JS, OB and Caballero66 join me to celebrate the Gateway to Central America (if that ever catches on, you read it here first!) Why this theme? Well, why not!
Soundtrack: Black Lung & Xingu Hill - The Andronechron Incident
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| Lots of work again |
JS presents: Bunnahabhañero
Bunnahabhain 11yo b.2020 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail Discovery, Sherry Casks, 20/6032): there is little left in the bottle, and I had it the other day, so I give up my serving. The gang finds vanilla on the nose and a gentle bitterness on the palate. All agree it is a good entry-level dram, which is exactly what it claims to be. 7/10
Soundtrack: Lustmord & Karin Park - Alter
The Old Man of Huy presents: Yucatanmavulin (in the chilli con Càrn Mòr range, no less)
Tamnavulin 40yo 1968/2009 (40.6%, Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Hogshead, C#3659, 335b, b#210): nose: banana, banana bread (JS), a pinch of sawdust, Bourbon cream, old-matured apples (Caballero66), chemical compounds, all broken up into small pieces (Caballero66). It even has bay leaves and soft leather. This nose is restrained and elegant, we all agree, yet no less complex. Mouth: creamy, displaying pouring custard, peaches, overripe plums, stone fruits and fruit stones. It is amazingly full, for this low ABV, almost powerful, actually. Finish: OB thinks it becomes a bit woody, while Caballero66 detects pepper. It does have dusty old books, but also toffee. The bay leaves come back, as do the stone fruits. This is amazing. Full notes here. 9/10
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| Food enters. Artisan bread, cheeses, membrillo and a nutty chocolate cake whose name escapes me |
The next dram is introduced by Caballero66. The first connection with the theme is that, like so many Mexican names, this one is not pronounced the way it is written. The second connection is that it was bottled by Cancunenhead.
Auchroisk 29yo 1988/2017 (44.6%, Cadenhead Cask Ends, Bourbon Hogshead): nose: chiselled and mineral (Caballero66), putty (JS), dunnage warehouse (Caballero66). It smells younger than the age tag suggests (OB). I find hay, just as I think I remember it (but not at all as I found it in the past, it turns out). Caballero66 calls Grany Smith apples ("Grany Smitcho," I correct him). Citrus (calamansi, to be accurate) joins the mineral side, which is likely flint. Caballero66 and JS note some Chablis, too. The nose seems to dissipate over time; time to drink it, I suppose. The second nose brings full-on citrus foliage (grapefruit or bergamot). Mouth: all is here -- flint, citrus, hay, all perfectly integrated and all balanced. Nothing shouts, here; it is all elegance. The mouthfeel is creamy, yet it retains the mineral aspect too, and leaves the tongue in the same state as after licking stone. Finish: it hits hard in the throat, much more than the modest ABV leads one to imagine. It is simultaneously citrus-y and grassy, adding maraschino cherry into the mix. Another cracking Auchroisk, really. 8/10
tOMoH: "Auchroisk con queso!"
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| Caballero66 is rocking his best Mexican-lime shirt, by the way |
tOMoH: "I'm really enjoying this nose. It's very pure. I'd say it's distillate-driven."
tOMoH: "That's a harsh thing to say."
We move to the sunny terrace. It calls for a hat.
tOMoH presents: Sombrerhosdhu
Rhosdhu 26yo d.1979 (46%, Direct Wines Ltd. First Cask, C#3236, b#163): as it were, this one is not an "Old" Rhosdhu. Nose: plasticine (Caballero66), Play-Doh (JS), fruity, says OB, who specifies it is plums, slightly more mature than overripe ones. I find lots of red fruits (mostly cherries) complementing custard and pastry. Mouth: velvety plums, bordering on plasticine, with a mild bitterness and a kick that hints at a stronger ABV. Plum turnovers, cherry tartlets, perhaps fruit-scented marzipan. Finish: long, warming, fruity and velvety again. Superb whisky, really. Looking forward to spending more time with it. 9/10
OB: "Do you think it's a social construct, because of the [Hitchcock] film?"
Caballero66: "Which came first? [The film, or the phobia?]"
tOMoH: "The film, of course; it's an old film!"
OB: "Mine has a built-in barometer..."
tOMoH: "How does that work, now that we're going back to imperial [measurement units]? Barofeet?"
