10/02/2025 Mystery sample #1

The first in a series of samples received as part of recent purchases.

Nose: this starts well, with a refined Sherry influence -- drinks cabinets, a gentlemen's club's billiard room, wood-panelled rooms and rancio. Interestingly, that turns tertiary within seconds, with mushrooms growing on damp potting soil, the clay floor of a dark cellar, bits of wood in a dank shed, but also fleeting marzipan and a drop of nut liqueur -- and that liqueur goes from almond to walnut in less time than it takes to tell (and I felt like being numb like, felt like, mesmerised -- for those who know). Shaking the glass some more reveals a chicken casserole in which red wine was added to the broth, and, finally, a weathered Teflon baking tray. The second nose is more vegetative, giving marsh gas, cabbage cooking water, and boiled Brussels sprouts. Oh! it retains a vague fruitiness, in a liqueur way, but it is less elegant than initially. Mouth: it is a rocky number, with pebbles and gravel splashed with a sweet fortified red wine, augmented with a dash of mercurochrome. It has a gentle bitterness, and quite a kick too. Chewing emphasises the bitter mercurochrome, and perhaps exposes chargrilled red chicory. The second sip seems fruitier, amusingly enough; grapes smashed on a millstone. Chewing brings up shrubs and twigs of sorts, probably vine, and cranks up the heat to chilli levels (nowhere near Naga Morich, though), which triggers a slight numbness in the lips. Finish: sweet at first, it clearly showcases what a good Sherry (Pedro Ximénez) maturation can give. Then, it turns muskier and drier, and it becomes difficult not to think of a Fino instead -- fruity, boozy, and more mineral, or even abrupt. It is indeed sharper and drier as a bone-dry white wine, and more plastic-y. I have always found Fino Sherry's taste to be closer to that of plastic grapes than to ripe, juicy ones. Yes, I have tried eating plastic grapes, unknowingly, I might add, at a Yugoslavian restaurant, as a child; formative experience. The second gulp has dark-chocolate liqueur pralines (Mon Chéri), Cognac, and a dusting of quarry chippings. In faithful continuation of the mouth, the heat leaves the lips tingling, while the gob is processing nutty liqueur. Solid. But what is it?

Crabbie 30yo 1988/2019 (53.5%, John Crabbie Limited Edition, 528b) 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, Whisky-Online)

07/02/2025 Bunnahabhain

More souvenirs from a recent trip to Islay.

Bunnahabhain 12yo (46.3%, OB, b. ca. 2024): nose: stale Grand Marnier or apricot liqueur almost in the shadow of drinks cabinets. It suddenly shifts to a bowl of fruity granola, and shifts once more to focus on the cereal dust at the bottom of the bag. It becomes dusty indeed, close to chalky, before introducing cut apples and baked clementine segments. The subsequent back-and-forth between orchard fruits and cereals reflects a certain youth, but it is not overly detrimental. In the long run, toasted aromas appear -- toasted bread or barley, rather than anything earthier. The second nose injects cumin powder and chilli butter, which comes as a big surprise. Soon enough, it goes back to cereals, and adds a hay bale. Mouth: young is the word, here. It is pretty bitter without being ridiculously green, with unripe apples that suddenly become a window-cleaning spray, or even windscreen defroster. Chewing adds a subtle sweetness, in the shape of (unripe) citrus: clementine, tangerine, orange. It turns increasingly bitter with time, and it is a small wonder that it does not reach rubber. The second sip is wine-y, in a young-Rhine-white-wine way, which is not a frank success, in this taster's mind. It mellows out with more time on the tongue, fortunately. Finish: much more pleasant here, it returns to citrus segments, though, this time, they are ripe and juicy to bursting. Tangelo, Buddha's hand, tangerine. All those are in a thin custard, and the soft acidity indicates that the whole would so much like to touch maracuja -- yet never manages. The second gulp is assertively custard-y, with juicy fruit turnovers and éclairs that would have a pineapple glaze instead of chocolate. An okay dram that delivers little pleasure on the palate. The perhaps-harsh score reflects that. 6/10

Bunnahabhain 23yo 1998/2022 (49.7%, OB Fèis Ìle 2022, Calvados Cask Finish): nose: a lot bolder and precise, it has generously-varnished wood, smoked hazel wood, and warm chestnuts (the shells shine most). A logical mind may be tempted to call out apples (Calvados is an apple brandy, after all), but tOMoH finds none of that: it is entirely treated wood and nut shells. The afore-mentioned smoky element seems to mix and fuse with timid maritime touches such as sea spray and fishing nets. Let us call it smoky kelp. It promises a salty note, when given time, and one can picture a pile of coarse sea salt on a zinc plate. The second nose is more-clearly smoky: hazel-wood-fire smoke in a tiny bothy, in which the larder contains baskets of fruits. Mouth: oily and voluptuous, almost syrupy in texture. Here is a sweet and controlled juice that marries the soft bitterness of a delicious orange liqueur with the sweetness of ripe citrus (kumquat, tangerine). Chewing revives the distant smoke, refined, controlled, comforting, and adds a drop of wood varnish -- without wood, here. In the back, we find Cox or Royal Gala apples so distant they are easily overlooked. The second sip blows smoke on those apples, and presents them, sliced, on a slab of varnished wood. Next to that, we spot an open jar of preserved oranges. Finish: a fruity finish, full of orchard fruits and a puff of smoke, assertive, not brash. It is a wicker basket filled with juicy apples and pears, a basket that is usually stored in a smoky shed. The more time passes, the sweeter this proves to be, and the natural sugars of Golden Delicious apple meets processed sugar turning green. The second gulp is in line: fruity, sweet (not overly so), and faintly smoky. tOMoH likes this one a lot. 8/10 (Thanks, adc)

04/02/2025 A couple of drams at 3 Greek Street

Glen Scotia 45yo 1973/2019 (43.8%, OB, Refill Bourbon Casks re-racked 2011 into First Fill Bourbon Barrels, 150b): ethereal and fruity on the nose, with fragrant fruits so numerous they are hard to pick apart. The palate is on the thin side, and offers lychee and peach skins. The finish is medium-long, with rose water and juicy dragon fruit. Hopefully, one day, we spend more time with this, because it seems to be Glen Scotia's masterpiece. I would not be surprised to see it score higher when given the time it deserves. 9/10

Rosebank 26yo b.2018 (48.5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company, 321b): this is just as fruity, yet more assertive, with pulp and nectar on top of fragrance and juice. It has white wood (birch) to accompany white peaches. The palate is fuller and thicker than the Scotia's; it combines the fruits from the nose with wooden cutting boards. A long, bold finish, with peaches, persimmon, and white plums, if such a thing exists. 9/10

With thanks to SW.

