Whisky Tasting

 
 
Pete and Jack


2008
June 1 - 2
May 1 - 2
April 1 - 2
March 1 - 2
February 1 - 2
January 1 - 2

2007
Music Awards
December 1 - 2
November 1 - 2
October 1 - 2
September 1 - 2
August 1 - 2 - 3
July 1 - 2
June 1 - 2
Feis Ile
Special
May 1 - 2
April 1 - 2
March 1 - 2
February 1 - 2
January 1 - 2

2006
Music Awards
December 1 - 2
November
1 - 2
October
1 - 2 - 3
September
1 - 2
August
1 - 2
July
1 - 2
June 1 - 2
Feis Ile
Special
May
1 - 2
April
1 - 2
March
1 - 2
February
1 - 2
January 1
- 2

2005
Music Awards
December 1 - 2
November 1 - 2

October
1- 2
September
1 - 2
August
1 - 2
July
1 - 2
June
1 - 2
Feis Ile
Special
May
1 - 2
April
1 - 2
March
1 - 2
February
1 - 2
January
1 - 2

2004
December 1 - 2
November 1 - 2

October
1 - 2
September
1
August
1
July
1
June
1
May
1
April 1
March 1
February
1
January
1


 

The Malt Maniacs Monitor
(PDF, printable, 2.7MB, sorted alphabetically, updated March 31, 2008)
The file contains approx 250 pages.
At the moment, we have collected 31,116 ratings on more than 10,204 different single malts and whiskies.
We are sorry, the html version is no longer available, it got too heavy anyway.)

   
 
 

 

Serge's
Statistics Shack

The data on the MMMonitor allows us Malt Maniacs to play around with the numbers for our own amusement. Please note that only the results and conclusions published on Malt Maniacs are 'official'. However, these statistics are often used as the foundation for our 'official' opinions.

Top Maniacal Malts
Recent bottlings version
Old bottlings version
(All HTML, sorted by average score, updated 16/01/2007)
For these 'solid' Top 100 (or Top 50 for the older bottlings) we've taken all the malts that have been sampled by at least six different certified malt maniacs and simply ranked them from 'best' to 'worst'. Please note that these results can be very different than our Awards', the latter addressing only malts that have been submitted by the industry, whereas most of the malts on the monitor have been, yes... bought by us!

Soft Top 250 Maniacal Malts
(HTML, sorted alphabetically, updated 16/01/2007)
Simply a list of the 250 best Single Malts scored by at least 3 different Malt Maniacs. The results are slightly less 'solid', but you should find 'the best of the best' here. You just can't go wrong when choosing any of these bottles.

The Malt Maniacs Soft RIBs
(HTML, sorted by bottler and average score, updated 16/01/2007)
Another interesting feature. Find out about our Recommended Independent Bottlings, meaning all the bottlings which have been rated above 85 points by 4+ Maniacs. Here are the gems!

Strange Bits on Bottlers
(HTML, updated 16/01/2007)
As we already came up with around 20,000 ratings in January 2007, we felt we could try to come up with an even better ranking of the various bottlers. Nothing really official or too serious, though, especially because the bottles' prices have not been taken into account and because a bottler that specializes in rare and expensive whiskies will be 'advantaged' anyway. But if you're a number crusher, please go ahead and browse the list!

   

 

The Malt Maniacs'
Picture Book

Unlike many web communities, the maniacs meet in real life, whatever the distances. From Adelaide or Tel Aviv, Hamburg or Amsterdam, Palo Alto or Ottawa, they all take every single opportunity to meet and to share a few (well, many) drams together, and many of their ideas about the fantastic world of single malts as well. Why not have a look at the pictures below right now?

