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Hi, you're in the Archives, May 2008 - Part 2 |
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May
30, 2008 |
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TASTING
- TWO
GLEN SCOTIA |
Glen
Scotia 16 yo 1992/2008 (51.6%, Jack
Wieber’s, Auld Distillers, 174
bottles) 
From a bourbon barrel. Colour: pale
gold. Nose: first there’s a
little wood smoke but then it’s
‘the porridgy cavalry’
that turns up, together with notes
of fruit spirit (kirsch first). Mid-yeasty,
mid-fruity... Improves a bit after
a while, with hints of fresh mint
and other herbs, and the vanilla showing
out. Cleaner now. |
| With
water: now we have big notes of coconut,
praline, caramel crème and
vanilla like in some grains. It got
quite simpler actually, but it’s
pleasant whisky. Mouth (neat): very
punchy and with much more character
than on the nose. Big maltiness, caramel,
toffee and roasted peanuts, getting
then very salty and liquoricy. Salmiak?
Slightly brutal, let’s add water:
right, it’s plain wood that
comes out first, and then liquorice.
Once again, water made it a little
simpler. Finish: rather long, with
resinous and oily notes now, as well
as quite some salt. Comments: not
the best swimmer ever but it’s
an interesting example of heavy oak
influence that doesn’t completely
destroy the spirit. SGP: 372
– 84 points. |
| Glen
Scotia 14yo 1991/2006 (57.7%, Cadenhead's,
198 bottles)
From a sherry hogshead. Colour: dark
gold. Nose: this is bold and all on
warm butter and plain oak (fresh sawdust,
varnish, lactones). Extremely oaky
but with little sweetness and a very
discrete sherry – if any. With
water: oh, now we have whiffs of rotting
fruits, very strong pipe tobacco,
even well-hung game (oh well, Glenn)...
What’s funny is that it’s
so unusual, that it becomes interesting.
Calms down after that, more on ‘regular’
tobacco and malt. Mouth (neat): once
again, it’s the wood that speaks
first, and very boldly. Huge tannins,
pencil (like when we were at school),
honey and salt-coated almonds, very
strong liquorice... Big, big whisky,
with a huge concentration of oak,
but not of the drying kind at all.
A mega Californian chardonnay? Hints
of black cherries in the background.
With water: a lot of salt, more dryness,
hints of chilli, dried herbs (thyme)...
It really got ultra-dry now. Finish:
long, salty and slightly tarry. Comments:
a rather big Glen Scotia and certainly
not an easy-easy dram. Chewing tobacco?
SGP:273 – 84 points. |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: Ah, Madeleine
Peyroux! Of course
she ain't Billie Holiday but still,
she can sing and what a voice! Let's
listen to her swingin' version of
Back
in your own back yard.mp3 today
and then buy a few of her records... |
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May
29, 2008 |
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TASTING
– A SHORT MORTLACH VERTICALE |
Mortlach
19yo 1969/1989 (45%, Gordon &
MacPhail for Intertrade)
Colour: gold. Nose: starts on fresh
oranges and tangerines plus a little
malt and café latte and gets
then a little farmier (wet straw,
wet grains). Slight meatiness and
hints of wet papers, cardboard. Pleasant
nose but we wouldn’t say this
is very complex. Mouth: rather powerful,
malty, grainy and orangey, displaying
little complexity just like on the
nose. Caramel and nougat plus white
pepper and apple compote with quite
some sugar. Finish: medium long, balanced,
honeyed, a tad meaty and smoky now.
Comments: certainly good but a little
middle-of-the-road, which was quite
unusual with Intertrade whiskies.
Reminds me of older versions of Highland
Park 12. SGP:442 – 81
points. |
Mortlach
1961/2000 (40.8%, Scott's Selection)
Colour: straw. Nose: ah yes, this
one has much more to tell us it seems.
