05/02/2022 Partygate

At Cavalier66's suggestion, we are gathering to commemorate the recent scandal in UK politics (lockdown-breaking office parties involving the Prime Minister and many others).

BA, CB, OB, Cavalier66 and JS have all brought good bottles for the occasion.

Word.

Also: 1960s-Bowmore socks

And sexual-encounter-of-the-partygate-type shirt

The soundtrack: Pye Corner Audio - Entangled Routes

The English Whisky Company 8yo b.2018 (52.3%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Sauternes and Bourbon Casks, B#2, 845b, b#487) (Cavalier66): the picture, Cavalier66 says, is how the English feel about the Prime Minister, at the moment: they see flames because of all the lies; they see little dragons, because he is sexually incontinent; they want to split him in two with a sword. Nose: sweet and spicy -- oh! so spicy. It smells of smoked paprika, old oak (CB), prunes, and, perhaps, earthy sherry. It is quite meaty, reeking of beef jerky and coq-au-vin, before watercolour and crusty earth bring it back to the soil. Water allows flowers to emerge and makes it smell like an ancient blend. Mouth: meaty and earthy, it is also spectacularly spicy -- garam masala, is particularly punchy. There is a hint of spent matches (CB), though it does not become too sulphur-y. Water makes it softer. In fact, it is now too soft, with forsythia macerating in water. Finish: big and boisterous, it has dry earth and beef jerky. Water adds a flower broth, but I cannot help feeling that I have drowned it (with only a few drops). It does have a lovely ancient-whisky feel, but it is too diluted. 7/10

The soundtrack: Dead Melodies - Fabled Machines Of Old

We talk about Ralfy (of ralfy.com).

CB: "I prefer his fitness channel."

tOMoH: "You're joking, right?"

CB: "Yes."

BA: "No: he really has a fitness channel." :-O

BA produces his bottle.

Cavalier66: "What is the connection to the theme?"

BA: "I drank a lot of this in the office."

Benrinnes 20yo b.2016 (50%, Speciality Drinks Edition Time II, 280b) (BA): nose: boiled sweets (Cavalier66), pine needles (everyone agrees with me on that), wax (BA), a little note of wedding dragée, vanilla lozenges and pine-y custard. The second nose brings a soft coffee note, as well as tarragon (JS). Mouth: ooft! Madeira-infused vanilla sponge cake, Gocce Pino's pine-y filling, toothpaste. The second mouth seems spicier, with something reminiscent of Fisherman's Friend -- that would be peppermint, then. Finish: excellent, full of mentholated vanilla custard and Gocce Pino filling. This is the highlight, so far. 8/10

JS introduces Tor(y no )more. Because after all these scandals,
the Tories will likely not come back to government for a while.

Tormore 29yo 1984/2013 (53.9%, www.whiskybroker.co.uk, Barrel, C#3674, 107b) (JS): nose: a pinch of yeast (Cavalier66 and OB call it Marmite, but that is far fetched), honeysuckle or jasmine (CB), engine oil in the background (BA), Flump (BA). I get toffee and strawberry. "It's not beach-chair-y, it's armchair-y" (Cavalier66). There is a note of soft menthol too, but mostly toffee and strawberry, in my view. Mouth: ginger biscuits replace the toffee from the nose. It has a tiny bitterness too, green-tea leaves, I would wager, and a growing spiciness (ginger most prominent). Finish: marvellous, this is mentholated and custard-y, with a minuscule hazelnut-y bitterness, hazelnut paste. Full notes here. 9/10

Cavalier66: "It was so funny: it became better and better with time, but the Marmite note stayed."

tOMoH: "It was a love it or love it whisky!"

Islington saucisson, ham and salami, Comté, Manchego,
olives, artisan bread, foccaccia and kouign-amann,
plus a selection of plantain crisps and Serious Pig snacking cheese

The soundtrack: Boccaccio Life (the foccaccia Cavalier66 brought makes me think of this, so...)

OB presents Loch(down)side. He adds that the Prime Minister was ambushed into a surprise birthday party, and OB opened this bottle for his own birthday party (which did not happen during lockdown).

Lochside 37yo 1981/2018 (48.6%, The Whisky Agency, Butt) (OB): nose: cut persimmon, cut peach, yellow plum, mirabelle plum. After a while, some earthier, gently meatier sherry notes come to the fore. That translates into burnt wood, at some point, very faint. Mouth: soft, mellow, it is silky, coating and fruity, with just a tiny note of moss on slate or lichen on stave that does not at all conceal juicy plum and persimmon soaked in sangria. Excellent. Finish: long, syrupy, full of currants. Some pine sap, maybe? Yes, it is less tropical than the nose had us hope, but it remains a treat. 9/10

BA: "I used to buy bottles from 1981 for my brother, because it is his vintage. I always forget he's teetotal."

tOMoH: "It is cut fruit and flowers in mud. It is fantastic."

OB [who is disappointed with his own bottle, today]: "You're probably right, and I'm probably wrong, but..."

tOMoH: "What did you say?"

OB: "Shut up."

Cavalier66 notes that partygate made the Irish question worse. Facing complaints that that is not funny enough, Cavalier66 explains that the Irish like a good party, and that is why we are having Irish whisky."

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 26yo b.2017 (54.2%, Halewood, Bourbon Cask, 300b, b#238) (Cavalier66): this time, the unbelievable fruitiness is joined by a pronounced herbaceous note (verbena, sage) that reminds me of 117.3. It also is much louder than I remembered it. Let me be brief, because I am behind: it is really ridiculously fruity. Mouth: bold fruit -- jackfruit, says Cavalier66, persimmon, pomelo (BA), yellow peach, crushed apricot and peach pulp. Finish: a tropical-fruit explosion. Let us leave it at that. Full notes here. 10/10

tOMoH: "Have you tried this before, CB?"

