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Hi, you're in the Archives, December 2005 - Part 2 |
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| TASTING
- TWO BRILLIANT BRACKLAS |
Royal
Brackla 27 yo 1975/2002 'Green Brackla'
(59.7%, The Whisky Exchange, cask
#5471, 204 bottles)
Colour: bronze. Nose: extremely complex
right at first nosing, starting on
all sorts of fruit jams (plums, oranges
– not marmalade – blackberries…)
and on hot praline. Lots of chestnut
honey, vanilla-flavoured chestnut
cream, starting to develop towards
some superb waxy notes. Furniture
polish, ‘natural’ shoe
polish, beeswax… Then you get
quite some chocolate and toffee, something
nicely cardboardy and whiffs of peppermint.
Hints of wine sauce… What a
superb nose, so complex! Mouth: very
playful, with again all the fruit
jams, the praline, the waxy notes
and the mint, but much less chocolate.
Rather coffee… Lots of crystallized
oranges. There are some tannins but
of the silky kind. What a body! The
finish is very long and complex, going
on with the same ‘mix’
of flavours. Just superb. 92
points. |
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Royal
Brackla 1976/2003 (57.1%, Scott's
Selection)
Colour: straw. Nose: bold and powerful,
with lots of toasted bread at first
nosing. Burnt cake, cereals, hot milk,
vanilla crème. Whiffs of limestone,
grindstone, garden bonfire. Kind of
austere but in an enjoyable way. It
gets smokier and smokier, with also
faint whiffs of fresh lavender, paraffin.
Buttered mashed potatoes, hot croissants.
Very nice in its own style. Mouth:
nervous but not pungent, easily drinkable
without water. Starts sweet and very
grainy and malty, with a little menthol
and fruit candies (pinepapple), melon
jam, maybe quince jelly, liquorice
and salt (just a pinch), carrot cake,
caramel lollipop, Werther’s
Originals… It’s very compact,
very rounded and really full-bodied.
Something waxy, cough syrup…
Very, very good and the finish is
long and enveloping, on fruit jams,
orange marmalade, caramel and mint.
Almost as thrilling as its oldest
green brother. 90 points. |
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Inchgower
26 yo 1976/2002 (49.9%, Hart Bros)
Colour: white wine/pale straw. Nose:
rather powerful and very fruity, with
little ‘age’. All sorts
of white fruits such as apples and
gooseberries, fresh strawberries,
ripe melon and kiwi… Notes of
hot vanilla sauce, a little paraffin.
Also some boxed pineapples, boxed
lychees. Then we have apple skins…
It’s incredibly fruity at 26
years of age. Whiffs of beer…
Mouth: very sweet and, again fruity,
with exactly the same aromas. Maybe
it’s more on kiwis and pink
grapefruits but other than, I could
just copy-and-paste the ‘nosing
part’. No, wait, there’s
also quite some liquorice, and it
gets definitely more citrusy after
a while. The finish is medium long,
mainly on sugared grapefruit. Anyway,
a 26 yo malt that tastes almost like
a 12yo… Not very economical,
I would say. 80 points. |
| Inchgower
24 yo 1980/2005 (60.4%, Adelphi, cask
#14152)
Colour: full amber with bronze hues.
Nose: now we’re on full sherry
mode, with lots of chocolate and raisins
at first nosing. Hints of burnt cake
and rubber but not much else…
Let’s let it breathe for fifteen
minutes… … … Good,
it opened up indeed, even if it didn’t
get really explosive. Dried oranges
as expected, cooked strawberries,
Cointreau… Something meaty as
often in sherried malts, whiffs of
balsamic vinegar, something waxy…
A flawless sherried malt, no doubt,
but no extravaganza. |
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| Mouth:
ha-ha, things are really improving
now. Extremely bold, extremely sweet,
extremely creamy and coating, with
some very bold rum (it could be rum!),
all sorts of raisins, oranges in all
their forms (fresh, dried, crystallized
etc.)… Almost pasty but no plumpness,
quite astonishingly. It’s quite
hot, at that. Gets rather coffeeish,
tending towards a double-thick Irish
coffee. Juts like the nose, it’s
not very complex but so bold and ‘invading’,
somewhere like a cough syrup. And
no need to say the finish is extremely
long, rummy and raisiny… Ah,
it’s almost like if you ‘eat’
it rather than drink it, and it is
an extravaganza this time. Anyway,
90 points for this
spoonable Inchgower. |
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MUSIC
– BLUES - Very,
very highly recommended listening:
veteran musicians Eddie Bo, Raful
Neal and Rockin' Tabby Thomas from
Louisiana, aka 'The
Hoodoo Kings', do an
energetic Hard
Times.mp3. Yeah, they are all
seventy - more or less - but gosh,
what a sound! Play'em loud, and please
buy their music! |
| TASTING
- FOUR RECENT HIGHLAND PARKS |
| Highland
Park ‘Capella’ (40%, OB,
UK, 2005)
Or was it 2004? Colour: straw. Nose:
very fragrant at first nosing, expressive,
typically Highland Park with quite
some honey and heather, slightly tarry
and smoky. Some notes of rum, fruit
cake, apricot liqueur, mirabelle jam…
It’s not overly complex but
nicely balanced and rather ‘present’.
Also something distantly coastal…
And some praline. Colour: very nice
attack, with quite some sherry and
fruitcake, toasted bread and burnt
caramel, vanilla crème…
Rather sweet and rounded but not ‘sleepy’.
Something curiously Macallanish (the
12yo), and it’s quite rich at
40% ABV. A certain creaminess. The
finish is rather long, balanced, very
classical. I really like it: 85
points. |
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Highland
Park 24 yo 1980/2004 (58%, OB for
Park Avenue Liquors, cask #7366)
Colour: gold – amber. Nose:
wow, it’s extremely coffeeish,
with also some very bold notes of
marzipan and cocoa. An impressive
sherry, with quite some smoky and
waxy notes, getting then very, very
‘balsamic’. And what a
beautiful dryness! The winey tones
are superb, with some old high-end
rancio and lots of ‘yellow’
(neo-oxidative, like in Jura’s
vin jaune – yellow wine) plus
tons of chocolate. A perfect sherry,
superbly balanced and ‘vital’.
Wow! Mouth: oh yes, it’s confirmed.
Powerful and vibrant, bold, creamy
but not ‘thick’, almost
invading… A more than perfect
sherry again as well as some superb
notes of candied lemons and kind of
an acidity that’s most enjoyable
and that keeps the malt really playful.
Burnt Smyrna raisins, cake, something
tarry and smoky… It’s
very ‘male’, whatever
that means. Lots of dried and crystallised
citrus fruits, a little almond milk
and walnuts… It gets then quite
bitter (nothing excessive) and a little
drying, but the finish is superb,
with notes of cough syrup (eucalyptus,
menthol, candy sugar). Beautifully
compact and highly satisfying! 91
points. |
| Highland
Park 38 yo 1966/2005 (40.7%, Duncan
Taylor, 138 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: very, very fragrant
and aromatic again at first nosing,
with lots of honey and the trademark
heather. Then we have lots of cooked
fruits (beautiful notes of quince
jelly, which I cherish), strawberry
jam, apricot pie… Very, very
appetizing. Quite some crystallized
oranges as well… And it keeps
developing, with a beautiful blend
of smoky, woody, meaty and slightly
soapy/waxy aromas. It gets then meatier
and meatier, on hot ham, but never
loses it fruitiness, with even whiffs
of bergamot (earl grey) and very ripe
coconuts, and, perhaps, a little fresh
mint. Extremely enjoyable and no sign
of tiredness. Mouth: a certain weakness
at first sip and quite some tannins
as well, the whole making it really
dry this time. Develops on some ultra-bold
coconut (even Malibu – yes)
and dried oranges, clove and ginger,
nutmeg, white pepper… Lots of
oak, with a rather short finish, with
some notes of rum… Well, this
one may have spent too much time in
its cask and went over the hill but
it’s far from being unpleasant.
And the nose was rather magnificent!
85 points. |
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| Highland
Park 1967/2005 (41.3%, Duncan Taylor)
Colour: gold. Nose: this one seems
to be much drier and more marked by
the wood. Rather caramelly and chocolaty,
and perhaps more vegetal, even if
we have more or less the same fragrances
again, just toned down for a few minutes.
But good news, it gets then more and
more expressive, with more oak (vanilla,
tannins, coffee beans, cocoa…)
Almost as nice as the 1966, just less
fruity and heathery and a little more
chocolaty. Which is a little scary
considering the palate… let’s
see. Mouth: oh, this is curious! It’s
very tannic again but not weak at
all, with some rather funny cheesy
and salty notes. Emmenthal? (you know,
that strange cheese that humorist
Coluche called ‘weird, because
when you have more Emmenthal, you
have more holes, and when there’s
more holes, there’s less Emmenthal’
– pataphysics indeed). Gets
very caramelly, with lots of coconut
too but, again, very drying as well
and getting then much quieter. The
finish is longer than the 1966’s,
though, and quite toffeeish. A rather
similar profile but more body. 86
points. |
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MUSIC
– Recommended
listening - Yes, the Herman
Düne are really
excellent! Why the English press has
called them 'Swedish Lo-Fi Serge Gainsbourgs',
I don't know but I like their twist.
