23/04/2024 Clydeside

Clydeside d.2018 (61.6%, Cask Sample, 1st Fill Oloroso Cask): nose: mute. Maybe everything is smothered by the significant ABV, but it is not saying much. Distant mint sauce, at a push, though that may be my brain playing tricks, after last night's curry. Five minutes' breathing, and, descending from on high, we have coffee grounds, dry and drying, mocha powder, and white-hot metal, which is a regular note of higher-strength whiskies, I find. Slowly, veeeeeery slowly, something sweet stretches its wings; Turkish delights, fruit jellies, Gummibärchen. Yes, that sweet note confidently unfolds, supported by limestone. More precisely, it is citrus-flavoured fruit jellies, now, orange and lemon. Yet further on, this lovely sweetness takes the form of fudge and Scottish tablet, then burnt cake crust. Wow! To think this was mute, a moment ago... Now, someone paying close attention may detect a vegetative note too, cabbage-cooking water, marsh gas, old downpipes, or even boiled eggs (do I hear the chemists say: "hydrogen sulfide"?) Those are extremely fleeting, and not a flaw, in tOMoH's opinion -- just a reminder that even fruit jellies end in the same place (the one that is celebrated in a Bigod20 song). Tilting the glass increases the sulphur-y notes, which now become more mineral than gaseous: cordite, matchbox striker, lighter flint. What a welcome surprise! Welcome? Yes: it adds another layer, and it is tame enough to not risk bothering anyone. The second nose is more-immediately talkative, but still surprisingly discreet. Sweet, with fruit cordial, jellies, made in the workshop of a smoker (Virginia tobacco), and a pinch of grated black cardamom. Oh! and faint flowers too, likely jasmine but so faint, it is hard to tell. Phwoar! Water dials up the hot-metal note, a hot Moka pot, deglazed with grenadine or sweetened orange juice. Against all odds, it works. Mouth: holy smoke! This is sweet and fruity. Turkish delights, and tons of (red) fruit jellies, soon submerged by a pronounced heat. This is pretty strong, after all. Rum-soaked membrillo, potent punch, in which someone dropped a few flintstones, candied berries on a hot slate. One gets accustomed to the heat relatively easily, which allows fruit jellies to really shine. The second sip is syrupy, just on the right side of sickly sweet. It has fruit jams on steroid, membrillo and fig pastes, strawberry jelly, and a dash of grenadine (the good stuff; not that industrial shite). A soft nuttiness seems to ease in, after a minute, a gentle bitterness to counterbalance the otherwise-overwhelming sweet notes. Candied pistachios, jellied walnuts, and, well, fruit jellies, still. The mouth is initially softer with water, though soon becomes more acidic (oranges gone wild), before calming down and offering more fruit jellies, alongside mixed peel. Finish: this is an Oloroso cask? It could easily pass for a Ruby Port -- or even a fruit-jelly cask. The whisky is clearly sweet and fruity, which is not what many would recognise as a typical ex-Oloroso-cask profile. Zero complaint here, mind! Membrillo, rose-petal jelly, rosehip, grenadine, Turkish delights, and, of course at that strength, a lick of hot metal. The second gulp introduces milk chocolate, perhaps mocha-augmented, which goes well with those jellies. With water, it remains sweet, yet les so. Again, we see more citrus jellies than red-fruit ones, now, candied citrus segments and slices, mixed peel, and marmalade, if less bitter. Let us call it jam, then. Another excellent Clydeside. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, DH)

22/04/2024 Glenugie

We had this seven years ago. Time to revisit it and spend more time with it.

