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Hi, you're in the Archives, January 2007
- Part 1 |
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January
15, 2007 |
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Malt
Maniacs #100 is online! So,
please first read today's WF
entry - or not - and then you
can jump to these brilliant
new
Epistles. |
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FOUR
OLD AND RARE CAOL ILAS and a few other
ones |
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Caol
Ila 27 yo 1974/2002 (54.3%, Signatory
for Whisky Magazine ‘Editor’s
Choice 2002’, cask #12622, 225
bottles)
1974 was the year when the distillery
kicked off again after having been
rebuilt and extended. Colour: gold.
Nose: it’s quite different from
the current Caol Ilas. More austere,
both meatier and more mineral as well
as grassier and more medicinal, while
I find the newer batches to be fruitier
and more ‘maritime’. This
1974 has notes of burnt matchsticks,
smoked fish (I know, that’s
maritime), ginger ale, green apples,
peppered apple compote… Also
quite some camphor, embrocation, massage
oil and hints of turpentine and paraffin.
Maybe a little cardboard. Superb mintiness
and the somke is rather perfect. Well
done Mr. Editor (wasn’t it Marcin
Miller at the time?) |
Mouth:
excellent attack, very precise, coherent,
peaty and fruitier now (but we’re
still only on apples and maybe not
too ripe strawberries). Okay, it gets
then very citrusy (lemon and kumquats)
as well as peppery, spicy. Lots of
presence, it’s a beautiful peaty
dram, a true Islayer. Long, peaty
and lingering finish with a beautiful
vegetal signature on smoked tea. Perfect.
91 points. |
Caol
Ila 1978/1993 (59.4%, Scotch Single
Malt Circle, cask #3542)
Dating from when they were still using
screw caps at the Club. Colour: gold
(a little darker). Nose: it’s
not that different, but probably wilder,
meatier at the start… Notes
of smoked ham and sausages, smoked
salmon… Lots of stones and metal,
waxed cardboard, then mustard and
green pepper. Asutere and severe I’d
say, but it’s a kind of profile
I like. Hints of Scweppes and aspirin
and then heavy whiffs of farmyard
(hay, animals and all). A wild, severe
best I’d say. Yes I like it.
Mouth: thicker, creamier than the
1974, with quite some sherry coming
through now. We have the peat and
the tea but also crystallised oranges,
toasted cake, gingerbread… Gets
then quite peppery, very spicy (cloves,
paprika)… Yes it’s another
excellent Caol Ila and the finish
is very long, peaty, peppery and jammy
(oranges)… Almost perfect. 89
points. |
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Caol
Ila 1968 (58.5%, Gordon & McPhail
‘Cask’ for Meregalli,
1980’s)
Always a thrill to be able to taste
an ancient Caol Ila from ‘the
old distillery’, and one from
these older versions of the “Cask’
series by G&M. Colour: gold. Nose:
heavens, this is powerful. Much more
on coffee and toffee as well as stones
and meat at first nosing, passing
then through a relatively ‘perfumy’
phase (orange water) and getting then
superbly peaty like with these old
Ardbegs and laphroaigs from the 60’s.
Notes of rubbed orange skin and seawater.
It’s already fab without water,
I can’t imagine what will happen
with water: of course I could have,
it’s now just like at the farm
in the middle of August. I’ll
stop now or you’ll accuse me
of maltoporn. |
Mouth
(neat): absolutely stunning mix of
crystallized lemon and peat, with
a fabulous dryness and immense notes
of smoked tea. Totally compact and
elegant – purebred malt. The
mouth feel is fab, at that, it’s
almost like concentrated whisky. Sélection
de Barley Noble? With water: a little
more orange and lemon juice as well
as orange cake and cough sweets and
hints of violet and liquorice sweet...
Phew. What’s really amazing
is the balance, like in any masterpiece.
And will spare you the finish, but
not my rating: 96 points
(and heartfelt thanks, Konstantin) |
Caol
Ila 18 yo 1981/1997 (63.8%, Flora &
Fauna ‘cask strength’)
It is to be noted that most (all?)
1981 Caol Ilas I already had were
very good. Was 1981 a 'star vintage'
at CI? Colour: white wine. Nose: this
is different again, even if you can
feel we’re in the same family.
Purer, more crystalline, also smokier
and indeed more maritime (oysters,
wet seaweed), with whiffs of mustard
and almond milk. Easily bearable at
such high strength but we’ll
still ad water now: it got soapy for
a minute, as often when you ad water,
especially in a heavily peated malt,
but got then much more almondy and
grassy (wet hay, fern), with also
rubbed lemon skin, infused tealeaves,
apple skin… A little severe
again but so nicely so.
