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Hi, you're in the Archives, February 2008- Part 2 |
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February
29, 2008 |
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CONCERT
REVIW by Nick Morgan
RICHARD HAWLEY AND HIS BAND, THE MAPS
AND VINCE VINCENT AND THE VILLAINS
The Astoria, London, February 12th
2008 |
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I
would have to say that it’s
been a pretty good year for Richard
Hawley, with the release
of his very successful album Lady’s
Bridge and a stunning tour leading
to a nomination for Best Male Artist
in the 2008 Brit Awards. He didn’t
get it – like the Mercury Award
he was nominated for in 2006 –
but I doubt that really matters as
there seems to be a nicely understated
momentum to his career at the moment,
and a bit of brand-building buzz among
the vicarious chattering classes,
fascinated by his path to musical
redemption. |
| That’s
probably why the old Pickle Factory
is full to the rafters with all sorts
of folk for this NME
Shockwave Awards show. Not that Hawley,
or any of the support acts have been
nominated for any of these, but it
is nice to know, as he observed towards
the end of the night, that a magazine
struggling manfully to maintain its
relevance in a digital age, “has
got time for a fookin’ old fart
like me”. And did I also mention
that we’re here with Whiskyfun’s
top editorial team, flown over especially
from France? Hawley, as you may recall,
won the Non Plus Ultra Award in last
year’s Whiskyfun Music Awards,
‘the people’s choice’
as I like to think of them (God only
knows how many times I voted), and
they’ve come just to see how
good he really is. Which is why, in
the company of such distinguished
civilians, we got here early and are
upstairs, away (at least for a short
time) from the Astoria’s unwashed
hordes. |
Vince Vincent |
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Starting
the evening are Vince
Vincent and the Villains –
with a sound that’s rather like
Chris Isaak meets the Stray Cats –
who have been doing the rounds of
London clubs for the past couple of
years. They’ve got some good
tunes (surprisingly complex), a nice
twangy guitar sound, and Vince can
certainly sing (oddly he sounds a
bit like a punk Keith Rowland), but
there’s something wrong in the
rhythm section (bass too slow, drums
too fast – or is it the other
way round?) and the sound is appalling
– the engineers must have switched
on the kit and then gone for a few
beers. Still, with an album, Gospel
Bombs, on its way, they should be
around long enough for a more studied
review – assuming of course
they avoid the Sword of Damocles that’s
hanging over them and so many of their
fellow artists at major label EMI,
currently being ruthlessly restructured
by private equity supreme, Guy Hands.
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| Frankly
in need of restructuring were second
band up, Maps,
whose tedious form of electronica
(not helped by very under mixed vocals)
was ill chosen for the occasion, and
frankly far better suited to a funeral
parlour. Sorry guys – wrong
time, wrong place. |
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Which
leaves the triumphant Mr Hawley, with
his very precise and quite excellent
band, his lovely Gretsch and Gibson
hollow-bodied guitars, and his shiny
suit and his well-waxed quiff. And
the sound engineers had returned to
their duties to deliver one of the
best sounding gigs I can remember
at the Astoria: not only did it do
justice to Hawley’s deep, creamy
and crooning voice, but you could
also pick up all the considerable
subtleties of similarly shiny-suited
Shez Sheridan’s guitar work
(well, guitars really, as he rarely
played the same one more than twice
through a set of almost twenty songs).
Hawley had chosen the best of his
last two albums, starting with the
topical recent single ‘Valentine’,
‘Roll river roll’ and
‘Just like rain’. Actually
the songs, each a really crafted example
of the songwriter’s art, came
almost like punches. And I have to
say (as I have before) that’s
it no good simply writing Hawley off
as a peddler of pastiche. It’s
true that he’s fairly faithful
to song structures often associated
with the country and western and rockabilly
genres. |
| But
he injects these with a very twenty-first
century sensibility, and uses them
as a canvas to paint both very particular
pictures of his home town of Sheffield,
in songs like ‘Tonight the streets
are ours’ and also broader and
more expansive vistas, such as the
very wonderful ‘Ocean’
with which the evening finally closed.
And the guitar playing, both Sheridan’s
and Hawley’s – the latter
far more forthcoming on the fret board
than he had been at last year’s
Roundhouse gig - is as clever and
contemporary as it can get. |
| The
end result was really captivating,
despite the fact that by now we had
been joined by a crushing crowd of
people, including three of the most
tiresome loudmouths I’ve ever
come across at a gig. I struggled,
and managed, to keep them out of my
head as I savoured the music, but
their constant chatter (jewellery,
furniture, holidays – you name
it, they spoke about it at the top
of their voices) was quite remarkable,
and a display of utter selfishness
only possible from the braying over-educated
(yet terminally stupid) and over-privileged
English middle classes to whom they
belonged. |
Asshole and
the Assolettes |
| Downstairs
Hawley dealt with a noisy heckler
(whom I gather was later thrown out)
with aplomb, but sadly there was no
way of getting rid of these three
idiots. The distinguished editor of
Whiskyfun, who christened them ‘Asshole
and the Assolettes’ (there’s
a joke about food in there somewhere)
had to be restrained by his daughter
from drowning them in beer (“No
Papa, you shouldn’t do that!”)
whilst the Photographer made a game
but futile attempt to throttle the
Asshole. It’s just what you
have to put up with these days, what
with live music being “the new
black”. But let that not detract
from the excellence of this performance,
which was really focussed on delivering
the songs, with a judiciously spare
amount of story telling (so quite
low on the fookometer compared with
the Roundhouse). The main set finished
with ‘Born under a bad sign’
(“this is a song about getting
pissed”), ‘Something is’
(from his 2001 album late Night Final),
and ‘I’m looking for someone’.
After a pause for an off-stage cigarette,
the encore began with Hawley and harmonica
player Clive Mellor playing Ricky
Nelson’s ‘Lonesome town’
and Hank Williams’ ‘I’m
so lonesome I could cry’ before
ending with that sublime version of
‘Ocean’. |
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It
was, as our large party scattered
around the theatre agreed, a night
to remember. And as a result of our
unfortunate experience in the Astoria
balcony you can expect more campaigning
to come from Whiskyfun as we frame
and shame the selfish bastards intent
on ruining music lovers’ evenings
out in our new ‘War on Wankers’
page that’ll be coming this
way very soon. Wankers – you
have been warned. - Nick Morgan
(concert photograph by Kate, Asshole
and the Assolettes by Serge) |
|
Many thanks Nick. As for Mr Asshole,
our offspring noticed that he used
to keep ‘dancing’ like
if there was no tomorrow even when
the music wasn’t on, which might
mean GTS (Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome)
rather than plain selfishness and
'ill-bredness'. Well, we’ll
never know and maybe it was all of
that but anyway, Hawley was so good
that even that infernal trio of wankers
didn’t manage to spoil that
marvellous London/Sheffield evening.
Thanks again! Music to listen to:
Vince
Vincent’s MySpace page –
Richard
Hawley’s MySpace page. -
S. |
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TASTING
– TWO 1981 HIGHLAND PARKS
Highland
Park 25yo 1981 (43%, The Nectar,
Daily Dram, 2006)
Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s
always interesting to try old whisky
that’s not been much influenced
by wood. This HP starts very grassy,
oily, smoky and delicately yeasty,
truly in Highland style. Goes on
with whiffs of burnt heather (that
dirties your pants when you’re
walking on it, would say my friend
Olivier) and gets finally slightly
ginger and porridgy. Mashed potatoes.