2006
MM Awards 2006 filling party in Alsace
(2 pages)
Various pictures

Islay 2006
(2 pages)

2005
Islay 2005
(3 pages)

2004
Italy 2004 Serge's Photos
Islay 2004 Davin's Photos
Islay 2004 Serge's Photos
Islay 2004 Olivier's Photos
Islay 2004 Ho-cheng's Bruichladdich Photos

2003
Alsace 2003
Scotland Pildrammage 2003
Hamburg 2003

2002
Milan 2002
Paris 2002
Islay Festival 2002
Dramsterdam 2002

Various events

   

 

A Messy History
1969 - 1983

All the bottlings
Well, almost...

latest update
May 21, 2005

   

 

Serge's E-pistles on Maltmaniacs.com

2007
Serge's Simple Tasting Tips

A dozen delightful '2006' drams

2006
Brora Distillery profile

2005
Winesky, Woodsky or Weirdsky?
The Lost Pandora Box
An Interview with Mike Nicolson
An Upside Down Whisky Convention

2004
Hijackers in Anoraks
Whisky Live Paris 2004
The Fake Hunt Continues
Spring 2004: Great Finds & Honours List
2003 - Peaty or Pity?

2003
Whiskyship Zurich 2003 Report
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Paris Whisky Festival 2003 Report
Vinexpo or Whiskexpo?
Pandora VI Pandemonium
Walpurgis: 8 Beauties & 8 Beasts
Organising My Mania
Murray McDavid, My Mission
The Signatory Signature
Hot & Heavy in the Cold of Winter
French Still Life
Pandora Prelude - A 'Live' Tasting of 8 Blinds

2002
Paris Whisky Festival 2002 Report
Summertime Blues
interview with Olivier Humbrecht
The Islay Festival 2002: Miss & Mess
Aqua Dolce Vita
My March 2002 Tastings
Trio de Violoncelles en Islay Majeur
An Interview with Mark Reynier
Seven Steps to Maltmania

Profile

   

Serge's Tasting Sheet: Back on this website by popular demand. PDF, printable. Click here to download.

 

 

 




 

All the linked files (mp3, video, html) are located on free commercial or non-commercial third party websites. Some pictures are taken from these websites, and are believed to be free of rights, as long as no commercial use is intended.

I always try to write about artists who, I believe, deserve wider recognition, and all links to mp3 files are here to show you evidence of that. Please encourage the artists you like, by buying either their CDs or their downloadable 'legal' tracks.

I always add links to the artists' websites - if any - which should help you know more about their works. I also try to add a new link to any hosting website or weblog which helped me discover new music - check the column on the right.

I almost never upload any mp3 file on my own server, except when dealing with artists I personally know, and who gave me due authorizations, or sometimes when I feel a 'national' artist deserves wider recognition. In that case, the files will remain on-line only for a few days.

I do not encourage heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages, nor dangerous motorbike riding. But life is short anyway...

As they say here: 'L'abus d'alcool est dangeureux pour la santé - à consommer avec modération'

   
Leave feedback
   

Copyright Serge Valentin
2002-2008


 
whiskyfun Legal Announcement

 

July 4, 2008


Let's post a big, fat entry today because after that, we'll be...
... ON VACATION!
As a consequence of the very hot days we’re having over here in Alsace, of a heavy cold that we caught in Holland a few days ago and of exhausting workloads that don’t seem to come to an end, the management of Whiskyfun have decided to cut back the production of whisky tasting notes until all that settles, especially the cold.
The opportunity will be taken to go on vacation somewhere down south until July 14, which may well be the Frenchiest way of dealing with these kinds of issues. We’re happy to announce that there will be no staff redundancies, and that we might well be able to post a few entries in the meantime, should the wonders of mobile technologies permit. If that’s not possible, see you around July 14!

A NEW RUBRIC ON WHISKYFUN!

“Traditionalist, conservative, reactionary, grumpy, stubborn and resisting innovation!” Yup, that’s how some see us – as far as whisky’s concerned. Indeed, it’s true that we don’t see just any innovation as something worthy (remember the helicopter-bicycle?), and that we prefer our whisky ‘natural’ and ‘authentic’, rather than premixed with wine, for instance. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not against the concept in itself, it’s just that we usually don’t like the end result, except when the new mix has been given enough time to nicely mingle in the cask. Like, two years or more… It’s not a matter of politics, it’s not a matter of traditionalism, it’s just a matter of taste, punto basta.

