November 2011 - part 1 <--- November 2011 - part 2 ---> December 2011 - part 1

Two new independent Bruichladdich

November 2011

MUSIC - Recommended listening: let's have a good slice of heavy greasy blues today, with Preacher Boy And The Natural Blues doing Dead, boy. Please buy Preacher Boy's music.

Tasting four very different Cragganmore

Wemyss Malts 1989/2011 ‘Lemon Grove' (46%, Wemyss, Speyside, butt, 371 bottles) This is Cragganmore. Colour: white wine. Nose: we’re obviously very close to the Mo Or, very, very close. Maybe this is a notch more lemony and a trifle less mineral, which makes it a tad more ‘expressive’. Oh well… Mouth: exactly the same feeling but we’re even closer to the Mo Or. No I’m not being lazy. Finish: same. Maybe a little more pepper and mint, and maybe even a little salt. Comments: ditto. Very pleasant freshness. SGP:651 - 84 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: so you wanna have more genuine rock and roll? Would Jack Bruce and Robin Trower do? It's called Lives Of Clay (from their CD 'Seven Moons') and it's, well, eternal. Please buy these luminaries' music.

Tasting two old Lochside

Mouth: now we’re talking! The malty part is bigger while the oak’s maybe a tad greener and bitterer, but on the other hand, the fruitiness is perfect. Papaya, ripe star fruit, apples, mangos, then more milk chocolate, praline, tangerine juice… And the freshness is pretty amazing at 46! Finish: probably not very long and a little more bourbony again but it’s all clean and fresh, with something rather ‘pure pot still whiskey’ in the aftertaste. Comments: a really funny dram, very old Scottish grain on the nose and quite Irish on the palate. Quality’s high anyway. SGP:631 - 90 points.

This calls for more old Lochside, but rather 'pure' malt this time (haha, I haven't got any other single blend anyway…) This baby was bottled more than 20 years ago…

MUSIC - Recommended listening: no Steely Dan, rather some brand new stuff by some very experienced jazz slingers. The pioneers of French jazz-rock, no less, around André Ceccarelli and Jannick Top. And on vocals, Mr Alex 'Santana' Ligertwood from Scotland. The band is called Troc 2011 and the tune we'll have today is 'Feel the Spirit'. Please buy Troc 2011's new CD!

New Glenallachie 1973 vs. 1974

It’s great that there are a few old Glenallachies around as the distillery used to be virtually unknown until now. Right, untasted.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: Wayne Horvitz' The Front (from 'Miracle Mile'). Please buy Wayne Horvitz' very singular music.

Tasting a few Scottish islanders

Isle of Jura 12 yo 'Elixir' (40%, OB, 2011, 35cl) Exclusive to Sainsbury's in the UK, this new 'Elixir' pays ‘homage to local folklore which says that the island water, which goes into the whisky, has life-prolonging and mystical health-giving properties’ (Quote from the PR). Well, in France they would jail you if you even remotely suggest this kind of thing for any alcoholic drink (as a maker or retailer)! Colour: full gold. Nose: reminds me of several recent official Juras, with these notes of orange zest, ginger and dried flowers at first nosing. There’s also a feeling of sherry, a slight rancio, some pepper, gingerbread, brown sugar and distant whiffs of hay, farmyard… And then the brown sugar is back.

Mouth: rich, maybe just a tad rubbery at some point, dry, with some cinnamon and walnuts, caramel, mocha, cloves and… more cinnamon (and pepper). Good body despite the low strength. Finish: medium, with this spiciness again and quite some black tea. Ginger and a little salt in the aftertaste. Comments: not sure this will make you live forever, but I think it’s good enough for seizing the day. SGP:452 - 84 points.

Wemyss Malts 1991/2011 ‘Honey Spice (46%, Wemyss, Islay, butt, 743 bottles) An excellent series in my opinion, but will this Bunnahabhain stand the distance? There are so many independent Bunnahabhains around these days… Colour: pale amber. Nose: a rich yet elegant sherry, rather dry, all on leather and oranges at first nosing, with a pleasant minerality in the background (sand, clay). Then more spices (cinnamon, cardamom) and a sherriness that goes more and more towards fino. Also distinct whiffs of sea air that gives this baby a Bruichladdichness. Ahem. Mouth: excellent balance right from the start, with a sherry that’s more on raisins and orange zests this time, plus these coastal notes yet again. Quite some pepper as well, ginger, tonic water, earl grey tea and a little mead to round all this off. Finish: medium long, with the spices a little louder. Comments: I like this Bunny quite a lot. Nice personality, rounded but not too rounded. Good sherry I think. SGP:552 - 86 points.