As ‘natural’ as HP can
get. |
| Mouth:
sweet, clean, fruity (cider apples),
delicately honeyed and smoky. Perfect
strength here. Only drawback: you
may down this as if it was apple juice.
Finish: medium long but very clean
and pure, with the oak’s pepper
making a late but pleasant arrival
as the signature. Comments: flawless
‘young old’ Highland Park
that perfectly displays the distillery’s
‘true’ character. Keyword:
balance. SGP:443 – 87
points. |
| Highland
Park 1981/2006 (45%, Samaroli, Coilltean)
Colour: white wine. Nose: this is
what sometimes happens when you’re
trying ‘close colleagues’
head to head: they can be just the
same whisky. That’s the case
here, this Samaroli being maybe just
a tad more buttery. Mouth: ditto.
Just a little more oomph and a little
more pepper. Finish: same comments.
Comments: ditto. The extra-2% are
really noticeable, that is, even if
they don’t change anything to
the profile. Very good again. SGP:443
- 87 points. |
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February
27, 2008 |
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| TASTING
– THREE 1989 HIGHLAND PARKS |
Highland
Park 1989/2004 (46%, Peck Spa Milano,
cask #hp2896) 
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: another
typical ‘naked’ Highland
Park, without noticeable wood influence.
More on ginger, porridge and mashed
potatoes than on fruits and honey,
that is. Notes of peat smoke and lavender.
Not very sexy I’d say. Mouth:
sweet, almost sugary, close to reduced
new make I think. Rubber and ginger
tonic, aspirin tablets, apple juice
and white pepper (and paper). Finish:
medium long, sugary and gingery. Comments:
not the best HP ever. Lacks maturity
in my book. SGP:332 - 72 points. |
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Highland
Park 1989/2006 (51%, Scotch Single
Malt Circle, cask #3258)
Colour: dark gold. Nose: obvious sherry
(and a little rubber) blended with
typical honeyed notes. Tar and kumquats,
with also whiffs of fermenting hay.
Gets meatier after a moment (ham cooked
with pineapples), old rum, hints of
wood varnish and strawberry jam. Slight
roughness but the whole is still most
enjoyable. Mouth: thick, coating,
quite sherried and very fruity. Fruitcake,
fruit eau-de-vie (kirsch, plums),
even strawberry liqueur mixed with
a little tar/rubber and orange marmalade.
Gets rounder with time. Also hints
of bubblegum and fructose. Finish:
long but smoother, compact, with a
honeyed fruitiness. Comments: a restless
whisky that gets much quieter after
a few minutes, like a young cat that
falls asleep (well, that was a stupid
comment, wasn’t it!) SGP:632
- 86 points. |
Highland
Park 1989/1999 (60%, G&M, Cask
selection, casks #2871-2872)
Colour: white wine. Nose: very, very
similar to the Peck in profile but
less expressive, as if the high alcohol
content was filtering most aromas.
Let’s ad water right away...
It got very different! Smokier and
more vegetal (wet hay, moss) and also
much more lemony (from lemonade to
lemon marmalade). Interesting zing
here. Mouth (neat): big rubber, heavy
alcohol and something chemical. Plastic?
Things improve over time but again,
water is needed. With water: yes,
it’s another whisky. No more
chemical notes but some pleasant lemony
notes again. Grapefruits and wax.
Finish: rather long, lemony, sharp.
Comments: this one is pretty austere
in fact – and hard to enjoy
without water – but I like the
big lemony notes quite a lot. SGP:551
– 84 points. |
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MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: That's right, it was
the great late Joe
Strummer-of-The-Clash
who was singing this Mondo
bongo.mp3, with his last band
The Mescalleros. This song was also
on the movie Mr and Mrs Smith's
OST. Please buy Joe Strummer's music...
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February
26, 2008 |
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CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
KULA SHAKER with Dr Joel and Companeros
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Shepherds
Bush Empire
London
February 8th
2008
I
was sure I had a Kula
Shaker CD somewhere,
but try as I might I couldn’t
lay my hands on it before this gig.
Maybe it went down to the charity
shop in November, along with a bag
of other ill-considered purchases.
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| Or
it could be an old cassette, bought
in an absent minded moment from a
motorway service station bargain bin,
and now confined to that rather oily
bag of stuff in the back of the car,
never played since VWs started coming
with CD players only? Either way I
know I did quite like that Indian
tune they did which at the time (it
was 1996, and I can’t remember
if the song was ‘Tattva’
or ‘Govinda’) was strikingly
different from anything else around,
and pleasingly retrospective in a
retrospective sort of way. |
Hayley Mills |
And
I confess I was also somewhat seduced
by the fact that band leader Crispian
Mills was the son of British child
acting prodigy Hayley Mills, whom
I have to admit I had a bit of a crush
on after seeing films like Whistle
Down the Wind, In Search of the Castaways,
and That Darn’ Cat (all seen
in that old and now long-gone cinema
in sunny Bedworth,
the name of which now escapes me),
and even more so after I (and the
rest of the world) got a glimpse,
a few years later, of her bottom in
The Family Way. So it’s hot
flushes all round when we take our
seats in the front of the balcony
(we’ve arrived early for once)
only to see Hayley holding court to
family and friends in the reserved
seats just to our left. |
| Back
to business. You may wonder why Kula
Shaker earned the tag “the most
reviled band of the 1990s” which
still hangs over them like an albatross.
Well, partly it was Mills’ showbiz
family connections (Dad was film director
Roy Boulting, grandpa actor Sir John
Mills) and privileged public school
background – not unusual (think
the original Genesis for example),
but often a cause for backbiting in
the British music scene. More important,
however, was Mills’ defining
rock star foot-in-mouth moment, when,
based on his interest in things Indian
and spiritual, he foolishly declared
his love for the swastika (“I'd
love to have great big flaming swastikas
onstage just for the fuck of it”),
and bemoaned the fact that “it's
a shame the baddies always get the
good uniforms. Ha ha” when discussing
Hitler and the Nazi movement. No amount
of apologies could ever wipe that
off the record. So, although their
first album had been a great success
rivalling the likes of Oasis for sales,
the delayed second (not released ‘till
1999) was a flop, and shortly after
its release the band split up. But
they’re back with a new album,
Strangefolk, released last year –
and in a strangely Spinal Tap way,
it’s partly because they’re
big in Japan (Mills had been working
there in the interim with his band
Jeevas) where they toured in January
before returning to Europe. And if
tonight’s sold out show is anything
to go by they’re big here too,
with a audience ranging from mid-teens
(the two charming and wildly polite
girls next to us are even wearing
kaftans – “not as smelly
as they used to be” observed
the Photographer) to, well, let’s
not go there shall we? And if it’s
sedate in the first floor balcony
it’s rocking in the mosh downstairs
(and upstairs above us) – I
haven’t seen so many glasses
of beer flying through the air for
a very long time. |
| It
started to go wrong right from the
start with a film introduction projected
onto two rather church-hall style
screens: it’s a cartoon of George
Orwell, who introduced the support
act, acclaimed “konnakol”
vocalist and percussionist Dr
Joel. I have to say that I would
have found thirty minutes or so of
drum and mouth quite entertaining,
but unfortunately Dr Joel was sacrificed
in the cause of what I think was supposed
to be humour, as he was joined on
stage by the Companeros, a weakly
disguised Kula Shaker and friends,
allegedly from Italy but looking like
a cross between extras from The Magnificent
Seven and the Beatles meet the Maharishi.
