28/08/2016 Another few at the Bon Accord

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Glasgow, go to the Bon Accord.
DH accepts to have one drink after dropping us off, following our visit to Auchentoshan.

Dalwhinnie 36yo 1966/2002 (47.2%, OB, 1500b): DH is excited, as this one is from the time Dalwhinnie still had worm tubs -- plainly said: a giant cold-water bath used to condensate the distillate. Nose: rich and voluptuous, with cigar leaves, walnut oil and roasted chestnut. It also has dried cranberries, polished dashboards, and even distant smoke. Phwoar! JS finds barley tea, while DH detects TCP. Time and oxidation make it fruitier (cranberries). Mouth: more generous treats in this velvety body, packed with walnut oil and a gentle spice mix (crushed clove, ground cardamom, black cumin). Finish: explodes in a great gig of walnut oil and hypnotising clouds of cigar smoke. Amazing. Dried cranberries, antique armchairs, tanned leather (DH). This is an old man's dram alright. I love it. 9/10

Teaninich 40yo 1973/2013 (54%, Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Sherry Puncheon, C#20237, 200b): nose: sawdust, peppered on top of a distant fruit salad. A whiff of foot sweat (for those who like that) and cooking cabbage. Do not be fooled, though: the dominant is sawdust on fruit salad. A Waldorf salad, with rotting pears instead of apples. Mouth: between the gentleness of soft, dried apricot and the bitterness of young wood. Juicy pears end up coming through on the palate too, as well as a hint of smoke. Finish: very long, with slightly too drying wood, unfortunately, dried apricot soaked in hot water, thyme, mint, chives. Very good, yet too drying to achieve a better score. 8/10

Glenugie 25yo 1981/2006 (51.5%, DT Rarest of the Rare, C#5158, 323b): although I almost convince DH to try yesterday's Inverleven (a distillery he has never had), his mind is made up as soon as he discovers there is a 'noogie in the house. Nose: shoe polish, drying hay, nail varnish, old cork and dunnage warehouse. Mouth: soft as a baby's skin at first, it unveils dark sherry-style prunes, and a touch of rancio. Finish: dark grapes, black olives, dark olive oil. The notes might be short, but it is still as good as I remembered it. 9/10

DH is thinking of going. I manage to negotiate another couple of sips before he goes. It will be one dram to share between the three of us and they will try it blind.

Nose: I die. It brought me to tears the first time and is doing it again. That is all I can say. Mouth: perfection. A deluge of tropical fruit and a velvety, silky texture. Finish: a tropical tsunami. Unbelievable. The complexity is unfathomable, yet what strikes the most is that fruit. That fruit!
Despite the apparent monologue, I should add my co-tasters seem to appreciate this dram immensely too. It takes DH a number of clues to finally pinpoint the distillery. It is of course White Bowmore 43yo 1964/2008 (42.8%, OB, 6 Bourbon Casks, 732b). Slightly better notes from our first encounter are here. Score unchanged. 16/10

Bow before more!

I make sure the waitress gets to try this monster and I explain it does not matter if I look ridiculous while drinking the divine.
JS: "You are moved. You found your passion."
DH: "Your passion fruit!"

Shits 'n giggles innit.

Bowmore give tOMoH hands of magic

27/08/2016 An evening at the Bon Accord

Back here, yay! The place is busy, though it does not deter JS and me.

Scapa 25yo d.1980 (54%, OB, 2000b): the cork is floating inside the bottle. It worries me a little, though it is too late: I did not notice until it was poured already. Nose: a mixture of fresh brioche, red-fruit-soaked boiled sweets, tropical wood (mahogany, teak), raisins. After a while, tree bark comes out, moist after a light drizzle. A soft whiff of varnish ends up teasing the nostril, and even a bit of musk. Much later on, moist cake appears, frangipane, even. Mouth: acidic at first, it has the character of unripe stone fruit (apricot?) It is warming, with plant sap, almost soup-y (carrot, spinach), with a copious dose of chilli powder. Finish: delicate, soft wood abounds, as well as coconut cream, hot custard and a certain vegetal acidity. At the same time, it leaves a velvety impression of chocolate. 8/10

St Magdalene 1982/2013 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail Rare Old, B#RO/13/01): nose: simultaneously generous and austere, if such a combination were possible. The trademark flint is there (austere), lemon-flavoured boiled sweets and a note of sweet pastry (apricot pie or turnover -- generous). JS detects mortar (austere), while tOMoH thinks the pastry becomes more and more prominent (generous). Mouth: it seems soft, almost silky, until one realises that the lemon is pretty piercing. Regardless, it is not aggressive; simply closer to fruit juice than to cream. Finish: the generous austerity continues with ripe citrus (preserved lemons) and ground apricot stones, gentle herbs (chives) and flint. This masterpiece even has a medicinal aspect to it. 9/10