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Mouth
(neat): lots of alcohol that make
it a bit sweetish but it’s classy
stuff below the surface. Superb liquorice
mixed with peat and lots lemon juice
– but let’s add water
before our mouth explodes: oh yes,
incredible how water works on this
palate, it makes me even think of
the 1968 now – okay, in a certain
way. Beautiful compactness, with ‘kirsched’
notes, orange marmalade, all sorts
of smoked things (almonds, tea and…
err… what else?) Brilliant.
And the finish is long, so compact
and coherent, smoky and citrusy…
Excellent old official Caol Ila. 91
points. |
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And
also this young wonder: Caol
Ila 12 yo 1993/2006 (60.0%, Adelphi,
cask #6797, 266 bottles)
Colour: pale straw. Nose: very typical,
maybe even fresher than usual. Beautiful
liquorice and smoke plus whiffs of
fisherman’s nest. There’s
lots of young indie Caol Ilas in the
market and some are sometimes a little
boring (too similar to justify bottling
as a single cask, even if they’re
above average) but this one is really
great. Development: peatier and rather
more medicinal than the usual young
Caol Ilas in fact, more like a Laphroaig.
Mouth: enjoyable attack on gentian
spirit, very earthy, with a very pleasant
bitterness (strong green tea). Also
apple skin… Less peaty than
on the nose but it gets beautifully
rounded after a little time, despite
the heavy attack. Long and very pleasant
finish, spicy and peppery. 89
points. |
Plus
these very good, but very similar
recent Caol Ilas – no need to
write extensive tasting notes, they
are all more or less the same… |
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Caol
Ila 12 yo 1992/2005 (50%, Douglas Laing
Old Malt Cask 388 bottles)
Simple but totally flawless. Warming.
85 points. |
Caol
Ila 15 yo 1990/2005 (55%, Wilson &
Morgan, casks #4709/4710, 600 bottles)
Just a little aromatically
weak in the finish but otherwise excellent.
85 points |
Caol
Ila 15 yo 1991/2006 (56,7%, Dewar Rattray,
bourbon C#743, 315 bottles)
Same. All these Caol
Ilas are extremely similar but excellent.
85 points |
Caol
Ila 1996/2006 (57%, Berry Bros.)
Same as others, i.e. very good. 85
points. |
Caol
Ila 1994/2005 (58,2%, G&M Cask,
First fill sherry butts #12423 &
12424)
The sherry brings an extra-dimension.
Slight rubber on the palate. Too bad,
it would have made it to 90 points.
84 points. |
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January
14, 2007 |
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TASTING
– TWO NEW 14 yo ROSEBANKS
Rosebank
14 yo 1992/2006 (46%, Coopers Choice,
matured for 7 years in sherry)
Colour: gold. Nose:
as expected, both the ‘sherriness’
and the trademark lemony smells
are well here at first nosing, the
blend of both creating something
enjoyably citrusy (more on kumquats
and candied citrons than on fresh
fruits). |
Goes
on with Xmas cake, figs and earl grey
tea, getting then pleasantly spicy
(spices for mulled wine, Chinese anise,
cinnamon, cloves). All that is still
fresh and clean… A double-maturing
that worked beautifully it seems.
Mouth: more or less the same happens
on the palate, with that ‘candiness’,
lemon marmalade, cake, crystallized
oranges… Quite zesty. Gets much
more caramelly after that, with again
these great notes of bergamot and
also candied quince. All that is smooth
but firm, excellent. Finish; rather
long, caramely and slightly waxy,
with an aftertaste on nutmeg. Highly
drinkable. 87 points. |
Rosebank
14 yo 1991/2006 (53.3%, Adelphi, cask
#2022)
Colour: white wine. Nose: punchy,
pungent and grassy, starting on notes
of aniseed, lemon, dill and parsley.
Faint smokiness (cigarettes). Quite
some liquorice, old wood, getting
resinous but also purer and cleaner.
Nice presence. Mouth: rich and sweet
but also really marked by the wood,
quick to get quite tannic and drying.
Lots of tea. Other than that we have
the expected lemons, candied tangerines,
and a long, citrusy and peppery finish.
Still lots of tannins, really drying
at the finish - and somewhat aggressive.
78 points. |
MUSIC
– Strongly
recommended listening: we're in
1980 and Frenchmen Claude
Bolling (piano) and
the late Jean-Pierre
Rampal (flute) are
playing Jazzy.mp3.
Elegant and fast jazz à la
Française from their CD 'Suite
for flute & jazz piano trio
vol. 2'. Please buy their music... |
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January
13, 2007 |
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CONCERT
REVIEW by Nick Morgan
JOHN OTWAY AND THE BIG BAND
Half Moon, Putney, London,
January 6th 2007 |
It’s
winter quiet in January London at
the moment. Curtains are drawn early
in the afternoon, electric light-bulbs
shimmer, families huddle round glowing
radiators snacking on Christmas surely-past-their-use-by-date
leftovers, and entertainment seems
largely to be provided by North London’s
European football team and Celebrity
Big Brother. In case you don’t
know Serge, that’s a TV programme
(remember – the box in the corner?)
where run of the mill celebrities
like superannuated rock stars, end
of the pier comedians, forgotten actors
and the odd Member of Parliament sit
around in a house making fools of
themselves for the sake of a nation’s
entertainment (perhaps Gordon Brown
will make us all watch it as part
of the new British Day celebrations).
