08/08/2026 Whisky Fringe (Day 2 -- Part 2)

The story started here.

Armed with my halftime orange dram, I find a quiet corner to savour it.

Benromach 40yo b.2022 (56.5%, OB, Oak Casks, B#2, 1098b)

Nose: very deep, it has all sorts of noble woods, forest floor and dried mushrooms. Shiitake, maitake, porcini. Smoked raspberries enter the dance. Phwoar!

Mouth: there are traces of Sherry, here, with cured meat, smoked blackberries and myrtles, and the desiccating character of unripe blackcurrant or elderberry. And how powerful, at this venerable age!

Finish: long, evolving, it goes from game-y, wine-cured meat to dark-berry compotes. Elderberry sauce, smoked blackberries, blackcurrant jam.

Comment: phwoar!

Score: 9/10

JS comes back with her own treasure. She shows me pictures of the chaos at Decadent Drinks: their halftime-orange dram today is the acclaimed Glen Garioch 52yo Whiskyland. It went in minutes and AMcR put on a show.

That is not what she went for. This is.

Imperial 27yo 1998/2026 (45%, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel, C#104071, 108b)

Nose: rosehip, jellied lychee, rose-petal jam, peach jelly. It even has preserved nuts in jelly. The second nose brings rambutan and tinned peaches.

Mouth: marmalades and jams, compotes. Peach, lychee, physalis, rosehip. It has power too; kicks like a young'un.

Finish: juicy and mineral, rather incredibly, it contains jams and limestone, quarry dust an tinned peaches.

Comment: a-beli-bobol. Completely overlooked too: JS was the only one queueing to try this, with the sheep on the other side of the tent, fighting for the Garioch. Ha! Ha!

Score: 9/10

Clynelish 8yo b.2026 (48%, Thompson Bros., Refill Hogsheads, B#001, 2187b)

Nose: bright and fruity, it has apricots, Mirabelle plums and greengages. Waxy yellow fruits, in other words.

Mouth: a notch bitterer than expected, it offers quarry dust sprinkled on Mirabelle plums.

Finish: big, waxy yellow fruits, a hint of drying quarry dust and other mineral components.

Comment: very good.

Score: 8/10

JS: "I'm so glad you thought of the spare glass. This is exaclt ythe problem it was supposed to solve."
tOMoH: "Believe it or not, it is not my first radio show."

tOMoH: "Wait! Where is the other glass?"
JS: "Erm, in your hand?"
tOMoH: "Oh."

Highland 15yo (46%, Thompson Bros., Moscatel Casks, b.2026)

Nose: hinoki (or bathtub wood, as we know it), thuja and cypress wood. Very drying, yet oily, sappy conifer wood. There is a faint manner of fruit too.

Mouth: the Moscatel is strong, here; caramel coulis, crème brûlée and winy dessert (whatever that means).

Finish: more Moscatel influence, with earthy fortfied wine and caramel.

Comment: a secret Highlander with a label showing sardines in a tin with tomato sauce. Wonder what that could be...

Score: 7/10

Torabhaig Taigh b.2025 (46%, OB, Bourbon + Refill Bourbon + Madeira Casks)

Nose: peat. Muddy peat patties. It opens up to reveal hay and mulch. It is a farm-y number, all in all. Maybe it has seaweed too, but mostly peat.

Mouth: softer than expected, with lemon custard and mussels, oyster sauce and custard with lots of charred wood for shits and giggles.

Finish: sweetened sea water. It maintains a smoky backbone, but becomes a maritime force with a sweet nuance.

Comment: very good.

Score: 7/10

tOMoH: "Champagne is just beer with fewer -- I mean less foam."

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat b.2025 Batch Strength Chapter 4 (46%, OB Legacy Series, American Oak Casks)

Nose: very different. We see smoked preserved lemons in brine, and wet sands.

Mouth: soft and sweet. At 46%, how could it be different, after drinking whisky all afternoon? Chewing gives away a bit of smoke, as in: smoked seaweed drowned in custard.

Finish: lovely subdued smoke kisses mint crumbles, custard and crushed dried-seaweed thins, all complementing one another. Bigger gulps bring more smoke and some wood.

