25/01/2014 Burns to be alive (Part 1)

Our biggest private whisky event of the year is here again: Burns' Night. dom666 gave this "theme" as a joke, years ago and now, it is implemented. Ha!

While the guests arrive one by one, we have a dram of Dailuaine 27yo 1982/2009 (46%, Speciality Drinks Single Malts of Scotland, C#809, 230b) to clear up some shelf space. (7/10)

The suspects: adc, sonicvince + Mrs. sonic, JS, kruuk2, dom666, ruckus, Psycho, JD and myself. PSc unfortunately calls off.

The menu:

Mammoth's bollock

The mammoth's bollocks

Deanston Virgin Oak (46.3%, OB, P030146 L5) (brought by dom666): nose: ballsy (sonicvince; "il a des Burnes," in original version). Plum eau-de-vie, liqueur pralines, then plum fruit. Mouth: almonds, toasted coconut, sweet and oily. The virgin oak is speaking, then. Finish: almond bitterness kumquats (adc). Long and warming; a pleasant dram to start with. 7/10

Enters the starter: leek soup with herby toasted croutons.

Linlithgow 24yo 1982/2007 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask 50, C#DL REF 3560, 303b) (brought by me): nose: herbaceous, slightly metallic, before it moves towards bonded warehouse and lichen. Then apple comes out, as well as a bit of leather (sonicvince). Mouth: dry and fruity, packed with more acidic apples. Finish: lovely apple juice, spring flowers, barley sugar and hay. The first St Magdalene I ever bought and it still delivers. 9/10

Booooooooom!

In comes the main dish: haggis (it spent hours behaving perfectly in the oven, then exploded in the last sprint, unfortunately), potato, swede and leek bake, potato and parsnip gratin, as well as enhanced gratin dauphinois (with mushrooms). For the first time, there is also a sauce to go with it (secret ingredients).

Highland Park 8yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail The MacPhail's) (brought by ruckus): nose: peat, heather, slightly animal, with a whiff of smoke. sonicvince finds it medicinal. Mouth: heather honey, really sweet and soft -- splendid. Finish: some sulphur, now, but mostly embers, smoke and light peat. A bit rough, I guess, but very pleasant, if not perfect. 7/10

Longrow (46%, OB, ca 2013) (brought by JD): nose: a farmyard and all that goes with it. Mud, coffee, manure, straw, cattle, ... JD finds it too chemical. Mouth: oily and muddy. Finish: woah! farmyard with a touch of dark fruit. Dark cherries, barley sugar and black pepper. Nice. 7/10

Psycho has to leave: he has to wake up early for a ballet-dancing jamboree tomorrow. I am in charge of his bottle of Caol Ila 25yo (43%, OB, b. ca 2010), though we end up not trying it at all. We had it a while ago and have so many other things to try anyway.

Go, Belgium!

Lambertus 10yo (40%, OB) (brought by sonicvince): Belgian whisky. Most of us know the name, but have not tried it, so this piques our interest. Nose: nice grain, gentle and easy. Varnish, vanilla, marzipan and sultanas, all impressively balanced. Mouth: light to the point it is nearly watery. Much less convincing than the nose. Finish: fruit cake, sultanas again, cinnamon, a lot longer than expected and surprisingly good. Nice one, Belgium! 7/10

The 17th serving of everything

Belgian Owl 8mo (46%, OB, C#4018731) (brought by adc): we had this one when we visited the distillery, a few years ago, and thought it was better than the 3 year-old whisky they were selling at the time. Nose: pears, apples and shoe boxes. Old leather. Mouth: pear juice, though watery again. Too diluted for my taste, today. Finish: pear and -- wait! Is it chocolate? Well, it is a Belgian malt after all... Excellent dram, pity about the low ABV. Maybe it would do a better impression under different circumstances. 8/10

We talk about how the Monty Python tickets sold in seconds when they were put on sale and wonder if the show will be any good.

sonicvince: "Isn't one of them dead?"
me: "Yeah: Graham Chapman."
kruuk2: "There's his brother too..."
me: "...?"
kruuk2: "Poday. Poday Chapman."
(The above only makes sense if you understand French, I suppose)

"I'll make a note while you stroke your chin."

Continue with Part 2.