Back at the same venue as in 2024 for a tacit seventh anniversary celebration. There is no mention of age, but tOMoH can count -- ha!
I am flying solo, tonight, and the misery of an hour-long bus journey to effing Regent's Street in the middle of a heatwave tests my resolve. But the industry is in turmoil and Cask Trade, like all other players, needs all the support they can get. I will play my part by trying the whiskies they so willingly pour me. How selfless can one be?
I start on the bottom floor, conveniently close to the buffet.
Kilarrow 11yo 2015/2026 (50.6%, Behind The Cask distributed by Japan Import System, 1st Fill Barrel, B#BOW-15, C#302, 317b, b#305)
Nose: herbal, it has wet bracken and mashed algae, but also iodine and cured bacon.
Mouth: earthy and punchy, it has more cured bacon laid on a vanilla-custard bun. Unusual combination!
Finish: a little green in terms of alcohol integration, with burnt hay most prominent. It is long and muddy, with also crushed fruit stones and a soft bitterness. Muddier and siltier in subsequent sips, it fans a stronger burnt impression.
Comment: alright. Others are much more partisan (in favour or against) than this taster. The huge white label confuses more than one visitor. It is the equivalent of the first page of a book, open for signing.
Score: 7/10
Buffet, here I come!
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| As good as always, plenty of vegetarian options, fresh and refreshing |
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| This edition, I did not see anyone picking the cress with their fingers and discarding it on the plate (yes, it was a recurrent fixture) |
Aberfeldy 12yo 2014/2026 Series 027 (52.8%, North Star Spirits celebrating 10 Years ...of North Star Spirits, Refill Bourbon Barrel, 320b, b#051)
Nose: baked plums and nectarines, as well as a touch of wax or plasticine. The second nose has a very-elegant Cologne (the hell if I can identify it!) and, maybe, a mint filling.
Mouth: a tad of wood spices and hot fruit stones, pressed plums too, which adds a lovely fruity dimension. It turns slightly chalky at second sip.
Finish: finally, the trademark Aberfeldy nuttiness appears. Hazelnut, creamy almonds and Brazil nuts. It is, however, not entirely devoid of orchard fruits.
Comment: nice.
Score: 7/10
Goalong 5yo b.2026 (48%, OB)
Nose: bright yellow, this is cereal-y and it has dried citrus peels (grapefruit and calamansi come to mind), but also toffee, butterscotch and vanilla cream filling from the biscuit of the same name.
Mouth: mellow, this is much to my liking, with custard cream (the biscuit fill), butterscotch and a soft bitterness.
Finish: mellow again, it has toffee and custard with a minor kick
Comment: it is not particularly original or remarkable, but pleasant and well made. My first expression from this Hunan-province product.
Score: 7/10
Glen Keith 33yo 1993/2026 (44.6%, Malts of Scotland Rare Casks handselected & exclusively bottled for The Whisky Dreamers, Bourbon Hogshead, C#MoS26010, 158b, b#42)
Nose: bursting with juicy yellow fruits and candied tropical ones, chiefly chewy pineapple and papaya cubes.
Mouth: acidic and fruity, it unveils more pineapple, candied and fresh, dried papaya and mango slices, and even a bit of passion fruit -- no! lots of it. It starts on the low, only to explode in seconds.
Finish: long, it is an eruption of tropical fruits, now, with but a minute bitterness towards the death.
Comment: pfff! Kirk Barleycorn and his pals done it again. SA must have been well seduced in Germany, because he brought four bottles of it to this here shindig. I could not try it in April, so well glad to do so now.
Score: 9/10
Burnside 36yo 1989/2026 Episode 4-- Mr. Buckie & Friends (51.9%, Lucky Choice Whisky Joint Bottling With Amoy Whisky Society, 1st Fill Oloroso Barrique, C#2520559, 180b)
Nose: all sorts of baking scents, with dough, flour and confectionary sugar, followed by lots and lots of citrus peels, full of their bitter oils.
Mouth: mellow and much darker, this palate has the Christmas pudding JW talks about to all to whom he pours this dram, even if it is not overpowering. It is closer to warm marmalade to my taste buds, thick, syrupy and coating.
Finish: overly Sherried, according to my preference. Holly berries, cranberry sauce, lingonberry compote. JW says spiced plums and sticky dates.
