03/08/2025 Mini tasting

Following a series of flakages, only OB and JS make this one. We do away with a theme and go for samples and miniatures. OB regrets that he only brought top-shelf stuff, with no consideration for a balanced series. How selfish. I fill in with more-modest stuff.

Strathmill 11yo 1985/1997 (43%, Signatory Vintage, Oak Cask, C#2342, 2460b, b#95, 97/617) (me): OB declares it "not unpleasant, despite a soft soapy touch." He admits that said soapy touch is lost between the garlic from his lunch and the toothpaste he used to get rid of the garlic. JS finds it an excellent starter. My notes are here.

Macduff 17yo 1978/1996 (43%, Signatory Vintage, Sherry Butt, C#6643, 1320b, b#79, 96/1247) (me): I like this perhaps even more than last time. It is very citrus-y, acidic-sweet, ripe with pomelo. Full notes here.

Bunnahabhain 40yo 1973/2013 (46.2%, Acla da Fans Acla Selection, Refill Butt, 167b) (OB): nose: pineapple turnovers, loudly and clearly. Stunning nose, this: it is a total fruity debauchery, with cubed papaya, mango slices (dried and fresh), then sharpish citrus, including the zest mingling with a pinch of sawdust. The second nose presents woodworm-riddled cupboards and dusty staves. JS detects Mulino Bianco's Tenerezze. Spot on. Mouth: concentrated fruit yoghurt. Here are peach, mango, mangosteen, banana, pomelo, calamansi, cherimoya and a smashed mix of buttery mango and avocado. Chewing reveals just how creamy this is. It is acidic too, as if augmented with a drop of orange juice. It is big on the palate, by the way, especially considering the modest ABV. The second sip is chewier, with clay soon overtaken by fruits again. Finish: long, acidic and fruity. We find the same suspects here: pineapple, banana, peach, calamansi, papaya. This time, they are joined by Chinese gooseberry and chikoo. The second gulp is in line. We now detect the knife that has cut all those fruits; it is faint, yet present. This is a masterpiece. I compare it to the incredible Cambus 40yo. It is not as extraordinary, but not far off. 9/10

Poit Dhubh 30yo b.2006 (43%, Pràban na Linne 30th Anniversary Edition, b#230) (me): OB notes that the Sherry, although present, is not intrusive. It is well made. My notes are here.

The BenRiach 33yo 1976/2009 (51.6%, OB Limited Release Bottling specially selected and bottled for La Maison du Whisky, Hogshead, C#3551, 191b) (OB): nose: pineapple-and-mango turnovers. A deeper sniff adds a caramelised layer, almost smoky (I did rinse my glass, so I cannot blame the Poit Dhubh). It is wider and wider, bolder and bolder, and introduces more and more pastry and choux dough than one can shake a Glencairn at. There is surprisingly little of the trademark pink grapefruit, but it is there alright. The mouth ends up faintly metallic too, tin and aluminium. Tantalising nose. The ABV seems to increase at the second nose. On the late tip, we discover green-pepper shavings and mango powder. Mouth: ooft! It flows like pouring honey, and then, the fruity ride begins. Mangoes and peaches so ripe they melt on the tongue. The second sip adds cherimoyas, pulped pineapple and mint lozenges. The mint in question is subdued, sweetened, and just an accompaniment for the fruits. Finish: this leaves me speechless. A couple of slaps make me recover my senses, and I will mention squashed yellow fruits, some from the tropics, such as mangoes, others such as peaches. It also has those large pink-and-white marshmallow tongues and a minuscule amount of mint. Wow. Outstandingly decent, as OB says. 10/10

We devour OB's canelés

Miltonduff 21yo 1978/1999 (59.2%, Signatory Vintage, Sherry Cask, C#1685, 620b, b#350, 99/122) (me): this proves popular too. My notes are here.

