01/02/2025 Artificial Intelligence

BA, OB, PS, JS, JMcD and cavalier66 join me for an oh!-so-timely tasting on the theme of what seems to be consuming everyone's thoughts, these days: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

cavalier66 brought food, as usual. In theme.

Comté: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, it is what computers do
Quince paste: because it tastes a little artificial
Lancashire: where Alan Turing was from, who led development of the Enigma machine
Malden Deep smoked salmon: for deep learning, or DeepSeek

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Exit the Dragon

Another brief line-up

BA also brought nibbles

PS presents Largedaig Language Model

Ledaig 20yo (43%, OB, 03/312 L16 3174 15.38) (PS): nose: spirit-y apple juice, suede moccasins, leatherette, and even a touch of urine. A couple of sniffs in, that turns into evaporated Indian tonic, chalky and bitter. JMcD finds citrus and pear. Mouth: waxy lemons (PS) for what cavalier66 calls a clean version of Ledaig. It has some musk (which suits the AI theme to a T) and scorched earth -- or is that baked rubber? cavalier66 then discovers really soft mandarine water. Finish: dark tar (BA), the beginning of soapiness (BA), and a rubbery bitterness, as well as a dose of plastic (cavalier66). 7/10

BA [about London water]: "It fights back a little when you drink it, and I like that."

As PS feared, the cork disintegrates

tOMoH presents pittyvAIch. In the chieftAIn's range.

Pittyvaich 14yo 1986/2001 (43%, Ian McLeod Chieftain's, Hogsheads, C#9519-22, 1074b, L1212BB 3 11 58) (tOMoH): "classic Pittyvaich," cavalier66 exclaims, which is a sentence not many people have ever heard. Nose: gooseberry and tins of raspberry (PS), hoppy fruitiness (BA). Next to that fruit, I find horse's hair, dusty wicker, hay bales, and fermented custard (cavalier66). Over time, the nose goes quieter. Mouth: chocolate-covered weed (OB), easter eggs and lots of chocolate indeed. Further sips have damson plums at various stages of unripeness, or a little bitter, in other words. Parmesan cheese rises, drying and butyric. Finish: milk and white chocolates in the style of those eggs (the ones with the toy inside, remember?) I will spend more time with this soon. In the meantime, I am enthusiastic about it. 8/10

tOMoH presents here come the rAIn agAIn.

Strathisla 1999/2010 Here Come The Rain Again (46%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique, C#45530, 247b) (tOMoH): we had this one not a year ago, but OB, JMcD and BA were not there. Nose: fresh (cavalier66), apples and lemons (PS), strychnine (cavalier66), a little herbaceous. Mouth: calm, mellow and still (JMcD), dark herbs (cavalier66). Finish: lively and fruity, it has plums and apricots, with just a very-small pinch of dried herbs. Full notes here. 8/10

BA: "What distillery is this?"
tOMoH: "Strathisla."
cavalier66: "strathAIsla."
tOMoH: "I thought of it, but it is a bit far fetched, even for me."
all: "Who are you? What have you done to tOMoH?"
tOMoH: "I've been abducted by AI."

PS [about Bell's decanters]: "They're made by a company called Wade..."
tOMoH: "Wade a minute!"
PS: "...and they..."
BA: "No. Stop. Give [the pun] a little space to breathe. There. Carry on."

PS presents a whisky matured in a sassicAIa cask.

Benromach 5yo b.2006  Sassicaia Wood Finish (45%, OB, 27mo Sassicaia Wine Casks Finish, 3000b) (PS): nose: shards of cedar wood and unlit incense. cavalier66 finds it more vulgar than the preceding dram, brash (PS). It does become a bit wine-y, with added crushed pine cones, roasted chicken breasts, and oily mahogany. Next is a wicker-clad open bottle of Valpolicella. Mouth: tannic, young, fruity, but not in a very-convincing way. It is also drying as a wine whose grapes have seen too much sun. Finish: long, grape-y, it has elderberry, decaying berries, and rancio as well. 6/10

JMcD presents Artificial Intelligens.