03/02/2025 Arran

Arran d.1996 (55.6%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique M & H Cask Selection, Domaine Olivier Guyot Fixin Wood Finish, C#96/1372, 144b, b#13): the corrugated card box suggests an official bottling, but no: although, in all likelihood, the official bottler bottled this on behalf of La Maison du Whisky Belgique, nowhere does it state Arran Distillers as having anything to do with this. Nose: fresh-and-briny sea air, a splay of sea spray, or micro-droplets vapourised at the foot of a waterfall. It then becomes more wine-y, tertiary (argh!), with hay, earth and decaying grape skins. The latter is fermenting, and it teases vinegar, in truth. Hay infusion, nettle broth, and red-wine vinegar. Deeper nosing hints at butter biscuits dunked in a glass of red wine (think of VIP from Lover Come Back). Wine and vinegar come to dominate, leaving biscuits and sea air behind, and entertain shy muesli in the distance. The second nose is even more tertiary, autumn mushrooms, oily pine cones, humus, and the fresh trail of a wild boar. It is all forestry and wine sauces, which suggests a hunt, yet one without a kill. "The best kind," some may say. Old corkboards, cardboard boxes stored in an earthen-floored cellar, and red wine, always red wine. Mouth: it is initially faintly fruity, but the tongue quickly finds itself wrestling the acidity and bitterness of a flawed red wine. That is not to say it has no redeeming quality -- pressed dark grapes make for a decent fruit juice, -- but, all in all, it is difficult. Earth rocks up, parched and crusty after weeks of drought, and oily musky animal skins (wild cat, fox). It has twigs and dried vine leaves too, neither of which is a positive addition, here. The second sip comes closer to white-wine vinegar, so stripping it is. Pan-seared mushrooms, the pan then deglazed with white-wine vinegar. This is the juice resulting from that deglazing. Finish: finally something pleasant: prune syrup, Dr. Pepper, and dark-fruit jellies. Blackberry jam, blackcurrant jelly, preserved dark cherries, and mere traces of liquorice boot laces. It is a medium-long, fruity finish. The second gulp has obvious dark-purple cough drops (Ricola), blackcurrant Lemsip, mulled wine. Indeed, we now find cassia bark and ground cloves to complement the berries and prune syrup -- and it is all warm, as if infused. A spicy bitterness remains at the death, very clearly sumac and ground cloves. The finish saves this from a right savaging, but it is a challenging dram anyway. 5/10 (Thanks for the sample, Psycho)

01/02/2025 Artificial Intelligence

BA, OB, PS, JS, JMcD and cavalier66 join me for an oh!-so-timely tasting on the theme of what seems to be consuming everyone's thoughts, these days: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

cavalier66 brought food, as usual. In theme.

Comté: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, it is what computers do
Quince paste: because it tastes a little artificial
Lancashire: where Alan Turing was from, who led development of the Enigma machine
Malden Deep smoked salmon: for deep learning, or DeepSeek

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Exit the Dragon

Another brief line-up

BA also brought nibbles

PS presents Largedaig Language Model

Ledaig 20yo (43%, OB, 03/312 L16 3174 15.38) (PS): nose: spirit-y apple juice, suede moccasins, leatherette, and even a touch of urine. A couple of sniffs in, that turns into evaporated Indian tonic, chalky and bitter. JMcD finds citrus and pear. Mouth: waxy lemons (PS) for what cavalier66 calls a clean version of Ledaig. It has some musk (which suits the AI theme to a T) and scorched earth -- or is that baked rubber? cavalier66 then discovers really soft mandarine water. Finish: dark tar (BA), the beginning of soapiness (BA), and a rubbery bitterness, as well as a dose of plastic (cavalier66). 7/10

BA [about London water]: "It fights back a little when you drink it, and I like that."

As PS feared, the cork disintegrates

tOMoH presents pittyvAIch. In the chieftAIn's range.

Pittyvaich 14yo 1986/2001 (43%, Ian McLeod Chieftain's, Hogsheads, C#9519-22, 1074b, L1212BB 3 11 58) (tOMoH): "classic Pittyvaich," cavalier66 exclaims, which is a sentence not many people have ever heard. Nose: gooseberry and tins of raspberry (PS), hoppy fruitiness (BA). Next to that fruit, I find horse's hair, dusty wicker, hay bales, and fermented custard (cavalier66). Over time, the nose goes quieter. Mouth: chocolate-covered weed (OB), easter eggs and lots of chocolate indeed. Further sips have damson plums at various stages of unripeness, or a little bitter, in other words. Parmesan cheese rises, drying and butyric. Finish: milk and white chocolates in the style of those eggs (the ones with the toy inside, remember?) I will spend more time with this soon. In the meantime, I am enthusiastic about it. 8/10

tOMoH presents here come the rAIn agAIn.

Strathisla 1999/2010 Here Come The Rain Again (46%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique, C#45530, 247b) (tOMoH): we had this one not a year ago, but OB, JMcD and BA were not there. Nose: fresh (cavalier66), apples and lemons (PS), strychnine (cavalier66), a little herbaceous. Mouth: calm, mellow and still (JMcD), dark herbs (cavalier66). Finish: lively and fruity, it has plums and apricots, with just a very-small pinch of dried herbs. Full notes here. 8/10

BA: "What distillery is this?"
tOMoH: "Strathisla."
cavalier66: "strathAIsla."
tOMoH: "I thought of it, but it is a bit far fetched, even for me."
all: "Who are you? What have you done to tOMoH?"
tOMoH: "I've been abducted by AI."

PS [about Bell's decanters]: "They're made by a company called Wade..."
tOMoH: "Wade a minute!"
PS: "...and they..."
BA: "No. Stop. Give [the pun] a little space to breathe. There. Carry on."

PS presents a whisky matured in a sassicAIa cask.

Benromach 5yo b.2006  Sassicaia Wood Finish (45%, OB, 27mo Sassicaia Wine Casks Finish, 3000b) (PS): nose: shards of cedar wood and unlit incense. cavalier66 finds it more vulgar than the preceding dram, brash (PS). It does become a bit wine-y, with added crushed pine cones, roasted chicken breasts, and oily mahogany. Next is a wicker-clad open bottle of Valpolicella. Mouth: tannic, young, fruity, but not in a very-convincing way. It is also drying as a wine whose grapes have seen too much sun. Finish: long, grape-y, it has elderberry, decaying berries, and rancio as well. 6/10

JMcD presents Artificial Intelligens.

Mackmyra Intelligens (46.1%, OB, ex-Bourbon + ex-Oloroso + American Oak + Swedish Oak Casks, B#AI02, b.2021) (JMcD): a recipe allegedly created by an AI. Nose: Gummibärchen, poached pear and baked persimmon. Jellied melon cubes too, and raspberry jellies. Mouth: There is a veneer of tropical fruits that is soon overtaken by pitch-black liquorice, then that morphs into juicy mango sprinkled with paprika. Finish: clean (JS), the whisky speaks for itself (JS, channelling her inner Quaker), long and fruity, Turkish delights, fruit jellies, candied papaya cubes, and a pinch of liquorice shavings. 8/10

cavalier66: "Can I share something interesting?"
PS: "That seems hugely unlikely, but go on."

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Man To Men

tOMoH presents AIlsa bay.

Ailsa Bay 7yo (unknown ABV, Cask Sample, ex-French Red Wine Cask) (tOMoH): nose: buttery nut paste. Mouth: chewy (cavalier66), thick (OB), this is almond paste dampened with syrupy red wine. Finish: vulgar (cavalier66), all cask and no spirit (cavalier66). My notes are here. 7/10

JS presents the Baller, which has a samurAI on the label.

St. George 3yo The Baller (47%, OB, Ex-Bourbon, French Wine Casks + Umeshu Finish) (JS): nose: orange fruit gum (PS), sage and thyme (PS). Mouth: Swiss herbal sweets (cavalier66), but also a lot of (artificial) fruits (plum, ripe apricot, citrus). Finish: hoppy (OB), génépi (cavalier66). My notes are here. 7/10

BA: "What's the stuff you put in beer?"
OB: "Hops?"
BA: "No, the orange stuff..."
tOMoH: "Irn Bru?"

