27/01/2024 Burns' Night 2024: Fear of the Dark (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1.

The soundtrack: the Old Man of Huy - Fear Of The Dark

 

Under adc's pressure, the first cake enters

We just talked about Glenrothes... Bishlouk tells the story of Byeway, an African servant whose ghost allegedly haunts the Glenrothes distillery, a scary story in itself. He also talks about a song by Whisky Dick called Afraid of the Dark, which is unrelated, and I cannot find a reference to.

Glenrothes 19yo 1997/2016 (53.7%, Claxton The Single Cask, Sherry Butt, C#1610-7154, 669b, b#554) (Bishlouk): nose: delicate burnt rubber, and shoe polish, as well as musky fox skins rubbed in dirt. Mouth: warm, drying, spicy, it has black cumin and nigella seeds, charry and desiccating. Finish: burnt rubber, burnt liquorice, charred nigella seeds. This is properly desiccating, great at what it does, but not more my kind of profile tonight than it was when we had in May. 6/10

STL [looking up Bishlouk's long notes on Whiskybase]: "You were a poet, then."

tOMoH: "That's why he brought a Claxton. To go poet-poet."

Generous pours too

Jokes abound about Claxton's bottle format, likened to a perfume bottle, or a crystal decanter.

kruuk2: "Connais pas, ça, Claxton."

tOMoH: "Pourtant, ils font pas mal de bruit. Leurs sorties font des entrées en fanfare."

(I will not translate)

The crystal-decanter comparison leads to Dark Crystal.

ruckus: "Y avait pas une série Dark Crystal, aussi?"

Bishlouk: "Ouais, c'était nul. J'adorais le film, j'ai regardé la série, je me suis dit: "Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça?'"

tOMoH: "Non! Qu'est-ce que Skeksès."

(Again, I will not translate.)

tOMoH reminds everyone that he had brought SC 73 to the latest tasting with this group, because it is matured in a beer cask, probably a blonde-beer cask -- a James Blonde-beer cask. We ended up not trying it then. Tonight, we are definitely having it, because it is as likely to have matured in a dark-beer cask. Ha!

SC 73 10yo b.2023 (58.2%, SMWS The Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Wasted Degrees Table Beer Quarter Cask Finish) (tOMoH): nose: honey and citrus (sonicvince), cake (Psycho, who also finds it warm and comforting). It is an explosion of sparkling joy to me, close to a fruity fizzy drink. Mouth: extremely drying, pumped with lactic acid. Psycho discovers apple-and-lemon cake. Finish: an agreeable sweetness (red71), or a desiccating profile (kruuk2). It is as divisive as ever: I enjoy it as much as before (well, a little less, based on scores), Bishlouk hates it. 7/10

STL: "You're hard."

Bishlouk: "You like when I'm hard."

STL: "It's rarer and rarer."

For the next bottle, kruuk2 tells us that Macduff distillery is in the shadow of the nearby lighthouse, in a permanent semi-darkness. This undisclosed grain was bottled to celebrate that.

The Observatory 20yo b.2022 (40%, The Observatory Company Signature Series, L23101ZAB03) (kruuk2): allegedly distilled at Macduff, which is dubious, since Macduff does not have a column still. Of course, it could be a non-100%-malted-barley mash distilled in pot stills. Information is so scarce we will not know tonight. Nose: linseed oil (sonicvince), fabric, linen, burlap, hazelnut paste, faint coffee, drowned in milk. Mouth: (not cough) syrup (ruckus), salted caramel butter (STL). kruuk2 finds it watery. It is indeed soft as hell, and perhaps suffers from the sequence, a little. Finish: creamy, it is caramel flan, plain and simple. Here is one to try in different circumstances. 6/10

tOMoH: "At 40%, after those monsters, I'm afraid it won't shine."

adc: "Of course, it won't! It's in the shadow."

red71: "C'est tout doux, tout aqueux."

Bishlouk: "Non, ça, c'est un chat."

(Another one I will not translate.)

The second cake enters, courtesy of STL (well, his daughter, really)

Bishlouk: "A small piece like JS's, that's enough."

sonicvince: "They're all the same size."

This size

tOMoH notes that we had the next bottling a couple of years ago, but it is in theme, so we will have a repeat. Also, it is excellent, so no-one will complain. It has to do with the naval supremacy the Ukrainians acquired in the Black Sea (the dark reference). To avoid detection, communication about weapons delivery were coded, and the Ukrainians and Brits used whisky references. They would talk about a cargo of Glenfiddich and a delivery of Glenmorangie. Read more in this article.