All right, we’ve already been to Jura, Islay, Mull and Orkney today… maybe it’s time to fly to Skye? And have a real oldie this time? There are many new whiskies in high season but let’s not forget our beloved antiques…

Mouth: excuse me your honour, it’s not weak at all now! Starts on ‘peated sultanas’ and develops on myriads of tiny flavours, smokes, ashes, waxes, fruits, spices, salt, syrups, resins, herbs extracts. And as often with old peaters, there’s this ‘cough syrup effect’ (CSE, yep that just came out). Finish: maybe not the longest ever but there’s a perfect resinous smokiness. Comments: excellent but that was expected (it’s from an impeccable source and couldn’t be a fake). And it’s amazing that whisky that was bottled at only 40% vol. thirty years ago could still be this big. In short, an ode to good old ‘unromantic’ twist-caps. SGP:555 - 92 points.

PS: I hear you, there are whiskies from other islands. And Scotland itself is part of an island anyway, isn’t it. We’ll try some other islanders soon…

MUSIC - Recommended listening: maybe not for every ears but very brilliant, it's Ken Hyder's Talisker playing the third part of their Pibroch in Three Parts, called for Albert Ayler. That was on their 1979 LP 'Land of Stone'. And yes, in case you didn't notice, Ken Hyder is a Scottish jazzman ;-). Please buy all of his music! (and thanks, Dave).

Hi-flying, four old official Highland Park

So after the fantabulous 1964 (WF 94) and 1970 (WF 92), and a 1968 that I think I never tried, here are two brand new Orcadian HPs, a 1976 and a 1971. For good measure and because this is Whiskyfun, we'll throw two other official vintages in… UPDATE: I've deleted one note since it was quite obvious the sample had been contaminated (thanks, friends).

MUSIC - Recommended listening: some rock and roll today. I must say the first time I listened to Wayne Baker Brooks' She's Dangerous, I thought 'OMG, Mark Bolan is back!' Anyway, great glam sound, please buy Wayne Baker Brooks' music.

No milestone
Nothing too important, as I don’t think this should mean much to anybody, but it seems that today we're having our 7,500th tasting notes for this measly website called whiskyfun.com (that some cool reader called 'a true pirate website' the other day - I liked that). And it seems that not even my liver did notice. So, let’s put the trumpets away, cancel both the fireworks and cheerleaders, and move on if you don't mind.
PS: but friends, to my amazement, WF's figures are still rising relatively sharply this year. Aren't we all mad?
PPS: yeah I know that glass is inappropriate.

So, what shall we have today? Well, I had planned to have some new Brora but due to unforeseen contretemps made in the UK, I've had to have a change of heart and thought we could have ‘the best of two worlds’ instead, so to speak. So, it’s going to be one of the very best malts ever (not just one of my favourites), Bowmore, a distillate that’s been changing a lot through the last decades and that’s back in full form since quite a few years. Then, we’ll select two bottlings that may symbolize what I like best in whisky, in other words, the main reasons why I keep updating WF as often as I can. The first whisky will be a Bowmore by a German bottler. In my opinion, the rise of the German bottlers (the Whisky Agency’s scuderia, Malts of Scotland, Jack Wiebers, Whisky-Doris, Alambic Classique, Whisky-Fässle or the SSMC to name but a few) is the best thing that happened to malt whisky in recent years. The way they do things is just impeccable and, I think – well, I’m sure -, always quality and passion-driven. They keep issuing strings of great whiskies in a breathtaking and no-BS way and I’d really like to pay tribute to them, especially to the most active ones these days, Carsten Ehrlich, Thomas Ewers and their respective gangs. Guys, you simply rock!

The second whisky we’ll have is another Bowmore, that was bottled for the most iconic whisky collector and retailer ever, the much moustachioed Eduardo ‘Baffo’ Giaccone, who sadly passed away fifteen years ago. What’s more, it’ll be a very young Bowmore, not even 10 years old, that spent 4/5 of its life in its bottle. Indeed, like many other whisky lovers, I still believe whisky keeps changing once bottled, albeit at a much slower pace of course. Because mind you, whisky just cannot be a dead product!

So, two Bowmore...

