At the SMWS for a reason that will become obvious in the next article, tOMoH takes advantage to try a few things.
72.129 11yo 2013/2025 Sip Sherry in a cigar smokeasy (58.1%, SMWS Two to One, ex-Bourbon Hogsheads finished in 1st Fill Spanish Oak ex-PX Butt, 580b): nose: a nostril-stripper, very pungent, it combines stale roast beef and cigar smoke, followed by limestone gratings, terribly mineral. We are back with bloody roast beef soon enough. Mouth: sweeter and more pastry-like than expected. Burnt-cake crust, burnt caramel -- no! toffee. Water makes it thick as Marmite, perhaps punctuated with smoked blackberries. Finish: beautifully balanced in the finish, which is unexpected. Custard-filled waffles, slightly burnt. Then, it turns metallic, bitter at second sip. Water gives it an acidic edge, which takes us back to blackberries and blackcurrants. The nose had me on the fence (6/10), but the rest is fine. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
29.305 11yo 2013/2025 Seaweed and smokies (58.3%, SMWS Society Cask, ex-Bourbon Hogshead finished in 2nd Fill ex-Oloroso Hogshead, 262b): nose: smoky, peppery black pudding and smoked seaweed, medicine, jelly capsules, then the stones that circle a camp fire. The second nose has shiny metal and chalk broken into small pieces. Mouth: cobblestones wet with plum juice and sprinkled with smoked confectionary sugar. Finish: smoky, but also a chunk sweeter than anticipated. The seaweed and smoke settle in gently and comfortably at second gulp. Clean, simple, it does the trick. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
Port Charlotte 6yo 2001/2007 PC6 Cuairt-Beatha (61.6%, OB, Bourbon / Madeira Casks, 18,000b, b#10998, 07/018): nose: some bacon, but the overwhelming dominant is baked mud cakes. It is extremely farm-y, this one. It has a haze of blurry fruits behind that, but it is mostly farmyard. Then, all of a sudden, it slaps one with dried strawberry slices in a chocolate-and-cream cake topped with strawberry coulis. The second nose is pure smoky mud. Mouth: mud, strawberry and, all of a sudden, a tide of ink. This is akin to biting into a squid, tentacles and all. The second sip has clay, slowly baking in the oven. Finish: tarry earth, inky mud patties and tyres after a race. This is a firm favourite of some people (WhiskyLovingPianist, amongst others). I am much less enthused. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JN and PS)
Port Charlotte 10yo 2013/2024 Syc: 01 2013 (54.4%, OB Cask Exploration Series, 1st + 2nd Fill Bourbon + 1st Fill Syrah, L166641 24/002): nose: mud, Cologne, dried strawberry slices in yoghurt. It is not that smoky on the nose, funnily enough. Mouth: wide, inky and surprisingly bitter. Ink and dried strawberry slices laid to rest on a tyre. A pot of strawberry yoghurt was spilled on the inner tube too. There is a dusting of chalk on that at second sip, rather desiccating. Finish: big, it keeps the smoked mud and strawberry yoghurt going, yet there is a bitter, rubbery kick that will stop it scoring higher, tonight. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JN)
149.17 9yo 2016/2025 To sup by starlight (61.7%, SMWS Society Cask, 1st Fill Spanish Oak ex-PX Butt, 638b): nose: well, that is a lot of Cologne here too! Or has someone in the room bathed in the stuff? I have sparkling red wine, then pink candyfloss and marshmallow. Mouth: mellow, it has berry-flavoured marshmallow covered in chocolate, followed by quarry gratings that feel rather desiccating. It has got hot metal and tar as well. Finish: warm sparkling red wine gone flat, hot pink candyfloss and chewy sweets of a dark-pink colour. It is fairly wine-y, not over the top. Finally, we spot red chewy sweets and cotton candy. This is OK. I remember not liking it much when it came out; I do not necessarily like it more today, but it is decent, in passing. 6/10 (Thanks for the dram, KT)
Time to decamp, before it turns dangerous.
No comments:
Post a Comment