 |
|
Hi, you're in the Archives, November 2004 - Part 2 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
TASTING
- 1964 BOWMORES: THE WOOD TRILOGY
The
three casks from this famous ‘wood
trilogy’ were filled with
malt distilled in November 1964,
and were all lying in the vaults
N°1.
Bowmore
38 yo 1964 (42.9%, OB, oloroso,
300 bottles) 
The
last part of the trilogy, released
in September 2003. Colour: bronze-greenish.
Nose: again the typical tropical
fruits: first lots of fresh orange,
then X-mas cake, roasted pecan nuts.
Goes on with old turpentine, juniper
wood, sandalwood and old rose. Whiffs
of incense, then peat, then pure
smoke, together with some waxy notes.
|
| This
beauty then stays on dried orange,
with some very nice winey notes from
the sherry. Mouth: a great attack
on grapefruit, banana flambéed,
caramel sauce and sweet white wine
(vin de paille). Plum jam. It also
gets slightly meaty, and perhaps just
a little clumsy. Perhaps the mouth
doesn’t deliver just everything
the nose promised, but this one is
still an absolute winner. 93
points. |
| Bowmore
38 yo 1964 (43.2%, OB, bourbon, 300
bottles)
Distilled
on November 11, 1964 and released
in Spring 2003. Colour: gold. Nose:
a little closed at first – just
some banana and some vanilla –
but it’s soon to open up, on
the 1960’s Bowmores’ main
markers: tropical fruits (mainly passion
fruit and ripe kiwi) and some very
nice ripe gooseberry. Goes on with
caramelised apple, old books, curry,
and hints of violets. A superb nose,
even if quite narrower than the oloroso
version’s. Mouth: the attack
is much more indefinite, but loads
of dried herbs are soon to arrive.
Quite peppery, with hints of mustard,
and finally some peat. |
|
 |
| Notes
of cold over-infused tea. Goes on
with white pepper and vanilla. The
finish is very long, on caramel and
pepper. Again a great one, but I liked
the ‘oloroso’ just a little
better. 92 points. |
 |
|
Bowmore
37 yo 1964 (49.6%, OB, fino, 300 bottles)
This
was the first of the series, and was
launched in September 2002. The two
casks came from the Macharnudo Albariza
vineyards. Colour: fluo yellow. Nose:
big bold tropical fruits (kumquats,
passion fruits) and lots of other
fruits like green plum. Havana tobacco,
leather… Some great peat shines
through, with white pepper. Then we
open another drawer, with lots of
waxy notes. The peat (the ‘farmy’
version) strikes back, with even some
cow stable notes. We also have some
perfume (Chanel N°5) – Paris
Hilton anyone? Lots of crème
brulee too. Mouth: rubbery attack,
followed by lots of crystallised orange,
Grand Marnier, Mandarine Imperiale
liqueur. Then we have some rather
bold peat, overcooked coffee, lapsang
souchong tea (smoked). |
| Again
lots of crystallised fruits, dried
orange… Extremely satisfying
and compact, if not monstrously complex.
The finish is very long, on Grand
Marnier (the Cuvée Centenaire,
that is). Wow, this one is the winner
for me. 95 points.
|
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Korean acid-funk band Asoto
Union plays Think
About Chu (mp3). Some ultra-simple
slow funk lines, a great voice, and
a Goerge-Benson feeling... It's not
that I'm too much into this kind of
music usually, but here it's most
enjoyable. Please buy Asoto Union's
music if you can find some... |
| TASTING
- A BLAST FROM THE PAST (and from
Italy): FOUR VERY OLD HIGHLAND PARKS
Highland
Park 8 yo (43%, OB, Ferraretto Milano,
70’s)
Cracked open for the Malt Maniacs
on Friday by Valentino Zagatti himself
at his place, in Lugo. Colour: gold.
Nose: quite medicinal and waxy.
Some grain. Develops on old books,
celery, fennel… It needs quite
some time to open up. Lots of heather
then, moss after the rain, fern.
