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
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.
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.
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