Let's try for instance Suburbs
with you.mp3 (live at the BBC
in June 2005)... Nice, isn't it? Please
buy their music... |
| TASTING
- TWO 1978 GLEN ELGINS |
| Glen
Elgin 1978/2005 (47.5%, Adelphi, cask
#4512, 208 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: yes, another superb
Glen Elgin, it appears. Bold and punchy
but not overpowering, with some beautiful
hot praline, hot cake and beeswax
right at first nosing. Rather smoky,
at that. Goes on with lots of roasted
nuts such as pecans, cashews, peanuts…
some nice farmy notes as well (hay,
bonfire), milk chocolate… It
gets more and more phenolic, on humus,
smoked tea, hochicha (Japanese roasted
tea). Just superb. Mouth: very dry
at first sip, with lots of over-infused
tea and strong cider, developing on
strong tea, cinnamon, herbal tea…
Goes on with liqueur filled chocolate
and lots of dried herbs (mainly parsley).
The finish is long but again, rather
drying, on herbal teas and burnt cake…
In short, a nice one with a great
nose, that got a little too tannic
on the palate but that’s still
very enjoyable. 82 points. |
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Glen
Elgin 19 yo 1978/1997 (43%, Hart Bros)
Colour: straw. Nose: starts rather
fragrant and aromatic, malty, with
some nice whiffs of dry sherry, caramel
and hot cake. Develops on roasted
nuts, violets and roses, lychees (gewürztraminer?),
getting very heathery and very smoky
at the same time, with also hints
of new plastic, spearmint and lemon
balm, hot butter. Very satisfying,
a lot of ‘plenitude’.
An excellent surprise! Mouth: very
present (although not really full
bodied) but, alas, very drying, almost
astringent right from the start. Again!
Lots of tannins in there, with the
usual white pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg,
but also some nice flavours hiding
behind them. Oak, vanilla, dried apricots,
peaches, wit something toffeeish and
coffeeish. The finish is rather long
but getting quite herbal and even
drier. In short, too bad it’s
so tannic again, because the nose
was really beautiful. Did they use
special oak at Glen Elgin in 1978?
What, sessile oak? ;-). Anyway, 82
points as well. |
| MUSIC
– Heavily recommended
listening - Brilliant new singer Jaymay,
from NYC, sings Letter.mp3.
Absolutely superb IMHO. Please buy
her music! |
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SHOPPING
- For just $799.97, you
can 'add a dose of tranquility to
your life with a relaxed sophistication'
by ordering this club chair + ottoman
at Club
Chairs. What's so interesting,
you may ask... The name, sir, the
name! It's 'Clynelish'. |
CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
WRECKLESS ERIC,
supporting Wilko Johnson, The 100
Club, London, December 23rd 2005 |
| It
always seemed a shame to me that Wreckless
Eric was somehow considered
one of the also-rans of the great
Stiff Records stable of the late seventies
that spawned Elvis Costello and Ian
Dury and the Blockheads, a sort of
not-to-be-taken seriously novelty
act amongst novelty acts. No doubt
the name may have had something to
do with this, and the famously reckless
behaviour, and the astonishingly reckless
drinking that fuelled it, which became
for a considerable while Eric Goulden’s
demon. But he wrote great songs and
performed them with a unique candour.
If he was an artist, and if I was
an art critic (which thank the lord
I’m not Serge) then you might
describe his work as rude, or belonging
to a naive school. |
Wreckless
Eric in the late 1970's |
I’d
just prefer to say that his songs
were very open and honest, with not
a lot of room for subtlety. However,
obvious they were not. But hang on
a minute! Why all this past tense?
This isn’t an obituary it’s
a bloody review. And not only is Eric
still alive, he’s back with
a new(ish) album Bungalow Hi. Back
from where? Well, for a while Serge
he was in your lovely France, where
in addition to the highly regarded
Len Bright Combo he also had a band
called Le Beat Group Électrique.
And during this time he was also dealing
with his personal demons, as they
say in the wild world of rock and
roll. But to be honest he’d
almost disappeared from my personal
radar until I picked him up again,
talking with great frankness and humour
on one of those Sunday night religious
sounding radio programmes that I only
listen to in the car.
So that’s why we’re here
nice and early in the 100 Club to
see our man who is supporting Whiskyfun
favourite Wilko Johnson on this festive
Friday gig. We fall in with the Edinburgh
branch of the Wreckless Eric Fan Club,
who appoint themselves as personal
bodyguards to The Photographer. “See
that man” says one, gesticulating
with his beer at Eric, “he’s
a fucking God”. We’re
then shown mobile phone photographs
of set lists from previous Eric gigs.
Later I get the tattooed arms round
the shoulder treatment, “Listen,
how does he remember all of those
words. He’s a fucking poet man,
a fucking poet…” These
two aren’t the only fans, and
the rest of the crowd are good natured
enough to give Eric a fair hearing,
and he responds with a cracking forty-five
minutes or so. |
| He’s
a happy guy, despite the fact that
you might think otherwise from his
songs, and not just the more recent
ones. He’s also blessed with
a lovely smile and Tommy Steele eyebrows,
so even when the songs get bleak (and
believe me Eric does bleak very well)
there’s still a nice feeling
in the air. He chats, questions (“Am
I fucking this up?”), and challenges,
“Someone said this was the most
alienating song I ever wrote, so let’s
see what you think of it …”,
then “If you think that was
fucking alienating then try this one
…” Oh yes, and he’s
also wearing a very nice suit. He
sings, in no particular order, ‘Continuity
Girl’, ‘Same’, ‘Local’,
and ‘33s and 45s’ (introduced
with the comment, “Some people
find me difficult to live with, can
you fucking believe that?”)
from Hi Bungalow, ‘Whole wide
world’, ‘Joe Meek’,
‘Final Taxi’ and ‘Someone
must’ve nailed us together’,
playing acoustic and electric guitars,
with some funny stuff from a bass
keyboard that he sets off occasionally,
and also some congas that he hits.
There are also what Edgar Allen Poe
described in The Fall of the House
of Usher as ‘wild improvisations
of the speaking guitar’ –
reflecting the style of all the Bungalow
Hi songs, “Fuck, it’s
gone all progressive” shouts
Wreckless as he looses his way during
one of these. |
| Later
The Photographer disappears with her
bodyguards and returns with my copy
of Bungalow Hi signed with a message
from Eric, “Be kind?”
He means the review of course. I don’t
need to be. His set was more than
worth the ticket money, and we’ve
still got Wilko to come – I
should mention here that Wilko (who
was competing with the great Norman
Watt Roy for the roles of Ghosts of
Christmas Past, Present and Future)
was just as good as when we saw him
in March. But have a look at Eric’s
website
to see what he does with reviewers,
which is a sort of review and reviewer
deconstruction by the reviewee. Cool
stuff. |
Kate,
Whiskyfun's Official Concert Photographer
with Wreckless Eric |
|
And yes, if you do go to the website
you can not only order copies of his
albums (which you should do –
Bungalow Hi is really worth a listen),
but also his book, A
dysfunctional success, the Wreckless
Eric Manual. And you can look
up his dates and make sure you go
and see him if he turns up for a gig
somewhere near you – he deserves
the audience. - Nick Morgan (concert
photographs by Kate) |
 |
Many
thanks Nick, I remember Wreckless
Eric and his Cockney accent (always
very hot in France, a Cockney accent
- it's Cockney, right?) quite well,
although I had thought it was 'Reckless'
until know - but then again, I've
been writing 'Zepellin' for a long
time... I think Wreckless Eric's old
tunes deserve repeated listenings
indeed, and just like you wrote, they
may sound 'too easy' at first try
but then they sort of invade your
mind whilst gaining kind of depth
(my favourite is 'Take the K.A.S.H.').
|
| I
tried to find a sample from his latest
CD 'Bungalow Hi' (picture, left) but
couldn't find any - despite the fact
that all the reviews I could read
were pretty excellent. So, I just
ordered it from Eric's website, and
his book as well... I can't wait!
Now, there's something I fail to understand:
why the hell did he leave France and
go back to the UK? There must be secret
reasons somewhere! ;-). As for music,
we do have his version of Clever
Trevor.mp3 (from Stiff's Ian Dury
tribute album). Cool! |
| |
| TASTING
- FOUR DALMORES |
 |
Dalmore
21 yo (43%, OB, circa 2004)
Colour: amber. Nose: not very expressive
at first try, curiously watery (very
light tea) with whiffs of cake and
smoke. Quite some sherry coming through
after a while, with notes of dried
apricots and finally lots of nutmeg
and tamarind as well as coal. Something
distantly perfumy in the background.
Rather elegant but maybe it lacks
a little more depth. Mouth: again,
it starts a little weakly, with a
rather meagre mouth feel. Rather malty,
very sweet, with some strawberry pie,
roasted peanuts, overripe oranges
(very overripe ones). Sort of toned
down. A little cocoa, bitter caramel..
Something leafy. The finish is medium
long, mostly on smoke, fruit liqueurs
and caramel. Not bad at all but somewhat
antiquated. Not exactly thin but lacking
a little more body, I’m afraid.
79 points.
Dalmore 12 yo
(43%, OB, cream label, mid 1990’s)
Colour: amber. Nose: rather punchy,
very malty and caramelly at first
nosing. Bold notes of burnt cake,
a little winey, with something of
a Cognac. Whiffs of smoke. Gets then
very grassy and even farmy (hay) and
meaty, and finally extremely coffeeish.
Bold and rather complex, certainly
quite better than the current versions,
even if it’s a little austere.
Mouth: extremely creamy, malty, sweet,
bold and nervous – quite hot.
Strong notes of cooked wine, fortified
white wine, crystallised oranges,
marmalade. Lots of cake, mocha, sugared
coffee, Tia Maria, Cointreau…
And also some dried herbs, thyme,
parsley, rosemary. Lots of heat and
vivacity! Long, rather hot finish,
on rum, orange liqueurs and cooked
caramel. Very good! 86 points.