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Personally
I don’t get it, but I’m
told it’s a fine way of passing
the time if you’ve no money,
and nowhere to go. And gigs are certainly
thin on the ground at the moment.
But by way of avoiding the telly,
or worse, we wandered south of the
river on Saturday to Putney to see
Whiskyfun’s old chum, and Rock
and Roll’s self declared ‘Greatest
Failure’ John
Otway and his Big Band
(all five of them).
Déjà vu anyone?
Okay – it’s an easy way
to write a review, but with the exception
of the odd Member of Parliament who
has yet to find his (or her) way onto
Celebrity Big Brother the rest of
it is as true as it was twelve months
ago. And it’s a year, Otway
tells us, “that didn't quite
take off in the way I wanted it to”.
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He’s
talking about his characteristically
absurd plan to take a jet full of
fans around the world (flying with
OTAIR)
in 2006 playing gigs in venues such
as Tahiti, Sydney and Dubai. Madly
enough over a hundred folk signed
up and paid for this crazy adventure,
but not enough to pull it off, so
it was canned in September. But the
characteristically irrepressible Mr
Otway has put that behind him and
is now looking forward to celebrating
his past in what is his thirtieth
anniversary year as a chart star.
‘Really free’, recorded
with guitarist Wild Willy Barret charted
in 1977, the start of Otway’s
meteoric rise to his cult position
as rock and roll’s greatest
failure. To mark the occasion there
is The Ultimate & Pen-ultimate
John Otway, a double greatest hits
album featuring 30 tracks, and also
Bunsen Burner – the Album, featuring
along with some B-sides and odds and
sods, his 2002 top-ten hit of the
same name, based on ‘Disco Inferno’
and written to help his daughter with
her chemistry homework. Naturally
both of these featured in the song-packed
set that delighted the friendly crowd
of beer-happy Otway diehards. Actually
we took a hard-bitten twenty-something
music industry cynic who’d never
seen Otway before. “Dad”,
she said with a huge smile on her
face, halfway through ‘Beware
of the flowers’ (song number
two), “Dad, I’m converted”.
Nuff said? |
You may remember that when I last
wrote about Otway I described him
as a musical subversive. The thought
was a serious one and still remains,
‘though his most subversive
act of this evening was to try and
play through the set with an out
of tune guitar, something that ace
axeman and sidekick, Eddie and the
Hot Rod’s guitarist Richard
Holgarth clearly wasn’t
going to tolerate. As I watched
Holgarth struggle to impose some
sanity on events I thought, “what
better way to start a musical year
than with a performer who turns
the musical world (and it should
be said, himself) upside down?”.
A musical year, I observe, that
promises a mixture of something
old, something new, something borrowed,
and quite possibly something blue
– and all of that before the
end of April. And if it delivers
only half the entertainment that
Mr
Otway produces, then I can tell
you now that we’re all in
for some good whiskymusicfun. |
Richard Holgarth tuning |
Oh
yes, and if you do only one thing
this year, then please go and see
Otway. You won’t regret it. |
Déjà
vu anyone? - Nick Morgan (photographs
by Kate) |
Thank
you Nick! Yes we still have kind of
a 'Big Brother' TV show in France
as well, although I still never watch
it - nobody will ever confess watching
this kind of show, despite the fact
that they gather 10 or 15 million
viewers every day (well, a little
less these days). But Otway seems
to be an excellent entertainer (as
these audio
files should testify) and I always
liked beautiful losers (btw, remeber
Bob Seger's tune?) Déjà
entendu anyone? And to our
distinguished readers, Nick's 2006
John Otway review is here
- 2004 is there.
2008 not published yet. - S. |
TASTING
- TWO OAKY 1976 STRATHISLAS |
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Strathisla
1976/2004 (45%, Samaroli, cask #3480)
Colour: gold. Nose: a very expressive,
hugely honeyed and floral nose, starting
with lots of nectar, daisies, acacia…
Extremely well rounded, not unlike
some old Balvenies if you see what
I mean. Quite some vanilla as well.
It gets then oakier and slightly spicy
(white pepper, a little cinnamon,
tea, freshly sawn oak). Keeps developing
with something like overripe apples
and cigar box, even hints of sandalwood.
A perfect balance and a superb freshness.
Mouth: sweet, rounded, vanilled, starting
with lots of apple juice and tea.
