14/06/2024 Tasting at Milroy's

Friends from all over the world flocked to London for some reason. It seemed the perfect excuse to give our friends at Milroy's their inaugural tasting (invoice #000001, I kid you not), after a brief period on refurbishment that is now long over still ongoing.

Although the bar and the shop are still under construction, the refit of the tasting room was completed earlier in the week. Just in time! And, boy! does it look dashing.

Waiting for EG and CB to arrive

Welcoming colours on the dark tip, small tables with stools, shelves stacked with whiskies all encourage moving through the room, stimulate social interaction with different groups, and create a merry atmosphere.

Once all (BA, CD, EG, EJ, JWB, JK, JS, TC, Psycho, ruckus, Savoureur, WhiskyLovingPianist, and tOMoH; PG has a client meeting, and Volanne calls off) have arrived, SW, who now works here, gives an extensive introduction of the company, the building, and explains the state of the venue. For details, it is best to attend yourself, but noteworthy for me is that the shop opened in November 1964 -- the month when those legendary Bowmore were distilled (all on Thursday, 5th November 1964, to be precise). There are lots of 'oooh', 'aaah', gasps, and 'no way' moments, as well as a fair share of laughter. Good start.

SW: "One of the contractors felt overwhelmed, and even cried a bit."
WhiskyLovingPianist: "That's how you mix the cement, innit."

Once the intro is out of the way, we are ready to taste. SW hands over to R&A, for whom it seems to be some sort of back-on-the-saddle exercise, after a period of quieter-than-usual business, due to the refurbishment. R will do most of the talking, tonight, and discloses that she "will go off script, today, as [she] understand[s] we are all seasoned whisky drinkers." We will try everything blind, she tells us. Yay.

Dram #1

Nose: bursting with citrus peels, dried peach skins, raising sourdough and flour. It is a little flowery in the way a pleasant fragrance would be.
Mouth: juicy citrus and plump peaches, orange liqueur, almost.
Finish: warming, again, very fruity, it is thick, coating, with just a pinch of spices, perhaps shaved pink peppercorns sprinkled on peach slices. WhiskyLovingPianist finds it a bready finish.
Comment: from an undisclosed Highland distillery, we venture lots of guesses, mostly for a teenage 'farclas, but also 'morangie. With more clues (Northern Highlands and Tony Blair), we venture Balblair, but are told no. I eventually guess Blair Athol -- it is confirmed on the night, yet that appears to be a mistake. Our previous attempt is the (alleged) distillery. 

A Highland Distillery 12yo d.2011 (56.4%, Milroy's Soho Selection) 7/10

Dram #2

Nose: horse's sweat (Savoureur). It is indeed a dirtier Sherry cask, full of farmer's socks and dirty overalls, overripe-or-rotting grapes, maybe pony saddle? No! it is biscuit (WhiskyLovingPianist), and "clean filth" (WhiskyLovingPianist).
Mouth: ooft! This is very wine-y, overflowing with rotting grapes, currants macerating in booze, and slowly decaying as a result. It has a notch of drying putty too, though BA finds it oily. The second sip has strong ginger bathing in a grape liqueur. Nice.
Finish: long, inky and funky, the wine influence is strong, in this one. Cough syrup, melted chocolate (of questionable quality). This has hot strawberry paste and chocolate alright.
Comment: well-enough made, if not exactly my style. The funk and heavy wine make me guess Ben Nevis. Boom.

Ben Nevis 10yo 2012/2023 (57.1%, Milroy's Soho Selection, Refill Hogshead re-racked into First Fill French Oak Oloroso Hogshead, C#1728, 278b) 7/10

R [referring to a recent change in Japanese law]: "Ben Nevis may be sold soon, because they can't chuck it into Japanese whisky anymore."
EG: "That's why [Japanese whisky] was so good. Because it's all Scotch."
tOMoH: "Indeed. Karuizawa is, in fact, Blair Athol."

Dram #3

Nose: very fruity! Cooked fruits (Savoureur), stewed fruits, a hint of mint (a hmint?) and tropical fruits coagulating into mint crumbles. Confectionary sugar comes up too, after a while.
Mouth: mellow, creamy, custard-y, with a chalky chew too. It grows in intensity to become fairly hot -- fierce, even.
Finish: long, warming, a little boozy, and very fruity. We have orchard fruits bathing in  strong liqueur, augmented with a dollop of melted milk chocolate.
Comment: universally liked, but we all fail to determine its provenance.

