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Hi, you're in the Archives, January 2005 - Part 1 |
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TASTING
- Saint-Magdalene 12 yo 1982/1995
(63.8%, Cadenhead)
Funny, this one has got the same ABV
as Johannes’ preferred 19 yo
1979 Rare Malts! Colour: light gold.
Nose: prickly, very spirity, grainy
and grassy, with some fern and lemon
zest. It gets fresher and fresher,
but also pricklier and pricklier.
Develops on un-sugared lemon juice,
sparkling water, gin fizz. Wow, it’s
really sharp like a blade, with not
even a quarter of an ounce of sweetness!
Mouse: extremely strong, pungent and
‘fulgurating’. Ahem…
but it’s almost un-drinkable!
Pure lime juice… It climbs up
into the nose! |
| Let’s
pour a few drops of water now…
It gets very bitter then (lemon skin)
and woody, with even some notes of
wasabi. Now, this is a genuine monster
again! The finish is very long, lemony
and bitter, with lots of rather aggressive
tannins. This is a fully untameable
Linlithgow, I give up. 82
points, still, precisely
because it’s so untameable. |
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MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Serah
sings Yes
(mp3), her latest single. I''ve discovered
her touching singing almost fifteen
years ago on a CD she did with German
guitarist Friedeman. I'm not into
new age music usually, but with Serah,
it works pretty well! |
| JUST
A CARTOON - after
the SWA / Mackmyra - Glen Breton
stories... ;-)
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TASTING
- THREE TULLIBARDINES
Tullibardine
10 yo (40%, OB, twistcap, mid 1990s)
Colour: light straw. Nose: light
and fragrant, with hints of fern,
dandelion and bubblegum. Gets grassier
and grassier, with hints of beer.
A little weak, though. Mouth: very
gentle and sweet attack, getting
grainy and grassy. Notes of vanilla
and beer. Not much further development,
alas. Rather short finish, getting
slightly bitter.
65 points. |
Tullibardine
1993/2004 (40%, OB)
Colour: straw. Nose: quite similar
but a little fruitier, and perhaps
even more subdued. Hints of rubber
and Schweppes. Mouth: more structured
this time, and also bolder. Grain,
vanilla, light caramel, cold tea…
Gets very leafy and a little bitter
(infused tea leaves). The finish is
medium long, on vanilla and cardboard.
One step above the old 10yo, but no
stunner either. 69 points.
Tullibardine
15 yo 1989/2004 (49.8%, Hart Bros,
distilled April)
Colour: white wine. Nose: much more
presence. Lots of freshly cut pear,
boiling milk, cooked butter, beer
again. |
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| Some
flowery notes too (violets, lavender).
Not monstrously complex, alas. Mouth:
quite bold, but with a bitter and
rubbery attack. Some cooked apple,
ashes, pipe juice (argh). Lots of
offbeat notes developing (silver spoon,
rubber, genever, foreshots). Again
it gets bitter, and the finish is
quite long but, well, bitter. 67
points. |
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TASTING
- THREE OLD INDIE SPRINGBANKS
Springbank
1969/2003 (47.6%, OB private bottling,
cask #55)
Colour: very fresh and lively for
such an old malt. Sour creme, bitter
almonds, musk, coconut milk, Turkish
delight … Again an excellent
old Springbank. Goes on with some
camphor, massage oil, tiger balm,
beeswax. Mouth: starts on a little
pepper and various dried fruits
(pear, apricot, banana, coconut).
Gets slightly bitter after 34 years
in wood, but not overly so. Long
finish on bitter orange… Another
great old springbank. 88
points. |
Springbank
1970/2004 (47.9%, Wiskyfair Limburg)
Colour: amber. Nose: quite close to
the 1969 I just had at first nosing,
but more flowery and smoky. More compact
too. It then gets very phenolic, together
with some marzipan, diesel oil, bitter
almonds. Burning leaves, smoked tea,
crème brûlée.
Lots of tropical fruits after a moment.
Nice, lively and so fresh for such
an old Springer! Mouth: sweet and
round attack, but it gets quite punchy
after just a few seconds. Perhaps
it's just a bit simple, on dried fruits,
caramel and chocolate. It’s
very good but I feel it just lacks
a little complexity, and perhaps it’s
a little too dry. Still a great old
Springbank! 89 points
(but the nose is worth much more) |
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Springbank
1975/2004 (49.2%, Whiskyfair Limburg)
Colour: light amber. Nose: much more
direct and very grassy, in a good
way. It smells like a plate of antipasti!
