30/09/2018 Whisky Show 2018 (Day 2 -- Part 1)

Another day, another brunch. This time, at Ozone. Sleep-deprived, but otherwise fine.

They were annoyingly out of Red juice
I settled for Green instead
Very poetic names...

JS's heart-shaped (we hope) latte

Leaves for dom666's latte

My Kedgeree

JS's French Toast

dom666's Big Brekkie

At the venue, the queue is less long, but still very long. There is only one queue too, instead of one for Sunday-ticket holders and another for weekend-ticket holders -- the weekend wristband means they do not need to scan one's ticket again. Staff goes through the queue to scan tickets, which is an improvement on yesterday and speeds up the process, once the doors open.
Cavalier66 parks his bike, walks past us without seeing us and storms in, jumping the whole queue in the process, proving, as if it was needed, that if one does things very resolutely, very few will dare challenge one. He is in ten minutes before we are, despite arriving ten minutes later than we did.

Although I did pour my Inchmurrin 20yo to GM yesterday, I did not stop to try their range. Today, we will do that first, before it becomes too busy. GM reiterates his invitation to Alexandria. If only there were more time in the day, mate! It will happen, though. Simply not sure when, yet.
His colleague, whose name escapes me, explains the set-up at Loch Lomond. I swiftly tell him he has already told us three times, hinting that he needs not spend that energy on us: having told us the story the previous years, he would better save it for others, as the day is long. It comes across as telling him off and JS rightly points it out to me. It really was not my intention to offend him.

Loch Lomond The Open Special Edition (46%, OB, b.2018, L4 183 18): nose: polished dashboard, a bit of wax, though discreet. Mouth: bitter, with cold cocoa and gherkin slices. Finish: bit of toffee, fudge and wood wax. Inoffensive. 6/10

Loch Lomond 1999/2018 Carnoustie 1999 (50.8%, OB The Autograph Edition, 1500b): nose: cereals in milk, vanilla and a drop of coffee. Mouth: fresh, with coconut milk and cereals in milk, as well as a chilli kick. Finish: long, assertive, with wheat, pastry and hay. Lovely. 7/10

At JS's recommendation, I try the new...

Glen Scotia 18yo (46%, OB, American Oak + Finished in Oloroso Casks, 18121F, b.2018): nose: Horlicks, oatcakes. Mouth: cereal-y, with Weetabix and apple shavings. Finish: very cereal-y, it has more Weetabix. 7/10

The announcer calls those for the first two masterclasses. We take place at the meeting point, but the staff is only taking names for the first one -- Better Bourbon. NR is there and manages to enrol for that one, whilst it becomes clear ours is not on for another ten minutes. We cannot be bothered to move. I ask the girl taking names if she is on drugs, as she seems to be running like a headless chicken. JS points out that it comes across as pretty rude. Lots of shit come out of my mouth, today. She seems to take it positively. I decide to stop trying to be funny from here on. Mostly.
It is not long before we are shown upstairs to the masterclass.

On the way to the Brasserie, RG gives me a dram of another Port Ellen 1983, which a friend of his just opened. I will never know which one it is, but it is on the same level as the Show bottling from the masterclass.

Fewer people than yesterday, in the Brasserie, the duck is available (and delicious). I want the vegetable lasagna, though, which was legendary, yesterday. I ask for it.

Staff: "Are you vegetarian?"

tOMoH: "No, but I want the vegetarian lasagna."

Staff: "We only serve it to vegetarians."

Considering there is no-one else in the queue and considering another staff member will later admit there is a chance they put dozens of uneaten duck legs into the rubbish bin after closure, I am tempted to ask her if she will only serve haddock to those born on British soil too, but instead, I simply stay put until she gives me lasagna. Pitiful quip, as the food is, again, excellent.

...and plentiful

No time for dessert. The second masterclass.

When back, we go "for dessert." For me, that means more lasagna, then dessert. :-)

More wild mushroom and truffle lasagna
infused with Jameson Crested

The Black Forest cake is much better, today

Once out, we stop by the charity auction vault, where I give N the rest of my Highland Park and Port Ellen from the second masterclass. We leave him to attend to LMDW's boss and promise we will visit him at his stand, later on.

A rather unique Springbank
Limited to one bottle

A rather unique Glenlivet
Limited to one bottle

Two rather unique Diageo bottles
Limited to one each

A rather unique Bowmore
Limited to one bottle

On the way up, we bump into MJ and CJ, who are slowly fading away. While chatting with them, I recognise and call CG, an old colleague, who walks past us. We catch up briefly; he is surprised never to have seen me in one of these shows. I tell him it is my eighth Show; he tells me it is his first. He meant other shows across the country. :-)

Back upstairs for more drams. I remember I have not yet paid DWo a proper visit.

