December 2011 - part 2 <--- January 2012 - part 1 ---> January 2012 - part 2

I don’t drink, I taste, part 2
I’ve been a bit silly in my first post. I wanted to explain ‘why I’m not an alcoholic’, and for that purpose I wrote about the amounts I swallow when I taste whisky, that is to say 1cl on average.

I think I wrote either too much about that, or not enough according to some very worthy questions I got since I published my very incomplete little piece, so please let me explain a little further.

To make things clear, I only swallow 1cl on average (I insist on 'average') but I'll rather pour 3cl into my glass to try to get the full experience. It's just that I'll actually swallow only 1cl. Again, on average! Oh, and if it's Brora 1972, I'll probably swallow everything. Moreover, it’s not because I’ll only swallow 1cl that I won’t put more into my mouth globally. I need the amount I actually swallow to comment on finish, aftertaste or retro-olfaction but I don’t need to swallow everything to comment on nose (not kidding!) or on a rather large part of what’s happening on the palate. So, for each whisky, I’ll usually need around 3cl on average, sometimes less, sometimes more, of which I’ll actually swallow one third. Again, on average. I'll especially need such good amount if I also try the whisky with water, which is almost always the case with high strength whiskies.

Also, should I have to try only one whisky ex-abrupto, with no comparisons (benchmark malts, similar whiskies), I'll probably need more than that and would possibly try to have that baby on several occasions. But I almost never taste singletons, because I think I’m not too good at that. It may be okay for some, especially if you only write a few words or a funny sentence (like ‘very fruity’ and then ‘this is the Glentowbullin we all like when there’s nothing else around’) but I for one always try to write tasting notes that are relatively detailed, because I think we should show respect to all distillers and all whiskies. Especially bad marks have to be thoroughly explained, I think smashing a whisky with almost no explanations is either very silly, or simply barbaric. Or both. Or very pretentious.

No taster will be taken seriously if
there aren't silly pictures of him
looking very inspired while nosing
the 'golden nectar'. Arf!

Again, the fact that I’m bad at tasting ‘isolated’ whiskies is why I almost always do ‘line-ups’ of several similar whiskies (same distillery, age, style…) and use benchmark whiskies. It’s also only because of that that I feel I can add scores to my notes with a little confidence. I’ve tried to explain all that in this little piece titled ‘How to make your inherent subjectivity a little more consistent’.

Oh and one last thing: the downside of swallowing the whiskies, even only 1cl, is that you cannot taste many, many whiskies in a row, even if you drink a lot of water. Well, you can, but you’ll have to face the consequences and to spend a lot of time proofreading/correcting your tasting notes on the next day ;-). I won’t swear that never happened to me. Happy weekend!

Tasting two independent Laddies

Br2 (49.3%, Specialty Drinks, Elements of Islay, 2011) It doesn’t say it’s a Bruichladdich but it cannot be Browmore, can it? Colour: white wine. Nose: the freshest freshness ever and a brininess that’s even more obvious than usual. Much more obvious… So we have sea air, oysters and seaweed, then a flintiness and then the expected fruitiness, with peaches and not-too-ripe melons as well as just a few herbs and some grass. Chives? The whole is really very fresh. Mouth: excessively fruity, starting with tart lemon and lime, then peaches and melons again. A fairly simple but wonderfully chiselled profile that reminds me a bit of the new official Ten, minus the heavier vanilla/oak. All good. Finish: quite long, with more salt again, brine, lemon and a honeyed aftertaste… Comments: very perfect youngish Bruichladdich, nervous and ultra-clean. SGP:641 - 87 points.

I don’t drink, I taste
Am I an alcoholic? I know even wondering about that could be a sign, but it comes from the fact that I often get ‘polite’ questions about that very topic, not really from fellow whisky enthusiasts, rather from other friends, not to mention my family. This is what I usually tell them: I don’t drink, I taste!

Indeed, I taste roughly 1,000 whiskies a year and swallow more or less 1cl of each (sometimes more, sometimes less). Some tasters swallow more, some others swallow just nothing, I’m happy with 1cl on average. Whiskies that are hard to pin down require a little more, sometimes much more, while some others require infinitesimal amounts, especially when you compare several very similar whiskies, because nuances stand out. I don’t think you can assess whisky when you don’t swallow – all you can do is select/control/blend, which are completely different purposes. Finish, aftertaste and retro-olfaction are very important parts of a spirits tasting session, much more so than with wine, and you don’t get them if you don’t swallow at all, I think.

Oh, and I feel absolutely no addictions to alcohol, honest. So indeed, I don’t think I’m an alcoholic. And as I said, I don’t drink anyway, I taste!

