27/02/2019 March outturn at Cadenhead's

All served blind, of course.

Dram #1
Nose: astringent and vinegar-y. Soon, (sour) grapes and squashed plums join. Mouth: astringent again, with some fruit and less-well-integrated alcohol. Finish: Smyrna raisins, green grapes, menthol. This is Balmenach-Glenlivet 14yo 2004/2019 (54.9%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 294b) 6/10

Dram #2
Nose: another young number, with decaying plum and blackcurrant. Mouth: syrupy, with cough lozenges, blackcurrant drops. Finish: woody plum. It feels young and immature, to be honest. Tomatin 9yo 2009/2019 (60.1%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 294b) 5/10

Dram #3
Nose: overripe (rotting) apricot, damp earth, clay floors and even a farm-y touch. Mouth: spicy, it has cracked black pepper and galangal shavings. Finish: sweet fruitiness, here, with soaked wood shavings and Demerara sugar (says MSo). Miltonduff-Glenlivet 9yo 2009/2019 (62%, Cadenhead Rum Cask, Jamaican Rum Cask, 258b) 7/10

Dram #4
Nose: very assertive apricot compote, baked avocado and slightly drying leeks, blanching in the pan, hot plastic or bakelite. Mouth: yes, leeks in the pan, sweet and apricot-y. Finish: hot compote, acidic onions and leeks. A strange combination, but it works. Glenallachie-Glenlivet 26yo 1992/2019 (54.8%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 240b) 7/10

Dram #5
Nose: rhubarb compote, liquorice root, cooked peach in sangria, then spearmint and chewing gum. Mouth: mellow and peppery at the same time, with a mix of strawberry bubble gum and Fisherman's Friend. Finish: long, tingling, it dances on the tongue with mint and fruity bubble gum (strawberry again). Benrinnes 21yo 1997/2019 (53.7%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 162b) 8/10

Dram #6
Nose: this one has the bitterness of pickled onions and dirty leather, as well as mudflats. Mouth: mudflats at low tide indeed; the palate is a little fruitier (prune) and it also has aniseed (says DW; I agree). Finish: sticky and syrupy, it has elderberry ad blackcurrant. I like the finish, while the nose is not my thing. Glenrothes-Glenlivet 16yo 2002/2019 (55.2%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 228b) 6/10

Dram #7
Nose: another youthful one, flirting with immaturity. Mouth: it is better, here, with warm tones, a pleasant chocolate-y note and spices. Finish: chocolate, chocolate muffin, banane flambée, baba au rhum. Benriach-Glenlivet 10yo 2008/2019 (56.7%, Cadenhead Wine Cask, Madeira Cask, 276b) 6/10

Dram #8
Nose: this feels much more mature, with very tame smoke on top of fresh fruit (yellow plum, fig and cantaloupe melon). This is in another league altogether! Mouth: soft, mellow, it keeps much of the fruit entertained, with mirabelle plum and canary melon. Finish: not too long, but peachy, with more fruit and... gentle marijuana smoke. This is amazing! Cooley 11yo 1992/2019 (49.5%, Cadenhead World Whiskies, Bourbon Barrel, 162b) 9/10

The age of the Cooley, of course, makes no sense, when one looks at the distillation and bottling dates. That is because the law on what can be called Irish whiskey recently changed (or Cadenhead recently decided to abide by it): as soon as a cask has left Ireland, it stops maturing (or more accurately, the years stop counting).

Dram #9
Nose: dry ash, ashtray, refined smoke, balsa-wood smoke. Mouth: a huge kick of smoke and dark-fruit drops. Finish: it is ashy as fook in the finish. The others talk about bacon-flavoured crisps, or fakon (fake bacon, geddit?) The English Whisky Company 8yo b.2019 (64.9%, Cadenhead World Whiskies, Bourbon Hogshead, 204b) 8/10

Strangely, the distillation date for the above is not given. The label is busy as it is; perhaps that is the reason.