Glenmorangie 23yo d.1963 (43%, OB distributed by Wilmerink & Muller, Oloroso Sherry Casks Finish) (group): I will endeavour to spend more time with this another time. For now, it seems to brings a certain evidence. It is merely 43%, it is delicate, but by no means fragile, perfectly brought into the spotlight by the preceding grain, which skilfully acted as a palate cleanser. Ensues a big discussion about where to fit a bottle like this in a line-up. Anywhere is as good an idea as it is a bad one, really -- both for this dram, and for whatever comes before or after. The only thing to say tonight is that it is head and shoulders above the rest. I will finish my dram around six hours from now, and it will still slap. 10/10

Coffee is served, which helps some stay awake (sleepy eyes all around the table), but messes the sense for the next dram.

tOMoH: "JS would like to suggest a theme for a future  tasting: Enter the Dragon."

ruckus: "I have the shirt, already."

adc presents a fear-inducing whisky -- a Scare-pa.

kruuk2: "Scapa moyen que tu nous serves un verre?"

Scapa 12yo 2009/2022 (48.2% OB Distillery Exclusive, First Fill American Oak Barrels, 1998b, b#226, LKNS 2095) (adc): nose: a lick of coffee (or is it the cups on the table?), caramelised puffed rice, hot metal, and warm haybales. Mouth: it tingles joyously, almost sparkly (Psycho), giving a clear-ish sweetness (red71), or a saltiness (kruuk2). It is pretty drying, seemingly much stronger than the modest advertised ABV. The second sip has a lot of citric acidity. Finish: warming and chocolate-y, teeming with melted chocolate paste, milky chicory infusion, and chocolate mousse made with milk chocolate. Excellent drop. 8/10

We talk about the size of the line-up and the time it is.

tOMoH: "Six left. Normal. You don't get to 6am by finishing at 2am."

ruckus: "what does one do, when they're afraid of the dark?"

"One turns the light on!"

Linkwood 12yo 2010/2022 (58%, Keeble Cask Fragrant Drops imported by Perfectdram, Fresh Tokaji Barrel, C#3001290, 260b) (ruckus): nose: rancio-y to the max, then musky, with wet cat and toasted white bread. We find a hot moka pot, after a while, then it turns earthy. Oloroso, no doubt. Mouth: muscular, drying, hairy. 'Stripping' would be too strong a word, but it certainly cleanses the teeth. Finish: it is a good sherried whisky, but it is pretty brutal. Subsequent sips are less incredibly violent, but it remains bold, all in all. A huge Oloroso-sherry-matured whisky. 7/10

The third cake enters

We fail to kill it entirely. Too stuffed

I try, though

The next dram's name, Poit Dhubh, means Black Stills. Suitably dark. Also, it is in tainted glass.

Poit Dhubh 30yo b.2006 (43%, Pràban na Linne 30th Anniversary Edition, b#230) (tOMoH): nose: silt, salty samphire, and a clear sweetness too. We have a lot of very-dry wax, which is quite heady -- in a good way. Mouth: Psycho finds it rough, and, indeed, it is a little stripping, akin to chewing on toothpaste -- a smoky toothpaste. Finish: astonishingly bold, at 43%, and after the Linkwood beast. It has dried sage, smoky and herbaceous. I am beyond good notes (full notes are here). This is very good. 8/10

JS's next dram is a shoo-in: the collection is called Darkness.

Springbank 21yo (46.5%, Atom Supplies Darkness Limited Edition, Oloroso Sherry Octaves Finish, b#115) (JS): nose: mulled wine (cloves, cinnamon sticks), and lots of yellow fruits -- plums, kumquats, mirabelle plums, perhaps even yellow maracuja. Obviously, it has some Sherry too, but that is actually tamer than expected. Mouth: a lot more desiccating than anticipated, it has ground peach stones that still had bits of fruit flesh attached when they were ground, and overripe lychee. Finish: mellow, it hides its ABV perfectly, and balances a clear rubber with mango peels and other fruits. What a discovery this is! 9/10

Bishlouk escapes in the cold.

Psycho digs deep into his sack of puns, and gives us a Highland Dark.

Highland Park 25yo b.2004 (50.7%, OB, Sherry Casks) (Psycho): nose: it is drier than the Springbank, but otherwise not that dissimilar. Smoky orange rinds, grilled pineapples, and leather pouches. It grows drier with time, giving dried plum skins. Mouth: noble, the palate offers smoky caramelised marmalade, a lick of rubber, shoe polish, and, if there are fruits, it is smoked plums, and smoked mixed peel. Finish: leathery, it is now a little too dry, perhaps. Still, all in all, we all love this.  I find it more to my taste than dom666's, that we had four years ago. 8/10

STL tells us the badge on the next bottle is the only part of the packaging that is black. When he opened the box the badge fell down. STL does not know why. Maybe it was afraid, in its dark box.