Dalmore
12 yo (43%, OB, bottled 1977)
Colour: amber. Nose: ah yes, this
is even better. Some superb waxy notes,
furniture polish, notes of Sauternes
wine, beeswax, flowers (peony, lilac).
Quite complex! Something superbly
resinous, fireplace, ashes, mustard
sauce, sherry… Strong honey
(chestnut). It gets smokier and smokier
(coal fire). Very, very nice. Mouth:
simply fantastic. A superb creaminess,
very coating, with an extraordinary
balance. Orange liqueur and resin,
lavender honey and eucalyptus, natural
tar liqueur and mastic… Some
marzipan, orgeat syrup, crystallised
fruits (kumquats, oranges, tangerines).
Gets quite smoky, with some notes
of burnt cake. And what a beautiful
and compact finish, on orange and
lemon marmalades. Just a superb malt,
extremely drinkable. No less than
92 points.
Dalmore
1986/2004 (43%, McKillop’s Choice,
cask #3090)
A very fresh one, unusually light
for a Dalmore but with a nice balance.
Notes of bitter oranges, nice vanilla
and some most enjoyable fruity notes
(apples, peaches, gooseberries…)
Lots of vivacity and playfulness despite
its lightness. A different Dalmore.
85 points. |
| TASTING
- TWO RECENT CONVALMORES
Convalmore
28 yo 1977/2005 (57.9%, OB)
A beautiful, old-style packaging.
Colour: gold. Nose: punchy and powerful,
starting very malty and very sweet,
on cooked strawberries, cake and
buttered caramel, with whiffs of
cinnamon and a nice, sweet and sour
woodiness. Gets then more herbal,
with notes of yellow Chartreuse,
Darjeeling tea, American coffee
and cocoa. There’s something
‘ascetic’ in it, for
it’s rather close to nature
(yeah, whatever that means). A malt
that’s isn’t made-up,
it appears, probably for aficionados,
like many of these new limited bottlings
by Diageo that appear to be rather
austere (but you might know I like
that) and without compromise. |
 |
| Mouth:
a powerful attack, extremely sweet
and quite woody, starting on fruit
liqueurs (such as pineapple), Chinese
rice spirit, with a ‘sweet-and-sourness’
that gives it something funnily Extreme-Oriental
indeed. Rather tannic, getting a little
drying after a while… Right,
let’s try it with water now…
(and while the nose gets even fruitier
and quite farmy as well…) Ah,
yes, now it’s much more civilized,
harmoniously fruity (apricots, peaches
and melons, even tropical fruits such
as mangos and passion fruits), with
notes of freshly crushed mint leaves.
The finish is rather long, balanced
and enjoyable with water, always very
fruity, with a little icing sugar.
A malt that needs water to get tamed
– or it’ll take no prisoners!
Anyway, it’s the kind of no-peat-no-sherry-no-prisoners
malt I like – 89 points. |
 |
Convalmore
1981 (40%, Strathblair Collection,
2004)
A curious fairly new series from Switzerland,
showing no bottling year and no cask
number although they are single casks,
most of them being bottled at 40%.
Hum. Colour: straw. Nose: very grainy
and fruity at first nosing, with quite
some light caramel and boxed fruit
salad. Whiffs of cologne, hot milk…
Big, bold notes of vanilla fudge.
Rather clean and nicely balanced.
Nothing too special but no flaws either,
I must say. Mouth: sweet and more
powerful than expected. Grainy and
malty, with lots of caramel and liquorice
sweets, herbal liqueur, maybe tequila…
It does lack a little body in fact,
but nothing too dramatic. Notes of
mashed chestnuts, English cake getting
slightly bitter but it’s okay.
The finish is rather short with quite
some bitterness, alas, but the whole
is still worth 80 points
in my books. Not bad at all. |
| MUSIC
– JAZZ - Recommended
listening - Brazil's Edgar
Duvivier does a pretty
excellent rendition of Bird's Donna
Lee.mp3 that sounds like a choro
(and Donna Lee is what jazz is all
about). Just superb! Please buy Edgar
Duvivier's works... |
 |
| CHRISTMAS
TASTING - A VERY RECENT AND A VERY,
VERY OLD TALISKER |
| An
interesting - I think - head-to-head
session with a young, recent Talisker
and an older one that was distilled...
More than 90 years ago, when Talisker
was still triple-distilled. But there's
no point in trying to answer silly
questions such as 'was it better in
the old days?', as 80 years in a bottle
will have taken their toll anyway.
Well, that's what I had thought in
the first place... |
 |
| Talisker
10 yo (45.8%, OB)
A recent version that I reduced to
40% a.b.v. for the purpose of this
unusual head-to-head session. Colour:
pale gold. Nose: rather maritime right
at first nosing, with the usual mix
of peat smoke, wet hay, oysters and
pepper (not an extreme pepper here).
It gets then rather waxy, with also
quite some beer (quite mashy!), porridge,
boiled cereals and fermented barley.
Mouth: it starts much more peppery
this time, with lots of spices and
quite some oak. Maybe it’s a
little harsher, less rounded that
some earlier versions, and it gets
extremely herbal after a moment (parsley,
mustard seeds) with also quite some
iodine, salt, getting frankly ‘seawatery’.
Almost no fruits and no sweetness
except, maybe, hints of dried pears.
The finish is long, extremely peppery
and very, very dry, with a lot of
persistence. No smoothness at all
in this very austere version for big
boys, that’s sharp like a blade
– but again, I like this kind
of rather extreme profile a lot. 88
points. |
| Talisker
Reserve 1913 (70° proof, Berry
Bros and Rudd, probably late 1920’s
- early 1930's)
The bottle was cracked open by its
owner right in front of my eyes, the
cork, which was probably a wine cork,
was in a relatively good shape, although
it broke into three or four pieces
despite careful handling. It was bearing
the Berry Bros logo. Anyway, let's
taste it now... Colour: pale gold,
slightly paler than the current 10yo,
with greenish hues. Nose: this one
comes from the same family, most obviously,
although there is something antiquated
here. It starts on fresh mushrooms
and wax, mixed with a little eucalyptus
and quite some camphor. It is smoky
indeed although not as smoky as the
10yo. It gets then rather resinous,
with notes of mastic and a little
marzipan. |
 |
It’s
also growing quite vegetal (hay, a
little fern, dried moss…) and
gets finally a little peppery, with
notes of old, waxed furniture. Slightly
musty indeed, but hey, more than 70
years in a bottle! After a good fifteen
minutes, it gets much more caramelly
and fudgy, and does the peacock’s
tail. Just superb!
Mouth: the attack is very creamy,
almost oily, very soft, waxy and coating,
with lots of camphor and oriental
pastries (orange flowers). Very delicate
but with a rather thick texture. Develops
on mastic-flavoured Turkish delights
(c’mon, maltoporn again!) with
a little olive oil. Goes on with quite
some caramel crème, marzipan
again, just before a certain spiciness
and quite some pepper do come through.
Quite some tannins at that, and a
very subtle peat that didn’t
disappear like in some other very
old peaty whiskies. Notes of walnut
liqueur, pu-erh tea… Now, it
does get a little cardboardy and,
to be honest, weak. I doubt it’s
still at 40%, I’d rather say
around 30 or 35%. The finish itself
isn’t too long but beautifully
waxy, with a little nougat and hints
of cough syrup. In short, a pretty
excellent old Talisker that still
smells (mostly) and tastes (a little)…
well, like a Talisker. The nose was
fantastic, quite similar in its profile
to the current 10 yo (although the
latter is much spicier, peatier and
much more peppery) but subtler –
93 points for the nose, whereas the
palate was all delicacy but, to be
honest, lacked a little oomph and
body (85 points). So, the grand total
is 89 points, even
if it’s much closer to 100 on
an 'emotional' scale. Watch this space,
we’ll have another interesting
H-to-H session on January 1st!... |
 |
CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - FRIENDS AND WHISKY,
WHISKY AND FRIENDS
What's more appropriate, in our money-driven
consumer society, than this quintessential
1972 ad for Johnny Walker to wish
you, once more, a Merry Christmas?
(... and did you notice the bottle's
level? It's just the beginning and
there are just four people...) |
| TASTING
- THREE LONGMORNS |
| Longmorn
15 yo 1990/2005 (60.4%, Single Malts
of Scotland, cask #30091)
By The Whisky Exchange. Colour: pale
gold. Nose: really powerful but surprisingly
aromatic despite the high alcohol.
Quite bourbonny at first nosing, with
bold notes of hot vanilla sauce, zabaglione,
apricot liqueur… Lots of caramel
sauce as well, oak, toasted bread,
developing on pastries (hot croissants),
milk chocolate and, after a few minutes,
vodka and perhaps coffee liqueur.
Incredibly enjoyable at such high
strength. With a few drops of water:
it gets more perfumy and herbal, in
nice ways. Hints of violets, lily
of the valley, a little smoke…
I like it. Mouth: again, it’s
easily drinkable when neat, starting
mainly on fruit eaux-de-vie such as
Williams pear and kirsch as well as
grappa, The pear grows bolder and
bolder, with also quite some grainy
notes, coffee liqueurs… With
water: much sweeter and less spirity,
as expected, but there’s even
more pear! Incredible, I’ve
distilled some pure pear spirit several
times myself and, believe me or not,
the output hasn’t always been
as ‘peary’ as this Longmorn.
A wood-matured pear spirit? I love
pear, that is… 87 points. |
 |
 |
Longmorn-Glenlivet
1974/1985 (60.8%, Samaroli, 600
bottles, sherry)
Colour: mahogany – bronze.
Nose: extremely sherried at first
nosing, very rubbery and quite sulphury.