Yes, vanilla-flavoured tea. Gets oakier,
slightly drying now, with the tannins
having lots of say even it's silky
ones. Lots of cinnamon as well, crystallized
oranges, hints of salt… Less
perfect than the nose but still quite
pleasant. Finish: not extremely long,
rather tannic and with quite some
apple skin and white pepper. In short,
a very good but rather oaky Strathisla.
86 points. |
Strathisla
30 yo 1976/2006 (61.1%, Jack Wieber's
Auld Distiller, 100 bottles)
A very high strength at such old age.
Colour: pale amber. Nose: a little
sharper, more directly oaky at first
nosing, with huge notes of vanilla
crème and milk chocolate, tannins,
white pepper, pencil box, getting
then rather mustardy, with hints of
horseradish. Gets then more herbal,
with quite some green tea and then
very pleasant minty notes as well
as a little eucalyptus. Hints of rose
water. The wood did a lot of work
here it seems - nice work Mr. Cask.
Mouth: much more powerful but also
sweeter and probably more satisfying
than the Samaroli now. Quite some
crystallized quinces and oranges,
pineapple sweets and something slightly
earthy/mushroomy (that's funny here).
Now, it does get spicier and oakier
with time but there's also lots of
mint again, mint -flavoured chocolate,
Turkish delights, tangerine liqueur…
Lots happening now, with also a little
mastic, cough syrup, eglantine tea…
Finish: long, with both the fruitiness
and spices from the wood, getting
sort of drying but only after a few
caudalies (if you don't know yet,
a caudalie is one second of aftertaste).
87 points. |
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January
12, 2007 |
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MALT
MANIACS NEWSFLASH by
Johannes van den Heuvel |
Give
and thou shalt receive.... |
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After handing out awards for
a few years, the malt maniacs
are now on the receiving end
of a bunch of awards themselves!
After Ulf
Buxrud was nominated
for the 'Best Drink
book in the world (except
wine) 2006' Award
last week (we've just heard
that he's among the three
finalists - he already got
the 'Best Drink book in English
(except wine) 2006' Award
for his book Rare Malts),
our esteemed collegue Olivier
Humbrecht will
be on the receiving end of
an awards ceremony as well. |
Later this month he will be
honoured at a ceremony in New
York as World Best Winemaker,
organised by the Wine Enthusiast.
It seems we'll need to add a
special 'awards' section to
the personal profiles of the
certified malt maniacs soon
;-) Hearty congrats to Ulf and
Olivier! |
Meanwhile,
the progress of the major reconstruction
of the Malt Maniacs website
is progressing slowly but steadily
and we're getting ready to publish
the first new issue of our E-zine
later this month. And that will
be Malt Maniacs #100! This may
come as a shock to some of you
- didn't we have 19 issues when
the site was 'frozen' in September
2006? Yes we did, but we didn't
start 'counting' until 2002
(while we started publishing
E-pistles in 1997) and the articles
in some of those old issues
were sprawled across three or
four pages. To make Malt Maniacs
easier to navigate we decided
to restructure all the old stuff
so that one web page equals
one 'issue' of Malt Maniacs.
It will take me a while to finish
the archive, but when I'm done
we'll have 99 old issues ready
for your reading pleasure...
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PS:
Fresh malt maniacs Peter
'Pit' Krause, from
Germany, who takes our friend
Klaus' seat and Mark
Gillespie, from the
USA, who takes Roman's, have
already 'produced' two excellent
Epistles that you'll find there. |
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TASTING
- FOUR GLENGLASSAUGHS + ONE |
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Glenglassaugh
19 yo 1986 (40%, OB, 2006)
After Inchgower, lots of new indie
Glenglassaughs around it seems. This
one comes from the last year of distilling.
Colour: pale amber. Nose: starts with
a rather beautiful balance, nice sherry.
Bitter almonds, small oranges, quite
some iodine… Nicely liquoricy
and oaky, with alos hints of encaustic
and gunflint. Not weak despite the
40%. Mouth: now it's a little weakish
and slightly drying. Quite some tannins,
cardboard… Too bad because it's
also nicely orangey and minty. 80
points (for the nose). |
Glenglassaugh
29 yo 1976/2006 (48.9%, Coopers Choice)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: this one
starts very fresh, clean, as floral
as it can be. Buttercups, daisies,
light vanilla sauce, roasted hazelnuts…
Interesting hints of smoke and wet
stone before it gets quite farmier,
more vegetal (hay, barnyard, herbal
tea). Hints of rubber getting through
after a while but nothing disturbing.
