Unsurprisingly, it is full of tourists who are in town because of the show, yet it is quiet enough to be enjoyable.
Quick catch-up with the staff, greeting A and I. who have been here with Fixou for a while, but are about to leave, then comes the hard job of finding an opening dram.
"I'll get the next round" |
PS is very excited about an official new grain he caught wind of and no-one must know about. He tells that in such a discrete manner that everyone at the venue is listening to us. That is made even funnier by the fact one of his friends gives him a bag containing said official new grain no-one must know about and he proceeds to rub it in my face in a very visible manner.
50.52 23yo 1990/2013 Tales of the River-bank (53.1%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 106b) (JS): nose: Dundee cake, fruit cake, honeysuckle, cooked apples -- this is so rip-roaring! Mouth: soft, light and fruity, with a dash of pepper. Finish: long, powerful, full of green pepper and honeysuckle stems. One of the great Bladnochs. 8/10
9.68 22yo 1990 Plentiful fruit – super-charged sweetness (53.8%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 188b) (Fixou): nose: apple compote, a grandmother's kitchen, warm laundry, maybe a cooking hearth. Did you say warming and comforting? Mouth: smooth and silky. Flat, says Fixou -- the fool! White pepper kicks in after a bit -- or is it green chilli? Finish: longish and peppery, but not extremely interesting, unfortunately. 7/10
I leave for a bit to fetch dom666 from the station. The train is late and he gets stuck at customs, but we make it back to the SMWS at a reasonable time, though PS has left.
The winner is... |
121.64 14yo 1998 Maggie Thatcher at the funfair (54.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 203b) (dom666): nose: lots of flowers and honeysuckle. Mouth: a bit green, but pleasant enough. More honeysuckle, wax, thyme, a mineral touch (flint) and an anaesthetising sting. Finish: long and warming, with vanilla pudding and butterscotch. It becomes slightly medicinal -- cough syrup, cough lozenges and cola, ginseng and ginger (Fixou). 7/10
The gang and a funny bottle on the table |
127.37 9yo 2003 Dinosaurs dancing to Stravinsky (66.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Butt, 649b) (Fixou): this one is the sole reason I. came here earlier (remember she is a peat freak). It seems a good one to finish with. Nose: well, forty centimetres from the glass, I can already smell it. Saltings, barbecue, cured meat, mixed spices. Mouth: peat, a little charcoal. Finish: a steamroller of peat and cured meat. Not too complex, but does the job. Water gives it a farmy feel, which is nice too. 6/10
Relaxed and pleasant tasting, once again. Perhaps a bit of clumsiness around the black Laph, but it all came from a good heart and was sorted in good mood.
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