31/10/2018 November outturn at Cadenhead's

Last one of the year, despite there being three releases in December. The staff tell us they simply cannot organise three consecutive tastings in the week leading to Christmas... which we all disagree with, of course. :)

Author/photographer Jon Purcell is with us, sampling the whiskies, and presenting his wonderful book The Art of Whisky (Spiorad Publishing), which can be found here, and which, at around seven kilogrammes, is a great read for the City commuter. ;-)

It grabs attention indeed

AND WHISKY!

Everything is poured blind an in small doses, as per usual. That means short notes.

Dram #1
Nose: plummy, flinty (MSo), acetone-y (cavalier66), with a note of cream soda (AH). Mouth: very sweet, with a pine-y note. Finish: cough lozenges and Goccepini. I guess Benrinnes, but am wrong, as usual. Auchroisk 12yo 2006/2018 (55.3%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 534b) 6/10

cavalier66: "It move towards Fisherman's Friend."
JB "Do you know... I just sucked on a fisherman's friend."

Dram #2
Nose: ethereal, mineral with pine-forest notes again. Mouth: more coating and more aromatic, in a herbaceous way. Finish: fruit is quite loud, here, with mulberry and medlar. Deanston 10yo 2008/2018 (56.2%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 576b) 7/10

Dram #3
Nose: leather and nuts, with also a slightly coastal facet. Mouth: salty, leathery, coastal, nutty and nice, with, as soon as TE reads it out, a note of rhubarb. Finish: long, with a soft veil of smoke, definitely present, but discreet. Benrinnes 14yo 2004/2018 (55.4%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 3 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 864b) says the label. We all reckon it is mislabelled. 7/10

MSo: "I've been so good at forgetting everything you say...."
cavalier66: "That's because you preload before you come."
JB: "Ewwwww!..."

Dram #4
Nose: Haribo sweets, tropical fruits and shaving cream. Mouth: soft, it has honey, royal jelly and squashed mango. Finish: super-fruity, with Haribo sweets and dried mango slices. Unexpectedly exquisite. Glen Grant-Glenlivet 25yo 1992/2018 (50.4%, Cadenhead Single Cask, 1 x Bourbon Barrel, 144b) 9/10

Benrinnes 14yo 2004/2018 (55.4%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 3 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 864b): SW was as astonished as all of us regarding Dram #3. He opened a bottle to confirm what we all suspected: not the same whisky. We still need to try it, then! Nose: butter and soft, fragrant resin, nuts, body butter. Mouth: a gentle bitterness and a lovely pine-related fruitiness. Finish: here come the pine needles and resin. Not bad, but also not very interesting. 6/10

Dram #6
Nose: precious wood, varnish and drying putty. Mouth: soft, with more varnished wood. JP says tinned-pineapple juice; I am not convinced. Peppermint. Finish: peppermint again. Not taken, by this. In fact, it is a disappointment. Glenlossie-Glenlivet 24yo 1993/2018 (53.6%, Cadenhead Single Cask, 1 x Bourbon Hogshead, 240b) 7/10

At last, I manage to secure a bottle through a draw (names in a hat), and I am not convinced. Ah, well.

We talk about feta and cavalier66 explains 'feta' means 'slice.'
cavalier66: "My Greek is not bad."
tOMoH: "I know, I've met her!"

Dram #7
Nose: stewed pears and butter, crayons. Mouth: soft, round, with more crayons and a healthy dose of plasticine. Finish: bitter, here, with lots of putty, plasticine and crayon shavings. I do not care for this one at all, and unsurprisingly, it is a distillery that usually leaves me cold. Glenrothes-Glenlivet 17yo 2001/2018 (53%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 528b) 5/10

Dram #8
Nose: after-shave, cologne, wood varnish. Mouth: soft, plasticine-filled and waxy as a Clynelish. Finish: more wax action and lots of walnut stain. Many reckon it is a grain. Wrong. Inchgower 9yo 2009/2018 (56.5%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Sherry Hogsheads, 582b) 7/10

Dram #9
Nose: floral, with a bit of Crayola action, pencil shavings. Mouth: grassy, flinty -- really grassy, actually. Finish: long, warming, with grass and plant-sap bitterness. This reads a bit like a St Magdalene profile, but most guess it is Ord 13yo 2005/2018 (56.5%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 1 x Bourbon Hogshead + 1 x Butt, 954b) 6/10

During nosing:
TE: "Must be the Ord."
tOMoH: "Not flinty or grassy enough to be the Ord."
MSo: "Not shitty enough to be the Ord."

An uncalled-for comment, but each to their own. Last time I was in the shop, someone told me they thought Bowmore was a bottom-tier distillery that had never produced anything great.

cavalier66: "You think this is the Ord?"
tOMoH: "I thought it wasn't, but now I think it might be."
cavalier66: "You're on the fence."
tOMoH: "I'm the Jeremy Corbyn of Glen Ord."

Dram #10
Nose: varnish, solvent and paint thinner. Mouth: turbo-charged with solvents. Finish: wood lacquer and solvents. This is, of course, the grain, and I liked the 28yo much more. Strathclyde 29yo 1989/2018 (55.7%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Barrels, 330b) 6/10

Dram #11
Nose: dead carcasses, rotting flesh, oiled teak. "Send a bottle to Theresa May," says JB. Mouth: soft and much more enjoyable than the nose Finish: super fruity, now, it redeems itself, somewhat. Speyburn-Glenlivet 10yo 2008/2018 (46%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 1 x Bourbon Hogshead, 348b) 6/10

Dram #12
Nose: lots of honey, heather, honeysuckle. Mouth: soft, frail, with droplets of honeysuckle. Finish: very delicate, honeyed, here too, and subtly smoky. We all guess it is the HP. Highland Park 29yo 1989/2018 (40.6%, Cadenhead Single Cask, 1 x Bourbon Hogshead, 198b) 8/10

Dram #13
Nose: very farm-y with added meat cuts. Mouth: hot embers, ashes and burnt rubber. Finish: hot again, with embers and caramelised honey. This one is a blend of Longrow, Kilkerran and Invergordon. Light Creamy Smoky 10yo b.2018 (60.5%, Cadenhead Creations) 7/10

Dram #14
Nose: ashy as fook, with dried mud, dried cow dung and shards of burnt wood. Mouth: hot, ashy, it has caramelised Mars bars (yup). Finish: lots of fruit and lots of burnt wood. A soft, medicinal touch leads us to think it is the Islay, but we are quickly proven wrong. (Paul) John 6yo 2011/2018 (56.6%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 1 x Bourbon Hogshead + 1 x Bourbon Barrel, 564b) 7/10

Dram #15
Nose: super ashy, it has roasted barley, plastic bottles and a cold barbecue grille.. Mouth: grapefruit juice, pressed over barbecue ashes. Finish: barbecue grille again and dried grapefruit. Lovely, if you like that profile. Laphroaig 20yo 1998/2018 (54.3%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Hogsheads, 474b) 7/10

SW tells us that J & A Mitchell are phasing out Campbeltown Loch, with only a small outturn, next year. Soon at an auction near you...

Cavalier66 and I go for a nightcap -- he needs to tell me about his recent Japan escapade.