25/01/2025 Burns' Night 2025 -- Exit the Dragon (Part 1)

2024 was the year of the Dragon -- and that year is ending in a few days. Too late for Enter the Dragon, just in time for Exit the Dragon.

Decoration courtesy of ruckus

JS, adc, Gaija, kruuk2, ruckus, dom666, Psycho, sonicvince, Mrs. sonic, STL, red71, Bishlouk, ydc, GD, and I meet up for the yearly celebration, loosely connected with the Bard.

Record number of guests, this year

The line-up...
...before any guest arrives

adc stuck a note on the door asking not to talk about politics to avoid getting worked up.

STL [when the front door opens on him]: "May we talk about arse?"

We have an early theoretical start (17:30), but one does not see fifteen people turn up on time, do they? Arrivals are scattered between 17:09 and 18:30. Fortunately, JS brought an aperitif.

...and red71 and STL brought appetizers

St. George Single Malt Whiskey Lot 17 (43%, OB, B#SM017, b.2017) (JS): I do not try it; it is appreciated by all who do. My notes are here.

Psycho: "One can tell it is Californian: it is smoky."

With that questionable joke out of the way, we are ready to start for realz. The menu is (very) ambitious, so my notes are sometimes scant.

Full line-up, with lots of undisclosed bottles

sonicvince presents Green Douglas. 'Douglas' contains 'glas', which is made with heat: one blows fire on sand to "do glass". Groans.

Green Douglas 5yo (40%, OB The Douglas Fir for Aldi) (sonicvince): nose: light and surprisingly herbal, it has verbena and dried sage. Mouth: dried sage sprinkled on custard cream. Chewing injects crème anglaise. red71 and Gaija astutely call out violet and pékèt au cuberdon. Doubtful at first, I becomes convinced they are right with a little careful analysis. Finish: soft and dry, shortly submerged by violet-flavoured pékèt (gin, to keep it simple). Unpretentious first dram. It does the trick. 6/10

dom666: "Look! I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons since 1984."
ruckus: Those are fantasy dragons, not real ones."

Psycho: "Nice, that little grain."
tOMoH: "And to think you used to not like grains!"
Psycho: "Only idiots never change their minds"
ruckus: "Only idiots don't like grains."

Bishlouk and Psycho talk about work.
red71: "Can we keep those discussions for ten drams from now?"

Soup is served.

Sweet potato and carrot soup.
I almost forget to take a picture, hence the nearly-empty plate.

Psycho explains that "the Dragon" is a nickname for Bruce Lee who went to secondary school to E-Deanston Technical School. Wow.

Deanston 17yo (40%, OB, Oak Casks, 7156 97/0331 L16, b. 1997) (Psycho): nose: apple juice (sonicvince), acidic (Gaija), Turkish delights, OBE and beeswax (Gaija), greengages, marzipan and ground almonds (ruckus). Mouth: funnily enough (because it is not in line with the nose), this has toffee and dusty furniture, as well as lovely wax. Finish: toffee, dusty wax, thickening beeswax... This is delicious! Better than I remembered it (from another bottle). A generous 8/10

Also, the cork breaks -- one of many tonight

tOMoH: "There's greengage, here."
sonicvince [who half-committed to bringing a greengage tart]: "You're really stuck on that greengage."
tOMoH: "I'm going to make you feel it all night."
all: "!?!??!?!"

We talk about Houte-Si-Plou [pronounce: hoot-see-ploo, Walloon for Listen-if-it's-raining, and also the name of a village].
dom666: "There is a Houte-Si-Plou in Savoie [a region of Southern France]."
tOMoH: "Isn't there one in Burundi? Or Rwanda? Ah! no, that's Tutsi-Plou."
dom666: "Ain't that a film with Dustin Hoffman?"

Dinner is served.

Haggis Parmentier

Vegetarian haggis

Roasted seasonal vegetables

Potato purée

ruckus presents two Scapas, each with a longship on the label. In French, a longship is called 'drakkar', clearly related to 'drakar', Swedish for 'dragons'. A certain type of longship is known as 'dreki'. Wikipedia tells us: "The word dreki for a ship derives from this practice of placing carved dragonheads on ships."