Artichoke, green pepper, fresh mushrooms.
I like it a lot. Very clean and fresh.
Goes on with mashed potatoes, cooked
butter. It then gets quite flowery,
with some violets, lilac… The
cask must have been quite neutral,
hence this very pure and clean nose
(which, again, I like). Mouth: bold
and pure again, and very punchy. Creme
caramel, ripe banana, herbal tea,
guava. It gets a little dry and tannic,
but not too much. Some dried angelica
and white pepper, with a long, slightly
peppery finish. I like this one more
than its older brother, for it’s
cleaner and livelier. A top notch
Springbank. 91 points. |
| MUSIC
- Oldies but goldies:
1971, the late Roy
Buchanan talks over a
churchy organ and his electric guitar,
which he then makes cry endlessly,
like if it were a lost baby whale.
An anthem that sends Carlos Santana
back to school. Listen to The
Messiah will come again (mp3)
and please buy Roy's records. |
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LITTLE WINE AGAIN - Thanks to my
dear old friend Christophe
From left to right:
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Lavaux-Saint-Jacques 1995 by Dominique
Laurent - Good, but very
dry and austere, with a huge acidic
structure. Will this one get rounder
one day? Hmm…
Côte-Rôtie La
Mouline 1993 by Guigal
– Too bad it has lost its
original boldness and its fruity/spicy
character, and became almost fragile.
I thought it was a much older and
slightly tired wine from Burgundy.
L’Aiguelière
1997 (Côteaux du Languedoc)
– Big and bold this time,
the right side of the world taste.
Excellent.
Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle
– Superb Champagne!
Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann
1997 by Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
– Some hints of old gewurztraminer
(old rose, ripe mango) together
with lots of ‘phenolic’
notes in this ultra-dry, austere
and very special ‘Alsatian
Tokay’. For hardcore wine
freaks only (i.e. more for us).
And oh, Olivier, did you do an Ardbeg
finishing with this one?
Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1990
(Sauternes) – A monster
of a Sauternes, extremely rich and
concentrated. Ultra-decadent - loved
it, no need to say.
Vega Sicilia Valbuena 1995
(Ribera del Duero, Spain)
- Very rich, bold and spicy, but
not vulgar in any way. Loved it.
Woodward Canyon Artist Series
1999 (Washington, USA)
– Too bad this one was completely
corked, I could ‘feel’
it must have been a great red.
Quart de Chaume 2001 by
Château Pierre-Bise
– Extremely sweet and concentrated,
with a well-hidden acidic structure,
which is unusual with chenin. Loved
it. |
| A
CD REVIEW – FOR ONCE:
THE BARCODES
‘KEEP YOUR DISTANCE’
I first heard of The
Barcodes when Nick
Morgan sent me a rather laudatory
review
of one of their latest gigs in London.
Well, I still had to have a good
try at one of their CDs, as the
short mp3 samples the gang has uploaded
on its website did make the same
effect on me as a coïtus interruptus.
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don’t know if Nick got my telepathetic
calls for some more consistent evidence
of the band’s brilliance, but
yes, a few days later, The Barcodes’
CDs crossed the Channel and made it
into my brand new car’s CD player,
before I had a chance to amazon them.