It is apparently a huge joke –
“sending themselves up”
as we say here - as they play their
way through some folky stuff, country
and western and end up with an Indian
chant. But it’s heavy handed,
self-indulgent and as dull as ditchwater
to any but the uninitiated few. If
you don’t believe me then have
a look on YouTube. |
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| What
follows is a fifteen-minute comedy
as the road crew try and set up the
two screens for the main show. It’s
not quite like Spinal Tap’s
Stonehenge moment but it is as surprisingly
amateur as you can imagine. Eventually
with projectors failing one screen
is dumped and the band play in front
of something that wouldn’t have
been out of place in a 1970s school
classroom. Very classy. Mills came
onto the stage with his floppy blonde
hair, a dodgy pair of knee-high boots
and an ill-chosen black silk top.
And when he announced the first song,
“This is called Kick out the
Motherfucking Jams, motherfuckers”
I began to realise that we probably
should have spent the night at home
nursing cups of Ovaltine by the wireless,
listening to Any
Questions. This was a serious
time warp of a gig, with nothing original
to commend it (even that nice Indian
stuff, when we got to it, sounded
like old hat). Middle of the road
rock thrash at its worst – and
how could anyone take a band seriously
with a organist like Harry B Broadbent
(don’t get me wrong –
he does pretty well with his Procul
Harum style Hammond) looking frankly
like the keyboard player Spinal Tap
never had, as if he’d walked
onto the stage from a dressing-room
in 1974 or thereabouts. The new songs
are hugely derivative – ‘Second
sight’ is a dead ringer for
early Yes, ‘Hurricane season’
out of the Mike Scott songbook. Worse,
their longstanding cover version of
Joe South’s‘Hush’,
with which they thankfully begin to
draw the evening to an end, is almost
note for note Deep Purple’s
version – you can do a YouTube
comparison if you don’t believe
me. Mills whirls around stage with
a misplaced enthusiasm and self-belief
to an irritating degree, ‘though
I have to give him credit for coping
with what must have been a painful
cut finger early in the set –
maybe we can blame some of the otherwise
absurdly theatrical grimaces on that |
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|
We left as the encores began, starting
with the apparently politically incisive
‘Diktator of the free world’
(I was going to quote the lyrics but
why bother when they’re so crass?).
We made our excuses to the girls (their
Mum was waiting for them outside in
the Volvo
XC70) and had a minicab ride home
that was more exciting that the whole
evening. Not fair? Well, as ever,
go and judge for yourselves. They’re
heading out to the Netherlands and
Germany over the next week or so and
then, I’ve no doubt, will be
back out to Japan. You could also
buy their new album, or for a touch
of nostalgia settle down with a DVD
of In Search of the Castaways. I know
which I’d do. - Nick Morgan
(concert photographs by Kate) |
| TASTING
– TWO 1967 STRATHISLAS |
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Strathisla
40 yo 1967/2008 (46.4%, Duncan Taylor
Lonach)
Colour: gold. Nose: this one is very
clean, very floral, with delicate
honey notes, pollen, buttercups, very
ripe gooseberries, vanilla crème
and hints of cigar box. Delicate but
assertive, no excessive oakiness here.
At all. Mouth: round at the attack
but getting then rather spicy and
gently oaky. Nutmeg, white pepper
and cinnamon on apple compote. Finish:
medium long, a tad prickly (tannins)
but balance is still reached at this
point. Comment: the palate is a little
less interesting than the nose but
the whole is very palatable. A good
alternative to the usually more sherried
G&M’s. SGP:541 –
84 points. |
| Strathisla
40 yo 1967/2007 (47%, Duncan Taylor
Rare Auld, cask #1887)
Colour: gold. Nose: a little less
expressive than the Lonach, and maybe
a tad more phenolic/waxy. Whiffs of
fresh mint. Other than that the profile
is very similar, but the Lonach is
a little sexier I think (including
its price I believe). Mouth: extremely
close to the Lonach on the palate,
just a tad less tannic. Added hints
of marshmallows and apple liqueur.
Finish: similar, a tad longer and
more peppery now. Comment: this one
is a little more satisfying after
all. Flawless old ‘natural’
Speysider. SGP:541 –
85 points. |
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February
25, 2008 |
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| TASTING
– SIX OLD SPRINGBANKS (well,
quite...) |
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Springbank
20 yo 1968/1989 (50%, Duthie for Samaroli,
Ageing Monography, 466 bottles, 75cl)
Colour: gold. Nose: starts deliciously
fruity and floral, as expressive as
a virtualy unsherried old Springbank
can get. Huge notes of fresh pineapples
and coconuts (smells almost like pina
colada), then ginger and nutmeg, sweet
white wine (Sauternes), praline and
peanut butter, faint whiffs of wood
smoke and pine resin as well as fermenting
grass. Exuberant on the nose, let’s
hope the palate will match it. Mouth:
punchy, less extravagant now but maybe
better balanced as well. Apple pie
and tinned guavas, crystallised grapefruits,
white pepper, grated coconut and nutmeg.
Perfect oak. Finish: long, with a
welcomed bitterness (lemon zest) on
top of all the rest. Comments: excellent,
albeit maybe just a tad less complex
than other old Springbanks (the OB’s
for example). SGP:653 - 90
points. (and thanks,
A lex.) |
Springbank
30 yo 1965/1995 (43%, Hart Bros) 
Colour: white wine. Nose: this is
curiously watery (river water) and
metallic (aluminium pan). Also notes
of ink and fern. Lacks fruitiness
but there’s a nice freshness
in this very unusual old Springbank.
Let’s see what gives on the
palate... Mouth: very unusual. Slightly
stale lemon juice, something resinous
and waxy, lemon pie, olive oil...
This is good whisky but I wouldn’t
have said it’s an old Springbank.
Finish: shortish and a little cardboardy
and metallic, even if the spiciness
in the background is pleasant. Comments:
again, an unusual old Springbank.
Maybe were there nails in the cask?
SGP:241 - 80 points. |
| Springbank
23 yo 1965 (50%, Duthie for Samaroli,
Ageing Monography, 660 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: this one is smokier
and a little rougher than the 1968
for Samaroli. More classically on
coconut as well, with hints of sage
and rosemary, vanilla and oak, bread
crust, ripe bananas and maybe a very
faint soapiness that’s curiously
enjoyable here (saponin.) Keeps developing
with notes of mushrooms, tobaco, leather
and old books. A rather gingery signature
on the nose. Mouth: attack on dry
wood and dried mushrooms plus liquorice
and toffee, with the trademark coconut
arising after that. Also nutmeg, dried
figs and bananas. Classy old Springbank.
