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Hi, you're in the Archives, December 2005 - Part 2 |
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| TASTING
- TWO BRILLIANT BRACKLAS |
Royal
Brackla 27 yo 1975/2002 'Green Brackla'
(59.7%, The Whisky Exchange, cask
#5471, 204 bottles)
Colour: bronze. Nose: extremely complex
right at first nosing, starting on
all sorts of fruit jams (plums, oranges
– not marmalade – blackberries…)
and on hot praline. Lots of chestnut
honey, vanilla-flavoured chestnut
cream, starting to develop towards
some superb waxy notes. Furniture
polish, ‘natural’ shoe
polish, beeswax… Then you get
quite some chocolate and toffee, something
nicely cardboardy and whiffs of peppermint.
Hints of wine sauce… What a
superb nose, so complex! Mouth: very
playful, with again all the fruit
jams, the praline, the waxy notes
and the mint, but much less chocolate.
Rather coffee… Lots of crystallized
oranges. There are some tannins but
of the silky kind. What a body! The
finish is very long and complex, going
on with the same ‘mix’
of flavours. Just superb. 92
points. |
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Royal
Brackla 1976/2003 (57.1%, Scott's
Selection)
Colour: straw. Nose: bold and powerful,
with lots of toasted bread at first
nosing. Burnt cake, cereals, hot milk,
vanilla crème. Whiffs of limestone,
grindstone, garden bonfire. Kind of
austere but in an enjoyable way. It
gets smokier and smokier, with also
faint whiffs of fresh lavender, paraffin.
Buttered mashed potatoes, hot croissants.
Very nice in its own style. Mouth:
nervous but not pungent, easily drinkable
without water. Starts sweet and very
grainy and malty, with a little menthol
and fruit candies (pinepapple), melon
jam, maybe quince jelly, liquorice
and salt (just a pinch), carrot cake,
caramel lollipop, Werther’s
Originals… It’s very compact,
very rounded and really full-bodied.
Something waxy, cough syrup…
Very, very good and the finish is
long and enveloping, on fruit jams,
orange marmalade, caramel and mint.
Almost as thrilling as its oldest
green brother. 90 points. |
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Inchgower
26 yo 1976/2002 (49.9%, Hart Bros)
Colour: white wine/pale straw. Nose:
rather powerful and very fruity, with
little ‘age’. All sorts
of white fruits such as apples and
gooseberries, fresh strawberries,
ripe melon and kiwi… Notes of
hot vanilla sauce, a little paraffin.
Also some boxed pineapples, boxed
lychees. Then we have apple skins…
It’s incredibly fruity at 26
years of age. Whiffs of beer…
Mouth: very sweet and, again fruity,
with exactly the same aromas. Maybe
it’s more on kiwis and pink
grapefruits but other than, I could
just copy-and-paste the ‘nosing
part’. No, wait, there’s
also quite some liquorice, and it
gets definitely more citrusy after
a while. The finish is medium long,
mainly on sugared grapefruit. Anyway,
a 26 yo malt that tastes almost like
a 12yo… Not very economical,
I would say. 80 points. |
| Inchgower
24 yo 1980/2005 (60.4%, Adelphi, cask
#14152)
Colour: full amber with bronze hues.