Many thanks, Nick, it’s been
a perfect occasion to check that eight
loudspeakers really are better than
just two, and also that a speed limiter
is actually useful. Of course it’s
no secret that I love jazz, that I
love organ – especially the
sound of the Hammond B3 – and
that I’m not against a good
old blues from time to time, but hearing
all three ‘genres’ gently
mingled on one slice of aluminium
coated with plastic always rockets
me to heaven, which didn’t happen
since… Brian Auger (not the
original LPs - I’m not that
old - but his CD re-editions). |
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Anyway,
that’s what happened with the
Barcodes’ superb album ‘Keep
Your Distance’
– a worthwhile warning when
you’re driving your car, by
the way. It all starts with ‘I
got news’, a short, laidback
jazzy/bluesy tune with a Hawkinsian
saxophone joining the dance after
just a few seconds… But that
was just the aperitif. ‘Thick
cut’ – my favourite track
– is a great funkish and pointillist
piece where the players add different
touches of colour to the canvas one
after the other: the B3, the harmonica,
the howling electric guitar, the electric
piano… Just simple touches,
but what a great picture! |
| ‘Crazy
Life’ is a very nice blues,
with some delicate guitar by Alan
Glen – an ex Yardbird, s’il
vous plaît! - while ‘The
Barcode Theme’ has both some
funny Henry Mancini and Rhoda Scott
feelings. Ah, here’s Steely
Dan now! That’s on ‘A
little bit more’… Excellent
guitar and piano again! It all goes
on with some blues from Blues’
- ‘Tell me the truth’
and ‘That’s alright’
are both excellent - and some very
good jazz (Neal Hefti’s ‘Splanky’,
with some solar organ again by Bob
Haddrell). Dino Coccia, the drummer,
displays his subtle playing on ‘Eyesight
to the Blind’, which is the
last track of this splendid little
CD. In short, ‘Keep Your Distance’
is much more than just some old buddies
having fun together, it’s an
excellent showcase of what some experimented
blues and jazz musicians can do when
they are in great shape, for our most
total enjoyment. Thanks again Nick
– you’re hired for one
more year as Whiskyfun’s now
Official Music Reviewer (but again,
we have no budget, sorry). - Serge |
Mouth: extremely dry and austere again,
dried lemons, grapefruit, with a very
nice bitterness and a salty tang.
It’s a love it or hate it malt,
and an anti-sherry, anti-peat whisky,
and for that I think it deserves no
less than 85 points.
Rosebank
30 yo 1974/2004 (55.8%, Whisyfair
Limburg)
Colour: amber. Nose: a beautiful sherry
at first nosing, in the fino style
but it might well not be fino. Walnuts,
wax, overripe apples, with hints of
orange juice and quince jelly, with
a superb balance, not just a sherry
infusion. A very nice freshness for
a 30 yo Rosebank. Mouth: wow, a nectar.
There is quite some oak that makes
it just a little dry (tannins) but
otherwise it’s all perfect.
Apricot juice and jam, quince jelly,
honey, walnuts, and then come citrus,
grapefruit, lemon… It’s
all quite nervous, with lots of oomph,
and a very nice finish on cold infused
tea leaves. Ha, Lowlanders are light
and undemanding, they say! 90
points. |
| TASTING
- A BLAST FROM THE PAST: THREE OLD
CLYNELISHES |
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Clynelish
12 yo (40%, G&M OB for Italy,
1980's)
Colour: amber-orange. Nose: extremely
expressive and fresh. Superb traces
of sherry at first nosing, then
lots of crystallised orange, tropical
fruits (guava, mango), malt and
smoke, with some added whiffs of
see air. Some liquorice and quite
some peat come through, not unlike
in some old Highland Parks. Super,
really. Mouth: a nice punch for
such an old whisky. Quite dry –
like a Vin Jaune – but with
lots of orangey notes, cocoa powder,
chocolate. It gets very oaky with
lots of green tannins after a moment,
which is strange in a rather huge
vatting. Hints of pineapple skin.
Very interesting and enjoyable –
and ‘old style’. Beautiful
whisky: 88 points. |
Clynelish
12 yo (43%, OB, Ainslie & Heilbronn
for M. di Chiano, Italy, 1970's)
Colour: straw. Nose: very special
and very complex. Lots of tropical
fruits, pink grapefruit, light caramel,
old white Chartreuse, Mandarine Impériale,
mocha, cappuccino. Hints of smoke
(burning hay), seaweed, fresh pineapple.
Purely thrilling. No, stunning. And
this great freshness after 30 years
in its bottle. Mouth, triple wow,
at 43%! Incredibly strong, smoky,
orangey, hay jam, herbal tea…
Tons of spices like clove, nutmeg,
curry powder. Superbly pure, this
one is definitely not made up like
a stolen Mercedes – or many
new so-called ‘expressions’.
What a word! Anyway, 94 points
for this absolute and flawless malt
(the Ava Gardner of the single malts?)
