27/01/2024 Burns' Night 2024: Fear of the Dark (Part 1)

A theme suggested by STL two years ago, on his first attendance. We forgot last year, but tonight is the night.

Frankly, it was hard to select both the whiskies and the music: so many possibilities! We will just have to use this theme again.

Gaija sadly cannot make it, this year, on account of one of his mates celebrating his birthday, today. As if that bloke was not going to celebrate another birthday next year. Tsk.

dom666 calls off on the day: he has caught every respiratory illness that ends in -itis.

dom666: "J'ai attrapé toutes les maladies respiratoires en -ite."

tOMoH: "Covite?"

STL: "La bite?"

That leaves Psycho, adc, JS, kruuk2, ruckus, STL, red71, sonicvince, Bishlouk and yours, truly. And we are well up for it!

Just as well, because there is a lot of work

The soundtrack: noizaddict - Fear of the Darkside

sonicvince tells us that the series Peaky Blinder takes place after the First World War, and that the men in it are all shell-shocked, afraid of the dark, and all.

Peaky Blinder (40%, Sadler's, Bourbon Casks) (sonicvince): nose: toothpaste (Psycho, who specifies: Signal+). I find it rubbery, with marzipan emerging in the long run. sonicvince finds wet sands on a construction site. Mouth: peppery (Bishlouk), and acidic (adc and kruuk2). Shortly, all find it easy and watery, yet it carries some marzipan again. Finish: fairly short and rubbery, it prolongs the marzipan-y touch, somewhat. It has some wax, and the aftertaste is chewy and a half. This reminds me of The Pogues, and is as adequate a set opener as that one. 7/10

JS starts off explaining that the next one is aged in a cask that previously contained 4Hands' Absence of Light beer, from St Louis, Missouri. Quickly, she corrects that: it is actually that beer, distilled and aged.

StilL 630 1yo Presence of Darkness (40.5%, OB Beer Collaboration Series VII, Oak Barrels, B#2, b#524) (JS): nose: quite herbal, it plays with botanical herbs to a marvellous effect. Underdone crusty bread, maybe overripe fruit (sonicvince), cooked cereals (Psycho), violet boiled sweets (sonicvince), Barbour grease, and the sweat of a mechanic. Mouth: flat Irn Bru, all sorts of herbs in soda, or other soft drinks. Finish: yeasty, rye-like. It is mellow and sweet, teeming with sweet corn and Custard Cream biscuits. Rightly welcomed by all. 7/10

Appetisers, courtesy of red71

Bishlouk: "Ça manque un peu de couilles, en bouche." [It lacks balls on the palate, a bit.]

Everyone: "?"

Bishlouk: "I was very flexible, as a baby."

Psycho [later]: "On the palate, on the other hand..."

tOMoH: "...it lacks balls, a bit?"

sonicvince introduces the next one, and observes the box looks a bit like a casket. Someone in a casket, he tells us, is trapped in the dark.

kruuk2: "C'est l'hiver. Il fait sombre jusque tard. On le remarque surtout quand on se lève tôt-l'matin."

It requires the Rescue Rangers

Tomatin Decades b.2011 (46%, OB, Bourbon & Sherry Casks, L030556, 9000b) (sonicvince): nose: without surprise, it is a fruity number, with a tropical aspect, and more orchard fruits: unripe Grany Smith apples, hard pears, Cameo apples (sonicvince) -- well, all sorts of apples, but we all agree that it is indeed apples. STL adds caramelised quince, kruuk2 notices compote. It gains vanilla with time. Mouth: a lovely fruitiness, yet it is quite peppery and sharp too, not unlike rocket leaves. The second sip is chalkier, chewy and plaster-y. In the long run, crushed Aspirin comes up, as do citrus fruits. Finish: long, fruity again, much more intense than its predecessor. We have chalky apples, and crushed Aspirin Junior tablets. This is very good, despite my dreary notes. 8/10

STL [about Bishlouk's joke]: "Écoute, je ne t'écoute plus!" [Listen, I'm not listening to you anymore!]

Soup enters. A delicious leek-and-chickpea soup that no-one takes photos of.

sonicvince goes occult, and introduces Black Art -- because STL, who built the line-up, clearly wants him done and gone by 22:00.

