07/05/2020 Bishlouk's birthday bash

A jit.si meeting, this time. Zoom is bad.

The things one sees on jit.si are not always great... ;-)

Bishlouk had invited several people to a physical tasting this weekend, but he had to re-arrange his plans to follow government advice (in other words: confinement). Change of date, change of line-up, change of guest list, but it is taking place. JS, Red71, STL and I virtually join Bishlouk for this session on a school night. Well, in Belgium, it is a school night.

Dram #1
Nose: encaustic, furniture polish, beeswax, cut fruit (quince), peach stone, browned orange peel and a little butter which makes me guess Glenrothes immediately. Incorrectly, it goes without saying. Mouth: Soft, fruity and as buttery as the nose, it has fluffy plum and peach flesh, with perhaps an added note of ash, drying and rough -- though to a point it is almost not worth mentioning. Finish: pleasant and warming, it has the bitterness of peach stone, apricot stone and the fluffiness of peach flesh again. The finish has a slightly bitter note of fresh rubber and new bicycle tyres. Blended Scotch Whisky 20yo 1998/2019 (44.6%, Cadenhead Cadenhead's Club, 1 x Sherry Hogshead + 1 x Sherry Butt, 500b) 7/10

Dram #2
Nose: honeysuckle, budding lilac, a freshly-ploughed field, vaguely damp, perhaps clover. The second nose is a little fruitier, but it is unripe fruit. Apple sherbet and apple mint. Mouth: soft and balanced, the palate sees distant berries, greengages, and the warmth of a kitchen fireplace. The second sip has a more apple-centric profile, with sherbet and apple mint again. Finish: wonderful length, with a pinch of fresh herbs (is it tarragon?) The finish is long and a little drying, in the long run, with a touch of aniseed and that timid fruitiness to round it off, as well as a touch of chocolate. It still is a bitter, herbaceous affair, all in all. Glen Keith 25yo 1991/2016 (46%, The Ultimate Whisky Company The Ultimate, Bourbon Barrel, C#73635, 234b) 8/10

Dram #3
Nose: I recognise this! It makes me think of 117.3 -- fresh mangoes and almost-metallic bergamot. It is not as exuberant as 117.3, but I am puzzled when Bishlouk says this is not Irish. This one has what seems like a tiny veil of smoke, buttery smoke. Overripe peach and apricot, running away on their own, so ripe they are. A touch of caramelised custard and crushed blueberries, lily of the valley and a few grains of pollen. Mouth: punchy to a degree, it turns very fruity very quickly, with physalis, apricots, yellow plums, but also more tropical tones, with buttery mango and papaya cubes, pineapple chunks and white kiwis. Finish: long, exuberantly fruity, with tons of juicy yellow fruits and a touch of bitter rubber or liquorice laces that will prevent me from scoring this higher. It is still the dram of the night, as far as I am concerned. Red71 pinpoints the distillery, which, in hindsight, is bleeding obvious. Inchmurrin 14yo 2003/2018 (50.3%, OB Single Cask specially selected by 't Woest Genoegen & The Whisky Mercenary, Bourbon Cask, C#2231, 230b, L8/059/18 cask#121) 8/10

Dram #4
Nose: Kirsch (STL), heavily-polished leather. This is walking a tightrope, when it comes to sherry influence, but it stays on the right side of it. Caramel, praline, dark chocolate, chocolate coulis, crushed dark cherries. Further on, black cardamom, crushed cloves, roasted cinnamon sticks, chocolate-flavoured chewing gum. It remains very elegant, though. Mouth: the crushed cherries truly shine, here, coated in dark chocolate, with a pinch of ground cloves for giggles. The mouth soon sees a hint of rancio, high on the inner-cheeks, which is not a bother. The texture is chewy, and the dominant taste is chocolate-y, with pralines and chocolate-coated cherries. Finish: long, it has a hint of liquorice and bitter chocolate. Again, it could very easily go overboard, but it does not: that chocolate coulis is quite something, augmenting hazelnut paste and Brazil-nut butter to make something that reminds me of chocolate brownie. Long, quaffable, lovely. Top-shelf Glendronach, this. The GlenDronach 12yo 2004/2016 (56.9%, OB Single Cask specially selected and bottled for Vinothek Massen, Sherry Butt, C#6629, 666b) 8/10

Dram #5
Nose: dry peat, fishing nets, smoked oysters, crusty earth, warm and salty earth, warm hay, Virginia tobacco, dried raspberry slices. The earth turns dusty, almost into desert dirt -- almost. Mouth: this feels like a different dram altogether, much muddier and less dry, in which the dried raspberry slices are dunked into mud. Raspberries and bog myrtle -- it feels pretty fruity, behind the boggy tones. Finish: much earthier in the finish and much less dry than the nose suggested, it almost has mud, as well as a little sea influence, with seaweed and sea water. I prefer the nose of this one. The mouth and finish become a little more generic. We all guessed the distillery at the start. Bishlouk is predictable, like that. Caol Ila 12yo 2005/2017 (54%, Gordon & MacPhail Reserve exclusively bottled for Vinothek Massen, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel, C#301553, 210b) 7/10

STL leaves. We decide to have a nightcap. Everyone chooses a Littlemill, funnily enough. Bishlouk has Littlemill 24yo 1988/2012 Sympathy for the Whisky (54.2%, The Whiskyman, 159b), Red71 has Littlemill 26yo 1988/2015 (52.5%, Hart Brothers Finest Collection Cask Strength, Sherry Butt), whilst JS and I have:

Littlemill 16yo 1991/2008 (50%, Douglas Laing The Old Malt Cask 50°, Refill Hogshead, C#DL4064, 276b): nose: creamy mango, then a metallic/herbaceous note of verbena, maybe sage, before it comes back to tropical fruit, this time persimmon. Of the hazelnut that dominated the dram upon opening the bottle, virtually nothing remains. Mouth: juicy, fruity, it has peach, papaya and distant persimmon. Later, a drying note of Demerara sugar appears, oozing through lichen-covered staves. Finish: lovely tropical fruit once more, sweet to the point it is drying, with dark molasses, caramelised persimmon and roasted peach. This is lovely. 9/10

The time is for socialising, rather than long notes. We talk about everything and nothing for a wee while, before calling it a night.
Excellent tasting. It felt much more intimate and therefore led to more interactions than last night's tasting (also online). Good fun, cannot wait to do it again!