17/11/2019 Low Filledity

Cavalier66 posted pictures on social media of bottles that he noticed had lost a few centilitres, over the years. Funnily enough, the day before, I had looked at some of my bottles and observed that their respective fill levels were not too good either, and I noted that I should probably open them and drink them before the angels do it. JS put the pun together, as the John-Cusack fangirl she is. :)

GL, PS, Cavalier66, JS and I will then have bottles with low fill levels. PS and GL end up bringing open bottles with little left in them, while the other three have dodgy-levelled-yet-unopened bottles to share.

The soundtrack: Ruptured World - Exoplanetary

North of Scotland 1964/2007 (45%, Robert Scott Scott's Selection) (PS): nose: barley sugar, sweet corn, brown sugar, teak and caramel. PS reckons this was distilled from 100% malted barley, though it is hard to tell, as it came from a continuous still. There is a sweaty smell to this as well, which is funky. Mouth: thick and coating, it has coffee, toffee, slightly bitter and cloying, invasive, even. Precious woods, wood lacquer -- even hair lacquer, to be honest. Finish: in line with the nose and mouth, with flat cola, Chinotto, ebony, hair lacquer -- yes! it has a mild bitterness. 8/10

Linlithgow 22yo 1975/1998 (51.7%, Signatory Vintage Silent Stills, C#96/3/01, 335b, b#243, 98/0632) (JS): nose: an amazing mixture of citrus (bergamot, smoked lime, tangerine) and tobacco leaves. The nose also has very-shy dunnage warehouse, flint, crushed, dried sage and... cold roast beef. Mouth: the gentle bitterness of fresh tobacco leaves, fresh sage, lichen on staves, and lots and lots of citrus, augmented with a spoonful of honey. Finish: long, citrus-y, it has bergamot foliage and dried lime peels. This is so clean and beautiful! 9/10

The level, for reference

The soundtrack: Creation VI - Beringia

GL: "This is Turkish delights and dark chocolate."
Cavalier66: "Is this Rosebank?"
tOMoH: "No, not Scottish delights! Turkish delights! Rosebankoglu."

Benromach 5yo b.2006 (45%, OB, Finished in Hungarian Tokaji Wine Casks, 2000b) (GL): nose: a touch of sulphur, pork sweat, barbecued bacon, then maraschino cherries and lingonberry compote. Have we found a Tokaji finish that works? GL and PS claim so... Mouth: thinner and more mellow than I expected, it seems perfume-y. The wine notes appear, softly-softly, accompanied by a dose of spices (ground ginger). Finish: oooh! That is interesting. The wine influence is there, but it is quickly matched by a soft smoke and a note of burnt cork. A serving of pickled onions and a drop of vinegar also appear. It would seem as though PS and GL are right. This whisky does showcase a Tokaji maturation that works. 7/10

What is potentially the last-ever Italian sausage we will get enters the scene. My source might just have dried up, much to my dismay.

Cavalier66: "So, PS is not coming to Old & Rare?"
PS: "Unlikely, no."
Cavalier66: "Can I say: 'you're an idiot'?"
PS: "Not sure why you need my permission. You've done it before."

The soundtrack: Neuractive - Morphology

Clynelish 11yo 1994/2006 (53.3%, Creative Whisky Company Exclusive Malts, Sherry Butt, 362b) (GL): nose: bacon-y, with a pinch of leather, horse's hair, smoked cherries, scorched earth and pencil shavings. Mouth: chocolate and liqueur pralines, dark cherries, leather saddles and varnished wood. It is a great sherry maturation, this. Finish: a high-flying kick of alcohol, with a touch of cork, varnished wood and fortified wine. Well, that is all well, though the distillery character struggles to surface. 7/10

vs.

Clynelish 22yo 1972/1995 (58.95%, OB Rare Malts Selection) (tOMoH): I did not know what to choose, when the guests arrived. I thought having a second Clynelish might be fun, though I was worried it would not be a fair match. Nose: mirabelle plum, apricot, marmalade in a cast-iron cauldron, over a wood fire, mist, more than smog (ozone, perhaps?), honey -- phwoar! Diesel engines and soot are also to be found behind the honey-glazed, fruity marmalade. Mouth: mellow and honey-filled, with also yellow flowers and more marmalade, stewed plums and apricots -- this is both fruity and old-school, with a twist of black pepper for good measure. Finish: big and appealing, with a pinch of salt, honey-glazed apple, caramelised over a wood fire. Wow. This is exceptional. I am looking forward to spending more time with it. It was not at all a fair match. I had this one at 9, but coming back to it after everyone has left, it seems to shine even brighter. So... 10/10

Making little wom-bottles

The cork of the next bottle disintegrates. GL, JS and I operate a corkscrew, skewers and a vacuum cleaner to salvage it, rather successfully, I might add. :-)

Pressed-orange-whisky

The soundtrack: Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast - Black Stage Of Night

Benromach 7yo 2000/2008 Lat 57° (57%, OB to celebrate the Clipper 07--08 Round the World Yacht Race, First Fill Sherry Hogshead, C#580, 330b) (GL): GL is in a Benromach mood, is he not? Nose: very cask-y, almost plank-y, with dry staves, ginger bread, cherry liqueur and dark chocolate, as well as dry sherry, Oloroso style. Mouth: woody, almost splinter-y, it has lots of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, yet also some ginger, dry sherry and Jägermeister. The cask influence is huge. Finish: lots of chocolate, here, with a hint of dry smoke, galangal and cork, dry wood, bung cloth, hessian sacks and very old walnuts. This is huge, coating, drying, yet comforting too, because so warming. Another stonking sherry cask from GL. 8/10

JS: "I really like where it is in the line-up, with the sausage."

