Our good friends at Cask Trade are celebrating a milestone anniversary. This year, the event takes place at Watches of Switzerland. That is right: rich with the knowledge that their chocolate is inferior, the Neutrals have decided to focus on cuckoo clocks. It is called portfolio diversification.
Tonight's shindig is a good opportunity to look at things that indicate the time of the day (sometimes inaccurately, for lack of adequate setting) priced between ~300 GBP and ~372,000 GBP. Indeed, one can buy a watch for the price of a four-bed, 300m² house in Huy. Almost certainly, those who buy that sort of gadgets think the same of us whisky geeks buying bottles for considerable sums too. Each to their own.
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| SA's welcome speech |
But enough with those considerations! tOMoH and JS are here for the whisky. The delicious canapés appeal to me more than the watches.
Just like last year, we are standing and socialising, so notes are brief.
Mortlach 9yo 2013/2023 Friday Night (48.8%, Wellwood Star Simply Whisky, ex-Sherry Butt, 389b)
Nose: fragrant and perfume-y, it is a slap of late-spring lavender with a dash of rose water. In the long run, makeup appears, such as blush powder.
Mouth: marshmallow and boiled sweets. That comes closer to violet boiled sweets by the second, which is to my taste.
Finish: warming and perfume-y, it may even display delicate fruits.
Comment: excellent starter. 7/10
Caol Ila 40yo 1981/2021 (58.4%, Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection, Refill Hogshead, C#6411, 129b)
Nose: fishing nets, kelp drying on a sunny shore, mature-cheese rind, old scrolls and ink, mercurochrome, bandages, embrocation -- phwoar!
Mouth: chargrilled pineapple, toasted banana slices, and barbecued peach slices. There are coastal elements on show too, namely fishing nets full of tropical fruits, and then there is gauze. And what power! This is no feeble forty year-old.
Finish: long, powerful, comforting. It boasts more gauze and bandages, mentholated embrocation, and ash. That last point imparts a soft bitterness that stops it achieving top score... just!
Comment: wonderful. 9/10
Auchentoshan 15yo 2007/2023 (54.6%, The Stewart Whisky Company Stiùbhart Single Cask Selection, Refill Hogshead, C#4153, B#009, 310b)
Nose: mellow, it is a mix of sweets (marshmallow) and flowers. Surely, that is lavender-scented marshmallow, then.
Mouth: mellow again, it acquires a wine-y note, after a few seconds. Nothing overpowering, just a lingering decaying-grape touch.
Finish: long, warming, and a lot woodier than expected. We have old corks, bookshelves and dusty chairs.
Comment: nice enough. 7/10
Glenrothes 27yo 1996/2023 (51%, Hannah Whisky Merchants Lady of the Glen, Hogshead, C#4153, 160b, b#06)
Nose: fruity, berry-laden, this has stewed fruits, hot strawberry jam, then candied orange rinds.
Mouth: more stewed goodness -- blackcurrant jam, smashed blush oranges, and lingonberry compote. We find rancio at second sip, and it is gently drying, with mild Virginia tobacco.
Finish: oh! yes, marmalade and currant compote.
Comment: this one is the big (pleasant) surprise of the evening. 8/10
Linkwood 10yo 2013/2023 (51.1%, Hannah Whisky Merchants Dalgety, First Fill and Second Fill ex-Oloroso Casks, C#301178+301173, 551b, b#216)
Nose: this is a meaty one, with cured ham and leather, a tannery after sundown, when all the workers have gone home for the day. It is not sickly, but powerful all the same. That slows down over time, and allows pastry to come through. JS finds it a soapy nose.
Mouth: big, feisty, aggressive. A slap of roast beef, and a sprinkle of horseradish sauce.
Finish: lots of red berries, purple chewy sweets, and heat. We find less meat here, thankfully, but that heat! Cured ginger in all its power.
Comment: the weakest of the night. It will no doubt have its supporters, but it is not really for me. 6/10
Glentauchers 8yo (61.2%, Chorlton Whisky, Sherry Hogshead, 291b)
Nose: an avalanche of peanuts, punctuated by cashews and skinned Brazil nuts. Peanut oil, plasticine... It smells so oily! A touch of wine-y meat attempts to pierce through that layer of nuts -- unsuccessfully. JS insists on honey, then, out of nowhere, we see cheese rind.
Mouth: here too, the nuttiness is incredible; thick, coating, oily, and rounded off with a drop of tannic red wine. Lastly, it offers Mon Chéri pralines.
Finish: peanut oil, honey, dark maple syrup, cherry liqueur, old corks on liqueur decanters, berry liqueur augmented with melted chocolate. It is more and more wine-y, with time, though it remains oily too.
Comment: this one, I chose because of the label (love those medieval-style drawings), and it turns out to be another good pick by Chorlton. 7/10
At the same time, JS has Ardnamurchan 6yo 2015/2022 (60.4%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Bourbon Barrel, 228b, 22/152), which we had last year.
Nice night out. We meet all sorts of people from different backgrounds, many we would normally not run into. It makes for some interesting conversations. And the whiskies were good. Happy anniversary, Cask Trade!
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