Mouth: quite powerful at the attack
that combines vanilla, oak and quince
jelly. Rather earthy as well (roots,
gentian, tea, wild mushrooms, a little
salt), getting then more liquoricy,
honeyed, caramelly… Bold and
classic. Finish: rather long, oaky,
fruity and vanilled, with a nice aftertaste
on canned pineapple. Flawless. 85
points. |
Glenglassaugh
21 yo 1984/2006 (46%, Wilson &
Morgan, cask #190)
Colour: pale mahogany. Nose: this
one's sherried, with both cooked and
fresh strawberries at first nosing
as well as quite some 'nice' sulphur
(yes, I think sulphur isn't always
a problem). Goes on with notes of
apricot pie, oranges, wet limestone,
oven and gets then rather animal,
not exactly meaty but quite. Hints
of hare belly (as they say), clean
dog… Also Madeira, Corinth raisins,
dates… Most enjoyable, a beautiful
dry sherry. Mouth: superb attack on
toffee and chocolate, very sweet and
rounded but not dull at all. Lots
of black nougat, strong honey, ultra-ripe
bananas, praline… It's also
a little tarry before it gets back
to ripe strawberries topped with caramel
sauce and roasted hazelnuts. Just
excellent! Finish: long, very nutty,
also more coffeeish now, with more
dried oranges. A great creamy sherry-matured
Glenglassaugh. 89 points. |
Glenglassaugh
28 yo 1976/2005 (48.3%, Jack Wieber's
Whisky Castle, cask #2375)
Colour: straw. Nose: much more silent
and then grassy at first nosing. Sharp,
a little aggressive, lemony…
Notes of almonds and walnuts…
Mouth: sweeter and slightly rounder
as well as rather lemony again, herbal,
austere… Clean but quite neutral.
Finish, quite long but probably too
spirity and raw. This one doesn't
have much to say it seems. Typical
75 points malt in
my books. |
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Just
in: Glenglassaugh
27 yo 1978/2006 (56.8%, The Whisky
Fair, Artist Edition, 211 bottles)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: whiffs of
alcohol and green apples at first
nosing but it all gets more civilized
after a few seconds. Superb notes
of gooseberries and aluminium pan
(make that gooseberries in an aluminium
pan) plus peonies and breadcrumb (sounds
weird but it isn’t). Develops
on gianduja and white chocolate and
something like kirsch or slivovitz.
Hints of sherry. Gets really fragrant
after a moment, for we also have a
little orange water and faint whiffs
of cologne before it gets back to
praline. ‘Nice’. |
Mouth:
starts vigorously, on all kinds of
fruit liqueurs, hazelnut liqueur…
And then raw walnuts plus again lots
of praline. Strong notes of fruit
stones, like in some eaux-de-vie (made
out of plums). Also Cointreau. Finish:
long, a little spirity and still quite
fruity like an eau-de-vie. As close
to that as a malt can get, plus a
certain sherriness and chocolate.
Rather lively at 27 yo but maybe not
as complex as expected. 84
points. |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: it was banned almost everywhere
and the US Federal Communications
Commission had censored her by issuing
$7000 indecency fines to radio stations
for playing her songs. But that was
in the very early 2000's, so, let's
not be shy and have Sarah
Jones (the female Scott-Heron?)
singing her famous Your
revolution.mp3. Well... |
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January
11, 2007 |
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TASTING
- THREE CLYNELISHES |
Clynelish
12 yo 1993/2006 (43%, Chieftain's,
casks #4477-4478, 744 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: fresh, fruity,
sherried but not too much. Notes of
butter caramel and apple juice. Gets
then a little vinous, which sort of
masks a bit the distillery's character.
Also a little buttery. Mouth: sweet
and creamy, starting on apple compote
and canned pineapple, with also a
little pepper, lots of strawberries,
a little bubblegum… Sort of
fruitish. Not bad at all but little
distillery character. Medium long
finish, very fruity, sugary, like
strawberry sweets. Drinkable of course
but I prefer my Clynelish naked. 76
points. |
Clynelish
1991/2006 'Distiller's Edition' (46%,
OB)
This one was finished in dry oloroso
wood. Colour: gold. Nose: very similar,
maybe just a little sharper and straighter.