Anyway, this Scapa longship is small, but it has a dragon figurehead.
Bizarrely, it sems to be on the back of the ship.

Also, one of the two bottlings was distilled in 1988, which was a year of the Dragon.

Scapa 2005/2017 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, 161983) (ruckus): nose: custard cream and crème anglaise come out at first, then it develops a little herbaceous quality. Gaija talks about Parmesan cheese, though I cannot see that. Mouth: a little mineral, with some bitterness and a lot of pepper (or is it the haggis we just had?) It has a delicious milky-creamy texture. Finish: beautiful, loaded with oat milk and cinnamon powder. 8/10

vs.

Scapa 1988/1999 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, II/BGE) (ruckus): nose: custard cream and custard powder, cocoa powder and coconut milk, a hint of mint too. It mellows out in the long run, with carrot soup or sweet potato (or is there some soup stuck in our teeth? Because it is not just me) Mouth: βανίλια, vanilla custard, just a pinch of quarry dust... In fact, it becomes rather dusty over time, and adds tar to that. JS finds it well fruity. Finish: wonderful custard pudding, with a sprinkle of cocoa powder or powdered cinnamon. 9/10

red71 struggles with the notion that these were distilled seventeen years apart. "Ah! You add the ages of both and you divide by two," he exclaims. We tease him about his miscomprehension mercilessly.

red71: "Is there any more haggis? The more haggis [ruckus, Gaija and tOMoH] eat, the less cake they'll eat!"
ruckus: "That's what you think!"

nth serving

The soundtrack: _Ruckus_ - Exit The Dragon

We all marvel at ruckus's shirt.

ruckus: "Wait! [unbuttons his shirt to reveal a green/yellow dragon t-shirt] See?"
tOMoH: "Wait! If you remove the t-shirt, do you have a dragon tattoo underneath?"
ruckus: "Yeah! On the prick!"
Bishlouk: "Ah! A dragonet, then."

sonicvince's effort

tOMoH's effort -- it has a larger dragon in the back
and both glow in the dark. Of course, it will never
be dark enough for others to see that

GD's effort

sonicvince says that, if Enter the Dragon was a film with Bruce Lee, Enter the Tiger was a film with Bruce Li. In other words: a knock-off of a Bruce Lee film. Or a Knock-and-off.

Knockando 18yo d.1994 (43%, OB, Sherry Casks) (sonicvince): nose: caramel and coffee (sonicvince), black tea (Gaija). It will be cappuccino for me, then it turns to porridge, thick, creamy, but drier than the real thing. Mouth: thick, coating at first, then a tad metallic, like a warm chocolate milk drunk from a tin mug. Finish: big, full of cinnamon, augmented with a pinch of ginger powder, and it settles on chocolate and millionaire shortbread (adc). Another generous note: it works so well, tonight! 8/10

dom666: "We have been cracking the same jokes for twenty years. I know: I do it too."
red71: "No, not twenty years."
dom666: "Yes, since 2003. That is more than twenty."
red71: "I have only known you for four years, and I have already heard the same jokes. Not twenty years."

kruuk2 reminds everyone of a 1980s arcade game he used to go watch people play at the fair. It was named the most-difficult video game ever, in which necessary moves were hard to predict and execute. He is, of course, talking about Dragon's Balb-lair.

Balblair 15yo (46%, OB, ex-Bourbon American Oak Casks + First Fill Spanish Oak Butts) (kruuk2): nose: smoked citrus rinds, blood orange, then tawed leather and some hay. Mouth: toffee and a pinch of dust make way for spices, with lots of pepper and crushed red chilli. The following sips are full of cocoa powder. Finish: long, full, chocolate-y again, and it has a dash of rich fruit eau-de-vie. 7/10

red71: "I cannot hear dom666 anymore..."
dom666: "I'm here."
tOMoH: "It's the Balblair [that suppresses him]."
red71: "Give me a case of six!"

tOMoH [talking about Cthulhu]: "It's impossible for a human mouth to pronounce it well."
red71: "A human mouth! As if there was anything else [that could speak]."
tOMoH: "There are other dimensions, folks."
Psycho: "A chihuahua sphincter does not sound the same as a rottweiler sphincter."

tOMoH unveils the first group bottle of the evening, for which the link is obvious. We have it alongside STL's contribution, who says: "I tend to drink great things with good people, here (except Bishlouk), so I thought I'd bring something nice." It was distilled in 1973, the year of Bruce Lee's death.