Really great, getting more and more
coastal. Lots of cereals. Mouth:
astonishingly bold, on coffee and
vegetables (beans). Very grainy,
in a nice way. Sugared cereals,
cornflakes, muesli. The palate is
less spectacular than the nose but
still very good! I feel it deserves
85 points (emotionnal
rating 100 points). |
|
 |
| Valentino
Zagatti and Johannes |
 |
|
Highland
Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Ferraretto
Milano, bottled 1979)
This one and the two next ones were
tasted at Guiseppe Begnoni’s
Ali-Baba-cavern, in Bologna. A strikingly
great HP, this one! Colour: pure
gold. Nose: eucalyptus sweets, propolis,
wax, pollen… Fantastic. Develops
on passion fruits and burnt caramel,
fudge… Then lots of heather
and dried flowers, herbal tea. Just
superb. Mouth: so salty right at
the start! And so bold! Lots of
white pepper too. Goes on with tons
of dried fruits (mostly figs, dates)
and butter caramel. The finish is
very long and extremely satisfying,
with some very nice notes of old
sherry. How great! A wonderful old
Highland Park, so complex. Imagine
the happy Italians who could drink
this kind of whisky for quite cheap
not so long ago... 94 points. |
Highland
Park 19 yo 1959 (43%, OB, Ferraretto
Milano)
Colour:
deep amber. Nose: lots of camphor
and wax at first nosing. Burnt cake,
crème brulee, light caramel,
all very subtle. Some light pepper…
It then gets quite restrained and
somewhat closed after five minutes
– strange. Then it opens up
again after twenty minutes or so,
on dried orange and fructose. Smokier
and smokier, getting just a little
dusty (cinnamon). Mouth: slow start,
even a little weak, but then it grows
on and on, on bunches of dried fruits,
smoke, leather, chartreuse, tobacco.
It then gets quite medicinal, with
lots of camphor, bandages… The
finish isn’t too long, but you
feel like if you just had a spoonful
of orange marmalade. A great oldie,
very subtle and elegant, worth 93
points. |
|
 |
 |
|
Highland
Park 1902 (Berry’s All Malt,
bottled 1952 or 1953)
The
abv isn’t written on the label,
but this one’s been analysed
by the distillery itself, and it
is 39.8%. Nose: light and delicate,
with lots of sea air and bandages,
but almost no peat or smoke. Perhaps
the peat has just vanished? Lots
of leather, vanilla, grilled nuts,
old walnuts… Tons of ‘secondary’
aromas. How complex! Some great
passion fruit and kiwi too. Mouth:
paraffin, water, dust, old turpentine,
cold tea and very old sweet wine…
Don’t get me wrong, it’s
great, much more than just a curiosity!
Medium long finish. A rating? Organoleptically:
86 points, but
emotionally, certainly 99 or 100
points.The oldest malt I ever had.
Champagne! (and thanks again, Luc).
There
are many more tasting notes of great
oldies to come - stay tuned! |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
Hayden
sings Home
by Saturday (mp3). A broken, slightly
out of tune voice but certainly a
feeling and some nice arrangements.
I like him. A lot. |
|
 |
 |
|
GIFTS
- Seen on eBay, this
old whisky miniature sheltered in
a matchbox. The box is original. For
any urgent need of fire? |
| CONCERT
REVIEWS by exa-deluxe guest writer
Nick Morgan:
STAN WEBB'S CHICKEN SHACK, JOHN
MAYALL AND THE BLUESBREAKERS WITH
MICK TAYLOR
- London Hammersmith Apollo - November
16th
THE
BARCODES, WITH DANIEL SMITH AND
SONNY BLACK
- London, Landmark Arts Centre -
November 19th |
| |
| When
I was a young man, way back in the
early 1970s, we used to make our own
entertainment then – rather
than turn to computer games and reality
TV programmes. And Thursday night
was our theatre of dreams –
blues night at the Blues Attic. To
tell the truth it wasn’t an
attic, but rather the function room
at the back of the Jolly Weavers –
“weddings, funerals, bar-mitzvahs,
blues attics…” - but for
us, and for all those others at blues-attics
across the UK, it was our induction
into the soul of music. |
|
John
'Gandalf' Mayall |
Thirty
or more years on, last week afforded
an unusual opportunity to see how
the soul of music was faring. Tuesday.
Hammersmith Apollo. Balding, bearded
(not me, on either count) and bustin’
for the blues. First up was maverick
gunslinger guitarist Stan Webb, of
Chicken
Shack fame. A couple
of timeless hit singles, some OK albums
and then a painfully languishing career.
Stan, as he confessed, had spent most
of the afternoon in the pub –
and it showed as he struggled to remember
songs, lyrics and licks. The voice
(always a Webb trademark) was strong,
the guitar not. The band masquerading
as Chicken Shack were more like –
to be frank – chicken shit.
But Stan did remember to pay tribute
to John Peel, “oo strtd it ol
4 uz”, which caused a nervous
ripple in the audience as the balding
bearded ones looked around nervously
wondering who might be next …
Who was of course, the Godfather of
British Blues. John
Mayall jogged on stage
looking like Gandalf – minus
cloak- and proceeded to romp through
an hour or more of a slightly cheesy
USA Soul Review style show that nonetheless
confirmed why he is considered to
be so influential. Thirty-five nights
on the road yet this septuagenarian
sang, played and mouth-harped like
a man half his age, on blues and Bluesbreaker
classics. On guitar as Texan Buddy
Whittington, whose fluid fingerboard
style exemplified the American blues
guitar technique. |
Mick
'The Pieman' Taylor |
|
So
it was fascinating when veteran Bluesbreaker
and ex-Stone Mick
Taylor joined the set
(only just beating Bruce in the ‘who
ate all the pies’ contest) and
added his distinctly angular, and
Anglo, style playing. Thinking about
this later I could see why, ‘tho
I’ve been a refusnik for years,
Clapton (and for that matter the truly
great Peter Green) have been given
such universal acclaim, the likes
of which Stan, and so many other British
axe-meisters have never received.
