26/11/2017 Music

Today is dom666's annual bash. The theme is our favourite too: shoehorn anything in by means of a vaguely music-related (bad) pun.
Full house, though people arrive in waves: dom666, kruuk2, sonicvince, Psycho, PSc, JD, JS, adc, MQ, ruckus and myself.
That jolly group brought a total of twenty-three bottles. The biscuit is won by Psycho, who brought four, just to beat my own contribution. We will skip some (remember I was barely alive, this morning) and the notes will be short, because the pace dictates so.

Another modest line-up...

...that does not even fit in one shot

Psycho presents: The Beatles - Abbey-rlour Road

Aberlour 15yo Double Cask (43%, OB imported by Pernod France, 2AWB 9006): nose: cured meat and leather, quite pronounced. Toffee later shows up, as well as cocoa powder. Mouth: chocolate pudding with touches of pepper. Finish: lots and lots of chocolate, chocolate pudding, chocolate cake. Nice. 7/10

[Insert butt-plug joke here]

Psycho: "For the next one, think of Guns 'N Roses."
ruckus: "It is not Guns 'N Roses, it is Bob Dylan!"
JS: "Knockando the jungle?"

Psycho presents: Guns 'N Roses - Knockando Heaven's Doors

Knockando 21yo Master Reserve (43%, OB, L7242CM000 03690996): the nose is fresh and floral, the mouth is light, with lashes of honeysuckle, while the finish has cocoa (Nesquik, to be accurate). I forget to score it. Probably 7/10, today.

PSc joins us. He brought several bottles too. His first is an empty bottle of Arran 10yo. He brought it because the pun was so magnificent. But he cannot remember it. We do our best to help him: Catherine L'Arran? L'Arran Fabian? Francis L'Arran? Arran Souchon? Arran Maiden?

Oh! no, it is more complicated. dom666, probably curious as to why I like Bowmore 1964 Fino so much, tried to convince one of us to bring it and link it to a song in a Finno-Ugric language. Because, you know, we can all easily bring a 20k EUR to a tasting!
PSc eventually remembers that his song was...

Oroszlán Szonja - Micsoda nõ eza férfi

She sings in Hungarian, which is a Finno-Ugric language. Still have no clue how that is related to Arran 10yo, though.

If you were wondering what the title meant...

sonicvince presents: Bruichladdich Rocks (you know, Rocks 'n Roll)

Bruichladdich Rocks (46%, OB): I remember not being too fond of the first batch of this. Nose: slightly animal, funky, with dry hay. Mouth: soft, mildly salty. Finish: cocoa shavings, sea air, salt and brine. Might be better than the first batch, still does not Rocks my world. 6/10

Psycho presents: The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird

Bunnahabhain 1989/2001 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail The MacPhail's Collection, JA/AGC): listening to the lyrics one can clearly hear Bunna-na-hu-na-ha-bhain, na-na-hu-na-ha-bahain. :-) The nose has smoked caramel, while the mouth feels like wort, sugar-y and caramel-y. The finish is short, sweet, with toffee and caramel. Nice. 7/10

Food enters. Asortment of cheeses, loaves of artisan bread, a couple of pâtés and blood sausage. Amazing.

kruuk2 presents: Lolo Ferrari - Airbag Generation

Because Ms. Ferrari had une énorme paire de loches-ides.

Lochside 1991/2003 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice, JC/FG): nose: warm grass, hay. This nose is quite shy, though. Mouth: gentle, almost watery, with a touch of honey. Finish: unripe peaches, apricot nectar and a gentle note of grass. 7/10

vs.

Lochside 18yo 1981/2001 (46%, Murray McDavid, Refill Sherry, C#MM9637): note the age and the dates. Hope McEwan now has a calculator. :o) Nose: mango in fruit syrup. Mouth: unctuous, with mango nectar. Some might think it lacks in power. Finish: sherried fruit, tropical fruit, goodness. 9/10

The Murray McDavid is a clear winner, augmented as it is by a floating cork. That said, the GMP also has a broken cork. More will come.

ruckus presents: Serge Gainsbourg - Docteur Jeckyll & Monsieur Hyde

Hyde 10yo (46%, Hiberia Distillers Limited Edition, Sherry Cask Finish): a "while we wait" bottling from the owners of a new distillery in Ireland. Exciting times. Nose: fruit and sweet flowers. Mouth: pretty warm, with crushed sage. Finish: gentle, slightly drying, with a rum-like influence. Nice. 7/10

dom666 tells us about a rugby game between France and Japan. He says this was played before the game:

Bill Baxter & Tippa Irie - Balvenie à Paris

Balvenie 14yo Rum Wood (47.1%, OB, 16135004/16165008): dom666 breaks the cork with his usual delicateness. Nose: rancio and dunnage warehouse, lichen on cask. Mouth: nice rum influence, gently metallic, with a pinch of herbs. Finish: sweet, yet acrid, with a huge rum influence, here. 7/10

Of course, if you store desiccant in your bottle, your cork dries up...

As everyone finishes their food, dom666 realises he forgot to serve the soup. Endless jokes ensue.

JD presents: The Wolfburns - As the Bottle Runs Dry

Wolfburn (46%, OB, EU-LABEL-0001): nose: some animal funk. This is quite musky, in fact. Mouth: leafy, with more funky animal notes. Finish: it is all over the shop, here, with smoke, fruit, herbs, fox's skin. This is promising, but a bit young. JS and I explain that the Whisky Cyclist rated this the best dram of the 2016 Whisky Show, on par with Diageo's Brora 38yo and reckon he is mad. 6/10

dom666: "May I not get any?"
PSc: "We didn't get any soup!"