SW cannot be with us, today, but he did manage to send a bottle our way for the occasion. An unmarked duty pAId sample.

Midleton d.2014 (unknown ABV, Duty Paid Samples, Double Charred Bourbon Cask) (SW): nose: "instantly recognisable as a pot still" (cavalier66), grapefruit (BA) and other fruits. I find it pink and yellow, with peach and ripe apricot. A little breathing time makes it woodier and drier. Mouth: cream (cavalier66), pink passion fruits coated in nail varnish. It has the texture of peach and mango melting on the tongue. Finish: long, powerful, a little spicy, while remaining very fruity. Persimmon, peach, nectarine, kumquat. Lovely. I hope to spend more time with this too. 8/10

Next up is OB. I ask the gang if they prefer a trou normand, or a trou-du-cul normand. Emphasis on the pun, here, since OB is obviously not a trou-du-cul (arsehole). BA, OB and JMcD opt for the trou normand. The fools. JS pours them a shot of bAIju, and they immediately regret it. Although BA lectures us all on baiju (starting with the pronunciation), so go figure.

With that prank behind, we move on to the trou-du-cul normand.

OB explains how the next whisky is made in a Coffey still with a rectifier. In neural networks, the rectifier, or ReLU… Bah! Who am I kidding? Check the Wikipedia page, if you need to know more.

Cambus 40yo 1975/2016 (52.7%, OB, Hogsheads, 1812b, b#0442) (OB): nose: ethereal, yet it seems a little less tropical than four years ago. Still: pineapple, buttery peach and creamy coconut. Mouth: incredibly creamy on the palate, and pumped with maracuja, sprinkled with cumin seeds. Finish: so creamy again, with mango and peaches drowning in coconut cream. It does sustain a clear bitterness too, yet that Is never a worry. I am perhaps a tad less impressed than the previous times, but yeah... 10/10

PS [paraphrasing]: "Grain is vile. Grain is disgusting and no-one should buy it."
tOMoH: "Quite right. This should never have been bottled."
PS: "Indeed. Don't push the prices."
JMcD [after trying it]: "This is amazing. I'd like to understand why tOMoH thinks it should not have been bottled."
tOMoH: "tOMoH is winding you up. This is tOMoH's favourite grain."

cavalier66 explains that the next dram was rated A⊕⊕ by BC, when he had a blog. That is as close to AI's perfection as is achievable for a human-made product. He adds that this is from ChatGPTeaninich.

59.54 32yo 1984/2016 Elegant, classy and simply beautiful (50.5%, SMWS Society Single Cask, Refill ex-Bourbon Hogshead, 186) (cavalier66): nose: elegant, classy, rather good (OB), greener [than the previous drams] (cavalier66), and, indeed, pomelo, Ugli fruit and Kaffir lime are front and centre. BA finds it orange-y. He is wrong, but citrus foliage is a given. Mouth: very citrus-y again, with tangerine peels starting to turn blue with mould, and a drying chalkiness splashed with Indian tonic. Finish: a note of hay, fruit, and a lot of quinine-y Indian tonic. With water, corn flakes turn up (BA). It is a long, sparkling finish, citrus-y and a little bitter, borderline leafy. Excellent. 9/10

OB: "It becomes elegant with water."
cavalier66: "Maybe our definition of 'elegant' is different."
OB: "No. My definition is correct and yours is wrong."

cavalier66: "I was pulling on the wrong bit."
PS: "Erm..."
cavalier66: "No!"

Time for OB's exquisite Galette des Rois
I will find the trinket tomorrow in the last piece (and almost break a tooth)

OB tells us the next one was bottled for WhiskyNerds, and reminds us that AI was developed by nerds. In parallel, BA tells us that The Whisky Exchange's code for Loch Lomond is LLM -- which is short for Large Language Model, the basis of current AI.

Inchmurrin 14yo 2003/2017 Law Bottling (56.2%, OB Single Cask specially selected by WhiskyNerds Trias Usquebaugh, Refill Sherry Butt, C#17/169-1, 260b) (OB): very tropical, it has buttery mango, cured peach, cherimoya, persimmon, and pressed dried dates in warm turnovers. On the late tip, we get water-chestnut purée. Mouth: this is mango and lychee in a cup of coffee, served with dried dates on the side. Finish: a lot earthier in the finish, it has black cardamom, liquorice-root shavings, and green-grape juice, as well as smashed lychee. I bet it would gain a point after it has had some time to open up in the open bottle. 8/10

vs.

Loch Lomond 15yo 2009/2024 (55.2%, Decadent Drinks Decadent Drams, 2nd Fill Hogshead of Loch Lomond + 1st Fill Hogshead of Inchmurrin) (BA): a blend of Loch Lomond and Inchmurrin, which is a funny concept. This is the juice before reduction, rather than the one that was commercially available at 53%. Nose: banane flambée (cavalier66), mulled wine, gingerbread (loud and clear), banana bread. We will call it a gingerbread-and-banana sandwich. Mouth: There is a more-mineral touch at play, here, with a mix of quarry dust and lichen on stave, ground peach stone turning green with lichen. Finish: long and fruity, it has a dash of mandarine juice and peaches, greengages, tangerines, and just a shake of Sherry cask (whatever that means). 8/10

cavalier66 stands up to leave (as usual, he is double-booked). He generously offers to change the line-up to have his last contribution now. The cleverer thing to do was to pour and let us have it in the right order, but the attendees are apparently drunk enough to throw cleverness to the wind, and spoil their palates with this.

cavalier66 quotes his mentor, Jim Murray, who said of this very bottling: "I have been tasting Talisker for 28 years, this is the best bottling ever. Miss this and your life will be incomplete." cavalier66 argues that, today, our lives are incomplete without AI. He adds that this is PS's most-hated distillery, and PS is the furthest a man can be from AI. He concludes by saying this Talisker is Chat-G-Peaty. Groan. Laugh.

OB: "That was the best [pun] to-date."
tOMoH: "Not meant as a compliment."

cavalier66: "That's not the original cork. That one went soft. tOMoH gave me one."
PS: "Are you saying tOMoH's cork is soft?"

BA: "Can I say this? It's going to sound bad, but it's not meant in a bad way. It reminds me of the baiju."
Room. Gasping. For. Breath.
cavalier66: "Do you know how much this cost me at auction?"

cavalier66 departs. I have not yet touched my dram of Talisker, because I know better.

BA: "This is Lagavulin 16. You may have heard of it. It's just Lagavulin 16."

BA asked ChatGPT: "I need to bring a bottle of whisky to a tasting on the theme of AI."

ChatGPT said Lagavulin 16, amongst other random suggestions."

Lagavulin 16yo (43%, OB, b. ca. 2023) (BA): nose: smoked lemons, preserved lemons, skimmed milk, and, after a while, horses' stables. Mouth: mellow (at 43%, how could it be otherwise?), full of chargrilled sweet yellow citrus, grapefruit and pineapple. Finish: long, big, briny and ashy. It is warm, drying, and gives one the voice of Annie Girardot in a matter of seconds (think early-2000s Marianne Faithfull for an English-speaking comparison). There is little Sherry to find, here, which makes sense once one knows Lagavulin 16 has not been aged in Sherry casks for years, contrary to popular belief. Hard to believe how well this fares, so deep into the line-up. 7/10

BA presents a Longrow from a chardonnAI cask.