I think I never came across a malt
that displayed such big notes of sultanas
at first nosing, followed by a big
honeyness and then all things resinous
(pine resin, cough syrup, eucalyptus,
fresh putty and the rest.) Settles
down a bit after a few minutes, getting
a tad woodier and vanilled but it’s
still pretty beautiful. Hints of smoke
and ham as often in Mortlach. Mouth:
oh yes, this is unusual. Exceptional
attack on bananas flambéed
(not the Irish kind of bananas –
eh?) and vanilla crème, and
then we have more and more bananas,
as if the cask was made out of banana
wood (don’t be silly, Serge,
banana wood probably doesn’t
taste like bananas.) Rum, sultanas
and orange liqueur. Just excellent
and very ‘diferent’. Little
meatiness this time. Finish: rather
long, less on bananas and more on
honey-coated ham. Comments: a wonderful
and quite spectacular whisky at almost
40 years of age, but Mortlach is hard
to recognise here. SGP:732
- 92 points. |
Mortlach
50 yo 1957/2007 'Ping V' (41.7%, Juul's
Vinhandel, cask #3019, refill sherry)
Colour: gold. Nose: a little similar
to the Scott at first sniffing, but
even more resinous. Also a little
herbal (fresh mint, lemon balm, camomile
and verbena), with notes of rosehip
and hawthorn teas. Hints of sandalwood,
old roses, rubbed orange skin, and
finally delicate oaky tones and a
little praline. Antique? Not quite,
this one is still quite talkative
if not nervous. A very classy oldie.
Mouth: more wood here, obviously,
but also fresh mint, walnuts, strawberry
sweets, something like cranberry juice
(no kiddin’), liquorice, old
pu-erh tea and dried herbs (parsley,
coriander). A little woody but not
tired! Finish: not too long but balanced,
with rather soft tannins and again
a little banana, green this time.
Cinnamon. Comments: sure there’s
quite some wood in this oldie but
what’s good news is that it’s
never drying or too ‘green’.
Moving old whisky, but maybe not quite
as thrilling as the famous 50yo’s
1936-1939 by G&M. SGP:361
– 87 points. (Thank
you Hans-Henrik.) |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: it's a 'strange' sound
that you don't hear too much anymore,
but it was quite in a few years
ago - it's trumpetist Jon
Hassel and his Flash
of the spirit.mp3 (recorded
1988, with Farafina). The good old
days of 'world' music... Please
buy Jon Hassel's music, his recent
recordings are very good. |
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May
28, 2008 |
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TASTING
– TWO VERY YOUNG AND TWO VERY
OLD MACALLANS AT 43% vol. (but
does that make any sense?) |
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Macallan
1998/2007 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Speymalt) 
Colour: pale straw. Nose: all on pear
spirit, baker’s yeast, newly
cut grass and porridge, with also
a little wood smoke and whiffs of
fresh mint and liquorice. Uncomplicated
but exactly what you’d expect
from a very young un-sherried Macallan.
Less nutty/malty than the young Fine
Oaks, for instance. Mouth: drier than
expected, and bigger as well, with
more maltiness and less porridge.
Good liquorice and then we’re
back on pears and ripe apples. Finish:
rather long, still on the same flavours.
Comments: good young Macallan, with
more personality than the young Fine
Oaks but maybe a little less than
the official sherried versions. A
rather big – and good - spirit.
SGP:431 – 79 points. |
| Macallan
1998/2008 (43%, Jean Boyer, Best Casks
of Scotland, Small Barrels)
The people at Jean Boyer’s are
extremely good at selecting young
single malts that usually display
a lot of straighforwardness and cleanliness.
Colour: pale straw. Nose: much more
‘chiselled’ than the Speymalt,
sharper, purer and cleaner. Less yeasty/porridgy
and much more almondy, minty and a
little mineral (wet chalk). Mouth:
very close to the Speymalt as far
as the general profile is concerned
but a little cleaner, sharper and,
again, purer. Hints of what tastes
like peat but it can’t be peat,
can it? Gets bigger over time. Muesli,
blueberries. Finish: long, with quite
some liquorice again and hints of
gentian. Comments: very good, flawless
and pure. Loved the gentian in the
finish. SGP:532 – 84
points. |
| Macallan
33 yo (43%, Gordon & MacPhail,
Pinerolo, circa 1975)
Probably distilled around WWII. Colour:
dark gold. Nose: how immensely fruity!