Finish: long, with a salty tang that
complements the coconut and dried
bananas. Comments: not unlike the
1968, this is maybe not the most complex
old Springbank ever, but it’s
still grand whisky. SGP:553
- 91 points. |
| Springbank
1964 (46%, OB, private bottling for
Lateltin 100th Anniversary, Switzerland)
Colour: full amber. Nose: this is
a much more sherried old Springbank,
much more on walnuts, dried mushrooms,
old wooden furniture, wax polish,
dark cigarettes (Gauloises), balsamic
vinegar, Chinese prune sauce, olive
oil, chestnut honey, old rancio and
triple-sec (orange liqueur). The distillery’s
character is more hidden here but
the sherry’s truly and impressively
dry. To my liking. Mouth: yes, this
is very good. More fruits (pineapples,
papayas, figs) but the superb dryness
is well here. Bitter chocolate, espresso,
Russian black tea, cooked blackcurrants
(without too much sugar), prunes,
Smyrna raisins, dark bread (such as
pumpernickel), cane sugar... Wow!
(sorry) Finish: long and even drier
– beautifully so. Comments:
great old dry Springbank. Il you like
dry sherry, you’ll adore this
(provided you can put your hands on
it.) SGP:464 - 92 points. |
| Springbank
31 yo 1964/1996 (51.1%, Scotch Malt
Whisky Society, 27.41)
Colour: full amber. Nose: this is
simply a mix of all Springanks we
just had (minus the Hart Bros). Marvellous.
Mint, mushrooms, orange cake, coconuts,
‘arranged’ old rum, leather,
honeydew, gingerbread, game and, well,
thousands of other aromas. What a
stunning bouquet! Mouth: this is a
little drier than on the nose, and
closer to the ‘Lateltin’,
even if it’s even ‘broader’
and more concentrated at the same
time. Morels dipped into highly reduced
prune and tea sauce – did anybody
ever try to prepare that? And old
walnuts, and grated coconut, and bitter
chocolate, and raisins, and chewing
tobacco, and soy suace... and, and,
and... Finish: ‘as long as a
day without bread’. Stunning
dryness. Comments: a little more freshness
on the palate would have propelled
this one to 94+ points. SGP:564
– 93 points. |
BONUS:
Fake
Springbank 25 yo 1954/1979 (80°proof,
Cadenhead’s, dumpy)
Right, this is plain crazy. Trying
a whisky that’s certainly not
what’s advertised on the label,
and that’s been filled by ‘anybody’
may be very risky but I’m sure
many WF readers wondered what’s
inside these proven fakes, of which
dozens have been sold on eBay in recent
months. This one was bought by a dear
friend, unknowingly of course. Of
course, it’s not impossible
that all these fakes don’t shelter
the very same whisky. I measured this
one’s strength using a refractometer,
it’s around 44-45% ABV. Colour:
white wine. Nose: smells like a young
Springbank. Slightly yeasty, with
notes of bananas, faint whiffs of
peat, sea air, vanilla crème
and Seville oranges. |
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| Mouth:
a little less ‘Springbank’
at this stage but it could well be
one. Apple compote, something slightly
waxy, marzipan and vanilla. Finish:
medium long, a little smokier, minty,
with also notes of vanilla fudge.
Comments: this is good whisky –
and possibly a 10yo Springbank or
something like that – but in
no way it could be whisky that was
distilled in 1954, matured for 25
years in wood and that spent almost
40 years in glass. SGP:useless
– 0 points (useless).
Other comments: that was for the cause.
Please do not send me more samples
of fake or dodgy whiskies, I won’t
try them! ;-) |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: We're in 1969 and
Léo
Ferré (1916-1993)
the great man sings a stunning Petite.mp3.
Better when you understand French
of course... But please buy Léo
Ferré's music.
|
 |
| |
February
24, 2008 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
– TWO GLENCADAMS
Glencadam 1975/2007 (46%, Montgomerie's
Single cask collection, cask #1)
A series by Angus Dundee Distillers.
Colour: gold. Nose: a little estery
and spirity at very first nothing
but that’s soon to vanish.
Gets then rather smoky and very
malty. Roasted coffee beans, roasted
peanuts, hints of leather and sandalwood,
rosewater... A lively nose, quite
entertaining. |
| Mouth:
rather smooth but firm at the same
time, very malty again. Coffee, tea
and chocolate; malt for five o’clock?
Excellent oakiness that keeps the
whole balanced. Nice smokiness. Torrefaction.
Finish: medium long but pleasantly
malty, with a rather delicate oakiness.
Comments: maybe not out of this world
but a great, all-round example of
an old malt whisky, very, err, malty.
SGP:443 - 86 points. |
| Glencadam
29 yo 1972/2001 (52.5%, Signatory,
Silent Stills, cask #7821, 298 bottles)
Glencadam was closed when this was
bottled, hence its belonging to the
‘silent stills’ series.
As you may know, Glencadam is now
working again. Colour: gold. Nose:
this one is much fruitier, almost
bubblegummy at first nosing. A full
pack of strawberry sweets that you
just opened. As fruity as new make,
I’d say. And again, hints of
rosewater, even incense. Rhubarb pie,
marshmallows. Good balance despite
this heavy fruitiness. Faint whiffs
of smoke in the background and slight
maltiness. Mouth: quite exuberant
and hugely fruity again. Bubblegum
and apple liqueur (Spanish manzana
liquor). Hints of rubber, white pepper,
vanilla sauce. Gets maybe a tad too
oaky after a moment. That’s
it, oak, bubblegum and pepper. Finish:
long, getting spicier towards the
end (cloves, paprika) and even rubberier,
with also notes of orange marmalade.
Comments: interesting to see young
whisky character (bubblegum) combined
with the usual oakiness of a much
older one. SGP:731 - 83 points. |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: We're in 1963 and famous
volcalists Lambert,
Hendricks and Bavan (Yolande
Bavan replaced the famous Annie
Ross in the trio right in1963) are
singing the Stops
and Goes blues.mp3. Don't they
sound like saxophones? PLease buy
their music... |
 |
| |
February
22, 2008 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
– A FEW 1992 CLYNELISHES |
| Lands
Of Scotland Highlands 1992 (40%, Signatory
for La Maison du Whisky)
Bottled around 2002 I think. This
should be Clynelish, which is good
news to us of course. Colour: almost
white. Nose: yes! Beech smoke, coal,
wax, linseed oil and fresh walnuts/almonds.
Not much more but this is certainly
enough to make for a wonderful, very
pure malt. Huge notes of soot after
a moment. Great expressiveness at
40% and a rather extreme profile that
some whisky lovers may not like as
much as I do in fact. Mouth: amazing
punch at the attack at 40%. Great
mix of smoke and wax with white fruits
(yellow peaches upfront). Plummets
a bit after that, that is, but never
gets watery. Finish: not short. Clean,
smoky and phenolic, very Clynelish.
Comments: a perfect version for somebody
who’d like to analyse Clynelish’s
profile without any ‘other’
influence. Add an olive and it’s
better than a dry martini. SGP:346
– 87 points. |
| Clynelish
10 yo 1992/2003 (43%, Hedges and Butler,
cask #672/677)
This series is to be found mainly
in France I think. Colour: straw.
Nose: much more ‘invaded’
by warm butter, vanilla and caramel.
Malt, cake. Gets butterier over time.
Lacks distillery character in my book,
but maybe that’s because I’m
a Clynelish fan. Mouth: too bad, what
could well be caramel sort of blocks
the spirit, but other than that it’s
good whisky. Also a little mint and
liquorice, caramel crème. Finish:
medium long but good, with a little
salt. Comments: not the best Clynelish
ever but this one is rather drinkable.