Longrow 16yo 2001/2018 (56%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Chardonnay Cask Finish) (BA): very medicinal, with jelly capsules, and... Is it marzipan? Later on, it acquires those chalky candy necklaces. Mouth: oooh! The Chardonnay is more obvious, here, with squashed raspberry, and glimpses of lychee, perhaps. Chewing reveals a firm chalkiness which dehydrates the inside of the lips. It takes even more chewing for strawberry sherbet to rock up. Finish: plums and prunes, peach skins, and wine-cured fruit stones. JMcD calls it juicy and sweet, but also meaty and savoury. This should absolutely not work, but somehow does. 8/10

Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62%, OB Limited Edition, Sherry Casks, 9000b, b#5117): and now, the Talisker. Actually, I do not feel like it. BA, OB, PS and JMcD all leave together, and I have had enough. It is hard to believe the hiccoughs around this bottling. dom666 brought it to his birthday tasting in November -- only to realise he took the wrong bottle in the right box. He brought the right bottle to Burns' Night in January, but we had so much else to try we skipped it. cavalier66, who also has a bottle, read that on this little blog and decided we had to try it in February (today). By the time we reach its position in the line-up, I am whiskied out. Bah! I have transferred my dram of it to an airtight container and will have it another day.

Great times.

29/01/2025 Industry Giants: Dave Broom at the SMWS

A series of events centered around a personality of the mad world of whisky. Tonight, the SMWS welcomes Dave Broom. Except it does not, really. Due to a collision between a train and a person, Dave's train was sent back to its starting point, and he will never make it to the capital. SMWS ambassador John McCheyne stands in for him. Also a whisky enthusiast, also Glaswegian, and even a supporter of the same football team, he tells us.

cavalier66 and PS are here, as are a few other familiar faces. JS joins us late, also delayed by the train incident.

38.43 32yo d.1992 Bar room buzz (49.6%, SMWS The Creators Collection, 1st Fill ex-PX Barrique, 213b): nose: precious woods, melted chocolate, a dollop of toothpaste. cavalier66 finds "lovely" xylene too. It has a beautiful Sherry influence that goes from a nutty paste to pressed prunes, with an added whiff of smoke in the second sniff. Mouth: Sherry poured on gravel, and prunes that become juicier and juicier. cavalier66 spots ozone -- and he is right. Finish: black-pepper-covered prunes. It is a very, very long finish, ripe with cured peaches, and squashed apricots splashed with sweet Sherry. 8/10

JMcC: "He said my accent sounded like a Lamborghini fuelled with Irn Bru."

10.272 10yo d.2013 Jeretzering home (61%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 210b): nose: oil paint -- a full palette of it, -- lichen on stave, but also toffee. Sticky toffee pudding, in fact, and pebbles. Suddenly, fresh red chill pepper appears, crushed. It almost makes me close my eyes, so clear and fierce that chilli is. A few drops of water makes this more metallic, with hot cast iron. Mouth: well, it is a souped-up Sherry on the tongue, dry, mineral, as well as wine-y and sweet. Sugar turned green and quarry dust guarantee an abrasive texture. It is very, very hot. Fruity, but hot. Surprisingly, water makes this even more desiccating. It is not quite chalky, yet it does suck all the moisture from the mouth. Finish: long, fiery, feisty, it rolls out boiling toffee and caramel coulis poured on piping-hot prunes. Water adds a drop of ink to those prunes. 7/10

JP: "This one is called Gorgonzolas burning! 241 bottles. We can send this anywhere in the world. But, if we choose to send it to America, the FDA has to test it, because it mentions food. Which increases prices."
tOMoH: "Just keep them here. PS will buy them."

94.50 12yo d.2012 Hodgepodge (60.2%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Barrel + HTMC New Oak Barrel Finish, 195b): nose: artificial (cavalier66). Indeed, it is plastic-y. Plastic pipes, then burnt hay and old paper. A little mint shows up too. Mouth: mellow to a point, it grows in power. We have some kind of nut paste, and a spray of WD-40, and crystallised strawberries, after a while. Another Sherry cask, though this one turns remarkably fruity. Finish: long and fruity, with strawberries again, and raspberries, served in a plastic half-pipe. Later on, we have maple-syrup-coated tree bark. Fettercairn. What a quirky distillery! 7/10

93.219 25yo 1999/2024 A silver darling (58.6%, SMWS Society Cask In celebration of Greville Street's 25th Birthday, Oloroso Butt + 1st Fill ex-PX Hogshead, 219b): nose: another Sherry number, a nutty one, this time. Chestnut, water chestnut, charred marzipan topped with a spoonful of black shoe polish. We also have cough drops. Time and insistence help detect tropical fruits in a rubber pouch. Water pushes gingerbread forward. Mouth: here, it is a fairly-indistinct Sherry cask, if a good one. Minty tar, roasted chestnuts, a lick of drying rubber. The second sip has talcum-powder-coated bicycle inner tubes, chalky-and-a-half. With water, it remains the same, albeit wetter. Over time, drying avocado skins come into focus. Finish: long and pleasantly refreshing, it has cinnamon paste and boozy prunes, dried figs and dates, which add an earthy touch. 

JP: "Every bottle tonight is 10% off. I only tell you this because my boss is not here."

138.28 5yo d.2018 Thrills, gills and skills with grills (57.6%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 180b): nose: woah! this is extremely plastic-y, offensively so. Bin bags, rubbish. Brash (cavalier66), young (cavalier66). Incredibly, the whole nose ignites: burning hay, burning bags of rubbish, burning nappies. Just... why? Later on, we have a note of red fruits and smoked tree bark. Mouth: plastic-pipe shavings, melted and blended with milk chocolate. Perhaps it has a drop of citrus juice, or even lemon curd. Then, some smoke rises. Finish: Remarkably short and characterless, which is quite a feat for something this fierce. Mud comes up, in the long run, not much more, and I do not have the inclination or disposition to investigate any further. Too meh. And that nose! Pfff! 5/10

cavalier66 wants to try another new bottling.

50.119 34yo d.1990 Gallovidian rhapsody (53.6%, SMWS The Vault Collection, ex-Bourbon Barrels + Refill ex-Bourbon Barrel Finish, 235b): nose: we are in a different dimension, full of ripe citrus -- Sicilian lemon, calamansi, Kaffir lime, phwoar! Mouth: ooft! This is so citrus-y, with Ugli fruit, calamansi, and lime segments kept in cellophane. Finish: lemon-flavoured custard cream. Best dram tonight. That batch of casks distilled on the 26th January 1990 never disappoints! 9/10 (Thanks, cavalier66)

The staff takes individual orders. PS jumps on the opportunity -- of course he does.

tOMoH: "What did you order?"
PS: "A random Glentauchers."

Where else does one hear that!?

26.213 10yo d.2012 Carnations on the coast (61.5%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 204b): no notes. 8/10 (Thanks, cavalier66)

A good night out, as always. Since it was a surprise to me and I did not know what to expect, Broom's absence did not bother me. Also, McCheyne is a good host anyway. I was less convinced by the drams (aside the vile Nantou, everything seemed a little too sherried for me), but it is always interesting to try new things. The pours are still (too) generous, though. Bang for one's buck, sure, but that is a lot of alcohol to absorb in a relatively-short time. Especially when one's companion does not finish their own drams.

Tomorrow will see a dangerous start, even if it will all clear up seamlessly before school begins.

31/01/2025 St. George

We started the month with an American whiskey and we finish it with an American whiskey. In rhetoric, that is called an epanadiplosis.

Noun

epanadiplosis (uncountable)

(rhetoric) A figure of speech by which an American whiskey is tasted both at the beginning and at the end of a month.