Springbank 21yo b.2018 (47.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Madeira Casks, B#8, 911b, b#415): nose: cereal fields, meadows, warm compote and... melting cheese. Mouth: fresh, it has fields of corn and thin apricot juice. Finish: soot and coal dust now augment the apricot juice. There is a drop of lemon juice as well. Nice, but not the best Springbank we have had this weekend. 7/10

Miltonduff 28yo b.2017 (46.1%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, B#3, 149b, b#2): nose: jammy, with bramble and peach. Mouth: thinner than anticipated, it has citrus (grapefruit, orange) and gingery heat. Finish: some citrus again, a pinch of herbs, slightly metallic, fruity and a bit thin, to be honest. Decent, but it does not break three legs at a duck, as they say. It is only now, typing my notes, that I realise I wanted to try the 40yo, not this 28yo. It is not available at the stand. 7/10

JS takes us to a bottler we know nothing about, save for the name.

Clynelish 20yo (55.9%, Artful Dodger Whisky Collective, ex-Bourbon Hogshead, C#6526): nose: candle wax and fresh wick. Mouth: jammy and softly waxy. Finish: argh! It goes awry, here, with a fleeting, but unpleasant note. So fleeting I do not identify it. Once gone, it is back to hot wax, honey and marmalade. What a pity. 6/10

Strathclyde 27yo (51.8%, Artful Dodger Whisky Collective, ex-Bourbon Barrel, C#110035): nose: fresh, mouthwash-like, with gingerbread. Mouth: soft and pleasant, beautifully velvety and pastry-like. Finish: burnt wood on top of lovely pastry, chou dough. Not life-changing, but decent alright. 7/10

We finally make our way to whisky.auction, where N suggests...

J. & G. Grant's Blend 12yo (unknown ABV, J. & G. Grant, b.1940s): nose: dusty oranges and bookshelves. This reeks old school. Mouth: orange-y, dusty, old-school blend in its full glory. Finish: gingerbread, oranges, dusty bookshelves again. This is lovely. Wish I could spend more time with it. 8/10

JS informs me we still have unspent dream-dram tokens. Time to play them wisely.

Bowmore 1973/2001 (43%, OB for the 50th Anniversary of Morrison Bowmore): one I have been willing to try for a very long time. It was given to guests at a dinner to mark said anniversary and was never meant to be sold. The 1968 in that series is stupendous. What will this 1973 be like? Nose: much more vinegar-y than expected, it has earth, shoe polish and pickled onions. Mouth: lovely balance of earth and lots of jammy fruits. Finish: long, fruity, earthy, it retains the vinegar. Good mouth and finish. The nose, on the other hand, does not do it for me. 8/10

Rumour has it that MR is here. We go upstairs, in a bid to meet up with her and find a last dram. She is indeed upstairs, holding court (she is very popular, our MR). We catch up, after nine or ten months. I go for a last dram and try to make it a worthy one.

Bowmore 22yo 1996/2018 (53.6%, Hidden Spirits and La Maison du Whisky, Bourbon Cask, C#BW9618, 274b): nose: ripe apples and haystacks, a distant peat furnace. Mouth: big, smoky, it has hot hay and drying fishing nets, as well as diesel engines. Finish: long, cereal-laden, with cut fruits, lots of smoke and ripe barley. The fruit grows bold. This is beautiful, and a great dram to end on. 8/10

Conclusion

Less enthusiastic, this year. There was no critical complaint, but a couple of major ones:

• The queues everywhere: to get in, to buy from the shop, to buy tokens, you name it: one has to queue. Queueing outside for over an hour to get in is annoying; that functions better at the Old & Rare show in Glasgow, where tickets are scanned in the queue. Having two separate queues on the Sunday worked well the other years; no idea why they did away with that
• The brasserie: aside from the queueing to get in, the shortage of duck on the first day (without being given the option to either go to another one of the three food stalls or wait for more duck to arrive) was a bummer; being told on the second day that the veggie option was only served to vegetarians felt like discrimination
• The crowd: much too busy at most stands, which made the whole experience sometimes unpleasant, especially upstairs. Also, not to be elitist, but the sort of crowd seems to be shifting. The £95-a-day entry used to discourage chancers looking for a binge, but judging by the number of vomit puddles coming out of the venue, it seems as though that is no longer the case. Not something I enjoy much

That said...

• The masterclasses were very good
• The drams were globally of a similar quality to every year's, albeit from different exhibitors, again. One had to be inventive with their navigation to circumvent the mobs
• The social element is taking an ever-more important place
• The after-party was probably the most interesting and exciting part of the weekend

I am seriously considering not going any longer. My favourite part of the Cognax Show (which I did not attend) was to host an after-party. I might end up doing only that for the Whisky Show as well.