Bold notes of bicycle inner tube,
bitter chocolate and dark toffee.
I feel this one was bottled just
at its peek, one more year would
have been too much. Really fat,
oily, but with still some nice notes
of fresh fruits. Probably a genuine
sherry cask, that had contained
sherry for years and years. |
| Not
monstrously complex but extremely
compact and very satisfying, with
also lots of liquorice and herbs.
A great sherried nose. Mouth: lots
of sherry of course, extremely bold
and powerful. Not that it’s
unbalanced but I’d call it a
howitzer of a whisky: lots of gunpowder,
dark caramel, toffee, toasted raisins,
crystallised fruits and even chilli.
A great one indeed but it’s
also a little tiring and too pungent.
Let’s try it with water now…
Ah, much nicer! It is a swimmer. The
dried fruits notes become much more
precise (pear, guava, kumquat) and
it gets also nicely medicinal. Garden
bonfire. Totally beautiful with water!
92 points (but only
88 without water…) |
| |
Longmorn-Glenlivet
12 yo (40%, G&M licensed bottling,
'Pure Malt', 1980’s)
Colour: light gold. Nose: extremely
fresh and vibrant, with lots of nectar,
pollen and light honey. Some great
notes of flowers from the fields and
lots of fresh fruits (oranges, tangerines,
bananas…) Very clean and so
enjoyable (even if not too complex).
Pure pleasure! Mouth: nice attack,
quite malty this time. Lots of crystallised
fruits, oranges, bananas, figs…
Quite some oomph, at that. It then
gets perhaps just a tad woody and
drying but nothing problematic. Rather
long finish, on dried oranges and
light toffee. Simple but excellent,
and what a nice balance! 87
points. |
|
MUSIC
– Very heavily
recommended listening - The interstellar
John
Coltrane doing one
of his most famous and tremendously
brilliant pieces: Giant
Steps.mp3 (1959) I could listen
to it 100,000 times and not get
bored. Okay, 100,001... 100,002...
100,003... 100,004... Hard bop at
its very, very best! Please buy
more John Coltrane music... |
 |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - SANTA LIKES WHISKY |
 |
| That
Santa himself was called for help
isn't really a surprise, is it?. Left,
Dewar's,
Xmas 1935, 'Making up
his Christmas list' - Middle,
Johnnie
Walker, Xmas 1976
- Right, Johnnie
Walker, Xmas 1977, 'This
time of year it's especially natural
to turn to red'. Oh my God! So,
Santa doesn't even exist, it was just
Daddy! I hope no little child managed
to put his hands on a magazine where
they were running this ad... Ah, it
was just in Playboy? What a relief!
What? In Hustler as well??? |
 |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening - I just checked that I
never posted anything about Laura
Veirs. How is that possible?
Let's quickly repair that by listening
to Rapture.mp3
(what else?) - and please let's buy
Laura Veirs' pretty excellent music! |
| Scapa
13 yo 1990/2003 (43%, Signatory, cask
#4324)
Colour: white wine. Nose: rather spirity
and extremely raw, mashy, grainy and
yeasty at first nosing. Little ageing,
it seems, the cask must have been
very neutral. Yet, it grows nicely
fruity after a moment, with some various
berries, freshly cut apples and pears…
Simple but not bad at all. Mouth:
very fruity, like a fruit eau de vie
or even a grappa, getting also a little
milky. Rice cake, vanilla crème.
Very, very simple but, again, drinkable.
The finish is medium long and, again,
very fruity. For simple pleasures…
78 points. |
 |
 |
| Scapa
1993/2005 (45%, Gordon & MacPhail
for La Maison du Whisky)
Colour: straw. Nose: this is much
more complex right from the start,
with some very nice waxy notes, beeswax,
resin, and even turpentine. The cask
must have been hyper-active this time,
as I almost never got such strong
waxy notes in such a young malt. Or
is it something else? It goes on with
some apple juice and cider, lager,
and lots of smoke (burning white wood).
Too bad . Mouth: there’s also
some Alka-Seltzer in the background,
old papers and dust, but this is an
unusual Scapa. Ah, and also some potatoes…
Mouth: a nice boldness, very sweet
but also quite resinous and waxy again.
Did they use some fir tree instead
of oak? Develops very smoothly, on
almond cake, sugared apple juice,
eucalyptus candies… It gets
even bolder and creamier after a few
seconds, with some olive oil, walnut
skins and hints of balsamic vinegar.
The finish is, as expected, long,
waxy and coating. A classy Scapa,
worth trying. 85 points. |
 |
Scapa
8 yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail licensed
bottling, 1980’s)
Colour:
gold. Nose: fresh and rather vibrant
at first nosing, with some bold notes
of apple juice mixed with a little
cinnamon. Nice notes of lemon balm,
ripe kiwi and old white wine (a little
rancio, hazelnuts), spearmint…
Nice hot caramel, vanilla pods, getting
a little cardboardy but the whole
is very nice. And what an enjoyable
freshness! Mouth: again, it’s
rather enjoyable. Quite caramelly
but also fruity (caramelized apples),
with some notes of coffee, liquorice
and toasted bread. Goes on with some
cocoa, coffee beans, vanilla powder,
cinnamon… To bad it lacks a
little body but the whole is most
enjoyable. The finish is a little
short and drying (mostly on coffee
beans) but again, this old young Scapa
is perfectly sippable, even if, maybe,
a little old fashioned. I quite like
it: 82 points. |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - SOCKS AND WHISKY |
 |
| A
good old idea - and Seagram, again
is king of recycling. Left, Dewar's,
Xmas 1934, 'A sock makes
a wonderful 'Stocking' when filled
with Dewar's.' - Middle, Seagram's
Crown Royal, Xmas 1972, 'Just
a little reminder. It's almost Christmas
again.. - Right, Seagram's
7 Crown, Xmas 1990, ''Hint.
Hint." You may think all
that isn't very subtle and you're
right. But Christmas advertising is
rarely subtle, is it? |
 |
MUSIC
– JAZZ - Very
highly recommended listening - When
two virtuosi like Michel
Galliano and Michel Portal
play tango together, it gives us a
pure thrill like their magnificent
live rendition of Astor Piazzolla's
famous Libertango.mp3.
Please buy their music and let's keep
jazz (and tango) alive and kicking! |
| Glen
Spey 12 yo (43%, James MacArthur,
2005)
Colour: white wine – almost
white. Nose: rather punchy and spirity,
close to a fruit eau-de-vie. Something
of a young Auchentoshan. Very perfumy
and fruity, with notes of freshly
cut apples and pineapples, getting
then yeastier and yeastier, mashy,
on muesli. As close to new make as
possible at 12yo, but far from being
unpleasant. You guessed it, no wood
influence here. Mouth: rather powerful
and very, very fruity, almost like
some mixed fruit juice where you’d
have poured some raw spirit. Notes
of cider… Gets then very resinous,
a little bitter but also rather citrusy
(grapefruits), with a little icing
sugar, pine sweets, getting rather
waxy, spicy, peppery during the finish.
Well, nothing too special here but
no real flaws either. 76 points. |
 |
 |
Glen
Spey 15 yo 1985/2001 (43%, Signatory,
sherry, butt #3045)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: quite
some sherry despite the very light
colour, even some wood (wow!). It
then gets very minty, resinous again,
and starts to smell like hash (don’t
ask me which kind), pine needles,
cough syrup… Quite astonishing.
Also some peach skin, varnish, paint
thinner… Sort of funny. Will
it taste like magic mushrooms? Let’s
see… Mouth: sweeter again but
also very waxy and, yes, resinous,
with some waxed paper, caramel rice,
cocoa, getting then more and more
peppery, with a finish that’s
very similar to the MacArthur’s.
Now, this one isn’t really better,
but certainly ‘funnier’;
ever got hashish smells in your whisky?
78 points. |
Nose:
extremely fresh and clean, fruity
and yeasty. A nice mix of white peaches
and fresh butter with just a few rubbery
notes. Develops on mashed potatoes,
zabaglione and lilac, with a little
smoke, torrefaction and quite some
vanilla crème, and gets finally
a little peppery. Uncomplicated but
neither bland nor dull. At all. Mouth:
as ‘promised’, it’s
more full-bodied than expected, with
a very fruity and caramelly attack.
Something a little bitter –
not really too bitter – and
herbal, smoked tea, parsley, diluted
pear juice… Gets then a little
gingery and peppery. There’s
still a certain lack of ‘fullness’
but it’s all quite enjoyable,
with a medium long finish, on pear
spirit, spearmint and a little paraffin.
An interesting youngster, with something
of a Zubrovska. 82 points.
Glenrothes
10 yo 1994/2004 (46%, Eilan Gillan,
bourbon barrel)
Colour: white wine. Nose: a little
sharper and markedly more vegetal
(freshly cut grass) and rubbery. Rather
bold notes of rubber band, smoked
tea, milk, vanilla, developing on
freshly cut apples and pears, maybe
a little lavender and finally something
slightly soapy. A simple one that
hasn’t got the cloudy’s
rather long development. Mouth: creamy,
coating, rounded and sweet at first
sip but getting then rather bitter
(rubber, apple skins, wood), in a
disturbing way. Notes of raw green
pepper, hot pepper, getting aggressive,
with something of a cheap gin. Hard
to enjoy for my tastes, and the finish
is medium long, quite rubbery. Very
rubbery in fact. I don’t like
it too much, I’m sorry. 70
points.