Winsky
Authentic label, circa 1920-1930?
Do you usually like wine finishings? That’s absolutely great! Perfect! Fine! Well done! Finished whiskies are no underwhiskies, they are just different whiskies, that usually happen not to match our tastes but again, it’s only our individual tastes and certainly not the tiniest gospel. Okay, I think we made our point, but to give you further proof of the fact that we’re absolutely not against innovation as such, we just decided to create a brand new rubric on Whiskyfun and invited our friend Stéphane to these modest pages. Stéphane is an excellent mixologist and used to have his own successful website about cocktails a few years ago. He dropped it when he got deep into Single Malts (a shame, if you ask me) but never quite dropped the practice, and that’s why we thought he would be the ideal person to whom we should propose to handle this brand new rubric about Single Malt Cocktails. That’s right, cocktails made with Single Malt Whisky. See, we’re not against transgression either- and after all, the first Scot we ever met in real life, back in 1978, used to drown Glenfiddich 8yo into ginger tonic. Also, please note that we couldn’t have handled this new rubric ourselves, as the only Single Malt Cocktail we know is the Tomato Lagavulin (drop a tiny tomato into a glass of Lagavulin, drink immediately, when the tomato comes don’t chew it but spit it out right away and then down the rest of the Lagavulin – easy!)
Anyway, Stéphane, whom we boldly nicknamed “The Mad Malt Mixologist”, will now start to grant Whiskyfun’s distinguished readers with his great recipes from time to time, far, very far beyond the usual Whisky Sours or Manhattans. And why not start right today? So, drum roll…. Here we go!
Stephane

STEPHANE THE MAD MALT MIXOLOGIST
proposes a new Summer malt cocktail

Cocktail #1:
"Serge's Special Whisky Fun!"
(what a weird name, Stéphane! – S.)

Pour into a shaker:
- 6 cl Clynelish 14 yo OB 46%
- 1 cl white crème de menthe (Get 31)
- 3 cl pineapple and guava juice
- 3 cl limejuice
- 1 half-slice tomato
- 1 pickle and 1 little onion
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
Shake (very hard!) for 20 seconds, strain into a cocktail glass decorated with one pickle, one half slice tomato and one lemon slice.
Add a pinch of fresh chives, a pinch of powdered ginger or white pepper and a few drops of Angostura bitter.
Cocktail
Comments: For those who do not fear trying different tastes! Once the "very special first taste" has passed, it is a very appetizing thing which has a huge potential of variants!
You may substitute the 14 yo Clynelish OB with another Clynelish, try also Brora. Vary the fruit juices. And why wouldn't you try your favourite raw vegetables?... carrot, cucumber, pepperoni, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, paprika,... You may also turn it into a "Bloody Serge Special" adding a splash of tomato juice.
Serge's comments: Gosh! I'll try this asap but as Richard Paterson would say, "If you do this to Brora, I'll kill you!" ;-))
Stéphane will propose us several other crazy Summer cocktails after July 14 so stay tuned (and stunned, I suppose.)

MUSIC
After his excellent review of a CD by Dream Theater, our young friend and malt maniac Luca Chichizola grants us with another review of a band/CD we knew strictly nothing about before, maybe simply because we’re too old - or maybe because we aren't into, err, 'Goth' music too much. Great! (so to speak…) - S.
CD REVIEW by Luca
OPETH – WATERSHED