Dram #10
Nose: very fine smoke and lots of fruit (strawberry bubble gum, quince, sweet satsuma. Mouth: soft, citrus-y, it has passion fruit (RO) and ripe peach. Finish: very fruity, with no smoke to speak of, here (was it the residue in my glass?), but grapefruit and squashed banana instead. I did not expect it to be so good, but it is. I might even push it higher, in other circumstances. Arran 22yo 1996/2019 (49.6%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 276b) 8/10

Dram #11
Nose: spearmint, then farmyard, growing bolder and bolder, dried farm paths. Mouth: acidic and astringent at first, it becomes all about farm paths, though it is subdued. Finish: chocolate and light smoke (tobacco smoke). Nice. Ardmore 8yo 2010/2019 (54.2%, Cadenhead Sherry Cask, Sherry Finish, 222b) 7/10

Dram #12
Nose: smoky cheese (ricotta, scamorza, Parmesan) and lime, as well as tobacco smoke. Mouth: mint drops, menthol cigarettes, ash and roasted pineapple. Finish: oh! yeah, roasted or barbecued pineapple, menthol, cigarette ash -- wow! Given more time and a chance to tame the beast, I would probably score it higher too. Ardbeg 25yo 1993/2019 (51.6%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 216b) 8/10

SOB is collecting a few things he bought recently and immediately opens one of his bottles to share .

Longrow Red 11yo b.2019 (53.1%, OB Limited Edition, Pinot Noir Cask, 19/003): nose: woody farm paths (if it makes sense), farmyards and a distinct red-wine influence. Mouth: strong, it has smoke, ember heat and a dollop of wine. Finish Mon Chéri praline, dark cherries and chocolate. Very nice! 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, SOB)

Good stuff!

24/02/2019 Whisky Show Old & Rare (Day 2 -- Part 3): the afterparty

The restaurant is another funny affair. Next to the five of us is another Whisky-Show-Old-And-Rare-refugee table, with CB, EG, PT and their acolytes from Dornoch and Catawiki. They take turns coming to our table for shits and giggles. We attract lots of attention in the packed restaurant, none to be ashamed of, fortunately. At some point, one of the sporty waitresses inadvertently kicks the bench we are sitting on. By the looks of it later on, she will never walk correctly again.

Grilled aubergine with tomato sugo, garlic and fresh Parmesan

Roasted red pepper with spinach, tomato sugo, mozzarella, ricotta and evoo

We go back to the hotel through the (now wild) streets of Glasgow. The massive difference of incomes of the United Kingdom is here at its most visible, where tarted-up boys and girls in expensive (and often revealing) clothes share the pavement with visibly heroin-addicted, homeless people in dire condition. A duality that a sensitive being could have a hard time witnessing.

Somehow, we navigate through all that and even find a lift. Oblivious to the reason why CD will not enter it, MR and I storm in. As I press 3, I notice the loved-up couple inside. He cleverly remarks that 3 and 5 are lit, but no-one is going to 4. "You're on the top deck? Well done. We only made it to the third," I say to the increasingly incredulous-looking girl and her (very-)tipsy jock. "Not good enough for the fifth... Unless you invite us, of course." She turns to him: "Happy birthday!"
Sadly, I do not think their whisky cabinet is up to scratch, so we (CD, PG, MR, JS and I) alight on the third.

Auchindoun 18yo (61.3%, The Whisky Connoisseur) (CD): a Mortlach from the same stable as the mythical Largiemeanoch, though after the brand was taken over by The Whisky Connoisseur. Nose: lots of soot and cured meat, coal stoves. Despite what I just wrote, this does not seem like an overly-sherried dram. Mouth: hot, but rather fruity, with dirty grapefruit and an animal quality, brightened up by rose water. Finish: big, with musk and grapefruit. Very ambivalent, this. On one hand, it is light and fruity and sweet; on the other, it is a high-voltage brute with some animal flavours. 8/10

EG and CB join us.

