any dark, damp,
smelly place, which visitors
never see, with your pyjamas
sticking out of the bottom of
your trousers, attempting to
persuade some usually large
mechanical device not to have
a mind of it’s own. |
| They
share ownership too. |
| A
distillery is a microcosm of
society that doesn’t always
follow the conventional model.
Take managers for instance,
they are responsible aren’t
they? They live there, they
run the Distillery, they worry
about the character of the spirit
it produces don’t they? |
| It’s
“their” distillery
isn’t it? Well, yes, but
engineers own it too. |
| How
is it then that distillery operatives
will take instruction from their
engineer? That shouldn’t
happen, according to the closely
typed line diagram so thoughtfully
produced by the Human Resources
Department, to remind us of
the way things should be. Respect
is the answer. |
| When
things breakdown, everyone sees
the engagement of the engineer
to get it running again, quickly.
He is the man who knows the
fine detail of every little
wire and pipe, their relationship
and function. He is comfortable
entering “the belly of
the beast”, where it can
be sometimes uncomfortable and
potentially dangerous, to render
mechanical surgery to rapidly
restore it’s health. So,
it’s “his”
distillery too, if you know
what I mean. Listen, never mind
distillery operatives, anyone
will take instruction from engineers,
when you’re faced with
that kind of commitment, it’s
easy. |
| I’ve
been lucky, of the good, the
bad and, the cosmetically challenged,
all the engineers that I have
worked with have been great.
Motivated, resourceful, funny
(and you need to be pretty damn
funny to make me laugh
in an oil filled culvert in
January) and unfortunately,
unsung, so, how about it? Next
time you crack the eighteen
year old, how about a little
toast to the black hand gang.
|
| 'May
their spanners never be rusty!' |
| We
had been having some periodic
trouble with the discharge valve
on Washback Number three. For
the uninitiated, a washback
is a very large, usually wooden,
fermenting vessel full of foaming
goo which gives off large amounts
of carbon dioxide which unsuspecting
visitors can be invited to sniff
by sticking their heads inside,
to hilarious effect. |
| Several
weeks went buy until the valve
was driving everyone crazy.
Finally, Sandy, the distillery
engineer announced that he had
“had enough” and
was going to take it apart that
morning. Several hours went
buy until there was a knock
on my office door and in comes
a rather wet and dirty Sandy
but, with a gleam of achievement
in his eye. “Hey boss
look what I found in that faulty
valve” says he, thrusting
forth, triumphantly, a pair
of very mangled spectacles.
|
| I
looked at them for a moment…………………..
and then sent him back, to look
for a shoe. |
|
| |
 |
TASTING
TWO
25yo GLEN GRANT
|
| Please
don’t bother with the colours
of the whiskies on the pictures, as
always they are meaningless. Actually,
the version at the right is paler
than the one at the left. |
| Glen
Grant 25 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail,
licensed, +/-1995)
‘Highland Malt Scotch Whisky’
written on the banner. Colour: amber.
Nose: a very nice sherry, very elegant
and somewhat antique, with rather
emphatic notes of sandalwood, orange
marmalade and leather as well as hints
of banana skin. Alas, that doesn’t
last for too long and the whisky gets
then a little simpler, maltier and
maybe a tad shy. Mouth: good, malty,
sherried, very nutty and caramelly,
with quite some sherry but also dry
notes of tea and cinnamon. Good body
at 40% this time. Finish: medium long,
even maltier, on orange cake and more
cinnamon. A tad drying. Comments:
rather undemanding but good. We’re
quite far from all the excellent vintage
versions, having said that. SGP:441
- 83 points. |
| Glen
Grant 25 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail,
licensed, +/-2008)
‘Speyside Single Malt Scotch
Whisky’ written on the banner.
Colour: gold. Nose: quite shy right
at first sniffs, with less sherry
and a little more butter/porridge.
Very faint dustiness. Also a little
vanilla, mint and hints of ‘ironed
wet fabric’ (if you see what
I mean). A very discreet malt whisky.
Mouth: once again, this isn’t
big whisky at all but the profile
is pleasant, with a little sherry
but much less than in the older version.
A little more fresh fruits (pears,
peaches), apple pie and soft spices
(cinnamon, a little ginger.) Finish:
medium long, with a little more oak
now (tea). Comments: likable and,
well, nice. It’s a little hard
to say much more… SGP:431
- 79 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: she's a Kabyle from Algeria
and she's a terrific singer, Souad
Massi does Yemma
(Mummy I Lie To You) (that's
on her 2007 live album). You must
buy Souad Massi's music! |
 |
| |
|
March
17, 2009 |
|
|
CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
GEORGIE FAME AND THE
BLUE FLAMES
|
Ronnie
Scott’s, London
March
7th 2009
It’s
a full house at Ronnie Scott’s
as a trim and dapper Georgie
Fame takes to the stage
for the first show of the evening.