Allt-A-Bhainne 27yo 1995/2023 (52.6%, Milroy's Vintage Reserve) 8/10

JK: "You said the shop is closed. How strict is that?"
R: "With the refurbishment going on, the shop is currently closed, as is the bar, because they are wastelands of rubble."
tOMoH: "What JK is asking is: if we like something tonight, can we buy it?"
JK: "That's it!"
R: "Ahhhhhh!"

Time for tOMoH's interlude (in agreementwith the staff).

Dram #4

Nose: "a stand-out!" (WhiskyLovingPianist) "Is it okay to say that?" he asks. Water adds a sprinkle of pepper to this nose (Savoureur).
Mouth: white pepper coats the tip of the tongue (R and WhiskyLovingPianist). R calls it a deceptive dram, and TC finds bell pepper, aka capsicum.
Finish: "age but youth" explains WhiskyLovingPianist, pencil case and pencil erasers (JWB).
Comment: a stand-out indeed. Full notes here. CB reckons a teenage Longmorn, whereas Savoureur claims it is not a Lochside. Once revealed, EG looks it up online: he is convinced he gets the reference wrong, because the ratings are so low for such a great whisky. As Mark Twain once said: "Do not believe everything you read online."

Glenugie 26yo 1982/2008 (50%, Douglas Laing The Old Malt Cask 50º, Bourbon Barrel, C#4703, 310b) 9/10

As we finish the Glenugie, JL comes back from his off-site tasting. I am miffed: I chose a Glenugie so he could try it. Then, knowing he would not be here after all, we polished the bottle. Now he is back, and there is none left. Bah!

Dram #5

Nose: dry peat, hay, crusted earth, crayons. Tropical fruits pop up too, then roasted barley, to an extent (TC). I find old Lego bricks -- or is it new ones straight out of the plastic bag? In any case, they are yellow.
Mouth: akin to biting into a bar of dark chocolate. It dries the gums, in the long run, with plasticine, chewy blackcurrants and cough drops. That probably means rubbery, acidic, yet mildly fruity.
Finish: long, dry, hay-like, it introduces lots of dark chocolate and dark ink.
Comment: some guesses, mostly Ardmore and Faemussach. Even before the confirmation, we understand it is not an Islay number. Still, the suggestion it may be a Jura takes us all by surprise. Except CB, who nailed it.

A Highland Distillery 19yo 2004/2023 (55.5%, Milroy's Soho Selection, Refill American Oak Bourbon Barrel, C#12, 268b) 8/10

R: "I thought of buying a bottle, but I preferred paying my rent."
Psycho: "You could be a very successful alcoholic on the street."

Dram #6

Nose: salty (JS), meat tatters stuck on leather, tame baby sick, then it regroups around leather saddles, old boots, and mud patties -- though calling it muddy would be a stretch.
Mouth: melted chocolate and rooibos tea, a pinch of ashes, and barbecue sauce.
Finish: big, smoky and animal, it becomes earthy. Scorched earth, to be precise.
Comment: the only one I had tried before, and suggested SW should feature it in tonight's line-up to mess with people's heads. It does exactly that.

Caol Ila 4yo 2019/2023 (61.4%, Milroy's Soho Selection, Rivesaltes Barrique) 8/10

SW, never one to pour too little whisky, has a couple of things to add. None of which can be bought.

Dram #7

Nose: artichoke (Psycho), a tad peaty (Savoureur). It has a vague peat smoke indeed, and a drop of pickle brine.
Mouth: a nice kick of fruit, here, mostly tinned peaches in syrup.
Finish: more fruit, and melted chocolate appears too, flirting with earth, in the long run.

Comment: contains liquid that is 23yo, 30yo, 35yo, 40yo and 53yo.

Mayfair Stash Speyside Region (unknown ABV, home blend) 8/10

ruckus: "We leave on Wednesday."
tOMoH: "So does Psycho."
ruckus: "Hopefully, we don't see him again."

Dram #8

Nose: rum, metal and heated wooden stills. There are fruits too, chiefly tinned pineapple and tinned peach slices.
Mouth: metal and chewy plasticine. This is incredibly rum-y.
Finish: long, fruity, influenced (tainted) by rum.
Comment: I think of Enmore immediately. We are all flabbergasted to discover it is a home-made 70cl rumsky with only 3cl of rum in it (I forget which, but not Enmore), ~30cl Springbank, and a ~30cl vatting of odds and sods. Headache in a bottle, as The Police used to say, yet for the time being, life is fun.

Rumsky (unknown ABV, home blend) 8/10

Inspecting the bounty

I stupidly forget to take pictures of the bottles. Thanks Milroy's for letting me us theirs.

We could go elsewhere for a nightcap, but we know better. We socialise a bit, make plans for tomorrow, disband, and go home for some rest.

A good night out!