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Hi, you're in the Archives, February 2005 - Part 1 |
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| CONCERT
REVIEW |
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ELVIS
COSTELLO - Carling
Apollo
Hammersmith,
London
Thursday, February 10th 2005 - by
Nick Morgan |
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| Its
funny how songs can haunt you. It’s
Autumn (as far as I can recall) in
1976, and in a flat in Lancaster we’re
watching the local TV news before
heading out for an intense evening
sampling some of the country’s
best hand-made beers (many alas, no
more). Tyro newsreader, and soon to
be enfant terrible of the emerging
Northern music scene, Tony Wilson,
introduces an angry young man with
a guitar, Buddy Holly spectacles and
an ill-fitting suit who spits out
the wonderful words to a song that
is still called (at least in my mind)
‘My aim is true’ (yes
– I know it’s really ‘Alison’
– but that’s part of the
haunting thing). And then, not too
much later, the same singer comes
up with a lyric which has remained
with me ever since, a helpful maxim
in navigating ones way through the
vagaries of west London social-life
- “She looks like Natasha but
her name is Elsie, I don’t want
to go to Chelsea”. |
More
years on than I care to remember,
I observe that the suit is still ill-fitting
(though a bit more on the looser side
these days), the specs, though smaller,
are still worn at a quirky angle,
and Elvis
Costello, if not still
angry, then has certainly transcended
to one of the great grumpy old men
of rock and roll. And he’s on
stage with the Impostors (aka the
Attractions, minus original bass player
Bruce Thomas) with keyboard player
Steve Nieve (whose fractured psycho-bubblegum
style playing has always been, or
so it seems to me, the perfect foil
for Costello’s spiky guitar
and stuttering lyrics), Theremin and
all, in quite sublime form.
Last time I saw Elvis he was on stage
with Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris (who
sings on his new album), Nancy Griffiths
and John Prine. |
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| What
was noticeable then was that whilst
these four transatlantic troubadours
had learned the benefits of economy
in their songs (average length just
under three minutes), Elvis had forgotten
it, preferring instead to lurch into
self-indulgent longueurs almost bordering
on self-parody (on that night he almost
murdered ‘Shipbuilding’,
arguably one of his finest songs).
But tonight, reflecting the style
of the new album Delivery Man (and
the more recent When I was Cruel)
– he’s back to tightly
structured power-pop songs, written
with the venom and accomplishment
that have always made him stand out
from the crowd. And apart from a few
(largely failed) attempts at guitar
hero he’s as tight and focussed
as the songs – and for the most
part doesn’t have a great deal
to say, apart from through his quite
excellent and remarkably strong singing. |
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If
you haven’t heard the new album,
recorded in Mississippi and produced
by Dennis Herring, then I would commend
it to you. Buy if you can the just
released limited edition version which
includes a ‘bonus’ CD,
Delta-Verite, The Clarksdale Sessions,
recorded on a mobile in the same abandoned
Clarksdale railway station that the
divine Cassandra Wilson used for Belly
of the Sun. Which is, by the way,
next door to the Delta Blues Museum,
well worth a visit if you’re
passing through, as is the diner round
the corner which serves huge lunch
plates of meat and collared greens,
and where the friendly locals will
share their incredulity with you that
anyone has travelled there from London
just because of “that music
thing”. |
| The
Delivery Man
Elvis Costello |
There
are fourteen tracks on the album,
and we get them all, interlaced, as
the evening progresses, with hits
from the Costello back catalogue,
mostly the classics of the late 70s
and early 80s. ‘The delivery
man’, ‘Country darkness’.
‘Bedlam’, ‘Needle
time’ and ‘Clings like
ivy’ are pure Costello, and
perhaps surprisingly generously received
by an audience who are clearly there
more for nostalgia than new work.
And the splenetic ‘Monkey to
man’ is a reworked tribute to
Dave Bartholomew’s ‘Monkey’
(as performed most recently by Dr
John), itself recorded in full on
the Verite disc. As for the oldies,
well its almost “you name them,
he played them”. ‘Alison’,
‘Don’t blame it on Cain’,
‘Pump it up’, ‘Radio
radio’. ‘I don’t
want to go to Chelsea’, ‘When
I was cruel’, ‘For the
roses’, ‘Shipbuilding’,
‘Watching the detectives’.
In fact I counted more than 30 songs
in 2 hours 15 minutes (actually I
ran out of paper and gave up counting)
and couldn’t help thinking that
this was one of those occasions when
less might have been better.
But really that’s churlish.
Here’s a man on top of his game.
At one and the same time he’s
composing an opera about the life
of Hans Christian Andersen, on the
other he’s pumping out tunes
that are as rocking and relevant as
the ones he wrote nearly thirty years
ago. Not bad for a bloke who’s
just turned 50! - Nick Morgan
(photos by Kate, X) |
| Wow,
Nick, thanks! Elvis Costello's always
been one of my favourites, and I
remember 'My aim is true' like if
it was yesterday. We also had Television
and Talking Heads which were turning
our... err... heads at that time!
There was also that band I never,
ever heard of again: Doctors of
Madness, which happened to be the
girls' preferred (violins and all
that ;-). Now, here are a few Costello
tracks for our readers' enjoyment:
Pump
it up - mp3, a classic, Gloomy
sunday - mp3, another, yet much
quieter classic, and the obvious
- to me, at least - Crime
of Paris - mp3. |
| TASTING
- TWO KNOCKDHUS H2H
An
Cnoc 12 yo (40%, OB, circa 1995)
Colour: light gold. Nose: honeyed
and flowery attack, very sweet and
light – but not weak at all.
