06/11/2016 Clearing the shelf #10

Glen Esk 30yo 1984/2015 (51%, The Vintage Malt Whisky Cooper's Choice, Refill Butt, C#3884, 300b): nose: crepe dough, baked Bramley apples, as well as wet cardboard and hot custard. The whole makes room for a whiff of ashes, burnt paper, stone-dry orange peels -- the citrus becomes fresher and fresher, lemon and satsumas. Mouth: juice squeezed out of old oranges (the kind that have sat on the kitchen counter for weeks). Gentle white pepper, wet cardboard again, bay leaves and a delicate mustard-y touch. Finish: long, bold, citrus-y and cardboard-y. It has more of that old-orange taste, acidic, but tamed and dry, more cardboard and mustard-y yogurt. Brilliant, old Highlander. 9/10 (thanks LM for the sample)

Red Baron of Speyside 40yo 1971/2012 (51.7%, Glen Fahrn Airline, Bourbon Cask, 139b): this is a Glenfarclas in disguise. Nose: wow! Where to start? tins of paint, linseed oil, sesame oil, nail varnish, a farmyard touch too -- this is wide, big and motherflipping complex. Crayons, scented rubber (fancy eraser)... Actually, it also has rubber gloves, straight out of the packaging, an old leather coat, old furniture and even a bit of smoke. Mouth: syrupy and coating, it has prunes, raisins, dried figs, old furniture, polished dashboard. At the same time, the texture is creamy -- nut liqueur? Yogurt? It gives me an impression of an old gentlemen's club, where the room is covered in paneling and lots have been smoked (pipe, cigar) and drunk (sherry, cognac and scotch). Finish: creamy again, with elderberry syrup, coconut cream, all sorts of furniture-related flavours, including a minute wood bitterness. Also remnants of a mechanic's workshop (really!?) This is easily the best Glenfarclas I have ever had. 9/10 (thanks CD for the sample)

Springbank 19yo 1997/2016 (58.8%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Recharred Sherry Butt, C#606): nose: strong red tobacco, dark liqueur, even oxtail broth. Wood stain, turpentine, plasticine, then lots of fortified wine (sauce grand-veneur), a smoky shebeen, and finally, wax. Mouth: strong and stripping, turpentine style. It has more wood stain, nail varnish, thick and heavy, and notes of caramelised pastry. Last but not least, black peppercorns appear. Finish: a huge sherry influence, though it never smothers the Springbankness. Raisins, prunes, figs, leather, nut liqueur, hazelnut oil. This is really heavy on the stomach; I could not drink litres of it. Dark-grape sorbet with a dash of Armagnac (le trou normand) and red sweets. Huge. Even though this is not my favourite profile, I am impressed. 8/10 (thanks CD for the sample)

12/04/2014 The kitchen saga

idealrichard has been having lots of difficulties, whilst overseeing builders redo his kitchen. I thought we had to celebrate that... even though idealrichard ultimately cannot make it.

The suspects: JS, MJ, SMcD, PS, KidJ and myself. Lots of new faces, which is great.

Whirlpoolteney 12yo 1994/2007 Sauternes Finish (45%, Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection, CC#06/125 1--5, 2050b) (brought by me): from good to dodgy appliances and now whisky. Whirlpool are jacks of all trades, it seems. Nose: fruity and musty, with a touch of brine (PS). Caramel, banana. Not particularly challenging a nose, but I like it a lot. KidJ reckons it smells of urine. Mouth: soft and easy, full of caramel and banane flambée. Finish: long, coating, though not invading. 'If you think of a white wine, you can taste it,' says MJ -- he is right: it is very sweet and wine-like. Again, one of the best Sauternes finishes around, if not the best. A dram that will not floor you, yet is great to start with or drink on a sunny afternoon. 8/10

Scapa 16yo (40%, OB, LKRG1754 147 14 50) (brought by MJ): Scapa comes from an island, my kitchen has an island, there is your theme. Good effort, there. Half a point. Nose: barley, marmalade and little else. Mouth: too soft, today. It seems watery, with a dash of caramel. Finish: shortish, with caramel again, and some fruit (raisins). Later on, burnt bakery comes out, hot dough. A nice dram, but disappointing, today. Batch variation? Wrong circumstances? 6/10

Littlemill's last distillation

Little-pepper-mill 28yo 1985/2013 (50.5%, Robert Graham Treasurer Selection, C#99, 230b) (brought by JS): nose: pears, apples and mangoes. Yep, a fruit bomb this one is. It even sports the trademark hiking-boot scent that I get in loads of overly-ripe-fruit drams. Coconut and vanilla make an appearance alongside pineapple -- stunning! Mouth: fine, white pepper, the alcohol is perfectly integrated. Finish: long, fruity, focused and pleasant. The hiking boots show up again, though it is not overpowering. Subtle, integrated, balanced, pleasant. Top dram and dram of the day for me. PS is 'definitely tasting Midget Gems' in it, but then he brought a pack of them and has been feasting on them as if the sun were never going to shine again. 9/10

Enter pastries brought by KidJ. Apple cake, pecan tart and chocolate/hazelnut fondant. Finger-licking.