SGP:434 – 80 points. |
Clynelish
9 yo 1992/2002 (46%, Signatory, UCF,
cask #14776, 411 bottles)
Colour: almost white. Nose: somewhat
between both previous versions. Half-fruity
and vanilled, half smoky/waxy. Maybe
less ‘idiosynchratic’
than the ‘Lands Of Scotland’.
Mouth: definitely a Clynelish of the
fruity kind. Not so much of a phenolic
beast, unlike the surprisingly good
‘Lands of Scotland’. A
little hot and spirity. Finish: quite
long, but maybe not too ‘precise’.
Comments: not bad at all but lacks
‘Clynelishness’ I think.
SGP:432 – 78 points. |
Clynelish
15 yo 1992/2007 (46%, The Single Malts
of Scotland, cask #1617, 291 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: medium aged Clynelish
at its best. Sharp like a blade, mineral,
waxy (of course), almondy and smoky.
Added whiffs of wet wool and rubbed
lemon zest. Lemon honey. My kind of
whisky. Mouth: ultra-clean, excellently
sharp, smoky and waxy. Smoked tea
and lemon squash, black pepper and
rosemary. Hints of rose liqueur give
this one a funny oriental edge. Finish:
long, on the same flavours, with just
the pepper growing bigger. Extremely
coherent. Comments: a big Clynelish
at 46%, for Clynelish lovers. SGP:355
– 88 points. |
| Clynelish
15 yo 1992/2007 (58,5%, The Whisky
Society, bourbon barrel, 218 bottles)
A new series from Sukhinder Singh’s.
Colour: straw. Nose: starts roughly
like its bros but gets then nuttier
(hazelnut oil). Wet newspaper, linseed
oil, lemonade again, wet chalk, waxed
paper. Zing! With water: now we get
green apples, wet wool, kippers, roots,
damp earth and ‘clean wet dog’.
This is something. Maybe only 30%
of all malt lovers will like this,
but if they do they’ll truly
adore it. Mouth (neat): big, big whisky.
Grapefruit juice, lime, chillis. Sippable
at almost 60% but let’s not
take chances. With water: funny how
it became a total beast with water.
Something like concentrated smoked
lemon juice? No roundness whatsoever
and something that reminds me of old
Clynelish (pre-Brora). Something slightly
metallic. Sorry, it’s hard to
explain... Finish: same, for a very
long time. What’s more, its
rather extreme purity will leave your
mouth as fresh as a baby’s.
Comments: I’d love to be able
to try this after 30 years of bottle
ageing... Should be something! SGP:265
– 90 points. |
| MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: It’s all a bit too
easy-easy, almost like one of these
ugly FM jazz pieces but when the very
Parkerian Richie
Cole blows his alto on
Malibu
breeze.mp3 it’s all magic.
That piece was on ‘Hollywood
Madness’, a record he did in
the 1970’s. Please buy the wonderful
Richie Cole’s music. |
 |
| |
February
21, 2008 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
– THREE OLD INDIE BRUICHLADDICHS |
| Bruichladdich
35 yo 1966/2001 (44.5%, Hart Bros)
Colour: gold. Nose: first sniffs reveal
big notes of shoe polish and soot
that hide the expected fruitiness
for a while. Then there’s the
melon and the peaches, and then a
rather heavy oakiness that mingles
with the shoe polish. Much nicer than
it sounds, actually. Mouth: excellent
attack, very complex and much less
oaky than feared. Apple peelings,
green melon, nutmeg, cinnamon and
coffee flavoured fudge. No dryness
whatsoever. Also quite honeyed (acacia).
Finish: not very long but even better
balanced, candied, more orangey and
honeyed now. Salty touches and white/milk
chocolates. Comment: assertive and
compact yet quite complex. Typical
old Bruichladdich on the palate (less
so on the nose), maybe not as immediately
thrilling as the stunning official
1970’s but all pleasure. SGP:631
– 90 points. |
| Bruichladdich
37 yo 1966/2003 (44.5%, High Spirits,
Scottish Colourists, cask #1233, 202
bottles, 75cl)
Funny that both ABV and vintage are
exactly the same as the Hart Bros’.
Colour: gold. Nose: no shoe polish
and much less oak this time, which
means that the typical fruitiness
has got much more room here. Melon
and peaches again plus sweet apples.
Gets then quite herbal (green tea,
apple peelings, chives), with also
beautiful notes of mashed potatoes
with white truffles from Alba ‘of
course’. Classy spirit, not
big but very special. Mouth: just
like the Hart, it’s much more
typical on the palate. White wine
poached peaches, ripe melon, acacia
honey... Then a little more oak and
spices than in the Hart (cinnamon).
Slight grassiness as well. Finish:
a little longer than the Hart but
similar in style. Comment: just as
good. Very, very drinkable –
too bad we couldn’t find the
white truffles again on the palate
;-). SGP:641 – 90 points. |
| Bruichladdich
30 yo 1969/2000 (46.5%, Cadenhead's
Chairman Stock, Bourbon Hogshead,
150 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: extremely unusual,
all on cheese at first nosing (comté,
gruyère) and then mashed potatoes.
No fruits this time but let’s
give this one a little time... Right,
it got even cheesier after a while.
How funny! Goes on with notes of newly
cut grass and, well, cheese. Smells
almost exactly like ‘aligot’,
which is a dish that’s typical
from the French Massif Central mountains.
Imagine, cheese melted in mashed potatoes,
almost fifty-fifty. Yup, a bit heavy
but so good (provided you can take
a good nap after your meal, that is.)
Mouth: again, we’re back on
the tracks now. Typical old Bruichladdich,
melons and all that, maybe just a
tad more spirity than expected. And
no cheese this time! Finish: longer
and hotter than its sibblings. Melon
eau-de-vie, arrack. Also more oak
at this point. Comment: a slightly
wilder and oakier version. Yah, and
cheesier. SGP:551 –
88 points. |
| CRAZY
WHISKY ADS – Around 1990, Johnnie
Walker gave us 7 indirect but worthy
tips on how to handle living together... |
 |
 |
1.
Love her for her mind - not for
her legs. |
2.
Make her work more than you do!
|
 |
 |
| 3.
Stop waisting toothpaste
(but whisky is OK)! |
4.
Escape to Frisco and leave
her in Little Rock, Arkansas! |
 |
| 5.
Go skiing to try and pick up other
girls. |
6.
Drink, it'll let you put up with
her kids. |
7.
And above all, never,
ever get married! |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: Scotland's ever provocative
Nick Currie aka Momus
('furtive, crepuscular art-rudeboy')
sings Lucky
Like St Sebastian.mp3 (from
his 1995 CD 'Slender Sherbet').
Yes, a bit shocking, isn't it? But
please buy Momus' music!
|
 |
| |
February
20, 2008 |
|
|
| Exclusive!
We just got this very interesting
piece by Jonny McCormick about the
now famous – and controversial
- Mutter Bowmore via the excellent
WhiskyCast's
and MM’s Mark Gillespie (thanks
Mark). Jonny was in the auction room
when the bottle was sold back in September
and it appears he was the only one
to achieve access to see and handle
the bottle. And guess what, he could
even nose the whisky (read his notes
below)! Jonny does support McTear's
and Martin Green on this issue, although
he's comfortable with a 1850 - 1880
bracket rather than a specific date.