Flower nectar, buttercup, dandelion…
Very grainy too, with hints of vanilla
creme and traces of oak. A nice,
light and undemanding nose…
Mouth: sweet attack, getting quickly
very vegetal and minty. Raw rice,
bitter salad, breadcrumb…
Some cooked apple too. Hints of
nutmeg and bitter chocolate. The
finish is rather short but nicely
balanced, on some oaky notes. In
short, a nice OB, not too MOTR and
surprisingly minty. Not a star but
a good, everyday malt. 79
points.
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Knockdhu
1974/1991 (40%, G&M CC old map
label)
Colour: light gold. Nose: much more
aromatic than the OB. Lots of caramel
and fruit jam, with a nice freshness.
Hints of sherry. Sure, it smells just
like almost all the G&M Speysiders…
Wait, now there’s some heavy
notes of coconut developing (almost
like Malibu)… Funny! Mouth:
quite bold and satisfying, with some
elegant oaky notes and quite a lot
of spices (white pepper, nutmeg, clove).
Orange marmalade, camomile, praline,
sherry, dried coconut… Too bad
it gets then rather drying and too
woody, the finish being quite dusty
and peppery. Anyway , a very good
Connoisseur’s Choice, a good
step above the general style of the
series. 84 points. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Memphis based blues guitarist and
singer Paul
Wood does Good
Day 4 Bad Whiskey - mp3. Bad whiskey
but very good straight ahead blues!
Please buy Paul Wood's music if you
like it. |
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CRAZY
WHISKY ADS - 1934: WHITE HORSE ON
BLIND TASTING
Interesting
to see that in the pre-WWII era,
whisky was still considered as inferior
to liqueurs, perhaps meaning brandies
such as Cognac. It was only when
tasted blind - litterally - that
White Horse could get the favours
of A+ people, it appears. Now, it
still happens more than often that
non-whisky people exclaim 'Oh! This
tastes almost like a Cognac!' when
having a sip of a good old Single
Malt... Oh sorry, I know that drives
many whisky freaks crazy... |
| TASTING
- TWO A'BUNADHS H2H
Aberlour
a’bunadh batch #10 (59.8%,
OB, 2003)
Colour: full amber. Nose: wow, what
an attack! Hugely compact, on sherry
and strong caramel. Bang! The caramel
grows even stronger with time, with
also some rubber and cooked strawberries.
Incredibly bold, but frankly, it
rather lacks complexity… Develops
on overcooked wine sauce and old
rum, roasted raisins… I feel
it’s more a ‘recipe’
than a malt, in fact. Is it really
‘natural’? Mouth: strong,
bold and coating attack, but it
isn’t pungent at all. Very
sweet, like a cooked sweet wine…
Lots of dried orange, toffee, caramel
sauce… Some feint sourish
notes too: decidedly, this one is
very vinous. Again, it’s not
too complex, to say the least! The
finish is very long, of course,
but sort of lumpish, again on cooked
wine. Sort of a monster! 82
points. |
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| Aberlour
a’bunadh batch #12 (60%, OB,
2004)
Colour: full amber, just a little
lighter. Nose: of course it’s
quite similar, but more restrained
and discreet (which isn’t too
difficult). Much less caramelised
and ‘overcooked’, in fact,
and more elegant. The sherry is also
more refined. Some whiffs of smoke.
Nice notes of praline and vanilla
cream… With some burnt cake
developing after a few minutes. Much
less ‘monstrous’ than
its older brother, that’s for
sure. Mouth: now it’s much closer
to batch #10 – even bolder –
but it’s also got more vivacity,
and it’s also a little less
vinous. Other than that, it’s
in the same vein, just more elegant,
hence a better rating: 85
points for this newer version. |
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TASTING
- Smith’s Angaston Whisky 7
yo 1997/2004 (40%, OB, Australia)
A vatting of 9 hogsheads, 4 sherry
casks, 2 French wine casks and 2 American
casks, that strangely includes all
heads and tails. Colour: amber. Nose:
much, much nicer than many other ‘foreign’
attempts at making whisky. Nice notes
of sherry, vanilla and oak, together
with some grainy and herbal notes
(dill, fresh parsley, fresh mint).
Fresh almonds and hazelnuts, mashed
potatoes, hot milk… Really nice,
and very similar to many young Speysiders.
Mouth: hey, it’s nice! Very
oaky and a little spirity at first
sip, and perhaps slightly watery,
it develops on vanilla, wood, sweet
wine and grain. Really nice and rather
balanced, even if not too complex
and aromatically quite narrow. The
finish is quite short, though, and
quite ‘caramelised’, but
the Angaston deserves a good rating,
no doubt. I’ve had many Scotch
that were much, much worse - not to
mention most other Australian whiskies.
75 points –
and thanks, Pär. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Beth
Robinson sings 9th
obsession (mp3). She's got a superb
voice and deserves much wider recognition,
no doubt about that! |
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| ADS
RACE TURNS USEFUL - MAYBE |
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Johannes
and I just decided to channel our
creative energy (!?) into a few
ads, banners and postcards for maltmaniacs.com.