CB: "I think I tried it at the Whisky Show..."

tOMoH: "I have to correct you: you tried it at Whisky Show."

CB: "I was about to add: it was probably not the best context."

Cavalier66: "It was probably not best context."

The soundtrack: Boccaccio Life 3 -- The Classics

The Old Man Of Huy presents: Partygate, fast becoming Glen-Keir's Treasure (for Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition).

St. Magdalene 26yo 1982/2009 (59.1%, Douglas Laing for The Whisky Shop Glenkeir Treasures Cask Strength Selection, 144b) (tOMoH): nose: a mix of currants, flint and warming wood by the fire, with also grape-pip oil. Mouth: some pepper, flint again, pebbles. It is not an easily-accessible Maggie. It is drying and austere (if not the most austere of them), with just a drop of pressed currants. Later on, it comes up with a stack of menthol too. Finish: huge, flinty, acidic, ripe with decaying currants. I will take longer note another time. The only thing I will say is that it is one to spend time with. Drink it too quickly and it will hurt you. 9/10

CB presents the prorogation of Parliament. On 28 August 2019, the Parliament of the United Kingdom was ordered to be prorogued by Queen Elizabeth II upon the advice of the Conservative Prime Minister, advice later ruled to be unlawful.

The GlenDronach 21yo Parliament b.2020 (48%, OB , Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso Sherry Casks, LP11163) (CB): nose: dark cocoa powder, cola (Cavalier66), pressed raisins (BA). Honestly, it has a touch of sulphur too. "This is like a classy Dalmore," says CB. Mouth: a bit thin, after the previous high-ABV drams, but it has watery chocolate, it seems. Finish: prunes and Corinth raisins, dates, figs, and Caramella Mokatine. Pretty good. 7/10

The soundtrack: R.I.C. - Distance

OB: on the 13th November 2020, the Prime Minister allegedly hosted a party, and his wife Carrie allegedly played a song by Abba-rlour.

Sinking to new lows. Love it.

Aberlour 17yo 2003/2020 Single Cask Edition (58.5%, OB The Distillery Reserve Collection, 1st Fill Butt, C#9034, 900b, b#799, LKNP1534) (OB): nose: beef stock, beef-stock cubes, in fact: it is dry, salty and crumbly. Maybe there is a drop of Worcestershire sauce in there, somewhere. Oilskins appear too. Water makes it musty and a little more flowery. Mouth: distinct sugar arises in a sea of beef stock. Water does not change it much. Finish: big, it has oxtail broth and cocoa powder mixed in with dark beef stock again. There is a gentle bitterness of liquorice as well, but what dominates the finish is cocoa. Water turns it into cola with a pinch of coffee grounds. 7/10

BA introduces the next bottle: "This Arran was bottled for a Lynn. There is a Lynn in every office who makes sure that everything runs ok. She makes sure there is booze for all office parties, for example."

Lochranza 21yo 1996/2018 (50.2%, Undisclosed Bottler for Nigel & Lynn Arnold, C#1511) (BA): nose: sweet pine drops, pine bark. Thirty minutes in, the nose sees Haribo banana sweets, marzipan, melting and caramelising in a pan. It comes close to pine cones and unripe pineapple, with time. Mouth: liquorice bark, cedar resin and sumac. Finish: this is long, pine-y to a point it is borderline citrus-y, with candied pine cones and pine needles. There is a pinch of sumac again, then the sweetness of figs and dried dates -- or is it concentrated tamarind, perhaps? 7/10

My co-tasters have the Ardbeg Fermutation (49.4%, Duty Paid Sample). I am behind, so I ask to have it later (it was supposed to be next to last anyway), then run out of time. Ah, well.

Cavalier66 and OB leave.

CB: "The party arguments have felt like a long row."

Longrow 13yo 1989/2002 (53.2%, OB, Sherry Wood, 2350b) (CB): nose: fresh, it has herbs, dried toothpaste, then farm-y scents -- muddy, earthy paths, mud, caked onto tractor tyres, ploughed fields. There is a lovely, subdued orange-peel note as well. Mouth: mentholated citrus, bitter orange, blush orange, pink-grapefruit peels and something really sweet. Not much of the farmland subsists, other than a pinch of dirt. Finish: long, assertive and elegant, fresh, citrus-y. In one word: excellent. 8/10

CB: "The Prime Minister is a bit of the Laph-ing stock of the political world."

Laphroaig 21yo 1998/2020 (59.9%, Douglas Laing Old Particular, Refill Sherry Butt, C#DL 14020, 228b) (CB): nose: roar! Mud and roasted cereals, immediately. It smells surprisingly balanced, with a film of bacon fat rubbed onto it, and embers. Oh! the bacon is growing quite bold, now, and it is joined by leather. Much later on, a gently waxy touch appears too; drying watercolour, I would say. At a push, there are dry tropical fruits, albeit shy ones. Mouth: savagely peaty, full of varnish and syrupy cherry juice. It is drying like lichen on liqueur-soaked staves, peppered with ash -- or maybe they are still embers. Dark cherries, stewed at very high heat, blackcurrant jam, still warm from the pot. Finish: long and powerful, this bulldozes all in its path. At first, it is hot blackcurrant and dark-cherry jam, then dried mud and crumbly peat take over, though that never completely eclipses the dark fruits. A very good Laphroaig, this. Not medicinal at all. 8/10

We finish around 20:20, after an excellent afternoon.