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Hi, you're in the Archives, November 2009 - Part 2 |
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November
30, 2009 |
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TASTING
THREE 18yo MORTLACH |
Mortlach
18 yo 1990/2008 (46%, Hart Bros, Finest Collection,
First Fill Sherry Butt)  Colour: amber. Nose: starts on a rather fragrant
sherry, with big whiffs of fresh espresso and raspberry
jam s well as quite some cooked strawberries. Some
traces of sulphur that hint more at gunpowder and
used matches that at ‘rotten eggs’.
Gets then nuttier and beefier (beef jerky, bresaola.)
Very malty as well. Mouth: starts very malty, chocolaty
and nutty, getting drier and drier and, once again,
very meaty. Slightly grapey as well. Quite some
rancio and touches of walnuts and blackcurrant leave
tea. Finish: rather long, in keeping with the attack
and the middle. Comments: one of these good and
very idiosyncratic Mortlachs. SGP:452 -
85 points. |
| Mortlach
18 yo 1990/2009 (57.3%, Wilson & Morgan Barrel
Selection, sherry butt, cask #4433) Colour:
amber. Nose: punchier and thicker than the HB, on
loads of coffee and cassis liqueur. The meatiness
is similar. Amaretto, coffee liqueur, beef stock.
With water: gets drier and grassier. Cherry stem
tea and just hints of rubber bands. More winey notes
after that. Mouth (neat): very rich, creamy, jammy
and malty. Strawberry jam and chocolate, cassis,
some pepper and quite some cloves. With water: gets
kirschier. Coffee-schnapps. Very good if you like
this kind of profile. Finish: long, on mulled wine
and fruit liqueurs. Comments: another very good
one – if you like Mortlach of course. A bit
old style. SGP:551 - 87 points. |
Mortlach
18 yo 1991/2009 (56.9%, www.mortlach.de)  Our
friends at www.mortlach.de have adopted an old style
label, inspired from an early 1990s bottling for
the US. Colour: amber. Nose: a more civilised version
this time but it is well in the style of the best
sherried Mortlachs, with this distinctive meatiness
mixed with quite some coffee, malt and chocolate.
Hints of tar and smoked tea (lapsang souchong) that
may hint at ‘good’ sulphur but it’s
in no way sulphury. With water: more leather, very
old wine (old Bourgogne), civet, game… It’s
complex. Mouth (neat): just like the W&M, rich,
creamy, sticky. Chocolate, kirsch, Schwarzwalder
cake and Seville oranges. Millionaire shortbread.
With water: typical development on fruit jams and
oranges plus touches of leather. Finish: very long,
a tad more orangey than the W&M. Orange squash
and chocolate, a little ginger. Comments: as old
skool as its label! Very good selection. SGP:552
- 88 points. (and thanks, Markus!) |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening: this
superb Dance
of Paradigms by Czechia's Rozsa
Oskar Trio (from their CD Universal
Cure). There's more and more great music coming
from Eastern European countries! Please buy Rozsa
Oskar's music. |
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November
29, 2009 |
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| TASTING
SEVEN NEW BRUICHLADDICH + TWO |
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Bruichladdich
'Laddie Classic Edition 1' (46%, OB,
+/- 2009) 
A new multi-age expression from American
oak casks. By the way, did you know
that Bruichladdich overtook Ardbeg
in 2008? (sales in volume). Colour:
gold. Nose: starts fresh, with that
typical malty fruitiness. Peaches,
melons, gooseberries and cereals,
with a little sea breeze in the background.
Goes on with more cut apples and whiffs
of vanilla. Pleasant. Mouth: young
and fruity but also more on ‘modern’
oaky tones, vanilla, white pepper
and ginger, with also a little nutmeg.
Apple peelings and green apples. A
little cardamom too. The casks must
have been rather active. Finish: rather
long, with that modern oakiness encapsulating
notes of apples and peaches. Quite
some ginger in the aftertaste. Comments:
a very good dram, tasting pretty mature
despite its obvious young age, thanks
to the wood. It should become excellent
when it’s 12 years old or more,
which means that the future of Bruichladdich
should be (even) bright(er). SGP:341
- 83 points. |
| Bruichladdich
'Organic' 2003/2009 (46%, OB, 15000
bottles)
From 100% Scottish barley and matured
in American oak, both new and used.
Colour: white wine. Nose: certainly
thicker and kind of rougher than the
Classic. Oatcakes and rhubarb jam,
porridge, a little ginger and hints
of lemon. A bigger version for sure.
Mouth: rather fat and oily, full bodied,
slightly burnt and very malty. Walnuts,
roasted nuts, a lot of green tea,
vanilla and poached peaches. Works
well. Finish: long, kind of ‘organic’
indeed, maybe a tad grassier now.
Quite some vanilla, pepper and gooseberries
in the aftertaste. Comments: a full
bodied dram, maybe a tad more ‘Highlands’
than the usual Bruichladdich. I like
it. SGP:352 – 84 points.
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| Bruichladdich
17 yo 'Rum Cask' (46%, OB, Finished
in rum, 2009)
This Laddie spent two years in rum
casks after fifteen years in American
oak. Colour: straw. Nose: as sometimes
happens with rum casks, this one is
rather grassier but also more complex,
starting on linseed oil and fresh
almonds as well as a little fresh
butter. No ‘Demerara’
kinds of aromas. Same hints of rhubarb
as in the Organic, with also notes
of pears and white peaches. Works
well. Mouth: sweeter and spicier,
starting on peppered chocolate, ginger
and something such as mulled white
wine. Then cinnamon, cloves, white
pepper… Notes of candy sugar
behind all that as well as some marmalade.
Finish: rather long, on a combination
of ginger, pepper and orange marmalade.
Some candy sugar in the aftertaste.
Comments: mild rum influence in this
one. SGP:441 - 84 points. |
| Bruichladdich
1992/2009 'Sherry Edition 2 - Fino'
(46%, OB, Fino sherry cask finish,
6000 bottles)
Matured for 15 years in American oak,
then for 2 years in fino. Colour:
pale gold. Nose: starts on pleasant
notes of walnuts and a mild vinosity,
then a little leather, candy sugar,
orange cake and herbal tea (rather
hawthorn). Mildly grassy. Lovage,
hints of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.
Some marzipan. Mouth: creamy and oily,
half sweet, half grassy. Cane sugar,
tobacco, walnut cake and gingerbread
(or even speculoos). Notes of crystallised
oranges. Finish: long, more on pepper
and oranges. Comments: works well.
I’ve always been a fan of fino
maturing and fino finishing seems
to work quite well too. SGP:352
- 86 points. |
Bruichladdich
1992/2009 'Sherry Edition 2 - Pedro
Ximinez' (46%, OB, PX cask finish,
6000 bottles) 
Matured for 15 years in American oak,
then for 2 years in ‘Pedro Ximinez’
casks. Ximinez or Ximenez, who cares?
Truth lies in the glass… Colour:
amber. Nose: much more oak, then ginger,
raspberry jam, cardamom and soft curry.
Not a fruitbomb at all but the wine
is rather obvious. Fresh, though.
Some candy sugar. Mouth: much, much
sweeter than the fino. Strawberries
(including the jam made thereof),
notes of bubblegum, then pepper…
Gets even sweeter after a while. Icing
sugar. Leather. Finish: long, very
sweet. Comments: pretty good for a
wine finished malt but I liked the
fino much better. SGP:641
- 82 points. |
| Bruichladdich
19 yo 1989/2009 'Black Art' (51.1%,
OB, 6000 bottles)
Matured in bourbon, aced in ‘assorted
wine casks’. Colour: rosé
wine. Nose: very, very winey. Wine
cellar, wine barrel, cassis liqueur,
cooked strawberries and a mild mouldiness.
Certainly not unpleasant but very
far from my favourite style. Really
smells of red wine, maybe more than
any other wine finished whisky I ever
tried. Mouth: spectacularly winey
and grapey. Marc de Bourgogne, strawberry
liqueur, crème de cassis. Finish:
long, on the same notes. Comments:
I think we’re closer to wine
(or wine liqueurs, pousse-rapière,
macvin and such) than to whisky here.