We will gather them all on a 'Goodies'
page but in the meatime, here's
a first set of two. Please feel
free to use them wherever you like,
but don't alter them |
| Click
on each one to get a larger image,
and go and see Johannes' first effort
on maltmaniacs
(scroll down to entry #220). |
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BREAKING
NEWS - After a Croftengea
last year, the guys from The
Whiskyfair managed to
get hold of two casks of Loch Lomond's
peated Inchmoan which
have just been bottled. They both
sell very fast but maybe you can still
get some by contacting our German
friends here.
I've heard they will also bottle an
Invergordon 39 yo 1965 from Duncan
Taylor's... If it's any near the fantabulous
Invergordons DT already released,
it's going to be a stunner of a single
grain whisky! |
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| TASTING
- Ardbeg 6 yo 1998/2004 'Very Young'
(58.3%, OB, committee approved)
I didn’t like the earlier, ‘for
discussion’ version too much
(79 points), because it was really
too rough and lacking complexity.
Since the Committee finally approved
it (LOL, Ardbeg is the king of Customer
Relationship Management, no doubt)
let’s taste this new version
now. Colour: pale straw. Nose: pungent,
leafy and very smoky. Lots of earthy
notes, with some roots, liquorice
stick and wet hay. All great till
I got some disturbing and harsh notes
of rubber band and hot metal (still),
quite typical of a new make in my
book – the ones that should
vanish during ageing, precisely. Mouth:
very bold, sweet and smoky, yet very
raw like, yes, a new make. Burning
wet wood, garden bonfire, lemon skin…
And again some offbeat notes of distillation,
foreshots, raw tutti frutti spirit,
while the finish is long and peaty
but really burning. Well, writing
‘Very Young’ on the label
is very clever - kind of an excuse
- but whisky is all about ageing in
wood, isn’t it? I don’t
just buy anything that comes out of
Ardbeg, sorry my friends. 79
points again. |
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MUSIC
- After robert Wyatt
(see yesterday's entry), I couldn't
avoid talking a bit about his old
buddy Daevid
Allen, another completely
crazy grandpa! Have a try at Money
doesn't make it - mp3, one of
his most recent pieces of work, and
judge by yourself. And don't expect
to hear his usual aetheral guitar
solos here! Please buy Daevid Allen's
music if you like it. |
| FRIENDS
- If you're a lassie
or a lady, and if you're 'unashamed
of your delight in all things alcohol-related',
why not pay a visit to an adorable
website 'dedicated to the discerning
lady imbiber': Ladies
Who Lush.com. They told
me they are more into cocktails than
into Single Malts but a few of them
actually are malt heads (and Balvenie
12 yo Doublewood seems to be quite
hot in their circle!). |
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TASTING
- TWO LINKWOODS H2H
Linkwood
10 yo 1990 (43%, Chieftain’s
Choice)
Colour: white wine. Nose: fresh
and lively, almost minty. Lots of
aniseed, dill, wild carrots. It
gets quite honeyed and fruity (pineapple
syrup, ripe pear). Hints of smoke
and flowers (yes, roses). Nice nose!
Too bad it gets a little soapy then.
Mouth: sweet, yet firm attack, soon
to get a little bitter and thin
at the same time. Spirity and peppery.
Feint notes of light honey that
don’t really make it through
the alcohol. Too bad, the nose was
nice. Medium long but bitter finish.
Again, too bad. 77 points.
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| Linkwood
13 yo 1990/2003 (46%, Whiskyclub Regensburg)
Thanks for this one, Peter. Colour:
amber. Nose: this is completely different.
A very nice sherry together with lots
of toffee and vanilla creme at first
nosing. Very interesting hints of
fresh parsley, dill again, fern…
Lots of soy sauce then, balsamic vinegar,
smoked ham, chestnut jam. Rather complex
and very nicely balanced. Develops
on marzipan and fine oak. Great nose!
Mouth: very creamy, mostly on cooked
coffee, sherry and crystallised fruits
(apricot, orange). |
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palate isn’t as thrilling as
the nose, alas, and also a little
simple, to tell you the truth. Quite
tannic too, with some curious hints
of hard water. The finish is quite
long but a little drying. In short
and as often, the nose was much nicer
than the palate, but it’s still
a very, very nice Linkwood. 85
points. |
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MUSIC
- Oldies but goldies:
1983, after 'Rock bottom', Robert
Wyatt stuns the world
again (well, part of it) with his
beautiful Shipbuilding
- mp3, written by Elvis Costello.
Whether you prefer Suede's
more recent version or not is
up to you. I don't! Please buy Robert
Wyatt's music if you like it. |
| ADS
RACE - No news from
Johannes', maybe he's stunned - or
he's looking hard for some even sexier
ads! We'll see what happens within
the coming days... Pfffft... |
| SHOPPING
-
Incredible what you can do with an
old oak barrel. After some seats and
some hot tubs, here's... an antique
birdhouse! And then you can call your
birds Diogenes ;-). Seen at Folk
Artisans. |
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TASTING
- THREE DEANSTONS (well...)
Deanston
Malt 8 yo (40%, OB, 1980’s)
Colour: light gold. Nose: light
and curious. Cheap perfume, eau
de Cologne, rosewater. Notes of
overcooked coffee, curaçao,
rotten orange. Weird! Mouth: much
creamier and bolder than expected.
Lots of Italian coffee, light caramel,
fresh cream and kiwi. Not too bad,
even if quite simple. Rather long
finish – I know, we just started
– on fruit liquor and burnt
cake. 70 points.
