15/06/2024 Unfinished business

The big day has arrived. I wake up with a very minor headache from the rumsky last night, but a run, a shower, and breakfast clear that up. Or it is the adrenalin -- who knows?

We have breakfast at Ozone with adc, JS and Psycho.

JS's chai latte

JS's chilli XO eggs and toasts, with black pudding and hash browns as sides

tOMoH's eggs Benedict on puddle, with portobello mushrooms as a side

JS's chilli XO eggs

The big brekkie for adc and Psycho, who already had
breakfast, because he was starving, but somehow finds
enough appetite for seconds (and will be glad he did, later on)

On the way out, I survey the dining room on the main floor. CD and PG are having coffee. Quick stop to say hello. We fall into one another's arms before I leave them to finish preparing. This is going to be a friendly event.

The four of us walk back to the venue to set up the tables. Guests start arriving at 12:40 or so, with the final ones reaching us between 13:00 and 13:30.

The guests are adc, BA, cavalier66, CB, CD, EG, Gaija, JWB, JK, OB. PG, PH, PS, Psycho, ruckus, Savoureur, sonicvince, TC, WhiskyLovingPianist, and, of course, JS and tOMoH, who are hosting.

Sadly, SW never makes it, embroiled in work.

Naturally, it takes me forever to pour, but, thanks to adc's, JS's and Psycho's help, all is ready before 13:45. Even though we are behind schedule, it does not matter. All have an aperitif to keep themselves busy, and all seem happy enough to "catch up with old friends and meet new ones" (© Savoureur).

But it is time we start.

Unfinished Business

During the brief introduction, I accidentally reveal, before JS can, what the welcome dram is: Benriach 27yo d.1976 (46%, Direct Wines First Cask, C#9444, b#332, b. ca 2004) (full notes here)

tOMoH: "Where else do you start a tasting with a 1976 Benriach?"
PG: "I went to a 1976-Benriach tasting. We of course started with a 1976 Benriach."
tOMoH: "..."

tOMoH: "There are water and nibbles in the kitchen."

Woo!

JK brought cheeses and bread
PS brought biltong

ruckus brought Indian sweets

Savoureur and PH brought sausages from their neck of the woods

JS reminds the audience of this excellent Ralfy quote:

"Buy yourself a good bottle of whisky and save it for a rainy day. Make sure this day comes, plenty of them. Otherwise your friends will drink your whisky at your funeral, and they won’t appreciate it as you do."

several guests: "We will!"

JS: "I guess we have better friends than most."

tOMoH: "Presumptuous to think you're our friends..."

Teaser #1

Dram #1

Nose: fruity candles (WhiskyLovingPianist), a social warmth (adc), it smells of decay (BA), "Oh! yeah" (CD), peach (JK), cherries (PH), Mirabelle plums and a mentholated freshness (Savoureur), freshly-ground pepper (Savoureur), Mon Chéri (sonicvince).

Mouth: a fiercely acidic touch pops up first, and there is a clear sweetness too that accompanies it.

Finish: "it lets itself drink," says Gaija. It is melted milk chocolate for me, whereas JK finds it bitter, with too much wood.

Comment: after some brain-scratching, CD recognises it. No-one else comes close. JS explains she and I had it at CD's in 2016, and he asked me to not make notes, to enjoy the moment. It has since remained unfinished business. Until today.

Tomintoul 46yo 1967/2013 (47.6%, The Whisky Agency, Refill Hogshead, 215b) 9/10

EG: "Can we taste this?"
tOMoH: "No. Please only smell, then we pour it back into the bottle."

Teaser #2

Dram #2

Nose: juicy (JS), milky cream (Gaija), charcoal (adc), honey (PH).

Mouth: chewy, borderline chalky, it has a fair bit of spice (red chili and peppermint), yet it is creamy at the same time. It turns drying after a while. adc reckons it goes well with CB's shirt (see below), which means it is citrus-y. Plummy and caramel-y (JK), it has sticky boiled sweets (JK, who admits she has no idea what boiled sweets are).

