29/09/2018 Whisky Show 2018 (Day 1 -- Part 1)

The zenith of the whisky year is upon us, once again. It is with a mix of resignation and relative lack of enthusiasm that JS, dom666 and I attend, this year. Not that we are dragging our feet; simply, I at least, am not as excited as I have been in the past, for various reasons, one of them being the certainty that we will miss out on good finds because of the overabundance on offer, and the relative few stand-outs on the drams list published a couple of days ago. Sure, dom666 is looking forward to the Talisker 40yo and I am curious about it too, but compared to the lists of the last couple of years, what is on display seems overwhelming in terms of quantity (around 800 bottlings), but less impressive in terms of quality.
Regardless, we know we will have a good time and meet good friends.

It will be a day of heavy dramming. First, brunch at The Attendant.

This is aptly named: Immunity

dom666 goes for a heart-shaped latte (or is it a pair of bollocks?)

Banana bread and waffle for me

With a nice flower on top!

Bacon roll with poached egg for JS

Bacon roll and granola for dom666

The first blow comes when we reach the venue. The queue is actually facing away from the entrance, this year, only bending back the right way on the west end of London Bridge. It takes us over an hour to finally get in, at 12:24. Many in the queue are attending the 12:30 masterclass and have to be rushed in late. Cavalier66 is one of them, though he still manages to grab a dram on the way -- the snake. We start at the same stand he did.

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 12yo (43%, Halewood, Finished in Rum Casks): soft, sweet, long and sugar-like. 7/10

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 12yo (43%, Halewood, Finished in Port Casks): nose: syrup, soft and round, pillow-y. Mouth: more bite than expected, with coating elderberry. Finish: sweet and warming. Good, but I prefer the rum cask. 6/10

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 26yo b.2018 (54.2%, Halewood, Bourbon Cask, 144b, b#1): because, well, why not? This is what cavalier started with, of course. He loved it. So do dom666 and JS. It will remain my favourite dram of the show and certainly my favourite if we overlook dream drams and masterclasses. Proper notes here. By the way, this reads bottle #1, but I do not believe it: I know where bottle #1 is. Someone must have manually written 1 on more than one bottle. 10/10

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 12yo (43%, Halewood, Finished in Sherry Casks): nose: chocolate coulis, orange rinds. Mouth: orange pulp and flesh. Finish: acidic oranges and rich chocolate. They all play in the same ballpark, but this is my favourite of the 12yo. We are told they come from West Cork distillery. 7/10

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 5yo (41.2%, Halewood, Finished in Sherry Casks): nose: super meaty, acrid, it reeks of dead animal carcass. Mouth: meaty again, with cured meat, thick and coating. Finish: more chocolate-y, here, which is the best thing about it, in my opinion. This is not my profile. For Mortlach fans only. 5/10

dom666 tries Crabbie's 8yo and 12yo. I have had them before. We move to Diageo's for the latest supermarket dram.

Talisker 40yo 1978/2018 (50%, OB The Bodega Series, Finished in ex-Delgado Zuleta, 2000b, b#1397): nose: the sea; pebbles; fruit; happiness. Mouth: salt water, cut guava and seafood. Finish: wow. Cockles, pebbles, sandy beaches. This is super deep, never-ending  and frankly amazing. It would deserve spending hours with. 10/10

B-U-S-Y!

We finally realise that the first floor is occupied by more stands, this year. We work our way up, and that place is packed to flip. It takes me back to the Vinopolis days, where crowds were so dense the experience was rather painful. We spot Signatory Vintage: overcrowded; Show Bottlings: overcrowded; Single Malts of Scotland: overcrowded; Berry Bros: overc- wait! RW is there almost free. I wave, he waves back, I go closer to shake hands. "Do you want to try something good?" he says. "Is the pope a catholic?" I reply. I pour him some Inchmurrin 20yo (40%, OB imported by T.A.C., b. late 1990s), he pours me this...

Longmorn 1968/1981 (43%, Berry Bros & Rudd): I am made to promise not to take a picture of this. Nose: elegant sherry, cocoa, spent coffee grounds. This has a depth similar to the Talisker's. Mouth: cocoa-coated fruit and high-end leather. Finish: chocolate and raspberry coulis, Mon Chéri praline, extremely deep and good. Rhaaa! 9/10

Legendary shirt, sponsored by Roy Liechtenstein

OB shows up and passes the following around.

Benriach 28yo 1990/2018 (48.8%, The Whisky Echange Whisky Show 10th Anniversary, 106b): would someone please point out to the organisers/bottlers that tenth edition is not the same as tenth anniversary? The first edition took place in 2009; it is now 2018. It is the tenth edition of the show, but its ninth anniversary. Nose: very perfume-y. Mouth: stripping, but light, ethereal. Finish: long, powerful, floral, with subtle fruit. 8/10

Springbank 23yo (52.2%, Elixir Distillers Masterpieces, Refill Sherry Cask, 339b): nose: soft, earthy and gently peaty, it also has jam. Mouth: Turkish delights, some sand and pebbles. Finish: more peat, here -- in fact, it turns rather farm-y, with dry peat. Text-book Springbank, really. Coastal, farm-y and fruity. 8/10

Speyside Region 43yo 1973/2017 (47.4%, The Whisky Agency for The Whisky Exchange, Butt): nose: soft and floral, elegant, with frangipane and pineapple chamomile. Mouth: thick berry coulis, superb. Finish: long, remarkably fruity and jammy. Another excellent whisky from the Ballindalloch estate. 9/10

Invergordon 44yo b.2018 The Future (51.6%, The Whisky Exchange 10th Anniversary Whisky Show The Future of Whisky): the 3D holographic label is trippy. Nose: blackcurrant turnover, slightly overbaked. Mouth: soft, yet balanced, fruity, it has berries. Finish: a blackcurrant onslaught. This is really excellent. 8/10

Braes of Glenlivet 23yo 1994/2018 (54.4%, Berry Bros & Rudd, C#165627): nose: perfume and lots of pastry, squashed berries. Mouth: balanced, with vanilla, custard and fudge. Finish: unexpectedly powerful, with lots of flowers and soft pastry. 7/10

This Ben Nevis is nice,
but I fail to take notes

Is this the queue to the Justin Bimber concert?

Signatory is less busy at last.

Glenlivet 11yo 2007/2018 (64.3%, Signatory Vintage The Un-Chillfiltered Collection, 1st Fill Sherry Hogshead, C#900131, 302b): nose: marinated meat cuts, sulphur. Mouth: heavy sherry influence, lacquered wood, Kluwak nuts. Finish: long, invasive, too invasive. This lacks subtlety for my taste. 5/10

dom666 has this fierce
Deanston instead

Glenlivet 36yo 1981/2018 (47.6%, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection hand picked by The Whisky Exchange, 76 Months in a Sherry Butt, C#12, 702b): nose: dry, old wood, hay and dried apricot. Mouth: apricot, dried peach slices. Finish: long and elegant, a little nutty. 9/10

Irish Whiskey 27yo 1989/2017 (46.8%, The Whisky Agency and The Whisky Exchange, Bourbon Barrel): it is the same as last year and I take no note. I like it better, this year. 9/10

Carsebridge 35yo 1982/2018 (48.9%, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection, Refill Butt, C#74604, 500b, b#228): nose: the metallic side of pastry, with sage, sprinkled on top. Mouth: soft, sweet and custard-y. Finish: delicate, very sweet, it has Turkish delights. Excellent. 8/10

Time to upload some food.

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