Slightly spicier as well. Again, little
distillery character but the balance
is okay. Faint whiffs of smoke. Mouth:
extremely close to the Chieftain's
at the attack but it grows bolder
and much spicier (quite some nutmeg
and cinnamon). Other than that we
have again lots of strawberries, even
ripe kiwis, oranges, mulberry jelly…
Hints of clove. Coherent finish, rather
long, spicy and fruity, jammy…
Well, I guess once you decided to
do a finishing on Clynelish - and
we won't argue - you can't really
do any better than this (except if
you finish it in an ex-Clynelish cask,
that is - or better yet, in an ex-Brora
cask). Naomi Campbell in an arctic
ski outfit, but a nice one. 80
points. |
Clynelish
10 yo 1995/2006 (59.3%, Adelphi, cask
#12783, 698 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: hot and powerful
but rather clean, with lots of strawberries
and gooseberries at first. Then we
have hints of 'distillation' and quite
some pepper. Notes of curry, Indian
cooking… Hotter and rougher
than usual. Mouth: still hot but rounder,
very fruity (cherries, kiwis). There
is a little wax and tannins. Then
raspberry eau-de-vie and quite some
sulphur. The finish is quite long,
with a pinch of salt. The whole is
a bit heavier than expected. 80
points. |
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: get prepared to tap your
feet, here comes Finland's Nicole
Willis and her infectious
Perfect
kind of love.mp3 (with The Soul
Investigators). When was that recorded,
you may ask? 1960? Nope, it was
in 2005 and it's on her excellent
album 'Keep Reachin' Up'. Please
buy Nicole Willis' music... Yup,
yup, yup, yup... |
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January
10, 2007 |
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TASTING
- TWO 1984 LITTLEMILLS |
Littlemill
21 yo 1984/2006 (58.7%, Cooper's Choice)
Colour: white wine. Nose: rather fresh
and clean at first nosing but not
too expressive. A bit spirity. Starts
to develop on milky notes, tea, mashed
potatoes, soaked grain, getting then
a little grassy and slightly floral
(lilies of the valley). Not lots happening
in there but no serious flaws either.
Mouth: sweet, very grainy and slightly
dusty attack, getting rather sugary,
with notes of pear or pineapple sweets.
Notes of vodka, bubblegum… The
finish is quite long but rather spirity,
still very sugary… Rather close
to new make, I'd say, but again, no
flaws here. 78 points. |
|
Littlemill
1984/2005 (61.1%, Scott's Selection)
Colour: straw. Nose: very similar,
with just a little more wood influence
(vanilla) and almost no floral notes.
Also hints of apple peels. No offbeat
notes, though, and and an enjoyable
cleanliness. Mouth: same comment,
the profile is similar to the Cooper's
but there's an added layer of wood
influences such as vanilla, tea, tannins…
Also hints of oranges. Long finish
again, spirity and orangey. A little
more complex: 79 points. |
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MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: nu jazz isn't my cup
of tea but I must confess I quite
like this very speedy 'railroad'
version of Girl
from Ipanema.mp3 by Russia's
Nelli
Rees (from her first
album Jazz Noir). Please buy Nelli
Rees' music. |
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January
9, 2007 |
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TASTING
- FOUR UNDISCLOSED ISLAYERS |
|
The
Ileach (40%, OB, Islay single malt,
Bottled +/- 2006)
Nose: nice peat plus caramel and strong
honey. Toasted and caramelly, hints
of manure. A gentle Islayer. Mouth:
sweet, rooty, peaty. Ripe strawberries
and dried pears, black nougat, smoked
tea, toffee. Good, lots of body despite
the low ABV. 82 points.
|
Wilson
& Morgan 1997/2005 'House Malt'
(43%, W&M, casks #8586-8589)
Another one we’re very pleased
to be able to follow year after year…
Nose: compact, peaty and rooty. Ripe
apples, liquorice roots, lovage and
pumpkin soup. Whiffs of fresh mint
leaves. Mouth: just as compact –
not too bold but a nice ‘smoked
toffee’. Lapsang Souchong tea,
spearmint, pepper, ripe apples. Gets
spicier and dryer with time –
one of the best budget Islayers. 84
points. |
Peat
Reek NAS (46%, Blackadder, cask ref
BA10573, 2005)
Colour: white wine. Nose: young, raw
peat, very simple at first nosing.
Apple juice. Rather farmy and neither
medicinal nor coastal. Seems to lack
‘terroir’ (uh!) Mouth:
same comment. Apple juice and peat
plus a little ginger and pepper and
that’s pretty all. Also a little
too sweet I think, peat and extreme
sweetness do not go along very nicely
in my books. But it’s far from
being undrinkable! 78 points. |
Single
Islay Malt 10 yo (52,6%, G&M for
GDA Milan, 2004)
A bottle selected by Giorgio d’Ambrosio.
Colour: straw. Nose: clean, crisp
peat, very Ardbeggish. Lots of smoke,
dry seaweed and crystallized lemons.
Notes of toasted cake, kumquats, buttered
caramel, cooked apples… Perfect
young Islayer, not complex but the
balance is perfect. Nose: smoother
than expected, tasting much older
than it actually is. Complex, peaty
and smoky, coastal… Develops
on dried oranges, earl grey tea, kumquats
again, smoked tea, dried pears, small
bitter oranges… Extremely enjoyable
and quite subtle, just like a much
older Ardbeg (something of the 17yo).