Highland Park 1961/1997 (48.1%, S & JD Robertson Group The Dragon, Hogshead, C#4493, 216b) (group): nose: incense (Gaija), gunpowder, mustard (Gaija), ground stone, dried oregano, dried marjoram, ashes, burnt tea leaves, wax seal, spent matches... The second nose mellows that out with some custard cream. Mouth: how does it manage to be at once juicy and ashy like this? It is distinctly ashy, with hot embers and hot seal wax -- rhaaaa! Finish: wow! A humbling mix of damp, riparian vegetation and extremely-fine white ashes, bananas and ganja (JS). Juicy plums make a late appearance too. I do not spend nearly-enough time with this tonight. It already is obvious that it is a killery. Incredible drop. 10/10

vs.

Tomintoul 39yo 1973/2003 The Day of Pearly Spencer (46.6%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique, C#1486) (STL): another missing 's' in the title, just as the Strathisla in the same series. Nose: leather toffee (sonicvince), smashed speculoos (sonicvince). Then, it turns very juicy, with peaches and nectarines on rye crackers. Mouth: considerably stronger than expected, almost drying, before the fruity character comes out with plums and greengages (again). Quite the exploit! Finish: long, explosive, it has spearmint and fruits (greengages, Mirabelle plums, honey-glazed plums) to precede salted-butter caramel (Psycho). Phwoar! 9/10

Bishlouk [about The Dragon]: "I expected more."
ruckus: "A label in full colours!"

Bishlouk: "The Highland Park is good, but it doesn't transport me. It does not give me a hard-on. I'm still half soft."
STL: "You still manage a hard-on?"

Bishlouk: "It's good. I have had younger and more-recent Highland Parks that impressed me more."
Gaija: "I'm listening to your references."

Dessert #1 enters, courtesy of STL's daughter

tOMoH and friends present a series. The longest series we have had, in fact, equalling the mighty MiMi-CraCra-Lo-Ellen-Sca from, ahem, a decade ago.

Anyway, this year, we are having seven bottlings for the seven crystal balls of Dragon Ball. Or Dragon Bal, as it will be known tonight.

Balblair d.1989 (46%, OB) (kruuk2): "another Balblair!" some marvel. We rarely have any, let alone more than one, in any given tasting. Nose: caramel and honey, oilcloth, and dried apple skins. That apple turns juicier with subsequent sniffs. Mouth: walnut kernels (Psycho), a soft nutty bitterness, peanut or so. The second sip sees some quarry dust and crushed peanut shells. Finish: dry, astringent (Bishlouk), acrid (Psycho). With its roasted walnuts, it is a very-long finish, warming, remarkable for this ABV. 7/10

The second bottling was supposed to be sonicvince's own Balblair 1989, which we have been meaning to try alongside its more-ancient sibling for many years. Sadly, he did not bring it, and kruuk2's bottle is now empty. It will never happen. Bah.

Ballantine's 30yo (unknown ABV, George Ballantine + Son, unknown volume, b. late 1970s/early 1980s, SB 161 L5) (group): nose: a little meaty, it presents a wicker basket full of decaying fruits. Old socks at the bottom of the drawer (kruuk2) develop into a sooty number. Mouth: rotten fruits turns juicier and fresher with each second. Soot grows in intensity too, as do meat and charred fruit. Finish: cranberries, lingonberries, and a shovelful of soot. tOMoH thinks of Bowmore Bicentenary, but then it could just be hs305's comment on whiskybase that suggests that. In any case, it is magnificent. 9/10

Talking about jellyfish stings, and how one should pee on the wound to soothe the pain.
dom666: "The best thing to do is pour vinegar on it."
tOMoH: "Yeah, I always have a bottle of vinegar with me, when I go to the beach."
dom666: "Another thing that works is lemon juice."
tOMoH: "Yeah, I always have a lemon in my swimsuit."
dom666: "Italians wear cotton pads [in their swimsuit] to boost their masculinity."
tOMoH: "Aren't you Italian?"

Second dessert enters, courtesy of JS. And I do not even take a picture!

