OB, cavalier66 and JS join me to mark this calendar oddity that is a 29th of February -- or a year in which it happens, at least.
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| Another oddity are cavalier66's funky socks which he pulls up his trousers to show off |
OB and cavalier66 both brought food, sweet and savoury, which will come in handy. As usual, cavalier66 has been up for seventeen minutes when he arrives, meaning he has had neither breakfast nor lunch.
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| Hence the cheeses and fig spread |
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| ...and OB knows he can no longer set foot in these premises without bringing baked goods. :) |
OB presents two samples to kick off, both distilled in a leap year, and one of them bottled in a(nother) leap year.
Glen Grant 40yo 1972/2012 (54.2%, Malts of Scotland Angel's Choice, Sherry Hogshead, C#MoS12045, 136b) (OB): complete with mistaken ABV on the sample label. This bottling is 54.2%. The 54.1% promised by the label is the offering limited to 78 bottles and was bottled at 39 years old from cask MoS12006. Tsk. Nose: "the immediate glory of the MoS" (cavalier66), "you can already smell the tertiariness" (cavalier66). "It is very, very, fucking elegant" (cavalier66). We have dunnage warehouse (cavalier66), thatch, lattice cob walls, dusty marmalade, a dusty beehive, with honey and propolis. The second nose has a faint whiff of soap -- the hard blocks of ashy soap that do not generate any foam. That soap grows in power, and, if it never bothers me, it is hard to see past it, after a while. Hand soap and washing powder (cavalier66). Mouth: orchard fruits (cavalier66), non-Tatin-ed tart (cavalier66). I find it spicy and equipped with a nice woody bitterness, before it brings back some honey, and lots of liquid beeswax. Cassia bark, cracked green pepper, and unripe physalis too. The second sip is less outspoken; perhaps it has damp pumice. Finish: bitter and refreshing, it unrolls cassia bark and mint stems. cavalier66 calls it narrow and spirit-y. The second gulp is still as good, with vine and grape pip -- grape-pip oil, actually. 8/10
vs.
Glen Grant 38yo 1972/2011 (52.8%, The Whisky Agency, Refill Sherry Hogshead, 215b) (OB): always a treat to tick off an entry in that highly-regarded collection with crocodiles on the label (the colloquial name of which appears nowhere, by the way). Nose: spirit-y (OB), rougher (cavalier66). For me, it is fruitier, with waxy plums and waxy apples, poached nectarines, and sugar-glazed pears. Dried melon-cubes, watercolour, even. The second nose incredibly has soap too (they are in different glasses, so this cannot have been tainted by the first whisky), though this one is closer to dried lavender and pot-pourri, with the earlier fruits in the background. Mouth: warm, it has a strange hint of metal. Fruits do show up at second sip, but they are not totally ripe, and are accompanied by the bitterness of their peel (think: watermelon skins). I spot a note of sink funk, in the end. Finish: yeah, it is indeed a little less elegant, and perhaps bitterer. It has crushed bay leaves, and conifer-sap dark honey. The second sip is in line, maybe a little more rustic, with hot pots on an old-school, wood-fuelled stove. 8/10
We are nit-picking (ensues a long conversation about nits). They are both very good. cavalier66 and OB prefer the Malts of Scotland, while I reckon I like The Whisky Agency's more, in the long run.
cavalier66: "In a leap year, there are (Conval)more days. Also, leap years are relatively rare -- like this malt."
Convalmore 24yo 1978/2003 (59.4%, OB, Rare Malts Selection) (cavalier66): nose: it smells complex, even if that is hidden behind a wall of alcohol. Some wax, ether, berries (cavalier66), flint, then melted plastic, and things of the land, such as crusted mud and mulch, as well as a minty custard, a pinch of cinnamon, and cocoa powder. A closed nose altogether. Water may help it reveal itself, but I will not try that, today. Mouth: an über-artificial fruitiness (cavalier66), jackfruit, maybe (cavalier66). It is immensely powerful, with heirloom apples and coal-fire smoke. The second sip is sweeter, teeming with caster sugar to augment those gorgeous apples. Smoke is relegated to retro-nasal olfaction, now. Finish: boom. The industrial revolution has returned. Dusty boilers, stacks of coke, steel rolls, industrial-sized apple presses. This is a long, devastating steamroller of a finish, overflowing with stewed apples and warm cider. I like it just as much as the first time. 9/10
all: "?"
cavalier66: "...so we have a warm extra day, rather than a cold one."
OB: "I know."
tOMoH: "???"
tOMoH indicates that the next bottle is from Jura. There is a Jura region in France; the French are known as Frogs, and that hints at leapfrog. Boom. Also, it was distilled in 1976, which was a leap year. Finally, there was no information about this bottling anywhere that I could find, so I took a leap of faith, when I bought it.