PS: "If that guy is the Chinese Richard Branson..."
me: "Richard Bransing?"

Invergordon 37yo 1972/2009 (46.6%, Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel CC#60478/63675, 259b, b#236) (brought by PS): Invergordon Ramsay, king of the rude kitchen. nose: custard, crushed banana, some small flower from rocky ground (saxifraga, perhaps?) Mouth: creamy and more pungent than the ABV hinted at. Plum-infused pudding. Finish: creamy pudding it is, with a "green" sort of bitterness to it.

26.75 27yo Scented candles in the sauna (56.3%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill Sherry Hogshead, b.2011, 201b) (brought by PS): it is quite barbecue-y. Now, an open-fire barbecue is not usually something one finds inside a kitchen, but it is linked to culinary activities. Good enough, try and do better next time. Nose: musk, furniture polish, smoked bacon (KidJ and myself, others are less convinced about that, at this stage), bread butter (KidJ). It suddenly strikes me: walking through a glade, surrounded by red deer. Waxy bacon, which becomes smokier and smokier to reach barbecue levels. Later on, dust from a wooden attic. heated by direct sun rays on the very roof it sits under (MJ, waxing lyrically, by now). Mouth: powerful, very peppery, balanced out by nice honey. Finish: lots of wax, alongside the smoked bacon. Strangely enough, it is also a very short finish. Water underlines wax in the nose. KidJ gets all enthusiastic about it: 'I must insist, it is beeswax, not candle wax.' I rated this 4/10 the first time I had it, which is quite harsh and no longer deserved. It simply is not a style I am extremely fond of. 6/10

MJ: "We've been to Austria three years in a row on summer holiday. We went one year, then we went the following year..."
PS: "You realised you'd left your phone charger behind?"

Oven Mittyvaich 20yo 1989 (57.5%, OB Natural Cask Strength, 6000b) (brought by me): nose: unripe, cut pears, gravel, cut grass, beeswax, honey and lots of sweetness. Wonder if the wax is the remainder of Clynelish on my palate, as it is unexpected. Mouth: pink pepper sprinkled over a teaspoonful of honey. Some red chilli as well. Hotter than the first time I had it, actually. Finish: pepper, punctuated by the bitterness of plants, to a degree. Pink pepper on a teaspoonful of honey again. MJ tries it twice, hoping to "get" it, while PS and KidJ have it thrice -- "getting" it very well indeed, it seems. Top dram. 8/10 (Thanks for the bottle, adc)

Glen Esk-tractor fan 1984/2004 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice, JD/DCG) (brought by me): quite proud of this one. I liked it so much, in fact, that I decided offering a third bottle would not be too many. Plus, Esk is so rare it is sure to be a first for at least one person at any tasting and 1984 is the distillation year of one person today. Nose: fresh urine (KidJ, who has a one-track mind, today). Old books and decaying pears. Musky old books that have been pissed on (PS), some herbs with orange rinds. Old school and rather austere. Mouth: oh! yes, lots of orange rinds, now, sprinkled with black pepper, dusty shelves. Finish: beautiful, full of dusty books and stale marmalade. I feared it would be weak after the higher-strength drams, but it is not. Not an enticing dram for newbies, yet exactly my style. Yes, that sentence reads pompous -- what can I do about it? 8/10

PS's favourite fucking chef

G5.3 18yo d.1993 Extraordinary taste intensity (65.6%, SMWS Society Cask, New toasted oak cask, 246b) (brought by PS): another Invergordon Ramsay. PS has a wild imagination. :-| Nose: tons of blackcurrant and a near-sherry cask feel given by the toasted oak. Mouth: anaesthetising at 65.6%, of course ('If you're gonna smoke, smoke,' says MJ). Underneath that deadly heat, the whisky is viscous, sticky, rich in elderberry and bakery flavours. Finish: blackcurrant juice that stays with you forever. Blackcurrant flapjacks. Strength aside, this is easy and straightforward , but very beautiful. 8/10

PS blends 26.75 and the Cárn Mòr Invergordon to a rather convincing result.
MJ disappears into the night, while SMcD makes a late entrance and sprints through the previous drams.