Read on... |
| |
The
Bowmore That Smashed Auction World
Record |
By
Jonny McCormick |
 |
An
exquisitely rare 19th century bottle
of Bowmore smashed the World Record
at the Rare Whisky auction at McTears,
Glasgow in September fetching a staggering
£29,400 ($58,800).
The
oldest known bottle of Bowmore (circa
1850 - 1880), it was distilled under
the ownership of William & James
Mutter, whose family bought Bowmore
distillery in 1836. William Mutter
sold his share in the distillery in
1851 due to ill health. It had been
passed down through the generations
until the last descendent received
the bottle in 1973. “We knew
it had to be extremely rare and we
were very excited to have the privilege
of handling the sale,” said
Martin Green, Whisky Consultant with
McTears on the day prior to auction.
“We sold a late 19th century
bottle of Bowmore distilled under
the Mutter twins in 2001 and it fetched
£14,300 [$28,600]. This bottle
is much older than the last one from
the Mutter era. As it is being sold
by a direct descendent of William
Mutter, we know the provenance is
impeccable.” The bottle had
been stored on its side and once upright,
the cork slipped into the neck but
dropped into the whisky in the days
prior to the auction. Additionally,
the lead capsule was punctured creating
an unprecedented opportunity for a
once in a lifetime nosing of this
sesquicentennial whisky (see below).
|
| A
hushed silence fell over the room
when Lot #152, the W&J Mutter
bottling of Bowmore was announced
by Brian Clements, McTear’s
Director and Auctioneer. The auction
room staff hunkered around the internet
bids on their monitor or discreetly
conveyed the action to the telephone
bidders. Clements started the bidding
at £10,000 and assuredly moved
the bids up in £1000 steps,
whipping up the excitement as the
bidding swung from the floor to the
phones. The eyebrows rose on the faces
of the incredulous audience. “Eighteen...nineteen....twenty”
pronounced Clements, wielding his
gavel like an orchestral baton. At
the giddying height of £24,000,
all eyes were on Martin Green. Down
the wire, his telephone bidder contemplated
his position. Time stood still. Then
a nod of his head and the record making
bid for £25,000 was made. The
packed room erupted into applause.
With the premium and taxes, the final
total came to £29,400 –
a snip at $2,100 per dram. |
Brian Clements during the sale
|
| Later,
it emerged that Morrison Bowmore were
amongst the disappointed bidders outpaced
by the private Russian collector.
Bowmore Brand Director Glen Moore
graciously admitted that they would
have loved to return the bottle home
to Islay but the final bid exceeded
their budget. |
|
| The
screen shows Lot 152. Martin Green
is on the phone with the Russian
bidder. |
| The
sting in the tail emerged over the
Holidays when circulating rumours
gathered momentum after a bottle of
The Macallan Rare Reserve 1856 submitted
to Christie’s in New York was
withdrawn. Estimated at $16-$24,000
and a highlight of the pre-auction
publicity, radiocarbon dating demonstrated
that the contents were no younger
than 1950. The Mutter Bowmore’s
authenticity came under scrutiny from
the “circa 1850” auction
catalogue descriptor, the four color
trademarked label, (the trademark
was used from 1870 but registered
in 1876) plus concerns over the bottle
manufacturing process. Bloggers, writers
and archivists were up in arms. As
the only whisky writer given access
to view, handle and nose the whisky,
I hope some of the myths can be laid
to rest about this 19th century bottle.
True production and bottling dates
will never be known as comprehensive
company records are lacking, so Martin
Green made this clear to potential
purchasers and “circa”
notes this uncertainty, and his 1850-1880
bracketing could encompass distilling
to bottling dates. Radiocarbon dating
of 19th century whisky to the decade
is like measuring the width of the
Grand Canyon with a piece of elastic.
The capsule puncture facilitated the
acquisition of the sample for carbon
dating and serves to determine the
whisky dates pre-1950 but probably
little else. Colorless glass was uncommon
prior to 1870, but a bulbous neck
was not unusual from 1850s (the Glenavon
bottle sold by Bonhams in 2006 estimated
to have been bottled 1851-8 has a
similar shape). |
| Other
bottle features were a lack of linear
seams and a body/shoulder discontinuity
so mouth-blown manufacture into a
three piece base mold is plausible.
There were numerous seeds and elongated
blisters (types of air bubbles) within
the glass, commoner in 19th century
mouth-blown bottles and tiny diagonal
tooling marks around the shoulder.
The gossamer-thin paper label of the
Mutter’s family crest had a
high sheen. I was shown the plain
gray cardboard carton which the Mutter
descendents had used for storage,
but there were never claims of contemporaneity.
Cork slippage was recent when the
bottle was stored upright and prior
to the nosing, the lead capsule was
wrapped in cling film to prevent evaporation.
The estimated value, age and fragility
of a defective seal make it understandable
that McTears acted professionally
in the interests of the vendor and
it was not on public display prior
to the auction. |
 |
| Whilst
conspiracy theories abound, such 19th
century rarities will always raise
suspicion but the veracity of the
Mutter Bowmore as a period example
seems more certain. |
|
NOSING
NOTES :
19th
Century W&J Mutter Bowmore
Appearance: The color of a sandy riverbed
with greenish tinges. Oily, with little
discernible legs.
Nose: Remarkably fresh and undeniably
a big, powerful Islay whisky reminiscent
of the contemporary big hitters from
the island’s southern coast.
Iodine, peat smoke, filaments of salty
dried dulse in a paper bag, then lingering
burnt toffee notes with a subdued
susurrus of French roast black coffee.
Olfactory time travel! |
| -
Jonny McCormick (sale photographs:
Jonny McCormick) |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the guys from Gnawa
Diffusion do their
Douga
Douga.mp3 (from their CD 'Souk System'). There's
a lot of fun in their music, please
buy it.
|
 |
| |
February
19, 2008 |
|
|
| CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan |
 |
IAN
SIEGAL AND HIS BAND
The Troubadour, London,
February 2nd 2008
It’s
a night of both celebration and
commiseration in the Troubadour
club, one of West London’s
oldest music venues. We’re
in a small wood-panelled room at
the back of the restaurant (named,
for no obvious reason, after Antarctic
explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton).
There are winners and losers here.
The victors, from the valleys west
of the Marches are generously sharing
champagne with all, the losers glumly
knocking it back in between glassesful
of red wine. |
| It’s
Rugby Union: England humiliated by
a resurgent Wales. And it’s
only 6.30 – we’re here
to eat before going downstairs to
watch bluesman Ian
Siegal and his band (supported
by Bluesmix) – and our hosts
are anxious that we get there in time
to “bag a good spot”.
And while I remember, I think it might
be Mr Siegal’s birthday –
he’s certainly celebrating something. |
| Strangely
when we do get down, almost promptly
at 8.00pm the cramped little club
is already packed. It’s not
really fit for purpose – a sort
of U-shaped space with a stage in
the middle. But although it’s
changed over the years (the stage,
I understand, used to be at the back
of the room where there are now some
cavernous seating booths) it does
have a very nice atmosphere –
which is just as well as we end up
waiting for almost two hours before
Bluesmix,
with a eclectic mix of not so funky
New Orleans funk and blues, take the
stage. That’s two hours of soaking
in the history of the place –
this was where Bob Dylan first played
in London, Jimi played here (“kiss
the wall”), and Joni. Folk guitar
supreme Martin Carthy was a regular
in the sixties, and Led Zeppelin are
even alleged to have played here during
a run of gigs at nearby Earls Court.
