A (virtual) tasting two years in the making, since it is that long ago that STL gave us this series of samples. "Two years a stave," I think they say. The theme is only revealed at the end, after we all fail to guess it. By the way, I am cheating, tonight. I tried all these whiskies over the last couple of weeks, in preparation.
Aside STL, joining us tonight are dom666, Bishlouk, red71, ruckus, Gaija, JS, Psycho, and tOMoH, obviously.
Bishlouk initially cannot see or hear us. Since IT is all about turning it off and on again, I kick him out so he can rejoin.
STL: "How does it feel, tOMoH?"
tOMoH: "Listen: I have a hard-on."
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| Spot the intruder |
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| "I don't seem to have #1. I do have a #7, on the other hand, which makes no sense..." |
Dram #1
Collegiate comments: lively and punchy (Gaija), slightly soapy (ruckus), it has some pepper (Bishlouk), and indistinct spices (Psycho).
Nose: amusingly, this offers a dash of dry white wine (borderline grappa, or brandy) on crummy biscuit. Those biscuits turn into blondies, taken straight out of the oven by a blonde baker who has just washed her hair. It has a minor salty tang that struggles to be noticed, underneath that vanilla sugar -- a struggle that is likely what inspired the shampooed blond hair impression, since it comes across as softy soapy. We are clearly in a bakery, however, in which sourdough and shortbread dough share a tray, before boarding the same oven. Minutes later, a faint flowery scent materialises, magnolia, especially, soft, fragrant, and inviting. Later yet, we have poached pear, slowly overtaken by confectionary sugar and lichen. The second nose has more shampooed blond hair, and a silicone baking mat as one uses to work dough on (e.g., GWHOLE). Said mat is covered in confectionary sugar and buttery dough scraps. Mouth: lively and youthful, it stings a little. Brandy again, perhaps apple brandy, this time around, not aged, yet made more interesting by a whisper of smoke. Once the palate gets over the heat, grapes arrive, mostly dark, with a few green ones for balance. The texture is that of grape juice, and it has flashes of bitterness that one could easily imagine are given by those grapes' pips. A woolly sweetness is perceptible throughout, if not too clearly identifiable. The second sip seems more of a tranquil force, oily, still explosive, less impulsive. If greengage eau-de-vie exists, it must taste like this. Knowing humans, tOMoH would be surprised if it did not exist. So, greengages, muscovado sugar, and galvanised iron heated on a naked flame. Finish: lovely and balanced, here are more grapes (mostly green, now) and vanilla biscuits with a pinch of salt in the distance. It is voluptuous and creamy, reminiscent of Custard Creams, more than shortbreads, save for the salt. Besides, it has a lick of green stuff (unripe nuts of sorts), which adds some bitterness, if not acidity. All things considered, it may well be some of those green grapes that are not totally ripe. The second gulp is a little more shaky, which will prevent a higher score. Vine leaves, grape skins, greengage skins, and not much fruit flesh left. The fruit skins are carried in a steel bucket for shits and giggles.
Comment: not perfect, but good and interesting. Lots of guesses, all wrong. My Moscatel-Cask attempt does get a nod of approval from STL, but it is not that. red71 had tried this before, and even selected it for STL.
Domaine des Hautes Glaces 4yo 2011/2015 Ceros (53.3%, OB for Belgium, Jura Yellow Wine Cask, 566b) 7/10 (Tasted on 10/04/2024)
STL: "Je partage ton avis à propos du brandy de pomme. Et du Metaxa, aussi."
tOMoH: "Oui. Enfin, non. J'ai pas qu'ça."
STL: "J'avais noté que l'alcool est présent, mais pas rédhibitoire."
tOMoH: "T'as remarqué que, dans rédhibitoire, il y a 'bite'?"
(The schoolboy pleasantries above are not worth translating.)