(The above may be made up)

St. George 3yo The Baller (47%, OB, Ex-Bourbon, French Wine Casks + Umeshu Finish): we had this less than a week ago. Let us give it proper time and attention. Nose: just as it did last week, this Baller punches one in the face with all things citrus! Lemon zest, lemon-scented detergent, lemon cream cleaner, lemon curd... No! Scratch that last one; it is lemon sorbet. Those who a regulars at public toilets may decide that it has lemon-scented urinal cookies. Whether that is a good or a bad thing is entirely down to personal preference. One may spot lemon cake too, yet it is merely the lemon glazing on said cake, rather than anything involving flour. This is too ethereal to promise anything solid. The more one sniffs this, the more cleaning products come out, which revolve around cream cleaner and urinal cookies. It does not take much effort to imagine the gunk dissolving under that detergent's action... or, indeed, urine. The second nose has Cologne spilled on a magazine, and a pouch of pot-pourri that contains lime leaves and dried citrus segments. It is now reminiscent of some Christmas-market stalls with their heady scented tat. Mouth: acidic, citrus-y, it develops a mineral touch that provides a certain bitterness, while carried by a fruity undercurrent. Kaffir lime leaves, lime and pomelo foliage, jellied lime zest. Someone wearing green rubber gloves is furiously cleaning one's mouth with a green-citrus-scented cleaner cream. The second sip jacks up the green acidity, which means more citrus foliage and jellied zest. We have old lime drops kept in a tin, and newly-minted coins. What a surprise that is! Finish: with an exquisitely-balanced alcohol, this presents more green citrus of several kinds (lime, Kaffir lime, pomelo, bergamot, kabosu), as well as unripe pineapple and Chinese gooseberry. It is leafy to a point, i.e. a tad bitter, but mostly fruity, or acidic and sweet. Retro-nasal olfaction catches more detergent, yet it is not soapy, here; it Is but the scent of what was cleaned, no longer the cleaning agent itself. Repeated quaffing confirms that it is fruitier and fruitier, and the green bitterness of cleaning agent dwindles away. This feels close to a limoncello (lime-on-cello) than a whiskey, but it is pleasantly refreshing. Hard to overlook the knowledge that it was made to be drunk in a highball, though. It seems to call for adding water. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)

Dryanuary ends tonight. We can finally resume our Single Malt Scotch Whisky adventures.

25/01/2025 Burns Night 2025 -- Exit the Dragon (Part 2)

The story started here.

Arrrrrrr!

JS presents a bottle with a dragon on the label.

Chichibu London Edition b.2023 (51.5%, OB Ichiro's Malt imported by Speciality Drinks, 1949b, b#1843) (JS): nose: floral (Psycho). It is rather drier than expected, mostly displaying hay. With time, tropical fruits appear, chiefly timid papaya. Mouth: a little earthy, root-y, actually, with beets, celeriac, sweet potato skins, and chilli flakes on pineapple rings. Finish: long, dry, it has more sweet-potato peels, and a vague hue of tropical fruits in the background. Baked pineapple rings. JS feels it is less impressive than the 2022 edition. I think it is just as good. 8/10

Bishlouk wakes up only to leave. He tells me the link between his bottles (which he leaves behind) and the theme, then blags a sample of one of the bottles.

Bishlouk: "Is it ok if I leave you a sample for the Talisker?"
dom666: "I'll fill it now."
tOMoH: "Psss. Psss. Do you want a funnel, dom666? Oh! no, you don't need it."

Bishlouk, sonicvince and Mrs. sonic disappear in the night. ydc goes to bed.

Psycho tells us that Bruce Lee is now another name for kung-fu, but he also practised karate. He adds that the founder of modern karate is Gichin Funakoshi -- or Fixin Gunakoshi, as he will be known tonight. Boom.

Arran d.1996 (55.6%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique M & H Cask Selection, Domaine Olivier Guyot Fixin Wood Finish, C#96/1372, 144b, b#13) (Psycho): nose: faint shoe polish applied on new leather, cured peach and apricot. Mouth: a bit wine-y, tannic. It has crushed cereals, hay, and baked citrus segments. Finish: hot custard with a splash of vin jaune. This is still not my thing, yet it is not as vile as I remembered it. 5/10

tOMoH: "Le Fixin me déplaît moins que l'autre fois. Le nez est pas mal. La bouche est plus difficile."
Gaija: "Il a une belle touche de soufre."
dom666: "Il y a surtout une grosse dose de souffrance."

Bishlouk: Exit the Dragon coincides with Enter the Serpent. The unlucky number of the serpent is 6; the lucky number 9. Both are divisible by 3, so Bishlouk brought three bottles.

Ord 15yo 2008/2023 (53.4%, Cadenhead Club Part of a 10th Anniversary Sherry Series, Pedro Ximénez since Sep. 2020, 1125b) (Bishlouk): nose: very earthy, it has grated chocolate, soft coffee grounds, wet mud, then flat cola and carbonyl. Later on, chocolate grows to become the dominant force. Mouth: lively, acidic, it has lots of carbonyl, but also coffee and Dr. Pepper. Earthy and root-y. Finish: sweet and earthy here too, root-y, it showcases a copious dose of root beer and Dr. Pepper. Pretty good. 7/10

Psycho reminds us that Bruce Lee debuted as a character in Kato (The Green Hornet). To celebrate that, he brought a Kato-nhead bottling. Groans.

Loch Lomond 21yo 1997/2018 (52.5%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 2 x Bourbon Barrels, 378b) (Psycho): nose: fruits cut on cardboard, followed by custard and fruit yoghurt. It is that kind of days, innit. Mouth: chalky, it combines buttery mango with a milk-chocolate twang. The tropical fruits that appear are staggering: mango and papaya louder than all. Finish: big and explosive with lots of tropical fruits again. Amazing dram. How it manages to shine after so many others is a mystery. 9/10

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Exit The Dragon

red71 will provide the explanation for his contribution in a couple of days, since he has left: "We exit the dragon to move towards another Chinese animal -- next is the serpent, but who cares? The one we are interested in is the rooster. Je ne veux pas passer du coq a l'âne, mais du coq a l'oie." [untranslatable expression -- suffice to say 'oie' means 'goose'] "And," he adds, "the valley of the wild geese is the translation of Glengoyne."

Glengoyne b.2012 (58.7%, OB Cask Strength, Oak Casks, B#001, 39583) (red71): nose: hot gunmetal, ground coffee (or mocha), and a spray of furniture polish. Mouth: this is strongly drying, mineral, and also pretty hot, even following the high-ABV drams that preceded it. Finish: balanced, juicier than it was on the tongue, it has plums and prune syrup. This fares really well, so late in the line-up. 8/10

ruckus: "Imminent is playing in Aachen in May."

krruk2: "We'll go to Aachen in May."
tOMoH: "To see Barbie? A Ken..."
kruuk2: "Hazewee..."

Dessert #4 enters, courtesy of JS, with a little help from Mrs. sonic, who made the shirt, earlier.

JS presents a bottling that has the word 'dragon' in the title. Surely, that is self explanatory.