Glenrothes
10 yo 1993 (51.8%, Chieftain’s,
rum finish)
Colour: white wine. Nose: rum! Very
interesting to taste it after two
‘natural’ young Glenrothes,
because you can really get what the
rum’s influence is. Cane sugar
(no kiddin’!), something faintly
waxy, sultanas but also molasses,
before it gets very vegetal, with
a little peppermint, fern, raw alcohol,
mustard and curry… Not too easy
to enjoy, I’d say. Mouth: very
sweet and rummy again, almost sugarish,
on maple syrup, getting rather rubbery
again, vegetal, bitter (artichokes,
infused tealeaves), more on tequila
than on rum. Don’t get me wrong,
it’s not a miss but it’s
just not the kind of profile I like,
it’s too far away from a malt.
Right, let’s not bash it too
much then: 75 points. |
 |
MUSIC
– Very highly
recommended listening - Cool, very
cool... It's Brazil's Romulo
Froes singing a very
delicate and intimate Sem
nada pra dizer.mp3. Aahhh... Please
buy Romulo's music and support all
'authentic' artists from Brazil. |
| CRAZY
WHISKY NEWS: STOLEN WHISKY ON ISLAY
- CULPRIT FOUND! It
all started when the people at Ardbeg
Distillery had wanted to select a
new cask for the 2005 Belgian single
cask limited bottling. A sherry butt
filled in 1972 was found to be completely
empty! There was a hole in the bottom
of the cask and kinds of 'crumbs'
of oak were lying on the floor. A
bunch of malt maniacs and Plowedsters
who had just visited the warehouse
had been first suspected and Scotland
Yard was on the case... |
 |
| It's
only when, six months later, Dutch
whisky enthusiast Ruud van Pitloover
finally developed the 12,000+ photographs
he had taken during the 2005 Islay
Whisky Festival that an odd detail
was uncovered on one of the pictures
(see above). Ruud told Whiskyfun:
"Ja, I had taken a few photographs
of the sheep that's usually strolling
on the hills behind the distillery
and it's only when looking closer
at one of them that I could spot something
rather incongruous..." Quite
a relief for all the maniacs indeed! |
 |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: are you pro-Kinnie
Starr or anti-Kinnie
Starr? Well, I'm all for her, despite
the heavy 'electronics'. And what
a voice! So, please, listen to Alright.mp3
and make up your own mind - and then
rush out and buy her music. (photo
by Robert Kenney) |
|
SEEN
IN STRASBOURG, ALSACE -
This small photocopied poster hung
on a a do-not-enter street sign
in a little alley: 'Je n'ai
jamais dit que vous deviez autant
consommer pour célébrer
mon anniversaire !!!' (I never
said you had to consume that much
to celebrate my birthday!!!). Does
that include whisky? I suppose the
answer is 'yes', even if whisky
isn't just goods, it's Culture,
it's History, it's 'spiritual food',
it's... What? You say I'm going
too far? Errr, yes, well, don't
we all need justifications these
days? |
 |
| |
| TASTING
- THREE MACALLANS |
 |
Macallan
14 yo 1990/2005 (53.9%, Adelphi, cask
#10136, 211 bottles)
Colour: pale amber. Nose: starts funnily
medicinal for a Mac, with also quite
some camphor, turpentine, Vicks Vaporub…
goes on with some notes of wet fern,
forest under the rain… Probably
not a dazzling glory but it’s
extremely interesting. Mouth: very
punchy attack, with some bold liquorice
and candied fruits, getting then nicely
herbal, all that in a perfect balance,
especially during the long and coating
finish. Most likeable and, again,
interesting – one to try, definitely.
87 points. |
| Macallan-Glenlivet
17 yo 1987/2005 (59.1%, Cadenhead
Authentic Coll., sherry butt, 630
bottles)
Colour: amber. Nose: starts with some
very bold but rather balanced sherry
– almost vinous – with
lots of coffee, dark chocolate and
rum, as well as bitter oranges, Corinthian
raisins and roasted peanuts. Some
meaty notes as well, game, caramelized
meat sauce… It’s nice.
Mouth: creamy, powerful, almost too
aggressive, with an overwhelming,
dominating oloroso and some sourish
notes that are slightly excessive
for my tastes. Lots of chocolate,
dark rum, simple cognac… One
has to really love sherry to enjoy
this Macallan. The finish is long
but rather drying – for sherry
monsters freaks only. 83 points. |
 |
 |
Macallan
1990/2004 'Exceptionnal Single Cask'
(59.6%, butt #24483)
Colour: amber. Nose: strong, powerful,
with a big, bold, beautiful sherry.
A true classic. Lots of raisins, toffee,
dried fruits, bitter oranges, Grand-Marnier,
Whiffs of coal smoke, cooked wine,
chocolate and burnt cake… Not
much else to say, it’s simple
but it’s perfect. Mouth: creamy
and nervous, invading and very sherried,
no need to say. Lots of crystallized
orange zests, kumquats, caramelized
wine sauce, cooked fruits, toffee,
chocolate… Again, a total classic,
that needs no further comments. 90
points. |
| TASTING
- THREE SINGLE GRAINS |
| Invergordon
39 yo 1965/2005 (49,8%, Duncan Taylor
for The Whiskyfair, 90 b.)
Colour: gold. Nose: extremely fresh
and clean, smelling exactly like some
freshly squeezed oranges and tangerines
at first nosing. Develops on grain,
light caramel, oriental pastries,
rubbed orange skins… Hints of
fresh mastic and whiffs of natural
varnish, with then some bold notes
of vanilla beans arising and, curiously
quite some malty notes (the coffee
ersatz some old people still drink
here). |
 |
| Ah,
also some marzipan… It was very
simple at first nosing but it got
much more complex after a few minutes,
that’s great. Mouth: very sweet,
starting on caramelized cereals and
getting then rather fruity, with quite
some apple and pear pie. Develops
on roasted peanuts, marzipan again,
eucalyptus candies… Rather simple
but very, very nice indeed. What strikes
me is that it tastes quite young,
and except if the cask has been very
neutral (which I doubt), it makes
me wonder if Invergordon does not
age slower than many malts. Yes, I
know grains are supposed to age at
full speed… Anyway, 86
points for this excellent
old grainy beauty. |
| |
|
Invergordon
1964/2005 (47.1%, Adelphi, Cask #57637)
Colour: gold. Nose: very, very similar,
just hotter at first nosing. It gets
then a little waxier and less orangey,
with more wax polish, encaustic and
some bolder notes of marzipan. Just
as nice! Mouth: beautiful again, creamier
than the 1965, with more body. It’s
also closer to a malt, with lots of
dried fruits, wax, caramelized cereals
again, roasted nuts, marzipan indeed,
butterscotch, cake, sugared tea…
Lots of oomph and a long and coating
finish, at that. Another beautiful
old Invergordon, very interesting
because just like the 1965, it’s
more ‘natural’ than the
(great) sherried Invergordon one can
find these days. 87 points. |
 |
North
British 1980 (60.3%, OB, new oak cask,
circa 2000?)
An off-commerce - I think - single
grain whisky, probably made only out
of corn – or in the majority,
at least - as North British processes
only corn these days (switching from
one cereal to another one needs lots
of time and equipment tweaking, I
think). Colour: straw. Nose: very
grainy of course, rather pure and
clean, with something that makes me
think of J&B. Quite some vanilla,
freshly baked pastries, white flowers
and oak (fresh sawdust)… No
too complex, as expected, but rather
balanced and not bland at all. Rather
interesting, especially because there’s
no sherry involved. Keeps developing
a bit, on caramelized apples and lots
of milk chocolate. |
| Mouth:
very sweet, fruity and extremely bourbonny.
Lots of syrups (pomegranates, plums),
with tons of vanilla and oaky notes.
Gets very fudgy and caramelly, with
some hints of burnt milk. Well, it’s
not exactly complex but not bland
either. The finish is long and bold,
quite spirity, somewhere like if it
was a cask strength J&B. Worth
trying, definitely. 80 points
(thanks for this opportunity, Christophe
and Olivier). |
| |
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
| |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - RATIONALES FOR CHOOSING
GIFTS - part 7 |
 |
| Left:
Teacher's,
Xmas 1967, 'Make a big
splash for the holidays - no gift
improves the flavour of water like
Teacher's' The old trick of whisky
improving water, they did it again.
Right: Ballantine's,
Xmas 1967, 'Good taste
is why you give it.' Short and
sweet... |
| TASTING
- THREE INDIE TALISKERS |
| Talimbourg
23 yo 1982/2005 (49.5%, The Whisky
Fair, bourbon hogshead, 222 bottles)
A
brand new bottling by our Limburgian
friends. Colour: straw. Nose: here’s
a very clean, very straightforward
Talisker, it seems. Not extremely
expressive right at first nosing,
with a rather typical kind of austerity,
with just whiffs of lemon juice and
wet hay. Not very peaty, that’s
for sure. Starts to develop rather
slowly, on some very nice mineral
notes, such as gunflints, wet chalk,
going on with notes of grape clusters,
grass, fern, rubbed apple and lemon
peels, whiffs of paraffin. A profile
I like very much, even if it’s
a little ‘Jansenist’.
Very, very pure. Mouth: very similar,
with more peat but also lots of sugared
lemon juice, wax, various herbs (thyme,
parsley, chive). The usual pepper
is well here as well, as well as a
little clove. It is sort of austere
again – but I like austerity
just as much as extravagant richness
in my malts (so well, you may ask?).
Anyway it’s got a medium long
but perfectly balanced finish, with
some very peaty notes at the retro-olfaction.
Most enjoyable and recommended. 91
points. |
 |
 |
Talisker
25 yo 1975/2001 (55%, The Bottlers,
cask #3727)
Colour: straw. Nose: now we’re
on a much farmier and sweeter Talisker,
although it’s not that different.
