31/12/2021 NYE drams at Dornoch Castle Hotel

This morning, we went for a hike, then we had a late lunch. Now, to the bar.

Glen Grant 10yo 100° Proof (57%, Gordon & MacPhail, b.1980s): nose: ground ginger, sawdust, ground galangal and all sorts of dusty old woods. Later, it is a mild brine, faded gherkins and rollmops, at the end of whatever reception they were served at. The wood turns more openly pine-y, with dusty pine cones and sawdust. Even later, there is a distant waxiness and a pinch of soot. The second nose seems even dryer, a pine undergrowth covered in bark chips and needles from last year, but also quince jelly. The fruit comes out more with water, amazingly, but so does the ginger. Still, although it does not alter the nature of the whisky dramatically, water balances it out a little. Mouth: powerful entrance, with devastating white pepper, a massive discharge of ginger powder, and something milky in the back, though one has to work to find it, behind the initial shock of 57% ABV. Honestly, this is almost uncomfortable, on the palate -- a constant struggle made worse by the fact I seem to have burnt the roof of my mouth with the hot Jenga chips from lunch. The second sip starts off more approachable, but quickly resumes the assault, albeit a fruitier assault. It is a joy to try, but it is also a dram one conquers. Not an easy one. Water makes it more mellow and gives it chocolate, both milk and bitter. Keeping it in the mouth for a while increases the gingery heat on the palate too. Finish: big and long, peppery, it leaves the mouth dry and stripped like peppermint (even though the taste is not the same). Lots of ginger powder and ground galangal root and cassia bark. Very, very dry... and hot. Repeated sipping sees growing apricot jam and orange marmalade, both hot as embers. Searing. Watered down, it is long and quite ravaging, still, gingery, with galangal too, woody and fierce. JS finds it sourer and more lemony. Perfect for a cold day's hiking. It is warm today, but hey, it is still good. 8/10

Glen Grant 21yo (70° Proof, Gordon & MacPhail, b.1970s, SC295): nose: superb depth! It has the delicateness of peach pulp and the blackness of soot in equal doses. There is something almost cardboard-like, in here. Suddenly, it is all old toolboxes and a mechanic's workshop, though more for the old, oxidised metal than the grease. Amusingly, and despite the blue-collar references, it smells very distinguished and -- dare I say? -- noble. Mouth: custard with a twist of lemon, says adc. Ooft! This is quaffable. Silky, jam-like, it has quince jelly and peach jam, a notch of mint cream, with a dash of mango or guava, according to adc. I can see the mango indeed, not bold, but buttery, and providing a great texture. In the long run, the palate develops juicy chewing tobacco -- I guess that means tar. Finish: soft and mild-mannered, it seems almost extinct for half a second... until it becomes obvious that lovely jelly comes back up, with its fruit (peach) and a touch of soot or burnt wood. Over time, tar grows, sticky and juicy, incarnating a blend of liquorice and Fisherman's Friend, but better than those two. This is lovely AF!  A comfortable 9/10

Ledaig 21yo d.1973 (43%, Hart Brothers): nose: strangely briny, this one has pickled herring and a refreshing vinaigrette salad. Fresh, briny, but it does not stop there: it also has a soft note of char or soot. The second nose turns out stronger than the first, clearing the nostrils, if not really stripping them. It is still jammy, but warmer, and it adds pepper, this time. Mouth: unbelievably gentle and soft (trying hard not to use the word 'smooth', here, in case it is not obvious). We have more yellow-fruit jelly, honey on toast... unless it is honey-glazed, smoked halibut fillets. It being a Ledaig, it has its share of burnt wood, though that is very much in the background, almost an afterthought. The second sip is even rounder, silkier, close to peach nectar or mango juice: thick, coating and plain juicy. Finish: assertive, not boisterous, this has caramelised marmalade, very little soot left, and virtually no kipper-y influence, now. On the other hand, there is drop of the nose's vinaigrette, coming back to underline the wonderful juiciness of it all -- satsuma, mango, peach -- and a pinch of soot. Fantastic, jammy Ledaig. 9/10

A mischievous cedar waxwing swoops in and tries to nick our drams

Glen Grant 38yo (70° Proof, Gordon & MacPhail, SC295, b.1970s): short notes, since we had this two years ago. Nose: the Cognacquiest nose outside of Cognac, I would say. It is really brandy-like, dishing out sultanas, plump raisins and a schtickle of mint cream. Mouth: soft and juicy, coating, velvety, it has a mild, sooty tang (or is it the open fire? It has been wafting smoke into the room for a while), then raisins and prunes. Finish: heart-stoppingly juicy, grape-y, prune-y, raisin-y. It is just as excellent as last time. 10/10

Chilling by the fireplace, so to speak

Time to retire to the rooms, freshen up and dress up, then we make our way to the dining room for the gala dinner.

With the restrictions in place, it is a strange affair that sees no mingling (one household per table) and an atmosphere very different to that of other years. Nevertheless, it is also the best food we have had here, we all agree.

We play spot-the-typos, cos we're bastards -- at least, I am ;)

Lightly-Curried Cauilflower Velute (sic)

Darne of Thmpson Bros Gin Cured Salmon (sic + not a darne)

Duo of Beef

Brown Butter and Chocolate Ganache

It is a sailboat, yes!