Nose: now we’re on full sherry
mode, with lots of chocolate and raisins
at first nosing. Hints of burnt cake
and rubber but not much else…
Let’s let it breathe for fifteen
minutes… … … Good,
it opened up indeed, even if it didn’t
get really explosive. Dried oranges
as expected, cooked strawberries,
Cointreau… Something meaty as
often in sherried malts, whiffs of
balsamic vinegar, something waxy…
A flawless sherried malt, no doubt,
but no extravaganza. |
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| Mouth:
ha-ha, things are really improving
now. Extremely bold, extremely sweet,
extremely creamy and coating, with
some very bold rum (it could be rum!),
all sorts of raisins, oranges in all
their forms (fresh, dried, crystallized
etc.)… Almost pasty but no plumpness,
quite astonishingly. It’s quite
hot, at that. Gets rather coffeeish,
tending towards a double-thick Irish
coffee. Juts like the nose, it’s
not very complex but so bold and ‘invading’,
somewhere like a cough syrup. And
no need to say the finish is extremely
long, rummy and raisiny… Ah,
it’s almost like if you ‘eat’
it rather than drink it, and it is
an extravaganza this time. Anyway,
90 points for this
spoonable Inchgower. |
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MUSIC
– BLUES - Very,
very highly recommended listening:
veteran musicians Eddie Bo, Raful
Neal and Rockin' Tabby Thomas from
Louisiana, aka 'The
Hoodoo Kings', do an
energetic Hard
Times.mp3. Yeah, they are all
seventy - more or less - but gosh,
what a sound! Play'em loud, and please
buy their music! |
| TASTING
- FOUR RECENT HIGHLAND PARKS |
| Highland
Park ‘Capella’ (40%, OB,
UK, 2005)
Or was it 2004? Colour: straw. Nose:
very fragrant at first nosing, expressive,
typically Highland Park with quite
some honey and heather, slightly tarry
and smoky. Some notes of rum, fruit
cake, apricot liqueur, mirabelle jam…
It’s not overly complex but
nicely balanced and rather ‘present’.
Also something distantly coastal…
And some praline. Colour: very nice
attack, with quite some sherry and
fruitcake, toasted bread and burnt
caramel, vanilla crème…
Rather sweet and rounded but not ‘sleepy’.
Something curiously Macallanish (the
12yo), and it’s quite rich at
40% ABV. A certain creaminess. The
finish is rather long, balanced, very
classical. I really like it: 85
points. |
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Highland
Park 24 yo 1980/2004 (58%, OB for
Park Avenue Liquors, cask #7366)
Colour: gold – amber. Nose:
wow, it’s extremely coffeeish,
with also some very bold notes of
marzipan and cocoa. An impressive
sherry, with quite some smoky and
waxy notes, getting then very, very
‘balsamic’. And what a
beautiful dryness! The winey tones
are superb, with some old high-end
rancio and lots of ‘yellow’
(neo-oxidative, like in Jura’s
vin jaune – yellow wine) plus
tons of chocolate. A perfect sherry,
superbly balanced and ‘vital’.
Wow! Mouth: oh yes, it’s confirmed.
Powerful and vibrant, bold, creamy
but not ‘thick’, almost
invading… A more than perfect
sherry again as well as some superb
notes of candied lemons and kind of
an acidity that’s most enjoyable
and that keeps the malt really playful.
Burnt Smyrna raisins, cake, something
tarry and smoky… It’s
very ‘male’, whatever
that means. Lots of dried and crystallised
citrus fruits, a little almond milk
and walnuts… It gets then quite
bitter (nothing excessive) and a little
drying, but the finish is superb,
with notes of cough syrup (eucalyptus,
menthol, candy sugar). Beautifully
compact and highly satisfying! 91
points. |
| Highland
Park 38 yo 1966/2005 (40.7%, Duncan
Taylor, 138 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: very, very fragrant
and aromatic again at first nosing,
with lots of honey and the trademark
heather. Then we have lots of cooked
fruits (beautiful notes of quince
jelly, which I cherish), strawberry
jam, apricot pie… Very, very
appetizing. Quite some crystallized
oranges as well… And it keeps
developing, with a beautiful blend
of smoky, woody, meaty and slightly
soapy/waxy aromas. It gets then meatier
and meatier, on hot ham, but never
loses it fruitiness, with even whiffs
of bergamot (earl grey) and very ripe
coconuts, and, perhaps, a little fresh
mint. Extremely enjoyable and no sign
of tiredness. Mouth: a certain weakness
at first sip and quite some tannins
as well, the whole making it really
dry this time. Develops on some ultra-bold
coconut (even Malibu – yes)
and dried oranges, clove and ginger,
nutmeg, white pepper… Lots of
oak, with a rather short finish, with
some notes of rum… Well, this
one may have spent too much time in
its cask and went over the hill but
it’s far from being unpleasant.