Addendum: please read Part 2.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: a sweet little African ritornello by the band Afro National (an old band from Sierra Leone, I believe) to match another sunny day in Alsace. It's called Gbaunkalay. Please buy Afro National's music, if you can find it.

Tasting one old Glenfiddich for Brian

Maybe you’ve heard the sad news, there’s been a tragic accident on Saturday at Glenfiddich Distillery, during which distiller Brian Ettles lost his life. I think we never pay tribute to the distillery workers enough, maybe because the PR people use to catch all the light. Well, that's their job, after all. Anyway, this little session is for you, Brian, and for you it won’t be just any Glenfiddich!

Glenfiddich 1956 (unknown ABV, Thomas Bucktrout & Co. Ltd., Guernsey, +/-1970?) It’s in 2009 that auction house Bonham’s sold eight unlabelled bottles of Glenfiddich 1956, bottled by or for wine merchants Thomas Bucktrout & Co. Ltd. in Guernsey. Let’s try one of those today, with thanks to our friend HH Hansen. Colour: deep amber. Nose: oh my! It’s one of these old-style ‘genuine’ sherry monsters, full of dried fruits, spices and waxes. To the brim! It’s also magnificently mineral and oily, with these whiffs of old-style motor oil and then an endless development on leather polish, very old balsamic vinegar, roasted sesame oil (it’s very obvious here) and God knows what else. Utterly brilliant and totally unmatchable in my opinion. I have no idea as for the strength but it’s very aromatic and frankly big, so I’d say around 50% but the palate will tell us more. Mouth: all right, maybe rather around 45/46%, but what a superb half-dry, half-orangey attack, on something like liquorice infused in orange liqueur. Goes on with the expected notes of prunes and dark chocolate, then touches of polished wood (sandal? Cedar?) and a good deal of pepper, cloves and caraway. Finish: very long because it’s so coating and oily. Great notes of herbs, mint, parsley, tarragon… And even touches of strawberry jam. Comments: I’m wondering whether this wasn’t rather sold in 1956 originally, rather than distilled. It’s a style that rather reminds of pre-war Mortlach (G&M)… It’s big and absolutely fantastic, I’m sure it’s the kind of heavenly dram that Brian is now having in the Paradise of Distillers. Slàinte, Brian! SGP:673 - 94 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: this is for you as well, Brian. McCoy Tyner plays For Heaven's Sake (from Nights Of Ballads & Blues). Please buy McCoy Tyner's works.

Tasting a few more Speysiders

Glenrothes 42 yo 1969/2011 (44.7%, Duncan Taylor for Men O'Quaich, octave, cask #49884, 65 bottles) At this age, it can go wrong. Let’s check (yeah, any excuse is good)… Colour: amber. Nose: it’s the menthol that comes out first, sign of age, followed by many stewed fruits and a wide range of resinous/sappy tones including beeswax and propolis. Then it’s fruitcake galore and yet again, a feeling of old Demerara rum (like Port Mourant). And then, more and more smoke, which come unexpected. Old coal stove, lovage... Complex and beautiful. Mouth: as often with these old malts, the first sips won’t tell you whether it’ll be over-oaked or not. Seems to hesitate quite a bit, before starting to unfold in a beautiful manner, forgetting the oak and becoming wonderfully ‘beehivy’ and ‘tertiarily fruity’ (that’s more than enough, S.!) Many jams and honeys, chutneys, orange and caramel sauce… Finish: medium long, with more and more ‘sweetish oak’. It’s not dry oak, it’s a kind of, like I said, sweet oak. Or rather a blend of herbal teas with a little honey? Liquorice rolls in the aftertaste, and big time. An earthiness as well, and cinnamon. Comments: not one of these old malts that fade out, quite the opposite in fact. It’s all quite big and very complex and deserves time. Same high quality as the Tomatin in my opinion, but the Glenrothes is maybe a tad more ‘different’ and ‘original’. SGP:552 - 91 points. PS: I didn't know - or I had forgotten, arf - that it was from an octave when I wrote those notes. That explains the 'sweet oak'.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: this isn't Sun Ra's happiest piece but since the sun is shining all over Alsace today, I felt I could post this stunning lamento called When there is no sun (from 1978's New Steps). Please buy Sun Ra's music!

Tasting six very naked Speysiders

Naked… I mean very light in colour and with very little cask influence, so very close to the original distillate. It’s a style I like but the spirit has to be classy or the whiskies can be very, very average in my opinion, or even insipid. Let’s have a few and see…

MUSIC - Recommended listening: remember The Airplane's violonist the late Papa John Creach? He had both a very singular sound and some unusual own compositions. Let's listen to Gretchen that sounds like the OST of an old French movie (from the album 'Filthy') and then buy his music.