It’s the end of a seven-day
residency – “it’s
been a long week – and now
all we have to do is blow our brains
out for ninety minutes – twice”.
|
 |
| Fact
of the matter is that Fame and his
band were probably holding a little
in reserve for the second set (veteran
saxophonist Alan
Skidmore was certainly trying
to avoid bleeding lips so early in
the evening), but no-one in the audience
was going to complain about that.
Just like Ronnie Scott’s (this
year celebrating a fiftieth birthday),
where he’s been playing an annual
residency for four decades, Fame is
a British jazz institution. And this
early Saturday evening audience –
birthdays, anniversaries, you name
it, they’re celebrating it -
are looking for the sort of entertainment
that Fame and his band are guaranteed
to deliver. |
| And
it’s not just music, fantastic
solos almost casually thrown out with
the sort of charming insouciance that
one might expect from British jazz
musicians, that we get. We are, after
all, in the presence of one of the
great personalities of UK music. Someone
whose list of collaborators reads
like a who’s who of jazz, R&B
(as we used to call it) and even rock.
Fame gently reminds us of his rank
after song number two, ‘Get
on the right track baby’. He
leans forward over the keyboard of
his Hammond organ (Fame, it is claimed,
was among the first British musicians
to adopt the Hammond) , and seems
to manage to catch the eye of everyone
(even those looking at his back) in
the audience. |
 |
| He
speaks with the authority of a benevolent
uncle who brooks no contradiction.
“Now, I personally believe that
Ray Charles’ popularity in Europe
was solely down to Eddie Cochran,
who brought his love of Charles’
music to England when he toured here
in 1960. That of course was the infamous
tour when he died in a car-crash just
outside Chippenham. I was his 16-
year-old piano player”. There’s
no bullshit here: Fame, whose face
and grey hair may give away the years,
but whose voice is astonishingly timeless,
is the real thing, and he oozes an
effortless coolness. |
| And
who wouldn’t be cool with a
band like this? Fame’s two sons,
Tristan and James Powell, are on guitar
and drums. Alec
Dankworth, of the great jazz dynasty,
is on bass. Anthony Kerr is playing
vibraphone, Guy
Barker trumpet, and Skidmore,
apparently unencumbered by a bandaged
hand, saxophone. It’s a band
that’s been playing together
for 15 years or more. There are more
reminiscences from Fame: in “the
obituary section” he plays a
song he wrote for the recently-deceased
Blossom Dearie, who had penned one
for him after seeing him perform for
the first time in the 1960s, and also
recalls composer Steve Gray, who died
last year. “This song needs
an obituary too”, he says, before
introducing ‘Yeah yeah’,
his chart hit. |
 |
| Skidmore
rips his way through a solo on ‘Birdy
birdy’ (“it’s as
close to rock and roll as I can get
these days”). And with his own
Mose Allisonesque lyrics Fame sings
some new songs – ‘All
I know’, an exploration of the
memory loss that comes with advancing
age, and ‘Guantánamo
by the sea’, thoughts prompted
by a frustrating attempt to get a
work permit at short notice to play
at New York’s Blue Note Club. |
| This
is a more than satisfactory performance.
The playing is outstanding, the band
all in equally good humour. And it’s
not that we haven’t seen Fame
perform before, by himself and with
Van Morrison, it’s just that
he simply belongs here – ‘forty
years at Ronnie Scott’s and
nothing changes’ he complains
as he struggles to adjust the piano
stool. He is, as we sometimes say,
‘in with the bricks’.
So if you visit London, and get a
chance to see him at Scott’s,
then don’t hesitate to get a
ticket, whatever the cost. - Nick
Morgan |
| Listen:
a nice and famous old one
by Georgie Fame and the Blue Fames,
Sitting
in the park (1966) |
|
STEPHANE
THE MAD MALT MIXOLOGIST
proposes his malt
cocktails for Spring
TODAY:
"Pat
is mat!" |
Serve into a shot glass:
- 2/3 Power's irish whiskey
- 1/3 Cointreau or Triple sec Combier
This one is a shot, drink it straight.
Frozen, cold, or at any temperature
you like... but bottoms up!
