A couple of random, low-fill samples, before what should be a sure-shot...
Burnside™ 27yo 1991/2019 (44.8%, Cadenhead Single Cask, Bourbon Barrel): this one just came out. I missed the launch, missed the bottles (there were only five in London!), but managed to obtain a sample -- though there is hardly any liquid
in the sample. Nose: a bit leafy at first, it soon opens up to deliver citrus zest, banana rum, lemonade, soda water and mixed peel. Then, it turns more husky, with iron tonic, pot ale and even a salty edge. Mouth: acidic fruit from the start, with citrus and Chinese gooseberry (some class it as a citrus, but I do not buy that!) Touches of solvent and stewed apples. Finish: gentle, soft, all mellow custard, vanilla pudding and delicate satsuma flesh, with an added dollop of milk-chocolate coulis on top. The second sip brings bolder lime and pomelo. It is hard to make more of it with such a tiny quantity, but I reckon I like it better than
the recent-if-slightly-more-ancient 26yo. 8/10 (
Thanks for the sample, SW)
Cambus 30yo 1988/2018 (45.5%, Cadenhead, Bourbon Hogshead, 258b): I loved this,
when it came out. It proved to be not only one of the three best Cambuses I had ever tried (alongside the mighty official 40yo and another, yet-unreviewed offering -- watch this space), but one of only three to not give me a headache the following morning! Nose: it seems grassier and more metallic than the first time, but it still has the potent citrus and baking scents -- chou dough on a hot griddle, hot apricot turnovers, straight out of the oven. Mouth: this is where it starts shining -- lime-augmented coconut custard, vanilla pudding, butterscotch, honey-glazed doughnuts, green grapefruit, just-ripe pineapple, white Port, orange-blossom-flavoured olive oil. The texture is very oily, especially for a grain whisky; no strippage, here! Finish: meow. Pineapple ahoy, now, dried mango slices, pineapple cubes, super-ripe conference pears, melting on the tongue, baked bananas. This is amazeboulanger. 9/10 (
Thanks for the sample, SW)
Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 26yo b.2017 (54.2%, Halewood, Bourbon Cask, 300b): funnily enough, the screen print on the bottle clearly reveals this was bottled in 2017, yet it is released this month only (we are in 2019, if you do not have a calendar). You may remember
I kinda liked last year's... Nose: wham! Bam! Slam! Huge waxy fruitiness boldly rubbed in one's nose. Yellow plums, carambola, barely-ripe mango, papaya, but also melon skins. This smells syrupy, cloying, rich and sweet, but especially fruity. Apricot compote, apricot turnovers, mango chutney (without the spices) and hints of incense. This is quite a stunning fruity display, though, to be honest, the most poignant is the wax. Perhaps the waxiest whisky I have ever smelled. Mouth: it is a miracle! A flipping miracle! All sorts of plums (yellow, mirabelle, sibirica), waxy apricots, ripe greengages, mangoes, guavas, jackfruit, fruity syrup -- oh! It is syrupy alright. Tropical-fruit nectar, plain and simple. Such a fruit avalanche never fails to amaze me, even when I expect it. Finish: it goes down a treat, then comes back radiating a strange combination of ripe, juicy fruits and ashtrays -- I was looking for smoke, well, here it is. It does not last long, mind. Soon, the fruity cavalcade simply crushes all in its path: mango, papaya, canary melon, persimmon. The finish coats the palate, but it holds little of the nose's wax and domestic fruit; pure tropical debauchery, here. Cannot fault that, though! The obvious question is: how does it compare to last year's bottling? I think this one is thicker and has less smoke. Perhaps, one could call it less subtle. In terms of fruit bombs, however, this is more in your face -- closer to the fabled 117.3, I dare say. Capital dram, in any case. 10/10 (
Thanks for the sample, SW)
Burnside™ 27yo 1991/2019 (44.8%, Cadenhead Single Cask, Bourbon Barrel): this one just came out. I missed the launch, missed the bottles (there were only five in London!), but managed to obtain a sample -- though there is hardly any liquid in the sample. Nose: a bit leafy at first, it soon opens up to deliver citrus zest, banana rum, lemonade, soda water and mixed peel. Then, it turns more husky, with iron tonic, pot ale and even a salty edge. Mouth: acidic fruit from the start, with citrus and Chinese gooseberry (some class it as a citrus, but I do not buy that!) Touches of solvent and stewed apples. Finish: gentle, soft, all mellow custard, vanilla pudding and delicate satsuma flesh, with an added dollop of milk-chocolate coulis on top. The second sip brings bolder lime and pomelo. It is hard to make more of it with such a tiny quantity, but I reckon I like it better than the recent-if-slightly-more-ancient 26yo. 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, SW)
Cambus 30yo 1988/2018 (45.5%, Cadenhead, Bourbon Hogshead, 258b): I loved this, when it came out. It proved to be not only one of the three best Cambuses I had ever tried (alongside the mighty official 40yo and another, yet-unreviewed offering -- watch this space), but one of only three to not give me a headache the following morning! Nose: it seems grassier and more metallic than the first time, but it still has the potent citrus and baking scents -- chou dough on a hot griddle, hot apricot turnovers, straight out of the oven. Mouth: this is where it starts shining -- lime-augmented coconut custard, vanilla pudding, butterscotch, honey-glazed doughnuts, green grapefruit, just-ripe pineapple, white Port, orange-blossom-flavoured olive oil. The texture is very oily, especially for a grain whisky; no strippage, here! Finish: meow. Pineapple ahoy, now, dried mango slices, pineapple cubes, super-ripe conference pears, melting on the tongue, baked bananas. This is amazeboulanger. 9/10 (Thanks for the sample, SW)
Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 26yo b.2017 (54.2%, Halewood, Bourbon Cask, 300b): funnily enough, the screen print on the bottle clearly reveals this was bottled in 2017, yet it is released this month only (we are in 2019, if you do not have a calendar). You may remember I kinda liked last year's... Nose: wham! Bam! Slam! Huge waxy fruitiness boldly rubbed in one's nose. Yellow plums, carambola, barely-ripe mango, papaya, but also melon skins. This smells syrupy, cloying, rich and sweet, but especially fruity. Apricot compote, apricot turnovers, mango chutney (without the spices) and hints of incense. This is quite a stunning fruity display, though, to be honest, the most poignant is the wax. Perhaps the waxiest whisky I have ever smelled. Mouth: it is a miracle! A flipping miracle! All sorts of plums (yellow, mirabelle, sibirica), waxy apricots, ripe greengages, mangoes, guavas, jackfruit, fruity syrup -- oh! It is syrupy alright. Tropical-fruit nectar, plain and simple. Such a fruit avalanche never fails to amaze me, even when I expect it. Finish: it goes down a treat, then comes back radiating a strange combination of ripe, juicy fruits and ashtrays -- I was looking for smoke, well, here it is. It does not last long, mind. Soon, the fruity cavalcade simply crushes all in its path: mango, papaya, canary melon, persimmon. The finish coats the palate, but it holds little of the nose's wax and domestic fruit; pure tropical debauchery, here. Cannot fault that, though! The obvious question is: how does it compare to last year's bottling? I think this one is thicker and has less smoke. Perhaps, one could call it less subtle. In terms of fruit bombs, however, this is more in your face -- closer to the fabled 117.3, I dare say. Capital dram, in any case. 10/10 (Thanks for the sample, SW)
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