And maybe that’s why Brits apparently
like Jack White so much – he
plays the blues like a limey.
One final note. John sang us a “new
composition” – in the
‘how are we going to save the
world for our children’ genre
of the late ‘70s. We cringed
when he rhymed ‘September 11’
with ‘Heaven’ –
but my 21-year-old daughter, taking
a night off from the Capitol’s
biggest buzz bands, simply laughed
(or maybe it was her advanced smoker’s
cough). Either way John – stick
to the Otis Span. |
| Magically
we found our way from this rather
soulless veterans’ night to
the beating pulse of blues in London
purely by chance – happening
on Friday at a gothic church at Teddington,
in the heart of the Thames delta.
On stage were the
Barcodes, featuring Scottish
blues-piano virtuoso Daniel
Smith, and acclaimed guitarist
Sonny
Black. In about half an hour Smith
played every style of blues-keyboard
known to man – failed only by
another sub-standard electric piano
– from Chicago down to New Orleans,
and we did the journey with him. Black,
looking like a languorous Texan Sheriff,
played acoustic and electric in the
British folk-blues style – another
musical twist – but was truly
captivating. |
|
Sonny
Black and Alan Glenn |
| But
the centre of gravity for the evening
were the Barcodes – who took
me back to my Blues Attic at a stroke.
Soulful Hammond-style organ and vocals
from Bob Haddrell (who I mistakenly
took to be the rustic jolly lock-keeper
from Teddington); artfully syncopated
drums from Dino Coccia; and solid
Brit style guitar from Alan Glenn
– the ex Yardbird and Nine-Below-Zero
harmonica player who truly dusted
the floor with Mr Mayall every time
he picked up his harp. Maybe these
guys have day-jobs (you know –
Banks, Building Societies etc.) although
the astonishing number of blues projects
they are involved in makes me doubt
this. But they oozed the passion for
the roots of rock that characterised
my earliest musical adventures. Apparently
they find it hard to get gigs –
I can’t think why. Check out
the website, buy the CDs, pick up
the ‘phone, and book them. In
a world full of barcodes these are
truly unique – and they deserve
to be cherished. - Nick Morgan
(photos by Kate) |
| Thanks,
Nick. Here are a few mp3's...
Stan Webb's Chicken Shack - A
blues song (low fi but very
good track)
John Mayall - Don't
waste my time
The Barcodes - plenty of short,
but excellent samples here
|
| 
|
|
TASTING
- TWO CAOL ILAS + TWO
Caol
IlaCaol Ila 8 yo 1994/2003 (43%,
Signatory, cask #10843)
Another one that illustrates the
new trend consisting in bottling
the malts at younger age, especially
the peated ones. Faster cash? Colour:
almost white. Nose: quite pungent
and spirity, fresh and smoky. Rather
close to a newmake, which is not
surprising, as the cask itself appears
to have been quite neutral (‘spent’).
Smells like medicinal alcohol –
just weaker. Gets a little minty.
Mouth: sweet and peaty attack, rather
enjoyable. Smoke, pepper, apple
juice… Not much else I’m
afraid. Medium finish, on pepper
and sugar. Easily drinkable, but
not really ‘single cask’
material, I’d say… Or
really too
young? 72 points |
| Caol
Ila 18 yo (43%, OB, 2004)
Colour: straw. Nose: starts on green
apple, liquorice and cold tea. Very
little peat at first nosing. Develops
on caramel, and vanilla – very
bourbonny. Smoked fish, tangerine,
gooseberry… Much subtler than
the 12 yo OB, but also a little lumpish.
Just a little… Gets slightly
sourish too. Mouth: starts on rather
heavy liquorice, smoke, fruit salad,
bitter almond. Hints of camphor…
Gets quite peppery and spicy. Again,
it’s rather complex and nicely
balanced. A gentle peated Islayer,
with a long, peppery finish, and some
nice notes of Darjeeling tea after
a minute or two. The Caol Ila 18 yo
already became a classic. 87
points (up one point). |
|
 |
| Caol
Ila 12 yo 1991/2004 (50%, DL OMC,
cask #DL 876, 360 bottles, 6 month
sherry finish)
Colour: pale straw. Nose, rather
restrained at first nosing, but
some interesting farmy notes emerge
after a few swirls. Ah, it gets
more and more complex. Very medicinal
(bandages, camphor, turpentine)
and grassy (wet hay, grass juice).
Develops on animal smells (wet dog,
horse stable) and dried seaweed
(varech). Gets very Taliskerish
after a few minutes. Mouth: wow,
what a nice attack! Dried fruits
right at the start, but lots of
smoke, rubber and pepper bursting
out after just two or three seconds.