Finish: never-ending, fresh, flowery-green. adc finds it less accessible than the Benriach, which will remain one of the top drams of the afternoon, for her.

Comment: tOMoH went to the distillery in 2012. It was not open to the public, and there was no way to try its whisky there. It felt like unfinished business. CD and PG identify this. They recognise the label (they even name-drop the artist). It probably helps that they had a joint stand with the bottler of this at the Whisky Fair in April.

Teaninich 46yo 1975/2021 (47.4%, Sansibar JD’s Personal Choice No.4, Bourbon Hogshead, 158b) 9/10

CB's shirt for illustration

WhiskyLovingPianist's shirt for the same price

Teaser #3

Dram #3

Nose: pear (PH), rum (Savoureur). I have dusty, mouldy fruits covered in caster sugar. It also has a vague note of coffee, or even a hot moka pot. In the longer run, maple syrup appears too.

Mouth: extremely drying, desiccating. It strips the gums and enamel on one's teeth.

Finish: rum-y (OB), long, warming, almost burning. Boiling molasses, and cane-syrup residue in an empty glass.

Comment: tOMoH poured this in 2015, certain that it was forty-seven years old, and decided afterwards not to have it again until the right occasion -- today. It was therefore unfinished business. CD and PG turn cocky, and suggest a 1973 Invergordon by Sansibar (their 43yo's label sports a similar frieze). WhiskyLovingPianist recognises the collection, and, after a little digging, asks: "Is it cask 7542?"

Dumbarton 46yo d.1964 (47.4%, Hunter Hamilton The Clan Denny, Refill Hogshead, C#HH7542) 9/10

PG [before the reveal]: "Does it rhyme with comfarton?"

ruckus and sonicvince, of course, love it, like the grain-heads they are. The latter is glad to try something he is certain never to have tried, even though he was present when the bottle was opened.

Teaser #4

Dram #4

Nose: nutmeg (Psycho), liquorice (Psycho). For my part, I discover tropical-fruit-flavoured sweets, and Haribo, if Haribo made (very-)posh sweets.

Mouth: a luscious wave of tropical-fruit sweets, with a dusting of quarry chippings, and a spiciness that grows and grows. It is almost chalky, after a bit.

Finish: meow! On top of those fruits and sweets, we see melted milk chocolate in one of those forever finishes.

Comment: a bottle that seemed very interesting when it came out, its purchase was postponed  for years. It was, therefore, unfinished business. Until today. CB had always wanted to try this joint-oldest-aged expression from this distillery. The other, by the way, is an Edition Spirits offering, which means a sister cask from the same stock, since Edition Spirits is the company of the son of the proprietor of this here bottling.

Dailuaine 46yo 1973/2019 (45.1%, Hunter Laing Old & Rare A Platinum Selection, 231b, b#151) 10/10

Teaser #5

Dram #5

Nose: this one emits a pronounced comforting warmth. A blanket of wood, and underfloor heating in a room with a solid-wood floor. It is so comforting!

Mouth: I find it reminiscent of Calvados, for some unexplained reason. It has some wood, but it is shy, now, replaced by honey. Dark honey and cypress sap. JK finds peat and salt.

Finish: ooh! It is challenging, this finish. Very woody -- woodworm-riddled rustic furniture and fruit stones. It has a lot more to say, but the wood may be too much for some.

Comment: a friend had first dibs on a stock-clearance list. She shared that list with some afficionados of her acquaintance, who all remarked that: "those old Glen Grants look interesting," and had to reply more than once: "forget it. tOMoH and JS have already taken them all." For some people in the audience today, this was unfinished business. Without surprise, CD loves this ("the best so far," he says).

Glen Grant 46yo 1966/2013 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail specially bottled to celebrate Gordon & MacPhail being awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade, Sherry Hogsheads, C#5062+5063+6717, AC/ACBH) 8/10

Teaser #6

Dram #6

Nose: a funky lick, a hint of peat smoke, even, wrestle with jasmine. It has faint rubber too, waxy preserved lemons (PS), and ham (WhiskyLovingPianist). CB calls it meaty and beefy (beef ham, perhaps?), which triggers images of biltong in my head. The power of suggestion? On the late tip, confectionary sugar comes to the surface.