And the nose was rather magnificent!
85 points. |
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| Highland
Park 1967/2005 (41.3%, Duncan Taylor)
Colour: gold. Nose: this one seems
to be much drier and more marked by
the wood. Rather caramelly and chocolaty,
and perhaps more vegetal, even if
we have more or less the same fragrances
again, just toned down for a few minutes.
But good news, it gets then more and
more expressive, with more oak (vanilla,
tannins, coffee beans, cocoa…)
Almost as nice as the 1966, just less
fruity and heathery and a little more
chocolaty. Which is a little scary
considering the palate… let’s
see. Mouth: oh, this is curious! It’s
very tannic again but not weak at
all, with some rather funny cheesy
and salty notes. Emmenthal? (you know,
that strange cheese that humorist
Coluche called ‘weird, because
when you have more Emmenthal, you
have more holes, and when there’s
more holes, there’s less Emmenthal’
– pataphysics indeed). Gets
very caramelly, with lots of coconut
too but, again, very drying as well
and getting then much quieter. The
finish is longer than the 1966’s,
though, and quite toffeeish. A rather
similar profile but more body. 86
points. |
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MUSIC
– Recommended
listening - Yes, the Herman
Düne are really
excellent! Why the English press has
called them 'Swedish Lo-Fi Serge Gainsbourgs',
I don't know but I like their twist.
Let's try for instance Suburbs
with you.mp3 (live at the BBC
in June 2005)... Nice, isn't it? Please
buy their music... |
| TASTING
- TWO 1978 GLEN ELGINS |
| Glen
Elgin 1978/2005 (47.5%, Adelphi, cask
#4512, 208 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: yes, another superb
Glen Elgin, it appears. Bold and punchy
but not overpowering, with some beautiful
hot praline, hot cake and beeswax
right at first nosing. Rather smoky,
at that. Goes on with lots of roasted
nuts such as pecans, cashews, peanuts…
some nice farmy notes as well (hay,
bonfire), milk chocolate… It
gets more and more phenolic, on humus,
smoked tea, hochicha (Japanese roasted
tea). Just superb. Mouth: very dry
at first sip, with lots of over-infused
tea and strong cider, developing on
strong tea, cinnamon, herbal tea…
Goes on with liqueur filled chocolate
and lots of dried herbs (mainly parsley).
The finish is long but again, rather
drying, on herbal teas and burnt cake…
In short, a nice one with a great
nose, that got a little too tannic
on the palate but that’s still
very enjoyable. 82 points. |
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Glen
Elgin 19 yo 1978/1997 (43%, Hart Bros)
Colour: straw. Nose: starts rather
fragrant and aromatic, malty, with
some nice whiffs of dry sherry, caramel
and hot cake. Develops on roasted
nuts, violets and roses, lychees (gewürztraminer?),
getting very heathery and very smoky
at the same time, with also hints
of new plastic, spearmint and lemon
balm, hot butter. Very satisfying,
a lot of ‘plenitude’.
An excellent surprise! Mouth: very
present (although not really full
bodied) but, alas, very drying, almost
astringent right from the start. Again!
Lots of tannins in there, with the
usual white pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg,
but also some nice flavours hiding
behind them. Oak, vanilla, dried apricots,
peaches, wit something toffeeish and
coffeeish. The finish is rather long
but getting quite herbal and even
drier. In short, too bad it’s
so tannic again, because the nose
was really beautiful. Did they use
special oak at Glen Elgin in 1978?
What, sessile oak? ;-). Anyway, 82
points as well. |
| MUSIC
– Heavily recommended
listening - Brilliant new singer Jaymay,
from NYC, sings Letter.mp3.