Roadrunner Records
One of the most puzzling and disconcerting bands in the rock/metal scene is certainly Opeth: it’s hard for me to think of someone else who manages to be just as brilliant by being at the same time eerily menacing and gentle, outlandishly brutal and delicate, spooky and tender, melancholy and aggressive, adrenalinic and relaxing, headbanging and “prog”. This Swedish band is getting more and more recognition with each passing album, and deservedly so: in fifteen years of career they have made nine studio records, always pushing their boundaries, deconstructing their sound and taking unexpected twists. Opeth watershed
How else than “surprising” would you define a band that started in the early ‘90s with bleak and ferocious death metal, full of heavy riffs and a spine chilling growl singing style from leader Mikael Åkerfeldt… and then gradually started including in their songs jazzy and progressive moments, delicate and extremely sparse acoustic interludes (up to the point of releasing an exquisite album, Damnation, consisting entirely of soft and lunar classical guitar-driven tracks, sung with incredible finesse and melancholy by the same Åkerfeldt with a beautifully clean voice and no growling at all)?. Opeth’s style of today has not neglected the savage death metal origins, but simply has included in the cauldron every sort of evolutions and experimentations. The result is that all their releases of the last decade jump with dazzling fluidity from buzzing distorted guitars and apocalyptic screams that seem to come out of a black mass (although Opeth, while certainly dark in their themes, are NOT Satan worshippers contrarily to some other infamous Scandinavian death metal bands), to moments of atmosphere, introspection and finesse which wouldn’t be out of place in a Radiohead or Pink Floyd album. Probably if I had to describe Opeth with just a sentence, the most fitting one would be: “A dark and menacing death metal band with a strong influence of Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and just a sprinkle of early Smashing Pumpkins”, although this description would completely miss to convey their originality and unique approach. It’s truly a band that deserves to be discovered and experienced with calm and repeated listenings, not exactly your average radio-friendly rock band.
In spite of the recent lineup change (a new guitar player and a new drummer), Opeth’s latest album, Watershed, repeats the same successful formula of the spectacularly brutal and spectral Ghost Reveries (a peak of their career, together with the earlier Blackwater Park and Still Life, the extremely hard sounding Deliverance and the delicate and introspective little gem Damnation), but at the same times takes a further step forward. While probably not as immediate and captivatingly chilly as Ghost Reveries, this new album is even more experimental and creative… jumping even more frequently from beautifully atmospheric sonic landscapes to unexpected sudden bursts of fury, from jazzy moments to heavy riffing, captivating the listener both with its sheer ear shattering energy and its infinite layers of sophistication. One can clearly feel that with each album Opeth is reworking the genre from the inside, adding references and nods (this time also daring to sound a bit like Led Zeppelin at times!) without ever sounding even just a bit derivative.
Opeth

Opeth

 

The opening track, “Coil”, is certainly a bit of a shock. Not only it is laid back and melodic (almost a potential hit single… if Opeth were a band that cared for these things), but it features a female backing voice, too: a definite first for the Swedish band! But metal fans should not worry, as the loud grinding guitars come at full blast with the second track (which is as dark as the darkest songs they have released so far), and also with “The lotus eater”. Once again anyway the listener is in for some wild surprises, as this song seamlessly switches from the growling voice and the distorted riffs, to lively, progressive and extrovert sections. The spectacular second half of the song almost drifts towards pure jazz! Again on softer territory with “Burden”: very soulful, melodic hard rock, sung with a great clean voice, and once more a jazzy acoustic ending (but with the guitar getting slowly detuned…).
From midway on, the album continues on a similar mood, jumping from very raw and aggressive blasts, to bleak, dark but acoustic landscapes. The usual Opeth formula, very eerie and effective. One more track which deserves to be mentioned is “Hessian peel”, which clocks at over 11 minutes and after a bluesy intro shows quite a few nods to Pink Floyd or early ‘70s Genesis, with beautiful and atmospheric flute and strings arrangements... before the song takes another screeching U-turn and all hell breaks loose, with the usual devastating sonic fury we all love Åkerfeldt for. The show is not over, of course, because after the storm the mood becomes again progressive, jazzy and laid back… The complexity and richness of this track is the final confirmation (if it was ever needed) that Opeth are not simply a metal band: they never have been, and now they are even less than before.
The album closes on the only weakish track: a quiet, eerie and atmospheric affair that would easily fit into Radiohead’s repertoire, but lacks some bite.
Overall, a heartily recommended album: not for all tastes, that’s obvious, but another solid and inspired work by this great Swedish band.
Verdict: 86 points
(The Special Edition includes a fine extra track and two interesting covers, one of them sung in Swedish - a language which I never thought could be so melodic and musical!) Listen: Opeth's MySpace page.