Dailuaine 27yo d.1975 (46%, Direct Wines Ltd. First Cask, C#5526, b#250) (CB): nose: walnut oil, red onion and, later, verbena and sage. Mouth: slightly pickle-y, leathery, with a dollop of fluid shoe polish. Finish: silky and quaffable, it has prune juice, roasted red onion and walnut-oil-based vinaigrette. Very good. 8/10

Rosebank 25yo 1967/1993 (54.4%, Signatory Vintage, C#4393-94, 220b, b#190, 02029303) (CD): CD purchased the dregs of this bottle a few hours ago. Nose: fresh, crisp and clean, fruity, whilst also mineral. Mouth: powerful, fruity and mineral again, with a lot of gravel. Finish: hugely powerful and fruity (yellow fruit and squashed raspberry). 9/10

Things become fuzzy, at this point

The Arran Malt The Amarone Cask Finish (50%, OB, b. ca 2018) (MR): nose: light chocolate, strawberry slices, warm bread, chocolate-soaked raspberries. Mouth: strawberry wine, some chocolate, also, and a good dash of drying spices, including cassia bark. Finish: warm, syrupy and very warm. Hot strawberry all round. 7/10

Case in point

EG [holding a blender's glass]: "These glasses are good only for one thing..."
me: "...Looking like a dick!"

The Arran Malt 14yo (46%, OB, b. ca 2019) (MR): nose: hay, dry, white wood and white grapes. Mouth: sweet, with cut apple, white peach, wet hay and young wood. Finish: lemon-y, custard-y, long and curd-y. I like it. 7/10

Jane Doe 1989/2016 (48.2%, Malts of Scotland, C#MoS 16044, 159b, b#16) (EG): an undisclosed Irish of a certain age. Wonder what that could be. Nose: soft sawdust and delicate exotic fruit (mango), as well as yellow fruit (peach, apricot) with a splash of acidic lime. Mouth: fruity avalanche, with mango, peach and grapefruit, lime and mint. Finish: milk chocolate and luscious mango, soaked grapefruit and peach. This is marvellous and a great way to end this legendary weekend. 9/10

The endangered turtledove agrees

The next morning, JS and I see pat gva at breakfast: he was stuck in another restaurant, last night, and came back at 2:00, too late for the afterparty. We make plans for the future before parting ways. Tomorrow, back to school.

Breakfast of champions

24/02/2019 Whisky Show Old & Rare 2019 (Day 2 -- Part 2)

We go for lunch. Again, the main dishes are pretty much gone.

More mushrooms in the sauce, though

Cavalier66: "CD is Swiss? I thought he was German..."
JS: "Yes, he's German."
me: "...but lives in Switzerland."
Cavalier66: "Ah! A tax-evading German, then."

Back to the room.

Tomintoul 50yo 1967/2018 (45.2%, Masam from Private Stock of Silvano Samaroli, C#4688 & 5425, 180b, b#002): ED, from the Auld Alliance, explains that this cask (there are two, so I must have misheard) was nurtured by Sylvano Samaroli, who wanted to bottle it for the fiftieth anniversary of his company. He died shortly before, but his wife went through with the intention. This could be looked as the last-ever Samaroli bottling. The ultimate one, in any case. Nose: pollen, honeysuckle, custard, and all sorts of high-end honeys. This is perfume-y and lively, but also soft and delicate. Mouth: more peppery than expected, it retains the flowery character and the associated bitterness on the nose. Soft doughnut -- honey-glazed, peach-cream-filled doughnut, to be precise. Finish: a little herbaceous, it has a note of sage and lots of pollen, as well as sappy forsythia and honeysuckle. This is bootiful. Only a remote bitterness on the sides of the tongue prevents it from reaching the top score. 9/10

26.125 25yo d.1993 Valentin's moustache wax (47.7%, SMWS Society Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 175b): gotta love how Angus MacRaild namechecks his mates even on SMWS bottlings, these days. Nose: all sorts of waxes and oils, engine grease, moustache wax, all carried by yellow flowers. Mouth: big, but elegant, it has the drying nature of flower-stem sap, as well as warm wax and oily rags. Finish: similar notes as on the nose and mouth, but the volume is turned up to eleven. Wax, engine grease, plum, sap greenness and flowers. Another excellent Clynelish. 8/10

JS and Cavalier66 have three Malts of Scotland Banffs. I try them all briefly and prefer the middle one (Diamond). All high quality, though.