Longmorn 34yo 1973/2007 (54.4%, Gordon & MacPhail Cask Strength, First Fill Sherry Butt, C#3649, JG/AIG) (OB): nose: an elegant Sherry maturation with oily teak and mahogany, boiled prunes and rehydrated dried apricots. We have cut cocoa and coffee beans too. All that is harmonious. It promises a lot of wood and shoe polish, yet also lychee. The second nose more clearly has coffee and rancio. At a push, one may detect smoked ham. Mouth: thick, coating, cloying, it is full of wood oil and shoe polish. Chewing adds polished leather and prunes, shards of cinnamon sticks, and a very-vague lychee freshness. OB finds it meaty; I do not. The second sip showcases pressed elderberry, some ash and musty earth augmented with hints of strawberry. Finish: long, warming, earthy and woody. It rolls out exotic woods (iroko, teak, ebony) and prunes, currants, raisins. The death is a tad astringent (OB), yet I do not find that detrimental. JS finds the Sherry too dominant, all in all. 8/10

Karuizawa 34yo 1976/2010 (63.6%, OB for Whisky Live! Taipei, 1st Fill Sherry Butt, C#7818, 554b) (OB): a cask split between Whisky Live! Taipei and Whisky Live! Paris. This one is from a 75cl bottle with a geisha on the label, while the French version is much more plain (and 70cl). Nose: "so fresh, after the Longmorn," says OB, a phrase that no-one has ever uttered about a Karuizawa, probably. He adds it is "the most naked Karuizawa [he has] ever tasted." Look! it is still very extractive a whisky, full of galangal, lemongrass, ginger and splintered cedarwood boxes, yet it also has blond tobacco and smoked elderberry, maybe smoked ham, although this is by no means a meaty dram. It is more leather sofas than anything. Mouth: woah! this is strong and punchy. It has amchur and green pepper on a bed of leather that has been recently polished. Next to that, there are hints of elderberry and dunnage-warehouse floor. It is chewy to a degree, and chewing balances it out somehow with mint and smoked crisp apples. Finish: long, assertive, woody (burnt wood), yet, once more, we are nowhere near the almost-unpleasant intensity of some of the other Karuizawa we have tried. In fact, this may well be my favourite to-date. In other circumstances, I may score this lower. For today, it is... 9/10

We then have the remainder of Lagg (59.1%, OB Exclusive Bottling for Lagg Distillery, Finished in ex-Tequila Casks): OB and JS do not think the Tequila is obvious, until I tell them what it is. Blind tasting, eh? My notes are here.

tOMoH: "I got shat on, during the morning run."
OB: "That's annoying when it happens."
tOMoH: "I had a feather in my hat..."
JS: "The birds thought you were one of their own."
OB: "Yeah, I didn't ask if it was a bird..."

While I finish my dram, OB and JS enjoy Springbank 20yo /2017 (59.9%, OB for The Bottling Hall Dinner 2017)

Excellent afternoon again.

02/08/2025 August outturn at the SMWS

It has been a wee while, has it not? GT, PS and Dr. CD are naturally here when JS and I land. Cue recommendations, which is always useful.

44.175 17yo d.2005 Kiss me Pedro! (56.4%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead + 2nd Fill ex-PX Hogshead Finish, 204b): nose: we have oily woods (mahogany, teak), prunes and dried dates. It has vanilla and caramel cream at second sniff, with a drop of cream coffee too. The second nose has hot brass. That is original! Mouth: it dishes out the faint bitterness of cream coffee indeed. Further on, it is torched sticky toffee pudding. Chewing adds the steam from a La Marzocco being cleaned, which is to say hot metal, remnants of coffee smells, and steam. The second sip confirms the cream coffee. It is well balanced. Finish: long, warm, part sweet, part bitter. It leaves the mouth in the same state a slice of sponge cake topped with caramel would. JS finds pepper or some other spice alongside cold cuts. The second gulp is similar, crispy-burnt mocha sponge cake at the death. Water renders this somewhat fruitier. 7/10

71.110 13yo d.2011 Fresh out of the oven (61.2%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead + 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Barrique FInish, 262b): JS chooses this because of the name, which makes her think of bread out of the oven (oooh!) Nose: wide and buttery. Here is Saint Louis gooey butter cake burnt in the oven and that has turned pretty crispy. Of course, that makes no sense: the point of a gooey butter cake is that it is gooey. Maybe a few grains of ground mocha on top. It is drier on the second nose, almost dried ink and sand. Mouth: big and powerful, it feels a lot stronger than the previous dram (and, looking closely, it is). We detect heated apricot eau-de-vie or liqueur (it is too thick to be an eau-de-vie, really). The second sip is juicier, while still very hot. Simmering marmalade sweating in a torched tin cap. Finish: big on arrival, it grows bigger and bigger, with hot caramel, caffè corretto (more corretto than caffè), and hot metal trays. The second gulp is fruitier, all piping-hot apricots. 7/10

JS and I move tables to let newcomers join the lads. YM arrives a bit later on.

