28/03/2026 London MkV

After many months of trying, we finally found a date to meet. One guest called off last week, but that leaves enough to go ahead anyway. JS, JMcD, YM and cavalier66 join me for the afternoon.

cavalier66 skillfully builds a coherent line-up
under the watchful eye of JMcD

Ta-da

The soundtrack: Aware - Requiem For A Dying Animal

tOMoH presents: Cutty Sark (y'know? The clipper in Greenwhich and the DLR station of the same name)

Cutty Sark 25yo Tam o'Shanter (46.5%, Berry Bros. & Rudd for Burns' Night 2012, 5000b) (tOMoH)

Nose: fruity (cavalier66), it has brambles and fruit-tree wood.
Mouth: "not grain-forward" (cavalier66 looking for a punch in the face), it has bitter and woody notes (JMcD), and goes really well with the ambient music (cavalier66).
Finish: it has a slight harshness of grain (cavalier66).
Comment: cavalier66 adds water and says it loses its fruit to become astringent. I enjoy this for the starter it is, today. Full notes here.
Score: 7/10

tOMoH presents: Shepherd's Bushmills

Bushmills 21yo b.2004 (40%, OB, Madeira Wood Finish, b#16296) (tOMoH)

Nose: fruity and a tad woody. It seems fruitier than last time, with lychee and baked brown bananas.
Mouth: thick and creamy, not unlike a crème au chocolat liégeois, to be accurate (a sort of chocolate custard topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa). The second sip has metal dripping with melted chocolate.

Finish: an earthy touch with cocoa powder dusted on a cup of mocha.
Comment: just as good as last time. Notes here.
Score: 8/10

vs.

Dram #3

We try this blind from a urine sample, and that is in theme ... because we try it in London. Well done, cavalier66!

Nose: fermented pear (JMcD), urine (cavalier66). He must be drunk: I have dried pineapple chunks, dried apricot and dried mango slices. Cigarette smoke takes off at second nosing.
Mouth: ah! Is it a little chalky? There is grated Aspirin, but it is mostly fruity and fresh. More citrus at second sip.
Finish: fruity and a trifle bitter, which hints at citrus peels.
Comment: I guess a Littlemill, but no. With a few clues, I end up identifying it. The quality-to-price ratio is really hard to beat.
Score: 8/10

Irish Reserve 26yo (46%, unknown bottler Superior Reserve for Aldi, b.2017) (cavalier66)

The soundtrack: Various - Witchcraft and Black Magic In The United States

tOMoH presents: Glen Mhorden

Glen Mhor 1982/2009 (46%, Berry Bros. & Rudd Berrys' Own Selection, C#1231) (tOMoH)

Nose: rotten fruits (cavalier66), sink fruits (cavalier66, who takes a shortcut to vocalise that clogged sinks, at some point, develop a fruity scent). I have strawberry- or cherry-flavoured sweets, which cavalier66 relates to Opal Fruits or Starburst (Sugus for our Continental readers). Perhaps it has sherbet too? YM declares a high-end pruneau vibe, which amuses me. He is so posh, sometimes.
Mouth: YM finds it unusual and brighter than expected. cavalier66 reckons it is dusty -- "ambient dust," JMcD adds.
Finish: pickled onion (cavalier66), ground dried berries followed by stale beer. That is the note that sticks.
Comment: love it. Very relieved too: the level was fairly low (it must have lost 5cl to evaporation) and the stopper odd. The cork was loose in the neck, but the wood cap looked oversized, as if someone had managed to remove the foil and the stopper, poured themselves a few drams, plugged a new stopper of an incorrect girth, and put the foil back on as if nothing had happened. Looking forward to trying it again.
Score: 8/10

Food enters. cavalier66 brought his usual bounty of cheeses, as well as bread ("for Baker Street," yelps JMcD. "No, it is seeded, like the tennis players at Wimbledon, London's tournament," cavalier66 answers) and beetroot-cured salmon (because it is red, like London's red routes).

Stoney King's Cross Station

Old Comté-on Street

Alp-erton Blossom Station

Membrillo, which we know is Harley Quinn-ce paste (a rugby team, apparently)

JMcD presents: Bruichladdich Old Street Skool (or Bruich Lane, JS ventures)

Bruichladdich 10yo b.2026 Old Skool (50%, OB 25th Anniversary Limited Release, 95% First Fill ex-Bourbon & 5% First Fill ex-Sauternes) (JMcD)

