September 2010 - part 2 <--- October 2010 - part 1 ---> October 2010 - part 2

October 14, 2010

Colour: pale gold. Nose: very nice nose at first sniffs, rather ‘old Highlands’, with this combination of white garden fruits and slightly phenolic and mineral wax that I like so much. Frankly, not many recent bottlings of Glen Garioch could hold a candle to the glorious older version (think 1965) but this one seems to be different. There’s some soot, charcoal ashes, graphite oil, then cider apples, cut grass, almond oil… What’s a tad troubling is that it closes up a bit after a few seconds, as if it was a tad shy. Water please… That worked, it’s back, with more meaty notes, ham, smoked beef, also apple peeling, lemon zests… Perfect old-style nose. Mouth (neat): yesss! I don’t think I ever had a Glen Garioch that was so close to… A Clynelish. I’m not kidding. We have some white sherries (wee sour ones), loads of wax, paraffin, quite some pepper, a little apple liqueur, some lemon marmalade, orange blossom honey, hints of putty… All great. With water: not much further development but that’s no problem. In short, more of the great same, maybe a tad grassier. Finish: long, herbal, slightly resinous and still quite waxy. More grass in the aftertaste, green apples, fresh walnuts… Comments: it’s not quite a peaty Glen Garioch like there used to be but the general profile is perfect in all its austereness- and unsexiness. May this Old Highlands style survive! SGP:363 - 91 points.

Oscuro, the sequel
Rolling on the floor here at Whiskyfun towers! Do you remember the spoofy spoof distillery The GlenWonka? In August 2009, they had announced a brand new bottling, the very dark The GlenWonka 'Oscuro', that was to be distilled in November 2009, blended with a quadruple dose of spirit caramel and a 20% proportion of tar liqueur, and launched in December 2009 (price £1,999, VAT included).

PS: maybe our Scottish friends will find even more inspiration on the old The GlenWonka's products page ;-). Well, I hope not!

MUSIC - Recommended listening: wanna melt like an ice cream under Marbella's sun? Then listen to Ike Quebec's very velvety sound in Just one more chance (that was on 1959's Heavy Soul LP). Please buy Ike Quebec's music.

October 13, 2010

Colour: pale gold. Nose: actually, it is quite stellar at first nosing, with a wonderful honeyed fruitiness. Superb notes of beeswax, honey and honeydew (touches of pine resin), mango chutney, then balm, liquorice, a little wormwood, herbal liqueur, aniseed… All that is very expressive but extremely elegant as well despite the high strength. Way above all Ablerfeldies I could try until now (only a 1975 by Cadenhead’s has been really thrilling so far). With water: works wonderfully. Becomes more herbal and grassy, with some hay, fresh barley, oatcakes, barley sugar… The balance is absolutely perfect. Mouth (neat): creamy and superlative! High concentration but total elegance, with a lot of melon liqueur, quince jelly, the very same notes of pine resin as in the nose, many dried and crystallised fruits, persimmons, Williams pears, mangos… Very, very excellent. Some discreet notes of vanilla and ginger in the background suggest a fairly active cask. With water: more fresh fruits, and loads of them. Melons, papayas, ripe plums… Also these notes of aniseed and wormwood that we already had in the nose… Absinth? Finish: everything’s got a finish (nur die Wurst hat zwei) but this one’s long, very clean, fruity, with only a very moderate oakiness, which may prove that this baby hasn’t been fondled with newish oak. In the afteraste: a little banana and mint liqueurs, which I find funny. Also quite some barley sugar. Comments: I’m afraid this entrancing babe is worth its very heavy price tag. My bad. Need an Aberfeldy in your collection? Try to grab this one (yes, despite its price)… SGP:651 - 93 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: I think I never did this before, posting twice the same piece (although last time was in 2005) but drummer Jacques Thollot's record 'Tenga Nina' really blew me away when it was released back in 1996 - it was my fav album from that year - so I felt we should have La Maison de Celettes again today, and then buy all of Jacques Thollot's music (again!).

Record
Much to my surprise, yesterday's been a record day for little WF, with almost 7,000 visits (6919 to be precise). I don't think we ever had that many visits, we're usually cruising along the 4,500-5,000 line. More globally, we're up 28% since last year, despite WF's obvious lack of 'social' technologies and our aversion to self-promotion and duplicate contents. (Serge, this does sound like self-promotion, stop it! - Ed.)

11:30 update - I have found where these 2,000 extra visits were coming from, it's Mr Bootsy Collins who had found an old review of one of his gigs and linked to it from his fan page on Facebook. That was funky!

October 12, 2010

Tasting two new 'natural' Glen Grants

Glen Grant is extremely cheap in France, it's most probably the cheapest single malt Scotch: 12.99 € a bottle of NAS (whilst Glenfiddich 12 is at 20 €, Glenlivet 12 at 22 € and Cardhu 12 at 28 € at some places, just to give you a few examples.) But cheap doesn't mean bad, mind you, not at all!