Boomff!

Oban 21yo 1963/1984 (46%, Cadenhead): nose: unmistakably old school, it has dusty old books from the get-go (only the rarest prints known to man), old tools, old copper coins, horse's hair, followed by crystallised mandarines and nectarines. Mouth: dusty, gravel-y orchard-fruit compote. The palate has elegance and ancient aristocracy written all over it, with also crushed seashells, beach sands and peach stones. Finish: phwoar! The balance is perfect, with lichen, dusty papers and lots of delicate orchard fruit (pears and apples, grown on a lime-scale-rich soil). Top marks and most impressive dram today... so far! 10/10

Cavalier66 is in ecstasy. I ask him what he is having.
Cavalier66: "I've followed your recommendation. I hate you."

Meanwhile, CD proposes to CB

Talisker 40yo 1978/2018 (50%, OB The Bodega Series Delgado Zuleta, Amontillado Casks, 2000b): nose: leather belts, suede and seashells. Mouth: super-fresh, minty and suede-like, with beach pebbles and cut watermelon. Finish: wonderful balance of salty peat, cut fruit and horse's hair. Amazingly elegant. 10/10

Longmorn 22yo 1969/1991 (61%, Gordon & MacPhail imported by Turatello): leathery nose with soaked fruit, spicy palate and a ridiculously-fruity finish. Between 9 and 10. Let me be generous. 10/10

I walk to the stall to take a picture of the bottle. I am told there were two (a dark and a pale) and the picture I took is the dark one. The one I tried is the light one. Back to the stall: "Yeah, there were two. I just sold the rest of the pale one. Asian guy, with long hair and lots of cash. Well, a lot less cash, now." :-)
I manage to find the bloke who is happy to let me take a picture.

Glen Elgin d.1971 (50%, R.W. Duthie & Co selected and imported by S. Samaroli, 1200b): nose: earth and honey, typical Glen Elgin style, though this one is on steroids. Very good nose, with a whiff of musk. Mouth: mellow and sweet, it has a pinch of bitter earth and green-grapefruit juice. Finish: violently good, lime-y custard, pomelo juice and unripe bergamot. 9/10

Islay Mist 8yo (43 Gr., D. Johnston & Co. (Laphroaig) imported by Mario Rossi Jr., b.1970s): this is from a masterclass. One of the Swissky salvaged a hefty pour and is passing it around. Nose: rubber, fruit, earth and strong alcohol (at 43%!!) Mouth: mellow, here, it has melon, citrus-y custard, soft lemon juice and mandarine. Finish: wood and fruit. Crazy-good, under-aged blend. 9/10

Hayner WMH (unknown ABV, OB, b. ca 1878): JS is now spending time at Skinner's, mopping up the stuff that we have so far overlooked. What kind of a place is this, where a Rye whisky from 1878 is overlooked, I ask thee! Nose: a weird mix of orgeat syrup, boiled sweets and pine-forest shenanigans. It is also kind of medicinal and citrus-y, with satsuma the most recognisable. Mouth: velvety, silky, rather, with a tangerine-like fruitiness. Finish: not too long, but it has the same tangerine/bergamot/satsuma quality to it. This is amazeballs. 9/10

Littlemill 16yo 1988/2014 Lamborghini Miura (54.1%, The Daily Dram Classic Cars Series for Bresser & Timmer): nose: hay and straw (lots of straw) under the sun. Cracked earth and a touch of distant yellow fruit. Mouth: more appealing on the palate, it has more cut yellow fruit and silky papaya. Finish: here too, a mix of fruit and straw, competing for attention. Lovely if challenging drop. Funky, grassy, whacky with a kick. 8/10