Absolutely superb IMHO. Please buy
her music! |
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SHOPPING
- For just $799.97, you
can 'add a dose of tranquility to
your life with a relaxed sophistication'
by ordering this club chair + ottoman
at Club
Chairs. What's so interesting,
you may ask... The name, sir, the
name! It's 'Clynelish'. |
CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
WRECKLESS ERIC,
supporting Wilko Johnson, The 100
Club, London, December 23rd 2005 |
| It
always seemed a shame to me that Wreckless
Eric was somehow considered
one of the also-rans of the great
Stiff Records stable of the late seventies
that spawned Elvis Costello and Ian
Dury and the Blockheads, a sort of
not-to-be-taken seriously novelty
act amongst novelty acts. No doubt
the name may have had something to
do with this, and the famously reckless
behaviour, and the astonishingly reckless
drinking that fuelled it, which became
for a considerable while Eric Goulden’s
demon. But he wrote great songs and
performed them with a unique candour.
If he was an artist, and if I was
an art critic (which thank the lord
I’m not Serge) then you might
describe his work as rude, or belonging
to a naive school. |
Wreckless
Eric in the late 1970's |
I’d
just prefer to say that his songs
were very open and honest, with not
a lot of room for subtlety. However,
obvious they were not. But hang on
a minute! Why all this past tense?
This isn’t an obituary it’s
a bloody review. And not only is Eric
still alive, he’s back with
a new(ish) album Bungalow Hi. Back
from where? Well, for a while Serge
he was in your lovely France, where
in addition to the highly regarded
Len Bright Combo he also had a band
called Le Beat Group Électrique.
And during this time he was also dealing
with his personal demons, as they
say in the wild world of rock and
roll. But to be honest he’d
almost disappeared from my personal
radar until I picked him up again,
talking with great frankness and humour
on one of those Sunday night religious
sounding radio programmes that I only
listen to in the car.
So that’s why we’re here
nice and early in the 100 Club to
see our man who is supporting Whiskyfun
favourite Wilko Johnson on this festive
Friday gig. We fall in with the Edinburgh
branch of the Wreckless Eric Fan Club,
who appoint themselves as personal
bodyguards to The Photographer. “See
that man” says one, gesticulating
with his beer at Eric, “he’s
a fucking God”. We’re
then shown mobile phone photographs
of set lists from previous Eric gigs.
Later I get the tattooed arms round
the shoulder treatment, “Listen,
how does he remember all of those
words. He’s a fucking poet man,
a fucking poet…” These
two aren’t the only fans, and
the rest of the crowd are good natured
enough to give Eric a fair hearing,
and he responds with a cracking forty-five
minutes or so. |
| He’s
a happy guy, despite the fact that
you might think otherwise from his
songs, and not just the more recent
ones. He’s also blessed with
a lovely smile and Tommy Steele eyebrows,
so even when the songs get bleak (and
believe me Eric does bleak very well)
there’s still a nice feeling
in the air. He chats, questions (“Am
I fucking this up?”), and challenges,
“Someone said this was the most
alienating song I ever wrote, so let’s
see what you think of it …”,
then “If you think that was
fucking alienating then try this one
…” Oh yes, and he’s
also wearing a very nice suit. He
sings, in no particular order, ‘Continuity
Girl’, ‘Same’, ‘Local’,
and ‘33s and 45s’ (introduced
with the comment, “Some people
find me difficult to live with, can
you fucking believe that?”)
from Hi Bungalow, ‘Whole wide
world’, ‘Joe Meek’,
‘Final Taxi’ and ‘Someone
must’ve nailed us together’,
playing acoustic and electric guitars,
with some funny stuff from a bass
keyboard that he sets off occasionally,
and also some congas that he hits.
There are also what Edgar Allen Poe
described in The Fall of the House
of Usher as ‘wild improvisations
of the speaking guitar’ –
reflecting the style of all the Bungalow
Hi songs, “Fuck, it’s
gone all progressive” shouts
Wreckless as he looses his way during
one of these. |
| Later
The Photographer disappears with her
bodyguards and returns with my copy
of Bungalow Hi signed with a message
from Eric, “Be kind?”