Isle of Jura d.1976 (57.5%, Harleyford Manor for Geoffrey Folley, b.1980s) (tOMoH): nose: vinegar and pickled onions (cavalier66), acetone (cavalier66), musk ("is it deer musk?" asks cavalier66, showing off his knowledge of Jura), skunk musk, hints of peat and/or smoke (cavalier66), rubbery clay. The second nose morphs and gives mercurochrome and flowers. It becomes very ester-y, with faint citrus in the back, as well as a whiff of smoke. The vinegar and onions have completely gone. Mouth: perfume-y (OB and cavalier66), soapy (cavalier66), very soapy (OB). cavalier66finds a lot of soap on the back of the palate. Indeed, it feels soapy to me too. I do not remember that from the first time, but it has scented shampoo, washed pebbles, and soapy pineapple chunks. Finish: "it does linger" (OB). "It remains soapy to the soapy end" (OB). It is musky-and-a-half to me, with maybe a shampooed cat skin, if there is any soap. Repeated sipping makes it gradually more pleasant. It is a challenging dram, though, today. 6/10
tOMoH: "It doesn't come to you."
cavalier66: "You must go to it."
OB: "I am very sensitive to soap. That is why I never use it."
As an intermezzo, cavalier66 pulls a sample out of his bag of tricks: a Longmorn, because a leap year is a longer-morn year.
Longmorn 18yo (57.8%, The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2011, 150b) (cavalier66): immediately buttery, then quickly sharper, with heady alcohol and colour-pencil leads veering toward chalk. The buttery side comes in and out, blowing whiffs of mango and avocado, and, in the back, we find skinned plums. Over time, the nose is closer and closer to a grain's, with baking sourdough and fruit turnovers. Water reveals plasticine too. Mouth: it is powerful alright! Once one gets accustomed to the high strength, it has lichen-covered Honeycrisp apples. The second sip has some incredibly-pronounced apple, acidic and fruity, and a mineral side. It is mellower with water, settling on dried apple slices. Finish: fleetingly mushroom-y (OB). It does have an odd earthy-metallic touch, I find. cavalier66 spots bergamot, whilst I find a wave of crunchy apples covered in bitter lichen. The alcohol stuns. Water allows tutti frutti and dried papaya cubes to come to the fore. This has a lot of potential -- sadly unrealised, in my opinion. We will try it under different circumstances. 7/10
JS points out that, in a leap year, February has 29 days. SMWS code 29 is Laphroaig, which was bottled a few times as Leapfrog.
OB, who built the line-up, smells it and calls a sequence mistake. We decide to postpone this dram.
Instead, OB introduces a 29-year-old, because there are 29 days in February, in a leap year.
Caol Ila 29yo 1984/2013 (55.5%, Cadenhead Small Batch, Bourbon Hogsheads, 564b, 13/467) (OB): nose: ashy, earthy fruits. Very earthy, actually, with damp earth, then hot dry sands, and a whiff of dried old tyres. The second nose has a layer of plasticine and a few bandages. Mouth: crushed raspberry blended with damp earth. It soon turns drying, desiccating as ground nigella seeds, without the toasted or burnt taste. The second sip has raspberry jelly on charcoal crackers, then smoked cockles. It becomes dry again, after a bit. Finish: long and elegant, earthy, with just a hint of raspberry. That earthy touch is very vivid and distinctive. Repeated quaffing makes it juicier, with blackcurrant joining the raspberries, peppered with black sesame, or black cumin. Excellent, without surprise. 9/10
cavalier66 brings in another 29-year-old.
Islay 29yo d.1991 (49.2%, The Auld Alliance and Thompson Bros. Refill Barrel, 240b) (cavalier66): released in 2021, but no bottling year given, it may have been bottled a while before release. Nose: muddy, boggy fields, mere metres from the sea, which gives it a nice, maritime touch too. It is well earthy, though, mud patties and all, as well as a layer of dry paint and dried paintbrushes. Mouth: mellow, it has plasticine, pottery clay, and orchard fruits, trampled in mud. The second sip is a bit more muscular, with a mix of dried fruits fallen into mud. That mud dries and gains mosses and ink that stick to the gums. Finish: long, muddy, it has faded papaya and old blotting paper. It is not ridiculously complex, but it does the job well. 8/10
tOMoH offers a face-off between JS's SMWS Laphroaig (see connection above) and his own expression, bottled for LMdW, a French shop that will serve as another leapfrog connection.
29.99 20yo b.2011 Power and scorched earth (59.6%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Sherry Butt, 360b) (JS): ashes, ash grounds. Burnt pine trees and volcanic sand complement the scorched earth. The second nose has a note of ageing Parmesan. Mouth: wow! This is marked by the Sherry maturation it has gone through. It has a syrupy texture, and some sweetness for sure, that compete with ashes and sweaty Parmesan. How odd! The second sip has a medicinal feel, in that it is drying and numbing. Finish: pure, powerful ash (cavalier66), similar to an ashtray. Yes, it is dry, here, really dry, and ashtray is the right word. The second gulp is much fruitier, with fresh figs, dried dates, and prunes in syrup. I hope to try this again in its time. 8/10
vs.
Laphroaig 15yo 1998/2014 (61.6%, Signatory Vintage for La Maison du Whisky, Sherry Butt, C#700356, 554b) (tOMoH): I am so behind that I take no notes for this one. Full notes here: 8/10
cavalier66 departs, and OB's glasses are empty. Since I am still at it, I pour him a Bourbon, as a reference to the French royal family. Frogs, leapfrog. Yes, I have milked that one to oblivion.
I found it hard to keep the faith pace, today. All the same, good fun, and good whiskies.
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