Secret Stills 02.02 40yo 1966/2006 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail Secret Stills, Sherry Hogsheads, C#1204+1449+1452, 600b, JF/CHH) (tOMoH): an undisclosed distillery from the Ballindalloch Castle Estate. Nose: unmistakeably an old distillation, a blend of fruits and soot. Mouth: dry as sawdust, yet juicy as marmalade, soft but spicy. Phwoar. Finish: long, assertive... Better notes here. 9/10

vs.

Balmenach-Glenlivet 19yo 1961/1980 (46%, Cadenhead) (JS): nose: initially metallic, it soon turns old-school, with soot, old plastics, and a grandmother's pudding. Mouth: acidic, waxy lemon rinds. Finish: once again: phwoar! Metal and lemon sign a pact and sing in unison. Cannot wait to try this again. 9/10

St. George 3yo The Baller (47%, OB, Ex-Bourbon, French Wine Casks + Umeshu Finish): and there is a dragon on the label -- w00t! Nose: lychee syrup (red71), soap (STL), waxy soap bars, citric powder, sherbet, rose water (ruckus), cola (sonicvince). Because of the label, I want to say açai berries: "Même si la peur m'açai / Je partirai comme un samouraï". Mouth: ridiculously lychee-like, choc-full of citric powder, scented candles and fruit-scented handwash. JS cleverly points out elderberry cordial, which is spot on. Finish: Paic Citron (Bishlouk), limoncello, lychee, rose water. This is original, if divisive. It does a perfect job of resetting the palate after the old glories. 6/10

As a side note, it works fantastically in a highball (hence the name). Interestingly, ruckus prefers it to the first St. George he had earlier.

vs.

140.17 3yo d.2019 Bowled over by cinnamon cola (62.8%, SMWS Society Cask, #3 Char New Oak Barrique, 217b) (tOMoH): this is a Balcones. Nose: big, cola-like, it has coffee too, though that may be the sludge brewing in the kitchen. Mouth: it strips the enamel (Psycho). It is hot and very woody, tonight. Cassia bark coated in red-chilli paste. Finish: sweet Demerara. Do not be fooled, though: it is huge, hairy to a point, with hot boilers. It warms the oesophagus all the way to the tonsils. Brutal. We have clearly moved from the 40s to the 60s without pausing for breath. As a side note, this is known in the States as Bowled over by something beautiful, because any mention of food or drink in the US sets the FDA in action, therefore raises costs and increases timelines. 7/10

adc goes to bed.

Dessert #3 enters, courtesy of Mrs. sonic.

The sountrack: kruuk2's Exit the Dragon playlist.

70.62 10yo d.2013 Honey and dragon fruit sangria (60.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 204b) (kruuk2): that is right. kruuk2 brought a third Balblair -- one that has the word 'dragon' in the description. Double w-jambon-my.  Nose: so custardy! It has tons of peach and melting mango flesh. Mouth: an explosion of buttery fruits, with dragon fruit, persimmon, mango, and cherimoya. The second sip has a chalkier feel, perhaps sherbet. Finish: confectionary sugar, sherbet (flying saucers), mango slices, hot plums. This is very good. 8/10

After this wonderful epanadiplosis, red71 and STL take a bow. One of them has a crochet competition in a week and needs his beauty sleep. The other follows. Tsk.

Bishlouk goes for a nap on the sofa.

If we chant the right incantations, a dragon should appear

Continue reading here.

27/01/2024 Burns' Night 2024 -- Fear of the Dark (Part 1)

A theme suggested by STL two years ago, on his first attendance. We forgot last year, but tonight is the night.

Frankly, it was hard to select both the whiskies and the music: so many possibilities! We will just have to use this theme again.

Gaija sadly cannot make it, this year, on account of one of his mates celebrating his birthday, today. As if that bloke was not going to celebrate another birthday next year. Tsk.

dom666 calls off on the day: he has caught every respiratory illness that ends in -itis.

dom666: "J'ai attrapé toutes les maladies respiratoires en -ite."

tOMoH: "Covite?"

STL: "La bite?"

That leaves Psycho, adc, JS, kruuk2, ruckus, STL, red71, sonicvince, Bishlouk and yours, truly. And we are well up for it!