So that’s a lot of history –
and, I should add, red wine –
to soak up. And quite possibly we
did a little too much of both. |
 |
| And
don’t get me wrong – whilst
Bluesmix did have their moments I
did feel (like most of the audience
to be fair) that they played a little
too long – so that by the time
Ian Siegal got to the stage at around
11.00 we’d all (band included)
soaked up a little more. Nonetheless
Siegal hit the stage like a whirlwind
with songs like ‘Groundhog blues’,
‘John the Revelator’,
‘Sugar Rush’ and ‘Brandy
Balloon’. |
| The
area around the stage was packed as
everyone tried to get a view, and
as I’ve said before, the number
of pretty girls outnumbered the chaps
in a way that just isn’t supposed
to happen at Blues gigs – Mr
Siegal has got something special,
and it’s not just his guitar
playing, or his two wonderful Harmony
guitars. On the subject of which –
did I tell you Serge, that there’s
a group of what can frankly only be
called Harmony
Maniacs on the internet? And loads
of Harmony
guitars for sale on e-bay, and
a specialist
store where you can buy them too?
And some pretty good resources
to at least help
you figure out if you might be
buying something
that’s ‘not quite right’,
as you say in the world of whisky.
Or that, more strangely still, one
of them has ended up in my house?
Ouch. |
 |
Anyway
– back to the gig –
or should I say party, which is
what it ended up feeling like. Siegal
ended up playing some covers that
were appropriate to the venue (beyond
which I cannot go as he swore his
audience to secrecy) before most
of Bluesmix joined for a final jam
on a few songs. He’s playing
again in London in June, and I think
in a few other scattered venues
in the UK. Otherwise your best chance
to see him is if you live in Holland,
Belgium or Sweden. Which is lucky
for you and shame for the UK –
he’s certainly worth the price
of the admission. And if you’re
really stuck then you might like
to buy a 2008 reissue of Meat and
Potatoes, imaginatively called A
Bigger Plate of Meat and Potatoes,
with a new DVD recorded at the North
Sea Blues Festival. But it’s
not as good as the real thing. -
Nick Morgan (concert photographs
by Kate)
MUSIC:
Bluesmix
MySpace page
Ian
Siegal MySpace page |
| TASTING
– TWO TULLIBARDINES |
 |
Tullibardine
1988/2007 (46%, OB, Vintage Edition)
Colour: straw. Nose: very milky, mashy,
porridgy, with notes of ink, wet cardboard
and linseed oil. Hints of wool, apple
peelings, newly cut grass. A style
of its own. Mouth: sweet and creamy,
a tad sugary, quite cardboardy as
well. Oatcakes and paraffin plus faint
hints of lavender sweets. Finish:
long, a tad spicier now (pepper) but
also a a very faint soapiness in the
aftertaste. Comment: again, a style
of its own. Should you like this style,
you’ll find this to be totally
flawless. SGP:251 –
78 points. |
| Tullibardine
1992/2006 (46%, OB, Vintage Edition)
Colour: straw. Nose: close to the
1988 but a little smokier and ashier
as well as a little butyric (make
that buttery). Mouth: the fruitiness
is a bit cleaner here (bitter apples).
Fuller and spicier as well –
it seems that the spirit itself got
better from 1988 to 1992. Even more
personality. Rather big notes of olive
oil. Finish: long, definitely grassier
and waxier than the 1988 at this point.
Bitter almonds. Comment: again, not
everybody will like this profile I
think, but if you’re looking
for something ‘different’,
you should like this. SGP:262
– 79 points. |
 |
FUN!
The Kentucky Chain Saw Massacre?
This is actually a Jim Beam
decanter, as seen on eBay (number
300198861645). Truly amazing... No
wonder it's one of our Canadian MM's
who drew our attention to it.(thank
you, Lawrence!) |
| |
February
18, 2008 |
|
|
 |
TASTING
– THREE OLD GLENKEITHS
Glenkeith-Glenlivet
12 yo 1967/1979 (80° Proof,
Cadenhead's Dumpy, Black Label,
75cl)
Colour: straw. Nose: we’re
well in the ‘dumpy’
series, with these typical hints
of soot, coal and waxed paper that
one can find in many of them (where
does that come from?) We have also
rather beautiful notes of citrons,
lemonade, thyme, ink, metal polish,
pine resin, mint and tiger balm.
We’re very far from other
old Glen keiths that are often quite
- if not heavily - sherried. Very
elegant whisky. Also hints of bacon.
|
| Mouth:
again, this one is very ‘old
dumpy’. Waxy and phenolic, almost
metallic, resinous, candied, lemony...
It could as well have been an old
Bladnoch. Crystallised citrons, lemon
drops, salt, lemon marmalade, marzipan,
lemon verbena... All that is very
beautiful, no need to say. Finish:
medium long but all on the same flavours,
with also a pinch of salt. Comment:
well, I’d have never said this
was Glen Keith! Brilliant. SGP:652
- 90 points. |
| Glen
Keith 1967/1988 (46%, Moon Import
‘The Sea’, cask #1417,
360 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: ah, this
is something very special again! First
we have warm butter, vanilla crème,
baklavas, orange blossom water and
marzipan and then again these sooty
notes. Almond milk, leather polish,
waxed paper, beef bouillon, fresh
parsley, apple vinegar... gets smokier
and smokier after a while. What’s
quite amazing is that the whole keeps
very fresh. Beautiful. Mouth: well,
this is almost exactly the same whisky
as the Cadenhead, with maybe just
a little more oomph and a little more
salt. Finish: ditto. Comment: ditto.
SGP652: - 91 points. |
 |
| Glen
Keith 34 yo, 1968/2002 (58.1%, Premier
Malts, cask #2628)
Long time no see new whiskies from
this series. Is it dead? Colour: pale
gold. Nose: very, very close to the
Moon ;-), but at cask strength. Sharper,
maybe a tad more lemony and a bit
more on green apples. Whiffs of wet
dog. Let’s see what gives with
a little water... Right, it got extremely
herbal and grassy now. Lettuce, grass,
wet chalk, clay, ‘vase water’,
beef bouillon, wet papers. Lacks a
bit of the other ones’ sexiness.
Mouth (neat): very punchy, more on
oak and mint this time. Verbena, green
apples... Sort of acrid I must say.
With water: much better! Resinous,
minty and salty, somewhat like a simpler
version of the 1967’s. Finish:
quite long, with even more salt. Comment:
a slightly rough and austere version
but it’s still excellent spirit.
And strictly no signs of overwoodiness.