Nose: pungent, it has a bit of rubber and linoleum glue. It is not very open yet (new bottle), but I like it already. Then, it develops pineapple turnovers before turning creamy AF, with even a whiff of lactic acid.
Mouth: breathing is necessary, here, as it is impenetrable, straight from the bottle. With time, it gives cereals, porridge and cinnamon.
Finish: the shift in ABV is noticeable. It stings a bit, in the same way a disinfectant would. It balances bitterness and acidity for a while, is strongly lactic, then settles for creamy as planned.
Comment: it is a bit unruly from a recently-opened bottle. I reckon it will improve greatly over time.
Score: 7/10

Next to the 15yo from the 1980s for visual comparison
The label goes full circle, as with Benriach
One wonders why they spend millions on upgrading it

The soundtrack: Zanias - Cataclysm

cavalier66 presents: Glenglassaugh, as hard to pronounce as so many London places. The distillery is closed again, as are many London tube stations. This particular bottling was selected by Ronnie Routledge, who has the same first name as so many famous Londoners.

Glenglassaugh 35yo 1976/2011 (49.6%, OB The Chosen Few selected by Ronnie Routledge, Sherry Butt, 654b, b#320) (cavalier66)

Nose: polished dashboards and wooden posts so polished by ropes they almost shine. It has horse's sweat too (cavalier66 is quick to read us Whiskyfun's review, which makes it impossible to miss that) and fruits. Plums, prunes in syrup, perhaps blueberries and a jelly of sorts, or shoe polish.
Mouth: it has a mineral side to it, a lick of limestone, but also a lot of plum juice. The second sip has sirop de Liège or another jelly, though not membrillo. Green grapes, including the pips.
Finish: long, spiky, it is almost cactus-like -- not in terms of taste, but mouthfeel, if that makes sense. Prickle pears, plums, rehydrated soft prunes and green grapes. It develops a touch of softly-toasted or burnt rubber.
Comment: "a serious whisky," says cavalier66. Quality.
Score: 9/10

cavalier66: "JS, have you tried my urine yet?"
JS: "What?"
cavalier66: "In the sample bottle. I saved you a few drops."
JS: "There is so little left..."
tOMoH: "At his age, that is all he could muster up."

cavalier66 presents a bottle with a low(ish) fill, because London is a low-level city, which is why they built the Thames Barrier. And the label has a circle (the pump wheel) for the Circle Line.

Irish Single Malt 25yo 1988/2013 (51.1%, The Whisky Agency, Barrel, 212b) (cavalier66)

Nose: "is it yellow or purple?" (cavalier66) "Passion fruit?" (JS) Jacob Ree-ZOMG! A 'splosion of mango and maracuja, nectarine and peach. It also has a whiff of warm wood, followed by a pot of mocha coffee. JS finds it an air of Amaretto.
Mouth: flabbergasting fruit, of course. Pineapple nectar, mangoes, including the bitterness one feels when licking mango skins, and maracuja fruit served in a rubber goblet. Chewing gives a mix of plant sap, Alka Seltzer and rubber. Ha!
Finish: "it tastes bejewelled to me" (JMcD). Seeds of passion fruit (JMcD). Yes, it has that bitterness and, fortunately, not the crunch. I find pineapple bark, on the other hand.
Comment: phwoar! cavalier66 arrogantly announced a dram that could give 117.3 a run for its money. After trying it, one must admit it plays in the same league.
Score: 10/10

The soundtrack: Sabled Sun - 2145

Time for cake. JMcD brought a blueberry cheesecake and "a German cake with a name that starts with 'A'" from Artisan Foods, on Brora Market.

JMcD: "Hang on! Who brought a Brora?"

JS presents: St Maggy Axe

St.Magdalene 23yo 1982/2006 (56%, Hart Brothers Finest Collection imported by Marsalle Company) (JS)

Nose: petrichor and ozone (cavalier66). It is indeed earthy and fresh as a summer rain, or as "a meadow with a beautiful maiden next to you" (cavalier66). Hippie music (cavalier66).
Mouth: muscular (the inspired cavalier66 again), it has orange peels and citrus oil, pith and a mineral touch (it is a Magdalene, after all).
Finish: sticky, almost soot-y, it remains elegant at the same time, like only St Magdalene can do.
Comment: my full notes are here. This is delicious. "Delishballs and corpuscular" (cavalier66).
Score: 9/10

Only now do we spot JMcD's socks.
Is that the London Eye? One Canada Square? The Shard?
It is the same pattern as the seats on the Jubilee Line!

cavalier66: "It is quite potent."
JS: "Oh! You're not using your usual complaint... [imagine this at cask strength]"
cavalier66: "No. This one, I'm going to dilute to cask strength."

tOMoH: "Is 'corpuscular' a real word?"
cavalier66: "I don't know."
tOMoH: "It is logical. 'Corpuscule' exists, so, if it isn't, it should be."
cavalier66: "Yeah."
tOMoH: "You deserve your own entry in the dictionary."
cavalier66: "It's all that LSD I put in the Irish."
tOMoH: "Is that why I'm tripping delishballs?"

