22/11/2015 Unlikely humorous songs

The yearly do where we celebrate dom666's birthday at his. You will notice the themes get more and more specific and demanding.

The suspects: kruuk2, sonicvince, dom666, MQ, JS and myself. adc joins us very late for one dram.

The lineup even seems reasonable

MQ presents: Un Chien dans un Jeu de Quilles

MQ asked his other half what the theme was. She answered French films of the 1980s. He believed her. The two Jura below are the pins ('quilles', in French) and the Arran, which bears the Westie mascot, is the dog ('chien', in French).

Isle of Jura Superstition (43%, OB, 4145520) (MQ): the same bottle we tried last year. I remember not liking it very much. Nose: butter and caramel, with an animal touch and autumn leaves. Mouth: buttery and creamy. Finish: melting butter, gentle cigar smoke. This is inoffensive, yet it feels much better than last year. 6/10

vs.

Isle of Jura Prophecy (46%, OB) (MQ): nose: browned butter, cigar leaves, a hint of varnish (a lot of it, says sonicvince). After ten--fifteen minutes, even some fruit emerges (plums and apricot). Mouth: apricot is now stronger, adding flavour to the creamy, buttery texture. Finish: butter and apricot liqueur. I prefer this one. 7/10

vs.

Isle of Arran Machrie Moor Sixth Edition (46%, OB, b.2015) (MQ): nose: floral, with a touch of spices (paprika), then lots of lemon. This is supposed to be peaty? It is not. JS reckons it smells of dry lawn. Mouth: lemon-y and vaguely custard-y. Finish: long, warming, comforting, full of lemon. Not overly complex, but enjoyable nonetheless. 7/10



kruuk2 presents: David Lee Glenrothes - Just A Gigolo

Glenrothes Select Reserve (43%, OB, CGR163) (kruuk2): nose: butter, celeri salt (sonicvince) and -- wait for it -- cooked turnips. Mouth: mellow, it has daffodils, buttermilk and, at third sip, notes of pralines. Finish: discreet, subtle, with touches of butter (!) and daffodil petals. Interesting. I like this better than usual and find it peculiar to try it so soon after the Jura; I do not think any other distillery in Scotland produces anything as buttery as those two. 6/10

Starter is served: tomato and carrot soup. Yum.

Knockando 18yo d.1994 (43%, OB, Sherry Casks) (sonicvince): the owner cannot remember how this one fits the theme. He hopes it comes back to him, yet it never does. I used to have a version of this (d.1989) that I liked a lot. Nose: lukewarm cocoa, milk chocolate, maybe a hint of coffee. sonicvince finds fleeting potatoes in it (he is drunk, of course), then lemon comes out, with banana (sonicvince). Mouth: it seems thin and evanescent, with honey at first, then lemon. The second sip delivers slightly spicy orange juice. Finish: finally some action, with milk chocolate and the acidity of undiluted lemon juice. It was better in my memory, even if it remains an honest dram. 7/10

Main course is served: dom666's homemade lasagna. It is creamy as can be and, dare I say, the best traditional lasagna I have had.

JS and I present: The Lonely Island featuring Justin Timberlake - Bruichladdick in a Compass Box

JS came up with the first bit and, since I have an open Compass Box bottling, I offered to complete the piece.

Bruichladdich 15yo (43%, OB imported by F.Ili Rinaldi Importatori, b.1981, 900b) (JS): nose: unexpected power and unsuspected depth. Perhaps varnish is the first thing to come out, then banana (sonicvince), then juicy fruit, more and more assertive (canary or honeydew melon, pink grapefruit), cheese rind (JS). Mouth: fresh and amazingly lively, with lots of fruit again: melon (cantaloup, this time) and pink grapefruit. Lovely. Finish: explosive, fruity, slightly acidic. This is wonderful. Unanimously liked. 9/10

vs.

Flaming I-ties!