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| Clynelish
28 yo 1965/1993 (50.7%, Signatory,
sherry butt #666)
Colour: old gold. Nose: ah, typically
old Clynelish. Lots of old rum, crystallised
orange, fresh oysters, garden bonfire,
camomile, Grand Marnier… It
starts to smell oak after a moment
(old wine cask) and shoe polish…
and yes, old leather (I won’t
write Russian leather, that would
be maltoporn). Old wardrobe. Incredible,
it keeps developing, switching to
some great grassy notes (forest after
the rain, fern…), roasted Japanese
green tea. A thrill. Mouth: how creamy
and bold! Some sherry, some ‘wet
stone’, tropical fruits (mango
this time), hay, wet straw, Belgian
beer (Orval), gentian roots…
Smoked salmon. Incredibly good, balanced
and elegant. Hints of lemon liquor.
In French we say magnifique. 93
points. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening
- Rani
Arbo and Daisy Mayhem
sing and play Turtle
Dove (mp3). Gospel revisited?
It's nicely done, in any case. |
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MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
after having been a very successful
top model, Carla
Bruni made it to #1 in
the French charts last year - or was
it the year before?- with some nicely
crafted songs she composed, sang and
played herself on the guitar. Listen
to Quelqu'un
m'a dit (mp3). In the fine old
tradtion of the French 'chansons à
texte'. Please buy her music if you
like it! |
| TASTING
- Longmorn
1971/1999 (57.8%, Scott’s Selection)
Colour:
deep amber. Nose: mocha, dried orange,
crystallised fruits. Some caramel,
and a nice balance. Mouth: coating
and compact, on fruit jam and spices.
A very nice Longmorn. Long, slightly
peppery finish… Perhaps a little
too dry. 85 points. |
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MUSIC
- I know some friends
and readers had a crush on Gallician
pipe player Susanna Seivane - so here's
some other great and energising 'sort-of-Celtic'
music from Spain: the Asturian Tejedor
family playing Polquifunkylixa
(mp3). Aren't they good? |
| TASTING
- Bladnoch 12 yo 1991/2003 (46%, DL
McGibbons Provenance, Autumn/Winter)
Colour: white wine. Nose: strangely
toffeeish and malty at first nosing.
Whiffs of smoke? Smoked ham? The heavy
citrus is soon to take control, though.
Grapefruit, green lemon. It then gets
quite grassy (freshly cut grass) and
flowery (lily from the valley, lavender).
Much more complex than I thought at
first nosing. Hints of light honey.
Mouth: fresh, sweet, grainy and fruity
(pink grapefruit, green apple). Lemon
peel, icing sugar, kiwi… Really
youthful. Hints or orange marmalade,
rose water, perfume… Interesting,
even if not overly complex. Long,
bold finish, on grapefruit juice and
white pepper. I like it: 85
points. |
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| TASTING
- HEAD TO HEAD, TWO WHITE WHISKIES
- yes, I did it!
Glen
Kella 12 yo (40%, OB, Isle of Man)
Colour: plain white.
Nose: fresh and flowery, not unlike
some very light Speysiders or Lowlanders.
No sign of maturation, or perhaps
is it just a little rounder than
a new make, but that could just
come from the reducing with water.
Gets a little sour. It makes me
think of a celery spirit somebody
makes near my place (no, it isn’t
for cooking, and yes, it’s
not good – at all). This Glen
Kella goes on with some notes of
fresh apple juice and some hints
of ‘copper smell’. Not
too bad, I’d say, but far
from being interesting aroma-wise.
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Mouth:
not too bad! Quite fruity –
not a particular fruit, that is. Just
‘fruity’. Extremely simple,
but not disgusting in any way. And
it does taste whisky! Good news…
I’ve had many worse blends.
50 points. By the
way, fellow Maniac Lex wrote Glen
Kella's whole story here.
Very interesting.
White
Duck 6 yo 'Dry White' (40%, OB)
Colour: plain white. Nose: ouch, lots
of glue, paint thinner, rubber and
nail varnish (acetone). Hints of sea
water… and other than that,
just an abyssal perplexity on my side.
Did they let some plastic dissolve
in the spirit or something like that?