Whisky geeks will recognise the MacKenzie motto
also used by Dalmore

Glen Ord 12yo (40%, OB) (brought by SMcD): hardly in theme, but the poor guy has been working until now and it is not a common sight anymore. It would be rude not to have it, even if PS jokes about it being dubbed Glen Ordinary. Nose: caramel, fruit (squashed grapes, mostly) and a bit of bubble gum, perhaps. Nice nose, this, though it suffers from the sequence, of course. Mouth: quite watery after the others -- watered-down paprika. Later on, it shines in the caramel department, with notes of flat cola and stale cough syrup. Finish: short and caramelly. Not a superb dram by any means, but it always interesting to have a blast from the past.

Off-tasting, we are treated to Teeling 21yo Silver Bottling (46%, Teeling Vintage Reserve, b.2013, 6000b). SMcD has to leave already. To round off the evening, we also have:

Ardbeg 1978/1999 (43%, OB): nose: merbromin, chloroform, very medicinal with a twist of balsamic vinegar. Subtle peat then emerges. A crayfish platter with peat growing in intensity. Mouth: oh! man, the balance! Balsamic vinegar, sea water. Finish: typical Ardbeg barley, peaty hay sprinkled with some balsamic vinegar again. This is outstanding, as it always is.

A bit disappointed in the minimal effort on display to find something that would fit the theme (I suppose new faces did not yet know how seriously I take my puns). Other than that, splendid tasting. Attendants brought too much junk food for our own good and left some bottles behind. Thanks, but please do not, it is unnecessary.

08/12/2012 Eastern Highlands and stuff at TWE

It has proven challenging to get the good TWE staff to venture out of their cubicle for a tasting. To not delay matters too much, Fixou and I decided to bring the tasting to their very cubicle.

Before that, we have a tropical Balvenie face-to-face: Cuban Cask vs. Golden Cask. No notes taken during this apéritif. Here are those from a previous session (19/02/2012 Two Balvenie):

Balvenie 14yo Golden Cask (47.5%, OB, b. ca 2011): nose: rather neutral today -- bit of wood, vanilla, maybe some rum (suggested by the name on the bottle, surely). Mouth: chocolate, milky, creamy, even. Flows easily, with a discreet roughness. Finish: lingers on gently with a few come-backs.
Balvenie 14yo Cuban Selection 1995/2009 (43%, OB): nose: sweeter (adc), sugar cane (adc). Mouth: less chocolate, as much milk, gulpable indeed. Finish: softer, silkier and very good. Sultanas. Shorter than the Golden Cask's.

A short WExEx (Whisky Exchange Express) journey and a long walk later (The WExEx stopped halfway there), we are on the site. A very, very busy Saturday in the run-up to Christmas. They open the hostilities.

Remy and Laddie

Bruichladdich 16yo The Laddie Sixteen (46%, OB, b. 2012) (provided by A): nose: melon. Fruity, with a spray of black pepper. The mouth is creamy and velvety. Finish: milk chocolate, mostly, with some chilli emerging after a while.

A not-too-often-seen 'Riach

BenRiach 13yo 1994/2007 (54.7%, The Whisky Exchange Straight from the Cask, C#105099, 225b) (provided by EG): nose: subtle. Cotton pads sprayed with make-up remover. Mouth: light again, with a huge discharge of black pepper. Finish: vanilla.

[in theme]

Glenesk 1984/2004 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice) (provided by me): some freeloader asks me if he can try it, then grabs a glass and steps away: 'I didn't say yes, but go ahead...' If he reads this: I would have said yes, naturally, but your attitude was despicable. You could have at least said thank you, ill-mannered richard. Anyway. Nose: a grandmother's knicker drawer, grass, hay, a dash of basalmic vinegar (© Fixou 2012), band-aid, slate (A and D), even some leather. Mouth: marmalade, now, yay! Orange juice, lovely. Finish: shortish, but quite elegant, with bitter or rather Acidic citrus, orange peel,

If you have not tried that, you have not lived

citric powder capsules, including the dryness. Old-school dram, not seducing for one bit, especially the nose. We all like it, though and I am happy to find in it exactly what I found in the first Glen Esk I ever drank (the 12yo OB), especially considering I was not able to understand what I was tasting, in the early-1990s. 8/10

At this point, it is worth mentioning that A is surfing for baby clothing, which amuses me very much.

It smells of moustache!