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Deanston
12 yo (40%, OB, 1990’s)
Colour: dark straw. Nose: even lighter
but also much cleaner. Grainy, on
mashed potatoes, broiled cereals.
The ‘funny’ fruity notes
(rotten orange) do come after two
minutes, though. Hints of vase water
after a week. Mouth: rather weak and
watery, on caramel, roasted peanuts
and grain. Not much else, I’m
afraid. A poor single malt. 65
points.
Deanston
12 yo 1977 (55%, James MacArthur)
Colour: light gold. Nose: much bolder,
but again some weird notes of rotten
fruits and cheap perfume. Cold coffee,
dust, old cardboard. Hints of fresh
melon and peach – which is better!
It then keeps improving, with some
rum and Tia Maria liquor. Good news!
Mouth: bold and powerful attack, but
again it’s really weird. Burnt
‘stuff’, rotten fruits
(longans), cheap industrial orange
juice, bitter toffee, overcooked coffee…
Yeah well, such is life. 60
points. |
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MUSIC
- Highly recommended
listening: she's got a detuned voice
but she's not the only one, and she
sure knows how to sing the blues -
especially the speedy one: Sue
Foley does Shake
that thing - live - mp3. My God,
does she rock! Please buy her music
if you like it - or attend one of
her concerts (she's Canadian). Must
be something! |
| TOTALLY
DISGRACEFUL! - Johannes
van den Heuvel, of Malt
Madness fame, just made a sneak
attack on this web site by insinuating
that I used 'transparent advertising
tricks to lure more people to Whiskyfun'
by starting to 'publish a series
of increasingly saucy whisky ads'.
The poor Dutch soul didn't understand
that my aim was purely educational,
and now wants to start an 'ads
race' - or should I say an
'ads war'? He even published a very
greasy one for some blue jeans with
a blondie - ha, not even spirits!
- that you can contemplate in his
log entry #218
if you're into that sort of thing
(but hey, you come back later, right?)
Now, should we enter the race? What
do you think?... Okay, okay, let's
just do it. Maybe it's going to
be funny...
Let's try to
find something sexy enough to meat
Johannes' desires... Ah, yes, what
about this one?... (please scroll
down...) ... |
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...
ooooops, sorry, wrong file! This old
ad for The Club Whiskey Sour
is hardly sexy, is it? Wait, I must
have something better... Tanqueray
Gin sometimes uses some very, very
sexy girls, for instance... Ah, yes,
I have one, I think...
... (please
scroll down...) ... |
...
blasted, wrong file again! I know,
maybe some will say the dog on this
Tanqueray Gin ad
from 2002 looks smarter than some...
Well, you know... Oh, wait, I think
I've found something very sexy now...
... (please
scroll down...) ... |
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...
Wot? You say this one isn't sexy
at all? Well, maybe you're right!
Let's make another try then...
... (please
scroll down...) ... |
...
Ah, wrong file again, I'm sorry! This
one - a recent ad for Glenlivet
that reads 'Do we look influenced
by trends?' - the answer is no,
otherwise we'd already have some peated
(or wine-finished) Glenlivets - isn't
sexy at all, you're right. Okay, let's
make a last try, I hope my Mac won't
go on playing dirty tricks ;-)...
... (please
scroll down...) ... |
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...
Ah, yes, now it works! This is a
2004 ad for Black Velvet.
I agree, they didn't rack their
brains to come up with this one,
but after all, it's black, it' s
velvety, and of course seductively
smooth. Sexy, isn't it?
Okay,
Mr Tulip, your turn... And please
no ads for some bras! ;-)
Good,
back to some more serious matters
now... |
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| TASTING
- GLENFARCLAS 1968: THREE OBs |
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Glenfarclas
1968/2003 ‘Rare Old Stock Reserve’
(54.10%, OB, cask #686-687, 384 bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: very winey right
from the start. Ripe strawberries
and pepper, redcurrant, banana flambéed.
Develops on dark chocolate, gianduja,
chocolate truffles. Lots of sherry,
but a very nice one, which is far
from making this Farclie dull. Nice
hints of fresh mint and balsamic vinegar.
Very, very nice if not overly subtle.
Mouth: very punchy but not as bold
as expected. Lots of wood (pepper)
and some slightly sour notes, together
with some cold coffee, meat sauce,
black toffee… I was waiting
for something a little creamier and
sweeter, I must say. It even gets
a little bitter and drying, but it’s
easily bearable. Develops on some
heavy notes of wine sauce, wine reduction,
lees… Well, it gets a little
difficult for me now, quite pungent
and even a little acidic. Okay, it’s
an extreme sherry monster on the palate,
not exactly my taste, I must say.
Ah, yes, a rating… let’s
say 84 points. |
| Glenfarclas
1968/2004 ‘For Friends Edition
1’ (50.1%, OB, Private, cask
#688, 126 bottles)
Colour: dark mahogany. Nose: much
less winey, and much more chocolaty
at first nosing. It remains a little
flat and sort of mat during a few
seconds, before the sherry starts
to wake up (or is it my nose?) A very
subtle sherry at that, with no ‘sweet’n’sour’
notes at all. Peony, lilac…
and always lots of chocolate. Nice
notes of praline, whisky fudge (sure,
sure…) Italian coffee…
Feint hints of Worcester sauce. Really
beautiful and, again, no lumpiness
at all. Mouth: oh, so much better
at first sip! Much creamier, sweeter
and smoother, even if again, there’s
lots of sherry in there. Lots of caramel
(somewhat in the Bailey’s style
– sorry Luc), chocolate, burnt
praline, candy sugar… Lots of
balsamic vinegar as well, and even
black truffle! (And God knows how
much I love truffles). Hints of Grand-Marnier
(but the Cuvée du Centenaire)
and even Bénédictine,
yellow Chartreuse, Jägermeister.