SGP:451 - 86 points. |
| BOOK
REVIEW
by Davin de Kergommeaux
CHICKENBONE
CHURCH REUNION
Daughdrill, Wendy and Anita Havens
Desperate times make desperate men
and in an age when Prohibition and
the Great Depression made whiskey
as precious as gold, American farmers
measured their corn crops in gallons
per acre (that’s maize crops
in litres per hectare for those
living outside the USA). Men, many
of them just boys really, worked
the stills and smuggled their “shine”
to waiting markets under the constant
threat of unscrupulous revenuers
who resorted to sometimes murderous
means to stop the illegal flow.
|
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| What
Volstead started in 1919, Blaine brought
to a close in 1933, but in the interim,
fortunes were made that would last
generations. So, unfortunately, were
misfortunes, as Detective Scott Griffin
discovers in this first mystery from
Wendy Daughdrill and Anita Havens. |
| Set
in the hills of Calhoun County, Mississippi,
the story moves back and forth in
time between the moonshiners’
heyday and its still-present fallout
in the late 20th century. Literature
it ain’t, but Chickenbone Church
Reunion is a rollicking good whodunit
with whiskey in its heart and a funnybone
that just keeps getting tickled. |
| Former
moonshiners, old men now, are turning
up dead in mysterious but similar
circumstances. Has the ’shining
started again, and is this a fight
for territory or the revival of old
hillbilly feuds? With just enough
copper tubing, sour mash, condensing
water and stone jugs to keep these
possibilities alive, the finger points
at several suspects until, after more
twists and turns than any condenser
coil, the mystery is solved. A number
of loose ends are not tied-up in the
final pages though, clues surely,
that Griffin and his sidekicks will
soon return. |
| Sure,
the men might tear-up a bit too easily,
and the occasional simile may seem
a bit odd – men generally don’t
jump when they’re shot, they
fall, and old men broken down by arthritis,
tend not to amble - but this is a
beach read, a story to get you through
a long flight, and little incongruities
aside, a fun one at that. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the very great Sarah
Vaughan was deep into
Brasilian music in the 1970's and
as always, she did wonders. Such
as this marvellous A
Little Tear (Razao De Viver).mp3
(from 'I Love Brazil') Please buy
the huge Sarah Vaughn's music. |
 |
| |
February
17, 2008 |
|
|
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TASTING
– TWO GLENDULLANS
Singleton
of Glendullan 12 yo (40%, OB, Bottled
2007, 750ml)
Colour: full gold. Nose: starts
all on fresh butter, fresh hazelnuts
and dandelions, with a faint mashiness
in the background (mashed potatoes).
Gets closer to the malt after a
moment, grainier, with also hints
of rubbed orange zest. Gets back
to fresh butter after a moment.
An access-category single malt as
far as the nose is concerned. Farley
rounded, flawless but not really
challenging. |
| Mouth:
malty and caramelly, nutty, with something
that reminds me of Johnnie Walker
Black. Good attack but the middle
is a bit weaker. Roasted nuts and
crystallised oranges. Finish: medium
long, a bit ‘blendish’.
Comment: not bad malt at all, probably
a good ‘link’ to single
malts for blend drinkers. Knockando’s
colleague? SGP:331 - 78 points. |
| Glendullan
11 yo (43%, James McArthur, circa
2000)
Colour: straw. Nose: more butter,
more mash, more grains, more grass,
with also whiffs of scented soap.
We’ve had more expressive Glendullans.
Mouth: sweet, almost sugary, then
grassy and a tad cardboardy. Not much
happening here, and it hasn’t
got the Singleton’s ‘easiness’.
A little more oomph, that is, but
that’s probably the extra-3%
ABV. Finish: medium long, nuttier
and more caramelly now. Comment: not
much interest I think, but it’s
nothing but drinkable whisky. SGP:231
– 73 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the absolutely stunning
Randy
Weston plays a thoughtful
In
The Cool Of The Evening.mp3 (from his rare but extraordinary
CD 'Marrakech in the Cool of the
Evening'). You must buy Mr Weston's
music.
|
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| |
February
15, 2008 |
|
|
| PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
| TASTING
– TWO 1981 BRORAS |
 |
Brora
24 yo 1981/2006 (46%, Chieftain's,
cream sherry butt, cask #1522, 750
bottles)
Cream sherry is very sweet sherry
usually made from oloroso. Will this
be thick and cloying? Colour: full
gold. Nose: well, at first nosing,
it seems that good old Brora doesn’t
have much say here, but the general
feeling is still very nice. Starts
on rather big notes of sultanas and
apricot pie... Wait, no, Brora, slowly
starts to shove its way, with first
something delicately smoky, then bigger
notes of wax polish, and finally notes
of smoked ham and burning beeswax
mingling with the sultanas. All that
is more delicate and balanced than
it sounds, that is, with also whiffs
of sea air. |
| Mouth:
again, the wine does most of the talking
at first sip, but the distillery is
soon to strike back with more pepper
this time, a little peat (not much),
wax, cough syrup (and pine resin sweets)
and something a little metallic/mineral
(hard to describe). Stays very sweet
globally. Finish: rather long, sweet
and peppery, with notes of very ripe
stawberries and a a little orange
marmalade. And a little sweet curry.
Comment: this one keeps oscillating
between the wine’s sweetness
and the spirit’s relative austerity,
which makes for a very interesting
tasting experience even if it’s
maybe not the best example of integration.
SGP:544 – 86 points. |
| Brora
26 yo 1981/2007 (54.5%, Duncan Taylor
Rare Auld, cask #1424, 625 bottles)
This one was bottled in November last
year. Colour: white wine. Nose: this
one is quite unusual globally, but
rather typical when considering the
vintage (although not all 1981’s
taste the same – see above).
Not much peat and not much wax in
this one, rather something mashy and
porridgy, grainy, oily, maybe a little
too austere. Quite some humus, wet
newspapers, ginger tonic, grass...
And clay, apple peelings, dead leaves...
Not the sexiest Brora ever but let’s
see if the palate is more engaging.
Mouth: this is undoubtedly better
now. Sure it’s a little grainy/mashy
but the peat is bigger, and so are
the wax and the spices. We have a
little mustard, cumin, even horseradish,
bitter apples, thyme, something slightly
resinous... It gets also sweeter with
time, which is rather unusual (I usually
find sweetness first in my whisky).
Orangeade. Finish: long, with an obvious
prickliness now and quite some pepper.
Something of its alter ego from the
Isle of Skye. Comment: not an easy
Brora, and definitely not the most
compact and assertive. Goes in various
directions. Now, it’s still
a true Brora, and for me that’s
more than enough. SGP:465
– 85 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: the Art Ensemble of Chicago's
Lester
Bowie playing Waterfall.mp3
with his brass nonet 'Brass Fantasy'
(it's on their CD 'When The Spirit
Returns') Easier but still beautiful.
Pleas buy the late Lester Bowie's
music! |
 |
Check
the index of all entries:
Whisky
Music
Nick's Concert
Reviews
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Best
malts I had these weeks - 90+
points only - alphabetical:
Bruichladdich
35 yo 1966/2001 (44.5%,
Hart Bros)
Bruichladdich
37 yo 1966/2003 (44.5%, High Spirits,
Scottish Colourists, cask #1233, 202 bottles,
75cl)
Clynelish
15 yo 1992/2007 (58,5%, The Whisky
Society, bourbon barrel, 218 bottles)
Glenkeith-Glenlivet
12 yo 1967/1979 (80°
Proof, Cadenhead's Dumpy, Black Label, 75cl)
Glen
Keith 1967/1988 (46%, Moon Import ‘The
Sea’, cask #1417, 360 bottles)
Springbank
20 yo 1968/1989 (50%, Duthie for Samaroli,
Ageing Monography, 466 bottles, 75cl)
Springbank
23 yo 1965 (50%, Duthie for Samaroli,
Ageing Monography, 660 bottles)
Springbank
1964 (46%, OB, private bottling for
Lateltin 100th Anniversary, Switzerland)
Springbank
31 yo 1964/1996 (51.1%, Scotch Malt
Whisky Society, 27.41)
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