Secret Orkneys Part Two


December 12, 2023

Secret Orkneys Part Two

Secret Orkney Distillery 14 yo 2009/2023 (47%, Signatory Vintage for Whic, Spirits of the Forest, bourbon hogshead, cask #DRU 17/A67 #37, 411 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: a little gasoline and chalk at first, then shoe polish, young calvados and just beer. After five minutes: more saltiness, a touch of vanilla, more green apples and pears. Mouth: green fruits and brine, bitter beer, hints of smoked chicken, a bit of pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, salted Dutch liquorice, some lapsang souchong… It's quite crazy but better focused than its sister bottling (SV UCF) getting ashier by the minute. Finish: long, with some green pepper, more shoe polish, seawater, apple peel and lemon zests in the aftertaste, as well as something medicinal, camphory. Comment: some kind of raw, smoky fighter that grows on you. Really smoky for HP – if this is HP indeed.
SGP:373 - 87 points.

Secret Orkney 16 yo 2006 /2022(54%, Chapter 7, Monologue, bourbon hogshead, cask #63, 382 bottles)

Secret Orkney 16 yo 2006/2022(54%, Chapter 7, Monologue, bourbon hogshead, cask #63, 382 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: more sweetness, more roundness, more buttercream and shortbread, custard, also zesty juices, maybe a little kiwi and strawberry, then pink bananas and mangos, then some classic coastalness, totally HP. Awesome so far. With water: some plasticine coming out at first, then a grassy smoke, touches of new rubber, a little grist and husk… Mouth (neat): impeccable fresh fruits and salty seashells, melons, peaches, oysters, a little eucalyptus… This is just perfect. Excellent definition. With water: menthol, seawater, lemons. Great combo, it takes water extremely well. Finish: rather long and really very coastal. Some bitterer lemon zests in the aftertaste, that's impeccable. Comment: it's almost a prototype, racing HP.
SGP:562 - 89 points.

Secret Orkney 8 yo 2014/2022 (52.8, Chapter 7, Monologue, red wine barrel, , cask #177, 314 bottles)

Well if it is a red wine barrel, it's not a monologue, it's at least a duet. Right… Colour: apricot. Nose: buds and leaves, strawberry jam, honeys, peonies… I believe this one's pretty safe but what is it with everyone and red wine at the moment? With water: fine, Jaffa cakes, marmalade, hints of rose petals, more cassis, fruity beers, and elastoplasts… Mouth (neat): certainly not a bad drop. Funny touches of bidis, eucalyptus, cassis, bay leaves, a little potting soil, blood oranges, Szechuan pepper… With water: candied cherries, some crème de menthe, Cynar, beer… Finish: rather long, rather mentholy, not too much of red berries. Comment: not really my thing but I must admit it was very well done. Pétrus? Romanée? I'm joking…
SGP:651 - 84 points.

An Orkney Distillery 10 yo 2011/2022 (49.9%, The Single Malts of Scotland, Kirsch Import, sherry butt, cask #5, 565 bottles)

Colour: amber. Nose: a lovely dustiness at first, then some toffee, black raisins, old marc de Bourgogne, candied cherries, furniture polish, dried figs, some molasses, old demerara rum, treacle toffee pudding… You see. Mouth: caramel cream, tobacco, cracked pepper, coffee, dark chocolate, a little lime and lemongrass, more old Demerara, also old armagnac, prunes, black raisins, more pipe tobacco… It's heavy but it is not stuffy at all, a perfect dram to have while singing O Tannenbaum or Fairytale of New York (RIP Shane McGowan – and Kirsty MacColl). Finish: long, rich and very Christmassy. Fruitcake moistened with kirschwasser all over the place, more bitterness in the aftertaste. Comment: Santa's own tipple. One of them.
SGP:652 - 88 points.

Old Orkney 19 yo 2004/2023 (53%, Decadent Drinks)

The latest inception of Decadent Drinks 'O.O.s'. Amazing old school label, with some real work done on it, no simple replicating. But this time again, I'm afraid it won't be a proper Stromness (you wish)… Colour: light gold. Nose: fat and tense nose, very typical, with some shoe polish, candles and slate, then more honeys, perhaps chestnut rather than the expected heather, as well as some fern and moss. With water: some perfect Japanese fermentary notes, fermented seaweed, just umami, shochu… Mouth (neat): exactly it. Sour fruits, full-bodied honeys, pink grapefruit, drop of thyme tea, some liquorice, pine-sap drops and some rounder coastal, salty smokiness. With water: lemons, granny smith, seawater, smoked water, pepper, wakame, more shochu… Finish: rather long, very salty and fermentary, sake-like in the end. Grapefruits and balms in the aftertaste. Comment: I thought this one was curiously 'Japanese', whatever that means. As utterly lovable as New O.O.'s first edition, and much more sophisticated than you would think. Utterly loved the balms.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

An Orkney 6 yo 2016/2023 (46%, Cadenhead, Original Collection, bourbon)

Only 6? Colour: straw. Nose: apple juice, a little varnish, nail polish, hops, pineapples and pears… Well it is a fruity very young malt whisky, probably extremely fairly priced (haven't checked that). Mouth: really good, young but well-formed, with a nice lemony grassiness, more pineapples, medlars, quinces, white wine, touch of seawater, apple juice, cider… Finish: medium, good. Nice apple and lemon juice combo. The usual salty touch in the aftertaste. Comment: young but very fine, the spirit speaks out. No infanticide here (I agree that's an ugly term, we will need to make some adjustments to the official vocabulary).
SGP:462 - 85 points.

Orkney 22 yo 2000/2023 (52.7%, The Whisky Exchange for the Whisky Show 2023)

London! Colour: straw. Nose: ancient-style, muddier HP, with more porridge, lanoline, engine oil, carbon dust, soot, bandages, hessian, dunnage… With water: little herbs, little ferments, little doughs, little earths, little citrus…Mouth (neat): the very definition of perfection. Bananas and menthol, heavy liquorice, slate and chalk, oysters, watercress, a little rhubarb… With water: more small herbs, lemony coriander, sage, parsley, more cress, alfalfa… Finish: not thaaaat long, but superbly fermentary. All small herbs in the final choir. Comment: beatus vir… I'd have hated to miss this one. Now, careful with water!
SGP:462 - 91 points.

#4.277 20 yo 2000/2021 (55.1%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, refill bourbon hogshead, 'A punch and a pout, honey and heft', 304 bottles)

All right, everybody knows #4 is Highland Park. Colour: white wine. Nose: it's rather an acetic, varnishy one, with some acetone and lemon oils. Tight green rhubarb and not-too-ripe kiwi. With water: the usual chalk and raw sheep-wool. Mouth (neat): extreme lemons and varnish. Tough boy but there's something attractive too… A bit ambivalent, shall we say. With water: pure lemons, chalk and green apples. Finish: long, kind of muddy and very doughy. Green walnuts in the aftertaste. Comment: it sure doesn't beat around the Highland bush. Hum-hum.
SGP:372 - 84 points.

An Orkney 15 yo 2007/2023 (55.9%, Malt Universe, China, hogshead, cask #6, 323 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: awesome porridge, seawater, beach sand, mud, chalk, lemon and old apples. There. With water: same plus some paraffin. Mouth (neat): as good as it gets, just a tad monomaniacal, shall we say. Raw earthy, coastal maltiness and un-GM apples. With water: raw eaux-de-vie, plums, grass, yeast, apple juice… Finish: rather long, grassy and earthy. Comment: very good whisky, but I haven't found much HPness in this one.
SGP:461 - 84 points.