Could be a pretty good "starter"
before celebrating St Patrick :)
Variants: Try to mix another "strong
liqueur or spirit" with an irish
whiskey you like, to make your own
St Pat's shot! |
 |
| TASTING
– FOUR IRISH (‘coz indeed,
it’s St. Patrick today) |
 |
|
Greenore 8 yo (40%, OB, Irish grain,
Limited Edition, Bottled 2007)
Please remember that we are neither
too much into grain whisky, nor too
much into Irish whisky, so please
take all this with a little salt.
Colour: straw. Nose: starts on hints
of banana and coconut flying around,
getting then rawer, grassy and spirity
before it finally gets rather silent,
with only a little grated coconut
and praline remaining. Pretty inoffensive
so far, but certainly cleaner and
nicer than the early version that
we tried back in February 2005 (only
60 points at the time). Mouth: starts
on bananas and molasses rum with a
little café latte and goes
on with the same flavours. Very faint
‘bubblegumminess’. Still
a little spirity. Finish: rather short
but not unpleasant, on very ripe apples
(golden) and simple rum again. Comments:
a good ‘dram’, progressing
for sure, but maybe not for malt drinkers.
Sweet and light, maybe a discotheque
whisky that should come in various
colours. SGP:420 - 70 points.
(scored 100% blind) |
| Greenore
15 yo (43%, OB, Irish grain, Limited
Edition, 5,000 bottles, 2008)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s
funny how this one smells like some
tequila (reposado?) at first nosing,
but I must say it gets then shy and
very mildly aromatic, with only traces
of bourbonny oak and vanilla around
a rather vegetal profile as well as
notes of wet chalk. A little coconut
milk as well. Very soft and a little
more complex than the 8yo. Mouth:
once again, we’re between various
spirits here (rum, tequila and whisky).
Vanilla, pineapple liqueur and candy
sugar plus a little wood and liquorice.
More coconut liqueur after a while
(yup, Malibu and the likes). Finish:
medium long, sweet and still slightly
rummy. Molasses and green tea. Comments:
a few steps above the 8yo in our view
but still not the thing… Now,
it’s most certainly ‘good’
spirit, but it just cannot compare
to malt whisky, especially malt whisky
by Cooley. SGP:430 - 74 points.
(scored 100% blind) |
| Bushmills
'400th Anniversary 1608' (46%, OB,
Bottled 2008)
Colour: gold. Nose: not that we have
tried hundreds of Bushmills before,
but this one truly is unusual, with
less exuberant fruity notes than usual
and firstly much more waxy, leafy
and earthy notes, and secondly huge
milky and porridgy notes that aren’t
too pleasant in our opinion. Yoghurt
sauce. A little quirky and bizarre…
Mouth: much, much more pleasant on
the palate! Round, sweet, malty and
grainy in the attack (hence less Busmills-esque
once again), but then the notes of
bananas and vanilla sugar do kick
in. Hints of rosewater, Turkish delights
and dried tropical fruits (these mixes
that one can buy, sliced coconuts,
papayas, pineapples, guavas…)
Good palate! Finish: medium long,
in keeping with the palate. Comments:
not too complex but pleasant, a worthy
variation on Bushmills’ usual
ueber-fruitiness. SGP:541
- 77 points. (scored
100% blind) |
| Tyrconnel
15 yo (46%, OB, cask #1852/92, bottled
2008)
Colour: straw. Nose: another league,
no doubt. Rich, fruity and vanilled
at first nosing, getting then much
more complex, on Jasmine tea (very
obvious), ripe bananas, fresh mint
leaves and ripe gooseberries. Very,
very nice, aromatic, fresh and clean
but not simplistic, even if a tad
‘modern’ in style. Mouth:
oily mouth feel and a good attack,
much firmer than the three other Irish
we just had. Starts on both malty
and rummy notes, with an obvious grassiness
as well as quite some liquorice and
green tea, with a good structure.
Gets then a little sweeter and ‘sexier’,
with notes of dried apricots, quince
jelly and vanilla custard, getting
finally leafier and earthier. Hints
of pear eau-de-vie. Finish: long,
grassier and oakier. Plum spirit.
Comments: an Irish with cojones (if
you allow me) that reminds us of Saint-Magdalene
in a certain way. No, we won’t
elaborate any further… SGP:461
- 86 points. (scored
100% blind) |
| |
| |
|
March
16, 2009 |
|
|
CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
DENNIS ROLLINS' BADBONE
Jazz Café,
London, February 28th 2009 |
 |
I
wouldn’t say the Jazz Café
is full – but it’s far
from empty and upstairs is largely
occupied by happy diners, including
(it turns out) the mum of saxophonist
James
Gardiner-Bateman and her pals.