Not that it’s not good stuff,
mind you, it’s very well made
but it’s been pushed to the
limits of the concept in my view (and
taste). SGP:630 - 81 points.
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| Bruichladdich
'Infinity Edition 3' (50%, OB, 2009)
This new edition was matured in refill
sherry + tempranillo and is said to
be peatier than earlier editions (average
20ppm). Colour: apricot. Nose: full
blown peaty, leathery and organic
profile. Very ‘tertiary’,
with quite some dried mushrooms, old
leather, Barbour grease, dried flowers,
earth and just tiny-wee whiffs of
lavender. I must say I like this profile
a lot, it’s big, complex and
rather unusual (hence entertaining).
Mouth: big peat, a certain ‘Ardbegness’,
walnut cake, manzana liqueur, tangerines…
A big fruitiness that was unexpected
but that works well. Develops more
on hugely peated lemons (yes, should
that exist). The wine’s influence
grows bigger but the spirit can take
it, no doubt. Finish: long, with silky
tannins, always these citrusy notes
and always a big peatiness. Comments:
rather different from the earlier
batches of Infinity, that were more
sherried and beefy if I remember well,
but it’s still very, very good
whisky for sure. Much recommended.
SGP:636 - 88 points. |
| And
also Br1
(53.6%, Specialty Drinks, Elements
of Islay, 2009, 50cl)
Colour: straw. Nose: there’s
something that reminds me of the new
‘Classic’ but this is
both flintier and grassier, with more
oils and wax. The fruitiness is more
discreet but there are notes of green
gooseberries. With water: same as
the official ‘Classic’,
really. Maybe a little more sweet
apples. Mouth (neat): rich, fat, oily,
mildly fruity and very gingered. Truly
the ‘Classic’ but at cask
strength. Notes of lemon balm, lemon
pie, speculoos… With water:
same comments, it tastes more or less
like the ‘Classic’ when
diluted. Only the notes of new oak
maturing are a little less obvious.
Finish: same. Comments: I wouldn’t
swear this is from the ‘new’
batches but the profiles are very
similar indeed. SGP:341 –
83 points. |
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And
also Port
Charlotte 2001/2009 ‘PC8’
(60.5%, OB)
Matured in American oak. The Port
Charlottes are getting better and
better in my opinion (PC5: 86, PC6:
88, PC7: 89). Will the new PC8 fetch
90 points in my little system? Colour:
gold. Nose: it’s not the peat
that hits you first, but rather a
combination of linseed oil, paraffin
and walnut skin that smells very old
skool. I need to mention that I’m
a sucker for these kinds of profiles.
Develops more on liquorice, damp earth,
moss, peated barley (or a kiln) and
apple peeling. |
| With
water: a little water doesn’t
quite change it, let’s try to
add a lot, down to +/-40%. It got
more organic, with notes of wet wool,
our dear wet dogs (I’ll never
tell you enough how sorry I am, dogs),
but also hints of diesel oil and hessian.
Mouth: bang, this one really hits
you behind your eyes, not unlike some
young Port Ellens at high strength.
Ash, tar, crystallised lemons and
a little fructose or icing sugar.
With water: some modern-style oak
(vanilla/ginger) but also a little
mint, marzipan and typical notes of
white pepper from the oak. Finish:
very long, on peat, tar and ginger.
Unexpected medicinal notes in the
aftertaste, iodine, cough syrup. Comments:
top notch dram. Still a wee bit youngish
but really getting there, I guess
changes are slowing down now, one
more year may make proportionally
less differences than when the whisky
was younger. But it should be a total
winner once it’s getting ‘old’.
SGP:247 - 89 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
more of the cultissime Karen
Dalton, this time more
rock and roll, with One
Night of Love (from her famous
1971 album In My Own Time). Please
buy Karen Dalton's music! |
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November
27, 2009 |
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| TASTING
THREE PAIRS OF LAGAVULINS + ONE SINGLE |
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Lagavulin
16 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2009)
One of the latest, severely allocated
batches. Colour: gold. Nose: wonderful
and, frankly, miles above its neighbours
as far as ‘entry-level’
bottlings are concerned, although
six extra-years of maturing may count.
Big tar, big shoe polish, big peat,
smoked tea and ‘new rubber boots’
as an unexperienced friend once told
me. Also fresh walnuts, cured ham
and just hints of camphor and eucalyptus.
On par with the best older batches
as far as the nose is concerned. |
| Mouth:
you know what, the current Laga 16
is still a great dram. ‘Nuff
said. My favourite in any bars. Finish:
long and lingering echoes of peat
and shoe polish, as the poet would
say. Comments: hope they’ll
manage to keep producing this kind
of make. What’s more, I feel
this recent batch is rather better
than earlier modern-era Laga 16s (nicknamed
‘the Port Ellen batches’),
some of them having been a tad more
‘caramelised’ in my opinion,
and a tad too ‘rounded’.
SGP:357 - 90 points. |
| Lagavulin
16 yo (43%, OB, USA, Schieffelin &
Sommerset, +/-1990)
Another old ‘White Horse’
version, this time for our American
friends. Colour: gold. Nose: rather
less expressive than the ‘modern’
batch, rather grassier and a tad narrower.
More apple peelings and fresh walnuts,
maybe a little more pine resin and
seashells, but less tar and less peat.
Maybe a tad waxier. Mouth: amazing
that it’s so similar to the
2009 version. Maybe a tad spicier
but also a tad sweeter at the same
time. Apple juice. More pepper as
well, Talisker-style. Finish: same
as the 2009, just a tad more peppery.
Comments: the biggest surprise comes
from the fact that this oldie isn’t
really better than the ‘2009’.
See, contrarily to popular belief,
whisky wasn’t always better
in the old days. SGP:458 -
90 points. |
| Now
onto the famous DEs, with the two
latest batches… |
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Lagavulin
1991/2008 'Distillers Edition' (43%,
OB, lgv 4/496)
Any serious whisky lover knows that
the Lagavulin DE, whichever the vintages,
is the best wine finished malt whisky
that one can find on this little planet.
The guys who used to disagree are
dead by now. Let’s see if these
newer batches are on par… Colour:
full gold. Nose: maybe I’m wrong
but it seems that this DE is rather
closer to the regular 16 than earlier
batches. Superb whiffs of sea breeze,
shells, then orange marmalade (but
less than in earlier batches), beef
bouillon, peat, good rubber, tar,
tobacco, tea… |
| Mouth:
sweet tobacco, liquorice, earth, teas,
roots, oranges, peat, ham, smoked
fish, salt… And only god knows
what else. Amazing. Finish: the longest
finish ever at just 43%. Superbly
liquoricy. Comments: but how do they
do the DE? Is it really finished with
wine (treated) casks? I’m starting
to doubt it… Especially since
I feel this batch is less wine influenced
than earlier batches. SGP:448
– 91 points. |
| Lagavulin
1993/2009 'Distillers Edition' (43%,
OB, lgv 4/497)
Colour: full gold (slightly paler
than the 1991). Nose: we’re
even closer to the regular 16. The
‘wine’ (not that it ever
was winey) is more discreet and the
smoke is louder. Some quinces, leather,
smoked tea… And myriads of other
aromas. To cut a long story short,
this is lovable. Mouth: rather different
from the 1991. Maybe a tad less complex
but on the other hand, even bigger,
peatier, probably more orangey as
well, more spicy and peppery, fatter,
a little grassier as well, also a
little more citrusy… And saltier!
Finish: loooong. Comments: less sherry
influence (it’s sherry, isn’t
it?) and more Lagavulin. We won’t
complain. Not enough to gain one more
point, though, as it loses a little
complexity when compared with the
1991. SGP:358 – 91 points.
|
| Good,
it seems that it’s too hard
to decide between Lagavulins that
are too similar as far as their pedigrees
are concerned, so let’s oppose
wildly different expressions now,
and two single casks at that… |
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Lagavulin
1995/2009 (54.4%, OB, Feis Ile 2009,
cask #4556)
When our Belgian correspondents (Belgian
correspondents, very Hercule Poirot,
isn’t it!) tried this one on
Islay at the time, they granted it
with 91 points. Colour: full gold.