It’s really a full basket of
tropical fruits, such as bananas,
passion fruits, guavas, oranges and,
err, oranges. Freshly squeezed oranges,
that’s it! Well, at least for
fifteen minutes, and then it starts
to get more complex, with refined
whiffs of coal and wood smoke, a little
coriander, tamarind, fresh parsley,
pineapples, grapefruits… It’s
beautiful whisky, but frankly, I’d
have rather said this was a 1968 Bowmore,
had I tried it blind. Amazing…
Mouth: good body but of course, it’s
no ‘monster’. Starts on
the same citrusy, tropical fruits
but in a more ‘whispering’
manner. More on jams than on fresh
fruits. Very soft spices (gingerbread,
a little white pepper). Gets definitely
‘Macallan’ after a few
minutes, less exuberantly fruity and
much more malty, more sherried and
more on dried fruits and a little
resin. But it’s still a very
vibrant old whisky of very high quality.
And sooo drinkable! Finish: long and
much more on tobacco now, nuts, flor
(or vin jaune), orange marmalade…
Comments: an ever-changing old Macallan
of the highest grade. Extremely good
– but please beware of all the
fake old Pinerolos on eBay, notably
the pre-war versions. SGP:743
– 92 points. |
| Glen
Gordon 50 yo 1939/1989 (43%, Gordon
& MacPhail, 120 bottles)
Even if G&M don’t divulge
this kind of information, many suppose
that Glen Gordon is/was usually Macallan.
Colour: amber. Nose: almost as expressive
as the 33yo at first nosing but pretty
different. Drier and more marked by
some sherry wood, with also much more
smoke and all kinds of roasted nuts.
A bigger meatiness as well (cured
ham, Parma), notes of soy sauce, tar,
toffee… All that is extremely
subtle in fact, but the whisky’s
very far from being weak. Very faint
OBE (metal). Gets much more ‘tertiary’
after a good fifteen minutes, with
even more ham, other meats, steak,
even poultry… This one has a
lot of old stories to tell us, which
is very moving in any case. Certainly
more complex than the 33yo, and less
wham-bam despite its vintage (come
on!) Mouth: great attack, again much
drier than the ‘disclosed’
Macallan but definitely of the same
breed. Walnuts, tobacco, burnt cake,
dark chocolate, espresso, peanut butter
with a little salt, salmiak, orange
marmalade… Incredible how this
is concentrated! Now, the wood has
its say as well, which is normal after
50 years, isn’t it! More and
more on old walnuts, walnut liqueur,
coffee, ‘dry’ toffee…
And even more walnuts. It is dry whisky,
for sure. Finish: long, with the wood
becoming even more obvious now but
not tannic and drying nor dominating.
Comments: an antique whisky that one
may like a little less when not knowing
both its age and vintage, but still…
What? No, no notes of gunpowder I’m
afraid. SGP:453 – 90
points (I must confess a
small handful of them may be a little
emotional.) |
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TOUJOURS
L'HUMOUR - Seen on
Oddbins'
website, this one already made the
MM's laugh. At this strength, no wonder
the 168 bottles issued in 2006 aren't
all sold yet. (thanks, O.) |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: Sheila
Landis can sing for
sure. Let's listen to her very afro-cuban
rendition of the unshakeable Summertime.mp3...
Good, eh! Please buy Sheila Landis'
music. |
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May
27, 2008 |
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TASTING
HIGHLAND
PARK 1972-1977
a short retro-verticale |
| Highland
Park 26 yo 1972/1998 (55.7%, Signatory
10th Anniversary, cask #1632, 252
bottles)
Colour: old. Nose: starts fragrant
and honeyed, but the oak is soon to
strike a bit (vanilla, tannins). Very
nice notes of apricot jam, acacia
honey, then also a little salpetre,
iron and coal. |
| Keeps
improving once the oak has vanished
again, getting both rounded and vigorous,
with more and more smoke and also
a little ginger. An entertaining HP.
Mouth: big, peppery, salty and candied
attack, certainly wilder than most
official old HP’s. Then it’s
big liquorice and pine resin (like
if you swallowed a whole bottle of
cough medicine), and then even more
salt. Very excellent zestiness in
the background (tangerines) and good
oak. Finish: long, candied, spicy
and resinous. Comments: a lot of punch
and a great profile, wilder than usual.