Port Dundas 20yo b.2011 (57.4%, OB Limited Edition, ex-Sherry & First Fill American & Charred European Oak Casks, 1920b, b#1824) (PS): I tried this one at Whisky Live! 2011 and remember liking it, but being puzzled by the price, in a day and age when the same amount bought you a 1960s grain. Nose: ginger bread aplenty, baking croissant dough and caramelising golden syrup. Mouth: soft on the palate, it is rounded, but also full-bodied and complex, with cassia bark, crushed aniseed, chocolate, cinnamon and dead leaves. Finish: wow! Long, cinnamon-laden, with ginger-bread man, speculoos, hazelnut paste and chocolate spread (not the kind that has more palm oil than anything else). This is excellent indeed. What a treat to try it again! 8/10

PS: "I was being far too kind to you."
tOMoH: "The word to remember in that phrasing is: 'fart'."

Cavalier66: "I'm oozing. That's what I do. My friends make me ooze."
tOMoH: "That's because you married a Greek. She got you hooked on ooze-o."

PS: "When did you last buy Brora? About £800 ago."

57.4 15yo 1979/1994 (63.1%, SMWS Society Cask) (JS): another broken cork. This one becomes a floater, so that will require a more elaborate salvage operation. First, let us try it. Nose: nostril-consuming, this one, clearly from before the SMWS discovered water. It has ethereal orange segments, lemon juice -- no! Pomelo juice, a hint of almond paste and hazelnut paste. The second sniff brings a bit of a leafy touch to the picture -- tobacco leaves, perhaps? PS finds it hay-like, with straw mats. He is not wrong. Mouth: crisp, acidic and lemon-y, with limescale and grapefruit... Wow! This is extremely big, bold, with apple, pear and Chinese gooseberry (PS calls it kiwi fruit, the pleb he is). Dry hay mats here too, though the overall impression is fruity. Finish: muscular, lemon-y and sharp, zesty, with lots of citrus and dry-as-fork hay. This is nice, but fierce. I can feel my head growing and growing! I am oscillating between an 8 and a 9. For tonight, it will be ... 9/10

Cavalier66: "Glen Mhor through a strawr."

JS: "We'll need to fish out the cork."
tOMoH: "That's ok. I'm not scared of that any-mhor."
Cavalier66: "The ECT. Emergency Cork Team."

The soundtrack: Various - Dark Pleasures

PS: "Do not google Dark Pleasures!"

Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62%, OB Limited Edition, Sherry Casks, 9000b, b#5117) (Cavalier66): fourteen-and-a-half years later, I get to try this again. It has gained quite a reputation, in the meantime. Justified? Nose: sherry. Very elegant, with wood polish, liquorice, brine, pickled onions, shoe polish -- there is not much Talisker, in this, which is probably a good thing from my perspective. :-) Shiitake-mushroom paste and leather belts. Mouth: big (you don't say!), gently drying, coating, it has all sorts of precious woods, drinks cabinets, crushed Macadamia nuts, almond skins and dried fruits (mostly dates). Finish: it is all leather and smoke and pepper, here. Not the gross pepper from the 10yo, no -- much more refined than that. The finish is really impressive. It also has precious, lacquered wood, all sorts of polishes, burnt caramel, dried figs, dried dates and -- Talisker finally appears, here -- swirls of smoke and smoked pepper. The amazing part is how well-integrated this is. At 62%, one would expect it to chew one's tongue off. Against all odds, it does not burn much. I feel the reputation is a little overdone (there are better drams around, and better Taliskers), but still. Cracking dram, probably closer to Secret Stills 01.01 than any other Tal I know. 9/10

Dram of the day:
JS, GL: Linlithgow
tOMoH, Cavalier66: Clynelish RMS
PS: Cannot choose.

This one stood the test, strangely enough

In my tipsy good will, I manage to spill a dram's worth of 57.4 whilst transferring it out of and in to the bottle to remove the broken cork, then draw a forty-centimetre scratch on the wall while turning the sofa cushions. AAAAAARRRRGHRHHHHHHH!!!

Excellent afternoon. Additional credit to Cavalier66, who had a serious bike accident a few days ago and made it, despite his injuries (hence the straw), with a promise that we would not make him laugh. We were never going to keep that one, were we? ;-)