Mouth: duty, heavy duty… Let’s
go (while pinching our nose…)
Here come these chemical, rubbery
notes again. Some hints of fruits
made me first think it would be drinkable,
but the ugly and bitter notes of plastic
and varnish are soon to take control
of the ‘stuff’. I say
yuck! Imagine somebody actually made
this nightmare ‘whisky’
one day. Unbelievable! Criminals!
5 points. Oh, by
the way, please note that I tasted
this 'whisky' before I got the information
about the company that made it...
Andreas in Germany told me it was
made by the Continental Distillery
Corp. Philadelphia, PA. While googling
that company I fond out that it was
a government funded WWII industry,
specialised in... distillers dried
solvents. Wot? Now you can read my
tasting notes again ;-). |
| MUSIC
- Oldies but Goldies:
French actor and singer Jacques
Dutronc sings Le
Responsable (mp3, 1969). One simple
riff that might ring a bell, but it
works. Okay, worked. Please buy Dutronc's
music, his latest CD is very good.. |
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TASTING
- TWO GLEN ELGINS
Glen
Elgin NAS (43%, OB, Asia)
Colour: straw. Nose: nice and rather
fresh, a very classical Speysider.
Butter, light caramel, hot apple
pie, flowers, fresh hazelnuts, peardrops.
Very nicely balanced. Gets a little
grassy, fresh salsify, celery…
Very nice. Mouth: very bold and
powerful attack, on liquorice. Develops
on gentian spirit, roots…
Getting very earthy and leafy. Cooked
mushrooms, Bailey’s, caramel.
A very good malt, quite special,
with a long and bold finish, on
caramel. Very quaffable! 84
points. |
| Glen
Elgin 19 yo 1971/1990 (50.4%, Cadenhead,
distilled September)
Colour: straw. Nose: very dusty, nutmeg,
cocoa powder. Develops on some very
fragrant notes, pear spirit, dill,
peony, Kölnerwasser… Hints
of strawberry liqueur, fresh pinepapple.
Quite youthful! Mouth: very nice attack,
on dried fruits, plants (angelica)
and spices. Some liquorice roots,
gentian again. A superb balance. Goes
on with dried ginger, mangoes…
Really beautiful, and what a perfect
balance. This one has been bottled
exactly at its peak, I like it a lot.
Besides, the finish is very long and
spicy, with always tons of liquorice.
An excellent malt, worth 88
points on my scale. |
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MUSIC
- Let's play a little
game if you like: have a listen to
The Yayhoos
playing Highway
Junkie (mp3) and try not to move
your feet - and even your toes. Impossible,
right? You loose! ;-) But please buy
their CDs if you like their most energizing
country-rock. Last minute: just found
another nice - yet heavier - track:
California
(mp3). Who sang 'Rock'n'roll will
never die' again? |
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TASTING
- TWO GLENALLACHIES (MY GOD!)
Glenallachie
12 yo (40%, OB, 1980s)
Colour: light straw. Nose: quite
grassy, with some smoked ham, matchstick,
camphor, cold herbal tea, ashes,
fresh water, stone... Really strange
but rather interesting! Mouth: weak
and sugarish. Dust, cocoa powder,
cheap rum. It tastes like some weird
‘foreign’ whiskies.
No wonder this bottling has been
discontinued. The nose is okay,
but the mouth is really weak and
completely disjointed. 50
points.
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| Glenallachie
18 yo 1976/1995 (43%, The Whisky Castle
Collection, cask # 6236) Colour:
straw. Nose: yuck! Totally disgusting…
Rotten meat and eggs, sulphur, chemicals,
wet stone, old clothes. Maybe the
worst nose I ever came across. Mouth:
mega-yuck! Just undrinkable…
Some poison? Cleaning liquid? Does
whisky rot? It can’t be just
some sulphur, and it can’t be
the cork, as it’s got a twist-cap.
My god! My worst whisky ever, totally
putrid. 1 point (that's
right - and that might well have been
a little too much). |
| BREAKING
NEWS! - As I could
read in the local press yesterday
morning, wine brings fantastic powers.