Medium long finish, smooth and lingering,
with quite some salt… An excellent
surprise! 89 points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: if you like Manu Chao,
the Mano Negra and all their 'school'
you'll probably like Peru's Novalima
too. Today they're doing Bandolero.mp3
(nothing to do with the Gipsy Kings)
- please buy their music! |
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January
8, 2007 |
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THE
2006 WHISKYFUN MUSIC AWARDS
Chief Concert
Reviewer Nick Morgan and Kate His
Photographer have been secretly gathering
lots of votes and opinions all year
long (including theirs and that does
mean something) and just came up with
the official Whiskyfun Music Award
winners. Lots of surprises and a few
confirmations – and a very entertaining
read. It’s all here! |
TASTING
- THREE INDIE 1995 TOBERMORIES AND
AN OLDIE |
|
Tobermory
1995/2006 (46%, Wilson & Morgan,
Sherry wood)
Colour: pale amber. Nose: starts on
quite some sherry and also something
‘wildly wild’ (cold ashes,
hare, was polish). Rather concentrated
but not exactly rich… Notes
of paint and varnish, turpentine,
then caramel and string honey. It
seems that it’s the wood that
does all the work here. Hints of motor
oil. Well, these young Tobermories
are often quite hard to enjoy…
Mouth: better, much better, starting
on loads of salted liquorice and caramel,
with also something vegetal (olive
oil?) It’s really thick, getting
bitterer after a moment (rocket salad).
Amazingly concentrated, like a syrup.
Long finish, very caramelly, toffeeish,
with also quite some cloves. Hot –
even at ‘only’ 46%. A
beastly Tobermory: 78 points. |
Tobermory
1995/2006 (55.6%, Berry Bros &
Rudd, cask #744)
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: powerful,
with much less sherry if any but again
a rather huge oiliness and something
like manure or horse dung at first
nosing. Farmy, definitely, I’m
wondering if there isn’t a little
peat. Hints of coffee, bread crust
and crumb (well, bread), smoked tea.
Not really clean but nicer than the
young OB’s. Hints of lamp petrol
and paraffin. Mouth: sweet, really
punchy, starting on lots of pear,
gooseberries and apples. Not so far
from raw spirit or apple brandy. Something
buttery. Really simple I think, not
really interesting. Long but spirity
finish, again on raw fruit spirit,
with just something bitter (chlorophyll?).
Drinkable but that’s all. 75
points. |
Tobermory
10 yo 1995/2005 (46%, Murray McDavid,
fresh sherry, 2400 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose:
we’re right on the sherry at
first sniff (quite dry) but it develops
on mashier and rubberier aromas. Lots
of hot milk, hot butter, mashed potatoes,
vanilla crème… Something
slightly ‘butyric’ (how
technical is that, eh?!) but it’s
discreet enough not to appear as a
flaw. Slight smokiness, hints of roasted
nuts, nougat, caramel… Gets
much oilier and farmier with time
(hints of wet dog). Mouth: surprisingly
thin mouth feel, with a little cardboard,
toasted bread and orange marmalade
but a sudden drop after that, leaving
just a few fruity notes (dried pears).
Short finish, nutty and still a bit
cardboardy… Well, it seems that
the spirit does not quite stand the
wood here but it’s certainly
not unpleasant. Near the bottom of
Murmac’s range, that is. 76
points. |
Tobermory
32 yo 1972/2005 (49.7%, OB, 897 bottles)
This older one has been finished in
oloroso casks. Colour: dark amber.
Nose: heavy dry sherry, hugely classical,
with the usual cortege of coffee,
raisins, chocolate, rum, cooked fruits,
smoke, game and mint. Nothing more
but nothing less. Totally flawless,
no weird aromas here. Mouth: hugely
concentrated, maybe more like fortified
oloroso than like finished or sherry-matured
whisky. Hugely chocolaty, lots of
cooked strawberries, excellent dryness
and quite some tannins. One of the
most extreme sherry monster I’ve
had recently. No distillery character
that I can get except maybe a faint
cardboardiness but that may well be
the wood as well. Finish: not very
long but pleasantly dry and coffeeish.
Extreme but again, flawless –
but you really have to like sherry
in you malt. 87 points. |
|
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January
7, 2007 |
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TASTING
- TWO AUCHENTOSHANS |
Auchentoshan
17 yo (51%, OB, Bordeaux finish, 3600
bottles)
Matured for 8 years in bourbon casks
and 9 years in Saint-Julien casks
(probably Lagrange). Colour: gold
- orange. Nose: rather hot and spirity,
starting on notes of overripe oranges
and something dusty and meaty (ham).
Notes of pineapple liqueur, rather
sweet and sour. Not totally unpleasant
I must say, with hints of ganache,
praline and nougat and also quite
some caramel and roasted nuts. Not
vinous at all, good news. Mouth: rather
creamy, nutty, not unlike hazelnut
liqueur like they make in Italy, with
also notes of crème brulee,
candy sugar, fudge… Now, there's
also rather strange notes of ginger
ale and something cardboardy. Not
'plank' but something like tapioca…
Also notes of cappuccino and strawberry
jam. Finish; rather long, on spiced
jam and mulled wine, liqueur-filled
chocolate… This one quite works,
I must say, but it's more double maturing
than finishing. 84 points. |
|
Auchentoshan
10 yo 1995/2005 (50.3%, Exclusive Malts)
Colour: white wine. Nose: much more
austere, neutral, almost like vodka
at first nosing. Then we have a little
apple juice, freshly cut grass, hints
of lemon juice, fresh almonds and
hints of wet chalk… Not much
else but the whole is ultra-clean.