Wow, it’s bold and compact,
too bad there are a few sweetish
notes… the sherry? It’s
nice, but I feel this cask would
have deserved to be bottled ‘naked’.
Bold development, on liquorice,
marzipan, dried ginger… Very,
very nice indeed! The finish is
very long, nicely balanced, with
a strange ‘sweet-and-salty’
feeling. A excellent bottling! 88
points. |
|
 |
 |
|
Caol
Ila 'Cask Strength' (55%, OB, 2004)
I had this one several times, and
I think I must have downed two or
three bottles. Colour: pale straw.
This one is more straightforward,
more direct – and perhaps a
little simpler. A big punch, yet not
a smack-in-you-face malt. Tar and
smoke (garden bonfire), green malt
and hay… Develops on apple compote
and hot milk, getting quite peppery
and spicy (clove). Not too complex
– but very, very nice. Mouth:
again, a bold attack, and again, it’s
somewhat simpler. Quite ‘creamy’.
Smoke, peat, apple, pepper…
Very maritime (salty), even if this
one hasn’t been matured near
the see. Develops on tea, camomile,
praline, dried orange, nutmeg. It
gets ‘wider’ after a few
minutes. Dried pear, banana…
I always liked it since it’s
been launched, and I still like it
for its great compactness and boldness.
A perfect hipflask malt for Sundays.
Well, let me quote the Smiths again:
‘everyday is like Sunday!’
88 points (unchanged).
Tie again! The DL is much more complex
but slightly sweetish, the OB is (much)
simpler but more ‘compact’
and straightforward. Both are highly
recommended! |
| GIFTS
- Seen on eBay,
this magnificient ceramic made for
the Italian market a while ago.
The box is genuine... I don't know
if it was a gift with a bottle of
Cardhu, but I'd say Diageo/UDV certainly
have had better ideas in the past,
like... like some leather pouches,
for instance. Now I'm wondering
whether they offered all the involved
distilleries with the 'pure malt'
version or not...
By
the way, together with fellow Maniacs
Johannes, Luc and Olivier, we'll
drive to Italy right today, and
visit several whisky collectors
there. We'll also attend Whiskyship
Zurich on our way back. I guess
we'll have some wonderful drams,
so, stay tuned to whiskyfun and
maltmaniacs! We'll be back on Sunday,
so no updates till then, sorry,
unless I manage to connect my laptop
somewhere. Whiskyfun is a little
too 'heavy' for some updates via
Bluetooth... Ah, children of the
Century indeed. |
|
 |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Oldies but Goldies:
a killer tune that helped many 45+
guys find a wife (erm...). Here it's
ex-Genesis member Steve
Hackett who plays King
Crimson's 1969 mega-hit 'In
the Court of the Crimson King'
(mp3) with Crimson musicians John
Wetton, Ian McDolnald and Chester
Thomson. Please buy Hackett's music. |
| TASTING
- TWO OFFICIAL LAGAVULINS
Lagavulin
1987/2003 Distiller's Edition (43%,
OB, lgv. 4/491)
Colour: amber-tobacco. Nose: wow!
Could this one come close to the
superb 1979 again? I didn’t
like the 1980 and 1984 too much,
but the 1986 was very good again
(86 points). This 1987 appears to
be quite complex, with lots of empyreumatic
aromas at first nosing. Burning
fir wood, resin, eucalyptus and
camphor on one side, and dried fruits,
Christmas cake, orange skin and
sweet white wine on the other side.
Don’t get me wrong, all these
aromas are perfectly melted. This
nose is simply beautiful, mainly
because it’s really something
else. It smells like a much, much
older whisky! Mouth: ah, beautiful.
Sure it’s very sweet (the
PX), but everything’s beautifully
melted. Coffee, smoke, crystallized
fruits (mostly orange, kumquat,
quince). Lots of herbal tea, liquorice
and ‘soft’ Xmas spices.
I don’t know who’s responsible
for crafting this, but it’s
plain excellent job. I love it,
even if I’m not too much into
finishes usually. The finish is
only medium long, though, and that
might be the only flaw, if any.
Perhaps at 45-46%? 91 points,
no less (yes, for a finished whisky!)
And one of the very few malts I
just can’t spit out while
tasting. |
|
 |
 |
|
Lagavulin
12 yo Special Release 2002 (57.8%,
OB, 2nd release)
Colour: white wine. Rather closed
at first nosing, but some heavy smoke
and overcooked coffee are soon to
develop. Frankly, it’s a little
rough and simple, especially when
compared both with the regular 16
yo (whatever the batch) and the Distiller’s
Edition. Sure it’s very ‘pure’
and ‘clean’, but it lacks
a little smoothness. Yes, Serge speaking.
It really starts to smell ‘the
distillery’ after a moment (wort,
beer, feints), and even like a cow
stable. Extremely austere… Not
an ‘enjoyable’ kind of
nose. Mouth: ah, now this is better.