Nose: exceptional indeed. Extremely
elegant peat with dozens of sub-aromas
such as leather, smoked ham, smoked
tea, grapefruits, Seville oranges,
wet rocks, flints, black pepper, bitter
chocolate, seaweed, camphor…
Smells much older. With water: becomes
‘tertiary’, with notes
of pipe tobacco, patchouli, sandal
wood and quite some fresh putty. |
| Mouth
(neat): double bang. Peated grapefruits,
pepper, angelica, crystallised oranges,
white pepper and lemon. How big. With
water: more of the same, just a little
more drinkable. Finish: long, a tad
spicier (ginger, green mustard) with
notes of oysters + lemon in the aftertaste.
Comments: just wonderful. Great cask.
I’ll agree with our Belgian
friends, this is great (even if just
a tiny-wee tad youngish). SGP:258
- 91 points. |
| Lagavulin
1978 (63.6%, Cadenhead, white label,
cask #15, +/-1993)
Colour: white wine. Nose: immensely
chocolaty at first nosing. Lindt (right,
no brand name), nougat, praline, roasted
nuts, seaweed, hints of grass (or
isn’t that sorrel?)… A
rather unusual profile, a bit shy
actually. Not much peat but hey, 63%!
With water: gets very ‘Islay-the-island’,
with whiffs of wet wool (or even sheep),
soaked barley, even more seaweed,
hessian… The peat isn’t
big in this one. Cider apples. Mouth
(neat): extremely powerful and unexpectedly
esthery, with a combination of fresh
strawberries with a lot of freshly
ground black pepper (before you start
to wonder, black pepper is extremely
volatile in my experience, ready-ground
pepper has little flavours). Rather
youngish when undiluted. With water:
a fruity Islayer with mild peat and
a faint cardboardiness. Gets a tad
resinous, gearing towards the greatest
old Lagavulins, Ardbegs and Laphroaigs
after a while but failing to match
them in my opinion, it’s just
not complex enough. Finish: long,
on something like peated and peppered
resin or putty. You see what I mean.
Comments: excellent but it lacks something.
Hard to tell you what but who cares
anyway, it’s only an old, totally
unobtainable bottling. SGP:355
- 87 points. |
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And
also Lagavulin
12 yo 'Special Release 2009' (57.9%,
OB)
Colour: white wine. Nose: explosive
yet austere, sharp like a blade, on
pure peat smoke, cider apples, coal
smoke and wet rocks. With water: soot,
putty, cigar smoke, flints, peat and
limejuice. Mouth (neat): extremely
powerful, all on peat, ashes, lemon,
green apples and fresh almonds. Ziiiing!
With water: a tad rounder and sweeter,
but still on lemon, peat and green
tea. Cough drops as well (the best
ones of course). Finish: very long,
ultra-clean. Comments: sharp and straightforward
and totally flawless. Epitomical,
as they say. A pure malt in all its
glory, without the tiniest woody/winey
make-up. Maybe we could call it ‘Naked
Glory’ – now, wouldn’t
that be a nice name for a malt whisky?
No, I’m not looking for a new
job… SGP:248 - 91 points.
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November
25, 2009 |
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TASTING
ANOTHER TWO OLD GLENGOYNE |
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Glengoyne 40 yo 1968/2009 (45.9%,
OB, sherry butt, 250 bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: what strikes
first here is the big freshness and
the rather magnificent whirls of notes
of sultanas, figs, dates and dried
bananas. It’s rather less ‘polished
and smooth’ than expected, and
more nervous and fruity at first nosing.
Develops more classically, though,
on whiffs of cigar box, dried mushrooms
(ceps), wax polish, mint flavoured
tea, also earl grey, marzipan and
a mildly invading sherry. Hints of
crème brûlée topped
with fresh ripe strawberries. It’s
all superbly balanced but as often
with very old whiskies, the verdict
should lie on the palate, not on the
nose. Mouth: nervous but less so than
on the nose, starting more on heather
honey and bananas flambéed
as well as a little coconut liqueur.
Less sherried than on the nose for
sure. Develops on many fresh and dried
fruits, figs first, with the oak starting
to talk after a few seconds. Liquorice
sticks and cinnamon. Finally apple
pie (with cinnamon!), plum pudding
and just a little apricot and strawberry
jam. Extremely lively and fresh after
all these years, not an old whisky
that you ‘must’ like just
because it’s old and ‘decanterised’.
Finish: drier, rather long, with more
tannins and cocoa now but nothing
drying. Always that fresh fruitiness
in the background. Comments: superb
old Glengoyne, very complex and magnificently
balanced. Do I really have to mention
the price? £3,750.00. SGP:640
- 91 points. |
| Glengoyne
1973/2009 (55.1%, Malts of Scotland,
Bourbon cask #677, 138 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: completely different
from the official 40, that is to say
mostly explosively fruity. Surprisingly
big notes of bubblegum, tinned pineapples
and banana liqueur, then more coconut
and white chocolate. If you like hugely
fruity oldies, this is for you. With
water: more of the same, with added
notes of marzipan. Ultra-clean. Mouth
(neat): once again, the fruitiness
is immense here. There are even hints
of Muscat grapes, litchis and bags
of fresh strawberries, as well as
these notes of pineapple that we already
had on the nose. Spectacular ‘polished
youth’, so to speak. With water
(although water isn’t obligatory
here): emphatically fruity, with also
more vanilla fudge, millionaire shortbread
and nougat. Finish: medium long but
still very clean, fruity, jammy, with
a little more tannins but also added
notes of pink grapefruits. Comments:
immensely drinkable and stunningly
alive. The huge problem is that one
may quaff litres of this without even
noticing and at 55%, that can be quite
dangerous. Another amazing old Glengoyne.
SGP:740 - 92 points. |
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
the other day we already had a great
slice of music by Slovakia's Pacora
Trio, this time we'll
have another one, Anything
goes (wdon't we like this 'barrelhouse
feeling'?) Please buy the Pacora
Trio's music. |
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November
24, 2009 |
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| TASTING
THREE 1982 PORT ELLEN + ONE 1979 |
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|
Port Ellen 26 yo 1982/2009 (50%, Douglas
Laing, Old Malt Cask, 712 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: it’s more
a grassy, flinty and waxy kind of
PE, and less one of these peat monsters
– at least at first nosing.
Quite some fresh butter, wet rocks,
linseed oil, cut grass, graphite and
paraffin. The peat gets clearer and
louder after a while but no tar and
no diesel oil so far. Or little…
With water: huge smoke! Soot and shoe
polish, then some tar and hints of
new tyres. Totally classic. Too bad
it’s soon to turn a bit sour
– accelerated oxidation? Mouth
(neat): a rather lemony attack, almost
a little prickly (ginger tonic), with
quite some peat and smoke of course
but also more apple peelings than
usual. Vanilla custard. With water:
classic Port Ellen, tarry and flinty.
Smoked almonds. Very faint dustiness.
Finish: rather long, with the dustiness
growing bolder but it’s still
very, very fine. Aftertaste more on
cough medicine. Comments: not one
of the best in my opinion, but very
good. SGP:257 - 86 points.
|
| Port
Ellen 25 yo 1982 (58.2%, Douglas of
Drumlarig for Kingfisher, Selection
2008, Sherry Butt)
Kingfisher is the nickname of our
very own excellent Taiwanese Ho-cheng
of maniacal fame. Colour: gold. Nose:
this baby is much more organic, wild
and almost animal. Peat, tar, very
old balsamico, leather polish, hints
of toffee, earl grey tea, cold ashes
and a faint beefiness. Mildly sherried,
but sherried. Probably refill. With
water: works wonderfully. Hypersmoke
and ‘the engine of a 1962 E-type’
(wot???) Mouth (neat): very big attack,
on crystallised oranges, peat, lemon,
ginger and smoked tea (lapsang souchong
– litres!) Also a little fudge
and lemon marmalade, and even hints
of icing sugar, then quite some pepper.
Nervous. With water: tarry, smoky
lemons and gingered orange marmalade.
Pretty perfect. Finish: long, candied
and peaty, with quiet some salt. Comments:
how do you peat orange marmalade?