PETE McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK

 
TASTING - 23 JAPANESE WHISKIES
All these notes have already been published last year on Chris' wonderful blog Nonjatta.
Karuizawa

A SHORT KARUIZAWA VERTICALE

Nonjatta tells us that Karuizawa started distilling in 1953 and is owned by Mercian. They started to bottle single malt only in 1987. It seems that Mercian was just merged (taken over?) with drinks giant Kirin and that no more Vintage versions would be issued, although there’s quite some stock left – and a series bottled in 2007 does exist. The Vintage series is issued in both 70cl and 25cl ‘sample’ bottles, all the versions we’ll try come from the small ones. Thank you Bert V. for having provided us with these.

Karuizawa 31 yo Vintage 1974 (65.7%, OB, cask #4578, 25cl) Amazing strength at 31yo, let’s have a lot of water on the table (on the side for now but...) Colour: deep amber with brownish hues. Nose: a sherried version, obviously. Rather rough, smoky, toasted, with whiffs of walnut stain, plum sauce and strawberry jam, but this one will destroy your nostrils as surely as night follows day if you don’t take immediate measures: add water. Ho-ho, but it got quite superb in the process! Very leafy and leathery, with a lot of Havana tobacco (new box of Partagas – whatever – that you just opened). Goes on with a little shoe polish, very old sweet wine (Banyuls), whiffs of camphor and incense... And a lot of plum jam and plum sauce (like the one they serve with Peking duck. I like this a lot. Mouth (neat): err, this is very rough. Very kirschy, spirity and very hot... With water: oh yes it’s superb whisky! It’s amazing how water worked here (another Ian Thorpe – sorry, I don’t know Japanese swimmers). Beautiful oak, beautiful walnuts, beautiful sherry, beautiful plum sauce and excellent dryness. Finish: long, maybe a tad tannic and drying now but still beautifully sherried, with hints of mint in the background and kind of a pleasant savageness in a certain way. 91 points.
Karuizawa 29 yo Vintage 1976 (63.8%, OB, cask #6719, 25cl) Colour: deep amber with brownish hues. Nose: much more discreet but the sherry’s well here. Water should wake it up. With water: again, that worked quite beautifully, even if we get more woody and resinous notes here, and less sherry. Quite some coal smoke, tobacco again, roasted almonds, incense again, ginger... And old walnuts. Rather clean. I like this one as well. Mouth (neat): more ‘acceptable’ when neat but still very kirschy. Water needed again: my goodness, this is excellent again, even if a tad more spirity and rough than the 1974. More fruits and a little more rubber. Fruit eau-de-vie, walnut liqueur and prunes. Great smokiness and quite some toasted bread. Maybe the fruitiness is a bit excessive here actually. Finish: long, with unexpected notes of humus. Kind of a pleasant mouldiness. Very very good in any case. 89 points.
Karuizawa 26 yo Vintage 1979 (59.5%, OB, cask #7752, 25cl) Colour: deep amber. Nose: more expressive than the 1976 but the sherry still is less dominant than in the 1974 at first nosing, sort of cleaner, the whole being maltier and nuttier. But quick, water... Yes! Kind of a blend of the 1974 and 1976. Maybe subtler, less wham-bam. Antique shop, roasted nuts and various herbal teas. And grilled tea (Ho-chicha, Japanese indeed). Less jammy than the 1974 and less gingery than the 1976. More straightforward I’d say, but just as totally enjoyable. Mouth (neat): we’re approaching drinkability at 59%. Lots of fruit jams but also a huge vinosity and quite some rubber. But water is needed again: it’s funny, this time it got much mintier and more camphory. We have also argan oil, tea, bergamot, kumquats... Again, it’s more straightforward and less marked by the sherry than its elder bros. Finish: maybe a little shorter than the other ones’ but slightly cleaner again, on smoked almonds and oak. Good dryness. No reasons to rate this one lower than 90 points.