Bold, powerful, coating… Now
we’re talking! Again a nice
impression of ‘compactness’,
which is something I always like.
I must have it HtoH with the Caol
Ila CS one day. Smoke, organics, malt,
Japanese tea (Kabuse), roasted peanuts…
Develops on crystallised ginger, cold
herbal tea, aniseed… Yes, that’s
more like it. The finish is very long,
bold, and slightly peppery. Another
one that takes no prisoners! 87
points. |
| MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
let's have some great blues, like
The
Modern Blues Band playing
mega-hit Mustang
Sally (mp3). All tracks on this
page are worth checking. What
a great band! By the way, they are
from... Moscow (Russia ;-). Please
buy their music if you can find some. |
|
 |
 |
|
HEAD
TO HEAD - OLD AND NEW GLENFARCLAS
30 yo OFFICIAL
Glenfarclas
30 yo (43%, OB, circa 1997)
Colour: light amber. Nose: rather
light and flowery at first nosing.
Some bold, but elegant sherry is
quick to appear (not the heavy oloroso
style at all). Lots of toffee, caramel,
cooked butter, vanilla stick, flower
nectar. Some minty notes too, eucalyptus,
beeswax. Hints of burnt cake, burning
fir-wood, resin. Some ginger ale.
Quite complex! I like it very much... |
| Mouth:
it appears to be rather simpler then
the nose. Tons of wood and tannins,
it gets rather bitter right at the
start. Lots of dried orange and burnt
breadcrumb. It gets curiously watery
after a few minutes, and the finish
is sort of short, with just some alcohol
and burnt wood on the palate –
and not much on the tongue. Well,
the nose was great, but the mouth
quite disappointing. 84 points.
Let’s check how the new one’s
doing now… |
| Glenfarclas
30 yo (43%, OB, 2004)
Colour: deep amber - much darker than
the old one, see picture above. Nose:
bolder, and more spectacular attack,
with the eucalyptus and resin coming
much sooner. More phenolic, with whiffs
of smoke. Lots of crystallised orange.
Some really great sherry in there…
A beautiful nose, bolder, with more
oomph than its older version. Wow!
Mouth: oh, this has just nothing to
do with the ‘old’ 30 yo
. A bold, creamy attack, on lots of
sherry, dried fruits (all kinds, pear,
orange, fig…), spices, cake…
Close to the greatest old Macallan
18 yo distilled in the seventies.
Great notes of eucalyptus and peppermint,
and some soft tannins and white pepper.
Beautiful. The finish is medium long,
but bold and balanced. What’s
sure is that this new 30 yo is just
another whisky. It turns out that
they managed to turn their formerly
overlooked 30 yo into a benchmark
malt, congrats!
90 points. |
|
 |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
highly skilled French pop composer
Benjamin
Biolay sings 'Les
Cerfs-Volants' (Paperkites - mp3).
Some say he's Serge Gainsbourg's spiritual
son... Benjamin is also Chiara Mastroianni's
husband (picture, right) - and Chiara
is the daughter of Catherine Deneuve
(picture, left) and Marcello Mastroianni.
Yes, Benjamin is the guy on the middle
of the picture. Lucky one. Please
buy his music! |
 |
|
TASTING
- THREE NEW INDIE MACALLANS
Macallan
1990/2004 Rum Finish (46%, Wilson
& Morgan)
Colour: white straw. Nose: ha! That’s
Macallan?! Fresh like a Lowlander,
almost grassy. Sour milk, Indian
yoghurt (lassee), hay, straw…
Butter, dill, parsley, and yes,
hints of white rum and old wood.
Rather nice! Develops on cider.
Mouth: bold and powerful, yet a
little sweetish. Candy sugar, cooked
apples, tea. Not too complex, I’d
say. Quite grassy. Coffee beans.
Not much development. Hints of cold,
sugared coffee – or Nescafe.
Long, but indefinite finish. Well,
not much happening here. This one
won’t make History, although
it’s rather drinkable. 80
points. |
Macallan
1991/2004 Extra Strength (50%, Wilson
& Morgan)
Extra Colour: light amber. Nose: this
one’s completely different –
much closer to the OBs, yet very different.
Much less creamy, sharper, on coffee,
over baked cake, liquorice, chicory.
Nice sherry, but rather in the ‘fino’
style. Roasted beans, hot bread. Simple,
but very nice and quite special. Mouth:
great attack, on tropical fruits on
one side and sherry on the other side.
Lots of oomph! Orange peel, candy
sugar, cake… Let’s check
if I still have some Cask Strength
OB somewhere on my shelves…
I’d love to compare both now…
Here it is, a 10 yo OB at 58.8%. Oh
yes, the OB is much more sherried,
more tannic and more winey. It really
sticks your tongue to your palate!