Kilchoman Fino Sherry Cask Matured b.2023 (50%, OB Limited Edition, Fino Sherry Casks, 15650b, 23/32) (STL): nose: well, it carries the Kilchoman DNA without shame. Buckets of mud, silt, burnt wood. Later, we have burnt chocolate, and toasted panettone crust sprinkled with ether. Mouth: fleeting salted anchovies (Psycho), and charcoal (sonicvince). It is punchy, yet it has a fruitiness to it; squashed strawberries in a muddy yoghurt. Finish: full of Kilchoman's markers again, with muddy strawberry yoghurt, and smashed banana. Repeated sipping dials up the smoke, and it is grilled sausages and TCP. Scratch that! Iso Betadine. This would be hard for me to enjoy in large quantities, but it is a good dram in this context. 7/10

adc bids goodbye.

red71 and sonicvince miraculously remembered a conversation they had at the latest tasting in November, and both brought their respective version of Laphroaig Quarter Cask -- bottled fifteen years-or-so apart. They are not in theme*, and I am starting to feel the numbers, so it will be brief.

(*) Well, red71 claims it is not in theme, whereas sonicvince will explain in a couple of days that he brought this bottle out of "fear of the dark eye [he] would get from red71 if [he] forgot to bring this Quarter Cask."

red71 [to Psycho]: "Did you go for a smoke?"

Psycho: "Yes."

tOMoH: "When I sniff my Laphroaig, I smell your mouth."

Laphroaig Quarter Cask b.2022 (48%, OB, Ex-Bourbon First Fill Quarter Casks Finish, L2 228SB1 2275) (red71): dry, softly medicinal, and strangely sweet on the tongue. 7/10

vs.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask (48%, OB, Double Cask Matured, L027257C) (sonicvince): it is pretty similar, yet it has a fleeting glimpse of some tropical fruit (mango?) and a pinch of ash. The mouth is mild, if medicinal, with a juicy finish. 8/10

Psycho: "Un des deux a plus de corps au nez."

tOMoH: "De cor au pied."

red71: "De cojones."

(I will not translate.)

With the official line-up completed (earlier than other years, we seem to all notice), we slowly retire to the sofas and armchairs, where we enjoy the usual suspects. We start with...

North British 45yo 1963/2009 (50.7%, Signatory Vintage Rare Reserve, Hogsheads, C#117362 + 117363 + 117365, 290b, b#19)

At 4:20, Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark plays at last.

I finish my dram of Glenmorangie, whilst most of the others have Glenburgie 1983/2011 (56.3%, Berry Bros & Rudd Berrys' Own Selection, C#9806) (notes here). sonicvince calls it a night, visibly exhausted.

We follow up with a drop of 117.3 25yo 1988/2013 Hubba-bubba mango and monstera (58.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 199b)

STL: "117.3. What is that? A longitude?"

Next and last is the mighty Port Charlotte 14yo 2002/2017 (60.1%, The Creative Whisky Company The Exclusive Malts, Sherry Hogshead, C#1140, 228b)

The soundtrack: noizaddict - Man to Men

Drams of the day:

Psycho: Glengoyne

ruckus: Tomatin + Bruichladdich Cadenhead

kruuk2: Springbank

JS: Bruichladdich Cadenhead + Littlemill

STL: Bruichladdich Cadenhead + Littlemill

red71: Knockando + Highland Park + Scapa

tOMoH: Glenmorangie aside, Knockando + Springbank

adc: Bruichladdich Cadenhead + Scapa

sonicvince: Glenmorangie aside, Littlemill + Knockando

Bishlouk: Glenmorangie

It was a stressful day, to an extent, because I ended up doing more in the kitchen than in the previous four or five years, and, frankly, I felt out of practice.

Also, I had a slight headache throughout, but the company and laughter helped me overlook or disregard it.

As STL and red71 await their cab (it is thirty
minutes late), the survivors improvise a sweets
tasting: Sugus vs. Fruit-Tella

In the end, it was a brilliant edition of Burns' Night. The twentieth anniversary of that yearly celebration of ours (the nineteenth occurrence, since two were missed, one due to COVID-19).

We discuss how far we have come, over the past twenty years; what we used to drink then, what we drink now, how ambitious the line-ups have grown, who came and went, who is still there. We all wonder what the next twenty years will bring; what our lot will be, from a health perspective, who will still be there ("dom666 will be dead," someone exclaims as a joke), what we will be able to afford, etc. During the night, several called for an It Was Better Before theme, which JS supports: unveiling things we bought a long time ago, took for granted, and that we could no longer afford, were we to buy them now.

We disband at 6:20. 

The fourth cake helps us recover, the following day