Well selected, Ho-cheng! SGP:367
- 91 points. |
| Port
Ellen 25 yo 1982/2008 (59.3%, Signatory,
Refill Sherry Butt #2846, 234 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: we aren’t
far from the ‘Kingfisher’
here, and even very close. A little
more vanilla and nougat, a little
less beef. A little more smoke and
tar as well. With water: once again,
water does wonders, even if less boldly
so than with Kingfisher’s PE.
More flints, though. Mouth (neat):
once again, we’re extremely
close to the Kingfisher. A little
more pepper and straight peat and
a marginally bigger smokiness. Same
kind of lemony touches. With water:
wonderful! Peated lemons again, tar,
liquorice and plain peat. It really
became excellent. Finish: long, tarry,
liquoricy and orangey. Comments: high
quality sherried Port Ellen by Signatory,
hence no real surprise (I’m
afraid – ha!) SGP:368
- 92 points. |
| Port
Ellen 30 yo 1979/2009 '9th release'
(57.7%, OB, 5,916 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: very different
from the 1982’s, much more on
grass, soaked barley, smoked porridge
and diesel oil. Also more shoe polish
and whiffs of eucalyptus starting
to come through (sign of age?) The
most straightforward but not the least
complex. Big smoke. With water: this
one gets rather more maritime with
water, more on oysters, sea breeze
and all that jazz. Also almonds and
a little camphor, not unlike what
happens with some of the most legendary
of its neighbours when they get very
old. Superb, obviously. Just hints
of ‘clean’ manure. Mouth
(neat): the most austere of them all
but also the most elegant. Very dry,
grassy and smoky attack, then quite
some lemon, many mineral notes ‘cool
climate style’ (to speak like
a wino) and many phenolic/resinous
notes. Splendid austerity. With water:
gets ultra-dry, all on smoke and ashes.
Finish: something that reminds me
of the revered Rare Malts (20 and
22yo), minus the brutality. Comments:
rather intellectual, just the opposite
of these modern easy-sexy drams with
no soul (and no cojones). SGP:268
- 93 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
the wonderful saxist Chris
Potter and his quiet
and peaceful Lotus
Blossom (from his excellent
2006 album Underground). Please
buy Chris Potter's music. |
 |
| |
|
November
23, 2009 |
|
|
| TASTING
A HONEYED QUINTET OF BUNNAHABHAINS |
 |
| Bunnahabhain
18 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2009)
I always liked the 18, it’s
nicely balanced and a good high-end
all-rounder. Let’s check this
newer batch. Colour: dark gold. Nose:
starts on caramel, honey and a mild
spiciness, developing mostly on orange
blossom water, pastries, croissant
au beurre and a faint Irishness (ripe
bananas). Also faintly vinous (some
sherry?) An elegant nose. Cinnamon.
Mouth: maltier attack, notes of cornflakes,
maple syrup (no breakfast malt though),
honey, dried figs, tea… It’s
rather big at 43%, and very good.
Finish: long, honeyed, with some pepper
in the aftertaste. Comments: just
as good and perfectly balanced as
I recalled. I don’t quite understand
why some punters sometimes overlook
this very nice – granted, in
my view - 18. SGP:541 - 88
points. |
| Bunnahabhain
32 yo 1976/2009 (45.8%, The Whisky
Agency's Liquid Library, bourbon)
Colour: white wine. Nose: unusually
flinty and grassy, much less smooth
and polished than some other Bunnies.
Notes of gooseberries, apple jelly
and ripe strawberries, with some tangerines
and a return on mineral notes (rocks).
A fresh and lively old Bunnahabhain
from a not too active cask, even if
there is a little fudge. Mouth: much
more fruits at the attack, all coated
with a very, very big honey. Pear
jam, plums, those hints of wet rocks
once again, litres of acacia honey,
beeswax and just a few spices playing
with your tongue. Finish: long and
very, very honeyed. Comments: do you
like honey as much as I do? SGP:630
- 90 points. |
| Bunnahabhain
31 yo 1976 (47.9%, A.D. Rattray for
Single & Single, Sherry Cask)
Colour: gold. Nose: we’re rather
close to the 18 in style, only bigger
and a little more complex. Honey,
vanilla, sultanas, oriental pastries
and nougat plus a little vanilla fudge
and cedar wood. Perfectly Bunnahabhain,
I’d say. Mouth: somewhere between
the official 18 and the 32yo, with
a lot of honey and quite some cereals
and figs. The profile is perfect once
again. Finish: long, maybe just a
tad more tannic now. Comments: one
of these excellent old Bunnahabhains,
the epitome of balance as far as malt
whisky is concerned. SGP:541
– 89 points. |
| Bunnahabhain
35 yo 1973/2008 (50%, Whisky-Fässle,
sherry cask)
Colour: full gold. Nose: wow, this
is much more complex at first nosing.
Honey and ripe fruits are well here
but there’s also quite some
herbal tea, camomile, whiffs of soot
and metal polish, liquorice and finally
hints of old sweet Sauternes (right,
or other old sweet whites). Perfect
nose, very entertaining and kind of
‘wider’ than others. With
water: hints of moss, fern, damp earth…
Mouth (neat): superb! Honey, wax,
orange marmalade, a little tamarind,
bergamot, ginger, nutmeg and a little
sweet mustard, probably from the oak.
A big Bunny. With water: gets creamier
and more honeyed. Dates. Finish: long,
perfect, honeyed and jammy but never
heavy. A little white pepper. Comments:
simply top notch old Bunnahabhain.
SGP:552 - 92 points. |
| Bunnahabhain
35 yo 1974/2009 (56.6%, Adelphi, 200
bottles)
Colour: dark amber. Nose: chocolate,
raisins and prunes galore at first
nosing, then more typical honey and
ripe fruits. Also many notes that
sometimes come with first fill sherry,
such as leather, coffee, fig liqueur
and cocoa, then a little menthol.
Excellent. Big rancio after a while,
dried mushrooms, leather… With
water: more leather, walnut stain
and hints of fresh almonds. Mouth
(neat): rich, creamy, very sherried
but not ‘monstrous’. Cassis
jelly, raspberry liqueur, old Armagnac,
toffee, becoming just a tad grapey.
With water: more spices, the whole
getting drier. Bitter chocolate, coffee
beans and liquorice. Finish: long,
with some fresh fruits (but don’t
we get rhubarb?) and once again these
faint notes of grape skin or even
pips. Comments: we all know that Bunnahabhain
goes well with sherry, especially
oloroso. This one reminds me a bit
of some old officials that were distilled
in the 1960s. SGP:461 –
90 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
we're in 1977 and they were THE
album and THE band at the time,
yes, talking about Television's
Marquee Moon. Let's listen to Prove
it again and then buy Television's
music (again.) |
 |
| |
|
November
22, 2009 |
|
|
 |
THIS
JUST IN FROM CHINA
BY OUR MANIACAL TAIWANESE
FRIEND HO-CHENG |
POSSIBLY
THE FIRST CHINESE WHISKY?
Just
read some very interesting news
from China. It appeared on Xinhuanet,
which is the official news center
in China, somewhat like the BBC.
I would say it's all very true.
|
 |
|
It’s about a visit to some abandoned
pot stills within the Tsingtao Beer
factory. Tsingtao Beer is the largest
Chinese beer company and its history
can be traced back to 1903 when some
German and British Merchants established
the place as the Nordic Brewery Co.,
Ltd., Tsingtao Branch. |
Full story in Chinese (you may want
to browse through to see the photos):
page
1 - page
2 - page
3. |
| In
the report, the factory staff lets
the reporter see those old pot stills,
which are believed to have been built
in 1912. The reporter also went through
some of the old brewing equipments,
and also some very large casks (possibly
for beer) as well as some French casks
(possibly for brandy or whisky.) The
story says the first Chinese Whisky,
the first Chinese Brandy, and the
first Chinese Champagne (really?)
were all manufactured there. |
| The
most interesting thing is that at
the end of the story, the reporter
actually tasted some very old bottled
whisky. I’m really wondering
how it was, but sadly that was not
mentioned in the story. –
Ho-cheng Yao. |
| TASTING
FOUR INDIE BOWMORE |
| OFFICIAL
WARNING ;-): once again,
we’ll be trying Bowmores from
those years when the make was, err,
different. I dislike those ‘vintages’
as much as I absolutely love earlier
and later distillations (recent ones
are totally stupendous!) so, well,
you’ve been warned again. And
please note that a few friends do
actually like this very 'unusual'
style. |
 |
Bowmore
23 yo 1985/2009 (54.4%, Signatory,
hogshead, cask #32203, 234 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: smoke, tar, apple
peeling and a mild lavender at first
nosing, but these well-known notes
of lavender do grow bolder by the
minute, invading everything. Hard.