So, the W&M is somewhere between
the boldly sherried (former) OBs and
the full bourbon C/S Macallans one
can sometimes find at IBs like Douglas
Laing. I think it’s very good,
its finish is long – just a
little too sweetish for my tastes.
85 points. |
|
 |
 |
|
Macallan
25 yo 1978/2004 (50%, DL OMC, cask
#DL 1214, 258 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Nose: again a
different style! Fresh, clean and
fragrant. Lily from the valley, lime,
grapefruit. I like it a lot for it’s
purity. Gets sourish after a while,
though, but in a nice way: cooked
yoghurt, fresh creme, warmed milk.
Then it gets grassier and grassier
(straw). Very nice, but it smells
like a 8 yo malt. Incredible, it makes
me think of the old Glendullan 8 yo
OB, which I sort of liked –
just sharper and bolder. Mouth: oh,
I like it! Something really different,
sort of feminine. Floral (herbal tea)
and fruity (apple compote, rhubarb,
plum). Add a dash of pepper and some
nutmeg, and quite some tannins from
the wood, and you get something really
special. Nobody will ever say it’s
Macallan when tasting it blind! 87
points. |
| TASTING
- Glenfarclas 1991/2004 (46%, OB for
La Maison du Whisky, cask #5620, oloroso)
Colour: full amber. Nose: bold and
rich. Lots of sherry but not overwhelmingly
so. Cider apples, oak, butter caramel.
It’s nice – much nicer
than the 15 yo OB, but I feel it still
lacks complexity. Gets oakier and
oakier. Notes of beer… but the
sherry is soon to take control. I
know it’s oloroso but it really
smells like fino! Nose: nice, but
very oaky and tannic attack. Another
one that sticks your tongue to your
palate. Lots of bitter orange, Grand
Marnier… Again, not too complex
but highly enjoyable. Extremely ‘compact’.
The finish is long, on orangey notes.
Lots of oomph, but again, not too
complex. I still like it: 85
points. |
|
 |
| TASTING
- Brora 30 yo '2003' (55.7%, OB, 3000
bottles)
When I had this one the first time
– it was blind -, I answered
Dave Broom it was Talisker, and that
was in front of fifty French aficionados.
Laughable? Well, remember Brora and
Talisker were sharing the same maltings
back then ;-)… Okay, let’s
have another go at it now. Colour:
gold. Nose: wow! Taliskerish indeed…
Coffee at first, and then some huge
farmy notes, but not in a vulgar way
this time, whereas many young farmy
Islayers… Well, you see what
I mean. Lots of tropical fruits (pineapple
liqueur), dried pear, fig spirit,
smoke and pepper. Hints of tiger balm,
horse stable, wet dog. It gets grassy
after a while (fresh celery, roots,
hay). Goes on with some ‘coastal’
notes (lots of seaweed)… and
always a superb balance… how
elegant! Simply beautiful, better
than I remembered. |
|
 |
| Mouth:
wow!!! How rich and bold, yet perfectly
balanced and, again, elegant. Starts
on some bold liquorice stick, roots
(gentian), with hints of fructose
and lots of smoke, rubber, tar…
Sweeter than expected (dried fruits).
Lots of cold herbal tea. Again, just
superb. Some toffee, crystallised
orange, ginger. It gets quite spicy
after a while, with some nutmeg and
clove. Strong honey (chestnut honey).
How complex! The finish is long, on
rooty notes, nectar and white pepper,
and I
can't stop loving it. Okay, another
‘unspittable’ Brora! It
appears that the 87 points I gave
this one when Dave made me taste it
last time were influenced by my mishap.
Now I feel it’s rather worth
93 points. Yep, no
less. Now I have to taste the 3rd
batch, bottled this year. |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
India
Arie sings an acoustic
version of her hit Video
(mp3). Stunning. Please buy her music
- oh, I'd bet you already did! (via
Cyberchan) |
| TASTING
– THREE LEGENDS FROM THE SIXTIES
Excellent tasting session organised
in Paris by La Maison du Whisky
on November 18th, 2004. Thanks Thierry
and gang! |
 |
|
Dungourney
1964/1994 (40%, OB, Irish)
One of the last casks from the old
Midleton distillery, which was using
the biggest still in the world (more
than 150000 litres). It’s
a pure pot still whiskey, i.e. 50%
malted barley, 50% un-malted barley,
and it’s been triple distilled.
Colour: pale gold. Nose: grainy
and spirity at first nosing, with
quite a lot of oaky notes but curiously
almost no tannins. Bold nail varnish
and paint thinner, getting quite
grassy and developing on marzipan,
almond milk, broiled cereals. Whiffs
of rubber (brand new inner tube
of a bicycle tyre). Not too spectacular
right at the start, but it gets
better after a few minutes, with
a lot of beeswax, crystallised kumquats
and lemons and hints of old walnuts
and green barley… Mouth: surprisingly
pungent and even prickly, becoming
then much sweeter. Quite some pepper,
bitter almond, marzipan... |
| Again,
it’s a little oaky but not tannic,
and I guess the cask wasn’t
too active. Some pear spirit too,
and some cold strong coffee (ristretto).