What’s more, this was bottled
at its peak it seems. SGP:554
– 90 points. |
| Highland
Park 1973/2007 (43%, McKillop’s
Choice, cask #8395)
Colour: white wine. Nose: very unusual,
starting on big notes of peanut butter
and mint, getting then a bit more
porridgy. Indian cashew and cream
sauce. Gets then more resinous and
herbal (forest, pine needles, fern).
Another one that’s very entertaining!
Mouth: we have pretty much the same
here, and the 43% are far from being
‘weakish’. Good body,
quite some resin, dried and crystallised
fruits, herbs, a lot of mint... Maybe
just a faint ‘paperiness’
but also quite some salt. No smokiness,
that is. Finish: medium long, clean,
very pleasantly resinous, with a little
vanilla from the wood. Comments: a
fresh and clean old Highland Park
displaying excellent herbal and minty
notes. Would fetch higher scores at
46%+, that is. SGP:362 –
86 points. |
| Highland
Park 33 yo 1974/2007 (44.8%, OB, Ambassador’s
Cask #3, cask #9035, 35cl)
Colour: gold. Nose: starts both smoky
and floral (dandelions), with also
quite some old leather. Maybe a bit
austere but it gets then much fruitier.
Quite some peat as well, green tobacco
(do you know Indonesian cigars?),
shoe polish... Very interesting in
any case. Gets more and more complex,
step by step. Fresh mint, camphor,
cough medicine, cloves... Beautfiful
and ‘complete’. Mouth:
much fruitier now, with a lot of tangerine
and pineapple, candied oranges, very
ripe bananas (or dried – not
the ‘Irish’ kind), getting
then zestier. Lemon marmalade, even
passion fruits, hints of melon and
peach... Balance: perfect. The whole
is highly drinkable, which may be
he problem here, with 35cl bottles...
Finish: not too bold nor long but
smooth and very, very more-ish. Comments:
fruitier than usual, isn’t it
strange that ambassadors choose casks
that aren’t too typical of the
distillery? But we won’t complain
here, this one offers a lot of pleasure.
SGP:642
– 92 points. |
Highland
Park 20 yo 1975/1996 (43%, Signatory,
cask #4307) 
Colour: white wine. Nose: ouch! This
one is much cheesier, sweaty, acetic...
Gym socks? What’s funny is that
all that disappears after a moment,
leaving room for unexepected notes
of mangos, passion fruits and fresh
pineapples. Well, it’s still
slightly ‘on the edge’
but what an improvement! Do some bacterias
survive in 43% spirit? Mouth: well,
bizarre it is. On one side, there
are these pleasant liquoricy and minty
touches, but on the other side, notes
of very (very) overripe fruits and
something ‘cheesy’ again
(quite lactic, in fact) make it frankly
too weird for me. Finish: shortish,
caramelly, a tad cleaner now. Comments:
a strange brew – not undrinkable
but we liked the 1972 by Signatory
so much better! SGP:261 –
70 points. |
| Highland
Park 18yo 1976/1994 (59%, Cadenhead's
for Oddbins, cask #4646)
Colour: full gold. Nose: unexpectedly
‘nosable’ despite the
almost 60%, all on roasted nuts and
various kinds of honeys, including,
of course, heather. And then we have
coal smoke, and then whiffs of resin
and eucalyptus, a little ginger (just
a little), a little nutmeg... All
that is very complex and not masked
by the alcohol at all. Also bitter
oranges and quinine tonic wine, touches
of cinnamon, fresh parsley, even a
little oregano... ‘Wow!’
With water: it got much earthier,
now totally on fresh mushrooms, wet
clay, even ‘good’ mud...
And morels, truffles, old Vin Jaune,
old pu-erh tea... F*ck, this is great!
Err, sorry... Mouth (neat): big, fat,
oily whisky! Pepper, mint, apples
and much more peat now. Then we have
lemon marmalade with a little salt,
then something like dried boletus
(yeah, I know – or is it tobacco?),
tar (a lot), salted liquorice... It’s
really concentrated – and high-class
whisky, but let’s se how it’ll
behave with a few drops of water.
With water: holy featherless crow!
Finish: even more of everything, and
tankerloads of gentian. Which is great
news according to us. Comments: a
fabulous very earthy Highland Park.
