20/12/2024 DW's birthday bash at 3 Greek Street

The yearly bash is back for the first time since 2019 (not counting a virtual shindig in 2020). If you wonder why there has not been one for five years, it has to do with a certain pandemic.

Anyway, fifteen-or-so of us meet up at Milroy's 3 Greek Street (as it is now known) for an evening of libation. Some we know, others not, and exchanging business cards is high on no-one's list, tonight. So, beside a handful of the organiser's colleagues, whose names I do not catch, we have DW, YM, CDn, CBn, BA, JS, VK, JL, T&S, SW, and yours, truly. PS calls in sick and MSo never turns up.

We meet at the bar, surprised that it takes us over half-an-hour to be shown to our room. Being such a large group, we require a bit of manoeuvring to reach it too -- through the secret bookcase, down the staircase, close the bookcase, up the staircase, up another flight of stairs, here we are.

The room has changed a lot since we were last here in June: the tables and stools all replaced by sofas going around the room, and a couple of coffee tables down the middle. Bottles appear from bags, and, apparently, it is a free-for-all. DW initiates the proceedings.

DW: "I was a bit miffed that [tOMoH] panned my contribution, in 2020. So I chose this one for today. I looked on [his] blog, and saw [he] rated it 10/10, so I hope it ticks [his] box."

Gelston's Old Irish Whiskey 26yo b.2017 (54.2%, Halewood, Bourbon Cask, 300b, b#165) (DW)

Nose: tropical fruit splosion.
Mouth: it has not yet completely opened up (DW popped the cork tonight). Several minutes in, it is spritzy and peppery, though the main act is that avalanche of tropical fruits.
Finish: surprisingly powerful and stupidly fruity.
Comment: well, how could one go wrong with this? Have we peaked too soon, perhaps? 10/10 (full notes here)

How does one follow that? Oh! An aged Glenkinchie…

Glenkinchie 27yo b.2023 (58.3%, OB Special Releases 2023, Refill American & European Oak Barrel & Butts) (BA)

Nose: cut plums, cured apricots, and fruit stones. There is a delicate grassy touch too. It is heavier than BA remembered it, and, indeed, it does not lack wood. Further nosing piles on the sandalwood.
Mouth: oily and mineral at the same time, which is unusual and makes it both lubricating and drying.
Finish: almost murky, here, thick as gel, fresh, it offers a serving of chocolate with a lemon filling. It becomes creamier with time, adding crushed hazelnut and mocha custard. 8/10

CDn tells how, when famous warehouse manager Pinky retired from Lagavulin, owner Diageo did not even know who he was. How he tried to convince them to throw a party in his honour, only for that idea to be mooted. How he then called Pinky's friend to find out what would make him happy. How he convinced a London whisky outfit to throw a charity tasting, the proceedings of which helped fund the purchase of a gift for Pinky -- a bull, no less. How he went to Islay to present Pinky with the bull, as said Pinky came out of the distillery for the final time. How they embraced, emotional, on the car park. How the charity tasting raised more money than necessary, and how CDn used the remainder of the bounty to invite Pinky and his wife to London (date TBD). How Diageo, well after the facts, realised their faux pas, and invited CDn to Islay to present Pinky with their very-own parting gift -- a cask of Lagavulin. How, on the day, Pinky gave CDn bottle number 2 of said cask. It is yet another of CDn's tales that capture an audience, and leave no-one cold. How does he do it?

JS starts pouring her St. George Single Malt Whiskey Lot 17 (43%, OB, B#SM017, b.2017). I do not try it, tonight. Full notes here.

VK passes me a bottle.
VK: "I thought I'd bring this, because you have not had a chance to try it at the [Campbeltown] festival."

How thoughtful are our friends?

Kilkerran 20yo 2004/2024 Open Day 2024 (49.2%, OB Single Cask, 10 years Fresh Rum Cask + 10 years Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 432b) (VK)

Nose: it starts off almost ashy, and frankly woody, then turns into ground fruit stone in the space of ten minutes. Later, we have jelly capsules and plastic caps that have been used to store saffron. Then, an earthy, farm-y side emerges, driven by baked mud patties.
Mouth: a muddy, earthy number with fruit stones (apricot) and crushed fruit tatters. The second sip is more drying -- the fruit stones, probably.
Finish: ginger biscuits topped with marmalade, resting on an earthy undercurrent.

Comment: JS is not a fan. I like it. 8/10

CDn brought a rather-exclusive Clynelish. It will take me a while to get to it. In the meantime, I am intrigued by JL's claim it has a holy smell.

Sanmi-Ittai The 1st Edition (57.6%, Toachuzo imported by Atom Supplies, B#9585, L.10.18) (YM)

Comment: I try this in JS's glass. It is fresh, minty and vanilla-ed, pretty good al round. 7/10

One of DW's unnamed colleagues talks about this little blog. However, unlike DW, he did not check it to see what whisky tOMoH gave 10/10. He read it, and then decided, all curious, to buy that Glen Scotia. He confirms it is not good (I have to ask, of course).