Glasgow Blend (43%, Compass Box Great King Street, b.2014) (me): nose: barley and smoke, accompanied by an unexpected alcohol heat. It feels more complex than the first time -- yay! It becomes coastal after a minute: fake caviar, whelk, salt water, brine. Mouth: buttery honey, then honeyed tea near a fireplace. This is subtle and pleasant, even though it has the bitterness of green tea. Finish: goes down like water, then comes back to haunt you with chimney smoke and toasted barley, still with some honey. 7/10

Cake is served. Instead of chocolate shavings on top, I crumble a speculoos. It works quite well.

dom666 presents: Pit & Rik - La Cicrane et Laphroaigmi

Laphroaig 31yo 1974/2005 (49.7%, OB for La Maison du Whisky, Sherry Wood Casks, 910b, b#652) (dom666): yes, the theme connection is a little... stretched. JD peed his trousers when dom666 poured him this two years ago. He is not here today, on account of being hungover (haha). More for us, then! Nose: grapefruit, pomelo and tyres, coarse rubber. Mint, petrol. The grapefruit turns bolder and bolder (and rougher and rougher, and tougher and tougher, in other words sucker: there is no other). It smells like a marvellous game in which one pours fruit juice on warm tyres. Mouth: mild, at first, delicate, even. Rubber emerges, backed by grapefruit skins and lemon pips. Well, they might as well be grapefruit pips, really. Finish: a complete funfair. There is bitterness, acidity, rubber, exuberant, exotic fruit -- this is unbelievable. I realise today that I completely missed it the first time dom666 poured this, in 2006. It is a capital dram, only beaten by the likes of Black Bowmore. 10/10

sonicvince presents: Michel Fugain - C'est Laphroaig

Laphroaig Quarter Cask (48%, OB, b. mid-2000s, 28S46) (sonicvince): sonicvince reckons Fugain is comedy enough to justify an entry. We all sort of agree. We have this one with the 31yo, no matter how unfair that might seem. Nose: crusty, toasted bread, malted barley and a bucket of coal. Mouth: hot and bold, with red embers and liquefied chocolate. Finish: long and imposing, with ashes and very dark cocoa. Impressive. It is obviously not in the same league as its sparring partner, yet it is far from ridiculous. No wonder it is so popular; it is so good. 8/10

Transversal view

Woo, new note book!

MQ makes an exit, adc takes his place.

The Old Man of Huy presents: Bart Simpson featuring Michael Jackson - Do Dumbarton

Dumbarton 46yo d.1964 (47.4%, Hunter Hamilton The Clan Denny, Refill Hogshead, C#7542) (me): with the exception of JD, who is not here, the whole group loves grain whisky. Few have had this distillery, though. I am thrilled to right that wrong. And also miffed to have misread the age statement -- I thought it was 47. Nose: custard-y porridge, sage on sourdough. Pâtes de fruits (sugar-sprinkled, jelly-textured, fruity treats), ginger bread. As time goes by, soft tyre shows up, dried dates, prunes. adc reckons it smells like a train platform, waiting for a Southbound train coming from the North. Water gives away Virginia tobacco. Mouth: drying, stripping, with notes of bitter tea. Water makes it more acidic, with lime juice, thyme and salted caramel butter (adc). Finish: green-tea bitterness, sourdough and other bakery stuff. Not the easiest dram, but a cracking old grain, really. 8/10

Dick in a bottle

Good tasting, good company, amazing food. What more could one wish for?

Good thing we don't buy Laphroaig based on their use of apostrophe's...

04/10/2015 The Whisky Show 2015 (Day 2 -- Part 1)

The story starts here.

We reach the place half an hour early. Shorter queue, today, yet a queue all the same. Of course, PS is amongst the first five-or-so people. He slept on site, I am convinced.

Talking to an Indian with a Top Gun hat with a walkie-talkie

We head straight for the whisky.auction stand where most of the things available yesterday have gone. So much for the micro plans we came up with overnight.

Glenglassaugh 12yo (43%, OB, b.1980s): nose: dusty books and orange peels. Mouth: gentle, with orange peel and dusty cardboard boxes. Finish: it becomes a little more assertive, with bitter orange, cardboard and Alka-Seltzer. JS is disappointed. I reckon she was hoping for a Caminneci-level 'glassaugh, which was a lot to hope for, from a modest 12yo, however ancient the bottling. 7/10

Isle of Jura 26yo 1965/1991 (45%, OB The Stillman's Dram, Italian market, PB03 91/918): blood-orange peel. Mouth: velvety, though it retains some orange bitterness. Finish: long, with a good blend of fruit and bitterness. 7/10

White Label (unknown ABV, John Dewar & Sons, 51/640, b.1950s): dom666 reckons this is below 40%. He might well be right too, though it does not bother me. Nose: matchsticks, meat and smoke, wood, dry heat. Mouth: soft and wide, if a bit weak, now. Finish: peaty, dusty, it has fruit stones too. 7/10

I finally manage to find the Tomintoul stand. I learn that the old 27yo had increasingly-aged whisky blended into it, to the point the accountants decided it had to be labelled 33yo (with the associated price hike, of course). The 25yo replaces that 33yo (sob) and comes with another price hike (+40%, no less).