Inverleven 26yo 1978/2004 (50.1%, Duncan Taylor Rarest of the Rare, C#1873, 216b): we had to skip this one on the last couple of visits for lack of time. Time to right that wrong. Nose: pâtes de fruits, lush and chewy, then vanilla-ed rhubarb emerges. Shards of black marble, wet gravel. It retains a fruity note all the same (citrus initially, then berries). Mouth: silky and characterful, if that makes sense; it is soft and delicate, though it also has some imperfections. And by that, I mean asperities that stick out and make it interesting, rather than flaws. It is slightly spicy and stings like a pruned bush of roses, if one is not careful, yet it is very elegant. It becomes woody after a while, with polished-dashboard features. Finish: long and quietly assertive, it carries notes of crushed flowers, dark chocolate, tarragon, gentle milk coffee, bitter. Pâtes de fruits make a comeback (lemon-y ones). Flower petals eventually come to the foreground (roses and cherry blossom). Is this good or what? 9/10

Oishii Wisukii 36yo (46.2%, The Highlander Inn, Sherry Cask): of course, blends are not usually something we go for. But then blends are not usually 36yo small batches exclusively bottled for a highly-respected whisky bar. Nose: perfectly-controlled sherry influence -- coffee and leather kept on a leash, hazelnut, walnut and even a hint of smoke. Brown toast (JS), sizzling portobello mushrooms, roasted chestnuts. Mouth: oh! yes, buttered, brown toast. This is a breakfast whisky if tOMoH knows one! it is rounded and velvety as a smoothie too. Of the coffee and leather, there is not much left; instead, we have gentle marmalade on toasted bread. Finish: it feels too short and sharp, really, yet it retains the softness of the palate and the same general notes -- jam on toast, smoky and sweet. An excellent blend. Water disintegrates it. Careful. 8/10

Good times.

28/03/2016 A couple at the Bon Accord

Two years since JS and I were last here. If you remember, last time, we had a string of wonderful Rarest of the Rare, and an incredible Bowmore. Well, two years later, they still have several of the bottles we did not get to try that day.

I'm back again on a higher stage
Listen to my party beat and get in rage

JS is not feeling too well and FMcN joins us after a bit. The drams we are looking at require undivided attention. Since FMcN does not drink whisky, I do not want to favour the drink over a friend we rarely get to see. Only two drams, then.

Interestingly, they seem to have changed the prices of many of the drams today. The prices on the iPad (the menu) do not match the new prices on the bottles themselves. I point that out to the bar tender, who checks with his boss what the right thing to do is: charge the old price... and update the iPad! Thanks. \o/
I order. The boss (the pub owner) looks at me: "Where are you from? I'm PMcD."
We exchange a few words. He has an interest in whisky (surprise!) and is delighted to see someone who seems to know what they are ordering. Just like in Dornoch, it is apparently a minority.

Caperdonich 41yo 1969/2011 (41.8%, DT Rarest of the Rare, C#3245, 179b): C#3254 was very, very much to my liking. It is fantastic to get a chance to try this one too. Nose: a delicate blend of yellow flowers and yellow fruits. We have apricots and peaches, both fresh and dried, alongside daffodil and forsythia, perhaps kerria japonica. There is buttery pie dough in the distance. It goes from assertive to rather discreet and brings up satsumas, eventually. Mouth: delicate again. Some would say weak; I think it rather demands one's attention. Dried apricot, Smyrna raisins, bathing in apricot juice. This is gentle, thin, but by no means watery. Finish: it grows in intensity, with yellow fruit again, though this time soaked in punch. There is a vaguely rummy note to it, as well as those wonderful fruits. Oh! and a dash of chocolate coulis. 9/10

Bowmore 38yo d.1957 (40.1%, OB, C#216--220, 861b): yes, ordering this does make a few heads turn. :-) Nose: an unbelievable mix of tropical fruit and salty sea spray. Pears, seared in butter, cut peaches, hints of kelp or cockles, wet sand and drying shells. There are whiffs of an open fire in the chimney, then polished dashboards (Jaguar Mk7 from 1953), walnut flesh, antique, precious furniture. This develops in a wonderful way, with peach stone (flesh still attached), then, behind all that, more tropical fruit -- passion fruit, star fruit, quince, juicy satsuma. Mouth: gentle and refined, almost quiet, it turns milky after a moment (semi-skimmed), with vague reminiscence of the nose -- fruit and polished wood, then. The second sip brings forth more juicy peach. Finish: all at once, it delivers velvety fruit, coal fire and precious, tropical wood (teak, mahogany). The whole is delicate (tired?), but holds together all the same. It is now the well-weathered dashboard of an XK140 Jaguar, upon which is resting a basketful of fresh fruit, including pears, mangoes, jack fruit. Is there a life after Bowmore? Ich don't think so! 12/10

What a selection! With FMcN having to leave and JS feeling worse and worse, we call it a session. We will be back!