Mackmyra Intelligens (46.1%, OB, ex-Bourbon + ex-Oloroso + American Oak + Swedish Oak Casks, B#AI02, b.2021) (JMcD): a recipe allegedly created by an AI. Nose: Gummibärchen, poached pear and baked persimmon. Jellied melon cubes too, and raspberry jellies. Mouth: There is a veneer of tropical fruits that is soon overtaken by pitch-black liquorice, then that morphs into juicy mango sprinkled with paprika. Finish: clean (JS), the whisky speaks for itself (JS, channelling her inner Quaker), long and fruity, Turkish delights, fruit jellies, candied papaya cubes, and a pinch of liquorice shavings. 8/10

cavalier66: "Can I share something interesting?"
PS: "That seems hugely unlikely, but go on."

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Man To Men

tOMoH presents AIlsa bay.

Ailsa Bay 7yo (unknown ABV, Cask Sample, ex-French Red Wine Cask) (tOMoH): nose: buttery nut paste. Mouth: chewy (cavalier66), thick (OB), this is almond paste dampened with syrupy red wine. Finish: vulgar (cavalier66), all cask and no spirit (cavalier66). My notes are here. 7/10

JS presents the Baller, which has a samurAI on the label.

St. George 3yo The Baller (47%, OB, Ex-Bourbon, French Wine Casks + Umeshu Finish) (JS): nose: orange fruit gum (PS), sage and thyme (PS). Mouth: Swiss herbal sweets (cavalier66), but also a lot of (artificial) fruits (plum, ripe apricot, citrus). Finish: hoppy (OB), génépi (cavalier66). My notes are here. 7/10

BA: "What's the stuff you put in beer?"
OB: "Hops?"
BA: "No, the orange stuff..."
tOMoH: "Irn Bru?"

SW cannot be with us, today, but he did manage to send a bottle our way for the occasion. An unmarked duty pAId sample.

Midleton d.2014 (unknown ABV, Duty Paid Samples, Double Charred Bourbon Cask) (SW): nose: "instantly recognisable as a pot still" (cavalier66), grapefruit (BA) and other fruits. I find it pink and yellow, with peach and ripe apricot. A little breathing time makes it woodier and drier. Mouth: cream (cavalier66), pink passion fruits coated in nail varnish. It has the texture of peach and mango melting on the tongue. Finish: long, powerful, a little spicy, while remaining very fruity. Persimmon, peach, nectarine, kumquat. Lovely. I hope to spend more time with this too. 8/10

Next up is OB. I ask the gang if they prefer a trou normand, or a trou-du-cul normand. Emphasis on the pun, here, since OB is obviously not a trou-du-cul (arsehole). BA, OB and JMcD opt for the trou normand. The fools. JS pours them a shot of bAIju, and they immediately regret it. Although BA lectures us all on baiju (starting with the pronunciation), so go figure.

With that prank behind, we move on to the trou-du-cul normand.

OB explains how the next whisky is made in a Coffey still with a rectifier. In neural networks, the rectifier, or ReLU… Bah! Who am I kidding? Check the Wikipedia page, if you need to know more.

Cambus 40yo 1975/2016 (52.7%, OB, Hogsheads, 1812b, b#0442) (OB): nose: ethereal, yet it seems a little less tropical than four years ago. Still: pineapple, buttery peach and creamy coconut. Mouth: incredibly creamy on the palate, and pumped with maracuja, sprinkled with cumin seeds. Finish: so creamy again, with mango and peaches drowning in coconut cream. It does sustain a clear bitterness too, yet that Is never a worry. I am perhaps a tad less impressed than the previous times, but yeah... 10/10

PS [paraphrasing]: "Grain is vile. Grain is disgusting and no-one should buy it."
tOMoH: "Quite right. This should never have been bottled."
PS: "Indeed. Don't push the prices."
JMcD [after trying it]: "This is amazing. I'd like to understand why tOMoH thinks it should not have been bottled."
tOMoH: "tOMoH is winding you up. This is tOMoH's favourite grain."

cavalier66 explains that the next dram was rated A⊕⊕ by BC, when he had a blog. That is as close to AI's perfection as is achievable for a human-made product. He adds that this is from ChatGPTeaninich.