The finish is medium long, with some
leather, pear juice, pepper and dust.
A very interesting Irish, even if
not an highly enjoyable one. A piece
of History? 84 points. |
| Springbank
40 yo Limited Edition (40.1%, OB,
bottled 2000)
Another legendary bottle. Colour:
pure gold. Nose: ah, this one is very
far from some punchier old Springbanks.
Rather closed and discrete at first
nosing, you really need to ‘work’
it and to nose it quite deeply. Then
you first get a whole bunch of wild
flowers! Extremely refined and elegant.
Lots of herbal tea (cold camomile).
Develops on some bold camphor and
eucalyptus, myrtle, thistle honey,
dandelion (flower nectar). Incredibly
fresh. Goes on with dried orange,
quince jelly… So subtle! Its
gets kind of buttery after a while,
with some milk caramel, vanilla fudge.
Hints of sweet wine (Sauternes) and
cappuccino. A small cathedral! Mouth:
superb, bolder and richer than the
nose suggested. Light sherry, white
pepper, fructose… Hints of orange
water. Lots of spicy flavours after
a moment, and then orange marmalade,
with the white pepper underlining
the whole constantly. It gets then
quite gingery, and slightly tangy.
|
|
 |
| The
finish is rather long, mostly on orange
marmalade and ginger. In a whole,
it’s rather light and a little
subdued, but extraordinarily fresh
and complex. Perhaps a little feminine?
94 points |
 |
|
Bowmore
‘Black’ 1964/1994 (50%,
OB, second edition, 2000 bottles)
Talk about a legend! Thanks 1,000
times to ‘La Maison’ for
this! Colour: deep mahogany. Nose:
extremely bold and rich attack on
fruit jams: blackcurrant, strawberry,
plum, cherry… Kirsch, wild raspberry
spirit… Goes on with dried figs,
dates… Then come some ‘funny’
meaty notes (game, grilled bacon)
and then some bold Kalhua or Tia Maria
(coffee liquor). Some winey notes
do then appear, mostly vin de paille
(straw wine) or eiswein. So rich!
A little peat shines through all these
‘jammy’ notes, and makes
the whole a little waxy (wax polish).
There’s also some strawberry
jam and crystallised orange striking
back, and then even some seaweed.
It’s incredible that some ‘coastal’
notes still make it through the sherry!
Mouth: strong, rich and bold attack,
as expected. Even rather balanced
at first, with lots of fructose and
some medicinal notes, buts it gets
quite heavy after a while –
some would say a little 'clumsy'... |
| Definitely
not a prima ballerina. Lots of coffee,
lots of smoke, lots of pepper, and
lots of jam (black plum). It seems
to get thicker and thicker, and the
balance gets sort of lost, but maybe
balance isn’t precisely what
one is looking for when tasting a
Black Bowmore. Chewier and chewier…
Lots of nuts (roasted hazelnuts) and
always these heavy jammy notes. Yes,
traffic jam on the tongue! As expected,
the finish is long and ‘jammy’,
the jam managing to sort of annihilate
the peat/smoke during the finish and
the retro-olfaction. Definitely not
the most balanced and complex amongts
the splendid Bowmores from the Sixties,
but certainly the most spectacular.
91 points. |
 |
| |
| CONCERT
REVIEW: THE BEACH BOYS - Sheperds
Bush Empire, London
Sunday November 14th - by
peta-deluxe guest writer Nick Morgan
God only knows what I’m doing
here. I’m in the Gents dressed
in a Hawaiian shirt amiably talking
prostates with a total stranger.
In the hallway outside the bouncers
are so bored they’re fighting
amongst themselves. Downstairs the
St John’s Ambulance Brigade
are doing a brisk trade in oxygen
masks and fibrillators. On the stage
the Beach
Boys (or at least two
of them), Mike Love (who looked
as though he had forgotten to take
off his bedroom slippers) and Bruce
Johnston (not an original BB –
but he joined the band when Brian
Wilson gave up touring in the mid
1960s), with what turn out to be
a band of highly accomplished musicians
and vocalists, are churning out
a tidal wave of surfin’ hits.
In case you’ve forgotten the
Beach Boys is a story of Heroes
and Villains. On the side of the
angels is Bonkers Brian Wilson,
the singing studio wizard who famously
wrote the tunes in his room, and
then lost it all somewhere between
the Beatles’ Revolver and
Sgt Pepper. Turning to a cask strength
cocktail of narcotics he became
one of the most publicised of all
rock recluses until his return in
recent years with a string of what
were at first almost embarrassing
concerts, and latterly with his
release of the lionised Smile –
or at least some of the songs from
Smile – the great lost album
of 1960’s rock. |
Much
loved, I note, by the same folks who
lavish praise and adoration on the
morbidified mediocrity of the likes
of Nick Drake. In the red corner with
D-evil are the rest of the boys; well
not Dennis or Carl (deceased), or
Al Jardine (fell out with Mike and
Bruce), but what’s left of year’s
of family-fall outs, feuds, and litigation.