With water: Lux (with the girl in
the bathtub). Mouth (neat): lavender
and violet sweets mixed with peat,
pepper and lemon sweets. Not ugly,
actually. With water: lavender sweets,
violet sweets and peat. Not bad, just
very ‘lavenderish’. Finish:
medium long, with more liquorice and
a little lemon. Comments: not a bad
dram at all, and probably the best
of what you can get out of these whacky
batches. And after all, they’re
part of SMSW’s history. SGP:
445 - 75 points. |
Bowmore
26 yo 1982/2009 (50.5%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #85162)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: there’s
a little less lavender than in the
1985, as well as a little more butter,
but it’s still one from these
infamous batches. With water: how
funny! Plain mint syrup now, never
had that so loud. Mouth (neat): not
bad at all, rather close to the 1985
so far even if there’s a little
soap. And lavender of course. And
lemon. With water: acceptable. Finish:
long, cleaner than expected, but there’s
some soap in the aftertaste. Comments:
another one that isn’t bad at
all, you just have to like the style.
I don’t. SGP:465 - 78
points. |
 |
Bowmore
26 yo 1982/2009 (53.4%, Master of
Malt, refill sherry hogshead, 195
bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a cleaner 1982,
with a little more vanilla it seems.
There’s also less smoke. With
water: it got very grassy, minty,
mentholated (less so than the DT)
and mildly mineral. Mouth (neat):
very similar to the DT. A little more
lemon. With water: improves a bit,
with more peat and spices, but the
(relatively) soapy notes of violets
and lavender are well there. Finish:
ditto. Comments: we’re close
to the best you can do with a Bowmore
from the early 1980s in my opinion.
Kudos to the bottlers. SGP:465
- 80 points. |
 |
Bowmore
36 yo 1972/2008 (45.4%, Signatory,
Sherry Butt #3890, 540 bottles)
Colour: full amber. Nose: now we’re
talking! It’s not that it’s
one of these big emphatic old Bowmores
but the profile is pretty perfect,
between a mildly tarry smoke and quite
some chocolate and toffee from the
sherry. Develops on mushrooms, leather,
dried beef (jerky) and old walnut
liqueur. If you like them dry, this
is for you. Mouth: excellent dry Bowmore,
on peated and peppered orange marmalade
at the attack, getting then spicier
and more citrusy for a while, before
it gets frankly ‘tertiary’,
on leather, liquorice, gentian, a
little salt, roasted chestnuts, funny
notes of raspberry drops and finally
quite some chocolate. Very little
tropical fruits in this one, except
for the citrus (more and more grapefruit).
Hints of violet sweets but nothing
as big as in later distillations.
Finish: very long, less dry, citrusy
and chocolatty, with a little salt
playing with your tongue and lips.
Comments: maybe not one of these stunning
uberclean yet complex old Bowmores
but quality is still very high. Medium
peated. SGP:545 - 89 points.
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:'commercial'
ragas aren't always great and can
be dull but this time I feel it's
a little different. Anoushka
Shankar, father Ravi
Shankar and Karsh Kale
are playing Oceanic
part I (from Breathing under
water). Please buy the Shankars'
music. |
 |
| |
|
November
21, 2009 |
|
|
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
| |
|
| With
apologies to our Irish friends - we
love you all. |
| TASTING
THE THREE SINGLETON |
 |
For once, we won’t try whiskies
from the same distillery today but
rather the three fairly recent Singletons
by Diageo (not the old Auchroisks!)
We already tried some of these new
ones but they were earlier batches. |
| Singleton
of Glendullan 12 yo (40%, OB, for
duty free 1L, +/-2009)
Colour: gold. Nose: very fresh, floral,
slightly buttery, mildly honeyed and
just a little grassy. Develops more
on orange peel and grains, with a
little liquorice and just a little
dust. Light but not weak. Mouth: rather
crisp and clean, starting on malt,
honey, liquorice and caramel. More
herbal tea after that and kind of
a ‘blended’ character.
Faint smokiness. Roots. Finish: rather
long, malty and liquoricy. A little
honey. Pleasantly earthy in the aftertaste.
Comments: last time it reminded me
of Johnnie Black and it still does.
A very good ‘access-category’
malt whisky, I’d say, a little
more complex than I remembered. Did
they improve it with recent batches?
SGP:341 - 79 points. |
| Singleton
of Dufftown 12 yo (40%, OB, for duty
free 1L, +/-2009)
Colour: gold. Nose: more presence
than in the Glendullan, much more
on honey, roasted nuts and cake, then
orange blossom water and hints of
marshmallows. Rather pleasant but
still quite light. Mouth: a little
strange at the attack, curiously meaty
and dusty/dirty. Onions cooked in
sugar or honey? Some cardboard, liquorice,
stout… Very strange malt. Finish:
rather long, with more liquorice and
cooked honey. Mead. A little better.
Comments: an unusual one, that sometimes
tastes like some mildly spicy Chinese
dish. SGP:351 - 77 points.
|
| Singleton
of Glen Ord 12 yo (40%, OB, for duty
free 1L, +/-2009)
Colour: gold. Nose: probably the most
expressive of all three, but that’s
no wonder as Glen Ord can be quite
characterful. Chocolate-coated dried
oranges, hints of cured ham, ale,
chocolate and a little parsley that
I already found in earlier batches.
A tad ‘less light’ than
both the Glendullan and the Dufftown.
Mouth: ah yes, this is rather nice.
Granted, it’s no big whisky
but the big maltiness and the honeyed
notes are very pleasant. Faint smokiness,
orange cake, cloves, maybe wild thyme,
liquorice drops… Finish: rather
long, smoky, malty and liquoricy.
Honeydew (or fir tree honey) in the
aftertaste. Comments: kind of a surprise,
I think this one is more potent than
what its ‘positioning’
in the market would suggest. A very
good drop, very drinkable. SGP:442
- 84 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Keren
Ann doing one of her
hits, In
my heart. A friend said that
it reminded him of Nico and the
Velvet Underground. Really? Anyway,
please buy Keren Ann's music. |
 |
| |
|
November
20, 2009 |
|
|
| CONCERT
REVIEW
by
Nick Morgan
THE LEGENDARY BLUES
CRUISE
Somewhere in the
Pacific Ocean,
October 17th-24th 2009
Part One
Did
I tell you that we’d been
sailing, Serge? Not our usual navigating
through God’s Hebridean playground,
oh no. We spent a week in a floating
nightclub on a Blues
Cruise. And before
you ask, despite the amount of booze
that some of our fellow revellers
managed to tuck away (enough, in
a few cases, to send them to Davy
Jones’ locker), I do mean
Blues Cruise. |
 |
| We
heard about these things from some
crazy Americans we met at a Ray
Davies concert in London and decided
that, like Rome, we had to do it,
just in case. And we’re on board
with the Old Folks who’ve driven
down to join us from British Columbia,
which reminds me: I wonder if they’ve
managed to navigate their way back
yet? The boat (think of it as a medium-sized
four star hotel) was going to take
us to Mexico. Or at least that was
the plan, until Hurricane
Rick, lurking menacingly to the
South, intervened to prevent us sailing
into the Gulf of California. So apart
from a couple of hours at anchor in
rough seas off Cabo San Lucas, and
a few hours in Ensenada, we spent
seven days steaming round in circles
in the Pacific listening to some very
good blues. |
| Blues
from around midday ‘til…
well, your reviewer and the Photographer
pleaded jet-lag and hunkered down
with a late-night glass of Cutty Sark
(an appropriate choice from a limited
selection in the Ship’s Stores)
around midnight most nights. But I
swear you could still hear music from
our veranda at three in the morning,
and I know the Old Folks were up regularly
‘til two and three. Twenty-three
acts performing over two big stages
(one in a luxurious nightclub, the
second up on a sometimes windy deck)
and two smaller bar venues, with a
fifth bar devoted almost entirely
to ‘Pro-am Jamarama’.