Dram #2
Collegiate comments: leather fading into liquorice (dom666), oriental spices and curry (Bishlouk), dried thyme on the palate (tOMoH), mineral in a chlorinated, swimming-pool way (Gaija), and a vague bitterness. Bishlouk vocally dislikes this, to a point he wonders if his sample has gone off.
Nose: this one is earthier, ashier like a bone-dry wine. Burnt vine, Pinot Grigio, and Verdigris, scraped off the copper still with a sickle. It has a drop of fruit eau-de-vie too, plum or even grape, yet that ashy note is what easily presides over everything else. It borders on hot metal filings, or swarf. In fact, a few minutes in, it is full of metal filings, straight off the turn mill, then lichen on hot slate. Lastly, gravel and other small ornamental stones, very dry and dusty. This has just the legal minimum of fruits, and then it is only dry grapes. A pretty austere number! The second nose has faded brown crayons, purple eye makeup, then dry white wine, served under a pergola. It makes me think of a summer in Germany, although I cannot explain that image simply. Mouth: another one that could masquerade as a grappa. Sharp, slightly herbal (dried lichen, nothing luxuriant), ashy grapes that give close to no juice, quarry dust, and ash. It gains a juicier texture, in the long run, though none of the sweetness that usually goes along, and a growing bitterness -- vine cut many seasons ago, totally dead and dried as a result. Furious chewing captures a light fruitiness, after all, which is welcome. It is still bone-dry grapes, though. The second sip is mellower, silky, and... No! Ashes are back, burnt vines, leaves, fruits and all. We have grape-pip oil, especially in terms of texture, yet it also includes a minor bitterness that would manifest itself with those pips. Finish: it is surprisingly more approachable, at this stage. More of those dry grapes, crunchy, ashy, and a little bitter. It would be fairly close to iceberg lettuce, were that not full of water. It appears as a short finish, until one realises how thoroughly coating it actually is. The gob is in the same state as after a glass of Chablis, which is pleasant indeed. Ashes and half-burnt vine leaves linger. Repeated sipping tones down the ashes a little: grapes become juicier and sweeter. Oh! they never shake off either the bitterness or the ashidity (you read it here first), but it feels more welcoming all the same. It ends up reminiscent of a Fin Bois Cognac.
Comment: this grows on me. Upon reveal, we are incredulous. We have all tasted this, and no-one recognises it, nor detects any similarity with our recollection. We acknowledge that, that night, it was overshadowed by a forty-three-year-old Tomatin, but nevertheless. Better or worse, it is more remarkable, tonight.
Tomatin 11yo 2009/2021 (54.9%, Le Gus't for La Confrérie du Whisky, Bourbon Barrel, C#262, 217b, b#36) 7/10 (Tasted on 11/04/2024)
red71 [addressing Bishlouk's dislike]: "Important to know that, when he filled those forty samples, STL peed in one."
Dram #3
Collegiate comments: spicy, pumped with iodine (dom666), desiccating (Bishlouk and ruckus), astringent (dom666), cocoa (Gaija), dusty (Psycho), it even has coffee in the end, which does not bother me.