One of the problems the Beach Boys
faced at the end of the sixties was
that they already seemed to be an
anachronism. |
|
 |
As they play thirty years on the absolute
irrelevance of their songs to the
modern world shines through more strongly
than a surf-swept sunrise. ‘Surfin
USA’ ? Well not any more –
unless you’ve had an eye and
fingerprint scan at Immigration, taken
your boots off to get through security,
and never had a hit single called
‘Mathew and Son’. For
better or worse the world has moved
on – but Mike and Bruce (and
for that matter the absent Brian)
seem to be in blissful ignorance of
this – trapped in a dollar wrapped
time-capsule - milking their musical
heritage to its last penny.
Yet even in a half-empty Shepherds
Bush Empire it seems that most of
the audience (or at least those that
are still breathing) want to be back
in the sixties too – and don’t
seem too unhappy at having paid £35
each for the privilege. As for me
– well wouldn’t it be
nice to get home and listen to Nick
Cave…- Nick Morgan (photos
by Kate) |
|
Thanks Nick! But why didn't you
save your quids and buy some whisky
instead? What, you don't have to
pay for your whisky? Now, if the
music was like this
(mp3)... Yes, it's the Beach Boys.
Btw,
I'll be away until Friday, and won't
have my laptop with me, so sorry,
no updates till I'm back. |
 |
|
TASTING
- ONE OLD GLENLIVET AND ONE HALF
Blue
Hanger 25 yo (45.6%, Berry Bros,
Glen Grant/Glenlivet vatting, 2003)
Colour: amber. Nose: really classic.
Caramelised apple, sherry, dried
orange, tropical fruits (guava).
Most enjoyable. Develops on milk
caramel and herbal tea. Lime tree,
camomile. Cappuccino, vanilla creme.
Really nice and enjoyable…
again, a classic, with some very
nice sherry. Mouth: nice, quite
creamy and very satisfying. Dried
orange, chocolate, vanilla, sherry.
Gets a little winey. Hints of white
pepper, soft tannins. Medium finish,
on toffee. Again and again, a true
classical Speysider, nicely sherried.
Not too complex, but really enjoyable.
84 points. |
Glenlivet
26 yo 1977/2003 (57%, Adelphi, cask
#13120)
Colour: light amber. Nose: much more
discrete than the Blue Hanger. Curiously
grassy and spirirty at first, before
some heavy winey/sherried notes emerge.
Lots of ‘wine cask’ aromas.
Old red wine, a little dusty. Old
books, Gets quite spicy: clove, cinnamon,
nutmeg. Keeps developing on cocoa.
Mouth: the nose was a little deceptive,
but the first mouthfeel is superb.
Bold and powerful, on mocha, dried
orange, dark toffee and dark rum.
Notes of bitter chocolate, sherry,
crystallised orange. Develops on dried
fruits (mostly apricot), grand marnier.
Hints of old wood, old oak cask. Very
long, dry and slightly winey finish.
A good, solid cask strength Speysider.
86 points. |
|
 |
| |
|
|
 |
|
 |
| WHISKY
ADS- Here come the
crazy Black and White dogs! Left:
at the beach, 1970
- right in a bar, 1974.
Arf arf arf! |
 |
|
MUSIC
- Recommended listening:
sung poem Whisky
baby (mp3) by Canadian duo Whisky
Child. A great blues,
with great lyrics - somewhat a la
Tom Waits. And Katharine Harris' voice!
'Whisky Child, what are you doing
now?'. Don't miss them! |
Check
the index of all entries:
Whisky
Music
Nick's Concert
Reviews |
|
|
|
|
| |
Best
malts I had these weeks - 90+
points only - alphabetical:
Bowmore
‘Black’ 1964/1994 (50%,
OB, second edition, 2000 bottles)
Bowmore
38 yo 1964 (42.9%,
OB, oloroso, 300 bottles)
Bowmore
38 yo 1964 (43.2%, OB, bourbon, 300
bottles)
Bowmore
37 yo 1964 (49.6%, OB, fino, 300 bottles)
Brora
30 yo '2003' (55.7%, OB, 3000 bottles)
Glenfarclas
30 yo (43%, OB, 2004)
Highland
Park 12 yo (43%, OB, Ferraretto Milano,
bottled 1979)
Highland
Park 19 yo 1959 (43%, OB, Ferraretto
Milano)
Lagavulin
1987/2003 Distiller's Edition (43%,
OB, lgv. 4/491)
Springbank
40 yo Limited Edition (40.1%, OB, bottled
2000)
|
| |
|
|