Each of the acts got three stage slots,
but some of the artists also performed
with band members and friends in the
bars deep into the night. ‘Special
guest’ Debbie
Davies, in addition to performing
with Coco
‘Big Breakfast’ Montoya,
seemed to be in every bar with her
guitar (often singing with Australian
Fiona
Boyes) , as did Susan
Tedeschi. But I’ll be honest
and confess that it was impossible
to keep up with everyone, so I’m
afraid this is only a partial account,
occasionally drawing upon the hazy
recollection of the Old Folks. |
 |
Debbie
Davies and Coco Montoya |
| You
simply had to make some choices about
who you really wanted to see, and
at the top of my list was Mavis Staples
and her band. She was unfortunate
to take to the stage on the ‘after-dinner’
slot on Day Two, when the tentacles
of Hurricane Rick were just reaching
out to the boat. And ‘though
she may have stumbled a little as
the boat pitched and tossed (“Now
I ain’t been doin’ no
drinking, y’all”) she
still turned in a fantastically powerful
performance. So much so that we saw
parts of both her other shows. The
act might not change much, the stories
and reminiscences may be the same,
but they no lose no impact for that
; they are, after all, drawn from
her own experience. She’s breathless
and husky, shouting, barking and grunting
as much as she sings, and cackles
with a positively wicked laugh that
she certainly didn’t learn in
church. But go back and listen to
some of the old Staples Singers material
and you’ll pick her voice out
straight away: it’s as distinctive
now as it was then. The set was mostly
drawn from ‘Down in Mississippi’,
with some covers like ‘Respect’,
‘The Weight’, and some
old Staples hits. Of course, if Ms
Staples isn’t a big enough attraction
then there’s her guitarist Rick
Holstrom (who later in the week performed
a stand-in set with his band as the
other musicians began to tire). He’s
a reverb-charged Fender artist of
huge accomplishment, and his spare
haunting accompaniments are perfect
for Ms Staples' sometimes dark material.
There’s more on the way: in
conversation the positively charming
Ms Staples revealed that a new album
will be recorded early next year and
a visit to London is on the cards,
too. We’ll be there. |
 |
Mavis
Staples, Rick Holstrom |
| Former
John Mayall guitarist Coco Montoya
had opened proceedings as we sailed
away from San Diego. He’s a
rare upside-down left-handed player,
but that didn’t seem to impair
his very fluent playing. He had a
tendency to veer towards crowd- pleasing
rock rather than ‘pure’
blues; it seemed to please this crowd
but didn’t necessarily benefit
his performance. The same could be
said for Michael
Burks (whom we saw last year in
Helena), a really powerful player
who also probably crossed over once
too often into rock-blues, rather
than blues-rock. Hot-shot guitarist
and fashionably unkempt Kenny
Wayne Shepherd whom we saw more
often in the dining room with his
family than performing, seemed to
have almost left the blues behind,
with a vocalist, Noah Hunt, who sounded
astonishingly like a young(ish) Paul
Rodgers. Indeed, the overall sound
that could have come from early 1970s
British rock bands, being none the
worse for that. Hardly surprising
then that he’s a former participant
in the Experience
Hendrix tour, or that he tends
to end his set with Voodoo Chile.
Or for that matter, that he has his
own
‘signature’ Stratocaster.
In a slightly different vein was Tommy
Castro, who also mixed great blues
guitar playing with rock, but featured
in addition a distinct soul sensibility
and a clear fondness for the music
of Steve Cropper and his colleagues
back at 1960s Stax. This was helped
by the presence of an accomplished
brass section, some fine playing of
the well-used Hammond B-3 that sat
on both stages, and Castro’s
great singing. For the record, his
last set on the Pool Deck was very,
very loud. |
 |
Michael
Burks, Tommy Castro and a tribute
from the galley |
| Given
that there was so much rock around,
it was refreshing to get a couple
of good doses of the very unreconstructed
Roy
Gaines. This well turned-out old-fashioned
guitarist and bandleader delivered
Texas Jump-style blues, closely modelled
on T-Bone Walker, with whom he worked
with over a number of years. But in
addition to occasional stints as an
actor in commercials, Gaines also
played with a huge number of artists
across the blues spectrum and into
jazz, e.g. Bobby Bland, Coleman Hawkins
, Ray Charles and the Jazz Crusaders;
all this reflected in his guitar style.
|
 |
Roy
Gaines, Buckwheat Zydeco |
| Similarly
unreconstructed was Buckwheat Zydeco,
with his formulaic up-tempo Louisiana
party music. He is a particular favourite
of the Photographer for his version
of George Perkins’ 1970 hit
‘Cryin’ in the streets’,
which he recorded for the fabulous
‘Our
New Orleans’ post-Katrina
fundraising album. Produced by Ry
Cooder, who also played guitar, and
with Jim Keltner on drums and the
late and lamented Jim Dickinson on
piano, it’s the sort of ‘must-have’
track that might make you think that
Mr Wheat isn’t quite as unreconstructed
as you might think. And I should add
Mr Wheat’s remarkable and energetic
accordion playing was matched only
for remarkableness by his coiffure,
which left a trail of olfactory evidence
everywhere he visited on the ship.
- Nick Morgan (photographs by
Kate) |
| TASTING
FIVE GLENLIVET CELLAR COLLECTION |
 |
| Glenlivet
30 yo ‘Cellar Collection’
(48%, OB, cask #2LGF901, bottled 2001)
Nose: superb nose, with a very obvious
but very elegant oakiness. Quite some
vanilla, honey, a little eucalyptus
and whiffs of camphor. Gets then more
and more resinous, together with some
big notes of mirabelles and apricot.
Very, very nice, keeps developing
on honeyed notes. Mouth: starts nervous,
nicely peppered and oaked. Develops
mostly on honey and various spices,
with nutmeg first. Finish: long, rather
spicy, with quite some stewed fruits.
Comments: the nose was a little more
emphatic than the palate. A very elegant
dram for sure. SGP:451 –
89 points. |
| Glenlivet
1973/2009 ‘Cellar Collection’
(49%, OB)
This one comes from a vatting of 1
sherry butt with two hogsheads. It
should be issued later in November
or December. Not sure about the ABV,
it was on a dummy. Nose: we’re
much more on Demerara sugar, dried
fruits (apricots), honey, stewed fruits
again and a little mint from the oak.
It’s rather fresh but it’s
also mildly expressive. Some marzipan
and, just like in the 30, quite some
pine resin. A drier version. Mouth:
dry and oaky, tannic but still very
elegant. Quite some soft spices, getting
more and more peppery, with also a
little mustard. Hints of rum. Finish:
medium long, finely mentholated, with
quite some white pepper in the aftertaste.
Comments: once again, the oak is very
obvious but in all elegance. The sherry
was discreet. SGP:361 –
88 points. |
| Glenlivet
1972/2005 ‘Cellar Collection’
(52.3%, OB)
Nose: this one is much more expressive
and lively, starting on bananas flambéed
and a lot of vanilla, mirabelles again,
nougat… Very fresh for a 30+
malt whisky. With water: the nutmeg
from the wood comes out, more vanilla,
just whiffs of cardboard. Less aromatic
once diluted but still very nice.
Mouth (neat): nervous and fruity attack,
on both tinned and fresh pineapples.
Tastes rather younger than 33. Very
good. With water: just as fresh, vanilled,
fruity and mildly spicy. Finish: medium
long, clean, with these pleasant notes
of bananas. Comments: there’s
rather less oak in this one. Very
good. SGP:551 – 89 points.
|
| Glenlivet
1969/2006 ‘Cellar Collection’
(50.8%, OB)
Nose: this oldster starts on notes
of old rum, with almost as much banana
as in the 1972 as well as notes of
dried pears and a little caramel.