Gardiner-Bateman is one of the young
British jazz musicians who form, along
with band-leader Dennis
Rollins, Badbone, perhaps
best characterised as a 21st century
funk-friendly incarnation of the early
Crusaders.
|
| Rollins
himself was a Jazz Warrior, and earlier
in his career was closely identified
with Courtney
Pine – founder of the Warriors
- with whom he toured widely. Like
Pine (who now has an honorary doctorate
and OBE for his troubles), Rollins
is deeply committed to musical education
in the UK. In addition to his own
band he works extensively with other
musicians and will shortly be touring
the UK with the legendary saxophone
player Maceo
Parker, a regular performance
partner. |
| Did
I mention that Rollins plays the trombone,
that most unfashionable of brass instruments
- "I got the last instrument
in the cupboard" – he told
an interviewer, “and just got
on with it”. In fact he’s
an evangelist for his instrument,
and rightly so, because in the hands
of someone as talented as Rollins
it is transformed from a support into
a solo instrument that can easily
match anything else in a brass section.
Now obviously there has to be a physical
skill in mastering such a difficult
instrument, but added to this, Rollins
brings a huge sense of gusto, or joie
de vivre, and not a little technical
savvy. He’s actually got more
effects and loop pedals in front of
him than most self-respecting rock
guitarists, and he makes use of them
throughout the set. |
| The
content is nicely balanced between
funk – ‘Full fat funk’,
‘Where it’s at’
and ‘Funky funk’ –
and more melodic songs such as Steven
Stills’ ‘Love the one
you’re with’ and Tracy
Chapman’s ‘Fast car’.
Rollins leads with his fluid and almost
silky playing but was ably abetted
by Gardiner-Bateman who contributed
some ferocious solos on his alto sax,
and by guitarist Johnny
Heyes. Supporting are Alex
Bonfanti on bass, Mitch Jones
on keyboards and Jack Pollitt on drums.
It’s a real ensemble show, and
Rollins goes out of his way to give
his musicians all the space they need
to perform, and I’ve no doubt,
develop. |
 |
| But
it’s no training session –
it’s as accomplished a night
of well-structured and well-performed
jazz funk as you could wish for. And
as I observed to the Photographer,
if you walked into a club in New Orleans
by chance and found these guys playing
you’d probably think you’d
struck gold. Tribute enough to the
irrepressible Rollins and his fellow
musicians.
- Nick Morgan (photographs by Kate) |
 |
TASTING
– TWO EXCELLENT AUCHENTOSHAN |
| Auchentoshan
33 yo 1967/2001 (45.3%, Douglas Laing,
Old Malt Cask, 162 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: starts on superb
whiffs of overripe apples, old walnuts,
orange pekoe and quince jelly, with
something slightly ‘antique’
(old waxed furniture, sandalwood,
cigar box.) Keeps developing on all
sorts of high-end woody notes, butter
cream and praline, with just a little
olive oil and beeswax and finishes
more on eucalyptus wood and faint
hints of tiger balm. Perfect ageing,
I’d say… More nougat,
orange blossom water and vanilla fudge
after fifteen minutes. Very ‘gourmand’
but not thick at all. Mouth: rather
fantastic, like many of these old
Auchentoshans that were filled in
top-notch casks. Amazingly fresh and
fruity, with quite some apple juice,
crystallised pineapples, bergamots,
honey and orange marmalade. Gets then
a little grassier and woodier, with
extremely pleasant spices such as
‘soft’ ginger, star anise
and cinnamon plus quite some lemon
balm tea. Perfect balance. Finish:
rather long, very clean, with a perfect
balance between the fruits and the
spices (more pepper in the aftertaste).
Comments: a very fresh oldie, seemingly
bottled exactly when it was at its
peak. Reminds me of some old official
1965s and 1966s, only a little fruitier.
Excellent but warning, also hugely
drinkable. SGP:641 - 92 points.
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| Auchentoshan
24 yo 1984/2008 (57.2%, Signatory
for Vinothek St. Stephan Vienna, cask
#265, 186 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: we certainly aren’t
very far from the 1967 at first nosing,
with the same old wood + nougat combo
but also more fruits (juicy fruit,
a little bubblegum, strawberry drops…)
Also quite some orange liqueur –
a lot, actually. Pomegranate syrup.
Kind of refreshing. With water: even
greater, almost as majestic as the
1967, just a tad more on the fruity
side once again. Triple-sec and Alexander
cocktail (cocoa crème, gin,
cream.) Quite some fresh ginger as
well. Mouth (neat): Auchentoshan’s
exuberant fruitiness at its highest,
with a lot of strawberries and bubblegum
propelled even further by the high
A.B.V. Also quite some light honey
and a lot of spices from the wood
(chilli). Interesting and unusual
combination. With water: the fruits
got a little less demonstrative, leaving
more room for vanilla custard and
soft spices (masala, cashew sauce).