Glenury Royal 29yo 1970/1999 (57%, OB Rare Malts Selection) (provided by me): a few confused and confusing notes, now: sawdust is one, I think, grain whisky is another. Me? Nose: orange again (which no one else seems to get), hint of vague smoke (A and Fixou -- I kind of agree). After 30 minutes, it has opened up on shortbread and dust. Mouth: elegant and noble, posh marmalade with a mild punch. Finish: long, comforting and, well, simply an excellent whisky. Still kicking myself for not buying the second bottle when I had a chance (broken record, I know). Thanks adc for the sample. 9/10

North of Scotland 43yo 1964/2007 (45%, Robert Scott Scott's Selection) (provided by PS): when we met PS yesterday, he told me he had left something at TWE for Fixou and I, knowing we would go and unable to go himself. This, then, had my name on it. First NoS for me and more or less what provided the theme: I wanted to bring the Glenesk because A had asked me about it and he and the rest of the staff had never had a Glenesk. The Glenury has to go quickly, as the 15cl bottle contains more air than W. When P told me about the NoS, I realised those three were in the same region, so that was a done deal. ... "Wait!" I hear you scream. "North of Scotland used to be in the Lowlands!" Well, the distillery that started its life as North of Scotland and ended it as Strathmore was in the Lowlands, yes, and ended up as an annex to Cambus near Alloa. However, the early name came from another distillery that finished its life under the name North of Scotland and had started it as Bon Accord... in the Eastern Highlands. That one was a malt distillery, but I will still use the lame excuse.
Nose: mineral (slate, flint), a leather workshop behind closed doors, then it opens up and it is a full-on bakery. Mouth: doughnuts, more bakery shenanigan, liqueur. Finish: long, a bit drying, with more pastry/bakery goodness. This is happiness in a glass. More than an excellent first NoS experience: a treat. Thanks PS for the sample. 9/10

[/in theme]

Bushmills 21yo (40%, OB, b. ca 2012) (provided by EG who is on a mission to surprise us): nose: "Blimey! There's a lawn in there!" (Fixou) Grassy, with scents of red fruit in the back. Mouth: light, delicate, fruity, girly and wonderful. Finish: fantastically fruity, dominated by jackfruit with a hint of lichen. Lovely. 9/10

Port Charlotte PC9 9yo 2002/2011 An Ataireachd Ard (59.2%, OB, 6000b) (provided by Fixou): seeing how cold it has been, lately, Fixou had made up his mind about what he wanted to bring. Something manly, then. Nose: barbecue, cured meat, spent matches (not in an invasive way). Mouth: punchy. Not very original to say, but yes, punchy. Finish: char-grilled meat and sizzling bacon, just like PC8. A finds it too sweet -- the sherry influence, probably. It is a nice W in its own right, perhaps not my style, today.

Glasses are starting to do a Smooth Criminal impression

Braes of Glenlivet 23yo 1989/2012 (54.9%, Speciality Drinks The Single Malts of Scotland, Hogshead, 272b) (provided by E "the Truffle Pig"): nose: rose water. Mouth: pear eau-de-vie? White pepper, Acidic (Fixou) and malty (A). Finish: pear (the fruit), vanilla. Shoddy notes, yet I find it much better than at the Whisky Show. It is too late in the line-up to convince me to buy a bottle, though. 7/10

G5.2 17yo 1993/2011 Strumming the strings of the soul (65.3%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Virgin Toasted Oak Hogshead, 248b) (provided by PS): the staff pulled out three more miniatures earlier, left behind by PS. They are not sure who they are for and reckon it is also for us. I somehow do not think so, but will certainly be polite if offered. Especially as this particular one impressed me very much yesterday. Nose: BAKERY! Perfume, vanilla, honey, butterscotch. Mouth: more bakery beauty, a lot of Watts at 65.3%, which causes A to pull a few faces and perform a Gene Kelly impersonation -- come to think of it, there is a lot of dancing involved, today. Finish: pastry, bakery, sweet dough, not as fruity anymore, but beautiful all the same. Two days in a row, this remains one of the best grains I have had. This is something I would enjoy getting blind on. 9/10 (Thanks for the sample, PS)

Dumbarton 45yo 1965 (49.5%, Hunter Hamilton The Clan Denny, Refill Hogshead, C#HH7001) (provided by PS): first Dumbarton here, though I own one. Nose: deeper than the previous (A) -- it is also three times as old, so it makes sense. Mouth: Milky Way bar, stunning. Finish: cereals by the bucket, more Milky Way. The notes are shameful, by this point, but I am lost for words. This is great. 9/10 (Thanks for the sample, PS)

Port Dundas 34yo 1973/2007 (54.5%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, Sherry Cask, C#128321, 461b) (provided by PS): nose: a lot more sherry, after-shave lotion in the back, as well as some dark chocolate (60--70% cocoa). Mouth: cold coffee, which I am not too fond of. Finish: tons of varnish, wood glue, lacquer. This is a good dram too, yet it does not live up to its couple of glorious predecessors. In any case, thanks again PS for the samples. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, PS)


-Coeur de Lily (provided by DR): DR's own blend for (or with) Compass Box. Although I take no note, it is pretty good.

A very pleasant afternoon with a few funny episodes (including a customer inquiring about the most expensive bottle and the highest-ABV beverage in the shop), constant nonsense chatting with the staff and great drams. The shop could have been less crowded for me, but all the better for business, after all.