He means the review of course. I don’t
need to be. His set was more than
worth the ticket money, and we’ve
still got Wilko to come – I
should mention here that Wilko (who
was competing with the great Norman
Watt Roy for the roles of Ghosts of
Christmas Past, Present and Future)
was just as good as when we saw him
in March. But have a look at Eric’s
website
to see what he does with reviewers,
which is a sort of review and reviewer
deconstruction by the reviewee. Cool
stuff. |
Kate,
Whiskyfun's Official Concert Photographer
with Wreckless Eric |
|
And yes, if you do go to the website
you can not only order copies of his
albums (which you should do –
Bungalow Hi is really worth a listen),
but also his book, A
dysfunctional success, the Wreckless
Eric Manual. And you can look
up his dates and make sure you go
and see him if he turns up for a gig
somewhere near you – he deserves
the audience. - Nick Morgan (concert
photographs by Kate) |
 |
Many
thanks Nick, I remember Wreckless
Eric and his Cockney accent (always
very hot in France, a Cockney accent
- it's Cockney, right?) quite well,
although I had thought it was 'Reckless'
until know - but then again, I've
been writing 'Zepellin' for a long
time... I think Wreckless Eric's old
tunes deserve repeated listenings
indeed, and just like you wrote, they
may sound 'too easy' at first try
but then they sort of invade your
mind whilst gaining kind of depth
(my favourite is 'Take the K.A.S.H.').
|
| I
tried to find a sample from his latest
CD 'Bungalow Hi' (picture, left) but
couldn't find any - despite the fact
that all the reviews I could read
were pretty excellent. So, I just
ordered it from Eric's website, and
his book as well... I can't wait!
Now, there's something I fail to understand:
why the hell did he leave France and
go back to the UK? There must be secret
reasons somewhere! ;-). As for music,
we do have his version of Clever
Trevor.mp3 (from Stiff's Ian Dury
tribute album). Cool! |
| |
| TASTING
- FOUR DALMORES |
 |
Dalmore
21 yo (43%, OB, circa 2004)
Colour: amber. Nose: not very expressive
at first try, curiously watery (very
light tea) with whiffs of cake and
smoke. Quite some sherry coming through
after a while, with notes of dried
apricots and finally lots of nutmeg
and tamarind as well as coal. Something
distantly perfumy in the background.
Rather elegant but maybe it lacks
a little more depth. Mouth: again,
it starts a little weakly, with a
rather meagre mouth feel. Rather malty,
very sweet, with some strawberry pie,
roasted peanuts, overripe oranges
(very overripe ones). Sort of toned
down. A little cocoa, bitter caramel..
Something leafy. The finish is medium
long, mostly on smoke, fruit liqueurs
and caramel. Not bad at all but somewhat
antiquated. Not exactly thin but lacking
a little more body, I’m afraid.
79 points.
Dalmore 12 yo
(43%, OB, cream label, mid 1990’s)
Colour: amber. Nose: rather punchy,
very malty and caramelly at first
nosing. Bold notes of burnt cake,
a little winey, with something of
a Cognac. Whiffs of smoke. Gets then
very grassy and even farmy (hay) and
meaty, and finally extremely coffeeish.
Bold and rather complex, certainly
quite better than the current versions,
even if it’s a little austere.
Mouth: extremely creamy, malty, sweet,
bold and nervous – quite hot.
Strong notes of cooked wine, fortified
white wine, crystallised oranges,
marmalade. Lots of cake, mocha, sugared
coffee, Tia Maria, Cointreau…
And also some dried herbs, thyme,
parsley, rosemary. Lots of heat and
vivacity! Long, rather hot finish,
on rum, orange liqueurs and cooked
caramel. Very good! 86 points.