Comment: is it not weird that this is the third 36yo Burnside we come across in a fortnight? Milroy's and C.Dully's came before. JW, who is manning the stand with a fantastic-looking pink bow tie, tells me he sold yet another cask recently too. In any case, the Sherry maturation places it lower than the others for me. Personal taste, innit.
Score: 7/10
At the entrance table:
Him: "Yeah. Would you like it on its own?"
tOMoH: "Why? Is it supposed to be served as a highball? I see glasses of iced water next to it..."
Him: "I don't know, I don't really work here..."
A Secret Distillery Guarded by Badgers 8yo 2016/2025 (46.3%, Master of Malt Single Cask, Refill Hogshead, 435b, b#332)
Nose: musky, it has hay, straw and an animal's den (to say 'badger' would be succumbing to suggestion). Something much more perfume-y rocks up at second nose, then more hay. That last one is now more-clearly defined and louder.
Mouth: dry and hay-like again. It tickles leather and suede.
Finish: leather, hay, dried berries -- so dry they are virtually tasteless. It remains musky, though!
Comment: it does not take a David Attenborough to guess the distillery with a clue like that. The proprietors usually do not mind the name being used, but who knows why this one does not have the naming rights.
Score: 7/10
Nc'nean 8yo b.2026 Siobhan Mackenzie in Collaboration with Cask Trade (54.5%, OB bottled for Cask Trade, STR Cask, B#89)
Nose: velvet, corduroy, drapes heated by the sun. Follows a crazy waxy-plum note, peaches and nectarines. The heat takes off, in the long run, almost singeing the nose's hairs, but it is mostly a waxy-fruity one. Dark grapes soar. It becomes closer to doughnuts with time.
Mouth: surprisingly indistinct on the palate, it soon rolls out plums and baked nectarines on a velvet plaid. Little spices to speak of and practically no wood.
Finish: mellow and pastry-like, it turns bitter and woody in the second gulp -- not really in a good way.
Comment: my first Nc'nean, at last. I cannot say it is a hugely convincing encounter, despite the good first impression. Needs revisiting. This was bottled to celebrate the launch of Cask Trade's registered tartan, created by Siobhan Mackenzie.
Score: 6/10
Another punter approaches me.
tOMoH: "You. 'Great taste in whisky, good appearance...' I'm taking notes on the whiskies, of course. So I can remember them tomorrow. Will you remember?"
Him: "No."
tOMoH: "There you go."
We chat a for a few minutes. Here is another person who tells me I have a nice handwriting. generations of teachers turn in their graves. I ask him if he can help me re-read myself, because I will struggle to decipher it tomorrow. We talk about the stagnation (the crash) of the whisky market and how nice these events are.
We have time for another couple, if we play our cards right. It is the royal 'we': my new buddy has had enough of my sarcasm.
Glen Scotia 7yo 2016/2024 (56.4%, OB Exclusive Cask specially selected by Jeroboams, 1st Fill Tawny Port Hogshead, C#24/59-7, 231b)
Nose: old ropes and dried nets (no fishy note, though). There is a whiff of rose perfume, perhaps tobacco too.
Mouth: wine-y on the tongue, it has cured oranges, wine-soaked lychees, rambutan in sangria. For some reason, celery dunked in sangria comes to mind. I cannot explain why, because it is not in-your-face.
Finish: long, it combines a slap of wood and a dash of deep red wine. The second gulp is woodier, borderline plank-y.
Comment: it is okay. The Korean editions were more to my taste.
Score: 7/10
Aberlour 19yo 2006/2025 (50.8%, Highlander Inn, Bourbon and Pedro Ximenez Cask, C#900338, 210b, b#55)
Nose: scented erasers and plasticine, earthy plums, yet not earthy enough to be prunes.
Mouth: mellow, it combines the bitterness of peach stone and the softness of peach flesh with a dollop of hazelnut spread with excellent results.
Finish: ooft! A lot bolder, here, with chestnut purée and smoked peach. Becomes bitterer upon repeated sipping.
Comment: another good selection, TM!
Score: 8/10
One of the stalls has a Torabhaig (OB). I am offered it; my glass is not empty. By the time it is, All bottles have been filed way. It is the rule of the game and I accept it.
Time to go. I bid goodbye to the Cask Trade folks, congratulate SA on another successful event and depart into the heat of the city.
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