128.18 9yo d.2012 Dragon's lipstick (59%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead + 1st Fill Ex-Ruby Port Barrique Finish, 271b) (JS): nose: host metal, a medicinal haze, paint (Gaija), and then that flips to give fruit turnovers on a hot tin tray. The (acrylic) paint is increasingly laced with tropical fruits. Surely, breathing will turn this into another Welsh fruit bomb (as oppose to a Welsh-fruit bomb, for those who are precise with language). Mouth: mango slices on hot metal trays, and half-baked fruit turnovers, which spells chewy dough and setting custard. Finish: long, full of hot turnovers on worn-out metallic baking trays. This is excellent as is, and will certainly improve yet. 8/10

dom666: "The bloke who played [character's name] in l'Île Aux Enfants just died."
tOMoH: "No, I didn't."
dom666: "Did you play in l'Île Aux Enfants?"
tOMoH: "I played in a porno, and, being Belgian, it probably had children in it, but I'm not sure."

Ben Nevis 10yo 2010/2023 (53.7%, Cadenhead Club Part of a 10th Anniversary Sherry Series, Oloroso Hogshead since Nov. 2020, 1138b) (Bishlouk): the second of Bishlouk's three-pack (see above). Nose: a lot of black shoe polish. That later opens up to give plum jam. Mouth: yeah, shoe-polish-coated apricot stones, ground black pepper, charred pineapple, mocha cake. Further sips have more prunes. Finish: long, sherried, and pineapple-y -- charred pineapple, see? Mocha-chocolate-glazed pudding. Juicy prunes in syrup settle for good, in the end. This is good, if, again, a better Sherry-matured whisky than a Ben Nevis from a Sherry cask. 7/10

tOMoH: "Il est cracra, mais pas trop."
We talk about the meaning of 'cracra', 'crado', 'crade' and 'crasse' (dirty, filthy).
dom666: "À Liège, on était tous BCBG: bien crados pour bien guindailler."

dom666's turn: "I wanted to bring a Talisker. For the link, I searched and searched, and found nothing..."
Psycho: "You could have..."
dom666: "I'm not finished!"
dom666 [pulls out a Talisker 8yo from his bag, and reads the description]: "No luck, I ordered the wrong one. So [pulls out another bottle from his bag], here is another one with a dragon on it."
Psycho: "How do you fit any Talisker into the theme? A dragon flies in the Skye."

Talisker 8yo b.2021 The Rogue Seafury (59.7%, OB Special Release 2021 imported by DBBV, Refill Casks) (dom666): nose: farm-y (Psycho), farmyard (Psycho). It is indeed earthy, peaty, with old ropes in addition, tarry fishing nets, and ancient ink, as well as seashells. Mouth: salt water, preserved lemons, brine, crushed oysters shells... This has so much brine it hurts. Finish: it is rather violent, at this stage, full of hot salt water, sea salt, calamansi bathing in rockpools, and smoked mussels. It somehow makes me think of a tequila slammer. On another day, it may score less well for me, but tonight... 8/10

vs.

Talisker 8yo b.2020 (57.9%, OB Special Release 2020 imported by DBBV, Caribbean Rum Cask Finish) (dom666): nose: a lot softer and woodier than its sibling. It is more subtle on all accounts. Mouth: we have oysters and mussels splashed with rum, which is quite surprising, if one does not expect it, i.e. if tasted blind. Finish: long, salty and briny. My notes do not do it justice, but I prefer the 2021 version, in any case. 6/10

Can you believe we skip the mighty Talisker 20yo 1981/2002 (62%, OB Limited Edition, Sherry Casks, 9000b, b#5117)? Not enough energy or time to shoehorn it into the theme.

Caol Ila 11yo 2012/2023 (52.7%, Cadenhead Club Part of a 10th Anniversary Sherry Series, Palo Cortado Hogshead since Apr. 2022, 1059b) (Bishlouk): last of the triptych that Bishlouk left us. Nose: shoe polish, just-polished knee-high hunting boots, with mud from the latest hunt stuck to the sole. It has fishing nets too. At this stage, not much else comes out, but it is well honest. Perhaps some ink. Mouth: super inky -- maybe too much so. It is very drying, desiccating, almost difficult. Challenging, in any case. It walks a tight rope -- a marine rope. Finish: long and inky, coastal (Gaija), and somewhat akin to chewing on an old, inky, tarry rope. It is okay, a little unsubtle. 6/10

dom666 [about the Caol Ila]: "It has peat. Way too much peat."
Gaija: "You don't understand anything about poetry."

JS goes to bed.

Gaija tells us that Exit the Dragon is the title of an album by Urge Overkill, recorded in 1995, the same vintage as this Lagavulin (and its owner).

Lagavulin 19yo 1995/2014 (54.7%, OB bottled especially to celebrate Fèis Ìle 2014, European Oak Sherry Butts, 3500b, b#0837) (Gaija): nose: initially very mineral, it becomes fairly vegetal, with all sorts of moist mosses, lichens, and other vegetation. Lots of leather too, suede and leatherette, as well as old cigar, swamp (Gaija), and, after a while, chlorine. Mouth: it is super concentrated, hot, ashy as an ashtray. It is big and bold, overflowing with cigarette ash. Finish: lots of cigarette ash here too, and stagnant water. On the late tip, it shows sugar and strawberry jam in an ashtray. This may not be my favourite profile, but it is well made, hard to argue with that. 8/10

Gaija: "When I brought it, I thought it would be in the second half of the line-up, but I didn't think it would be 16:13 in the morning."

tOMoH presents Hergé's masterpiece: Port Charlotus Bleu

Port Charlotte 14yo 2002/2017 (60.1%, The Creative Whisky Company The Exclusive Malts, Sherry Hogshead, C#1140, 228b) (group): I take no notes, at this late hour. Gaija finds purple fruits and raisins, whereas GD has dried sausage. As for me, I am simply astounded that, at stupid o'clock in the morning, after what has been the most-ambitious Burns' Night to-date, this wee fifteen-year-old bulldozes everything that came prior, and takes over like the victor it is, without being brash or obnoxious; just dominating with its mere presence. One day, we will review this one adequately. 9/10

The soundtrack: The Old Man of Huy - Another Brick In The Wall

tOMoH [to the survivors]: "One last one?"
GD: "No, thanks. On est bien, Tintin."

The others (ruckus, Psycho, dom666, kruuk2, Gaija) have kruuk2's Laphroaig.

Psycho departs around 6:00. Gaija goes to bed around the same time. kruuk2, dom666 and ruckus decamp a couple of hours later, quickly followed by GD and ydc, who just got up. It is 8:00. New record.

Tomorrow, dom666 will say: "[...] I can see we are getting older, because we have never had so short an after-party, with only one dram... Of course, we finished the line-up after six..."

We have Dessert #5 the following morning, courtesy of Mrs. sonic

Broken corks -- almost all Psycho's

25/01/2025 Burns Night 2025 -- Exit the Dragon (Part 1)

2024 was the year of the Dragon -- and that year is ending in a few days. Too late for Enter the Dragon, just in time for Exit the Dragon.

Decoration courtesy of ruckus

JS, adc, Gaija, kruuk2, ruckus, dom666, Psycho, sonicvince, Mrs. sonic, STL, red71, Bishlouk, ydc, GD, and I meet up for the yearly celebration, loosely connected with the Bard.

Record number of guests, this year

The line-up...
...before any guest arrives

adc stuck a note on the door asking not to talk about politics to avoid getting worked up.

STL [when the front door opens on him]: "May we talk about arse?"

We have an early theoretical start (17:30), but one does not see fifteen people turn up on time, do they? Arrivals are scattered between 17:09 and 18:30. Fortunately, JS brought an aperitif.