Glenugie d.1980 (58.1%, Cadenhead, C#3657, b#170): nose: just pouring it fills the room with a thick, savoury smell, red miso paste or Marmite. It is also game-y, with cured venison in a wine sauce. Inhaling closely reveals a layer of fruits, currants and prunes soaked in a wine-and-OXO-broth blend, concealed under a veil of flor. Yet it is also earthy, dry potting soil and squashed elderberries. One gets the impression of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso blended together, which is complex, and intriguing. A little further on, we spot caramelised red onions fried in butter, and pearl onions, those are nowhere near as dominant as I remembered them, which I find a good thing. Blueberries join the jig, blackcurrant jelly, purple ink, and a musky tone, which is hardly a surprise, with this colour. Both red onions and earth grow in intensity, the latter becoming more limescale-like and drier with each sniff. The afore-mentioned fruits never allow the whole to be too austere, mind; the spray some sort of cordial at regular interval to dampen the onion-y earthiness. The second nose has rancio, dunnage-warehouse floor, then barbecue sauce, raisins sizzling in a pan, with a dash of water and a drizzle of olive oil. It goes from earthy to fruity and back again effortlessly, even introducing purple marshmallow to red onions for a playful dialogue. Mouth: it is very dry, for a second, then suddenly turns juicy, with blackcurrant and blueberry, elderberry and prune, yet also blood orange and red grapefruit. Wide, acidic, chewy, this is a delight, really! Of the red onions, only the caramelised juices remain, sweet and syrupy. On the other hand, we note the appearance of generously-sugared milk coffee to augment the above fruits. The second sip is still juicy as fook, perhaps sweeter too, oranges and grapefruits now in fruit-jelly form, chewy, sweet, and mouth watering. The imaginative taster may find a note of conifer too: fresh, springy pine cones, and sappy resin, more than acidic needles. Earlier, the earthy touch hinted at a pine-forest floor, dry and acidic. Now, it is all sweetness and fruits, with mere hints of pine trees. Finish: warming comforting, strangely mild, for this high ABV. Milk coffee with lots of sugar, prune syrup, pressed currants and raisins, candied blush-orange slices, elderberry soaked in wine -- in Patras wine, maybe. Repeated sipping does not change the profile drastically: it keeps an earthy side, limited to milk coffee, and kindly unwraps sweet fruits, candied and plump -- raisins, elderberries, plums, alongside blood oranges and red grapefruit segments, all so sweetened there is hardly any acidity in them. A gentle earthiness resurfaces over time, a mocha chocolate coulis to pour on fruits, a chococino and even hints of liquorice roots. The more one quaffs it, the clearer the fruits. In the end, the acidity of that citrus pokes the taste buds a little -- just a little. I find this extraordinary, today, even though it is more a great Sherry cask than a Glenugie. It is comforting, despite its huge complexity, and fruity, despite a definite earthiness. 10/10 (Thanks for the sample, DH)

20/04/2024 Les Éditions Albyn Michel présentent...

Yes, we have used that pun before. Get over it.

Glen Albyn 20yo 1969/1989 (55%, Signatory Vintage, Oak Casks, C#483-484, 1000b, b#195): nose: oooh! Citrus-y! Clementines, mandarines, tangerines, then roasted melon and a discreet-yet-clear whiff of smoke. That transforms into something waxier, and it is hard to decide whether it is scented candles, or a plastic hand-wash dispenser. At any rate, it is lovely. We lean towards scented candles, since it has spent wick too. The scent, by the way, is flowery, lavender-y, hence why one may associate it with hand wash, I suppose. Is it Parma Violet, all of a sudden? It is a sweet, violet-flavoured, chewy paste that comes out of a tube. Some are groaning already, whilst others rejoice. tOMoH sits somewhere in the middle. It is only fleeting anyway. Gone already. The second nose is oilier and grassier; candied angelica comes to mind, though it could also be coriander and parsley, preserved in oil. Over time, it takes on the morning smell of a mountain refuge in the Dolomites: cold fireplace, tobacco smoke, coffee gone cold, a pile of logs, and mountain vegetation all around (mosses, lichens, saxifrage...) It also has heated tin, Moka-pot style. Surely, that goes with the coffee. Mouth: bitter-sweet attack, with green shenanigans, sweets of all kinds (red sour belts, cuberdons, mint crumbles), but also smoke, charred mixed peel, and, yes, a droplet of hand wash. It is all augmented with a sprinkle of ground black pepper, and the bitter lick becomes a mix of dried lime zest and candied angelica shavings, wrapped in menthol tobacco. The second sip appears sweeter than it is bitter, with caramel, mocha custard, a hot Moka pot, in which a genius dropped sugar cubes (do not!), and a growing earthy side amidst that milky texture. Finish: citrus is as explosive as it was on the first nose, mixed peel made of lime, pomelo, Shaddock, and yuzu peels. This has candied angelica too, in small doses, and, if it is not nigella seeds, it must be charred mint stems. The whole mouth is left refreshed, then thirsty. Perhaps this is what ingesting mint ashes feels like? The second gulp has heavily-sugared milk coffee (sixteen -- for those who know), a slice of orange dunked into that coffee, warm fudge, and herbs so subtle that they are hard to identify. Dried coriander and hawthorn, maybe? Not sure. It is a warming, comforting, creamy finish for sure. Much better than the 1964 we had last year. 8/10