Again these mineral and vegetal, grassy
notes but also some wet dog (not a
dirty street bastard’s) and
also some bold grapefruit juice. Just
as nice, I’d say, even if a
little less pure and clean. Mouth:
more powerful and also sort of bitterer
and sweeter at the same time. Some
strange notes of rotting oranges,
with also something rather oddly perfumy.
Ahem! Cheap curaçao, old ham,
bacon… Gets very waxy and rubbery
(ever tasted rubber bands at school?)
Too bad, I feel the palate is slightly
flawed, especially after its great
nose – and after the superb
Talimburg. Anyway, let’s give
it 80 points –
it’s not that calamitous! |
| Fiskavaig
27 yo 1977/2005 (51.3%, Douglas Laing
for The Whisky Shop, 265 bottles)
Another
one from the only distillery on the
Isle of Skye. Colour: gold. Nose:
a perfect balance at first nosing,
a superb mix of peat smoke, sea air
and cider. Very, very clean and straightforward,
not too complex but so enjoyable.
Notes of milk chocolate and vanilla
fudge, green bananas. And, of course,
whiffs of pepper. Mouth: full bodied,
very sweet and very peaty at the same
time. Lots of liquorice in there but
again a perfect balance. Quite some
salty notes, violet candies…
Not complex at all but extremely satisfying.
Ah, simple pleasures! 90 points. |
 |
| |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - RATIONALES FOR CHOOSING
GIFTS - part 6 |
 |
| Left:
Ballantines,
Xmas 1971, 'Educate your
friends' a cool packaging that
reminds us of Springbank's famous
'ceramic books'. Right: Vat
69, Xmas 1967, 'Give
& Take.' Introducing that
funny 'traveller's' bottle that fitted
in any attaché-case. |
| TASTING
- TWO SUPERB GLENLOCHIES |
 |
Glenlochy
1974 (40%, G&M Connoisseur’s
Choice old map label, early 1990’s)
No age statement or bottling year
on this one. Colour: light amber.
Nose: wow, lots of oomph, quite unexpectedly.
Some beautiful notes of freshly squeezed
oranges, quince jelly, ripe mangos
and guavas… Superb! Something
of the old Lochsides or Clynelishes,
getting rather waxy and starting to
smell like a pine forest, fir honey,
menthol and honey sweets, a little
eucalyptus, camphor… Add to
that a little caramel and quite some
pepper and you’ll get the picture:
it’s a perfect malt. |
| Mouth:
again, quite some oomph, even it suffers
from being quite cardboardy right
at first sip, a little bitter and
extremely herbal. Quite some peat
coming through now with also a nice
waxiness, quite some dried oranges,
chlorophyll chewing gum, getting suddenly
very, very spicy and quite meaty,
with also some soy sauce, lots of
pepper… Unusually bold, rich
and complex, and even the finish is
very long (and salty!) for a Connoisseur’s
Choice. A great surprise, even if
it’s probably not an ‘easy’
malt. 90 points. |
Glenlochy
25 yo 1980/2005 (55.9%, Silent Stills
for Waldhaus am See, cask #2821, 259
bottles)
A bottling by Signatory for Switzerland.
Colour: pale straw. Nose: really powerful
and incredibly peaty and medicinal.
Extremely rooty, earthy, waxy…
Some bold notes of cow stable, gentian,
wet hay… Goes on with bandages,
embrocations, eucalyptus, smoked tea,
camphor… Then it sort of tones
down, shifting towards marzipan and
herbal tea. A great surprise in any
case, I didn’t know that they
had made such peated malt at Glenlochy
– it’s rather excellent,
not the ‘simple, quick and dirty’
kind of peatbomb at all. |
 |
| Mouth:
oh yes, lots of peat here, very ’Ardbeg’.
Lots of pepper, smoke, tealeaves,
applesauce, dried ginger, lemon, grapefruit…
And a salty feeling on top of that.
Quite simpler than what the nose suggested
but still very nicely made –
perhaps just a tad too austere, despite
the nice notes of violet candies coming
though after a moment. And the finish
is very long, peaty and sweeter now.
Anyway, again a great surprise. Glenlochy
rules! 89 points. |
 |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening - 'You'd better slow down,
honey'... Yeah and listen to The
Ramblers doing Two
Timin Woman.mp3. Some good old
greasy country-rock! Please buy these
Ramblers' music. When you have a CD
called 'Rindin in the wind' you can't
be... Well... |
| |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - RATIONALES FOR CHOOSING
GIFTS - part 5 |
 |
| Left:
Crown
Royal, Xmas 1978,
'You don't give it. You bestow
it - Seagram's Crown Royal. The legendary
Canadian. In the purple sack. Understandably
expensive'. Right: J&B,
Xmas 1979, 'Will your
gift come out ahead of the others?'.
|
| CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
ROBERT PLANT
AND THE STRANGE SENSATION,
The Forum, London, December 6th
2005
Isn’t
it strange how you can get a thought
in your mind, and it just won’t
go away. Like Health and Safety.
Why, in a packed balcony of a packed
Forum did the security guys allow
people to sit in the gangways, effectively
making exit to bar, beer and potentially
escape, impossible for several hundred
people? |
 |
| And
why, at the end of the gig were all
the upstairs exits closed (yes –
I know, it was the after show piss-up
in the bar) forcing a few unpleasant
moments of anger frustration and panic
on this most good natured of crowds
as we were herded down narrow stairways
to the main dance floor? And why –
even there – was the route to
the exit obstructed by the merchandising
store? |
 |
And
who booked Th’
Legendary Shack Shakers as support
act? They deserved their own particular
health warning – “what
were they called then?” asked
the computer guys behind me, “we
need to know so we can be sure never
to see them again…” Actually
I quite liked them, but was largely
in a minority of one in this jungle
of ‘I was at Knebworth’
T-shirt wearing Led Zeppelin fans.
And why was no weight limit put on
the crowd? I have rarely been on a
balcony that rocked and rolled as
much as this one, but when Mr and
Mrs Whoateallthepies stood up to dance
at the end I swear my whole life passed
before my eyes. |
| In
fact it seemed to me that the only
person who’d really taken note
of health and safety lessons learned
was the svelte Robert
Plant, in his now-famous
baggy self-fibrillating trousers,
invented especially for him after
his eleven years leading the world’s
greatest rock band in the world’s
tightest trousers. |
| There’s
a bit of a Middle Eastern hippy thing
going on, somewhat alarmingly reminiscent
of CS&N. Rugs on the stage, bunches
of joss sticks burning from the monitors
(regularly refreshed by the roadies),
and peppermint tea in a nice mug for
Mr Plant. |
|
All
we’re missing are scented rose
petals. As the band crack into two
tunes from the new album The Mighty
Rearranger, they begin to dance around
the stage like spliffed-out waiters
in a Stoke Newington kebab house,
with no regard for how many plates
they smash. ‘Ooops’ says
Plant as he drops his tambourine (he’d
earlier only narrowly avoiding strangling
himself as he tried a bit of microphone
swirling callisthenics), “I
keep on seeing the doctor about that
but I just can’t remember how
to do it any more”. The new
album, if you haven’t heard
it, is a real cracker, with a Grammy
nomination for Plant as vocalist on
the song ‘Shine it all around’,
and for the song (‘Best hard
rock performance’) ‘Tin
Pan Alley’, both of which we
got in the course of the evening,
along with ‘Another tribe’,
‘Let the four winds blow’
and ‘The enchanter’ (I
think). These songs are richly textured
rock pieces, where, according to something
I read, ‘the Mississippi Delta
meets the Atlas Mountains’.
The Middle Eastern stuff marks a logical
progression for Plant given his recent
work, and it can even be heard in
some Zeppelin songs too, but it’s
cranked up by the new band, for which
the word ‘accomplished’
is hardly sufficient. They weave their
songs together with mastery –
and it was a pleasure just to see
them at work. At the back of the band
is a sort of West of England conspiracy
– keyboard player John Baggott
worked with Bristol’s Massive
Attack and Portishead, drummer Clive
Deamer is a veteran of Portishead’s
path breaking Dummy, whilst bass player,
the ‘unknown’ Billy Fuller
is also a Bristol ex-pat. |
 |
Up
front guitarists Skin and Adams perform
a lip smacking beauty parade of mostly
hollow bodied guitars (who polishes
them?). Skin is mostly hunched over
his guitars, periodically tweaking
the rather excessive four story effects
tower at the right of the stage. Justin
Adams leads the dervish dancing
and, brought up in a diplomatic family
in the Middle East (where he also
learned to play the blues guitar)
seems to be the main source of the
devilish mix of musical and cultural
influences that inform their set.