Tain Cheddar and Fruit Cake

The dinner is the best food we have ever had in Dornoch, we reckon, except for the Cheddar and fruitcake: it is good, but a sequence mistake. Tomorrow, when asked for feedback by the manager, I will liken the dinner to the line-up of 1970s Glen Grant we had (see above), and the cheese and fruitcake to a Glen Grant 12yo bought from Lidl: good in its own right, but it is out of place, after the others. That will elicit a giggle too.

Replenished, not bloated, we decide it is time to finish 2021 with a bang.

Bang.

Springbank 33yo 1970/2004 (47.9%, Ian MacLeod & Co selected by & exclusively bottled for The Whisky Fair, C#2964, 142b): nose: distant, dusty Virginia tobacco and pastry aplenty. I find custardy turnovers with cinnamon apple and hazelnut powder. It has a gingery, woody touch to it, which gives it some lively spices and balsawood sawdust, but on the whole, it noses pretty sweet. Mouth: it starts out juicy and sweet, full of sticky mango juice and grenadine. That is soon joined by fierce ginger powder and balsawood sawdust. The mouth grows to an unexpected intensity, really: hot, woody, peppery, gingery. It retains juicy fruit throughout. Remarkable. Revisiting it after the next two drams makes it seem better, fruitier, full of jam and jelly. Finish: rather wide and fruity, it remains fiercely peppery in the finish (ground white pepper). The wood spice is a lot to take, flirting with bitterness, in the long run. Balsawood sawdust, powdered lemongrass, ground ginger and white pepper again. Not much fruit in this finish, unfortunately. At a push, a caramel stickiness clings to the mouth. Coming back to it later on, after the next couple of (much-higher-ABV) drams, that changes, as it did on the palate: more compote, jam, and, well, baked or stewed fruit. This is not the best Springbank by a long shot, but it is pretty good all the same. "Decent," says JS. A decent £50 dram. :-) 8/10

Oban 16yo (64%, OB The Manager's Dram chosen by the employees to commemorate The 200th Anniversary of Oban Distillery, Sherry Cask, b.1994): I completely fell in love with this in 2011, when I tried it in a line-up of monster-sherried Manager's Drams. It was before this blog existed. The bottle was available here by the dram two years ago, but I passed. Now, realising this might be my very last chance to try it (the price of a bottle at least tripled between 2011 and 2021), I decide to seize it. Nose: the Sherry influence is unsurprisingly tremendous. Viscous, sticky like cough syrup to a point that transpires in the nose. And then, it is wood lacquer, nail varnish, bitumen paint for boats, followed by a rising coastal character: tarry ropes, salty seabream, cured ham, hanging in the hull of a sea boat. Phwoar! adc finds caramel and charcoal. She is right on the caramel front. Burr walnut, wood stain, walnut oil and walnut liqueur. It is hard to not be a little overwhelmed by the sheer power, though. It stops one in one's track. In the long run, it is polished leather that comes out strong, as well as tobacco. Water tones everything down and dials up earthy coffee. Then, it is tropical fruit, all of a sudden: marinated white peach, marinated dragon fruit and tinned lychee. Mouth: wow! this is sticky. Properly cloying stuff. I never knew the first time I had this, but this tastes like it was matured in a PX cask: it is massively sweet. Corn syrup, maple syrup, prunes, raisins in syrup, gooey black-bun mince, dried dates and sticky figs in syrup. This palate is an ode to sherry casks, or, to put it differently, a 64%-ABV Sherry of great quality. Water helps it burn the tongue less without otherwise changing it: it stays sweet and fruity with lots of sherry goodness. Finish: well, it is huge, innit. Not as huge as one may fear, actually -- and it is a lot sweeter too. The same deep, dark fruits (raisins, figs, dates, prunes) parade elegantly, and that parade lasts forever. The second sip adds earthy coffee to the mix, and it works. With water, the finish becomes even juicier, even fruitier. It is also less sticky, closer to a thinned juice than a syrup, now. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. It is still my favourite The Manager's Dram. Exhausting, but so good. 9/10

Talisker d.1957 (53.3%, Gordon & MacPhail Original "Cask" Natural High Strength, Sherry Cask, b.1980s): what better way for adc to finish the year with her favourite distillery? (Yeah, I know, I try not to judge either). Nose: it has an impressive depth that dishes out dust and sea air, barrels of mackerel and cured sardines. There is also something more delicate that kind of hints at flowers, but it is probably fruits instead (white peach and dragon fruit). In fact, that fruitiness becomes quite obvious with time, augmented with a pinch of soot and burnt wood. Further nosing sees in a blend of ginger powder and sawdust. Mouth: the balance is terrific. Peach juice rubs feathers with more-tropical fruits (dragon fruit and smoked lychee), and that overshadows the coastal influences, making sea air and fishing nets hardly detectable. Finish: long, juicy and fruity, this has minty peach juice complementing a soft wood smoke and bitumen paint for boats. Repeated sipping makes it taste tarrier and tarrier, bringing it close to rubber, though it never crosses the line. This reminds me of liquorice all the same, and nigella seeds sprinkled on prunes. What a dram! What a way to end the year! 10/10

Have I had too many?

The street party has been cancelled, this year, but the hotel is putting up a smaller fireworks display in the garden at midnight. It is generous and a good attempt to keep the tradition going. The atmosphere is, again, weird. Here are people who have not had several hours at the same table to break the ice, some of them are wearing masks, and most are observing social distancing. Few hugs and kisses accompany the well-wishes, and no-one sings Auld Lang Sine. COVID-19 has not entirely triumphed over the celebrations, but it certainly has had a noticeable impact nonetheless. Ah, well. It will pass.