Mouth (neat): utter magnificence. Hard to describe. Or when whisky is both ‘focused’ and even ‘compact’ yet immensely complex. No modern youngish whisky can beat this. Some kind of secret elixir made by mermaids (ouch, and now I sound like those weird Bowmore ads from fifteen years ago…) Anyway, an astounding peat beast. With water: it was about time you called the anti-maltoporn brigade! Finish: very long, with this lemony and salty peatiness that’s so Bowmore – and so lovable. Comments: see, even young whiskies need time. What’s sure is that this is an utter glory that was most probably quite rough when bottled (so sad Signor Giaconne has left us, he could tell!) and that time in glass polished to perfection. A wonderful 7500th dram, in any case. SGP:257 - 95 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: don't we all love weird shtuff sometimes? Such as Gong's disco jazz from the late 1970s? That line-up of the famous band was lead by my former neighbour, the sadly deceased drummer extraordinaire Pierre Moerlen. Let's listen to The Organ Grinder (from 'Time is the key') and then buy all of Gong's music. And aaaah, the Polymoog!

CONCERT REVIEW by Nick Morgan
Jerry Dammers’ Spatial A.K.A. Orchestra
The Barbican, London, November 18th 2011

You know how it is, Serge.  Some whisky lovers (the humourless Calvinistic sort with ‘No Fun’ tattooed on their foreheads) have strict and clearly-defined ways of assessing the merits of whiskies. 

Often based on a firmly-held set of misbeliefs, fantasies and fallacies, they nonetheless have an exacting and unbending  set of parameters against which the qualities of all liquids are mercilessly judged.  The same might be so for music, or even might apply to those pompous and po-faced panels of judges who inhabit the nightmare world of want-to-be celebrity ‘reality’ TV shows that dominate the drivel regurgitated on a nightly basis from ‘the box in the corner’.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

Take last night for example.  As we climbed the steps to leave the Barbican Hall we had those two blokes behind us who always seem to be at gigs. Older than they wished they were, overweight, too much beer, not enough money, and unloved.  And always uncomfortably like Laurel and Hardy.  So the know-it-all was pontificating on the finer points of the Vox Continental organ, famously played by Jerry Dammers in his band The Specials: “you see, Neville, the first batch of 100 or so MKI Continentals had the "square top", covered in orange Rexine.  Red was introduced later, and UK organs were made with both Red and Orange tops.  Supposedly, a small number of very early Continentals were covered in Red and Blue, to match AC30 amps of the same colour.  Rexine was used to cover Continental tops, and came in orange, red and grey.  It was made by ICI in the 60s, and the brand name has since been taken over by F.J. Ratchford, Ltd., which sells it as a book-covering material …”. Meanwhile Neville was struggling to make himself  heard, with a single, and joyfully simple mantra;  “No, Brian, listen.  That was the best thing I’ve heard.  That was just the best thing”.  And Neville, like everyone else (except Brian, who might also have had ‘No Fun’ stamped on his forehead), had a huge smile on his face.  That smile, has I think, to be one of the best ways to judge outstanding quality.

Dammers’ Spatial A.K.A Orchestra has come quite a long way since we saw them play an equally special gig a couple of years ago.  Conceived as a tribute  to Sun Ra’s other-worldly, cosmic and cacophonous Arkestra, Dammer’s outfit initially focused very heavily on the works of Saturn’s most famous musician.  Two years on, and they have found a more individual identity, albeit one based on a very eclectic selection of material, ranging from Ra, to Duke Ellington, Dammers’ compositions new and old, and to Dvorak’s New World Symphony (viewers of British TV should think ‘Hovis commercial’).  Frankly it’s quite hard to keep up with the ever-changing material, genres, and the cast of musicians.  Vocals were provided by Francine Luce, poet Anthony Joseph, reggae veteran Johnny Clarke and even Edgar Broughton (remember him anyone?), delivering a frightening Beefheart pastiche. 

Solos flowed from pianist Alcyona Mick, the vibes of Roger Beaujolais and from the brass section including Denys Baptiste on saxophone and Robin Hopcraft on trumpet, while Finn Peters’ flute was at the heart of many of the arrangements.  At the back was a string section, a double bass, electric bass, two guitars, percussionists and the brilliantly powerful drumming of Patrick Illingworth (who on several occasions appeared to be about to explode).    And of course holding the whole thing together, just, was Jerry, fussing from one moment to the next, picking out soloists, leading the orchestra, fighting his microphone stand, losing his place in his sheet music book, and occasionally adding some incisive keyboards.