Dimple 15yo Original (40%, John Haig, b. 2020s) (JL)

Nose: dusty old blend. Old cardboard and newspapers, stale toffee.
Mouth: a bit thin on the palate, of course. Dusty toffee aplenty.
Finish: yeah, toffee to the max, dusty or not.
Comment: Honest blend. Linkwood, Glenkinchie, Caol Ila, says our host. And Cameronbridge, CDn tries to make us believe. He has no idea, and explains that, at the time this was made, it could have been any grain from Diageo's portfolio. 6/10

Chichibu London Edition 2022 (51.5%, OB Ichiro's Malt imported by Speciality Drinks, 1861b) (unnamed colleague)

Nose: airy and ethereal, it has confectionary sugar, flowers (jasmine or cherry blossom), and soft bakery shenanigans. Perhaps sugared corn flakes too.
Mouth: light apricot tea -- or is it jasmine infusion?
Finish: long, pretty ashy, it has burnt fruit stones, and, increasingly, peach flesh.
Comment: allegedly nine ex-Bourbon casks, including one peated (my ashy impression reads less ridiculous, now, eh?), finished in ex-Sherry casks. Satisfying to tick this box. Very good whisky too. 8/10

Clynelish 15yo 1992/2007 Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year (46%, The Whisky Exchange for Salt Whisky Bar, Bourbon Barrel) (CDn)

Nose: dry, fruity and floral at first, it turns waxy-and-three-quarters in mere minutes. I can see why JL thought it smelled like church candles.
Mouth: ooft! Incredibly waxy, coating, peppered by a lick of wick. Past that candle action, we note plump apricot, (Mirabelle) plum, and nectarine skins. YM detects salty sea water, undoubtedly influenced by the name of the bar this was bottled for, while JS tastes banana.
Finish: long, waxy, it is teeming with minty custard.
Comment: this is extraordinary. My dram of the night, if we except the Gelston. Perhaps I am being overly enthusiastic, but hey! 9/10

tOMoH [to JL]: "You're drinking your Dimple again?"
JL: "Yeah. I really like it."
tOMoH: "You make me think of this French joke: how do you recognise a Belgian in an orgy?"
JL: "How?"
tOMoH: "He's the only one shagging his own wife. Similarly, you come to a tasting like this, and you drink your own bottle."

Highland Park 14yo b.2023 (63.8%, OB Distillery Exclusive, Refill Butt, C#6571, 638b) (CBn)

Nose: I want to say burnt heather, but not really. It is hugely alcoholised; it presents flavoured alcohol, rather than neutral, surgical stuff. In any case, it is nostril destroying, in the long run.
Mouth: very powerful, it has sphagnum moss and lichens of all sorts. Later on, we find strawberry jam, boiling on the hob.

Finish: at last, the Highland Park DNA comes out, with smoked-heather sweets, and chewy cough syrup minus liquorice.
Comment: difficult. More interesting than really good. It is hard not to compare it to the 18yo distillery exclusive we tried a couple of years ago; that one was more to my liking. Funny how the ABV and the outturn match, though (63.8 vs. 638). 7/10

CDn reminisces about his early days in London, during which he would spend time with the Milroy brothers.

CDn: "We would start in this room, then go out, and go to private clubs. You wouldn't believe what went on, then. Then, we would come back here, usually in the basement, to finish the night."
JS [pointing at the picture on the back wall]: "Did you drink from those glasses?"
CDn: "Possibly. Are those wine glasses?"
tOMoH: "I believe they are buckets. I saw some like those. In a fire station!"

It feels the right time to start pouring my own contribution. Port Dundas 10yo (60.2%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection World Whiskies, 318b, b. ca 1998). Full notes here.

Bowmore 22yo 1996/2019 (50.8%, Aberdeen Whisky Shop Islay Reserve, C#901271) (DW)

Nose: wet, fruity peat through and through. The fruity side grows, yet the whole remains earthy.
Mouth: very-fruity mud, dotted with peaches and nectarines.
Finish: long, it delivers more fruit, as well as earth and mud.
Comment: my notes do not do it justice; it is a nice dram. 8/10

JL makes it abundantly clear we are to vacate the room. We can carry on at the bar downstairs (with whiskies from the bar only), but we are essentially evicted.

BA hurriedly pours me his Malört (35%, Carl Jeppson) -- "the worst thing you will try tonight/this year/ever," he says. Could not agree more. It is a drink to dare your foes with. No pleasure here, other than laughing at the reaction of someone who tries it for the first time. I have to down olive oil and a Krispy Kreme doughnut to clear the taste. Well, at least, it is not Baiju. 3/10

Downstairs, we finish our conversations and try another couple of things without taking notes.

Causeway Irish Whiskey 31yo 1991/2023 (47.8%, Milroy's Vintage Reserve, Bourbon Barrels, C#RC649+650+651+652): on par with, if not better than the mighty Gelston. Total, pornographic fruit bomb. 10/10

YM leaves a barely-touched dram of Glenglassaugh 12yo 2011/2023 (55.3%, Milroy's Soho Selection, PX Hogshead) behind. It is rich, earthy, borderline meaty, and not subtle at all. A generic sherried whisky, well made, perhaps, but rather generic. It is also pretty strong. "So good my colleague bought two bottles," the bar lass tells everyone. She can have my allocation. 6/10

DW: "I plan to do something similar around Easter. I don't know what it will be called, yet. Perhaps Eastermas."
JS: "Surely, if this is DWmas, doing it at Easter should make it DWster?"
tOMoH: "Yeah, you're not moving Christmas to Easter..."

Time to call it a night. This place has the potential to become dangerous. Tomorrow will be a trifle difficult.

Happy birthday, DW!