...and red71 and STL brought appetizers

St. George Single Malt Whiskey Lot 17 (43%, OB, B#SM017, b.2017) (JS): I do not try it; it is appreciated by all who do. My notes are here.

Psycho: "One can tell it is Californian: it is smoky."

With that questionable joke out of the way, we are ready to start for realz. The menu is (very) ambitious, so my notes are sometimes scant.

Full line-up, with lots of undisclosed bottles

sonicvince presents Green Douglas. 'Douglas' contains 'glas', which is made with heat: one blows fire on sand to "do glass". Groans.

Green Douglas 5yo (40%, OB The Douglas Fir for Aldi) (sonicvince): nose: light and surprisingly herbal, it has verbena and dried sage. Mouth: dried sage sprinkled on custard cream. Chewing injects crème anglaise. red71 and Gaija astutely call out violet and pékèt au cuberdon. Doubtful at first, I becomes convinced they are right with a little careful analysis. Finish: soft and dry, shortly submerged by violet-flavoured pékèt (gin, to keep it simple). Unpretentious first dram. It does the trick. 6/10

dom666: "Look! I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons since 1984."
ruckus: Those are fantasy dragons, not real ones."

Psycho: "Nice, that little grain."
tOMoH: "And to think you used to not like grains!"
Psycho: "Only idiots never change their minds"
ruckus: "Only idiots don't like grains."

Bishlouk and Psycho talk about work.
red71: "Can we keep those discussions for ten drams from now?"

Soup is served.

Sweet potato and carrot soup.
I almost forget to take a picture, hence the nearly-empty plate.

Psycho explains that "the Dragon" is a nickname for Bruce Lee who went to secondary school to E-Deanston Technical School. Wow.

Deanston 17yo (40%, OB, Oak Casks, 7156 97/0331 L16, b. 1997) (Psycho): nose: apple juice (sonicvince), acidic (Gaija), Turkish delights, OBE and beeswax (Gaija), greengages, marzipan and ground almonds (ruckus). Mouth: funnily enough (because it is not in line with the nose), this has toffee and dusty furniture, as well as lovely wax. Finish: toffee, dusty wax, thickening beeswax... This is delicious! Better than I remembered it (from another bottle). A generous 8/10

Also, the cork breaks -- one of many tonight

tOMoH: "There's greengage, here."
sonicvince [who half-committed to bringing a greengage tart]: "You're really stuck on that greengage."
tOMoH: "I'm going to make you feel it all night."
all: "!?!??!?!"

We talk about Houte-Si-Plou [pronounce: hoot-see-ploo, Walloon for Listen-if-it's-raining, and also the name of a village].
dom666: "There is a Houte-Si-Plou in Savoie [a region of Southern France]."
tOMoH: "Isn't there one in Burundi? Or Rwanda? Ah! no, that's Tutsi-Plou."
dom666: "Ain't that a film with Dustin Hoffman?"

Dinner is served.

Haggis Parmentier

Vegetarian haggis

Roasted seasonal vegetables

Potato purée

ruckus presents two Scapas, each with a longship on the label. In French, a longship is called 'drakkar', clearly related to 'drakar', Swedish for 'dragons'. A certain type of longship is known as 'dreki'. Wikipedia tells us: "The word dreki for a ship derives from this practice of placing carved dragonheads on ships."

Anyway, this Scapa longship is small, but it has a dragon figurehead.
Bizarrely, it sems to be on the back of the ship.

Also, one of the two bottlings was distilled in 1988, which was a year of the Dragon.

Scapa 2005/2017 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, 161983) (ruckus): nose: custard cream and crème anglaise come out at first, then it develops a little herbaceous quality. Gaija talks about Parmesan cheese, though I cannot see that. Mouth: a little mineral, with some bitterness and a lot of pepper (or is it the haggis we just had?) It has a delicious milky-creamy texture. Finish: beautiful, loaded with oat milk and cinnamon powder. 8/10

vs.

Scapa 1988/1999 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, II/BGE) (ruckus): nose: custard cream and custard powder, cocoa powder and coconut milk, a hint of mint too. It mellows out in the long run, with carrot soup or sweet potato (or is there some soup stuck in our teeth? Because it is not just me) Mouth: βανίλια, vanilla custard, just a pinch of quarry dust... In fact, it becomes rather dusty over time, and adds tar to that. JS finds it well fruity. Finish: wonderful custard pudding, with a sprinkle of cocoa powder or powdered cinnamon. 9/10

red71 struggles with the notion that these were distilled seventeen years apart. "Ah! You add the ages of both and you divide by two," he exclaims. We tease him about his miscomprehension mercilessly.

red71: "Is there any more haggis? The more haggis [ruckus, Gaija and tOMoH] eat, the less cake they'll eat!"
ruckus: "That's what you think!"

nth serving

The soundtrack: _Ruckus_ - Exit The Dragon

We all marvel at ruckus's shirt.

ruckus: "Wait! [unbuttons his shirt to reveal a green/yellow dragon t-shirt] See?"
tOMoH: "Wait! If you remove the t-shirt, do you have a dragon tattoo underneath?"
ruckus: "Yeah! On the prick!"
Bishlouk: "Ah! A dragonet, then."

sonicvince's effort

tOMoH's effort -- it has a larger dragon in the back
and both glow in the dark. Of course, it will never
be dark enough for others to see that

GD's effort

sonicvince says that, if Enter the Dragon was a film with Bruce Lee, Enter the Tiger was a film with Bruce Li. In other words: a knock-off of a Bruce Lee film. Or a Knock-and-off.

Knockando 18yo d.1994 (43%, OB, Sherry Casks) (sonicvince): nose: caramel and coffee (sonicvince), black tea (Gaija). It will be cappuccino for me, then it turns to porridge, thick, creamy, but drier than the real thing. Mouth: thick, coating at first, then a tad metallic, like a warm chocolate milk drunk from a tin mug. Finish: big, full of cinnamon, augmented with a pinch of ginger powder, and it settles on chocolate and millionaire shortbread (adc). Another generous note: it works so well, tonight! 8/10

dom666: "We have been cracking the same jokes for twenty years. I know: I do it too."
red71: "No, not twenty years."
dom666: "Yes, since 2003. That is more than twenty."
red71: "I have only known you for four years, and I have already heard the same jokes. Not twenty years."

kruuk2 reminds everyone of a 1980s arcade game he used to go watch people play at the fair. It was named the most-difficult video game ever, in which necessary moves were hard to predict and execute. He is, of course, talking about Dragon's Balb-lair.

Balblair 15yo (46%, OB, ex-Bourbon American Oak Casks + First Fill Spanish Oak Butts) (kruuk2): nose: smoked citrus rinds, blood orange, then tawed leather and some hay. Mouth: toffee and a pinch of dust make way for spices, with lots of pepper and crushed red chilli. The following sips are full of cocoa powder. Finish: long, full, chocolate-y again, and it has a dash of rich fruit eau-de-vie. 7/10

red71: "I cannot hear dom666 anymore..."
dom666: "I'm here."
tOMoH: "It's the Balblair [that suppresses him]."
red71: "Give me a case of six!"

tOMoH [talking about Cthulhu]: "It's impossible for a human mouth to pronounce it well."
red71: "A human mouth! As if there was anything else [that could speak]."
tOMoH: "There are other dimensions, folks."
Psycho: "A chihuahua sphincter does not sound the same as a rottweiler sphincter."

tOMoH unveils the first group bottle of the evening, for which the link is obvious. We have it alongside STL's contribution, who says: "I tend to drink great things with good people, here (except Bishlouk), so I thought I'd bring something nice." It was distilled in 1973, the year of Bruce Lee's death.