Comment: really good. I can see this being a daily sipper for many.

Score: 7/10

Torabhaig Sound of Sleat b.2025 Batch Strength Chapter 4 (60.2%, OB Legacy Series, First-Fill Bourbon + Refill Barrels + Virgin American Oak Casks)

Nose: this one has antiseptic and dsinfectant. It gradually becomes closer to the reduced version, but remains "a little" less accessible. Mud patties, wet clay, smoked pottery, tractor tyres.

Mouth: sweet, it has a mix of smoked shrimps and candy floss. Chewing revives the muddy peat, hidden behind antiseptic.

Finish: big, if not stupidly so. Peat smoke, earth and mud, smoked seafood and an undeniable sweetness. The second gulp is decidedly numbing and medicinal.

Comment: very good, if much less easy to drink for most people, it is safe to imagine.

Score: 8/10

Aberargie Inaugural b.2025 (48.2%, OB, 1st Fill Bourbon & SHerry Casks, 2905b)

Nose: cereals, sweetness, shortbread.

Mouth: easy-going, with cereals in milk, doughnuts with too much caster sugar on top. It ends up fairly drying.

Finish: vaguely-minty custard cream. It is pastry aplenty  with each following sip. That and shortbread.

Comment: really, really easy, though really, really simple too.

Score: 7/10

Someone barges in at the stall and demands the Glen Keith from under the counter. Since it is out, I ask for it too. Yay.

Glen Keith 27yo 1993/2020 (49%, Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel, C#31450, 178b)

Nose: lots of yellow fruits; physalis, plum, Mirabelle plum, greengage, apricot. Insecure tasters would call this: 'not bad'.

Mouth: mellow and fruity, it properly bursts with yellow fruits. There is a minor wood bitterness, but it is mostly stunningly fruity.

Finish: long and creamy, fruity as fook.

Comment: hard to beat a 1993 Glen Keith. sonicvince would undoubtedly love this, the born-again fanboi he is.

Score: 9/10

JS rolls the die at the Thompsons' again.

Mystery Malt #2

Nose: a strange herbacous profile, with thyme and sage. Sure, it has some creamy elements, but it is mostly an arometic affair.

Mouth: it tries to be soft and delicate, but cannot help being drying. It has a vegetal freshness to it -- angelica? Buckwheat?

Finish: it is elegant, at this point, with fresh herbs complementing cut nectarines.

Comment: interesting. We fail to identify it again.

Blair Athol 27yo b.2026 (46.3%, Thompson Bros. Mystery Malt, Refill Butt, B#6, 326b) 7/10

Someone I met queueing for the Benromach, earlier, urges me to try the Ardnahoe. Quite rigt, as I have not been to that stall yet.

Ardnahoe 5yo b.2026 (61%, OB Cask Strength, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrels, B#2, L26 021 26/01/13PB)

Nose: smoked hay, ink, burnt grass. It is an exremely-smoky number, overall.

Mouth: big, smoky, it has lots of hard, dry cereals and numbing alcohol. Surgical alcohol, novocaine, xylocaine... This is so numbing!

Finish: very, very punchy, this is also peaty to the max. It has thick plumes of smoke and continues to numb.

Comment: good. A bit challenging, if not overly complex. It is simply uncompromising, peaty whisky. The first Ardnahoe on this blog too, since I took no notes for the three we tried in 2024.

Score: 7/10

JS manages to obtain one last one before they file everything away. Although she is annoyed, because they no longer have any of the Humboldt Cask that she wanted to try.

Isle of Raasay 4yo 2021/2026 Hungarian Oak (50%, OB Oak Species Maturation Series, ex-Oloroso Sherry Quercus Petraea Barriques, 8000b, b#0681)

Nose: mud and a cow's behind, smoky (not scorched) earth.

Mouth: it is much fruitier here, with pressed apricot hidden amongst the smoke.

Finish: long, earthy. Scorched earth makes an appearance, apricots trampled in the mud.

Comment: another good one.

Score: 7/10

We are encouraged to leave, and it takes being very close to some of the exhibitors to not be swept out with the masses.

We bid our friends goodbye and proceed to the exit, along with our fellow festival-goers, many of whom are staggering.

