29/04/2023 Cut Your Wolf Loose

Back in Brighton, at last. It was more than a decade since tOMoH last graced the streets of the Queen of Watering Places. Local WhiskyLovingPianist has been inviting us for a while, but, now he is soon to become an expat, the clock is-a ticking. In fact, today is more or less the final chance to meet him. Phew. JS and I make it to the coast, then, and meet our favourite keyboard player in his local: Cut Your Wolf Loose.

Seconds after coming in, a member of staff asks us if we need help; another tells the first that we are with WhiskyLovingPianist: the first immediately backs down with an air of deference, as if to say: "There is nothing I can help you with, Ye of Greater Knowledge." It is, of course, incorrect, but amusing.

We quickly find something to drink. Something we have never seen before.

Tormore 28yo 1992/2021 (42.4%, Chorlton Whisky, Hogshead, 253b): nose: lemon drops, crystallised pears, and white-wood shavings (birch is my guess). This is stunningly fresh, in a white-wine sort of way, and turns sugary, over time. The mouth is a strong mix of forsythia wood, white wine and milk chocolate. The second sip gets rid of the forsythia-related bitterness, and pushes up a flowery sweetness. Finish: thin and close to white wine, it is dry and slightly herbaceous. The second sip brings back a soft bitterness of unripe grapes, but also cotton candy, and custard-y grape turnovers. Coming back to it later, it is so much sweeter that it may just as well be a different dram. 8/10

Tullibardine 29yo 1993/2022 (47.5%, Chorlton Whisky, ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 181b): WhiskyLovingPianist reckons the nose is close to a Balblair's, but it is more cereal-y, and less herbaceous than a Balblair, in my opinion. Minutes in, it turns fragrant (cornflowers) and butyric. It is not exactly Parmesan -- closer to baby sick, actually. Mouth: butyric here too, and, thankfully, cured pineapple. Finish: big, lactic, this finish offers an unexpected meaty nuance. 8/10

WhiskyLovingPianist: "That point where you tap into... genius. I am a genius. You can write that down."

Glentauchers 31yo 1989/2021 (47.5%, Chorlton Whisky, Bourbon Barrel, 153b): nose: rubbed citrus peel, loud and clear, limoncello, bits of tarragon, lemon mint... Phwoar! It develops mandarin peels, after a while, which is to say it becomes softer and less acidic. Mouth: potent and minty, with a dose of chalk, cucumber peel, quinine, and a hefty pour of limoncello. The second sip is mellower, velvety, flirting with milk chocolate. Finish: long, more assertive than the Tormore, but mellow, still. Here are sponge cake and marmalade. Lovely. 8/10

WhiskyLovingPianist: "JS, do you score whisky?"
JS: "No, it's too variable. I'd score something 81 one day, and 93 the following day."
WhiskyLovingPianist: "It's amazing how good I am [at scoring consistently]."

The next round is more difficult to choose. So many options; how to seize the best? Ah! This, perhaps...

Not familiar with a name, I ask the staff for an explanation. "A peaty Highland malt. Not sure which, but I reckon it is Benrinnes." I do not agree: firstly, there is a Benrinnes from the same collection right next to it; why would this one hide its provenance? I reckon a Ben Nevis, who are perhaps becoming protective of their brand... until I spot the neck tag that reads: "Peated Benriach." Here we go, then. The lad tells me it is a bit of a Marmite dram.

Faemussach 21yo b.2022 (56%, Chorlton Whisky, Hogshead, 313b): nose: boof! This is so organic. It has cured meat, wine sauce, soft leather bags, moccasins, compost. Next are red-wine casks and sulphur fertiliser in hessian sacks. Lastly, a generous shovelful of earth. Mouth: ooft! That is one wine-y number, sandy, muddy, with more cured meat and game casserole. The second sip has wine-infused caramel and boozy fudge. Finish: huge, meaty, peppered with grated chalk. More of a curiosity than a great drop, as far as my taste is concerned, but it is an experience alright. WhiskyLovingPianist loves it to bits, then is not sure, then hates it, in the space of three sips. 7/10

WhiskyLovingPianist: "Is that the Chorlton?"
tOMoH: "Yeah. Chorlton of the dead. Chorlton of the corn. Chorlton of the damned."
WhiskyLovingPianist: "Are you being amazing?"

Ardnamurchan 7yo 2015/2022 A Dram for Banksy The Little Brown Dog (61.1%, Little Brown Dog Spirits, Refill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead, 300b): nose: peaty and ashy, this is very dry, like hot black volcanic sands. We have dark wood, sawdust and torn tree bark too. Mouth: yum! Almond liqueur, smoked-almond liqueur, and a lick of distant, mushy peat. We spot lemon-y ash too, and if it starts in the background, it soon grows to prominence. Finish: huge, dishing out loads of tree bark and smoked almonds. It is never-ending, teeming with squashed raspberries and gunpowder, the kind used in an arquebus. Wow. 8/10

Clynelish 12yo 2010/2022 (54.6%, Cut Your Wolf Loose, Moscatel Pipe, 1b): this is essentially a large tasting sample. They have a few of these to try. Nose: wine, meat, and butyric. Knowing the distillery, of course, helps identify a wet cat. This is animal, musky, and not really my style. It is closer to the official 14yo, and far from any Clynelish I actually enjoy drinking. It reminds me why I overlooked that distillery for decades. Some interesting spices come through (sumac, Chinese five spices, or garam masala), as does wet fox. Mouth: wet, muddy plasticine, a pinch of salt, wax (earwax). The second sip is pretty acidic and warming. Finish: strong, warming, but indistinct. Maybe dark grapes and chewy plasticine. The second sip is fruitier, packed with grapes -- green, this time. 6/10

What is this?