YM presents: Bow and More Gate

Bowmore 15yo 2003/2018 (57.1%, Cadenhead specially bottled for Cadenhead's Whisky Shop Campbeltown, Bourbon Hogshead + Burgundy Cask Finish, 264b) (YM)

Nose: farm-y nose if there was one, it has peat, farm paths, dried mud cakes, bone-dry apples. We find tincture of iodine too, which is less farm-y, and bandages. That continues towards super-dry hay and ashes. YM detects ham hough. Water confirms the farm, even if the others think it is fruitier. Eventually, chargrilled pineapple and peaches come up with the adjacent smoke.
Mouth: grilled peaches and nectarines (YM), heavy smoke (YM). Yeah, it has a drop of fruit and buckets of soot that sticks to the gob until the end of times. Chewing brings earth, tar and ink. It is as bitter as vine leaves too, and hot. Water makes it acidic and ashy, with citrus juice and the ashtray of a domestic fireplace.
Finish: hot, very hot, it has scorched earth, burning hay and spilled diesel. Water adds a touch of charred cherry tree and charred cherries that still give a soft fruit juice.
Comment: lovely Bowmore, if not the fruitiest.
Score: 8/10

Celebrity spotting

YM: "Burgundy cask since 2011."
tOMoH: "Seven years out of fifteen, that's not a finish; it's a double maturation."
cavalier66: "Burgundy? We can hope it was a white Burgundy, not a red one."
tOMoH: "You're so racist, cavalier66."

cavalier66: "With water, it becomes sooooo good."
tOMoH: "Do you want to try the water without the whisky? I can give you a clean glass..."
cavalier66: "The water swims like a whisky that can swim. Wait! I mean..."

The soundtrack: Foetusdream - Brouillard

JMcD presents: Valinch. He admits he did not know what a valinch was until he saw a specimen in the Museum of London. A valinch used by the Excise at Newham, which is in London.

The Laddie Valinch 12yo d.2009 Lindy Maclellan (62.6%, OB The Laddie Valinch, ex-Rivesaltes Cask, C#1618, B#56, 384b, b#332) (JMcD)

Nose: it is very tannic (YM) or tea-like (cavalier66). YM also finds vanilla, or the vanilla glaze on a doughnut. It then becomes more typical of a Sherry cask, with leather and shoe polish. Follow mushrooms and potting soil. It gains a mineral side, over time.
Mouth: strongly sweet and savoury at the same time. It has cured ham, prunes, dried dates and hairy plums (yes, mould). It is also very hot, unsurprisingly, but remains tolerable, thanks to the fruits and a comforting flock of fluffy hair.

Finish: long, earthy and pretty drying, it has shoe polish, tanned leather and the skin of a dead fox.
Comment: uncompromising 'laddie.
Score: 7/10

YM presents: Old Street Potrero, a whiskey made of 100% malted Peckham Rye.

Old Potrero 7yo (65.6%, OB Single Barrel Reserve, Air-Dried Fine-Grain New American Oak Barrel, C#11-14/3, 129b) (YM)

Nose: overly-lacquered wood. This is exuberantly heady and has a distinct rye note. Rye bread and lukewarm, flat Irn Bru, reminiscent of a Scottish-Jewish bakery (cavalier66).
Mouth: ooft! A rye alright, with a dash of Irn Bru, metal, artificial sweetness, and plasticine. It feels a tad more gravelly at second sip, mineral and drying. The sweetness comes back quickly, however. cavalier66 finds caraway seeds and malted rye.
Finish: long and huge, it is also insanely sweet. Repeated quaffing confirms that sweetness. Lemonade, Irn Bru, diabetes. I even get dill, after a while, probably suggested by the others who talk about gravadlax.
Comment: what an original one to finish with! dom666 and kruuk2 used to talk about Potrero often, more than twenty years ago. Good to reacquaint. Sadly, it is a headache-inducing one, if not as bad as a Cambus.
Score: 8/10

Post-tasting, JMcD tries Laphroaig 10yo 1994/2005 (52.5%, Creative Whisky Company Exclusive Malts) (notes). YM has Bowmore 23yo b.2023 Lovers Transformed (50.9%, OB travel retail exclusive, Refill PX + Oloroso-seasoned European Oak, 8000b) (notes). cavalier66 tries Laphroaig 31yo 1974/2005 (49.7%, OB for La Maison du Whisky, Sherry Wood Casks, 910b, b#652).

Great times. Pity it has become so difficult to gather everyone for one of these sessions, as they are invariably good fun.