Littlemill 21yo d.1991 (48.9%, Creative Whisky Company Exclusive Malts, Refill Hogshead, C#557, 275b): nose: this is creamier and more easily accessible than the previous, with mango and jackfruit, perhaps some sawdust too. Mouth: peppery and powerful, it has truckloads of mango and sticky, juicy jackfruit. Love it. Finish: the fruity charade continues, with mango at full speed. Great one. 9/10

Caperdonich 14yo 1977/1992 (60.5%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 150th Anniversary Bottling): I cannot not try something from that excellent collection, can I? Nose: super-musky at first, that dissipates to let through a huge, powerful kick of alcohol (see the ABV), then a mellow pine undergrowth and pine sap. It slows down and gives out more and more fruit. Mouth: here, concentrated pine sap, combined with yellow-fruit juice (plum and quince) and drying herbs. Finish: fruity as fook, with apricot, but also herbs and -- wait! Is that a whisper of worn-out flint? 9/10

I explain to CD that I am considering finishing in a bang and probe to see whether he would want to split it. He says it is too expensive for his blood, and he has had the third edition anyway. I tell him it is the first -- I go confirm, as, of course, he does not believe me. I can see his face change as he laughs it off. A minute later, he is rinsing his palate, all deadly serious, before he comes back with it and a somber-concentration looks. He lets me have a drop of it. Blind.

Black Bowmore 29yo 1964/1993 (50%, OB, Oloroso Sherry Casks, 2000b, b#1812): once again, I am reminded that the LA Whisky Society are oblivious to greatness. This is a distinct masterpiece that I recognise immediately, despite having never tried it and despite not knowing what I am given. Everyone who smells it (blindly) agrees with us. No pedestrian whisky has ever been comparable to this. A majestic basket of tropical fruit, sprinkled with dark, tarry earth. The extremely small quantity does not allow me longer notes, but it provokes Bowmore eyes. Shaking whisky, perhaps better than the second release, and just shy of the fourth. Easily the dram of the festival, for me. 15/10 (Thanks for the drop, CD)

I promptly leave my seat: the guy near me is explaining to CD he has had that dram a few times and likes it, then proceeds to give tasting notes. "It's good. What you smell is coriander. Know what coriander is? It's cilaaaaaantro." CD follows me very quickly afterwards, annoyed by someone spoiling his contemplation.
We are in the final sprint. Everyone is scrambling to tick off the boxes that are still open.

The Glenlivet Solera drawn 1994 (48.3%, Thompson Bros, 17b, b#5): yes, again. JS is on a mission to confirm she wants things that she can never buy anyway. :-) Nose: very fruity, it has satsuma, bergamot, roasted lychee (I know) and kumquat. Mouth: superb, citrus-y mouth, with more satsumas and mandarines. Finish: beautiful length and fruitiness. I prefer it today. 10/10

Glen Mhor 1937/1959 (48.6%, Thompson Brothers/MacRaild, 37b, b#24): nose: dusty, soot-y, with coal dust, old stoves in primary-school classrooms. Later, biscuit shows up too. Mouth: marmalade and whiffs of coal dust and effluvia of coal stoves. Finish: another beauty that has flint and cast-iron cauldrons. I like it better than the first time. 10/10

Bruichladdich 20yo (53.6%, Cadenhead): nose: this is a brute, with hot metal, hot radiators, the heated wood of a sauna and hot, baked yellow fruit. Mouth: surprisingly soft, with yellow peach. Soon, the horsepower kicks into high gear. Finish: big-yet-silky, juicy and fruity as fook, sweet, too cocktail glasses, frosted with cane sugar. 9/10

We are expelled. We gather up to go eat. MR, who was not supposed to be here, but is, has disappeared and she cannot find us. It takes ages before she finds us, hidden in plain sight.

MR: "I remember yesterday, when you were cracking all the beautiful offensive jokes."

In the meantime, pat gva pours the last few drops of his 1913 Bourbon. He is definitely coming to the afterparty, but his phone is dead. I give him the details. At some point, he vanishes -- I assume to plug in his phone. We will never see him again.