Bruichladdich 21yo 1989/2010 Black Art 02.2 (49.7%, OB, American & European Oak Casks, 6000b, 10/264) (sonicvince): nose: it smells like grapes, almost vine (Psycho). adc pictures an old, dusty notebook with a felt cover. I find it leathery, with old moccasins, cedar wood, and figs, dried to a state where they are indistinguishable from boot soles. Mouth: winy on the tongue, tannic, but also dry and full of rancio and fox's skin. It remains well pleasant, but it is obviously marked by the wine casks it was matured in. Finish: long, Madeira-like, musky, augmented with cracked black pepper too. The aftertaste reminds sonicvince of coffee. We had this, ahem, thirteen years ago, before this blog existed. It was sonicvince's first participation, and he was not so keen on it. I remember thinking it was not really my profile. We both enjoy it much more, tonight. 7/10

The soundtrack: ruckus: Fear of the Dark

 

Main course enters.

Haggises (vegetarian and meat)

Carrot, turnip and potato purée (bottom)

Potato and mushroom gratin (top)

Parsnip, turnip, carrot, and rosemary tray bake

Psycho takes the stage to say that, when one is young, one tends to like horror stories and a good fright. When he was young, he continues, he liked Stephen King's Tommy-Knock-ers-ando.

Knockando 25yo 1980/2005 (48.3%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, C#1908, 260b, b#10) (Psycho): nose: interestingly concentrated and explosive, with lemon curd, lemon-drizzle cake, and a spoonful of turfy grass. It turns yeastier, over time, almost fizzy. Mouth: mellow, quaffable, yet it has a small dose of soft gingery paste. Then, we detect crushed Custard Cream biscuits, and lemon-drizzle cake, as well as a few grains of salt, on the tip of the tongue. Finish: very long, it has dried tangerine peels and salt again. This is as formidable as I remembered it. An unassuming, yet reliable deliverer. Formidable. And now sadly empty. 9/10

red71 tells us that the producer of the song Fear of the Dark is called Martin Birch-laddich.

Bruichladdich 20yo 1993/2013 (51.6%, Cadenhead Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 738b, 13/346) (red71): nose: cereals (red71), conifer (adc), dried figs (adc). I find it cereal-y indeed, with a clear note of cardboard. Mouth: citrus (adc), clementines. It is citric indeed, with lemon-drizzle crumbs sprinkled on oats. Cardboard gains ground on the palate, in subsequent sips, augmenting a dollop of custard. Finish: intense and powerful, it has a lovely, gingery custard. Another stonking Bruich by this renowned  Campbeltown bottler. 8/10

Bishlouk shows us a bottle that, he says, is not really in theme, but it is on its last leg, and he wants to finish it. Looking closer, he realises the picture on the label is rather gloomy. Good enough for us.

Littlemill 24yo 1989/2014 (51.7%, Whisky-Doris, Bourbon Hogshead, C#32, 357b, b#109) (Bishlouk): nose: strikingly, it is a continuation of the Bruichladdich, with custard cream, crushed Aspirin, and a pinch of ash. Mouth: oh! yeah, it has that Littlemill crushed Aspirin alright, then a lot of buttery yellow fruits, namely mangoes, plums and nectarines. Finish: fruits aplenty (the same mangoes, plums and nectarines). I struggle to put words on what I taste, but this is very, very good. 9/10

red71 [to Psycho]: "What is funny is that, since you went for a smoke, when you talk to me, I have smoke in my glass. It doesn't bother me. I like that."

tOMoH [to Psycho]: "When you talk to me, please look at red71, because it bothers me."

Psycho shows us a Douglas Laing Old Particular with an unusual black (dark) label.

Glengoyne 15yo 2005/2021 (58.4%, Douglas Laing Old Particular for Master of Malt, Refill Bourbon Cask, C#14639) (Psycho): nose: tangerines left out on the countertop for a few days, and turning less fragrant as a result. We also have mixed peel soaked in cold water. Mouth: jammy, but also quite intense, with cracked green pepper, and dried chives. Finish: powerful, softly acidic, it is fruity and softly bitter -- cut kakis and longans, topped with a dusting of grated chalk. The latter dissipates, over time. We had this expression previously. It is still as good. 7/10

kruuk2 produces D.R.K.N.S.S., which, tOMoH points out, is Walloon for: DRoK, Nenni, SééS!

D.R.K.N.S.S. (46%, Asta Morris, Sherry Cask, B#2, 601b, b#446) (kruuk2): nose: wood and sap (adc), liquorice (sonicvince). It smells like a simple and generic sherry-casked whisky, which, of course, it is. Caramelising butter grows in power. Mouth: Objectively speaking, it is a little thin, but it gives orange peels, sizzling in browned butter. That is pleasantly reminiscent of Glenrothes. Finish: dark chocolate (Bishlouk), PiM's (remember: the posh version of, and inspiration for Jaffa cakes)... It is a continuation of the caramelised mixed peel from the palate, now made more appealing to these Belgians with the addition of dark chocolate. 6/10

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