Mouth: caramelised red onions, shallow-fried for hours. It develops a desiccating character, and sucks the moisture out of the cheeks, yet that is adequately balanced by a gentle flowery note (jasmine). JWB detects ashy kimchi, and burnt kimchi that was cooked with demi-sel (slightly-salted butter).

Finish: long, warming, and balanced again, it juggles a mild meatiness with jasmine and rubber smoke.

Comment: outstanding. This triggered JS's love affair with the SMWS and with this distillery. It was also hard to find: not many bottles were produced, and, twice, the Web shop she found it on did not honour the sale. For all intents and purposes, it was unfinished business. Several figure out from the teaser that it is an SMWS bottling. Not sure how he arrives at that conclusion, but OB shouts 99.13 before the reveal.

99.13 31yo 1980/2011 Exotic scenes in a Bedouin tent (43.8%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 98b) 9/10

Only now that we reach the end of the line-up do we point out that the bottles are sequenced in decreasing order of ABV. JWB asks if that is really how we built the line-up; not only: it is mostly based on expectation of profile (we had never tried half of those bottles), but it is funny it happened that way, and, when it was unclear where to fit one last-minute addition, the ABV decided.

The tasting reaches a conclusion. ...Or does it?

tOMoH: "You'll notice this is not the Bowmore distillery, but the logo of Morrison Bowmore, the company. You're not getting a forty-six-year-old Bowmore. You're getting..."
CD: "Butt plugs!"

No Bowmore, this time, but a distillery that once belonged to the same group. One that can be related to a drummer from Balham named Mel Gaynor, best known for playing with Simple Minds. (You had to be there.)

Teaser #7

Dram #7

Nose: very-refined peat smoke, smoked bergamot, roasted kumquat, tiger balm. 'Elegant' is a word that comes back a lot, though not alone: Gaija finds it a salty edge, and Psycho smells grenadine.

Mouth: buttery (JS), salted caramel (JS). It is also sandy, gritty, with a wake of dried-clay dust. In the long run, we have quarry chippings too, which hints at a certain austerity, yet Psycho calls it delicate.

Finish: it spells f-i-r-e, pushing burnt hay, torched plasticine and burnt berries to the fore. Rotten berries too (strawberries and blueberries, according to Psycho). "A less-is-more example," says Gaija, super-mineral, yet also waxy.

Comment: I had a chance to try this at a festival, but was too broke to do so. It felt like unfinished business. The distillery is in Oldmeldrum, as the clue suggested. PG says he knew the distillery and the bottling as soon as he knew it was not a Bowmore. "A nice way to finish." (Psycho) I was wondering how it would fare, at (a reduced?) 43%, after all the others, but I need not have worried: it slaps.

Glen Garioch 46yo 1958/2004 (43%, OB Limited Edition Bottling, 336b, b#117, L045209 007) 10/10

Chaos settles in. People get up to talk with other table groups, to grab a bite, to go to the loo. Bottles come out of bags, and the whole party turns less organised.

Once they are back in the room, I call for everyone's attention before the afterparty starts. JS and I want to thank everyone for coming and making the day so special. We just about call it a tasting, when...

...this picture appears on the screen

Raucous reaction to say the least. I immediately tamper expectations of a 46yo Bowmore, of which we know only one: the famous Fino that we tried in 2016. However, I then remind the group that the cask that produced that whisky once contained more than the mere seventy-two bottles that were made. Indeed, three hundred bottles were released in 2002 as a 37yo.

The next best thing.

The remainder of the cask was bottled as a 46yo in 2011 -- the one that caused such a high -- and such a low.

It dawns on me that some in the audience may not know the story. Even those who definitely do know it ask to hear it anyway. I call upon JS's storytelling skills, because, eight years later, I still cannot. She obliges (read here).