CD: "What are you doing for dinner, MR?"
MR: "I wish I knew. I'm easy."
CD: "We know that!"

I suggest the Wee Curry Shop, but the Swiss leedle gurlz have sore feet from parading in their Louboutin stilettos. MR asks about the place.

tOMoH: "Let me give you two words. Haggis. Pakoras."
PG: "Yeah, what was that, haggis pakoras?"
tOMoH: "Well, haggis... pakoras..."

We end up at Paesano again.

How was it, then?

What do you say about a show where the worst-scoring dram is an non-peaty Laphroaig from the 1930s? Twenty pages of notes, seventy-seven drams (fifty-three as part of the show itself), two legendary afterparties (you still have one to read about) and a head full of memories. That is why we drink whisky.

On the low side, the venue on Saturday was too crowded for my liking. Also, if the punters are from more varied backgrounds (more females, more ethnicities, both good), that comes at the price of less self-control: I heard of and saw incidents that would have been unthinkable the first couple of years -- someone knocking a whole row of bottles down, someone ostentatiously correcting the presenter in a master class (yes, I know that is my style) and someone being escorted out because too drunk. I also heard of someone showing up at the shop and going, "I have a box of stuff. I'm too drunk to collect them now, but how much is that bottle of [pointing at the shelf] Dun... Dun..."
"Balvenie? £1,800."
"Whatever. Here is my credit card. Put it in my box."
All but one of those incidents were caused by one type of demographics that was much less represented, the previous years. Ahem. If there is one thing Glasgow and the UK do not need, it is more unreasonable/irresponsible drinking.

24/02/2019 Whisky Show Old & Rare 2019 (Day 2 -- Part 1)

Breakfast of healthy champions

From the moment we enter (easily done), it feels more relaxed than yesterday, already. We learn later that there were 360 punters yesterday, and only 210 today. That is that, then. Completely different crowd, with more business people (there were some yesterday too) and more-focused connoisseurs (as in: they are there for a few, very specific bottles only).
On to the nectar (with a lower-case 'n').

Bladnoch 10yo b.1991 (43%, OB, L1H 270686): from the well-known, so-called Flora & Fauna range. adc used to have one of these, which I liked a lot, and regretted not being able to try more than once. This, however, is the very first incarnation of the expression, with the cream cap foil. Nose: dusty, earthy and metallic, at first, it opens up to reveal a fruity side with Granny Smith apple. Mouth: mellow, with cut green melon, carambola and some creamy balsa wood shavings. Finish: light, ethereal, delicate and fruity. 8/10

"I <3 Fart," in French
Not sure about the marketing message

JS lets me smell her glass of Bowmore 1966 Hart Brothers again, which I, of course, recognise instantly. Immediate Bowmore eyes. This is still the dram of the show.

I realise I did not go to Magnus Fagerström's stand at all, yesterday and decide to right that wrong. GN is manning the bar and passes me...

Kilchoman 12yo 2006/2018 (55.2%, OB for Gunnar Nilsson, Bourbon Barrel, C#2006/118): nose: dirty peat, yoghurt and fruit, ash, some porridge in the back. Mouth: hot, ashy, bubbly, it has Alka-Seltzer and embers, hot yoghurt, too. Finish: more ash, charred peat and yoghurt. Wow. Why does the distillery not bottle stuff like this? I know I am not the only one to regret not seeing more aged Kilchoman (the distillery is twelve, now, but they still bottle at five or six), and this, here, shows why. 8/10

Bowmore 33yo 1969/2003 (42.5%, Duncan Taylor Peerless, C#6085, 238b, b#191): yes, there was another one. Nose: some exotic fruit (lychee and papaya, mainly), perhaps some petrol. In fact, it is more petrolic than rubbery, this one. Mouth: juicy, with peach and guava, alongside drying hydrocarbons. Finish: the fruit is tired, here, with the petrol slightly louder. It is the weakest 1960s Bowmore on offer this weekend, in my opinion. 8/10

