A further selection of high-level grain only


May 16, 2024

A further selection of high-level grain only

We wrote an unnecessary and far too lengthy introduction yesterday, so we'll avoid that today. Especially since we're starting with some Invergordon de la muerte… Well, we hope so.

Invergordon 50 yo 1973/2023 (49.8%, Alambic Classique, Rare Old, Ex-Cuba rum barrel, cask #23026, 128 bottles)

Goodness, 50-year-old grain. The finishing in Cuban rum is intriguing, given that we often find soft rum notes in old grains, even when there has been no contact. Colour: pale gold. Nose: well, I do detect soft rum, but I can't tell you if: 1. It comes from the old grain, 2. It's from the Cuban rum cask, 3. It's a result of both. Who knows. There's clearly some sugar cane juice, a very, very slight benzine note, a few spruce hints, then it becomes increasingly dry on the nose, almost earthy. Lovely structure for a grain, but let's not forget it's an Invergordon. Mouth: Invergordon, in my opinion, is the Scottish grain whisky that's closest to a malt. Perhaps they use a good proportion of malted barley. Orange liqueur, fir bud liqueur, caraway, again a slight petroly touch, rutabaga (yes, really), a hint of cane syrup… But it remains generally dry. Finish: medium length, more on orange liqueur and a bit of ginger. Shall we mention Apérol Spritz? Too late, we did. Also, a tiny bit of tar. Comments: its fifty years suit it perfectly, a true uebergrain. Thanks to the Cubans?
SGP:652 - 88 points.

Shall we try a young one for contrast?

Invergordon 17 yo 2007/2024 (61.4%, Fadandel.dk, refill bourbon barrel, cask #300864, 136 bottles)

Just checking the insurance policy for WF Towers… All good, let's proceed. Colour: white wine. Nose: indeed, acetone, ammonia, nail polish, Granny Smith apples, and green pears, plus ripe banana and vanilla. We won't take too many chances, but it seems quite promising, even without water. With water: enormous viscimetry, it's getting almost opaque. Anyway, this nose confirms the impression of a quasi-malt that we almost always get with Invergordon. Café au lait, cigarillos, chocolate, crème brûlée, and a touch of vegetables. White asparagus, perhaps, let's hurry, we're nearing the end of the season. Mouth (neat): very creamy, almost syrupy. 50% cane syrup and 50% good old family-made limoncello. With water: we're moving towards bourbon but also malted rye. It's quite fun. Rustic bread spread with molasses and dulce de leche. Finish: long, quite dry, and malty! Ovaltine in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly top-tier for a young grain whisky.
SGP:661 - 87 points.

Another Invergordon, please...

Invergordon 36 yo 1987/2024 (65.5%, Frank McHardy's Signature Reserve, 223 bottles)

Did you know that Frank McHardy began his whisky career at Invergordon Distillery? But that's no reason to send us this little whisky that could launch a SpaceX rocket without the slightest risk of failure (though an explosion, certainly). No, but seriously, is this kind of ABV even legal? We're jesting, but has anyone actually checked that? Colour: pale gold. Nose: not much, and that's normal. Coconut and vanillin. With water: it becomes very gentle, white chocolate, popcorn, and buttercream. Mouth (neat): coffee, orange liqueur, varnish. I repeat, coffee, orange liqueur, varnish. With water: ah, there we go, a mix of orange liqueur and model glue (remember that when we refer to non-edible materials when describing a palate, it means 'evokes model glue,' not that 'it tastes like model glue'), puncture repair glue, and barley syrup, with just a bit of wood pepper. Even with a lot of water, like the equivalent of Lake Geneva, it remains lively and even prickly. Crazy stuff. Finish: long, varnished, and bourbon-like. A slight acidic wood note at the end. Comments: truly a rollercoaster. Honestly, it's nice of the bottlers to believe we're capable of doing such reduction ourselves within a few minutes, but in reality, it remains quite hit-or-miss. Very good old grain anyway, it's just a bit lethal.
SGP:572 - 86 points.

We're moving on to Strathclyde. I don't have much to say about Strathclyde.