Eight younger Clynelish and an older one

More youngish Clynelish can't do no harm, even if I doubt this ill be an easy session. We'll kick things off with the well-known OB, as 2010's batches were much to my liking.

Time for a last one now… Perhaps an older one? Such as this one…

MUSIC - Recommended listening: the ultra-elegant Spanish jazz pianist Tete Montoliu plays Don't blame me, with Rufus Reid and Akira Tana. It was on the CD 'A Spanish treasure'. Indeed. Please buy Tete Montoliu's music.

Tasting White Dogs

Many American distilleries prepare their mash (what they'll let ferment and then distil) after some specific recipes, blending different grains (wheat, rye, maize/corn, barley) in various proportions. Those recipes are called 'mash bills'. Although I believe tasting some new make spirit rather belongs to mixology blogs or to vodkafun.com, let's have three examples that are currently sold in the market.

Buffalo Trace White Dog Wheated Mash (114 US Proof, OB, 2011) A blend of maize, wheat and barley. It's the recipe that's used to make WL Weller and Pappy Van Winkle. Colour: plain white. Nose: a naked, grassy spirit that reminds me of Absolut. A lot of raw ethanol, burnt grass, a little plastic… Frankly unpleasant, let's see if water will work… With water: same, then a little more humus. Saltpetre. Mouth (neat): no. Starts burning and with strange notes of burnt black olives on a cheap pizza and then falls apart, with only bitterness remaining. Ouch! With water: okayish now, but there's always these notes of all things burnt. Finish: medium long, on raw alcohol and bitter herbs. Maybe a touch of honey in the aftertaste. Comments: stuff that shouldn't be sold in my view. No doubt this will become great once mature, but as new make, it's quite ugly. After all, that's what the old Scots were saying, bad new make makes great whisky and reversely. SGP:240 - 25 points.

Buffalo Trace White Dog Rye Mash (125 US Proof, OB, 2011) Said to be the new make that'll become Sazerac, Van Winkle and Thomas Handy ryes. Colour: plain white. Nose: much, much more happening in this one. We're very close to Japanese green tea (the leaves, not the brewed product) and then white tequila, and big time. In that sense, it's quite pleasing and certainly interesting. Earth. With water: even more green tea, which is amazing and very interesting. Mouth (neat): once again, this is more pleasant than the wheated thing. Notes of juniper and something like gherkins? It's also sweeter, with touches of kirsch. With water: more sweet notes and caraway. I like - quite. Finish: quite long, on the same notes. Comments: the superiority of the very fashionable rye. Almost sellable as new make indeed in my opinion. SGP:351 - 60 points.

Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1 (125 US Proof, OB, 2011) It's the recipe that's used to make traditional Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Colour: plain white. Nose: we're somewhere between the Rye and the Wheat. Less expressive than the former, but more so than the latter. In fact, not too nice in my opinion. With water: no improvements, gets even rawer and hard to nose. Mouth (neat): nice this time! Lemon-flavoured vodka and gin, 50/50. This should be drinkable on ice. With water: same feeling, we're even closer to the rye version this time. Quite potable. Finish: medium long, a tad earthy. Some ginger and bitter herbs in the aftertaste. Comments: not too un-nice. SGP:351 - 50 points.

To be honest, it's only because of Whiskyfun that I tried those oddities. I'd have never touched them in my 'real life' ;-). They sell for $16 a half, which is sort of okayish but I'm wondering if anybody should sell unfinished products, even for the sake of education. I think such new makes should be given as free miniatures with full bottles of mature whisky. After all, some distillers sometimes give barley, or water, or even peat along with full bottles. But mind you, the rye and even the #1 were no bad vodkas and the whole thing stresses very vividly why maturing grain spirits in oak was such a great idea in the first place. When you know the fab Sazerac or Pappy, you cannot not be surprised by the new makes!

MUSIC - Recommended listening: Billie Holiday, 1958, Lady in Satin, Glad to be Unhappy. Please...

Does Islay whisky improve wine?

Just the once won't hurt, let’s taste wine today. Right, not just any wine…

Wehlener Klosterberg Pinot Blanc 2010 (12%, Markus Molitor, Mosel, Islay Cask) This little beauty was matured in an ex-Islay cask. Pinot Blanc is usually rather called Weissburgunder in Germany but not this time (after all, there’s very little Pinot Blanc left in Burgundy). Colour: pale. Nose: very fresh, with a beautiful balance between pink grapefruit, rocks and gravel and just faint touches of hessian and tarry rope. The peat/smoke is extremely discreet. It’s rather more ‘Riesling’ than ‘Pinot Blanc’, but not too sure if that comes from the Islay cask. Mouth: nervous attack, beautifully balanced yet again, with something of a Pouilly Fumé this time despite a little more roundness. Pink grapefruits are back, with a very light smoky touch that does not suggest ‘whisky’ as such. I’m wondering if they thoroughly rinsed the cask prior to filling because the very few other whisky-casked wines (let alone Islay casks) I’ve tried have been much more whisky-ish. Also a little passion fruits. Finish: not the longest ever but pure, clean and fresh, with some lemon and always this minerality. Comments: a very successful experiment, the winemaker seems to have avoided all the traps (in short, sort of fortifying the wine). Could using whisky casks transform cool climate Pinot Blanc into Riesling? Score: we don’t score wine. (and many thanks, Carsten!)