All the songs are set in this similar
deep groove which you might think
was repetitive – but it’s
Plant’s voice (which is remarkably
fresh) and the individual twists and
turns that the band give them that
keep it fresh. And, I should observe,
they’re all having a wonderful
time, and none are subdued by being
in the presence of a Rock God. |
| “Hey,
how do you like my covers band?”
says Plant. In addition to the new
work they play Arthur Lee and Love’s
‘Seven and seven is’,
Dylan’s ‘The girl from
the North country’ and an absolutely
awesome version of ‘Hey Joe’
– sorry for the hyperbole Whiskyfun
rock fans – but you just had
to be there to hear this one. And
then of course there’s the Zeppelin
material – artfully mixed into
the set. ‘Black Dog’ comes
first. Then “this is the song
that was born in the misty mountains
of the last century … you can’t
keep on trading on that, unless you
need to …” as they break
into ‘Going to California’,
a souked-up version of ‘What
is and what should never be’
(which includes a grinning Plant astride
the front of the stage, mike-stand
above his head), ‘When the levee
breaks’, and finally after a
very bluesy Justin Adams led ‘Hoochie
Coochie Man’ the inevitable,
but highly agreeable, ‘Whole
lotta love’ – and even
this wasn’t spared the Kebab
shop treatment. |
| Of
course by then it was little short
of mayhem – the balcony tossed
and pitched like a boat at sea, jumping,
dancing, hands waving, why even the
friezing Roman centurions on the walls
seemed to be waving their spears and
brandishing their shields along with
the irresistible rhythms. And in a
few corners even some tears from youngsters
who obviously never thought they’d
witness the day. |
|
|
 |
 |
It
was a scorcher. Buy the album –
and try and find a soon to be released
live EP of the new band recorded in
Paris (just hope and pray it has ‘Hey
Joe’ on it). By combining with
a young(ish) and highly innovative
band Plant has shown that under the
right circumstances old rock and rollers
need never die. At the end as they
left the stage he paused, walked back
to the microphone, shrugged his shoulders
and said “what else should I
do?”. Quite right too. - Nick
Morgan (concert photos: colour by
Kate, black by Nick's new Nokia). |
| Thanks
a bunch, Nick. Robert Plant’s
quite hot in France too these days
and I like what he's doing a lot -
I still remember my first encounter
with Led Zeppelin, I was a boy scout
and we used to listen to their first
albums all day long instead of doing
all sorts of useful, educational 'things'
we were meant to do, according to
our parents and to the parson (no
need to say the latter hated these
devilish, extremely long-haired -
for the time - Lehdzeppeluh). Now,
as for your new Nokia, thank you so
much for having sent me something
I've been looking for for a long time:
the only known photograph of the Great
Strikes at the Brora coal mine in
1919. A rarity indeed. And regarding
music, why not have a 12,254th go
at Kashmir.mp3,
possibly the ‘old ledzep’
tune that’s closest to Robert
Plant’s recent works - if you
agree. |
| |
| TASTING
- FOUR 'INTERNATIONAL' GLENFARCLASSES
|
 |
Glenfarclas
40 yo 1964/2005 (53,5%, DL for QualityWorld
Denmark, Norse Cask Selection, Sherry
Butt DL 1578, 515 b.)
Colour: cognac/tobacco. Nose: starts
on some heavy, but refined and elegant
oloroso, with whiffs of something
unusually phenolic (sea water?). Develops
on all ‘classical’ sherried
notes such as dried oranges, butter
caramel. Hints of balsamic vinegar.
Extremely complex, yet immediately
enjoyable. Also some whiffs of the
forest after the rain (fresh mushrooms,
fern, pine needles)... |
| Notes
of very old Sauternes wine. A fantastic
nose, with a more than perfect balance
– probably one of the most
balanced and complex sherry monsters
I’ve nosed until today. Ah,
yes, also some bitter chocolate,
of course. Mouth: big and powerful,
much more nervous than expected.
A funny and very enjoyable note
of concentrated lemon juice right
at the start. Bold toffee and lots
of crystallised fruits, sultanas.
Quite some tannins but they are
easily bearable. Notes of very strong
coffee (a bit acid like Costa Rican
or Mexican coffee) Then lots of
liquorice and quite some salt -
more and more salt in fact. Funny
again! The finish is long, a bit
drying (but I guess it‚s very
old), on heavily reduced wine sauce
and just traces of rubber (rubber
band). In short: stunning nose,
excellent mouth and finish, no ‘lumpiness’
at all: 95 points.
(And many thanks again, Luc) |
| Glenfarclas
1994/2005 (46%, OB for Switzerland,
cask #3979, 402 bottles)
Colour: full amber. Nose: an enjoyable
sherry and some rather nice sulphury
notes (yes). Dried fruits, raisins,
rum and quite some pine needles, rubber,
fir tree honey… It’s simple
but balanced. Classic. Mouth: oh,
it’s incredibly tannic! Lots
of caramel (both sweet and bitter),
liquorice, crystallized oranges…
Getting more and more caramelly –
it’s crazy. Quite some salty
notes and lots and lots of wood. Almost
aggressive, with a long but really
heavy finish. A monster for ‘monster
lovers’ (our Swiss friends?
;-)), no doubt. 83 points. |
 |
| Glenfarclas
1989/2005 (60.2%, OB for Single Malt
Whisky Shop Belgium, first fill sherry,
cask #11462, 618 bottles)
By Fisser. Colour: deep amber with
bronze hues. Nose: again a powerful
and punchy nose that’s easily
bearable (does my nose get too used
to high strengths?) Starts with lots
of coffee and a little sulphur, getting
then rather meaty (hot ham) and very
smoky. Burning wood, hot chocolate,
raisins and rum, hints of marzipan
and burnt cake and, finally, the usual
dried oranges and kumquats. An excellent,
classical Glenfarclas that doesn’t
need any water. Mouth: excellent attack,
both raisiny – chocolaty and
fruity, which makes it most balanced.
Lots of ground coffee beans, strong
caramel, cake, toasted bread and bitter
chocolate plus dried citrus fruits,
overripe apples, banana liqueur…
The balance stays perfect all along…
It’s always great to come across
a heavily sherried malt that stays
nervous and complex. As for the finish,
it’s very long, a little rummy
and fruity, with also quite some coffee
liqueur. Very, very good! 89
points. |
 |
Glenfarclas
5 yo (40%, OB, Frattina, Italy,
ca 1975-1979)
An unsherried version issued in
Italy to fight the hugely successful
Glen Grant 5yo. Colour: straw. Nose:
fresh, very grainy and rather malty,
with some notes of caramel. Lots
of honey too, ripe tropical fruits,
bananas… Very interesting
if not too complex. Mouth: sweet
and grainy, less interesting at
first sip. A little hot and even
slightly burning, with some notes
of burnt bread. The finish is rather
long and again quite spirity. The
whole is simple but quite enjoyable,
especially the very fresh nose.
82 points.
And also: Glenfarclas
‘Heritage’ 1995 (45%,
OB, France, 2005)
Very creamy, on lots of coffee.
Perfectly balanced but not too complex.
81 points. |
| |
| |
| CRAZY
XMAS WHISKY ADS - RATIONALES FOR CHOOSING
GIFTS - part 4 |
 |
| Left:
Black
& White, Xmas 1971,
'A man can never have too many
friends'. Right: Johnnie
Walker Black Label, Xmas 1967,
'Put your best friends on your
Black List. - (Over 40 expensive Scotch
whiskies blended into 1)'. |
| CONVERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
(WITH THE REVEREND D. WAYNE LOVE),
The Mean Fiddler, London,
December 3rd 2005 |
| I
have to confess (and risk the wrath
of all those nice SAHB fans that we
met) that the only reason we were
here was to see the Very Reverend
D Wayne Love, sometime of the
Alabama 3, and advertised as support
to the Sensational
Alex Harvey Band, touring
apparently to celebrate the 30th anniversary
of their Live album and to promote
new album Zalvation. |
 |
| And
to be really honest, we were only
here at all because we couldn’t
get tickets for New York’s hip
favourites Gogol
Bordello, a sort of Pogues meets
the Three Mustaphas Three high energy
punk outfit with an Eastern European
twist, fronted by Ukranian Eugene
Hutz. Watch out – you’ll
be hearing more about this bunch over
the next twelve months. |
 |
So
instead we headed for the Mean
Fiddler, a tiny aluminium door
squeezed between a tacky London souvenir
store and a sex shop on the Charing
Cross road. It’s a box like
basement, sort of attached to the
Pickle Factory next door, and owned
by the same eponymous outfit (Mean
Fiddler that is, not the Pickle Factory
Group). And like the Astoria it turns
into some sort of bohemian nightclub
on a Saturday night, so it’s
only seven o’clock and we’re
here beer in hand waiting for the
Very Reverend to take the stage. |
| Maybe
there was some sort of mistake or
misunderstanding, or maybe D Wayne’s
central heating system packed up just
before the gig and he decide to stay
home to get it fixed (mine did, I
didn’t, but that’s real
rock and roll for you). Whatever the
reason he didn’t show. So we
mingled with the largely male audience,
a very affable bunch once you’d
got past the ill advised paunch hugging
tour t-shirts from back in the 70s.