Caballero66 presents: Guadalajura. Also, Jura was founded 1810, the same year the Mexican War of Independence started. Finally, Caballero66 observes that the seal on the label looks a bit like Zorro.
Jura 30yo 1990/2020 (46.33%, Thompson Bros., Refill American Oak Hogshead, 186b): nose: very particular nose, quite unlike any other whisky I can remember. It has citrus (Caballero66), lime (OB), but it is also herbaceous (lemon thyme and lemon sage, if that exists) and petrolic, with nuances of oil and petroleum jelly (Caballero66). I, for one, detect smoked cantaloupe skins. Mouth: oily as fook, it has more petroleum jelly, and the texture of Vaseline more than its taste. Speaking of taste, this one has a fascinating-yet-strange mix of fruits, seawater and diesel -- none too loud. In fact, everything is subtle, in this dram, which is great. It is not shy a palate, though: it has powerful pepper and hot cast iron; I find it a bit stripping, to tell the truth. All the same, the complementary notes are nuanced. Finish: long, robust, it comes with a tad of dusty metal and a pinch of marjoram(irez). It ends up turning pretty bitter indeed, but delicious. It is challenging, without a doubt, because of that dusty, old-boiler metal, even though it is made more approachable by compote. Funnily enough, bigger sips make it less bitter. 8/10
Caballero66: "I'm not too unhappy."
Soundtrack: Various - Rock To The Beat - The Ultimate New Beat Collection (CD1)
With a last-minute change of sequence, OB pulls out a Chichibu. I venture it is certainly for Chichibuabua. Nope.
OB presents: Chicharrón, Chilaquiles, Burrito. To boot, this was made by Ichiro Akutortilla.
Chichibu IPA Cask Finish b.2017 (57.5%, OB Ichiro's Malt imported by Number One Drinks, IPA Cask Finish, 6700b, b#5469): nose: noticeably more powerful, it is also very fruity, teeming with pineapple and souped-up bergamot. Next to that are plastic buckets and oilskins. The strength, though... It really clears the nostrils, this one! Mouth: lukewarm beer, sprinkled with a hefty dose of pepper. On the tongue too, this is very powerful, fierce, even. However, it is also sweet, with raspberry tart, doused in custard. A lick of metal brings a discreet bitterness that feels like a mere afterthought. Finish: huge, long, gum-melting, intoxicating from the first sip. The finish does feel much influenced by the beer that was in the cask before. I like it. 8/10
OB: "For every festival, actually."
tOMoH: "You can say: 'for the every festival,' you know."
tOMoH: "I don't know why you'd think I hate Japanese whisky. I don't buy it; it doesn't mean I don't like it."
OB: "It's so leftfield..."
tOMoH: I like Leftfield. I prefer Apollo 440, but I don't mind Leftfield."
JS presents: Invergordon Diego de la Vega (in the chilli con Càrn Mòr range, no less)
Invergordon 37yo 1972/2009 (46.6%, Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel CC#60478/63675, 259b, b#236): nose: dunnage warehouse, rancio and dusty blackcurrant on overdone pastry. It is less full-on blackcurrant than other expressions, as Caballero66 observes, but the markers are there. Mouth: creamy, lemon-y, this one has lemon mint and citrus-y pastry. Finish: it seems huge for the ABV, especially considering it is more than 10% lower than the previous. It packs a punch, still! Some bitterness that make me think of metal and marjoram(irez), alongside squashed, unripe blackberries. 8/10
Caballero66 presents: Drug Taliskartel (coincidentally and conveniently, a Diego distillery). Tequilasker would have worked too, but our dyslexic readers might have taken offence.
Talisker 30yo b.2009 (53.1%, OB Limited Edition imported by Ntiatzeo Ellas, 3000b, b#1907, L9170CM000 02023677): nose: ozone and photocopier toner (Caballero66), peat and metal (Metalisker). It also has a note of wet fishing nets. The peat smoke is subtle and dry, and, therefore, mesmerising to me. Cockles, whelks, then a pinch of ground white pepper and bandages. Mouth: flowers, pot-pourri, bone-dry peat, crumbling into a fine powder. It has a generous fruitiness too, with papaya and roasted pineapples, making this much to my liking. Finish: long and intrusive (a good thing, here), the finish has more of the same: hot fruit (charred pineapple) and dry peat, this time accompanied by hot embers. To think that we used to take these for granted, when they came out. Certainly 9 in other circumstances, but for today... 8/10
Caballero66: "Well, it's a Greek import, so..."
tOMoH: "Waitros!"