Next stop: Thamel. 

A wee pun, here

Thamel Margarita (JS)
Gulmeli Mule (me)

Salmon Bhuteko (me)

Scallops Mollee (JS)

Peshwari Naan

Pilau Rice

Still bright outside, which comes as a shock,
after spending two hours in a dark basement
stuffing our faces

26/04/2025 The Whisky Fair (Day 1 -- Part 2: Maltbarn)

Last year, JS and I spent the whole Saturday socialising aimlessly. Only the following day did we discover some stands and their excellent bottlings. Some of which were sold out, by then. This year, our plan was to do the opposite: start with the things for sale, then socialise. Well, the whole morning has gone already, and we have been to two stands. Ahem.

MD, JS and I finally climb the stairs and head to Maltbarn. We can still get back on track.

Braes of Glenlivet 30yo 1994/2024 #15 (48.9%, Maltbarn The 26, Bourbon Cask, 51b)

Nose: light and ethereal, powdery.
Mouth: it stays fresh, flowery now, with lilies-of-the-valley, jasmine and honeysuckle. Lovely.
Finish: soft, sweet and flowery, it has confectionary sugar and cosmetic powder.
Comment: excellent. This is very much in line with the Càrn Mòr bottling I know rather well. 8/10

Ben Nevis 28yo 1996/2024 #18 (48.6%, Maltbarn The 26, Bourbon Cask, 39b)

Nose: wide, it has blush-orange peels, a touch of earth, and raspberry chocolate.
Mouth: strangely dry, it has a mere dollop of white-chocolate cream. Chewing releases the fruits.
Finish: plainly fruity, here, although it is decaying fruits, now.
Comment: very good too. The price tag, however, is somewhat prohibitive for tOMoH. 8/10

Glenlossie 29yo 1995/2025 Whisky's Calling (49.2%, Maltbarn, B#250, Bourbon Cask, 156b)

Nose: butterscotch. I spectacularly fail to take more notes.
Mouth: a little more punchy and acidic than foreseen, but mostly light and biscuit-y.
Finish: soaked biscuits, Custard Creams or Petits Beurres dunked in milk.
Comment: another good 'lossie. 8/10

[The initials of the head honcho are also MD, so he will be known as MM, the second M being for Maltbarn.]
MD: "You bottled shit again!"
MM: "I know."
MD: "I find you an importer and that is what you do."
MM: "Yeah, I know."
MD: "Always the same, with you. You always disappoint me."

Glen Moray 21yo 2003/2025 (53%, Maltbarn, B#249, Bourbon Cask)

Nose: oily white-wood shavings, then butterscotch and biscuits, then cured quince.
Mouth: citrus-y porridge, oily, a little neutral, yet it turns drying upon chewing.
Finish: classic Glen Moray citrus peels -- dried at first, then juicier. It has some spices too, ginger powder or such.
Comment: Nice. It leaves a pleasant mouthfeel. 8/10

Benromach 11yo 2013/2025 Glen Mosset (54.6%, Maltbarn, B#254, Bourbon Cask)

Nose: bandages (JS). I find it peaty, displaying very-dry sausage, perhaps smoked, or a worn-out game bag.
Mouth: light, bright, fruity, then suddenly very drying, with quarry dust and ground dried orange peels.
Finish: long and citrus-y, it is juicier than the mouth suggested.
Comment: not sure why they call it Glen Mosset, since Benromach is clearly written on the label. 7/10

Bruichladdich 21yo 2003/2024 (50.5%, Maltbarn, B#243, Bourbon Cask)

Nose: meringue, beaten egg white, a whiff of farmyard and some baby sick.
Mouth: fresh, light, a tad acidic. It may have some lactic acid, actually.
Finish: fresh again, perhaps cereal-y with a touch of fruit.
Comment: honest. 7/10

Strathmill 32yo 1992/2024 #17 (48.8%, Maltbarn The 26, Sherry Cask, 41b)

Nose: oranges or tangerines stored in a Tupperware.
Mouth: all sorts of citrus jams and marmalades -- tangerine, clementine, mandarine.
Finish: warming and marmalade-y again, with a lick of oily wood to boot.
Comment: competent, though it does not wow me. 8/10

MD [nosing his glass]: "What's that smell?"
tOMoH: "Is it arse?"