The audience is captivated, hanging on to her every word. I see CD turning emotional. I hear OB telling cavalier66 he has goosebumps. I see cavalier66 wipe a tear. I hear various onomatopoeia. I note feelings of hope, triumph, sadness, anger, and despair, as the story moves from one twist to the next. tOMoH himself is reliving the whole incident in all its glory and pain.

When JS finishes the tale, I observe, with a broken voice, that it would have been a perfect candidate for today's tasting, fittingly in theme.

…

…

…

tOMoH: "Tell you what... We're not going to have the 37yo."

Exclamations. Perplexity. Disbelief. Hope.

I bring the next bottle into the room.

Roof. Raised.

Bowmore 46yo 1964/2011 (42.9%, OB, Fino Sherry Cask Finish, 72b, b#45)

Comment: sudden Bowmore eyes, of course. To avoid becoming a shaking puddle of tears for the rest of the evening, I put the glass down, and concentrate on the previous drams' leftovers at a relaxed pace. I will drink my dram alright, but over the course of several hours. Provisional 18/10

As expected, silence covers the room, and everyone disappears into the glass, spellbound by what must be the greatest whisky ever bottled. Murmurs of a mango and passion-fruit taste stronger than that of mangoes and passion fruits. Talks of two parallel storms, clear and powerful, yet never interfering with one another. The logorrhea of excitement and the silence of contemplation. A collision of tears and giggles.

"Alright! Calm down, everybody!"

CD: "This is better than butt plugs."

CD [to tOMoH]: "Now is the time when I say: 'I could drink this all day,' and you say: 'I can.'"

All things come to an end, though, and bring forth new beginnings. Once the Bowmore is drunk, bottles re-emerge, and the afterparty starts.

CD brought a Calvados as a palate cleanser, which is a terrific idea. I will never get to try it myself.

Reux 26yo d.1996 (54.6%, C.Dully Selection, C#715) (CD)

Isle of Arran 3yo 1995/1998 (60.3%, OB, 1000b, b#102): hot, fiery, but pleasant and interesting. Śliwowica, hot metal, stewed fruits. 7/10 (Thanks EG)

Auchentoshan 21yo 1975/1997 (55.4%, OB Official Distillery Archive, C#1397 + 1398 + 1399 + 3494 + 3495 + 1614 + 1615 + 1616 + 1617 + 1618 + 1619 + 1620 + 400 + 401 + 3093 + 3094 + 3095 + 3096): old wood, old cork, raisins and prunes, and a very-juicy finish. 8/10 (Thanks, Savoureur)

Goofing around with an Auchentoshan fanboi

Loch Lomond Peated 4yo 2017/2021 (61.3%, OB bottled exclusively for Southport Whisky Festival, 2nd Fill ex-Bourbon, C#730, 247b): a very-peaty nose, smoked prunes on the palate, and a long, devastating finish. Peaty with a fruity tang, and it turns hot over time. 7/10 (Thanks, WhiskyLovingPianist)

Imperial 20yo 1995/2016 (50.8%, Signatory Vintage The Un-Chillfiltered Collection cask hand picked by The Whisky Exchange, Hogshead, C#50252, 232b): a faintly-fruity nose, a fiercely desiccating mouth, and a long, fruity finish in a smashed-buttery-fruit way. 8/10 (Thanks, CB)

CD's socks

Imperial 25yo 1995/2021 (50.1%, The Whisky Exchange, Barrel, C#7845, 165b): citrus and confectionary sugar on the nose, with more of the same on the palate, and a strangely-warm acidity in the end. 8/10 (Thanks, BA)

Imperial 20yo 1995/2015 (46%, The Ultimate, Hogshead, C#50234, 281b, b#44): this one is a little grassier, boasting mint on the nose, a warm palate, and more mint in the aftertaste, augmented with stewed and crystallised fruits. 8/10 (Thanks, cavalier66)

Three Imperial, and I have tried them in descending ABV order. Unintentionally. :-)