Okay, perhaps it gets a little too
drying after a while, as the tannins
start to ‘stick the tongue to
the palate’, as we say. The
finish is very long, that is, mainly
on some great notes of blackcurrant
liqueur. A cute little sherry monster,
this one! 90 points. |
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Glenfarclas
1968 ‘For Friends Edition 3’
(OB, Private, WIP, cask #689)
Colour: amber. Nose: ah, this one
is much fresher again, not too far
from cask #686-687. Beautifully floral
and fragrant, markedly winey and also
very fruity: perhaps it’s the
most balanced of them all. Caramel
cream, praline, apricot jam, butter
cream… Notes of pastry, fresh
cookies, roasted peanuts. The sherry
is very refined and elegant…
Whiffs of pu-her tea, quinquina, bitter
orange, and even ginger. |
| It
simply has everything (except peat
and smoke, that is). Mouth: oh yes,
this one is my favourite, by far.
It has much more vivacity than its
brothers, and much more oomph. An
Aston when the others were Cadillacs!
The attack is very nervous, yet creamy,
with lots of fruit jam and fruit liquors
(mainly mirabelles, plums). Crystallised
orange, leather, light tobacco…
Even hints of eucalyptus and beeswax.
Superb! There is a lot of sherry,
obviously, but the latter didn’t
overwhelm the whisky at all. Ah, now
there are some funny hints of ginger
tonic together with a tiny little
metallic taste towards the very long
and so nicely balanced finish. Wow!
This one is meant to get bottled in
2008, but I would advise the owner
to check whether it doesn’t
get more tannic in the coming months/years,
because I find it to be perfect just
like it is. Hence my 93 points,
by the way… (thanks, Luc!) |
| MUSIC
- 1999: kitsch but
hip, Tom
Jones and The
Divine Comedy did Portishead's
All
Mine (mp3) and made it sound even
more Kurt Weill-esque. Heavy, sir,
but the voices, the voices! (From
Tom Jones' album 'Reload') |
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MUSIC
- Oldies but goldies:
1974, Captain
Beefheart sings JJ
Cale's Same
old blues - mp3. That was on
the 'Bluejeans & Moonbeams'
album. Not as crazy as some of the
Captains' other works but I still
like it. A lot! Please buy The Captain's
music if you like it... By the way,
he just turned 64 in January, so,
a belated 'happy birthday Don!'.
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| TASTING
- TWO OTHER BALVENIES H2H |
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Balvenie
25 yo 1974/2000 ‘Single Barrel’
(46.9%, OB, cask #10152)
A bottle Davin purchased in Panama.
Colour: gold. Nose: extremely smooth,
yet compact attack, on light honey,
flowers and oak. Not overly expressive
in fact, but very elegant and refined.
Gets quite buttery an creamy (hot
cake, vanilla cream), with lots of
wild ‘light’ flowers (dandelion,
buttercup). Nice freshness! Whiffs
of white pepper and white chocolate.
Ravishing, even if not too bold. Some
nice hints of camphor and turpentine
develop after ten minutes or so, and
it also gets more nervous. Mouth:
beautiful attack, bold and compact
again. Lots of fruit jam and honey,
with a dash of white pepper and traces
of clove. Some very nice rooty notes
too (gentian). Hints of rose jelly
and Turkish delight. It’s not
overly complex but again, so nicely
compact and satisfying! The finish
is long and coating, perhaps a tad
too woody. An excellent all-rounder
that will conquer anybody, not just
maltheads. 88 points. |
| Balvenie
30 yo ‘Thirty’ (47.3%,
OB, 2004)
Colour: gold, just a bit darker. Nose:
ah, this new one is even sweeter,
with an extra-dimension: tropical
fruits! Lots of tangerine, quince
jelly, apple (Calvados), apricot jam,
mirabelles… Yummy! Other than
that, it’s in the same league
as the 25yo, with quite some vanilla
cream, honey, wild flowers…
Less woody, too. A part of it makes
me think of the fruitiness of the
Bowmores from the 60’s. Most
enjoyable, but with a little less
vivacity than in the 25yo. Mouth:
again, a very creamy and extremely
honeyed first mouth feel, with lots
of quince and apricot jam. Perhaps
some traces of sherry? It then grows
quite bolder than the 25yo, and also
more peppery and woodier. Hints of
mango sauce. Lots of vanilla too…
Again, it’s not too complex
but hugely enjoyable, with its long,
creamy and honeyed finish. I like
it just as much as the 25yo, and perhaps
even a little more, so let’s
go for 90 points
this time. Thanks, Martine. |
|
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|
TASTING
- Balvenie 10 yo Founder’s Reserve
(40%, OB, 1980's)
This is the famous 'Cognac bottle',
dating back from the times when Cognac
was leading the market, and both Balvenie
and Aberlour did launch such Cognac
look-alikes. Today, several Cognac
bottlers are 'faking' whisky bottles.