Nose: a thick, earthy Sherry, just as the colour suggested. Flor, dark wood covered in patina, matte-black shoe polish, walnut stain, then a drop of washing-up liquid on a plate that has held barbecued skewers, and is consequently covered in charred and oily tatters. It does not smell soapy per se; it is more the scents that soaps tend to be given: citrus and pine. Mint, at a push. In other words, under a veneer of roast meats is a pleasant fruity freshness, shy, but it is there. The second nose introduces a cup of coffee, and augments it with fruit juice (blueberry, blackcurrant, plum), and crème de cassis. It must be afternoon tea, because the next thing is a buttery shortcrust, a plum (or berry) pie. Interestingly, we go back to washing-up liquid, this time with green rubber gloves. Mouth: bold, acrid, desiccating. The initial picture is of licking a black-watercolour pot while smoking a cigar. Warming-and-a-half, hairy and leathery, it tickles the mouth with torched horse's hair. When all that cools off a bit, we discover a shy fruitiness in warm-compote form (lingonberry, elderberry), and a slice of baked tangerine, for fun. The second sip seems even more stripping and desiccating, and we note Scotch Brite abrasive pads joining the horse's hair. Once again, it feels rather hot, though it is not over the top Repeated sipping takes us back near the barbecue, with charred ribs and juicy pork chops, embers, and an oily-herbaceous marinade to accompany the afore-mentioned fruits. Finish: astonishingly indistinct. Maybe, I kept it too long in the mouth, and it was cut with too much saliva. It leaves the roof of the mouth numb, and offers a puddle of elderberry compote, as well as warmed smashed blueberries and blackcurrants. A minute bitterness subsists with those berries. The second sip (after keeping it much shorter in the mouth) is warmer and sharper. Hot plums, blueberries, and myrtles, doused in boiling eau-de-vie. It is a rich and wide eau-de-vie, to be clear; simply heated. A pronounced bitterness lingers, some unripe fruit or another (the green fruit of which a walnut is the core comes to mind), and recently-polished furniture made of amber-coloured wood. Retro-nasal olfaction picks up older wood too, dusty oaken shelves, or suchlike.
Comment: another one red71 had a hand in selecting. Our jaws drop when we are told the ABV. It is strong alright, but does not feel that strong. I venture a T distillery, Tullibardine, or Tamnavulin, something that would be a little unassuming and indistinct, without the monstrous-Sherry-cask boost. Upon being told I am on the right track, I venture Tormore, or Tobermory, and forget one of them.
Tamdhu 14yo 2007/2021 (67%, Douglas Laing Old Particular Exclusive Bottling especially for Dram 242, Walter Bellis, Windels, Sherry Butt, C#DL14835, 391b) 7/10 (Tasted on 12/04/2024)
dom666: "I work in a lab. 100% ABV exists. I know, I've tried it."
tOMoH: "Is that when you started losing your hair?"
Dram #4
Collegiate comments: "I feel as if I've put salty dried sausage on my tongue" (Psycho), dirty potatoes (Gaija), phenols (dom666), horseradish (Gaija), wasabi or Japanese mustard (Psycho, who feels the need to explain the difference), soft on the palate (red71), iodine (Psycho), a tad sugary on the tongue (Gaija), Golden Delicious apple (STL), rather floury Jonagold apple (Psycho).
Nose: salt and smoke, focaccia out of the oven, salt-and-seaweed crackers, pork cracklings, dried rosemary, salt-water-cured sand patties, mudflats by a great salt lake, and a tiny petrolic touch that somehow makes me think of fracking. We have dried seaweed, sprinkled with salt, and a delicate peat smoke shows up late in the game, with a glossy-blue-paint tin as backup, and Horlicks so toasted that sneezing in their vicinity would be enough to send them into a pile of dust. Distant pickled onions surface, as one tilts the glass. The second nose has more hydrocarbons, petrol-station fumes on a hot, sunny day in the middle of the desert, and a packet of smoky-ketchup crisps that has sat on the shelf in the same hot sun for too long. It has something else too that comes closer to salted-caramel ice cream, yet less sweet. Salted-caramel-coated nuts, maybe. Mouth: it has a bite, and then rubs salt in the wound, quite literally. This is very salty -- so salty it is easy to overlook the undeniable mossy peat which gives this the texture of a wet-sand cake. Mudflats, seaweed parcels, focaccia dunked in salt water (yeah, that works less well, here), and exhaust fumes. Yellow bulldozers come to mind, for some reason. The second sip is fresher, and it is definitely salted-caramel-coated macadamia nuts. Lots of salt, mind. We never stray too far from wet sands, lapped by salt water, and riddled with black tarry veins. It has a dash of lemon juice too. Finish: it is more mellow than expected, almost cake-like, for a second, before bringing in mint paste, and, ultimately, a profile closer to what one might expect: wet sands, mudflats, generously-salted nori. The second gulp adds a drop of lemon juice again, and a dash of unleaded petrol. The intrusive saltiness feels more under control, which leaves more room for that petrolic lick to really talk. Salty-petrolic-sandy caramel custard. Striking how this is obviously very peaty, yet that translates into salty seaweed, petrol and so on, rather than other markers, such as farmyard, or fire smoke. With some imagination, one might detect surgical alcohol or other medicinal notes, perhaps.