Fresh and aromatic. With water: strange
that water blocks it, letting just
more vanilla come through. Not a great
swimmer. Mouth (neat): beautiful attack,
obviously rather oaky but it’s
all smooth. Great fruitiness, sweets,
mirabelle pie, then white pepper.
With water: takes water better than
on the nose. The pineapples are back.
Finish: medium long, on vanilla, bananas
and pineapples, ‘though it’s
not quite ‘tropical’.
Comments: a very good one, perfectly
balanced and mucho elegant. SGP:541
– 90 points. |
| Glenlivet
1964/2001 ‘Cellar Collection’
(49%, OB, cask #2LBF901)
Nose: smooth and rounded, all on honey,
sultanas, ripe bananas, mint and liquorice.
Extremely elegant, with a fantastic
freshness. Goes on with plums, stewed
peaches and a little melon. Whiffs
of incense and cedar wood. Lovely
oldie. Mouth: superbly balanced between
many dried fruits and a superbly polished
oakiness. No obvious tannins but notes
of cardamom and white pepper. Finish:
medium long, maybe just a tad oakier.
Comments: the word ‘lovely’
has been invented for this one. The
best of the bunch in my opinion. SGP:451
– 91 points. |
|
(Thanks Tim, thanks Ian) |
| |
|
November
18, 2009 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
TWO MACALLAN SPEYMALT + ONE |
| Macallan
1973/2006 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Speymalt, USA, 75cl)
Colour: amber. Nose: wow! Starts very
aromatic, fruity and honeyed. Cooked
apples, compote, orange blossom, fresh
figs, sultanas and just faint whiffs
of fresh mint. We’re very close
to the old mildly sherried official
15s or 18s that were distilled in
the 1950s or 1960s. Goes on more on
soft spices and whiffs of precious
wood, with also a little camphor and
just hints of wood smoke. A little
ginger, white pepper, cinnamon on
plum pie… And plum jam. Really
superb and not weak in any way at
40% abv. Mouth: once again, it’s
rather powerful at first sipping,
with a little more oak this time.
Strawberry jam and grated nutmeg.
Drops a bit in the middle, getting
maybe a tiny-wee tad watery but never
drying and tannic. Quite some cinnamon,
tea and a little chocolate. Finish:
not long but longer than expected,
more on cloves and pepper coating
prunes and ripe apricots. A little
grassy too, even kind of peaty. Comments:
superb nose and very good palate despite
the relative weakness on the palate
by today’s standards. SGP:642
– 88 points (and
thank you, Bryan). |
| Macallan
1970/2009 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Speymalt, LMdW, first fill sherry
butt, cask #8326, 524 bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: the general profile
is very similar to the 1973’s,
with maybe a little more oomph but
it’s also a little more closed
at first nosing. Grows bolder by the
minute, though, a little more on bananas
flambéed and crème brulée.
Same notes of high-end honey, cooked
apples and figs as in the 1973, the
whole getting then just a tad grassier
and maybe a tad kirschy. Lys. Mouth:
it’s got the oomph that the
1973 was lacking a bit, but it’s
also kind of greener and grassier,
with more tannins and green pepper
(young Cabernet-Sauvignon). More sherry
too, cooked strawberries, prunes,
dried apricots, then ginger and cinnamon
and more and more pepper. Nice notes
of blood oranges, maybe hints of sangria.
The whole remains rather dry. Finish:
medium long, rather more polished,
with more raisins, dried papayas,
ripe apples and honey. Some green
spices in the aftertaste as well as
a little mint, liquorice, violet sweets
and pine resin. Comments: this one
needs time to unfold on the palate,
there’s a bit of a war between
the oak and the spirit going on. I
wouldn’t say that the oak wins.
The ideal version would be the 1973
at 46% abv methinks. SGP:561
– 87 points. |
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And
also (tasted apart):
Macallan 1938/2004 (41.4%,
Gordon & MacPhaill, Speymalt)
This baby (well, at 65 years of age,
it’s not quite a baby anymore)
was generously poured by G&M at
London’s Whisky Show. The current
re-officiallised 35yo 1938 that was
created by decanting antique bottles
is now sold for £10,000 so at
just £3,500, this 65yo Speymalt
sure is a bargain. Colour: full amber.
Nose: an ode to old age and certainly
not an elegy. Wonderful freshness,
maybe even more freshness than in
the 1970 and 1973. Superbly floral,
with whiffs of fruit salad (quite
some melon) and ripe apricots, various
honeys and just a little eucalyptus.
Little smoke but these fruity notes
grow even bolder, with even more apricot
(also as jam) and then natural vanilla.
And guess what, no obvious oaky/tannic
tones, which is a miracle. Amazing
nose. |
| Mouth:
not a powerhouse of course but it’s
not thin, not weak, not tired, not
drying and not cardboardy. In other
words, a succession of other tiny
miracles, it’s one to sip religiously
(ah well). Notes of tobacco, banana
skin, orange marmalade, tangerines,
apricot again, then a more resinous
development but once again, no excessive
woodiness even if there is quite some
ginger and cinnamon. Finish: not extremely
long but the blend of these apricotty
notes with a little pine resin and
mint works perfectly well. Comments:
excellent and very moving! And I find
the fact that G&M would fill both
very young malts and very old glories
under exactly the same humble packaging
just as moving – makes all the
new GlenWonka-like, Franklinmint-esque
old whiskies even more ridiculous
if you ask me. Kudos. SGP:551
- 91 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
our German friends may start to
frown and chuckle but we like this
version of Sugar
Blues by... Nina
Hagen and the Leipzig
Big Band. Please buy Nina Hagen's
music. |
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November
17, 2009 |
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TASTING
TWO 1979 CARSEBRIDGE |
| Carsebridge
30 yo 1979/2009 (52.3%, Duncan Taylor,
Rare Auld, cask #33038, 164 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: starts very fresh
and slightly grassy and floral, with
hints of lilies, camomile tea and
hay. There’s also a little wood
varnish, vanilla and milk chocolate.
With water: more green tea, mint tea,
whiffs of coriander, a little basil,
liquorice and a faint smokiness. Very,
very nice nose, rather complex for
a grain whisky. It seems that the
cask was of high quality. Mouth (neat):
very sweet, very ‘grain’,
starting on strawberry drops, ripe
kiwi, tangerines and hints of bubblegum.
Gets then much spicier, with quite
some ginger and pepper from the oak.
With water: more ginger, speculoos,
coconut liqueur and white chocolate.
Very nice. Finish: medium long, as
fresh as a baby’s mouth. Comments:
an excellent grain that takes water
pretty, pretty well. Nice fruits/spices
balance. SGP:642 - 87 points.
|
| Carsebridge
29 yo 1979 (54.6%, Jack Wieber, Auld
Distiller, 178 bottles)
Colour: full gold. Nose: no varnish
this time, rather more praline and
chocolate, more vanilla too, then
hints of freshly squeezed oranges
and just hints of coconut milk. A
rounder version. With water: water
shuts it down a bit, it’s the
oak that speaks, with only faint whiffs
of nutmeg and paprika. Sweet ginger
sauce. Mouth (neat): it’s more
similar to the DT on the palate, maybe
a little less fresh and fruity and
more vanilled and peppery. Hints of
Turkish delights and, indeed, bubblegum
in the background. Coconut liqueur.
With water: more on ‘herbal’
spices, cardamom, lemon balm, green
pepper, light chilli… Water
works better than on the nose. Finish:
medium long, mainly spicy. It’s
only in the aftertaste that some bubblegum
and vanilla do resist. Comments: very
good but the oak’s a tad too
talkative for my taste, especially
after the very nice DT. SGP:461
- 85 points. |
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
let's have a little raggamuffin
(?) for a change, with Sister
Nancy doing Bam
Bam. Watch your woofers! Please
buy Sister Nancy's music. |
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November
16, 2009 |
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| TASTING
SEVEN NEW YOUNG CAOL ILA |
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| Caol
Ila 12 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2009)
Let’s have this new version
of an old friend to prepare our nose
and palate. Last time we had it was
in 2007 and I scored it 84. Colour:
straw. Nose: fresh and clean, with
these slightly sour notes (green apples)
that go well with Caol Ila. Fresh
butter, seawater and a mild smokiness.