Highland Park 28yo  (46.6%, Artful Dodger Whisky Collective, Sherry Hogshead, C#1271, 297b): nose: honey and mint paste, then lozenges and lavender, as well as lemon thyme. There are some wood shavings too, but, all in all, it is a lovely minty thing. More wood shavings, a gentle bitterness, moor-flower stems, dry as bracken. Finish: perfect balance of honey, propolis, beeswax, and faint smoke (heather or lavender). Superb. 9/10

Speyside Blended Malt 30yo  1989/2023 (51.2%%, Artful Dodger Whisky Collective, Refill Bourbon Barrel, C#4555, 317b): a tea-spooned Balvenie, the rumour goes. Nose: yellow flowers and furniture wax, yet, very quickly, it morphs into berries. Mouth: mh. Flowery, but also a bit thin. It grows in power with subsequent sips, with a spoonful of blackcurrant liqueur. Finish: surprisingly long, this is a custard-y finish, in line with what one might expect from this distillery. Still, not a patch on the Highland Park. Sequence mistake. 7/10

Inchfad 15yo (52.3%, Dràm Mòr, First Fill Amontillado Oak Hogshead, C#1076, 205b, b#168): nose: earthy bacon, smoky plasticine, chewy meat balls. Peat becomes more obvious with time, and the nose grows more farm-y and more petrolic -- in fact, it comes pretty close to tarry sands, a beach after a black tide. Mouth: oh! This is nice. Elderberry cordial and blackcurrant jam. Later on, it has the allure of a cheap blend, which is unexpected, to say the least. Happily, the earthy fruit comes back -- phew! Finish: big, full of dark-fruit jams (dark cherries, blackcurrants, elderberries), and a spoonful of muddy peat. This is good! 8/10

A pause, during which we shift to cocktails. I do not even take note of which ones we are having; one is rather bitter with maraschino cherries, the other is sweet as a liqueur, with orange peels. Both are good.

Glenglassaugh 40yo 1972/2013 (43.1%, The Scottish Liqueur Centre Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask, Sherry Butt, C#R13/08/01, 200b, b#32): nose: I wonder if my nose is shot: I get mucky peat! Physalis appears, after a moment, but that peaty side sticks. It is also fairly wine-y a nose, which is quite logical, since it is an ex-Sherry cask. Rotten grapes, grape-juice-soaked earth. It opens up with time, and reveals white fruit -- white peach, to be accurate, yet still soaked in wine. Mouth: woah! this is unusual. Lychee-infused sake (if that is a thing), or baiju. It develops into something thicker and coating, akin to orange liqueur (Cointreau). The second sip is rather cloying, with lots of wine-y fruit juice, then a bowl of milk, stained with berries jam. Finish: wide and long, liqueur-like, sweet and heady. Further sips are less wine-y, more fruity and velvety. Over time, we see tame lychee struggling to make itself heard. More mint too. Meh. Disappointment of the day. 7/10

The Cheshire First Release (46%, OB, Shaved Toasted and Re-Charred American Oak Quarter Casks + Finished in European Oak Barrels, b#2448): from the Weetwood Distillery, this is certainly a new one on me. Nose: cut carambola, freshly-cut conkers (WhiskyLovingPianist)... This is very fruity, and full of liquid honey. Mouth: ooh! It tumbles, here, with loads of acrylic paint inadequately supplementing cut fruits (carambola or Korean pear?) The finish is in the same vein as the nose: it is fruity, it has lots of vanilla (white oak, suggests WhiskyLovingPianist), it does the trick, yet it does not do it for me, today. 6/10

Tormore 31yo 1990/2021 (53%, Dekadent Drinks for Whisky Spunge Edition No. 33, 2 x First Fill Barrels, 422b): all in the name of a wee joke at our friend EG's expense, the Sponge has written a bogus bottler name (Dekadent Drinks instead of Decadent) and a bogus bottling commissioner (Whisky Spunge instead of Sponge) on the label. Wonder what HMRC has to say about that. Nose: mint drops, patchouli or incense, crushed cloves, clove ciggies, beedies. Later on, we have papaya, then blonde tobacco. Mouth: odd. Cologne, some fruit, mixed with Virginia tobacco, and strawberry bubble gum, injected with loads of cinnamon and ginger. At second sip, we have lots of sweet furniture polish, propolis and physalis. Finish: minty, long, cinnamon-y. Very good. I am a bit beyond notes, now. 8/10

WhiskyLovingPianist [eyeing his next dram from an almost-empty bottle]: "Might go for the Ardnamurchan again."
tOMoH: "You know it's good."
JS: "They'll call you the dregs man."
tOMoH: "What can I drink that is, erm, free?"

We try one more dram for which I take no notes, TB/BSW 6yo (46%, Thompson Bros.) 6/10, before JS and I catch the train that takes us back to the capital.

Very glad we made it before WhiskyLovingPianist departed. Cut Your Wolf Loose is a cool place indeed, lively, with friendly, knowledgeable staff, and with a good selection of things that I do not come across every day elsewhere.

JS and I reflect on how different the vibe was from the previous whisky bar we went to, namely The Golden Promise. There, they play jazz records (yes, vinyl), the place is very quiet, and, we can only imagine, intimidating, for anyone not in the know. Here, the music selection is eclectic (all over the shop, really), with stuff played from a computer, on the piano by the boss, or (later) live in the basement, and many punters come for that, not the whisky. The staff are in streetwear, have to climb on the benches to collect bottles to pour, with their shoes on the upholstery, and graffiti is tolerated, even encouraged.

Both nice places, but very different styles.

Fare well, WhiskyLovingPianist!