41.69 12yo d.2003 Making your mind twitch (57.6%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill Barrel, 42b): dusty, it has hot croissant dough, and marshmallow on the nose, a hot mouth with metal and hot croissants on a metal tray, and a finish that plays the sweetness card. 7/10 (Thanks, EG)

cavalier66 also brought his excellent Ireland 27yo 1988/2015 (49.5%, The Nectar of the Daily Drams joint bottling with La Maison du Whisky). I convince more than one person to try it, let them smell it, observe the "MmMmmmmmMmMMMh!" moment, then stick my glass of Bowmore 46yo under their nose for comparison. Unfair, but perhaps the only chance to ever put things into perspective in that manner. :-D

EJ joins us for a few. She is particularly taken by the Loch Lomond. There are so many I never get to try...

129.6 6yo d.2008 (58.9%, SMWS Society Single Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 243b) (cavalier66) We had this in 2022.

Ben Nevis 19yo 1996/ (51.8%, OB Single Cask, C#1424) (OB) We tried this here.

Clynelish 21yo b.2017Art of Whisky Distilling (56.1%, Elixir Distillers for Whisky Show 2017, ex-Bourbon Oak Wood Hogshead, 251b, L17/8221) (BA)

Robust Smoky Embers 25yo b.2016 (46%, Cadenhead Creations, Married in Sherry Hogshead, B#3) (cavalier66) We tried this here

The English Distillery Rye 11yo 2012/2024 (55.15%, OB Event Exclusive, C#B2/N025, 61b, b#45) (WhiskyLovingPianist)

Invergordon 1964/2009 (43%, Forbes Ross Private Cellar) (PS)
It is hilarious hearing recovering grain-haters Gaija and Psycho swap tips
on whose grains they should try, and in which order.

Jura 30yo 1990/2020 (46.33%, Thompson Bros., Refill American Oak Hogshead, 186b) (cavalier66) We tried this last year

Islay 25yo b.2024 (47.9%, C. Dully Selection imported by Sansibar Whisky, Bourbon Barrels, B#CD 24-88, 357b, b#9) (CD/PG) We tried this in April.

Clynelish 8yo 2011/2019 Let's Dance (51.6%, Wellwood Star Simply Whisky, 1st Fill Bourbon Cask, C#800311, 230b) (Who brought this?)

Lochindaal 13yo 2007/2021 (56.9%, Bramble Whisky Co, Château Climens Sauternes Cask, 292b, b#243) (OB) We tried this last year

Springbank 20yo 1993/2014 (55%, OB Cask Owners Private Bottling, Bourbon Cask, C#1993/450) (OB)

Wire Works 2018/2024 (70.2%, OB for Melody Whisky Bar, Bourbon Cask, C#18-166, 100b, b#037) (PS) We tried this three weeks ago. The ABV is as surprising to all who try it as it was to tOMoH then, who urges everyone to try it, today.

WhiskyLovingPianist [about PS]: "He's a big smoker, now. Bongs in the morning, bongs in the evening..."
PS: "More bongs than Big Ben."

PS [about meeting up in July]: "July is tough. Two-three tastings every week..."
WhiskyLovingPianist: "Oh! Baby..."

Pff! what a day. We clear the empty glasses progressively over the evening (and without washing them), which makes the whole thing less stressful. Guests offer help, but it is not really needed. Only when we are down to a handful does their folding tables and chairs come in handy.

Around the same time, JS decides it is time to feed everyone, and orders pizza (from Saponara).

Scampi and asparagus

Mushrooms

Courgette

Needless saying we devour them.

As we finish eating, the cleaner walks into the kitchen and tells us we were supposed to vacate the place by 22:00. I realise we have no idea what time it is. Fortunately, all is packed up already. Five minutes later, we are out bidding each other good bye, rather drained, physically and emotionally.

I am very pleased that I followed the lessons from two years ago. I was much more relaxed today than then.

Funky shirts of Europe raprazent!

Members of the Cross-Channel Hat Consortium
larking about in a photogenic manner