Benriach 35yo 1966/2001 (47.2%, Signatory Vintage Rare Reserve, C#1021, 309b, b#302): nose: plum, juicy peach, but also polished furniture. Mouth: gently acidic at first, it tends towards heavily acidic shortly thereafter, on the grapefruit tip, with banana to balance out the acidity. Finish: yup, perfect combination of grapefruit and banana in creamy custard. 9/10

Laphroaig (Non Peaty) Old Liqueur (80° Proof, OB, b.1930s): JS finds flat 7Up and she is right. This reeks of flat soda, through and through. The mouth and finish are in line. Educational, not more. What a box to tick, though! Prohibition-era Laphroaig! 6/10

The BenRiach 35yo 1976/2012 (47.4%, OB Limited Release specially selected and bottled for Kinko 3rd Release, Hoghsead, C#3030, 193b, b#69): nose: prunes and stewed plums, stewed rhubarb, cherry compote. Mouth: peaches and plums, prunes, stewed apricots and cherries. Lovely. Finish: long, fruity, mildly acidic, warming and simply beautiful. 10/10

The BenRiach 30yo 1975/2006 (55%, OB Limited Release, Gomez Sherry Butt, C#7007, 542b, b#368): nose: more stewed prunes and plums, toasted bread, baked apricots. Mouth: rich, more wine-y and earthier than its 1976 sibling, it still has stewed dark fruits (prunes, currants, blackberries, blueberries). Finish: meow, this is luscious, fruity, still with the darker fruits, but also blood-orange zest and dried tangerine segments. Simply gorgeous. 9/10

Bowmore (70° Proof, OB, b. early 1970s): the famous Sherriff's bottling with no neck tag. Nose: a mix of sea air and cut tropical fruits (carambola and yellow passion fruit). Mouth: soft, mellow, with yellow plum and peach. This is velvety and creamy. Finish: fruity, salty, with a wonderful mix of tropical fruit, sea spray and sea food (whelks and cockles). 9/10

CD: "You put the 'Dick' in 'Dickel'."

Caperdonich 20yo 1992/2013 (52.2%, Creative Whisky Company The Tony Koehl Series, C#121137, 300b): nose: cut yellow fruit (mango, peach), candlewax and, maybe, a touch of varnish. Mouth: varnish, walnut stain, furniture wax, avocado oil -- wow! The alcohol is potent, sharp, but controlled. Finish: big, long, with cut yellow fruit and extremely-dry beach sand. Very interesting, this. 8/10

Brora 19yo 1981/2000 (60.4%, The Bottlers, Refill Sherry Butt, C#1077): a bottler with a high reputation, of whom I know very little. I have only tried the Glenugie last year. This one is earthy and petrolic, with huge polished-wood notes. Elegant and distinguished. 9/10

Ardbeg 1974/1983 (59° GL, R.W. Duthie selected and imported by Samaroli, Sherry Wood, 2400b, b#1730): two exhibitors have brought this and the prices could not vary more wildly. What a faux-pas! As soon as someone notices, the cheap one is emptied in an hour. Nose: ash, charred pork meat, burnt sands and smoked cockles. Mouth: sweet and salty at the same time, it has squashed raspberry, cane sugar, but also smoked mussels and ashtrays. Finish: ash, tar, diesel smoke and a propelling sweet tone -- very, very sweet, in fact, with squashed raspberry the loudest. I love this. Better than the one we had in June, which was more vinegar-y. 9/10

Clynelish 1972/2002 (58%, Scotch Malt Sales by Liquid Gold Enterprises Distillery Collection): nose: an evanescent nose, with mocha pastry, powdered sugar and very-dry cat skin (on a live cat; I am not a monster!) Mouth: powerful, but sweet, it has honey, dandelions, royal jelly, rosewater, orange blossom, perhaps. The heat grows, green-chilli style. Finish: more sweet honey action, royal jelly and cut yellow plums. This becomes my favourite Clynelish ever. 10/10

To be continued.