Comment: one that Bishlouk has tried before. I guess a young, Bourbon-casked Lagavulin, as I find it close in profile to the eight-year-old Islay casks that Cadenhead bottles (the ones with a blue label). It is an undisclosed Islay single malt indeed. It does the trick.
The Nameless Three 5yo 2014/2020 (50.8%, The Whisky Mercenary) 7/10 (Tasted on 15/04/2024)
dom666 pulls out a five-year-old Lagavulin he proposes to bring next time we meet in person -- and breaks the cork to the general hilarity.
Dram #5
Collegiate comments: nope. Everyone is too busy socialising and laughing at dom666's cork-breaking skills.
Nose: speaking of farmyard... This has "cow's backside" written all over it in broad strokes of liquid dung. Midden, muck, manure spread on fields... For half-a-second, we have a fishing boat and seabird guano, then we firmly go back to the overwhelming cattle smells. Beside all that manure, we have another type of fertiliser, namely garden lime -- hessian sacks full of it. That said, it is well hidden behind that bold wave of muck. A few minutes later, a bowl of mud enters the scene, heated by the summer sun. It has so much water in it it may as well be silt, though it is a little shy with the fetid stagnant water for that. Aaaaand, back to the farm. Cow stables, a piggery, dung, hen droppings, and muck of all kinds, juicy and sticky. Yum! Watercolour appears on the late tip. The second nose has a warmed plasticine patty in a harbour. That seems to be the turning point, after which we note candied pineapple cubes and dried mango slices, dried and earthy, but also sweet and fruity. It retains some farm scents, much more restrained. Mouth: oh! yes, watercolour indeed. It has some syrupy spices (mace, stem ginger), mixed peel, and candied bark of some kind. It is delicately fruity, which offers a respite from the relentless farminess of the nose. That farminess, here, becomes a warm milk churn -- a nice change. Astonishingly, the second sip is much more acidic, all candied pomelo peels and preserved limes. Considering how salty it is too, it would be all too easy to liken this to a margarita. A whisper of hazel smoke, and roasted lime slices. Only a small piece of cheese reminds one of the earlier farm-y character. Finish: sweet and rich, we have a combination of mixed peel, candied angelica, candied mace, stem ginger, hardened gelatine, mint-and-basil jelly, and soft cheese (unripe Brie or Camembert). It could also have a spoonful of pouring honey in a cup of (luke)warm milk. We spot a light saltiness to it too, as if that honeyed milk came with a serving of steamed cockles. Repeated sipping pours vase water on the above, and makes the whole much boggier and more marsh-like, stagnant water blended with preserved-lime brine. We spot charred citrus skins at the death. Very good, this.
Comment: tasted by Bishlouk before, who has tried a lot of things, for someone who often reminds us he is no longer that interested in whisky. There is a touch of fruit in the finish that I cannot remember from the other day. I say a Staoisha, or a Kilchoman, the latter less likely, as too cattle-y, not muddy enough. Perhaps an Ardmore, Gaija agrees, or a Faemussach. Nope.
Port Charlotte 2002/2015 (55.4%, Malts of Scotland, Bourbon Barrel, C#MoS15011, 238b) 8/10 (Tasted on 15/04/2024)
STL: "Les échanges sont cordiaux."
tOMoH: "Les échanges sont cordiaux, les O. sont corniauds."
dom666: "One is cordial too."
tOMoH: "He only laughed."
dom666: "He's an O. McCain. Those who talk the least eat the most."