Soundtrack: Ambre - Le Mensonge
JS presents: Buenas Bladnoches (in the chilli con Càrn Mòr range, no less)
Bladnoch 20yo 1990/2011 (60.6%, The Scottish Liqueur Centre for Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Bourbon Barrel, C#30005, 194b, b#131): nose: a whiff of leather and a lot of alcohol. Bone-dry flower bouquets and stencil-duplicator ink (also known as mimeography). It has a soft peat scent too, we all agree, but we all reckon it is the Talisker clinging to the glass. It is fooking dry, though. Mouth: lemon-y, custard-y, very much like a tart-casing, before it is overlayed with plums. In the long run, though, Alka-Seltzer and lemon-y pepper rock up, super dry again. Finish: peppery and full of sawdust. The fruitiness comes out, and the whole feels balanced, despite the high ABV, but it also has a robust sawdust layer. A big dram! 8/10
OB: "You want it?"
Caballero66: "Well, I have a bottle, but I haven't tried it. I'm looking forward to it."
OB: "You're not getting any of it. Open your own bottle."
tOMoH: "...motherfucker!"
Soundtrack: Cities Last Broadcast - The Umbra Report
OB jokes about the next one being from a Don Diego distillery, and matured in puncheons, puncheon being the Mexican propensity for boxing. But the real (tenuous) connection is the Mexican-sounding first name Pedro (Ximénez) and Central-American-oak casks. Someone should point out to OB that PX is Spanish and so are the casks, but hay-ho.
Lagavulin Triple Matured 1991/2015 (59.9%, OB bottled especially to celebrate Fèis Ìle 2015, American Oak/Pedro Ximénez & Oak Puncheons, 3500b, b#991, L5079DQ000 50251395): nose: it smells like the coal mines (Caballero66, who no-one knew is from Yorkshire), ink, tons of ink; ink wells set on fire, window mastic, smoked-tomato chutney, shoe polish. What an elegant peat influence! Stone-baked pastry and smoked plums, ash and ink (would those not kick arse as heraldic tinctures?) Mouth: the peaty ink continues, perhaps with smoked corn. It is pretty strong and peppery, with smoked Szechuan pepper. An hour in, perhaps timid berries come out in the form of cherry jam. Finish: it is massive, and the peat smoke is not shy, here. In no particular order, we have pastrami-ed (cured) salmon, cigar ashes, hot embers, smoked black pepper, heavily-barbecued grapefruit... This is very ashy indeed. I am enjoying it, even though it is very heavy, intense and cloying. I like it better than the first time, in fact. 8/10
tOMoH: "Do you want some Mex-tasy?"
Caballero66: "Or some MDMA? Mexican DMA?"
Soundtrack: Various - Rock To The Beat - The Ultimate New Beat Collection (CD2)
What? A bonus dram?
OB presents: Cantina Mexicana
127.44 12yo 2003/2016 Cantina Mexicana (65.9%, SMWS Fèis Ìle Islay 2016, 2nd Fill ex-Oloroso Sherry Butt, 588b): nose: farm-y, it also a tractor's exhaust pipe on top of ploughed fields, a vague nuance of soft-boiled eggs and, even further, sewers that are backing up (that would be sulphur, then). Nothing detrimental, but it is distinguishable. Shiitake mushrooms appear as well. This nose is pure destruction, however. Very, very powerful. Mouth: phwoar! This is really uncompromising. Greasy peat, barbecued pineapple, crude oil, spilled on a ploughed field, yet also juicy fruit -- pineapple again, and also squashed strawberries. Finish: strawberry coulis and pineapple juice parade on scorched earth. This is dry, farm-y to a point (it still oozes tractor diesel from every drop), but it also has an unexpected sweetness. Wow! Were it not for an almost rubbery bitterness towards the Death, it would score higher. For now, it is... 7/10
High-flying tasting again. Pity CB called off, in the end.
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