BA and PS call off on the day, but OB and JS join me all the same in commemoration of the 22nd February 1997, when Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
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| ...and t-shirts were made |
The soundtrack: DJ Gert - Boccaccio Life Vol. 3 (CD2)
The soundtrack: Various - Dance Opera Empire 4
JS presents: Dollybardine.
Tullibardine 33yo 1972/2006 (43.1%, Dewar Rattray Cask Collection, C#2597, 141b): nose: it still delivers! All sorts of fruits -- carambola, wine-soaked orange segments, cured pineapple, cranberries, lychee, pomegranate seeds, and a lick of pine cone. OB finds it sour -- the pomegranate, surely. Some wood comes out at second nose. Mouth: soft, it is clearly woody, and just as fruity. Cured strawberries, wine-soaked orange segments, pomegranate seeds, red grapefruits. OB nails it with Fraise Tagada. Phwoar! We start with this? Finish: long, elegant, sparkly, it has ginger beer, decaying wood (a little bitterness, then), and sour apples. Full notes here. 9/10
tOMoH presents Dalaruan. Not the original, of course (the distillery closed a century ago, after a century of existence), but the Lost Distillery Company's, who cloned the original's flavour profile.
Dalaruan (46%, The Lost Distillery Company Archivist’s Selection, B#1/i, b#298): nose: meaty and gamy to the point I would not be surprised to learn it contains Mortlach. Pickled pearl onions too. It becomes more cardboard-y over time. Mouth: stewed fruits here, lingonberries and apples, yet it retains some of the meat and pickled-onion brine. 'Briny' is the word. Further sips are drier: a pinch of chalk sprinkled on steaks. Finish: long, it sticks to the gums, and is more acidic and fruitier here than it is meaty. Cranberries and lingonberries, rather than game. Full notes here. 7/10
The soundtrack: Noir Désir - 666.667 Club (this one is from 1996, but I listened to it a lot in 1997)
OB tells us that, in the film Attack of the Clones, we learn that the clones in question all come from Django Fett, whose son is Bobalvenie Fett. He actually wanted to make it a triplet and offer BowmoreBalvenie Fettercairn, but could not find a Fettercairn and threw the towel.
The Balvenie Tun 1401 (49.2%, OB Tun 1401 imported by Acla da Fans, 11 x Traditional Whisky Casks + 2 x Sherry Hogsheads, C#15914+5033+14824+7051+15342+15336+5823+13453+442+6440+5173, B#7): nose: so elegant! Full of prunes, polished dashboards, dried figs, shoe polish, as well as Tableau sticker-removal spray, and seared mushrooms. That is right: there is something a little earthy to this that tickles liquorice-root shavings. That, blueberry jellies and cashew paste. The second sniff has fragrant trees (thuja? Maple?) and marshmallow. Mouth: a masterclass of Sherry maturation. Dried fruits (dates loudest, on the palate), earth (button mushrooms) and rubber (faint bicycle inner-tubes). That rubber turns mildly drying at second sip, but it is, again, balanced, with dark honeys and maple syrups dusted with ashes. Finish: assertive softness, total control, extreme elegance. This is a little sweet, in a dark-honey style. Dark cough drops, grated candy necklace. It all dies with a minimum amount of mulled-wine spices (not the wine itself) and tar-black maple syrup. Excellent. Even though it is not necessarily my style of predilection, it is clearly extremely well made. 9/10
tOMoH presents a 1997 distillation, the year Dolly was created. Does it matter that we had it the same day as the Tullibardine, in the past? Answers on a postcard.
Arran 17yo 1997/2014 (51.6%, The Whisky Agency & Acla da Fans Acla Selection specially selected for Whisky-Schiff Zürich 2014, Refill Sherry Cask, 120b): "much more whisky than the previous," says OB. Nose: citrus-y and rich at the same time, it has cosmetic powder, today. The second nose develops cigarette smoke, which is a surprise. Mouth: crystallised orange segments. It is chewy and a tad chalky in further sips, and very-softly bitter too. Finish: a gulp of milk coffee, lukewarm and diluted, totally tolerable for this non-coffee drinker. We also have warm metal (zinc pipes) cosying up to warm custard. Full notes here. 8/10
The soundtrack: Speedy J - Public Energy #1
OB presents Dolly... Parton - Jo-Linkwood. Wow.
Linkwood 23yo 1998/2021 (53.3%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength Exclusively bottled for TyndrumWhisy.com, Refill Sherry Hogshead, C#13808, B#21/214, 267b, 211030): nose: spicy, it has sumac and ground cloves. That morphs a few minutes in to develop dried rasp- or strawberry slices, wrapped in a veil of smoke. Said smoke is the result of burning oak bark. There is a spoonful of pine needles in this nose too. Subsequent sniffs have a plastic element, blended with dark-fruit jellies. Water tones down the spices and allows berries to shine brighter -- fresh berries too, now. Mouth: it starts out mellow and pleasant, then grows in spicy intensity, with sumac and crushed dried cherry stems. Strawberries of the dried kind appear here too, and, if one searches with intent, so does a soft sulphury note (OB). Juicy and lively, the second sip has darker-berry sweets, jellies, cough drops or other, a little bitter, perhaps, and delicious all round. Water makes this mellower, believe it or not, fruitier. Gone are the sulphur and the bitterness of cherry stems. It is all fruit jellies and jams. Finish: tree bark introduces dried raspberry slices and dried wild strawberries. Darker berries show up upon repeated quaffing, and it is gradually juicier, on the blackcurrant tip. Water cranks up the dark berries, juicy, if still a little bitter. That never becomes a distraction. Blueberries, myrtles, blackberries. This is a terrific swimmer. 8/10
tOMoH and JS present a grain from the Clone Denny range. Groan. Ha! Ha!
Port Dundas 21yo 1992/2013 (55.7%, Hunter Hamilton The Clan Denny, Refill Hogshead, C#HH9452): nose: very grassy and metallic. Welcome to Port Dundas. It also has rubber boots. Mouth: very rubbery (in a good way), it showcases ancient bike inner-tubes, old plumbing joints (rubber seals), old corn cobs, and oilskins faded by years in the sun. Finish: caramelised corn coated in syrup of sorts. It is less grassy and metallic here and deserves a perhaps-generous score. Full notes here. 8/10
JS: "It was nice."
OB: "Not sherried enough."
Soundtrack: Richie Hawtin - Pete Namlook - From Within III
tOMoH presents (with a little help from JS) a Baaaaah!-clones (for Balcones, see?)
140.17 3yo d.2019 Bowled over by cinnamon cola (62.8%, SMWS Society Cask, #3 Char New Oak Barrique, 217b): nose: "cinnamon cola is right" (OB). I find Werther's Original and maple toffee. It slowly reveal melted toffee ice cream and a lick of pine bark. Perhaps it is the memory of Clementine's Ozark Cabin ice cream. Mouth: a lot of cinnamon (OB). Almost drying, with crushed cassia bark, a clove or two, and Dr. Pepper. It is desiccating at second sip, like biting a stick of chalk. Finish: root beer, followed by warm chocolate custard and melted Mokatine. Wonderful finish. 8/10
OB: "The ABV is not crazy. [Looks at the bottle] Oh! Right."
To round off this superb tasting, we have a drop of Clynelish 12yo d.1973 (56.9%, OB exclusively bottled from original cask for Whiskyteca Edward & Edward, b#198) (or Clone-lish, as OB rightly points out). It slays. Funnily enough (because completely coincidental), we had it a year ago, almost to the day.
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