Just as well, because there is a lot of work

The soundtrack: noizaddict - Fear of the Darkside

sonicvince tells us that the series Peaky Blinder takes place after the First World War, and that the men in it are all shell-shocked, afraid of the dark, and all.

Peaky Blinder (40%, Sadler's, Bourbon Casks) (sonicvince): nose: toothpaste (Psycho, who specifies: Signal+). I find it rubbery, with marzipan emerging in the long run. sonicvince finds wet sands on a construction site. Mouth: peppery (Bishlouk), and acidic (adc and kruuk2). Shortly, all find it easy and watery, yet it carries some marzipan again. Finish: fairly short and rubbery, it prolongs the marzipan-y touch, somewhat. It has some wax, and the aftertaste is chewy and a half. This reminds me of The Pogues, and is as adequate a set opener as that one. 7/10

JS starts off explaining that the next one is aged in a cask that previously contained 4Hands' Absence of Light beer, from St Louis, Missouri. Quickly, she corrects that: it is actually that beer, distilled and aged.

StilL 630 1yo Presence of Darkness (40.5%, OB Beer Collaboration Series VII, Oak Barrels, B#2, b#524) (JS): nose: quite herbal, it plays with botanical herbs to a marvellous effect. Underdone crusty bread, maybe overripe fruit (sonicvince), cooked cereals (Psycho), violet boiled sweets (sonicvince), Barbour grease, and the sweat of a mechanic. Mouth: flat Irn Bru, all sorts of herbs in soda, or other soft drinks. Finish: yeasty, rye-like. It is mellow and sweet, teeming with sweet corn and Custard Cream biscuits. Rightly welcomed by all. 7/10

Appetisers, courtesy of red71

Bishlouk: "Ça manque un peu de couilles, en bouche." [It lacks balls on the palate, a bit.]

Everyone: "?"

Bishlouk: "I was very flexible, as a baby."

Psycho [later]: "On the palate, on the other hand..."

tOMoH: "...it lacks balls, a bit?"

sonicvince introduces the next one, and observes the box looks a bit like a casket. Someone in a casket, he tells us, is trapped in the dark.

kruuk2: "C'est l'hiver. Il fait sombre jusque tard. On le remarque surtout quand on se lève tôt-l'matin."

It requires the Rescue Rangers

Tomatin Decades b.2011 (46%, OB, Bourbon & Sherry Casks, L030556, 9000b) (sonicvince): nose: without surprise, it is a fruity number, with a tropical aspect, and more orchard fruits: unripe Grany Smith apples, hard pears, Cameo apples (sonicvince) -- well, all sorts of apples, but we all agree that it is indeed apples. STL adds caramelised quince, kruuk2 notices compote. It gains vanilla with time. Mouth: a lovely fruitiness, yet it is quite peppery and sharp too, not unlike rocket leaves. The second sip is chalkier, chewy and plaster-y. In the long run, crushed Aspirin comes up, as do citrus fruits. Finish: long, fruity again, much more intense than its predecessor. We have chalky apples, and crushed Aspirin Junior tablets. This is very good, despite my dreary notes. 8/10

STL [about Bishlouk's joke]: "Écoute, je ne t'écoute plus!" [Listen, I'm not listening to you anymore!]

Soup enters. A delicious leek-and-chickpea soup that no-one takes photos of.

sonicvince goes occult, and introduces Black Art -- because STL, who built the line-up, clearly wants him done and gone by 22:00.

Bruichladdich 21yo 1989/2010 Black Art 02.2 (49.7%, OB, American & European Oak Casks, 6000b, 10/264) (sonicvince): nose: it smells like grapes, almost vine (Psycho). adc pictures an old, dusty notebook with a felt cover. I find it leathery, with old moccasins, cedar wood, and figs, dried to a state where they are indistinguishable from boot soles. Mouth: winy on the tongue, tannic, but also dry and full of rancio and fox's skin. It remains well pleasant, but it is obviously marked by the wine casks it was matured in. Finish: long, Madeira-like, musky, augmented with cracked black pepper too. The aftertaste reminds sonicvince of coffee. We had this, ahem, thirteen years ago, before this blog existed. It was sonicvince's first participation, and he was not so keen on it. I remember thinking it was not really my profile. We both enjoy it much more, tonight. 7/10

The soundtrack: ruckus: Fear of the Dark

 

Main course enters.