Karuizawa 25 yo Vintage 1980 (58.1%, OB, cask #8185, 25cl) Colour: full amber. Nose: very, very clean, superbly malty, nutty and slightly smoky. Less sherry influence. Superb notes of chamomile tea and camphor and very faint rubber. Marzipan. Will water work as beautifully as with the older ones? Oh yes, it got even more superb, very pure, very clean, very compact. All on both old and fresh walnuts, vin jaune (or amontillado), ‘smoked marzipan’ (should that exist), walnut stain, thyme, fir honey... Quite fantastic. Mouth (neat): sweet, oaky, more drying than the older ones and more directly fruity (plums, apples). And very hot... With water: truly fantastic again, albeit not the most complex of them all. Greengage jam, resin sweets, cough syrup, mint drops, soft curry... Finish: long and perfectly spicy, with a lot of oak but a great one. This one really tastes ‘Japanese’ and it’s absolutely adorable I think. 91 points.
Karuizawa 21 yo Vintage 1984 (59.8%, OB, cask #7980, 25cl) Colour: full amber. Nose: simpler, narrower and smokier now. A more direct oakiness and whiffs of old roses and pot pourri. With water: yes, simpler this time, but still very nice, with quite some smoked tea, walnuts and coffee-flavoured toffee. The most coffeeish so far. Mouth (neat): all on fruit spirit this time, slightly youngish, raw and spirity. With water: not very far from the 1980 but still rawer and simpler. All on fruits and oak. Finish: long but slightly middle-of-the-road. Much less maturity. Very good, flawless whisky but not particularly interesting I’d say. 80 points (for being flawless).
Karuizawa 13 yo Vintage 1992 (59.5%, OB, cask #3432, 25cl) Colour: full amber. Nose: oh, this is very exuberant again, with the same kinds of notes that we found in the 1974. Excellent coal smoke, plum sauce, walnut stain, strawberry jam... Something milky in the background, though. The pros would say it’s a bit butyric. Quite some rubber as well, but we’ve learned that Karuizawa needs water anyway, so with water: definitely younger in style, fruitier, with less ‘secondary’ aromas. The wood is also less integrated, with more ginger, cloves, pepper and something slightly varnishy. Slightly butyric again but the whole is still enjoyable. Mouth (neat): very dense, uberfruity and jammy, hot, almost brutal. With water: all on candy sugar and fruit jam but there’s also a better spiciness than in the 1984. A more active cask it seems. Interesting notes of Japanese green tea, but that may well be my mind playing tricks to me. Finish: long, more liquoricy and candied now, very compact, with quite some kumquat. Just a tad drying at the aftertaste. 85 points.
Karuizawa 1994/2006 (61%, Full Proof Europe, cask #2221, ex-Glenlivet sherry butt, 204 bottles) Colour: white wine. Nose: much rawer, milky and mashy, leafy, with notes of tobacco ashes... But we know Karuizawa needs water, don’t we? With water: it got very farmy, herbal, leathery. Hints of ‘clean’ baby vomit (which is not bad, mind you), rotting apples... Definitely wild. Mouth (neat): very punchy, with good oakiness and spiciness. Definitely resinous and spicy but let’s bring it down to our favourite tasting strength, 45% (all pros will tell you it’s much too high – okkkkaaaaaay). Well, that didn’t work as beautifully as with the officials but that’s probably because of the much lower cask influence here. Still a bit raw and hot, spirity, grainy... Finish: long, fruity and mashy, with a little pepper and paprika. A little youngish but it’s good distillation, no doubt. Let’s just say this one is less outta this world than the older OB’s, which makes perfect sense I guess (despite – or is it because of? – the ex-Glenlivet butt). 83 points.