Mouth: supper-fruity but close to
new make, with lots of pear, apple,
pineapple… Starts to taste almost
like kirsch after a moment, the only
difference being a sort of saltiness
and traces of oak. Finish: just like
fruit eau-de-vie. Amusing. 78
points. |
|
MUSIC
– Recommended
listening: it's Sunday, we go classical
with the beautiful love
duet.mp3 (Che gelida manina)
from La Bohème's Act I. (yup,
Puccini).
Superb, of course. |
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January
6, 2007 |
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|
|
We're
back from Morocco.
Little whisky (and bad GPRS, sorry)
while there but some rather good wine,
especially this Moroccan syrah, 'S
de Siroua' 2003. Yes, I know,
the label rings a bell... And yes,
I checked, Siroua belongs neither
to Springbank, nor to Signatory Vintage
but to Thalvin,
and comes from the Zaers region, around
Tifflet and Rommani... But are we
whisky freaks or not when we select
our wine? ;-) |
TASTING
- TWO OLD GLENFIDDICHS |
|
Glenfiddich
NAS ‘Pure Malt’ (43%,
OB, early 80’s)
I though it would be interesting to
taste this older version alongside
the 1973, as they were probably distilled
roughly at the same time. Colour:
pale straw. Nose: rather expressive,
grainy, with obvious metallic smells
together with a slight smokiness at
first nosing. Gets much mashier after
a moment (bold notes of mashed potatoes
and boiled milk) and then rather grassy,
with also whiffs of violets and lilac.
Wilder than more recent versions.
|
Mouth:
weaker now, with an attack that’s
pretty okay (hugely grainy and also
a little crdboardy) but a sudden fall
and almost no middle, despite the
fact that there’s kind of a
bitterness that settles on your tongue.
A strange feeling… takes off
again after a good thirty seconds
but it’s not for the better,
with something quite bitter and hugely
grassy again. Kind of anarchic –
whatever that means. Finish: not that
short, still bitterish and grassy,
getting extremely dry. Well, the nose
was very nice but the palate is just
short of being seriously flawed I
think. Now, it could be the bottle…
65 points. |
Glenfiddich
1973/2006 (44.7%, OB for Waldhaus
am See Hotel St.Moritz, cask #9883)
There’s already been an excellent
official 1974 for La Maison du Whisky
this year (90), here’s a 1973
for Switzerland that Jim McEwan liked
a lot. Colour gold. Nose: very fragrant,
almost extravagant – probably
the most demonstrative ‘fiddich
I ever had. Starts on huge notes of
peonies and blackcurrant jelly as
well as vanilla fudge, soon to get
unusually meaty (ham). We have then
lots of rather complex aromas such
as date liqueur, bergamot, sandalwood
(huge), lavender flavoured crème,
oriental pastries (baklavas)…
Lots of oak then (but it’s well
rounded) and finally a minty and resinous
blast – it almost smells like
Vicks Vaporub after a while. And always
this meatiness in the background,
the whole getting wilder and wilder
(well hung game). Lots happening in
this one! Mouth: the attack is quite
dry and makes me think of a very ‘fino’
sherry. Really nervous, oaky but not
too much, with lots of green tea,
green bananas, apple skin, various
herbal teas, mint… Goes on with
a little praline before it gets frankly
spicy and peppery, with quite some
cinnamon, nutmeg, even paprika…
Not as beautiful as on the nose and
certainly quite tannic. Finish: very
spicy and oaky now, almost like over-infused
tea, with more and more black pepper.
Wild indeed! I liked the nose much
better, it was stupendous, but this
rather drying palate prevents it to
make it to 90+ in my books. So, it’s
going to be 89 points. |
MUSIC
– Heavily
recommended listening: let's have
a little Brazilian jazz funk - at
its best - with the great Tania
Maria doing Come
with me.mp3. Highly energetic
- please buy Tania Maria's music! |
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January
1, 2007 |
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PETE
McPEAT AND JACK WASHBACK |
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:
Caol
Ila 1968 (58.5%,
Gordon & McPhail ‘Cask’ for
Meregalli, 1980’s)
Caol
Ila 18 yo 1981/1997 (63.8%, Flora &
Fauna ‘cask strength’)
Caol
Ila 27 yo 1974/2002 (54.3%, Signatory
for Whisky Magazine ‘Editor’s Choice
2002’, cask #12622, 225 bottles)
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