Highland Park 1961/1997 (48.1%, S & JD Robertson Group The Dragon, Hogshead, C#4493, 216b) (group): nose: incense (Gaija), gunpowder, mustard (Gaija), ground stone, dried oregano, dried marjoram, ashes, burnt tea leaves, wax seal, spent matches... The second nose mellows that out with some custard cream. Mouth: how does it manage to be at once juicy and ashy like this? It is distinctly ashy, with hot embers and hot seal wax -- rhaaaa! Finish: wow! A humbling mix of damp, riparian vegetation and extremely-fine white ashes, bananas and ganja (JS). Juicy plums make a late appearance too. I do not spend nearly-enough time with this tonight. It already is obvious that it is a killery. Incredible drop. 10/10

vs.

Tomintoul 39yo 1973/2003 The Day of Pearly Spencer (46.6%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique, C#1486) (STL): another missing 's' in the title, just as the Strathisla in the same series. Nose: leather toffee (sonicvince), smashed speculoos (sonicvince). Then, it turns very juicy, with peaches and nectarines on rye crackers. Mouth: considerably stronger than expected, almost drying, before the fruity character comes out with plums and greengages (again). Quite the exploit! Finish: long, explosive, it has spearmint and fruits (greengages, Mirabelle plums, honey-glazed plums) to precede salted-butter caramel (Psycho). Phwoar! 9/10

Bishlouk [about The Dragon]: "I expected more."
ruckus: "A label in full colours!"

Bishlouk: "The Highland Park is good, but it doesn't transport me. It does not give me a hard-on. I'm still half soft."
STL: "You still manage a hard-on?"

Bishlouk: "It's good. I have had younger and more-recent Highland Parks that impressed me more."
Gaija: "I'm listening to your references."

Dessert #1 enters, courtesy of STL's daughter

tOMoH and friends present a series. The longest series we have had, in fact, equalling the mighty MiMi-CraCra-Lo-Ellen-Sca from, ahem, a decade ago.

Anyway, this year, we are having seven bottlings for the seven crystal balls of Dragon Ball. Or Dragon Bal, as it will be known tonight.

Balblair d.1989 (46%, OB) (kruuk2): "another Balblair!" some marvel. We rarely have any, let alone more than one, in any given tasting. Nose: caramel and honey, oilcloth, and dried apple skins. That apple turns juicier with subsequent sniffs. Mouth: walnut kernels (Psycho), a soft nutty bitterness, peanut or so. The second sip sees some quarry dust and crushed peanut shells. Finish: dry, astringent (Bishlouk), acrid (Psycho). With its roasted walnuts, it is a very-long finish, warming, remarkable for this ABV. 7/10

The second bottling was supposed to be sonicvince's own Balblair 1989, which we have been meaning to try alongside its more-ancient sibling for many years. Sadly, he did not bring it, and kruuk2's bottle is now empty. It will never happen. Bah.

Ballantine's 30yo (unknown ABV, George Ballantine + Son, unknown volume, b. late 1970s/early 1980s, SB 161 L5) (group): nose: a little meaty, it presents a wicker basket full of decaying fruits. Old socks at the bottom of the drawer (kruuk2) develop into a sooty number. Mouth: rotten fruits turns juicier and fresher with each second. Soot grows in intensity too, as do meat and charred fruit. Finish: cranberries, lingonberries, and a shovelful of soot. tOMoH thinks of Bowmore Bicentenary, but then it could just be hs305's comment on whiskybase that suggests that. In any case, it is magnificent. 9/10

Talking about jellyfish stings, and how one should pee on the wound to soothe the pain.
dom666: "The best thing to do is pour vinegar on it."
tOMoH: "Yeah, I always have a bottle of vinegar with me, when I go to the beach."
dom666: "Another things that works is lemon juice."
tOMoH: "Yeah, I always have a lemon in my swimsuit."
dom666: "Italians wear cotton pads [in their swimsuit] to boost their masculinity."
tOMoH: "Aren't you Italian?"

Second dessert enters, courtesy of JS. And I do not even take a picture!

Secret Stills 02.02 40yo 1966/2006 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail Secret Stills, Sherry Hogsheads, C#1204+1449+1452, 600b, JF/CHH) (tOMoH): an undisclosed distillery from the Ballindalloch Castle Estate. Nose: unmistakeably an old distillation, a blend of fruits and soot. Mouth: dry as sawdust, yet juicy as marmalade, soft but spicy. Phwoar. Finish: long, assertive... Better notes here. 9/10

vs.

Balmenach-Glenlivet 19yo 1961/1980 (46%, Cadenhead) (JS): nose: initially metallic, it soon turns old-school, with soot, old plastics, and a grandmother's pudding. Mouth: acidic, waxy lemon rinds. Finish: once again: phwoar! Metal and lemon sign a pact and sing in unison. Cannot wait to try this again. 9/10

St. George 3yo The Baller (47%, OB, Ex-Bourbon, French Wine Casks + Umeshu Finish): and there is a dragon on the label -- w00t! Nose: lychee syrup (red71), soap (STL), waxy soap bars, citric powder, sherbet, rose water (ruckus), cola (sonicvince). Because of the label, I want to say açai berries: "Même si la peur m'açai / Je partirai comme un samouraï". Mouth: ridiculously lychee-like, choc-full of citric powder, scented candles and fruit-scented handwash. JS cleverly points out elderberry cordial, which is spot on. Finish: Paic Citron (Bishlouk), limoncello, lychee, rose water. This is original, if divisive. It does a perfect job of resetting the palate after the old glories. 6/10

As a side note, it works fantastically in a highball (hence the name). Interestingly, ruckus prefers it to the first St. George he had earlier.

vs.

140.17 3yo d.2019 Bowled over by cinnamon cola (62.8%, SMWS Society Cask, #3 Char New Oak Barrique, 217b) (tOMoH): this is a Balcones. Nose: big, cola-like, it has coffee too, though that may be the sludge brewing in the kitchen. Mouth: it strips the enamel (Psycho). It is hot and very woody, tonight. Cassia bark coated in red-chilli paste. Finish: sweet Demerara. Do not be fooled, though: it is huge, hairy to a point, with hot boilers. It warms the oesophagus all the way to the tonsils. Brutal. We have clearly moved from the 40s to the 60s without pausing for breath. As a side note, this is known in the States as Bowled over by something beautiful, because any mention of food or drink in the US sets the FDA in action, therefore raises costs and increases timelines. 7/10

adc goes to bed.

Dessert #3 enters, courtesy of Mrs. sonic.

The sountrack: kruuk2's Exit the Dragon playlist.

70.61 10yo d.2013 Honey and dragon fruit sangria (60.8%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel, 204b) (kruuk2): that is right. kruuk2 brought a third Balblair -- one that has the word 'dragon' in the description. Double w-jambon-my.  Nose: so custardy! It has tons of peach and melting mango flesh. Mouth: an explosion of buttery fruits, with dragon fruit, persimmon, mango, and cherimoya. The second sip has a chalkier feel, perhaps sherbet. Finish: confectionary sugar, sherbet (flying saucers), mango slices, hot plums. This is very good. 8/10

After this wonderful epanadiplosis, red71 and STL take a bow. One of them has a crochet competition in a week and needs his beauty sleep. The other follows. Tsk.

Bishlouk goes for a nap on the sofa.

If we chant the right incantations, a dragon should appear

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