GT: "Are you okay, there?"
tOMoH: "I feel left out. But really, it allows me to focus on the drams."
GT: "Bet you can still hear PS!"
tOMoH: "Oh yeah."
GT: "Can you hear me?"
tOMoH: "I can hear you are talking. I cannot hear all the words."
GT: "Good answer!"

PS offers a round.

36.228 28yo d.1996 Tales of the Worm Tub: The snaking coil (47%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill American Oak + PX Hogshead Finish, 222b): oh! So floral. Honeysuckle and rosehip frolic with roasted apples and baked peaches. Wow. Cherries and Mirabelle plums follow, more  honeysuckle, lychee, magnolias... Did anyone mention honeysuckle? The second nose has chocolate éclairs with a topping of fruity-pine-y cream rather than chocolate, and pineapple shavings in a lemon custard. Mouth: perfect balance, mellow, silky, it is full of flower petals and fruit slices (pear, apple, guava, lychee). The second sip brings pineapple acidity and sweet citrus to boot -- Ugli fruit, calamansi, citron. Finish: behaved, yet long-lasting. It leaves quite an impression. It is creamy as mango (the texture, not the taste). We have baked-peach flesh melting on the tongue. Repeated quaffing decreases the acidity and the fruitiness which tend to go hand in hand. This is on such a different level, compared with the first two drams, that it is comical. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, PS)

Cheese board served. Huge slabs of cheese
with only six puny crackers. I ask for a couple more
and receive twelve. :-D

35.410 19yo 2006/2025 Don't hurry this one... (55.8%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead + 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Barrique Finish, 271b): nose: here, we have fine tobacco, crushed pinecones, and what comes across as preserved lemons, a little briny, a little sweet, and a little acidic. It may well have a drop of diluted ink too. Mouth: it is more wine-y here, sweet, yet also tannic. Rather punchy too, surprisingly enough. We note pickled onions, maybe. Finish: long, big, briny. This is full of pickled red onions, onion relish, and a lick of wood varnish or oil. It does not improve much with water; wood oil turns into nail lacquer. I am not really convinced by this one. 6/10

66.258 26yo d.1998 Wood-smoked walnut gâteau (51.2%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead + 2nd Fill ex-Shiraz Barrique Finish, 237b): nose: incense smoke, ash, burnt balsa wood, a pinch of dry earth, albeit much less than could be expected of this distillery. Further sniffs have hay so dry it is falling into dust, as well as extremely-dry shortcrust. It develops leather, in the long run. Mouth: hot at once, it soon reveals dried cherry slices fallen into mud. The second sip is more charred, with burnt paper, charred fruits (acidic pineapple, this time) and old newspapers after a trip in the open fire. Finish: some fruits here too (cherry and pineapple), chargrilled and turning black. It has the bitterness of black ash, paper burnt to a crisp, and parchment paper after it has been under the oven's grill. Decent. 7/10

149.19 9yo d.2015 Out with the gherkin, in with the brine (61.7%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 190b): nose: heavily peated to this nose, this is muddy -- crusted mud, lumps of mud stuck on boot soles. Indeed, it has a whiff of new rubber soles. Then, suddenly, it is all billowing cigar smoke, burnt banana leaves and smoky Kaffir lime leaves. The second nose adds pine-y influences, needles and cones, as well as smoked vanilla custard (or smoked-vanilla custard, who knows?) Mouth: white pepper on hot custard, sawdust, cork shavings and something green. It has smoked orchard fruits too that do not dominate at all. Finish: long and peppery, it has the tingle of ginger without the taste, galangal and cinnamon. It is the numbing effect of those, not the taste. The smoke is much more subdued, here, more a feature of a leafy whole, but it is there alright. Repeated quaffing adds smoked seaweed too. Solid. 7/10

Sadly, they are out of 162.4. Hm.