Finish: rather long, clean, more on
vanilla, fresh ginger and lemon balm.
Comments: excellent Auchentoshan,
I had feared it would have been in
trouble against the 1967 but not at
all. Once again, well done Vienna!
SGP:731 – 90 points
(and thank you, Walter).
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March
15, 2009 |
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TASTING
– THE HORROR!
When
we asked our Taiwanese friend and
Malt Maniac Ho-cheng what these
odd bottles were, he instantly replied
‘I would recommend you
do not drink them – the producer
did hold a license from 2005 but
it was suspended in 2007.’
No need to say that that rose my
curiosity even further, so I asked
Ho-cheng to tell me more and this
is what he wrote back: |
| ‘By
law, it could be a distillery as it
held a production licence (can be
either distillation or fermentation.)
Many of these small distilleries lost
their licences simply because they
bought industrial alcohol and re-distilled
it to get rid of the added methanol.
Indeed, the government requires industrial
alcohol to include 1% methanol so
that there isn’t any spirit
taxes to pay. These ‘distilleries’
found it actually cheaper to redistill
such industrial alcohol and you can
imagine that some may not have been
able to take out all of the methanol.
That's why I advice you don't even
try them.’ Scary, isn’t
it? But there’s no such word
as ‘can’t’ so let’s
at least try to do a partial tasting
of these potentially poisonous drams…
And simply not swallow! |
Noble
Whisky (40%, Jiou Tusan Co, Taiwan)
Colour: full gold. Nose: covered with
a heavy dose of caramel and probably
other ‘extracts’, which
makes that it isn’t too catastrophic
actually – or not for a while.
Gets then worse and worse, on stale
Schweppes, brand new tennis shoes,
glue, boiling milk, just unpacked
vinyl record and burning rubber. Mouth:
nothing. Caramel in water, cheap gin
and Guinness from the day before yesterday.
Finish/aftertaste: inexistent but
we spat it out anyway. Comments: vile,
vile stuff! SGP:420 - 3 points. |
| Morandy
Whisky (40%, Jiou Tusan Co, Taiwan)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: rotten oranges
on a bed of pencil shavings, topped
with an ink-based sauce. Wet gravels,
overheated electronics. The good news
is that this one quickly dies (or
is it me?) Mouth (banzai!): same as
the ‘Noble’ one but with
less caramel, which makes it actually
kind of better. Ginger tonic, cornflakes,
plastic and strawberry-flavoured jellybeans.
Finish: a tad longer than the noble.
Comments: this one is on the verge
of being ingestible, and probably
better than McDowell’s N°1
Diet Mate! And please don’t
be mad at me, but I even drank two
drops of it! Waaah, time to go to
bed – see you tomorrow, if I
survive! SGP:310 - 17 points.
PS: see, we’re actually using
the whole 100-scale! |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: some sweet nostalgia
in The
Waybacks's beautiful
little song Savannah
(from their CD Loaded). Please buy
The Waybacks' music. |
 |
Check
the index of all entries:
Whisky
Music
Nick's Concert
Reviews
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Best
malts I had these weeks - 90+
points only - alphabetical:
Ardbeg
1976/2002 (53.1%, OB, cask #2390, Feis
Isle 2002, 494 bottles)
Ardbeg
1976/1999 (56%, OB, Manager's Choice,
sherry cask, warehouse #10, cask #2391, 497
bottes)
Auchentoshan
24 yo 1984/2008 (57.2%, Signatory for
Vinothek St. Stephan Vienna, cask #265, 186
bottles)
Auchentoshan
33 yo 1967/2001 (45.3%, Douglas Laing,
Old Malt Cask, 162 bottles)
Caperdonich
36 yo 1972/2009 (55.6%,
Duncan Taylor, Rare Auld, cask #7421)
Glendronach
15 yo 'Revival' (46%,
OB, 2009)
Long
Pond 1941/1999 (50%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Jamaican Rum, cask #76)
Pittyvaich-Glenlivet
13 yo 1977/1991 (58.4%, Cadenhead,
black dumpy)
Springbank
18 yo (46%, OB,
2009)
Springbank
34 yo 1964/1998 (52.2%, Cadenhead's,
sherrywood)
Springbank
1965/1988 (46%, Moon Import, The Birds,
cask #367, 504 bottles)
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