Dalmore
12 yo (43%, OB, bottled 1977)
Colour: amber. Nose: ah yes, this
is even better. Some superb waxy notes,
furniture polish, notes of Sauternes
wine, beeswax, flowers (peony, lilac).
Quite complex! Something superbly
resinous, fireplace, ashes, mustard
sauce, sherry… Strong honey
(chestnut). It gets smokier and smokier
(coal fire). Very, very nice. Mouth:
simply fantastic. A superb creaminess,
very coating, with an extraordinary
balance. Orange liqueur and resin,
lavender honey and eucalyptus, natural
tar liqueur and mastic… Some
marzipan, orgeat syrup, crystallised
fruits (kumquats, oranges, tangerines).
Gets quite smoky, with some notes
of burnt cake. And what a beautiful
and compact finish, on orange and
lemon marmalades. Just a superb malt,
extremely drinkable. No less than
92 points.
Dalmore
1986/2004 (43%, McKillop’s Choice,
cask #3090)
A very fresh one, unusually light
for a Dalmore but with a nice balance.
Notes of bitter oranges, nice vanilla
and some most enjoyable fruity notes
(apples, peaches, gooseberries…)
Lots of vivacity and playfulness despite
its lightness. A different Dalmore.
85 points. |
| TASTING
- TWO RECENT CONVALMORES
Convalmore
28 yo 1977/2005 (57.9%, OB)
A beautiful, old-style packaging.
Colour: gold. Nose: punchy and powerful,
starting very malty and very sweet,
on cooked strawberries, cake and
buttered caramel, with whiffs of
cinnamon and a nice, sweet and sour
woodiness. Gets then more herbal,
with notes of yellow Chartreuse,
Darjeeling tea, American coffee
and cocoa. There’s something
‘ascetic’ in it, for
it’s rather close to nature
(yeah, whatever that means). A malt
that’s isn’t made-up,
it appears, probably for aficionados,
like many of these new limited bottlings
by Diageo that appear to be rather
austere (but you might know I like
that) and without compromise. |
 |
| Mouth:
a powerful attack, extremely sweet
and quite woody, starting on fruit
liqueurs (such as pineapple), Chinese
rice spirit, with a ‘sweet-and-sourness’
that gives it something funnily Extreme-Oriental
indeed. Rather tannic, getting a little
drying after a while… Right,
let’s try it with water now…
(and while the nose gets even fruitier
and quite farmy as well…) Ah,
yes, now it’s much more civilized,
harmoniously fruity (apricots, peaches
and melons, even tropical fruits such
as mangos and passion fruits), with
notes of freshly crushed mint leaves.
The finish is rather long, balanced
and enjoyable with water, always very
fruity, with a little icing sugar.
A malt that needs water to get tamed
– or it’ll take no prisoners!
Anyway, it’s the kind of no-peat-no-sherry-no-prisoners
malt I like – 89 points. |
 |
Convalmore
1981 (40%, Strathblair Collection,
2004)
A curious fairly new series from Switzerland,
showing no bottling year and no cask
number although they are single casks,
most of them being bottled at 40%.
Hum. Colour: straw. Nose: very grainy
and fruity at first nosing, with quite
some light caramel and boxed fruit
salad. Whiffs of cologne, hot milk…
Big, bold notes of vanilla fudge.
Rather clean and nicely balanced.
Nothing too special but no flaws either,
I must say. Mouth: sweet and more
powerful than expected. Grainy and
malty, with lots of caramel and liquorice
sweets, herbal liqueur, maybe tequila…
It does lack a little body in fact,
but nothing too dramatic. Notes of
mashed chestnuts, English cake getting
slightly bitter but it’s okay.