You doubt it? Then, read this: "At
the Sainte-Thérèse clinic,
it's a little Serena (...) who came
to the world at 01:55. Her weight
is 3100kg and she's 50cm high (Editor's
note: my God!) Her mother (...)
is a salesperson and her father works
in the vineyards..." Well,
must be the phenols again... (seen
in 'Journal L'Alsace' - January 4,
2005) |
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MUSIC
- Oldies but Goldies:
obscure Californian pop band The
Count Five sings Psychotic
Reaction (mp3, circa 1965).Their
one and only hit, so deliciously sixties... |
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MUSIC
- Recommended listening
- this charming short piece by Italian
born French composer Jean-Baptiste
Lully (1632-1687), la
Chaconne d'Arlequin (mp3). Lully
was Louis XIV's official composer
at Versailles. |
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Glendullan-Glenlivet
20 yo 1978/1999 (64.2%, Cadenhead)
Colour: light amber. Nose: powerful,
on dust and camphor. Tequila, bandages,
cocoa powder, rum. Lots of crystallised
fruits (banana, mango). Develops on
coffee and old white wine. Sherry,
obviously. Mouth: wow, punchy but
quite drinkable at 64%… Some
weird notes of nutrasweet, sugared
lemon juice, dried pineapple, rum…
Cold coffee, Ice Tea. It tastes more
and more like Stroh 80 (an Austrian
rum at 80% abv - seen the ad? Does
she look Austrian? Yeah, because of
the leather pants). The Glendullan
develops some sweet and sour notes
(Chinese sauce). The finish is long
and sweetish. Well, it’s interesting,
even if more a curiosity than a highly
pleasurable malt. 77 points. |
| MUSIC
- Beware, second degree
only (or maybe rather 37th degree):
Austrian vocalist Louie Austen
sings Easy
Love and Feel
me (both mp3). As his record company
Kitty- yo says, Louie Austen is 'known
for his "study" of the ratpack
(the ultimate loser trio of frank
sinatra, dean martin & sammy davis
jr.)' Well... It's junk, but highly
funny junk, if you ask me. (Via Kitty-Yo,
photo Tom Haslinger) |
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| Ardbeg
1990/2003 (46%, G&M for Symposion
Sweden, cask #3133, sherry)
Colour: dark straw. Nose: just a little
restrained right at the start –
as usually with the very good Ardbegs
– but then some bold peat and
crystallised orange burst out. Peated
orange marmalade? Sea breeze, seaweed…
Too bad I haven’t got enough
time to write more about this stupendous
nose. Mouth: wow! What a mouth! What
a perfect balance between the peat,
the smoke and the dried fruits. Perfectly
crafted, a masterpiece. Extra-long
finish. Ardbeg has been making some
great malt when it was reopened by
Allied, that's for sure. 92
points. |
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Ardbeg
11 yo 1991/2002 (46%, Murray McDavid,
Cask#: MM654)
Colour: white. Nose: paint, burning
fir wood. Hints of stale Schweppes,
wet dog. Some Indian curry. Simple
and slightly off-mark, there seems
to be something wrong in there. Mouth:
again and again, some rooty notes.
Quite vegetal, with some liquorice
stick and pepper. Some sweetish notes,
a little weird. It gets curiously
watery towards the finish, with some
ginger tonic. Well, Murmac did bottle
some much, much nicer 1991s, for sure.
79 points. |
| Ardbeg
10 yo 1993/2004 (50%, DL OMC, cask
DL 1248, 341 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: we have
the usual smoke, peat and coffee aromas
here. Another bold and compact Islayer.
Less smooth and sweetish than the
official 10 yo OB, that’s for
sure. Quite clean and pure. Lots of
different smokes (fir wood, garden
bonfire, barbeque charcoal). Freshly
cut wood (sawdust), cider, wet liquorice
stick. Very nice, but not much development.
Just a nice, clean young Ardbeg on
the nose. Mouth: nervous attack, with
a very nice balance. Peat and apple
compote, liquorice, quinquina…
Again, not overly complex but it’s
quite a beast, that’s for sure.
A prototype peated young Islayer?
Not much emotion, but no flaw either.
Long finish, on liquorice stick…
Getting just a little bitter. 84
points. |
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Ardbeg
17 yo 1974/1992 (43%, Signatory, cask
#2026)
Ah, 1974, the magic year. Colour:
pure gold. Nose: this one appears
to be complex right at the start.
Fantastic, in fact. Smoke, dried fruits,
quince jam, beeswax, some passion
fruit. Hints of tyre, sea breeze.