And as there were only about twenty
of them when we showed up not too
difficult to sense check the whole
lot. There was a very strong Dads
and Sons tendency, with the Dads earnestly
taking advantage of the lack of support
to explain to the Sons some of the
finer points of Alex Harvey’s
history and the rise and fall of his
sensational band, a fall provoked
by them being simply in the wrong
place at the wrong time, trapped in
a vacuum between progressive rock
and the punks, and finally brought
about by the untimely demise of Alex
Harvey in 1982. Or maybe
they were just trying to prepare the
boys for Zal Cleminson – but
how could anyone do that? |
| And
as the place filled out there were
even two large family groups, Dads,
Mums, Sons, Daughters and all. Which
I thought said something about the
fans of this band who only really
lasted for four or five years, but
who earned the reputation of being
the best live rock and roll band in
the world. And although we are sadly
without Alex and his gruff Glaswegian
voice (did I mention they’re
from Glasgow?) we do have the original
band of the McKenna brothers on keyboards
and drums, Chris Glenn on bass, and
the incomparable Zal Cleminson on
lead guitar – you know he’s
the one with the funny makeup –
who should be an inspiration for men
in their mid-fifties anywhere. And
fronting is Max Maxwell, a Glaswegian
performance artist with a beautiful
Bridgeton burr and a theatrical Johnny
Rotten sneer – oh yes, and some
very nice three quarter length jackets. |
Alex Harvey 1975 |
| Personally
I’m not a big fan – the
only song I could remember was a solo
Alex Harvey singing W H Auden’s
‘Roman wall blues’, which
I recall the late John Peel played
to death for a few months in the late
1960s. Apart from that and Delilah,
SAHB's raucous take on that Tom Jones
karaoke classic (a top ten hit in
the UK) I didn’t think I knew
any of their work. But as the gig
wore on more and more of the tunes
had a familiar air – ‘Swampshake’,
‘Next’, ‘Isobel
Goudie’, ‘Framed’,
‘Tomahawk kid’, ‘The
last of the teenage idols’ ,
‘Boston T Party’ and ‘Vambo’
to name but a few. And the performance
was of such gusto that it was really
outstanding – Maxwell sneered
and growled in guttural Glaswegianese,
senior heavyweight bass player Glenn
snarled and threatened his way through
the set, and Cleminson delivered a
master class in rock guitar histrionics
– School of Rock guitarists
please note – forget your lectures
and tutorials and take time out to
see Mr Cleminson, he’s worth
it, for every note, every facial expression,
and every menacing pose. And half
way through – who’d have
guessed it – on came fellow
Glaswegian the Very Reverend D W L,
having no doubt repaired his boiler
first. |
Reverend D. Wayne Love |
Looking
frisky, fresh and gorgeously coiffured,
he paid tribute to the band, “I’ve
been listening to these boys sing
rock and roll since I was a little
child in a plaid skirt, so I thought
I’d pay tribute by singing one
of their more innocuous songs, a little
number called ‘Gang bang’,
which was followed by a very D Waynesque
rendition of the band’s classic,
but sadly commercially flawed, Christmas
single ‘There's no lights on
the Christmas tree mother, they're
burning Big Louie tonight’,
“apparently inspired”,
according to a piece in the Independent,
“by Francis Bacon's painting
A Study After Velasquez: St Nicholas,
which shows Santa screaming in what
appears to be an electric chair”.
Phew, happy holidays everybody! |
| In
case you haven’t realised the
Sensational Alex Harvey Band never
took themselves too seriously. Their
songs are wrung through with a wry
humour and sense of the absurd that’s
not out of place in the tradition
of West Coast Scottish humour. Their
glam rock posturing was always slightly
tongue in cheek, a counterpoint to
the sneering aggression of some of
their songs, and more rooted in the
British Music Hall (oh no –
here we go again) than in rock and
roll. |
|
And what we got, in the jolliest of
atmospheres was a summation of all
of that, perfectly executed by a group
of real professionals. And of course,
the Zal Cleminson performance - I
still have to pinch myself every time
I think about it. You might not want
to buy the records, but if you get
a chance to see them, jump at it!
- Nick Morgan (SAHB concert photographs
by Kate) |
 |
| Thank
you so much, Nick. I'd bet all the
40-50+ rock and rollers all over the
world do have the old ‘Next…’
LP in their basement, with the famous
striped shirt and yellow handkerchief.
I do! As for music, we have a piece
from the SAHB’s first album,
‘Framed’ (1972), called
Midnight
Moses.mp3
and Snake
Bite.mp3
(1975, from ‘Tomorrow belongs
to me’) with its very Ledzep-esque
riff. Other than that, I’ve
learnt, from the Web, that the SAHB’s
bass player, Chris Glen, played with
‘a one-off band featuring
members of AC/DC and Motorhead, in
which everyone played the wrong instruments’
(what’s so unusual here?) and
that Alex Harvey once said “Do
you think Paul McCartney makes records
just to annoy me personally, or does
he want to get up everyone's f*ing
nose with his f*ing antics?"
I guess he said that in the 1970's;
was he also a prophesier? Ah, these
lost prophets... |
| |
| |
| TASTING
- FOUR NEW BOWMORES |
 |
Bowmore
14 yo 1991/2005 (46%, Murray McDavid,
Guigal Côte-Rôtie, 2500
bottles)
Another new winesky by Murray McDavid
in their brand new livery. Côte-Rôtie
is a tiny, well-reputed vineyard just
south of Lyon and Guigal is the largest
winemaker there. Their rather new
Château d’Ampuis is excellent.
Colour: blush wine – onion peel
(I mean, really). Nose: much cleaner
than expected, with some rather delicate
peat mixed with notes of blackberries
and bananas – the whole going
pretty well together. Goes on with
some very mineral notes, whiffs of
diesel oil, smoked meat, hot butter…
And also some gingerbread, cloves
(lots), fruitcake, gladiolus…
It gets then very maritime, with some
bold notes of oysters, seaweed…
I feel they pulled something off with
this one (and God knows I was sceptical).
And no dreadful lavender! |
| Mouth:
well, it could not have been quite
as complex and thrilling as the nose,
could it? Sweet, slightly sugarish
(bubblegum, marshmallows) at first
sip, with the peat in the background
but no actual mixing of flavours.
A bit of icing sugar, tealeaves, pepper…
It’s not bad at all but rather
far from the fantastic nose. The finish
is medium long, smoky and fruity (grapefruit)…
But what a stunning nose! 85
points altogether –
(but the nose was worth 90+) |
| Bowmore
15 yo 1990/2005 (54.5%, Jack Wieber
Scottish Castles, cask 1175)
Colour: white wine. Nose: starts on
gunflint, phosphor (matchstick), grapefruit
and hay – rather sharp and sort
of vivacious. Some very nice fruity
notes do come through then, mostly
white peaches, bananas again, rennet
apples. Whiffs of pepper and quite
some farmy notes (but ‘clean’
ones, not cow stable and such). A
bit austere but totally flawless,
with, again no ‘lavender’
(yeah, a code name) whatsoever. Perfect!
Mouth: wow! Bold, invading, compact,
with lots of grapefruit, peat and
pepper and spices – almost Talisker-ish!
There’s more and more tropical
fruits (passion, mango, guava and
many citrus fruits), almost like in
the excellent recent Berry Bros 1993.
Develops on all sorts of peppers,
icing sugar, lemon marmalade, smoked
oysters… Just beautiful, with
a bold, compact and extremely satisfying
finish. Sheer beauty: 91 points.
|
 |
 |
Bowmore
34 yo 1971/2005 (51%, OB, sherry,
960 bottles)
Colour: deep amber. Nose: oh, a Christmas
malt indeed, for it starts on some
bold notes of gingerbread, mulled
wine and fruitcake. Wine-poached pears,
the Chinese plum sauce they serve
with Peking duck, rosewater, coconut
milk, ‘arranged’ rum,
prunes in Armagnac, Havana tobacco…
Err, I know that sounds like maltoporn,
sorry… And beyond the sherry,
you have the classical peat smoke,
seaweed, brine… Whiffs of ginger
ale, horse dung, bold notes of wet
hay… Very interesting, it’s
very different from both the older
‘ tropical fruitbombs’
and the younger ‘simpler or
lavender-perfumed’ Bowmores.
I must say I like a lot, it’s
sort of ‘wild’ and very
organic. And ah, there’s also
quite some soy sauce. |
| Mouth:
oh-oh! Very liquoricy, resinous and
meaty, with quite a maelstrom of very
special flavours, mostly fermented
fruits, wax, old rancio (oloroso indeed),
herbs… There’s no point
in listing them all, and this superb
Bowmore has only one flaw in my opinion:
the finish is a little too cardboardy
and drying. But other than that, it’s
a beauty, even if the usual fresh
tropical fruits notes are missing.
92 points (but it
could have made it to 94). |
| Bowmore
16 yo 1989/2005 (53.8%, Dewar Rattray,
refill sherry, cask #1092)
Colour: straw. Nose: starts on a rather
heavy peat but also lots of hot apple
compote and a little camphor. Gets
then quite perfumy (cologne) but not
much else, I’m afraid. Lacks
complexity. Mouth: very perfumy this
time. Peat, lavender and violets sweets,
orange flowers water, Turkish delights…
All that is quite disjointed and sort
of weird, although we’ve seen
worse. The finish is rather long but
very perfumy again. Perhaps not one
of my famous fellow female compatriots’
daily drams (if you see what I mean)
but it’s not my cup of tea at
all. Too discordant – but some
may not disregard it as much as I
do. 78 points. |
 |
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
Check
the index of all entries:
Whisky
Music
Nick's Concert
Reviews |
|
|
|
|
| |
Best
malts I had these weeks - 90+
points only - alphabetical:
Bowmore
15 yo 1990/2005 (54.5%,
Jack Wieber Scottish Castles, cask 1175)
Bowmore
34 yo 1971/2005 (51%, OB, sherry, 960
bottles)
Dalmore
12 yo (43%, OB, bottled 1977)
Glenfarclas
40 yo 1964/2005 (53,5%, DL for QualityWorld
Denmark, Norse Cask Selection, Sherry Butt DL
1578, 515 b.)
Glenlochy
1974 (40%, G&M Connoisseur’s
Choice old map label, early 1990’s)
Highland
Park 24 yo 1980/2004 (58%,
OB for Park Avenue Liquors, cask #7366)
Inchgower
24 yo 1980/2005 (60.4%, Adelphi, cask
#14152)
Longmorn-Glenlivet
1974/1985 (60.8%,
Samaroli, 600 bottles, sherry)
Royal
Brackla 1976/2003 (57.1%,
Scott's Selection)
Royal
Brackla 27 yo 1975/2002 'Green Brackla' (59.7%,
The Whisky Exchange, cask #5471, 204 bottles)
Talimbourg
23 yo 1982/2005 (49.5%, The Whisky
Fair, bourbon hogshead, 222 bottles)
Fiskavaig
27 yo 1977/2005 (51.3%, Douglas Laing
for The Whisky Shop, 265 bottles)
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