The times, they are changing... Colour:
straw. Nose: quite smoky and rubbery
at first nosing, with some burnt cake,
breadcrumb, caramel… Some nice
flowery notes (heather) and quite
a lot of honeyed notes. Gets a little
grassy after a moment, while some
nice hints of fresh fruits (apple,
gooseberry, peach) appear. Nicely
balanced and most enjoyable. Mouth:
very nice attack on honey and fruit
jam (apricot, quince). Herbal tea,
Christmas cake… Some liquorice
too. It’s got quite some oomph
and I like the notes of dried herbs
from Provence (thyme, rosemary). The
finish is medium long but nicely honeyed
and spicy. A very good oldie! 84
points. |
| Balvenie
10 yo Founder’s Reserve (43%,
OB, 1980's) This one
is just the variant at 43%, and was
a French import. Colour: pale gold.
Nose: very similar of course but perhaps
more on dried flowers and cooked apples.
Perhaps this bottle was a little more
tired. Mouth: again, more tired. Lots
of herbal tea and dried fruits but
it’s also a little dusty. Short
and flat finish: I think the bottle
was tired (the level was quite low
into the neck). So, no rating, I’m
sorry. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Paul
Cummins is a veteran
'indie guitar hero' from Southern
California. Try Nature
knows (mp3 - beware it's huge).
This strange tune - perhaps a little
bit over-produced? - features Paul's
very good slide guitar playing, somehow
between the Pink Floyd and Ry Cooder...
Interesting! |
|
 |
 |
|
CRAZY
WHISKY ADS - CHIVAS' ANSWER TO JIM
BEAM ANSWERING BLACK VELVET ANSWERING
EVAN WILLIAMS - Okay,
last time ;-))
Well
not exactly an answer, as this ad
for Chivas ran in 2002. Small white
texts, for the girl: 'Yes, God
is a man' - for the whisky:
'When you know'. I rarely
saw such a clever way of sneaking
an almost naked girl into an ad,
I must say. So, God is a woman,
says Chivas, and maybe that's much
less arguable that what's said on
the right part of the page! What's
sure is that there's one genuine
subject of worship in this ad...
But is Chivas a macho or anti-macho
brand? Mmm... dialectics in whisky! |
|
Mouth: again a beautiful mouth, perfectly
balanced and extremely satisfying.
Sure it’s a little woody right
at the start – with lots of
pepper – but then it’s
a maelstrom of flowers, fruits and
spices, yet it’s not showing
off too much. Long and very satisfying
finish. Just a great single malt whisky
with a superb balance and a fantastic
compactness. Ah, and these truffle
smells! 90 points. |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening
- if you like Brazilian jazz or Brazilian
music generally speaking, Caxi
Rajão plays Choro
de Vó (mp3). Absolutely
superb! Please buy Caxi's music if
you like it. |
| WINE
BS, FOR ONCE - Terroir
or not terroir, that is the question
in the wine world (and sometimes in
the whisky world as well). Okay, let's
assume terroir doesn't make too much
sense, just for the sake of the argument
(yeah, stupid); what's sure, is that
all grape varieties don't grow just
as perfectly under any climate. Let's
say some need a lot of sun, some others
don't.Yet, the people at Columbia
Crest, Washington, make almost all
kind of 'cépages' wines: cabernet-sauvignon,
chardonnay, gewurztraminer, merlot,
riesling, sauvignon, sémillon,
syrah... Well, why not, after all?
Now, see the 'neck label' on the right
(seen in Germany). What does Columbia
Crest tell us? That their vineyards
are just as 'hot' as France's, as
they're both situated between the
48th and 46th parallels. Good, let's
admit the Gulf Stream doesn't exist,
but let's focus on the little green
maps now... |
|
 |
 |
|
...
See the French vineyards? Please roll
your mouse over the map and you'll
spot their actual location, especially
Bordeaux' |
| Conclusion:
not only Columbia Crest isn't very
good at climatology, but they also
just don't know where the French vineyards
really are. Or... they simply put
Bordeaux 200 km north of where it
actually is, to suggest that their
own vineyards are just as 'hot'. Naughty! |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening
- Who sings Bossa Nova better than
Astrud Gilberto? Anna Claudia!
Have a try at Mais
que perfeito (mp3) while sipping
a Mojito... Ahhhh... |
| TASTING
- Glen Spey 30 yo 1974/2004 (46%,
Murray McDavid Mission IV, 720 bottles)
Colour:
straw. Nose: lots of smoke and rubber
at first nosing, with quite some sulphur.
Getting waxy. Goes on with some white
fruits, melon and pumpkin. Mouth:
coating and sweet, on kiwi, passion
fruits, fructose. Hints of vanilla
fudge. The finish is a little drying,
with quite some heavy tannins. It’s
always interesting to be able to taste
a Glen Spey! 86 points. |
|
 |
 |
|
TASTING
- THREE GLEN ORDS
Glenordie
12 yo (40%, OB, 1980's)
Colour: light gold. Nose: light,
grainy and malty. Some fruity notes
(apple, pear), hints of dried flowers.
Lilac. Rather enjoyable, even if
it lacks some oomph. Mouth: quite
weak and a little watery at first,
but getting almost pungent after
a few seconds. Strange! Straw, butterscotch,
breadcrumb, burnt caramel…
Gets very malty after a while, but
lacks any further development. The
finish is medium long and a little
drying. 75 points. |
| Glen
Ord 12 yo (40%, OB, 1990's)
Colour: light gold. Nose: bolder,
with more presence. Grain, dried flowers,
mashed potatoes, lily from the valley.