The finish is rather short with quite
some bitterness, alas, but the whole
is still worth 80 points
in my books. Not bad at all. |
| MUSIC
– JAZZ - Recommended
listening - Brazil's Edgar
Duvivier does a pretty
excellent rendition of Bird's Donna
Lee.mp3 that sounds like a choro
(and Donna Lee is what jazz is all
about). Just superb! Please buy Edgar
Duvivier's works... |
 |
| CHRISTMAS
TASTING - A VERY RECENT AND A VERY,
VERY OLD TALISKER |
| An
interesting - I think - head-to-head
session with a young, recent Talisker
and an older one that was distilled...
More than 90 years ago, when Talisker
was still triple-distilled. But there's
no point in trying to answer silly
questions such as 'was it better in
the old days?', as 80 years in a bottle
will have taken their toll anyway.
Well, that's what I had thought in
the first place... |
 |
| Talisker
10 yo (45.8%, OB)
A recent version that I reduced to
40% a.b.v. for the purpose of this
unusual head-to-head session. Colour:
pale gold. Nose: rather maritime right
at first nosing, with the usual mix
of peat smoke, wet hay, oysters and
pepper (not an extreme pepper here).
It gets then rather waxy, with also
quite some beer (quite mashy!), porridge,
boiled cereals and fermented barley.
Mouth: it starts much more peppery
this time, with lots of spices and
quite some oak. Maybe it’s a
little harsher, less rounded that
some earlier versions, and it gets
extremely herbal after a moment (parsley,
mustard seeds) with also quite some
iodine, salt, getting frankly ‘seawatery’.
Almost no fruits and no sweetness
except, maybe, hints of dried pears.
The finish is long, extremely peppery
and very, very dry, with a lot of
persistence. No smoothness at all
in this very austere version for big
boys, that’s sharp like a blade
– but again, I like this kind
of rather extreme profile a lot. 88
points. |
| Talisker
Reserve 1913 (70° proof, Berry
Bros and Rudd, probably late 1920’s
- early 1930's)
The bottle was cracked open by its
owner right in front of my eyes, the
cork, which was probably a wine cork,
was in a relatively good shape, although
it broke into three or four pieces
despite careful handling. It was bearing
the Berry Bros logo. Anyway, let's
taste it now... Colour: pale gold,
slightly paler than the current 10yo,
with greenish hues. Nose: this one
comes from the same family, most obviously,
although there is something antiquated
here. It starts on fresh mushrooms
and wax, mixed with a little eucalyptus
and quite some camphor. It is smoky
indeed although not as smoky as the
10yo. It gets then rather resinous,
with notes of mastic and a little
marzipan. |
 |
It’s
also growing quite vegetal (hay, a
little fern, dried moss…) and
gets finally a little peppery, with
notes of old, waxed furniture. Slightly
musty indeed, but hey, more than 70
years in a bottle! After a good fifteen
minutes, it gets much more caramelly
and fudgy, and does the peacock’s
tail. Just superb!
Mouth: the attack is very creamy,
almost oily, very soft, waxy and coating,
with lots of camphor and oriental
pastries (orange flowers). Very delicate
but with a rather thick texture. Develops
on mastic-flavoured Turkish delights
(c’mon, maltoporn again!) with
a little olive oil. Goes on with quite
some caramel crème, marzipan
again, just before a certain spiciness
and quite some pepper do come through.
Quite some tannins at that, and a
very subtle peat that didn’t
disappear like in some other very
old peaty whiskies. Notes of walnut
liqueur, pu-erh tea… Now, it
does get a little cardboardy and,
to be honest, weak. I doubt it’s
still at 40%, I’d rather say
around 30 or 35%. The finish itself
isn’t too long but beautifully
waxy, with a little nougat and hints
of cough syrup. In short, a pretty
excellent old Talisker that still
smells (mostly) and tastes (a little)…
well, like a Talisker. The nose was
fantastic, quite similar in its profile
to the current 10 yo (although the
latter is much spicier, peatier and
much more peppery) but subtler –
93 points for the nose, whereas the
palate was all delicacy but, to be
honest, lacked a little oomph and
body (85 points). So, the grand total
is 89 points, even
if it’s much closer to 100 on
an 'emotional' scale. Watch this space,
we’ll have another interesting
H-to-H session on January 1st!... |
 |
CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - FRIENDS AND WHISKY,
WHISKY AND FRIENDS
What's more appropriate, in our money-driven
consumer society, than this quintessential
1972 ad for Johnny Walker to wish
you, once more, a Merry Christmas?