59.54 32yo 1984/2016 Elegant, classy and simply beautiful (50.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 186) (cavalier66): nose: elegant, classy, rather good (OB), greener [than the previous drams] (cavalier66), and, indeed, pomelo, Ugli fruit and Kaffir lime are front and centre. BA finds it orange-y. He is wrong, but citrus foliage is a given. Mouth: very citrus-y again, with tangerine peels starting to turn blue with mould, and a drying chalkiness splashed with Indian tonic. Finish: a note of hay, fruit, and a lot of quinine-y Indian tonic. With water, corn flakes turn up (BA). It is a long, sparkling finish, citrus-y and a little bitter, borderline leafy. Excellent. 9/10

OB: "It becomes elegant with water."
cavalier66: "Maybe our definition of 'elegant' is different."
OB: "No. My definition is correct and yours is wrong."

cavalier66: "I was pulling on the wrong bit."
PS: "Erm..."
cavalier66: "No!"

Time for OB's exquisite Galette des Rois
I will find the trinket tomorrow in the last piece (and almost break a tooth)

OB tells us the next one was bottled for WhiskyNerds, and reminds us that AI was developed by nerds. In parallel, BA tells us that The Whisky Exchange's code for Loch Lomond is LLM -- which is short for Large Language Model, the basis of current AI.

Inchmurrin 14yo 2003/2017 Law Bottling (56.2%, OB Single Cask specially selected by WhiskyNerds Trias Usquebaugh, Refill Sherry Butt, C#17/169-1, 260b) (OB): very tropical, it has buttery mango, cured peach, cherimoya, persimmon, and pressed dried dates in warm turnovers. On the late tip, we get water-chestnut purée. Mouth: this is mango and lychee in a cup of coffee, served with dried dates on the side. Finish: a lot earthier in the finish, it has black cardamom, liquorice-root shavings, and green-grape juice, as well as smashed lychee. I bet it would gain a point after it has had some time to open up in the open bottle. 8/10

vs.

Loch Lomond 15yo 2009/2024 (55.2%, Decadent Drinks Decadent Drams, 2nd Fill Hogshead of Loch Lomond + 1st Fill Hogshead of Inchmurrin) (BA): a blend of Loch Lomond and Inchmurrin, which is a funny concept. This is the juice before reduction, rather than the one that was commercially available at 53%. Nose: banane flambée (cavalier66), mulled wine, gingerbread (loud and clear), banana bread. We will call it a gingerbread-and-banana sandwich. Mouth: There is a more-mineral touch at play, here, with a mix of quarry dust and lichen on stave, ground peach stone turning green with lichen. Finish: long and fruity, it has a dash of mandarine juice and peaches, greengages, tangerines, and just a shake of Sherry cask (whatever that means). 8/10

cavalier66 stands up to leave (as usual, he is double-booked). He generously offers to change the line-up to have his last contribution now. The cleverer thing to do was to pour and let us have it in the right order, but the attendees are apparently drunk enough to throw cleverness to the wind, and spoil their palates with this.

cavalier66 quotes his mentor, Jim Murray, who said of this very bottling: "I have been tasting Talisker for 28 years, this is the best bottling ever. Miss this and your life will be incomplete." cavalier66 argues that, today, our lives are incomplete without AI. He adds that this is PS's most-hated distillery, and PS is the furthest a man can be from AI. He concludes by saying this Talisker is Chat-G-Peaty. Groan. Laugh.

OB: "That was the best [pun] to-date."
tOMoH: "Not meant as a compliment."

cavalier66: "That's not the original cork. That one went soft. tOMoH gave me one."
PS: "Are you saying tOMoH's cork is soft?"

BA: "Can I say this? It's going to sound bad, but it's not meant in a bad way. It reminds me of the baiju."
Room. Gasping. For. Breath.
cavalier66: "Do you know how much this cost me at auction?"

cavalier66 departs. I have not yet touched my dram of Talisker, because I know better.

BA: "This is Lagavulin 16. You may have heard of it. It's just Lagavulin 16."

BA asked ChatGPT: "I need to bring a bottle of whisky to a tasting on the theme of AI."

ChatGPT said: "Lagavulin 16," amongst other random suggestions.