SGP:474 - 94 points
(und vielen Dank, Konstantin). |
| Highland
Park 1977/1988 (50%, Duthie for Samaroli,
Fragments, 'Orkney', 648 bottles)
A well-known bottling – it was
about time I wrote a few notes about
it! Colour: straw. Nose: this is ‘less
big’ than the Cadenhead’s,
and it’s not only for the lower
ABV, but it’s also (even) more
complex. More herbal (moss, fern and
all that jazz) and waxy for a while,
then fruitier. All kinds of crystallised
citrus fruits, kumquats, tangerines,
then orange peel, then paraffin and
turpentine, linseed oil, fusel oil...
It’s all quite soft and never
aggressive. Perfect on the nose, let’s
just hope that the palate will be
a tad bigger (soft noses can be great,
but translate not too well on the
palate). Mouth: success! Much, much
more in line with the Cadenhead, to
the point where it’s almost
the same whisky, just a tad softer.
Maybe a tad more elegant as well.
Finish: long, soothing, more civilised
than the Cad and probably a little
more citrusy. The more you wait for
it, the more complex it gets, at that
(various herbs spring to mind but
a list would be, err, very boring.)
Comments: quite amazing how this one
gained power and richness from first
sips to the afterglows of the finish.
Now, I liked the Glen Garioch in the
same series even better (94)! SGP:574
– 92 points. |
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And
also Highland
Park 1977 (46%, La Reserve, cask #89/195)
Nose: this one is very fragrant and
floral, all on heather (of course),
lilies of the valley, violets, ripe
melons... Gets a bit more mundane
after the rather stunning attack on
your nostrils, more on apple juice,
soft spices and ginger. Mouth: sweet,
starting right on very ripe melons,
getting then more citrusy (pink grapefruit),
which make it an unusual Highland
Park. Comments: a good, uber-fruity
and interesting variant. SGP:632
– 87 points. |
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May
22, 2008 |
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TASTING
- TWO
GLEN ORD |
| Glen
Ord 10 yo 1998/2008 (59.5%, Signatory,
cask #3447, 321 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: powerful
of course but fresh, young and fruity
– as expected. Rather ‘noseable’
at such high strength, displaying
freshly cut pears, oranges, a little
linseed oil, very distinct whiffs
of coal smoke, then cappuccino, hints
of olive oil... What a beautiful young
whisky! Classy profile, even if it
gets slightly yeasty after a moment..
|
| With
water: the sweetness disappeared and
it got much grassier and yeastier
for a while, with apple juice making
a comeback, together with a little
oil (fusel, olive.) Clean but simpler
with water. Mouth (neat): young, fierce
but balanced young whisky, certainly
rougher than on the nose and maybe
lacking a few more years of ageing.
Other than that the fruitiness is
perfect (pears, pineapples and apples,
none excessively dominant.) Water
should really help here. With water:
indeed, it got almost perfect now.
Very clean, simply but beautifully
fruity, with just hints of pepper
and a little coffee and toffee. Slight
smokiness as well. Finish: long, in
the same vein but with also a little
salt. Comments: excellent young Glen
Ord that reminds us of the beautiful
official 30yo in its fruitiness. SGP:642
– 87 points. |
| Glen
Ord 16 yo 'Manager's Dram' (66.2%,
OB, 1991)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: the first
feeling is that it’s very similar
to the 1998, as if Ord didn’t
change at all within twenty years.
Quite some coffee again, milk chocolate,
overripe pears (as opposed to freshly
cut ones), roasted peanuts, hints
of pineapples and a little smoke again...
But at 66% ABV, let’s not take
chances with our nostrils. With water:
It’s funny, this one got fruitier
with water, more complex, with a lot
of quince jelly, candy sugar, ripe
apricots, fresh mint and a little
pine resin. AH, Managers have it good!
(don’t shoot!) Mouth (neat):
shall we dare to put this into our
mouth? Of course, and that was a good
idea. Not ‘assaulting’,
very creamy, thick, not cloying, all
on milk and white chocolates, vanilla
fudge, mint and a little banana and
melon. Excellent. With water: almost
exactly like the 30yo (a benchmark
for us.) Does ‘the peacock’s
tail’ on all sorts of crystallised
fruits and jams (oranges, quinces,
Williams pears) with a little nutmeg
and ginger. Even eucalyptus. Finish:
prolonging the palate for a long time.