NH joins us.

Glen Spey 29yo 1995/2024 #16 (54.1%, Maltbarn The 26, Sherry Cask, 42b)

Nose: fresh, light, and probably a little indistinct.
Mouth: vaguely woody (white wood), it dishes out cinnamon and ginger shavings.
Finish: narrow, precise, it remains rather indistinct.
Comment: a fair drop that lacks personality. It is too middle-of-the road to make us enthusiastic. 7/10

MD [whose wife and daughters are dress-shopping for a wedding]: "My credit-card-bill notifications are coming in fast!"
NH: "Your net worth is falling faster than Elon Musk's!"

Real Diver's Whisky 12yo (unknown ABV, unknown bottler with the compliments of Sub Sea Services & Divex)

Nose: effervescent, bubbling with fruity Alka Seltzer and some baby sick kept in a plastic bottle, and cold cuts.
Mouth: strangely watery with a little hay infusion. I would say porridge, but it is much thinner.
Finish: indistinguishable orchard fruits and a pinch of dust.
Comment: NH reckons Glen Garioch. tOMoH is not so sure. Great opportunity to try something this exclusive. Love the shameless Cadenhead look. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, NH)

Longmorn 16yo 2008/2025 (53.4%, Maltbarn, B#253, Sherry Cask, 177b)

Nose: this smells buttery, with ripe apricots and peaches, as well as, well, butter. Avocado, maybe? It has something almost metallic to it too. Softer and more fragrant with water -- "it presents itself with spread legs," says MD.
Mouth: a lot more acidic, here, it offers orange juice augmented with pressed maracuja.
Finish: wow! Some wood under control, and a lot of fruits, 1992 style.
Comment: cracking dram. 8/10

MD [about backpacks]: "That's why I wear a man bag. It's slim. Like everything else on me."
tOMoH: "I hear your credit card bill isn't."

NH, MD and tOMoH debate the chocolate of their respective Heimats. tOMoH argues that chocolate-making is a legacy of empire, and becoming the best chocolate-maker required having colonies that produce cocoa.

NH: "Well, we grow all our cocoa beans in the Alps, so..."
tOMoH: "...grazed by purple cows."

Caol Ila 17yo 2007/2024 (54.2%, Maltbarn, B#245, Sherry Cask)

Nose: pitch-black ink, torched fishing nets and dried lichens.
Mouth: smoked-ham-infused sea water, cockles, ink and sand. Smoke rises boldly in the long run.
Finish: more of the same -- ink, tarry sands, burnt fishing nets.
Comment: this is really good, if perhaps not overly interesting. 7/10

An Islay Distillery 24yo 2000/2024 (51.8%, Maltbarn, B#251, Sherry Cask, 175b)

Nose: super earthy, if not one bit medicinal. It turns almost bret-y with time.
Mouth: dark, inky, earthy, and drying when chewing.
Finish: huge, inky, sandy (hot sands), it has dark chocolate emerging over time.
Comment: reliable 'froyg. 7/10

MD [to JS]: "I just looked at [my] picture of your Glenlivet. I'm stunned that, even back when this was bottled, they were already warning people about the [American] government!"

JS: "That's close to... Why is my memory so bad?"
NH [looking at the whisky]: "I wonder why..."
tOMoH: "It's the same when she's sober."
JS: "You're mean."
tOMoH: "That's okay. You won't remember tomorrow."

Port Charlotte 22yo 2002/2025 (55.2%, Maltbarn No. 252, Bourbon Cask, 186b)

Nose: ooft! cigarette smoke and ash.
Mouth: this is desiccating, exuding scorched earth bathing in sea water. Phwoar! I need a litre of fresh water!
Finish: huge, inky, ashy and chocolate-y. In fact, it is cocoa powder through and through.
Comment: impressive. 7/10

Time to close this Maltbarnathon and grab a bite to eat. It is only a biscuit (Mulino Bianco's Macine), but it feels good to sit down for a second. Short respite, however: NH's sour beers are in need of a refrigerator. A trip to the accommodation awaits me.

Continue reading here.

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.