The gentler side of the peat monsters
from Islay. Mouth: vey good attack,
smokier and ashier than on the nose.
Lemon juice, a little coriander, kiwi,
smoke (I tired smoked aubergines at
a Lebanese restaurant the other day,
they do taste similar – or partly).
A little salt. Finish: not very long,
fades away a bit quick, but it’s
all clean on the palate. Comments:
an easy peaty malt, extremely drinkable.
SGP:356 - 84 points. |
| Caol
Ila 2000/2009 (46%, Berry Bros &
Rudd, Berry's Best)
Colour: white wine. Nose: ultra-sharp,
zesty, even more on green apples and
even lime than the official 12. Then
more wet wool and rocks as well as
fresh almonds. Once again, a medium-peated
Caol Ila. Mouth: cystal-clean, smoky,
lemony and grassy. Straight ahead
young Caol Ila, no fuss, no flaws.
Finish: medium long, saltier, lemony.
Comments: simply very good and eminently
quaffable. In the same category as
the 12 OB, but this is not Berry’s
best. This is very good but Berry’s
best is excellent. SGP:366
- 84 points. |
| Caol
Ila 1996/2008 'Distillers Edition'
(43%, OB, C-si; 4-468)
Finished in moscatel. Colour: pale
gold. Nose: it seems that the amount
of moscatel is now much lower than
in earlier batches, and that’s
very good news if you ask me. We’re
rather close to the clean ‘naked’
OBs, maybe somewhere between the 12
and the 18. Some coal smoke, ashes,
seaweed, apple peeling and a little
fresh butter just like in the 12.
Also whiffs of eucalyptus (or cough
syrup). Mouth: indeed, the wine’s
influence is rather discreet and this
dram is very ‘Caol Ila’.
Once again, it’s a tad medicinal,
smoky, almondy and lemony. Very good.
Finish: medium long, smoky and almondy.
A little curry in the aftertaste.
Comments: I think the DE really improved
(again, less wine in whisky always
means progress in my view –
not talking about sherry here). I
had scored the first batch 82 but
when I tried it again I thought I
had been too generous. This time it’s
well worth a higher score and I won’t
change my mind ;-). SGP:456
- 85 points. |
| Caol
Ila 13 yo 1995/2009 (60.5%, AD Rattray
Cask Collection, Sherry, Cask #10035,
591 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: ultra-powerful
or when whisky smells like espresso
coffee and cut grass. Nothing unpleasant
but let’s add water straight
away. With water: classic half-farmy,
half-coastal Coal Ila. Superb freshness,
litres of limejuice, grapefruits,
flints and fresh almonds. Whiffs of
damp chalk, beach sand, ‘a plate
of oysters’ and crushed mint
leaves. Mouth (neat): powerful, strong,
ultra-classic young Coal Ila, ‘sharp
like a blade’ as they say. Lemon,
green apples and a good deal of peat/smoke.
With water: gets ashier… and
even more excellent. Super clean,
super palatable. Finish: very long,
grapefruity, with a little salt playing
with your taste buds. Comments: state
of the art middle-aged Caol Ila. SGP:357
- 88 points. |
| Caol
Ila 16 yo 1992/2009 (57.2%, The Clydesdale,
cask ref 0006/10641, 292 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: another clean,
smoky, coastal Caol Ila, on a lot
of cut grass, fresh almonds and walnuts,
then putty and seaweed. Uberclassic.
With water: hugely phenolic. Tar,
eucalyptus, turpentine and pine resin,
hints of wet newspaper, ink. Much
less a classic Caol Ila when diluted,
but it’s great. Mouth (neat):
not far from the 1995, maybe a tad
sweeter at the first drop and then
a tad greener (cider apples) and more
mineral. One of these famous riesling-esque
Caol Ilas. With water: nervous, peaty,
with quite some apples and fresh walnuts.
Sweetened green tea. Finish: long,
with notes of cough syrup and a lot
of lemon. Comments: what could I add?
Once again, one of these very good
Caol Ilas (scratch your head next
time, Serge!). SGP:367 - 87
points. |
| Caol
Ila 18 yo 1991/2009 (48%, Chieftain's,
'German oak finish', cask#91821, 288
bottles)
What’s German oak? Oak that
contained German wine or oak grown
in Germany? Colour: pale gold. Nose:
this one is the most mentholated of
them all. Distinct whiffs of Vicks,
then vanilla and the typical coastal
notes. Iodine, oysters, seawater.
With water: more vanilla and fresh
sawdust, and much less ‘Islayness’.
The oak stand out and the spirit hides
behind it. Mouth (neat): a very ‘funny’
profile, more medicinal than the average
CI, even smokier, tarry and then rather
chocolaty. This one has its eyes on
the island’s south shore. With
water: more grass, apple peeling,
even white tequila. Finish: rather
long, smoky, maybe a tad grassier
than the others. A little nutmeg in
the aftertaste. Comments: not sure
about what that German oak brought
to this dram but very good it is.
SGP:366 - 86 points. |
| Caol
Ila 'Unpeated' 10 yo (65.8%, OB, bottled
2009)
This is the now famous ‘Highlands’
Caol Ila, as opposed to the peated
‘Islay’. Colour: straw.
Nose: these notes of coffee…
Or so it seems because I will not
put my nose into my glass, guess why.
With water: marshmallows, bubblegum
and tinned pineapples galore. Pear
drops. Is this (only) double distilled?
Very clean profile and an immense
playfulness. Mouth (neat): sweet Jesus!
Menthol-doped lemon liqueur at cask
strength… It seems that this
is very good but frankly, at 65.8%...
(btw, I thought they were all filling
their new makes at 63.5% in recent
times? What’s even stranger
is that the first, very young version
was at 59.8%, the 8yo at 64.9, now
the 10 at 65.8… Will the 12
fetch 70%? ;-)) With water: sweet,
fruity and spicier now, with these
typical gingery notes that come with
rather active oak – or high
extraction. Speculoos, grated coconut,
orange cake. Finish: rather long,
and very fruity (marshmallows and
Turkish delights all over the place.)
Comments: in a certain way, it reminds
me of Bruichladdich’s X4+3.
No traces of peat. SGP:630
- 83 points. |
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| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
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:
Bunnahabhain
32 yo 1976/2009 (45.8%,
The Whisky Agency's Liquid Library, bourbon)
Bunnahabhain
35 yo 1973/2008 (50%, Whisky-Fässle,
sherry cask)
Bunnahabhain
35 yo 1974/2009 (56.6%, Adelphi, 200
bottles)
Glengoyne
1973/2009 (55.1%, Malts of Scotland,
Bourbon cask #677, 138 bottles)
Glengoyne
40 yo 1968/2009 (45.9%, OB, sherry
butt, 250 bottles)
Glenlivet
1964/2001 ‘Cellar Collection’ (49%,
OB, cask #2LBF901)
Glenlivet
1969/2006 ‘Cellar Collection’ (50.8%,
OB)
Lagavulin
12 yo 'Special Release 2009' (57.9%,
OB)
Lagavulin
1995/2009 (54.4%, OB, Feis Ile 2009,
cask #4556)
Lagavulin
16 yo (43%, OB, USA, Schieffelin & Sommerset,
+/-1990)
Lagavulin
16 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2009)
Lagavulin
1991/2008 'Distillers Edition' (43%,
OB, lgv 4/496)
Lagavulin
1993/2009 'Distillers Edition' (43%,
OB, lgv 4/497)
Macallan
1938/2004 (41.4%, Gordon & MacPhaill,
Speymalt)
Port
Ellen 25 yo 1982/2008 (59.3%, Signatory,
Refill Sherry Butt #2846, 234 bottles)
Port
Ellen 25 yo 1982 (58.2%, Douglas of
Drumlarig for Kingfisher, Selection 2008, Sherry
Butt)
Port
Ellen 30 yo 1979/2009 '9th release' (57.7%,
OB, 5,916 bottles)
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