Tomintoul 25yo (43%, OB, b.2015): nose: elegant and delicate, with notes of Burgundy wine. Mouth: fresh, subdued, with a tame sherry influence. Finish: more gentleness and roundness. This is delicate... and a bit boring. 7/10

We grab a table and decide that we will stay there for good, taking turns to fill the glasses.

Glen Rothes 17yo 1997/2015 (46%, Signatory Vintage The Un-Chillfiltered Collection, Refill Sherry Butt, C#15957, 546b): I do not spend much time on this -- it is full of sulphur, rotten eggs-style. Awful. 3/10

Dalmore 25yo (42%, OB, L5234 10:27 14/02346 22/08/14): nose: sherry, of course. It is under control, with exotic fruit, brewing underneath the dried ones. Mouth: polished and elegant. It does not challenge and might even seem a little tout, yet it manages to stay on the right side of vulgarity. Finish: perfect, now. Dry sherry, with walnut skins, exotic fruit, then coffee. Lovely finish indeed. 8/10

Glen Grant 1952/2012 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail): nose: chestnut purée, wood, milk. Mouth: creamy, with a right dose of chestnut purée. Finish: slight bitterness, now (the wood, you see), to make for a cracking finale. Wish I had more of that! 9/10

Heaven Hill (50%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, B#1, 240b): nose: maple syrup, sugar, apricot. Mouth: soft and easy, enticing. Finish: apricot again. 7/10

Scapa Skiren (40%, OB, First-Fill American Oak Casks, B#SK01, b.2015): nose: sweaty shoes, locker room -- both shy, mind. Mouth: not bad, if rather bland. Finish: citrus, custard. Inoffensive and uninteresting, mostly. 6/10

Time to attend the masterclass (notes to follow).

The Only Way Is Eireann

Back from the masterclass, JS gets a Redbreast 21yo. I am told there is no rush as the bottle is almost untouched. I proceed to the stall, giggle at the TOWIE-model looks of the staff, then almost weep as I get the last drop of Redbreast 21. There is hardly enough for half a dram. At least, I do get some, not like the Glenglassaugh 30 at the Fringe!

Redbreast 21yo (46%, OB, b. ca 2015): nose: bakery, fruity doughnuts and a cascade of exuberant tropical fruit. Mouth: again, it is a cavalcade of tropical fruit. Finish: fresh, lively, fruity, awesome. 9/10

The Irish whiskies are really doing it for me (and many others), at the moment, what with their amazing fruitiness. I suspect, though, that they might follow the same schema as Bourbon: all of them are good, all of them in too similar a style. Teeling 21, Redbreast 21, Bushmills 21 -- they seem pretty much interchangeable. The question is: will anyone ever tire of the exotic-fruit kick?

MS has been asking for Ardbeg for a while, now. We agree that the time might now be right for peat. Not the LVMH version, though.

Lagavulin (54.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, B#1, 101b): nose: camp fire, pure smoke, rather than dirty peat (lots of giggles about what dirty peat is), crispy bacon. Mouth: mead, barley sugar and, of course, smoke. Finish: long and big, with smoke and burnt, crispy bacon. Good Lagavulin, this! 7/10

Ardbeg (48.6%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, B#6, 58b): nose: wood fire in a log cabin in the undergrowth. Mouth: warm as a log fire. Finish: more peat smoke. There is no barley here, which is great, as it is not a note I look forward to in most Ardbegs, young or old. 7/10

We go for food. It is 15:30 and the restaurant is almost empty. We whizz through the place, get served enormous portions in seconds (I do, at least, MS even goes for second serve), eat, have a huge dessert and take it easy before we resume.
The menu is the same, we all go for the lamb and crumble. Interestingly, the staff is swarming, today, taking plates before people even have time to put their forks down.

While winding down, I have another...

Caol Ila 31yo 1983/2015 (48.1%, Signatory Vintage for TWE, Hogshead, C#5294, 255b): nose: old books, balsamic vinegar, dust and extra-virgin olive oil. This is so close to a 1970s Ardbeg it hurts. Mouth: noble and elegant, with an old-library atmosphere, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, tapenade. Finish: at last, the peat reveals itself, with a sprinkle of fruit juice (olives). 9/10

Read on.