This year, JS and I are attending the Rarities for Charity tasting with elskling and LsR. OO is here too, as are thirty-or-so others. Gérard Hofmann is hosting with Henrik Schmidt. Patrick de Schultess is busy elsewhere, so he is not there.
J. & G. Grant from the Glenlivet District 5yo d.1967 (40%, Grant Bonding imported and distributed by Girolamo-Luxardo)
Nose: austere, it has lots of cardboard, pickled gherkins, hay. JS finds OBE and toasted cereals in an old library. A cardboard box used to transport vanilla.
Mouth: same cardboard action, perhaps leather and, if any fruit, it is bone-dry strawberry slices. elskling finds it mineral.
Finish: cereal-y, a bit raw. We may find vanilla biscuits (JS) or digestive biscuits. It is so chock-full of cereals it could also just be Horlicks.
Comment: good, provided one likes cereals. How unlikely is it that we would try two of those J. & G. Grant in less than a year, eh?
Score: 8/10
Starter is served.
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| Spargelsuppe |
Tomatin 28yo 1982/2010 (55.3%, Scotch Single Malt Circle, Sherry Cask, C#29, 574b)
Nose: this is entirely taken over by the Sherry cask. Fruits do kick into gear, fortunately. It is a compact and almost intimidating nose, though. Last to appear are crayons and dried peach slices.
Mouth: och! Pickled red onions, pearl onions from a jar. That recedes to deliver unripe berries, but it remains a big, scary Sherried dram.
Finish: creamy and fruity, it has lots of berries, yet that is sadly hampered by a sour, briny note.
Comment: considering how difficult these bottlings are to get hold of, it is always interesting to try one. I cannot say I am entranced by this particular one, all the same.
Score: 6/10
The next bottle is presented by the Scotch Single Malt Circle ambassador herself. She explains in detail how the founder introduced the Scotch Malt Whisky Society into Germany who gave her a choice in the 1990s: to pay a large sum of money and continue or to jog on. She did not have said large sum of money and parted ways with the SMWS, but carried on pushing liquid, now with another club, the SSMC.
I had no knowledge of that story and welcome the informative introduction.
Clynelish 9yo 1990/1999 (57.4%, Scotch Single Malt Circle, C#3210)
Nose: mint paste applied on waxy fruits. It has spent wick too. Honestly, it is not perfectly balanced, out of this freshly-opened bottle, but it is promising. The second nose has vanilla custard and a sweet shortcrust.
Mouth: mmmh! Wax, yellow fruits punctuated with a lot of pepper and a pinch of ash. The waxy fruits probably come out most, but it is also rather strong, a sensation increased by the presence of white pepper. Water tones that down and lets the fruits shine brighter.
Finish: dry, hot, waxy and fruity. It has a lot of ash propping up yellow fruits (plum, Mirabelle plum, peach). Water makes this softer and fruitier, and increases the presence of yellow and white fruits, which eclipse wax and wick almost entirely.
Comment: this is a belter. Were it not for the imbalance on the palate at first, it would score higher.
Score: 8/10
Henrik goes geeky-and-three-quarters for the next bottle. He tells us (too much about) how to date a bottle of White Horse, how the various sovereigns on the seal give the era, which label goes with which bottle engraving, how the brand name evolved, what the thickness of the tin foil tells us et caetera. Twice, the audience claps to put a stop to the logorrhea; twice, he tells us he has more to say. Being a geek myself, I am torn: what he tells us is immensely interesting; on the other hand, we have a strict deadline. I also notice he is losing the crowd at pace.
 Tin-foil stories. On the right, a 1980s bottling. On the left, a 1940s bottling. |
In fact, the explanation takes so long that JS's right-hand-side neighbour pulls out a bottle from his bag and starts pouring it. "It has the white horse on the label; I thought it would be interesting to try them side by side."
Main course enters at the same time for total overload. I elect to eat first.
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| Pasta with mushrooms and courgettes |
tOMoH: "I am reminded that the French abroad are insufferable."
Glen Elgin 12yo (no ABV, OB, no bottle size, SC803)
Nose: hay and muesli punctuated by yellow fruits.
Mouth: a lovely old bottling, it has lemon zest in cream custard. Citrus rises and rises.
Finish: soft and citrus-y, the hay note is a little too pronounced for me.
Comment: always nice to try these old dusties.
Score: 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, T)
The Blended Scotch Whisky of the White Horse Cellar (86.80° Proof, White Horse Distillers imported by Browne Vintners, b#AU915749, b. ca. 1940s)
Nose: it smells well integrated, but also a bit mass-produced. We have suede and hay, I guess.
Mouth: soft, it continues dishing out suede, now with leather and corduroy cushions.
Finish: easy, it has a lick of leather, dry hay and horse's hair (or is that the power of suggestion?)
Comment: just like the one we had earlier this month, this is fairly nondescript and not worthy of the reputation it enjoys in some circles, in my opinion. And I that it contains Malt Mill does not change my opinion.