Comments: another proof that Glen
Ord can be a super-malt. SGP:651
- 92 points. (and thanks,
Luc) |
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May
21, 2008 |
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TASTING
THREE
MILTONDUFF |
| Miltonduff
8 yo 1999/2008 'Mille Tonnes d'Œufs'
(46%, The Nectar, Daily Dam, 336 bottles)
Mille Tonnes d’Oeufs is pronounced
‘miltonduff’ in French,
and means ‘one thousand tons
of eggs, but as far as we know, there
are no eggs involved in the production
of Miltonduff whisky. Colour: white
wine. Nose: an extremely fresh start,
all on grain, freshly cut apples and
pears and something slightly floral
(lily of the valley). Add to that
hints of vanilla and ‘new’
oak and you’ll have a young
whisky offering a lot of pleasure,
if not complexity. Another summer
malt. Mouth: rounded and a little
more mature and spicy than on the
nose. Peppered apple juice, raw malt,
grapes, a little nutmeg... Also quite
some liquorice and hints of orange
drops. Finish: medium long, with a
slight bitterness that actually improves
the balance. Comments: less spectacularly
fresh on the palate than on the nose
but still clean. It’s very good
young whisky globally. SGP:442
– 83 points. |
| Miltonduff
27 yo 1980/2007 (51.9%, Dewar Rattray,
cask #12499, 241 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: it’s the
oak that strikes first, with whiffs
of carpenter’s workshop, varnish,
warm sawdust... Goes on with a little
mint and apple peelings, then liquorice,
then notes of dandelions and a little
pollen... The wood remains quite present,
even if it gets better integrated
after a moment. Very, very slight
soapiness. Mouth: rounder and sweeter,
almost sugary attack, with the oak
well behind the whole. Apple juice,
pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Maybe
a little simple... Finish: medium
long, with a little caramel. Comments:
very ‘middle of the road’.
No flaws (well, the wood is a bit
too heavy on the nose) but no thrills
in our opinion. SGP:352 –
77 points. |
| Milton
Duff 36 yo 1966/2002 (41.7%, Douglas
Laing Platinum, 184 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: much fresher and
much more vibrant than the 1980 despite
its older age. Starts on very impressive
notes of ‘petrol-like’
riesling (we adore that) and lemon
juice, getting then a little rounder,
more on vanilla and all kinds of wild
flowers. The aforementioned dandelions
but also lilac, buttercups, roses
(not the headiest ones), orange blossom...
It’s a superb nose, totally
unexpected at 36 years of age. Keeps
developing for a long time, getting
more and more citrusy (big notes of
tangerines and blood oranges). Superb.
Mouth: a desert! Very smooth attack
but in no way tired, even after the
1980 that had 10 more degrees. Orange
cake and orange drops, tangerines,
notes of passion fruit, grapefruits...
The oak gets bolder after a while
but below the limits (quite some cinnamon).
Finish: a bit shortish but clean,
on peppered oranges. Comments: as
often with oldies, the nose was nicer
than the palate but the latter was
perfectly enjoyable. In other words,
a wonderful nosing whisky. SGP:651
– 90 points. |
SCOTTISH
HUMOUR - Another Feis
Isle 2008 bottling has been announced,
a Bunnahabhain
21yo 1986 bottled at 46.7%
vol.and priced at £219 on the
distillery's website. Very, very funny!
Seriously, we're wondering what the
actual price of this very appealing
bottle is, coz it's a typo, right?
Oh, and our Maniacal
friend Mark Gillespie (also of whiskycast.com
fame) just told us that according
to Jim McEwan, Bruichladdich
are releasing the X4 as the
Festival Cask for Feis Ile next week
(as British Spirit). That's the quadruple-distilled
monster they produced 16 months ago,
and it will be bottled at 65% ABV
(down from 88% in the cask.) No smoking
at Feis Isle this year! |
| MUSIC
– Recommended listening.
More jazz piano with the splendid
and discrete Andy
Laverne playing Pannonica.mp3
(it's on his album True Colors). No
| | | | |