A few words on the next one. Imperial was closed years ago. Chivas recently built a new distillery on the same site. The title of the song, Pon De Replay, refers to that. But it really is the artist who should receive the attention. After all, the owners have Rihanna-mated the distillery, so to speak.

tOMoH presents: Rihanna-mator - Pon De Replay

Imperial-Glenlivet 37yo 1977/2015 (53.7%, Cadenhead Single Cask, Bourbon Hogshead, 204b): nose: olive oil, through and through. PSc finds violet flowers, which makes sense. Mouth: much hotter than anything, so far, it has chilli pepper and peppered leeks. Finish: wonderful, with crushed green olives, a wood stove and lots of pepper. My notes are terrible, this is a great dram. 9/10

JD presents: The Doors - Riders on the Dark Storm

Talisker Dark Storm (45.8%, OB, Charred Casks, LB013CM000/00970188): nose: coffee, fine smoke and tons of pepper. Mouth: caramel and pepper. Finish: hot, with ashes, pepper and charcoal. Not my thing, this. adc, who joins us later, loves it. 5/10

dom666 finishes his rugby tale. After the France vs. Japan game, a draw, Japan played: Glen Miller - Ardbeg Your Pardon

Ardbeg 31yo 1974/2005 (53.4%, OB Single Cask for Belgium, Bourbon Cask, C#2738, 75b, b#53): I have had this particular cask in my wantlist for years and never realised dom666 had it. :-) Nose: barley and fruit, smoke, bergamot. Mouth: wow, nice balance of spices and fruit. Finish: big, spicy and smoky, with jute bags. As usual, the roasted barley is present, but not bothering, this time. Superb old Ardbeg, this, fits perfectly into the sequence. JD's verdict, "it is not Lord of the Isles, but it is close." I agree. 9/10

Dessert enter. A bombe au chocolat. It is phenomenal.

tOMoH presents: DJ Bobowmore - Some Glendullance With Me

Bowmore 14yo 2002/2017 (53.7%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Hogshead, 276b): nose: greasy smoke, engine oil, molten butter. This is filthy. Mouth: the same dirty character; a mechanic's workshop, oily rags and juicy citrus fruit. Finish: wonderfully dirty again, with that Bowmore fruitiness. Wow. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, MSo)

vs.

Glendullan 16yo b.1998 The Centenary Bottling (65.9%, OB for the distillery's centenary, b#000210): nose: bread, unsweetened popcorn, tame, roasted coffee beans. Mouth: warm, even hot, it has burnt bread crust and drying rancio. The horsepower becomes overwhelming, over time. Finish: long, drying super powerful. It destroys everything in its path, including taste buds and brain cells. Behind the crazy power, it is all elegance, with ethereal and perfume-y qualities. But yeah! the strength... 8/10

DJ Bobowmore - Some Glendullance With Me

Remember how dom666 tried to pressure someone into bringing a Bowore Fino? Well, it did not work. However...

JS presents: Linnamuusikud - Põhjataevalaulud

This Estonian artist is not on Youtube. They sing Estonian folklore in Estonian, a Finno-Ugric language. Time for a Fino-matured whisky, then.

Springbank 36yo 1969/2005 (53.7%, Ian McLeod Chieftain's, Refill Fino Sherry Cask, C#793, 540b, L121005/I1508BB): needless saying my expectations are high. Nose: dunnage warehouse aplenty, full of dusty fruit. Mouth: über-fruity, with what seems like a rum sweetness. Finish: long, rum-like, with more fruit (raspberries and strawberries). This is extraordinary. The others find it good, but out of place in the sequence. Idiots. 10/10

The jolly bunch

sonicvince and JD leave. JD soon comes back, however: he forgot the keys to his house. :-)))
It is really time to go, but MQ, who joined us three drams in, is keen to pour his. We rarely see each other, these days, so I go for one.

MQ presents: Viking Park - Numb

Highland Park 12yo Viking Honour (40%, OB, HPR066): nose: gently animal, with a cloak of heather smoke. Mouth: soft, honeyed, it also has heather. It feels watery, though, at this stage. Finish: soft, with honey and thin smoke. Nice. It is good to try these flagships from time to time, and HP12 is one of the consistently good ones. I do think the lack of oomph is mostly due to the sequence, but then at 40%, it could as well be that it is weaker than it used to be. 7/10

Others have MQ's Teeling.
Psycho: "MQ's Irish makes me think of a bicycle trip."
tOMoH: "?..."
Psycho: "Teeling, Teeling."

Islay Single Malt (61.3%, Ian McLeod As We Get It): the nose has barley, straw and smoke. The mouth seems mild for that strength, with straw again. The finish has smoked barley and roasted corn. A nice, young south-coast Islay that shan't be named (but is probably not Laphroaig or Ardbeg). 7/10

I give these a miss: Caol Ila 25 OB (Psycho), The Singleton Sunray (PSc), Bowmore Carn Mor (PSc), Bowmore Tempest IV (sonicvince). Cannot take any more.

I see smiles in this room.
That's good.

Great times. Great food and company, relaxed mood, good whiskies. It sometimes felt like the focus was on quantity instead of quality, but it is such a treat to see everyone. Rocks 'n roll on the next one!