Score: 7/10
After spending too long on the first four drams, we pick up the pace.
Lochindaal 12yo 2010/2022 (49.9%, The Finest Malts for DramOff, Bourbon Barrel, C#4395, 72b)
Nose: roasted fruits and faint smoke.
Mouth: sweet, porridge-y, it is also acidic, fruity and farm-y to an extent. Some find it peaty, but I do not. It does become salty at second sip, on the other hand.
Finish: long and bold, dry, smoky, farm-y in a mud cake way.
Comment: unremarkable. There is nothing wrong with it; I simply do not find it impressive.
Score: 6/10
Irish Single Malt 28yo 1989/2017 Vol.1 (56.2%, Limited Whisky Investment The Monkey Series in co-operation with Sansibar, Bourbon Cask, 164b, 16/05058)
Nose: mango purée, melted papaya, squashed persimmon, butternut purée (JS), then baked puff pastry and stewed peaches.
Mouth: wonderful. Mango turnovers followed by hot metal baking trays and baked satsumas. This has 'pastry' written all over it.
Finish: lots of hot turnovers slightly tainted by the metal tray they were baked on. It is a bit unbalanced, here, too liberal with the metal, if very acceptable.
Comment: we are nit-picking. It is not one of the great Irish, but it is a great whiskey. By the way, the bottle code suggests it was bottled in 2016, whatever the label reads.
Score: 8/10
JS: "It is lacking in maracuja."
Dessert.
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| Tiramisù |
Glenfarclas 12yo (45%, OB for F.W. Hempel Metallurgical GmbH)
Nose: another one that is full of fruity turnovers, with baked mangoes and apricots, smashed papayas and melting persimmons.
Mouth: creamy and fruity, it has a bite alright. It is hot, metallic and turns acidic with time.
Finish: pretty acidic here too, it has sour fruit jellies, followed by a faint bitterness of unripe fruit.
Comment: good.
Score: 8/10
JS: "It's a complete Ball-indall-ache."
I pull out empty sample bottles, as I know I will not finish the line-up intact and I do want to enjoy the drams, at some point. elskling sees my Post-Its.
elskling: "Qu'est-ce que c'est que ce travail de cochon? Here, take one of my labels!"
A bottle comes out of nowhere, delaying us further.
Glenturret 29yo 1989/2019 (44.7%, Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection, Hogshead, C#238, 253b, b#112)
Nose: grout, mortar, crumbly Korean pear. It is chalky indeed, and I find that really challenging, at this point.
Mouth: big and lively, it has some fruits, but especially a lot of horsepower. Later on, we detect rocket and apricot. Aprocket?
Finish: rocket is right! Peppery and bitter as fuck. Spinach, rocket, peach stones. There are vague hints of apricot, but they are easily missed.
Comment: not sure why anyone thought it was a good idea to slide this one here.
Score: 6/10 (Thanks for the dram, Babelfisch42)
We are now so late and I am starting to feel the effect of alcohol so much that JS and I decide to skip the next dram. Fortunately, I have empty samples, so we will try it later.
Balvenie 32yo 1966/1998 (42.1%, OB Vintage Cask, C#6432, 264b, b#36)
Springbank d.1963 (46%, OB imported by Preiss Import, b. ca.1985)
Nose: we go stratospheric. This has an incredible depth. With every new sniff, it keeps rolling out more fruits (ripe plums, Mirabelle, greengages) and marzipan. The source simply will not dry up.
Mouth: perfect balance of fruit, herbs, ginger and varnish. Not sure how that reads, but it is harmonious on the palate.
Finish: incredible finish.
Comment: I will need to spend more time with this. I am no longer in the right state to express my appreciation.
Score: 9/10
PhG: "Great vintage."
GH: "Yeah, for those born in 1963. Not as good as those born in 1966, but shit happens."
We are more or less kicked out. We made it alive. Just.
Ambitious tasting. The selection only had things that most of us would not have been able to try anywhere else. That some were less my thing than others is irrelevant: they were indeed rare, and that is what was promised. The food was excellent (yes, even the bread) and the company relaxed and friendly.
Personally, I thought two things could be improved: the introduction of each bottle was a bit loose in places, which tried the patience of some. As said, being a geek myself, I found the flood of information interesting, but I would have preferred a better balance between information and time-keeping. The second point is the attendees shoehorning their own bottles into the line-up. It comes from a very kind intention (they want to share), but the effect is rarely what they hope for. Instead, it disrupts, distracts, delays, and sometimes destroys the rest of the line-up (remember that London Whisky Club tasting, during which a generous customer offered an unplanned Millburn Rare Malt at 61.9% right before the planned Banff at 43%?) The hosts worked hard to build a line-up that works; it is inconsiderate at best to kibosh that line-up with an additional bottle.
Ultimately, fun was had. Tomorrow morning will be difficult.
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