(... and did you notice the bottle's
level? It's just the beginning and
there are just four people...) |
| TASTING
- THREE LONGMORNS |
| Longmorn
15 yo 1990/2005 (60.4%, Single Malts
of Scotland, cask #30091)
By The Whisky Exchange. Colour: pale
gold. Nose: really powerful but surprisingly
aromatic despite the high alcohol.
Quite bourbonny at first nosing, with
bold notes of hot vanilla sauce, zabaglione,
apricot liqueur… Lots of caramel
sauce as well, oak, toasted bread,
developing on pastries (hot croissants),
milk chocolate and, after a few minutes,
vodka and perhaps coffee liqueur.
Incredibly enjoyable at such high
strength. With a few drops of water:
it gets more perfumy and herbal, in
nice ways. Hints of violets, lily
of the valley, a little smoke…
I like it. Mouth: again, it’s
easily drinkable when neat, starting
mainly on fruit eaux-de-vie such as
Williams pear and kirsch as well as
grappa, The pear grows bolder and
bolder, with also quite some grainy
notes, coffee liqueurs… With
water: much sweeter and less spirity,
as expected, but there’s even
more pear! Incredible, I’ve
distilled some pure pear spirit several
times myself and, believe me or not,
the output hasn’t always been
as ‘peary’ as this Longmorn.
A wood-matured pear spirit? I love
pear, that is… 87 points. |
 |
 |
Longmorn-Glenlivet
1974/1985 (60.8%, Samaroli, 600
bottles, sherry)
Colour: mahogany – bronze.
Nose: extremely sherried at first
nosing, very rubbery and quite sulphury.
Bold notes of bicycle inner tube,
bitter chocolate and dark toffee.
I feel this one was bottled just
at its peek, one more year would
have been too much. Really fat,
oily, but with still some nice notes
of fresh fruits. Probably a genuine
sherry cask, that had contained
sherry for years and years. |
| Not
monstrously complex but extremely
compact and very satisfying, with
also lots of liquorice and herbs.
A great sherried nose. Mouth: lots
of sherry of course, extremely bold
and powerful. Not that it’s
unbalanced but I’d call it a
howitzer of a whisky: lots of gunpowder,
dark caramel, toffee, toasted raisins,
crystallised fruits and even chilli.
A great one indeed but it’s
also a little tiring and too pungent.
Let’s try it with water now…
Ah, much nicer! It is a swimmer. The
dried fruits notes become much more
precise (pear, guava, kumquat) and
it gets also nicely medicinal. Garden
bonfire. Totally beautiful with water!
92 points (but only
88 without water…) |
| |
Longmorn-Glenlivet
12 yo (40%, G&M licensed bottling,
'Pure Malt', 1980’s)
Colour: light gold. Nose: extremely
fresh and vibrant, with lots of nectar,
pollen and light honey. Some great
notes of flowers from the fields and
lots of fresh fruits (oranges, tangerines,
bananas…) Very clean and so
enjoyable (even if not too complex).
Pure pleasure! Mouth: nice attack,
quite malty this time. Lots of crystallised
fruits, oranges, bananas, figs…
Quite some oomph, at that. It then
gets perhaps just a tad woody and
drying but nothing problematic. Rather
long finish, on dried oranges and
light toffee. Simple but excellent,
and what a nice balance! 87
points. |
|
MUSIC
– Very heavily
recommended listening - The interstellar
John
Coltrane doing one
of his most famous and tremendously
brilliant pieces: Giant
Steps.mp3 (1959) I could listen
to it 100,000 times and not get
bored. Okay, 100,001... 100,002...
| | | | |