Old Men meet

05/03/2014 An evening at the Bon Accord

After spending a day in Cardonald (for those who know), a night in G-town seems inevitable. This one had made a good impression. Have they got anything that might tickle our fancy? Boy, do they!

Banff 30yo 1975/2006 (42.2%, Duncan Taylor Rarest of the Rare, C#3416, 147b): a modest dram without much interest. Nose: very perfume-y. Sandal wood, orange blossom, custard and a little bit of leather. Excellent nose, this is! Flowers (daffodils?), dill (JS), a mixture of coconut paste, pineapple juice and happiness. Mouth: milky, with a tiny, bitter note of dandelion stems. Altogether sweet and comforting. Finish: woah! Long, rich like custard, soft like peach, sweet like honey and spicy like a cinnamon pancake, mellow like a pillow, juicy like a mango, oh-oh-oh. The best Banff I have tried, so far. Must go buy. 10/10

Glenugie 25yo 1981/2006 (51.5%, Duncan Taylor Rarest of the Rare, C#5188, 323b): another supermarket dram. The waiter breaks the cork, argh. Nose: a completely different profile; this is an old man's dram, with pipe tobacco, chesterfield sofas and a warm fireplace, liquorice and game casserole. Roasted cocoa beans, discreet, torrefied coffee. What is it, in the back? Melon? Pineapple? Some exotic fruit, in any case. Tame, but it is there. After a while, punch emerges, with chunks of blood oranges and cherries floating in it. Mouth: turpentine, solvents, blood orange bitterness, and it is unexpectedly strong too. The second sip brings wood and enough leather to fill a saddlery. It remains creamy, still. Finish: a festival of blood orange juice spilled on a leather belt. Lots of white-peppered steak too. A great example of perfectly controlled sherry maturation. Very nice. 9/10

My preciouses

Glen Mhor 31yo 1975/2007 (41.8%, Duncan Taylor Rarest of the Rare, C#4037, 157b): they have an Inverleven and this. Since I enjoyed the Mhors on Sunday, I go for this one. Nose: this is taking the old man's whisky into tuberculosis territory: pipe tobacco, cigar, chewing tobacco, then bay leaves and black cardamom, black peppercorn, sumac, even decaying pears, probably. Mouth: slightly fruitier than the nose (pear again, not really the sweet kind), but mostly tobacco again. Definitely an old man's dram. Texture is oily and pleasant, warming and comforting. A touch of chocolate, at third sip, and even marzipan. Finish: again, ample, warming and comforting, full of chocolate. I want Mhor of it. 8/10

When I order the Mhor flight, a guy at the bar asks me what it is. He is an SWA agent, but does not seem to know this distillery. I have him nose mine, as well as the below, after he says he does not tend to like Islay malts. He goes for a Mhor as well and tells me later how much he enjoyed it. He adds, 'I'm glad I ordered that without asking the price and not [the below] without asking the price!'

Ram-pam-bum!

There's nothing in the world as black

Black Bowmore 42yo 1964/2007 (40.5%, OB The Trilogy, Oloroso Sherry Casks, 827b): hehe. Nose: an oil slick (JS). Right. White Bowmore was top of the shelf, last night? This is on the same level -- perhaps even higher. Some sherry influence (no shit, Sherlock!) and tons and tons of fruit. Stupid amounts. Litchis in full force, mango, papaya, super juicy quince and a faint peat smoke, hardly noticeable. What is noticeable, on the other hand, is a rubbery note -- but it is far from annoying. Barbecued pineapple, roasted jackfruit, ash, to some extent. Such complexity! Mouth: now, the rubber is becoming more assertive, but it is still in check. With it come many fruits again, starting with blood orange and ripe melon (cantaloupe, this time), then passion fruit, decaying pears and stewed prunes. Very creamy and so, so beautiful! Finish: picking fruit at high speed and burning tyres (JS). A perfect balance of fruit, sherry rubber and black tea. Absolutely amazing. Black pepper, liquorice, some smoke that lingers on for a long while, alongside strong coffee, black tea and, indeed, stewed prunes. Excellent dram, very special. I give it a 16/10 too.

We are joined by two maltless friends, one of which notes that whisky is now priced for Russian Elton Johns. JS observes NYC has become so Disneyfied, since 1998.
For supper, we have a lasagna and chips (hi dom666) and steak & ale pie and chips, all very good.

The Disneyfication of the dram of God