Frankly, it’s quite a miracle that this measly website is still on its feet after all these years. I often tell my friends that such a ‘blog’ is a demanding mistress and that maybe I should have broken a leg or an arm on that very day of July 2002. I remember very well when I first started to toy with html, Dreamweaver, ftp and a few tasting glasses (yeah, there was already nothing on TV). In fact, I feel like it was yesterday.

Anyway, the thrill isn’t gone at Whiskyfun Towers and both those rising figures and all the wonderful new whiskies and bottlers around keep me entertained in wonderful manners. Also the friendly readers I meet at the three or four whisky festivals I attend every year, always a great pleasure! What puzzles me just a little more is the slight negativity that seems to be creeping these days in certain corners of the World Wide Whisky Web. Sure it’s only a very small fraction, hardly noticeable on the wonderful big picture, but I'm afraid there’s a very small bunch of ill-bred wet blankets otherwise very, very cool people (I'm sure!) around who seem to be roaming some whisky forums or comments sections on blogs, finding fault with just everything and everybody and who can sometimes make surfing the Whisky Web a little depressing. Should we drown them in a vat of Loch Dhu?

Indeed, an interesting trend that I seem to notice is that while in previous years, we had seen more and more ‘experimental whiskies’ (read shelf-space wideners or buzz-catchers), in 2011 we’ve seen the return of the good old ‘traditional’ malt whiskies, thanks to several new independent bottlers and distillers who’ve done a tremendous job bringing out old or less old glories. I had never seen so many great Littlemills, Tomatins, Glenallachies, Strathmills, Caperdonichs, Benriachs, Glendronachs, Glen Keiths, Glenglassaughs… Avoidable stuff ten years ago, today shining stars! What’s more, many whiskies that were distilled in the 1990s (after the whisky loch) are now mature and I think most are utterly brilliant. Think Bowmore, for example! Caol Ila! Clynelish! Or Bruichladdich’s latest Ten! A golden age as far as quality is concerned, much, much better than what was available ten years ago in any case.

Fav older bottling

Excuse me? Do you really need some overall 'winners' for 2011? That old chestnut? All right, but before that, please note that these are NO AWARDS. So, based only on scores – and I insist, scores are opinions and only opinions - hopefully informed ones, that would be:

2011 - My favourite recent bottling:

Port Ellen 32yo 1978/2011 (53.9%, OB, 11th Release, 2988 bottles) – WF 95
It saddens me that this baby’s been the object of much greediness and speculation in the recent weeks but it’s true that it’s an highly desirable bottle and some absolutely terrific whisky. Many Port Ellens are superb at around 30 years of age but I feel this one offers more complexity than the already great single casks, just like last year's release. Fantastic work by Diageo's blenders.

2011 - My favourite older bottling:

Port Ellen 12yo (62.7%, James MacArthur, pale version, +/- 1985) – WF 96
And yet another Port Ellen, a young one this time. A few naysayers claim that Port Ellen was only poor fodder for blends and that that’s why they chose to close it instead of Caol Ila (just rebuilt, hem…) and Lagavulin (Diageo’s headquarters on Islay, an existing single and Sir Peter Mackie’s home distillery!) Pure codswallop, as all the young PEs I could try so far have been quite magnificent, even at 40% vol. Try to catch some while that’s still – very relatively – feasible. BTW, there was an even greater heavily sherried version of this baby...

2011 - My favourite bang for your buck bottling:

Ardbeg 'Uigeadail' (54.2%, OB, 2010) - WF 92
A deep, rich and constantly thrilling version of Ardbeg that’s sold for around £45 to £50. I’ve always loved it since 2003 and this ‘L10’ batch remains superb. I know there’s absolutely nothing original in saying that Uigeadail is great whisky for a great price but I wasn’t going to select an obscure Glentowbullin Single Cask for Outer-Mongolia just to try to be smart, was I? What’s more, it’s simply got the best possible Quality-Availability/Price ratio in my book and no, that’s got nothing to do with heavy peat.

December 2011 - part 2 <--- January 2012 - part 1 ---> January 2012 - part 2