Strathclyde 29 yo 1994/2024 (62.2%, Frank McHardy's Signature Reserve, 166 bottles)

Another attempted murder, tsk tsk. Colour: white wine. Nose: cut flowers, dried flowers, fresh hay, and above all, 62.2% alcohol. Notes of stearin. With water: very light, sweet, like a bag of marshmallows (the family size, not the EasyJet size). With water: more wax. It's pleasant. Mouth (neat): sweet, sugary, focused on candies and alcohol. You take all the fruit liqueurs you can find at the Spanish and Italian borders (rings a bell?), mix them all together and there you go. With water: more complex, leaning towards light but quality rums. We're almost back in Cuba. After all, whether you distil cereals or cane molasses in stills so tall you can't see the top even on a clear day, it doesn't make a huge difference, does it? Finish: medium length, lovely sweetness, quite elegant. Banana, coconut, a bit of sawdust. Comments: a very nice grain whisky, once more. We should also try it over crushed ice while listening to Ray Barretto, that should work well.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Strathclyde 50 yo 1974/2024 (44.3%, Alambic Classique, Rare Old, refill sherry cask, cask #24022, 53 bottles)

It's true, when you see such small outturns, you think that if they went to the trouble of bottling the cask, it must have been because they were believing it was worth the effort, precisely. Colour: gold. Nose: oh yes, herbal teas, camphor, mosses and ferns, yellow Chartreuse from the Spanish era, old amaro, verbena… But all of this is sublime! What a cask! Mouth: no need to write a novel, this is magical old grain. In fact, it has little of a grain about it, it navigates between an old malt from Lochside and a 1960s Bowmore. I'm serious. It makes you wonder if a trainee, back in 1974, didn't make a big stencil error at the filling station after indulging in too much of a trendy substance of the time. Tennent's, for example. Finish: incredible. It also reminds one of old Balblair, Clynelish, Coleburn… Only the aftertaste is a bit below par. Comments: no, but seriously, what was this cask, exactly?
SGP:651 - 91 points.

Perhaps some blended grain to finish. Yes, they dared.

More Than One Grain Distillery 36 yo 1987/2024 (ABV in waiting, Frank McHardy's Signature Reserve, blended grain, 260 bottles)

More Than One Grain Distillery 36 yo 1987/2024 (ABV in waiting, Frank McHardy's Signature Reserve, blended grain, 260 bottles)
I've always thought grain was used to dilute malt, but I didn't know you could also dilute grain with grain. That's somewhat convoluted, is it not? Colour: pale gold. Nose: it's very light. Vanilla cake, coconut balls, chamomile. With water: a hint of hay wine. Have you ever tasted hay wine? Mouth (neat): it's much more interesting than the nose suggests. Lots of citrus, citron, oranges, pink grapefruit… As almost always with grains, it lacks texture on the palate, but there's no frustration here. With water: gentle notes of coconut, vanilla, rooibos, oriental pastries… Finish: quite short and somewhat in the style of Havana Club. Comments: malt enthusiasts often struggle with the lighter, sometimes even diaphanous structures of grain whiskies. That's a little bit the case here, but aromatically, it's extremely lovely. A very lovely light blend, then.
SGP:640 - 84 points.

Blended Grain 50 yo 1972/2023 (50.8%, Decadent drinks, Notable Age Statements, refill bourbon barrel)

Colour: gold. Nose: another one that's pretty ungrainy. We're somewhere between a fruity Scottish malt like Tomatin or Balblair and a very good bourbon. We're talking orange cake, meadow honey, geranium, orange blossom water… With water: caraway, oriental bread, makrouts, juniper… what a delightful nose. There's even a very light hint of autumn leaves smoke, in autumn (seriously). Mouth (neat): excellent. There's a bit of richness, presumably from the wood, which adds the texture that we were missing a little in other very good grains we've tried these days. You only realise how important texture is when it's absent. You could say the same about many things in life: love, friendship, money, health (no one needs these cheap comments, S., please stop them.) With water: very beautiful, and it remains a grain whisky. Small hints of turmeric and saffron. Finish: quite long, quite complex. Lots of varied herbal teas, and a slightly peppery aftertaste, then onto passion fruits and mangoes. The finish is superb! Comments: the kind of grain that rekindles your fondness for grain whiskies. We've had a few of those these days, but you'll note that we still need age statements from 35 to 50 years, or even more. In my humble opinion, age is even more crucial with grains than with malts.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

See you in a few days for more grains. Another brand new 50 yo Invergordon just in, we'll have it then.

Check the index of all grains we've tasted so far