06/04/2013 April outturn at the SMWS

New month, new outturn. We booked a plate of cheeses and a flight of drams to share, as on a Saturday, we are pretty much guaranteed a friendly soul will pour something else too and we do not want to overindulge.

G10.1 23yo 1989 Thanksgiving dram (59.6%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 280b): a new grain is always exciting. A new grain from a new distillery should be even more so. Now, a new grain from a new distillery that I have never tried is something special. Nose: lots of evergreen saw dust, a bit of nail-varnish remover, coconut shells and a bizarre and agreeable mix of pencil shavings and strawberry coulis on ginger bread. JS finds fig & caramel gelato in it too. An old grain, in other words. :-) Mouth: most velvety grain I have had, it seems. This is like chewing on a honey-coated, satin cushion -- for real. A cushion sprayed with a twist of pink-pepper mill, that is. Finish: the wood is huge, which is not too surprising, with more honey.

44.56 23yo 1989 Sweet and sour creative tension (51.8%, SMWS Society Single Cask, ex-Bourbon Cask, 300b): nose: honeysuckle, intoxicating perfume, essential oils, sunflower-seed oil? Very oily indeed. After a minute, it comes back to me: canola oil! Canola oil and some pine-tree needles. Mouth: velvety and easy, with a light sprinkle of pepper, forsythia in the back, tulip petals and maybe half a spoonful of honey. Finish: lovely! A nicely reached, difficult balance between honey and forsythia. It works a treat.

Silky smooth!

77.14 20yo 1987 Rich and velvety (59.1%, SMWS Society Cask, 464b): we get treated to this one by another customer. Nose: honeysuckle, honey, mead -- this is glorious! Mouth: more mead, honey-filled wafers. Finish: long and lingering on lovely mead, honeysuckle and honey. This is perfect in this sunny weather; perhaps not overly complex, but oh! so easy to drink (thanks B). 8/10

26.92 28yo 1984 Hard glazed pretzel sticks (58.2%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Butt, 491b): nose: trademark candle wax (it is a Clynelish, after all), spent candle wick and not much else I can detect. Mouth: reasonably wide with a dash of black pepper and a tiny bit of cardboard. Finish: more pepper and wax, perhaps flower petals, as well as burnt caramel. This is good, though not the best of the recent Clynelishes. "Vingt-six quatre-vingt-douze, Monsieur Vincent!"

77.30 9yo 2003 Attractively accessible and mouth-watering (61.9%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 273b): stupidly forgot this was coming and emptied 77.14 too soon to compare both. Nose: this one is a lot sharper and greener. Lots of plant juice, pine-tree sap (not very powerful, mind), some melted butter. Mouth: dry and mildly spicy (is it nutmeg?) Finish: it is, again, dry and freckled with plant sap. I reckon this is simply too green. Leave it another ten years in the cask, then we will talk.

The Old Man and a sea of Glenfarclas

1.168 28yo 1984 Appealing and gratifying (53.3%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 189b): nose: oh! dear, this is sherried. Irish tea cake, orange sabayon, leather sofas -- this was matured in a refill Bourbon cask?!!!??!? Now, that is puzzling! This dram is even rather meaty. Mouth: honey, marmalade and black pepper. Finish: now, it is a distinctive discharge of white pepper, before it settles on flower juice. Not too far from what I imagine spruce jam would taste like if they made it -- do they? Interesting and good, this.

Shortish session, though very sufficient. We manage to completely overlook the fact there is a new 78 -- a rare thing at the society, the last couple of years. Another visit soon, then.