Quite fragrant. Nice notes of freshly
cut apple (ripe golden delicious)
and hot caramel. A little MOTR, sure,
but it’s quite enjoyable and
flawless. Mouth: the attack is a little
weird, dusty and rather burning, despite
the low abv. It tastes like Johnnie
Walker Red! Gets a little sugarish
and peppery at the same time. The
finish is rather long, on… well,
whisky, if you see what I mean. The
new one in the rectangular bottle
is much better, but this old version
is rather amiable, after all. 76
points. |
|
 |
 |
|
Ord
27 yo 1962/1989 (55.4%, Cadenhead,
distilled December)
Colour: light amber. Nose: wow, now
we’re talking! Superb fudge
and praline, fresh vanilla stick,
caramelised apples, sherry (fino).
It gets very woody but in a nice way.
Gets very spicy at the same time:
pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, lots of
clove… It then gets quite flowery,
on fresh and dry lavender. Hints of
cider apples… Just great, even
if very influenced by the cask –
a great one, that is. Mouth: bold
and creamy attack, with lots of tannins
– interesting ones. Very, very
woody, that’s for sure. Lots
of cinnamon and white pepper, liquid
caramel. Some notes of bitter herbs,
thyme, dried parsley… Some rubber.
Too bad, it gets really too dry after
a moment, which prevents me from rating
this puppy more than 85 points. Maybe
they should have bottled it earlier…
So, 85 points for
this old Ordie. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Patti
Witten sings What
I don't tell you (mp3). She makes
me think of Joni Mitchell - by the
way, just saw that stupid movie, 'Love
Actually' where a character sort of
says Joni Mitchell is outdated. Rubbish!
Joni will never be outdated, she's
already a living legend. |
|
 |
 |
SHOPPING
- TIME IS ON OUR SIDE
Left:
this is a miniature of Glenfiddich,
right? Yes, just a regular, widely
available miniature of Glenfiddich
Special Reserve...
Right:
wrong, it is not a mini-bottle of
Glenfiddich. Pull it open, and you'll
find out that it's... a battery
clock! After the Laphroaig alarm-clock,
it appears that the Scottish distillers
really are focused on time keeping.
I'm wondering if Brock Savage has
got the same model... |
 |
| CONCERT
REVIEW |
 |
|
PLANXTY
The Barbican,
London
Sunday January 30th 2005
by Nick Morgan
I
have to thank Frank McCamley and
Mike Hayward for introducing me
to Planxty
in October 1973. In a moment the
cliché of Irish folk music
(“when I came home drunk last
night, as drunk as drunk could be”
etc.) was demolished. |
| And
at the same time I began an as yet
unrequited love affair with the painful,
mournful, bending notes of the Uilleann
Pipes (Watkin Lees notwithstanding),
and with the angelic voices of Andy
Irvine and Christy Moore. The album,
The Well Below the Valley, barely
survived the pounding of indifferent
styli, spilt beer and forgotten cigarettes,
along with other favourites such as
10CC and Little Feat. And the eponymous
song, a morbid celebration of rustic
incest, infanticide and consequent
damnation, was, it was whispered,
never to be recorded, and certainly
never to be sung on stage. Welcome
to a magical world of mystery and
musical complexity. |
| Two
years later Planxty disbanded, and
though briefly reformed in the 1980s
this supergroup of Irish folk (their
only equivalent I suppose is the Scottish/Irish
The Boys of the Lough) were confined
to vinyl memories and increasingly
difficult to find CD reissues. Of
course all pursued individual careers,
none more so than Christy Moore, whose
songs, soulful voice and outstanding
albums and performances have blazed
a trail for the poor, the oppressed,
and the victims on injustice for many
years. |
|
 |
| Planxty,
circa 1978 |
| But
last year these four older, greyer
and fatter men (Editor’s note
– enough of this!) came together
for a handful of performances in
Ireland. And on Sunday we sat transfixed
amongst the Willie Johns, the black
haired darlings, the raggle taggle
gypsies and the forlorn anglicised
gentry of the Barbican as Planxty
played their first gigs in London
for 25 years.
When
you see a band like this, who you
never thought you would, whose timeless
respect for (and reinterpretation
of) tradition provides constant
twists and surprises, whose musical
complexity (guitar, mandolin, voice,
pipe, bodhran, bazouki, flute) is
both beguiling and almost bewildering;
well its almost enough to bring
tears to your eyes. And great news
– no need to write a set list
– you can just buy the Live
2004 CD and you’ll get the
bulk of it in the comfort of your
own living room. |
 |
|
Highpoints?
Liam
O’Flynn’s pipes on
‘The dark slender boy’.
Christy
Moore’s pronunciation of
“taarrtarsch” in ‘The
good ship Kangaroo’; St Brendan’s
circumnavigation of the world, which
sounded a lot more fun than Ellen
Macarthur’s, and Christy Moore
again singing on ‘Little Musgrave’
(or ‘Matty Groves’ to
Fairporters). Donal
Lunny’s astonishing and
rhythmical guitar, mandolin and bazouki
(he counted in every song with his
plectrum on the strings as if he was
about to play ‘Voodoo chile’),
and Andy
Irvine’s voice. “Jeez,
I'd cry for the sound of himself singing
the menu at Kavanagh’s”,
whispered my raven-haired companion.
|
| Christy
Moore |
| Euro
moment: Irvine singing Angus McBride
– “The Queen wouldn’t
scruple to send us to France where
we would be shot in the morning”.
