15/02/2013 A few drams at the SMWS

Meeting up with Fixou and a couple of lads at the SMWS for a few drams to kick-start the weekend.

G4.3 30yo 1982 Custard creams and Kentucky staves (54.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 252b) (me): another outturn, another grain... which I have to try -- scientific research only, naturally. This one is advertised as a celebration bottling: it is 30 years old, as the good Society that released it. Nose: some violet, cane sugar, some natural gas and, finally, a whiff of distant coffee, flowers and vanilla. Mouth: warm and comfy, slightly velvety, easy. It then becomes peppery. Finish: long and full of bakery shenanigans, with emerging fruit, after a while. Great, as usual, though I preferred G4.2.

"Seen mah horse, pilgrum?"

3.169 16yo 1994 Pagoda reek drifting over Loch Indaal (56.6%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Butt, 589b) (A): nose: this one has a very pronounced farmyard character! Also scents of cow-boy saddle, shepherd's pie (JS), hass avocado skin. Mouth: grassy, full of flower juice and black pepper. Finish: apricot and passion fruit, although, truth be told, the peat does a lot of the talking. Fixou teases me for my comment and claims I have drunk too many 1960s Bowmore and now confuse them all... until he tries this one and agrees on the fruity side of it;

106.18 27yo 1984 Bottled essence of summer (52.6%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 196b) (JS): I want to get a 105 for A, but they do not have any. The bar tender pulls out a 106 instead (close enough in her mind, perhaps). It is nowhere near 105 in flavour terms, but I am really surprised to see it there at all -- it was a USA bottling that the staff managed to get their hands on a while ago. I recommend it to JS instead and get to try it, though very little of it, as more would be rude. Nose: perfumed butter. Mouth: orange marmalade. Finish: rose petal jelly and more marmalade. Even better than in my memory. JS is seduced, as is Fixou, who buys the last available bottle. It was not for sale the previous time, but a bottle still found its way to mine somehow. Rather glad about that, really. 8/10

76.98 17yo 1995 Big and tingly (57.2%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Butt, 604b) (me): unsure what to go for, I ask for staff recommendation myself. The first attempts are 7.76 and something else, both of which I have had. This Mortlach, on the other hand, is still unknown to me. Nose: a very distinct note of liquorice, sweet shop and ginger bread. With water, it evokes cooked and caramelised apples. Mouth: there is a big sherry influence at play, here. Also some black pepper, the whole being very well balanced. Finish: white pepper, nutmeg, crème brûlée, crispy cake crust. A reckons it is PiM's (the posher Jaffa Cake, innit), dark-chocolate-coated orange chips and, again, some liquorice (the so-called black laces), as well as a little wood.

36.60 23yo 1989/2012 Highland streams and daisy meadows (52.2%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 260b): Fixou and I share this one as a nightcap. Nose: apricot, pine cones. Mouth: forestry, undergrowth, fir forest. Finish: long, fruity (pears? It is a white fruit, in any case).

128.3 5yo 2006 Chestnut puree and new hiking boots (61.3%, SMWS Society Single Cask, ex-Bourbon Barrel, 229b): A and JS share this as a nightcap. Nose: sugary, nearly grainy, with a hint of hiking boot, though one has to know what to look out for, this time. A bit of oxidation helps the clogged-sink smell come out again, as per usual. Mouth: warming and pleasant, slightly bitter. Finish: hiking boots, vinegar, then thick, juicy peach, or even mango, according to A. This is still lovely. 7/10

Good company, good drams, good pace.