Haggises (vegetarian and meat)

Carrot, turnip and potato purée (bottom)

Potato and mushroom gratin (top)

Parsnip, turnip, carrot, and rosemary tray bake

Psycho takes the stage to say that, when one is young, one tends to like horror stories and a good fright. When he was young, he continues, he liked Stephen King's Tommy-Knock-ers-ando.

Knockando 25yo 1980/2005 (48.3%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, C#1908, 260b, b#10) (Psycho): nose: interestingly concentrated and explosive, with lemon curd, lemon-drizzle cake, and a spoonful of turfy grass. It turns yeastier, over time, almost fizzy. Mouth: mellow, quaffable, yet it has a small dose of soft gingery paste. Then, we detect crushed Custard Cream biscuits, and lemon-drizzle cake, as well as a few grains of salt, on the tip of the tongue. Finish: very long, it has dried tangerine peels and salt again. This is as formidable as I remembered it. An unassuming, yet reliable deliverer. Formidable. And now sadly empty. 9/10

red71 tells us that the producer of the song Fear of the Dark is called Martin Birch-laddich.

Bruichladdich 20yo 1993/2013 (51.6%, Cadenhead Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 738b, 13/346) (red71): nose: cereals (red71), conifer (adc), dried figs (adc). I find it cereal-y indeed, with a clear note of cardboard. Mouth: citrus (adc), clementines. It is citric indeed, with lemon-drizzle crumbs sprinkled on oats. Cardboard gains ground on the palate, in subsequent sips, augmenting a dollop of custard. Finish: intense and powerful, it has a lovely, gingery custard. Another stonking Bruich by this renowned  Campbeltown bottler. 8/10

Bishlouk shows us a bottle that, he says, is not really in theme, but it is on its last leg, and he wants to finish it. Looking closer, he realises the picture on the label is rather gloomy. Good enough for us.

Littlemill 24yo 1989/2014 (51.7%, Whisky-Doris, Bourbon Hogshead, C#32, 357b, b#109) (Bishlouk): nose: strikingly, it is a continuation of the Bruichladdich, with custard cream, crushed Aspirin, and a pinch of ash. Mouth: oh! yeah, it has that Littlemill crushed Aspirin alright, then a lot of buttery yellow fruits, namely mangoes, plums and nectarines. Finish: fruits aplenty (the same mangoes, plums and nectarines). I struggle to put words on what I taste, but this is very, very good. 9/10

red71 [to Psycho]: "What is funny is that, since you went for a smoke, when you talk to me, I have smoke in my glass. It doesn't bother me. I like that."

tOMoH [to Psycho]: "When you talk to me, please look at red71, because it bothers me."

Psycho shows us a Douglas Laing Old Particular with an unusual black (dark) label.

Glengoyne 15yo 2005/2021 (58.4%, Douglas Laing Old Particular for Master of Malt, Refill Bourbon Cask, C#14639) (Psycho): nose: tangerines left out on the countertop for a few days, and turning less fragrant as a result. We also have mixed peel soaked in cold water. Mouth: jammy, but also quite intense, with cracked green pepper, and dried chives. Finish: powerful, softly acidic, it is fruity and softly bitter -- cut kakis and longans, topped with a dusting of grated chalk. The latter dissipates, over time. We had this expression previously. It is still as good. 7/10

kruuk2 produces D.R.K.N.S.S., which, tOMoH points out, is Walloon for: DRoK, Nenni, SééS!

D.R.K.N.S.S. (46%, Asta Morris, Sherry Cask, B#2, 601b, b#446) (kruuk2): nose: wood and sap (adc), liquorice (sonicvince). It smells like a simple and generic sherry-casked whisky, which, of course, it is. Caramelising butter grows in power. Mouth: Objectively speaking, it is a little thin, but it gives orange peels, sizzling in browned butter. That is pleasantly reminiscent of Glenrothes. Finish: dark chocolate (Bishlouk), PiM's (remember: the posh version of, and inspiration for Jaffa cakes)... It is a continuation of the caramelised mixed peel from the palate, now made more appealing to these Belgians with the addition of dark chocolate. 6/10

Read on here.