Lagavulin 16yo (43%, OB, b. ca. 2023) (BA): nose: smoked lemons, preserved lemons, skimmed milk, and, after a while, horses' stables. Mouth: mellow (at 43%, how could it be otherwise?), full of chargrilled sweet yellow citrus, grapefruit and pineapple. Finish: long, big, briny and ashy. It is warm, drying, and gives one the voice of Annie Girardot in a matter of seconds (think early-2000s Marianne Faithfull for an English-speaking comparison). There is little Sherry to find, here, which makes sense once one knows Lagavulin 16 has not been aged in Sherry casks for years, contrary to popular belief. Hard to believe how well this fares, so deep into the line-up. 7/10

BA presents a Longrow from a chardonnAI cask.

Longrow 16yo 2001/2018 (56%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Chardonnay Cask Finish) (BA): very medicinal, with jelly capsules, and... Is it marzipan? Later on, it acquires those chalky candy necklaces. Mouth: oooh! The Chardonnay is more obvious, here, with squashed raspberry, and glimpses of lychee, perhaps. Chewing reveals a firm chalkiness which dehydrates the inside of the lips. It takes even more chewing for strawberry sherbet to rock up. Finish: plums and prunes, peach skins, and wine-cured fruit stones. JMcD calls it juicy and sweet, but also meaty and savoury. This should absolutely not work, but somehow does. 8/10

Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62%, OB Limited Edition, Sherry Casks, 9000b, b#5117): and now, the Talisker. Actually, I do not feel like it. BA, OB, PS and JMcD all leave together, and I have had enough. It is hard to believe the hiccoughs around this bottling. dom666 brought it to his birthday tasting in November -- only to realise he took the wrong bottle in the right box. He brought the right bottle to Burns' Night in January, but we had so much else to try we skipped it. cavalier66, who also has a bottle, read that on this little blog and decided we had to try it in February (today). By the time we reach its position in the line-up, I am whiskied out. Bah! I have transferred my dram of it to an airtight container and will have it another day.

Great times.

16/04/2024 Ailsa Bay

Here is a name we do not see often round these parts. In fact, it is the second on this blog, eight years after the first, which, incidentally, I tried in DH's company, the same DH who provided this here sample.

Ailsa Bay 7yo (unknown ABV, Cask Sample, ex-French Red Wine Cask): nose: French wine? Really? This smells thick, syrupy, and liqueur-like, close to a fortified wine from Iberia. Membrillo, candied dates, fig jam, sirop de Liège, sweet, fruity, yet with a clear earthy note that promises complexity (who said "tertiary developments"?) Perhaps we have portabella-mushrooms juice, caramelising in the pan with date nectar or cranberry molasses. The influence of the wine is immense, without a doubt; it is simply difficult to associate it with a French red wine: they tend to be more tannic, and much less sweet than this smells. This has dried currants and black bun, burnt panettone crust, and fruits (plum, poached pear, or lychee), doused in date syrup. There are even hints of biscuit in this nose -- let us call it Petit Beurre, to match the geographical provenance. The second nose reveals honey pops and caramelised wheat puffs, then slowly sheds the cereals to focus on the honey. It soon adds charred pink peppercorns for a laugh. Mouth: ah! Wine it is, after all, then. Acidic, earthy-dry, and warming. Here are dry forest floor, heated by direct sun light, wild mushrooms (fresh, and, especially, dried), tannins, and a game-y note that falls between roast beef and wild boar. Roast boar? It has tree bark too, closer to cassia than cinnamon, and is generally reminiscent of those ornamental spice mixes every Christmas-market wooden-tat stall seems to receive as part of their starter kit: dried orange slices, star aniseed, cloves, cinnamon sticks... The second sip is as sharp, almost stripping (almost), before providing a certain sweetness -- imparted by citrus fruits. Cointreau-filled PiM's and pralines. Indeed, we have (dark) chocolate, fruit jelly, and alcohol. Winning. Finish: It is fruity again, and juicy too. Mandarines, clementines, wine-cured oranges, cold mulled wine, and jasmine buds, soaked in that mulled wine. It is a long finish, if not a shouty one. Similar to marmalade on toast, it will quietly take over one's taste buds, and keep hold of them long after the toast itself has hit the stomach. The second gulp has booze-boosted (boozted?) plums, boozy nectarines, and generally speaking, the leftover fruits in an empty bowl of sangria. This is good and original, although one may not wish to drink litres of it. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, DH)

07/05/2016 May outturn at the SMWS

Yet another new outturn. I am supposed to meet up with MS and a friend of his, but I am also waiting for DH to join me... and we have to try a few things before going to the SMWS. MS says he contacts me several times, yet I never receive any message. Let down by technology once again.