Just great. Mouth: creamy, with the
same profile as the nose’s –
except some added gamy meat and some
soy sauce. Superbly complex. Long
finish, on pepper and Chinese plum
sauce (the one they serve with the
Peking duck). A thrill, and one of
the fantastic casks Signatory bottled
at the beginning of the nineties.
92 points. |
| Ardbeg
28 yo 1972/2001 (49.5%, Douglas Laing
OMC, 222 bottles)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: the greatest
smoke, very, very typical. So pure
and so fresh, extremely clean, on
mineral oil. Very austere. Wow! Mouth:
again, a marvellously clean, pure,
'prototypical' Ardbeg. Extremely austere
but amazing. Murray writes ‘sinister’
and rates it only 87 points. Well,
I insist, austere is more appropriate
a word. Or perhaps Jansenist? Triple
wow, 95 points! |
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| MUSIC
- Oldies but Goldies:
Italian prog rock band Alphataurus
plays Ombra
Muta (mp3, 1973). Sort of a mix
of Pink Floyd and Emerson Lake and
Palmer... Sure it sounds outdated
but hey, this is History and insiders
say it's a masterpiece. And look at
the cover! Aaah, the seventies... |
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TASTING
- Glengarioch 15 yo 1988/2003 (46%,
Whisky Galore)
– yes, not written ‘Glen
Garioch’ here. Colour: light
amber. Nose: quite smoky and toasted,
with quite a lot of sherry coming
through. Some resinous notes (eucalyptus)
and hints of mint. Develops on cold
coffee, breadcrumb, maple syrup. Hints
of apple pie. Mouth: rich, on quince
jelly and cake. Quite fruity (kiwi,
apple, gooseberry). Goes on with crystallised
fruits, icing sugar, sweet wine, plum
jam. Nice and lively. Hot caramel,
praline, cooked honey… Very
nice indeed. Long finish, on fresh
fruits (fructose) and light toffee.
Great balance! 86 points. |
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| January
1, 2005 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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| A
LITTLE WINE FOR MY VERY BEST WISHES
- and for once - Thanks to Christophe,
Thomas and Dominique! From left
to right:
Château
de Cazeneuve 1998, a
very good Pic St-Loup from Languedoc,
on full blackcurrant jelly mode.
Contrarily to what some claim, they
seem to age well.
Beaune Clos des Avaux 1959
Henri Mathieu, absolutely
superb - but again 1959 was the
Year of the Century. It's a shame
that the people in Burgundy make
their wines so that they can be
drunk when young nowadays. No young
Bourgogne will ever hold a candle
to these old-style ones.
Ai-Danil Pinot Gris 1940 from Massandra.
Lots of camphor, quince
jelly, apricot jam. Massandra is
near Yalta, in Crimea - rings a
bell?
Château Margaux 1983, perhaps
a little less mesmerizing than it
was two or three years ago. Declining,
already?
Château Haut-Brion 1986, austere
and majestic. That's Bordeaux!
Condrieu La Doriane 1994 by Guigal,
on violet sweets. Superb,
it can compete with Chave's white
Hermitages.
Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chaumées
1995 by Leflaive. Excellent,
on toasted bread and nuts, but it'll
start to decline from now on.
Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
1993 by Guigal. Tired and
declining. What? Already? Is this
the 'world taste'?
Moët & Chandon Rosé
1998, one of the best champagne
rosés, close to a 'still'
wine.
And finally, one of the very best
'generic' champagne, the Bollinger.
It beats most of the others
in the less than 25 euros range.
|
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:
Ardbeg
1990/2003 (46%, G&M for Symposion
Sweden, cask #3133, sherry)
Ardbeg
17 yo 1974/1992 (43%, Signatory, cask
#2026)
Ardbeg
28 yo 1972/2001 (49.5%, Douglas Laing
OMC, 222 bottles)
Clynelish
12 yo (43%, OB, Ainslie & Heilbronn
for M. di Chiano, Italy, 1970's)
Clynelish
28 yo 1965/1993 (50.7%, Signatory,
sherry butt #666)
Rosebank
30 yo 1974/2004 (55.8%, Whisyfair Limburg)
Springbank
1975/2004 (49.2%,
Whiskyfair Limburg)
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