And song of the night, forget tradition,
was Irvine’s ‘The west
coast of Clare’. It’s
not quite as magical as Skye or Islay,
but the tears, like the smoke and
the strong whisky, are just as salty.
- Nick Morgan, photos Kate Akers,
X. |
| Thanks
a bunch, Nick. Yes, Christy Moore,
whom I only knew by name before -
a shame indeed - is brilliant! I could
find these nice mp3's: Christy Moore
- So
do I and Matty
(both recent recordings, via Irish
Songs) and Andy Irvine -
Rattlin'
Roarin' Willie and Raynard
the Fox (both with the Sweeney's
Men in 1968). There's plenty of other
nice mp3's on their websites. |
| Sigel
N°7 Barley (40%, OB, ‘Good
Old Germany’) Colour:
light amber. Nose: very weird! Eau
de Cologne, dust, pot pourri, violet
perfume, that’s all. This
one smells anything but whisky!
Good old Germany? Yeah, sure, Cologne
is in Germany, isn’t it? Mouth:
oh my God! Really dirty, offbeat
and disjointed. Just undrinkable.
And these soapy notes! 15
points.
Slyrs
1999/2002 (43%, OB, Bavaria)
Colour: straw. Nose: ah, this is
much better, even if again, there
are some strange perfumy notes.
Lots of orange skin, cooked apples,
rose, ‘chemical’ vanilla
powder and bubblegum. Mouth: quite
nice attack, nicely woody, but it’s
then rather weak and un-definite.
Some caramel and vanilla, some feint
fruity notes, but otherwise it’s
aromatically quite poor. Gets dusty.
50 points.
|
|
 |
 |
| Slyrs
2001/2004 (43%, OB, Bavaria)
Colour: straw. Nose: ah, this batch
is very different. Always these perfumy
smells and bubblegum, but now there’s
also lots of hot milk with caramel
and vanilla cream. Not too bad! Mouth:
again it’s better than the 1999.
More defined, with more body. Caramel,
sweet wine, vanilla cream, white fruits
and kiwi, orange juice… Not
un-enjoyable at all, I guess the next
batches will be even better. 60
points. |
 |
|
CRAZY
WHISKY ADS - JIM BEAM BLACK'S ANSWER
TO BLACK VELVET ANSWERING EVAN WILLIAMS
;-)
Remember
again... A few days ago (see January
31) Black Velvet was telling us
that 'A smoother taste comes
of age' while showing us a
beautiful young (but not too young)
woman dressed in fur. Ah, smoothness,
that's the thing, it appears, and
Jim Beam Black won't argue. These
two men are discussing - in small
white letters: 'Smooth, mellow
and refined. Actually we're talking
about the bourbon', while assuming
we all saw the girl seated at the
back first. Sure the ad is nicely
composed for that - the only face
on the ad and all that - but hey,
the first thing we saw was the glass
of whiskey, wasn't it? |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Cuban born Canadian king of the 10-hole
diatonic harmonica Carlos
del Junco plays an astounding
jazz-blues-funk piece called Funny
thing - mp3. Whether it's funny
or not, I don't know, but very good
it is! And the guitars... wow! Please
buy Carlos' music. |
|
 |
 |
|
TASTING
- TWO OLD 12 yo OFFICIAL SPRINGBANKS
Springbank
12 yo (46%, OB, black label, 1980’s)
Colour: straw - a very light 'vatting'
- sorry Ulf, I mean 'normalization'.
Nose, starts on full beeswax and
seaweed. Superb, simply. Lots of
dried tropical fruits, shoe polish,
marzipan, dried coconut, satay sauce,
straw smoke, bitter almonds…
Lots of wet stone and some aromas
that you can find only in Springbank.
Again, superb. Mouth: again lots
of dried fruits, wax, creme caramel,
vanilla fudge, bitter almonds. Great
finish, getting a little meaty (smoked
ham). 92 points. |
Springbank
12 yo 100 proof (57%, OB, European
version)
Colour: amber. Nose: bold,
rich and complex, that’s the
first impression. Some wax, dried
fruits, smoke, spices, sea air…
The sherry’s obvious but not
overwhelming. Gets herbal (tea, thyme)
and even spicier (clove, cinnamon).
It keeps improving, even after ten
or fifteen minutes. No wonder this
bottling has got a cult status! Mouth:
what can I say about this malt, that
hasn’t already been said or
written? Perhaps nothing. It’s
fantastic, bold, rich, complex, compact,
elegant… It has everything,
even if the older versions from the
early 80s were even better in my opinion
– especially the one for Samaroli
in Italy. My rating: 94 points.
|
|
 |
Check
the index of all entries:
Whisky
Music
Nick's Concert
Reviews |
|
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| |
Best
malts I had these weeks - 90+
points only - alphabetical:
Balvenie
30 yo ‘Thirty’ (47.3%,
OB, 2004)
Glenfarclas
1968/2004 ‘For Friends Edition 1’
(50.1%, OB, Private, cask #688, 126
bottles)
Glenfarclas
1968 ‘For Friends Edition 3’
(OB, Private, WIP, cask #689)
Royal
Lochnagar 30 yo 1973/2003 (57.9%,
Douglas Laing Platinum)
Springbank
12 yo (46%, OB, black label, 1980’s)
Springbank
12 yo 100 proof (57%, OB, European
version)
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