On the sunny terrace, we have Glenmorangie Cellar 13 (43%, OB second edition), Glenugie 26yo 1982/2008 (50%, Douglas Laing The Old Malt Cask 50°, Refill Hogshead, C#DL 4703, 310b) and Glenugie 31yo 1977/2008 (58.1%, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection, Hogshead / Oloroso Sherry Butt Finish, C#7, 577b, b#19). Good times.

At the venue, MS has left. The regulars are all there and, within ten minutes, we have five glasses in front of us. Oh, dear.

46.39 23yo d.1992 Continental breakfast (59.0%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 240b): nose: cereal, gently smoky. It has a soft verbena touch and a lot of horsepower. It mellows down with pleasant field flowers and milk chocolate. Pencil shavings appear too. Mouth: warm and sunny, with thin wood shavings. Finish: warm, melted chocolate, peppered with herbs (chives) and bathed in sunshine. Pears come out, DH points out. I cannot detect anything else once he has said that: very distinct pears in syrup. 8/10

123.16 10yo d.2005 Madagascan white chocolate mice (57.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 216b): probably the first 123 from a decent cask I try (read: none of that ex-wine malarkey). Nose: a bit flat, with toasted coconut shavings. It is a little caustic and has hints of latte macchiato. Mouth: subtle and mellow, it grows a gentle acidity, soon to become lemony. Finish: dark chocolate, with a massive dose of lemon juice. It is coating and lingering, very nice. 8/10

30.91 18yo d.1997 Deliciously dark and sweet (58.7%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Gorda, 744b): nose: raw meat, rotting meat, even, before it turns into concentrated oxtail broth and gnu carcasses in the African sun. Marinade for the barbecue, heavy treacle. This is not exactly subtle. Mouth: spicy filet américain (that will be martino mince, a sort of tartare mince), this is leathery, with dark cherry and a sting. Finish: dark chocolate caramel with cherry filling. Awful nose, the rest happily makes up for it. 7/10

9.106 23yo d.1992 Fun without fireworks (51.7%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 198b): nose: fruity and lively, with marzipan. It is strong. Clears the nostrils. Greengage, dried apricot, plum? Not plum -- shy carambola and Chinese gooseberry. Mouth: vanilla, custard, pine shavings, mouthwash (Listerine) and a hint of fruit again. Finish: drying Riesling, the finish stays present for a long while. Good nose, less impressed by the rest. 7/10

29.180 d.1999 An apothecary shop on the shore (52.3%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 264b): nose: smoked grain, smoky malt, rather than coal, ash or campfire. Burnt cotton candy, caramelised sweets. This is rather nice. It then moves on to unleash diesel fumes -- Oxford Street at 11:32am on a weekday. Hm. "Diesel fumes in a good way," says DH. "Yeah, bus fumes, not lorry fumes," I reply. Mouth: light and sweet, with cotton candy and a growing smoke that ends up reaching ashtray level. Finish: hot styrofoam, burning pine sap, (black) paint drying in the sun, marzipan and TCP. 7/10

117.3 25yo 1988/2013 Hubba-bubba, mango and monstera (58.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 199b): have to introduce DH to this, do I not? It is the usual high quality. DH detects lemon grass in it, while I find more ginger and galangal than usual. But yeah, the mango dominates the whole thing. 10/10

Off-tasting, we have the following two:

Knob Creek (unknown ABV, OB, unknown specs): I hardly see the bottle and cannot write down what it is exactly. Nose: Listerine, bakery scents. Mouth: mellow, it has the texture of a pillow. Finish: liquorice allsorts and ginger biscuit. 6/10 (thanks B and happy birthday!)

Ailsa Bay (48.9%, OB, b.2016): nose: tons of peat smoke and lovely cereals. Mouth: light but harsh. Finish: evanescent, fleeting, which makes it easy and alright, if not very interesting. Could be good once older. This is probably too young, still. 6/10 (thanks MJ)

Cracking afternoon.

One happy Scotsman