Psycho: "And, indeed, have you seen how much he eats?"
ruckus: "Well, I'm on a diet..."
Good fun. Lots of the usual nonsense, interesting drams, and a generous splash of teh gigglez.
72.129 11yo 2013/2025 Sip Sherry in a cigar smokeasy (58.1%, SMWS Two to One, ex-Bourbon Hogsheads finished in 1st Fill Spanish Oak ex-PX Butt, 580b): nose: a nostril-stripper, very pungent, it combines stale roast beef and cigar smoke, followed by limestone gratings, terribly mineral. We are back with bloody roast beef soon enough. Mouth: sweeter and more pastry-like than expected. Burnt-cake crust, burnt caramel -- no! toffee. Water makes it thick as Marmite, perhaps punctuated with smoked blackberries. Finish: beautifully balanced in the finish, which is unexpected. Custard-filled waffles, slightly burnt. Then, it turns metallic, bitter at second sip. Water gives it an acidic edge, which takes us back to blackberries and blackcurrants. The nose had me on the fence (6/10), but the rest is fine. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
29.305 11yo 2013/2025 Seaweed and smokies (58.3%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead finished in 2nd Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 262b): nose: smoky, peppery black pudding and smoked seaweed, medicine, jelly capsules, then the stones that circle a camp fire. The second nose has shiny metal and chalk broken into small pieces. Mouth: cobblestones wet with plum juice and sprinkled with smoked confectionary sugar. Finish: smoky, but also a chunk sweeter than anticipated. The seaweed and smoke settle in gently and comfortably at second gulp. Clean, simple, it does the trick. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
Port Charlotte 6yo 2001/2007 PC6 Cuairt-Beatha (61.6%, OB, Bourbon / Madeira Casks, 18,000b, b#10998, 07/018): nose: some bacon, but the overwhelming dominant is baked mud cakes. It is extremely farm-y, this one. It has a haze of blurry fruits behind that, but it is mostly farmyard. Then, all of a sudden, it slaps one with dried strawberry slices in a chocolate-and-cream cake topped with strawberry coulis. The second nose is pure smoky mud. Mouth: mud, strawberry and, all of a sudden, a tide of ink. This is akin to biting into a squid, tentacles and all. The second sip has clay, slowly baking in the oven. Finish: tarry earth, inky mud patties and tyres after a race. This is a firm favourite of some people (WhiskyLovingPianist, amongst others). I am much less enthused. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JN and PS)
Port Charlotte 10yo 2013/2024 Syc: 01 2013 (54.4%, OB Cask Exploration Series, 1st + 2nd Fill Bourbon + 1st Fill Syrah, L166641 24/002): nose: mud, Cologne, dried strawberry slices in yoghurt. It is not that smoky on the nose, funnily enough. Mouth: wide, inky and surprisingly bitter. Ink and dried strawberry slices laid to rest on a tyre. A pot of strawberry yoghurt was spilled on the inner tube too. There is a dusting of chalk on that at second sip, rather desiccating. Finish: big, it keeps the smoked mud and strawberry yoghurt going, yet there is a bitter, rubbery kick that will stop it scoring higher, tonight. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JN)
149.17 9yo 2016/2025 To sup by starlight (61.7%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill Spanish Oak ex-PX Butt, 638b): nose: well, that is a lot of Cologne here too! Or has someone in the room bathed in the stuff? I have sparkling red wine, then pink candyfloss and marshmallow. Mouth: mellow, it has berry-flavoured marshmallow covered in chocolate, followed by quarry gratings that feel rather desiccating. It has got hot metal and tar as well. Finish: warm sparkling red wine gone flat, hot pink candyfloss and chewy sweets of a dark-pink colour. It is fairly wine-y, not over the top. Finally, we spot red chewy sweets and cotton candy. This is OK. I remember not liking it much when it came out; I do not necessarily like it more today, but it is decent, in passing. 6/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