I read the comment somewhere that The Spatial Orchestra is winning Dammers ‘the best reviews of his career’, and quite rightly so.  It is a brilliantly-conceived piece of musical madness, defying wisdom and convention, and delivering in their place an exhilarating, joyful (despite the dark nature of many of the songs) and thought-provoking multi-sensory experience.  The wonderfully home-made props and costumes (somewhere between early episodes of Dr Who and Carry On films) help define the eccentric nature of the evening, while the brilliantly-chosen visuals, from clips of Sun Ra and fifties’ science fiction imagery, to a knock-out film on brutalistic concrete sixties’ architecture (filmed in France, I believe) by Anthony Stern add a sharp edge to the evening.  None more so than the opening and closing images (accompanied by the Orchestra’s interpretation of Dvorak) by Turner Prize-nominated artist George Shaw of his own home-town: the still desolate and depressed Coventry where Dammers was also brought up, inspiring his most famous song, ‘Ghost Town’.  But for all that it’s still a wondrous affair.  Like everyone else there (except Brian) I’ll be smiling for a long time yet.  Ninety-nine points. - Nick Morgan (concert photograph by Kate)

Tasting Clynelish 1982X2+1984

Whenever some new Clynelishes enter the house, I just can’t resist trying them (almost) immediately.

All right, after those new glories, why not have another, younger Clynelish from the early to mid 1980s for good measure? And a supposedly rather brutal one this time?

That one called for yet another one, but it'll be the last one today, I promise!

Clynelish 17 yo 1990/2007 (52.2%, Cadenhead, bourbon barrel, 204 bottles) Colour: white wine. Nose: well, this is completely different from the early 1980s Clynelishes – and obviously from the 1970s Clynelishes. More brutal, more spirity, much more on plum spirit and apple juice, with also some grass and quite some porridge. In other word, an unclynelish Clynelish so far, one from the non-waxy era. With water: a little nicer, thanks to some pleasantly earthy tones. Clay and limestone. Mouth (neat): again, this is simpler and more on garden fruits than earlier - and later – batches. Very eau-de-vie-ish, and even a little burnt. With water: same. It got a little cleaner but frankly, nothing to write home about this time. Finish: medium long, with a saltiness. Salted apple juice? Comments: a fairly raw and spirity Clynelish in my opinion, not from the best periods. The exception which proves the rule? SGP:441 - 77 points.

(and muchas gracias to the two Toms)

A few newish Highlanders

Mouth: nice attack on grassy fruits, lime again, grapefruit, then more ginger and cinnamon. Becomes rounder and sweeter over time, with a little maple syrup and more ginger – or rather ginger liqueur such as the one that’s so fashionable these days (no brand names, they said!). Finish: medium long, mainly on ginger and lemon zest. Comments: a good, nervous Glencadam with a lot of lime and lemon (yes, and ginger). SGP:451 - 84 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: pure genius, Tom Harrell and his Oasis (from 'The Art Of Rhythm' - indeed). Please buy anything by Tom Harrell (The Art of Rhythm is an absolute must.)

Tasting six recent 1998 Laphroaig by Malts of Scotland

First two sherry hogsheads, then four bourbon hogsheads.

Okay, why not have two more by other bottlers for good measure…

MUSIC - Recommended listening: a good chunk of hard blues by Taj Mahal (with a Prince - and even Beefheart - feeling). It's called The Car Of Your Dreams and it's on Phantom Blues. Please buy Taj Mahal's music (I'm sure you do already).

MUSIC - Recommended listening: as 'accurate' as a just serviced Patek Philippe, this is Duke Ellington & His Orchestra playing an amazing slice of big band jazz called The Telecasters (from 1957's fabulous LP 'Such Sweet Thunder'). Please buy Duke Ellington's music!

Four more newish old Speysiders

MUSIC - Recommended listening: the crazy, pirouetting piano of Phineas Newborn Jr., with Sometimes I'm happy (from Look Out: Phineas Is Back, 1976, another gem from Pablo Records). Phineas was amazing, please buy his music.

Tasting six old Glen Grant

MUSIC - Recommended listening: what, I hear some want more rock and roll? I would be happy to post the early Dr. Feelgood's entire discography but let's not do that... Why not some Pere Ubu for a change? Like the Texas Overture? Geniuses... Please buy Pere Ubu's and Mr. Thomas' musics.

November 2011 - part 1 <--- November 2011 - part 2 ---> December 2011 - part 1