Glen Grant '170th Anniversary' (46%, OB, 2010) A vatting of young and old casks to commemorate the distillery’s 170th anniversary. The older whisky in there was distilled in 1976. The tasting notes on the label state that it’s got an ‘Intense long lingering finish’. Aren’t all finishes long and lingering in official tasting notes? Average price: 100 Euros. Colour: pale gold. Nose: very nice! Fragrant and ‘natural’, with many garden fruits (apples, butter pears, white peaches) coated with some vanilla and a very gentle oakiness as well as a little candy sugar. Whiffs of lime blossom, café latte. Balance is perfect. Mouth: sweet, almost sugary, easy, balanced, with the same kinds of fruits and a relatively discreet oakiness. Goes on with more cinnamon, the oak growing bolder. Also notes of cornflakes. Finish: medium long, clean, fruity, with more vanilla and black tea in the aftertaste. Comments: it’s really good. Hard to tell you much more… SGP:541 - 84 points.

Glen Grant 6 yo 2003/2009 (50%, Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, refill barrel, 312 bottles) Old Malt Cask? I’d rather have built a new series and called it Young Malt Cask! ;-) Colour: white wine. Nose: we aren’t too far from the ‘170’ here, with a very similar fruitiness that involves pears, apples and peaches as well as gooseberries and maybe a little kiwi. There’s less vanilla and candy sugar, thanks to the younger age, but other than that it’s very similar. No excessive youth, no rawness, and it’s not spirity at all. Hints of juicy jelly bears. Mouth: exactly the same comments. Juicy fruits and hints of honey. A little more oak than in the nose, more liquorice as well. White pepper and maybe a touch of peat. Finish: rather long, with more spices from the oak. Probably quite active even if refill. Comments: this one matured pretty fast! Not a lot of personality but it’s a pleasant and flawless dram in my opinion. SGP:541 - 83 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: this is for our dear friend Peter Silver, it's Donald Byrd and his Nai Nai (that was on 1961's album Free Form). Please buy Donald Byrd's music - et salut, Peter!

October 11, 2010

Tasting a new Dalmore and a new Jura

Dalmore 2000/2010 (46, OB) A brand new, young vintage version of Dalmore. Let’s try it. Colour: deep gold. Nose: starts rich and aromatic, on a combination of Seville oranges and orgeat syrup (almonds), with also notes of sweet wine that suggest that this baby was finished in some wine cask (but that’s not stated on the label, I could be wrong). Goes on with a nice spiciness, soft pepper, cinnamon, touches of ginger, then big notes of vanilla custard that scream ‘bourbon!’, but also quite some strawberry jam and notes of dried jujubes. Definitely modern.

Mouth: rich, creamy, fruity and very gingery. Once again, there’s a fight between the vanilla plus ginger and the strawberries plus oranges, all that amongst a spicy oakiness, very much in today’s most modern whisky style where the casks are doing the largest part of the job. Okay, all of it. It’s not unpleasant but you have to like sweet ginger – and not seek much distillery character in your malt. Also notes of tobacco, a little honey and touches of chocolate. Finish: medium long, on ginger liqueur (Domaine de Canton) and white pepper, with touches of rose jelly and rose-flavoured Turkish delights. Comments: as I wrote, this is some very ‘modern’ young malt whisky, with wood technology inside. And (but) it works in my opinion. SGP:561 - 83 points.

Mouth: it’s a tad more on the bitter/grassy side but other than that, it’s almost as complex as on the nose. The finishing is very discrete, which is tremendous news as far as I’m concerned. Kumquats, dates, crystallised oranges, caramelised cashews, chocolate (or rather roasted pecans), sweet ginger and the very same notes of passion fruits as in the nose. Excellent. Finish: rather long but still quite delicate and complex, with many more herbal and grassy notes. Some liquorice, angelica, chlorophyll tablets, walnuts, maybe hints of celery… All very nice. Clean and fresh albeit rather bitter aftertaste. Comments: no real surprise here, several recent Juras have been excellent in my opinion (whilst regular bottling from ten years ago were, well…) SGP:462 - 88 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: a minimalist yet soulful version of I'll be around by Italian jazz diva Tiziana Ghiglioni, with the great Mal Waldron at the piano. That was on 1989's 'I'll be Around'. Please buy Tiziana Ghiglioni's music.

October 10, 2010

Solo tasting – having fun with an old Glenturret

Glenturret 29 yo 1979/2009 (48.0%, Signatory, hogshead, cask #1440, 163 bottles) Glenturret’s always been a very unusual malt in the past, a malt like no other malt in my opinion. It could be either really great or plain, say ‘rotten’. Rotten in the proper sense of the word, meaning with notes of rotting oranges or other strange fruits, sometimes alongside chemical notes. I insist, only my opinion, but let’s see how this one behaves…

Colour: gold. Nose: right, it’s one of these whacky ones for sure, as it all starts with mega-huge notes of rusty iron. Really! Once you get used to that you start to detect notes of rotting oranges (nothing excessive), some leather polish (or Barbour grease), then huge whiffs of old wine cellar, mushrooms and tiger balm. Who said Glenturret could be unusual? The good news is that these notes of fresh mushrooms grow bigger by the minute, which I love (even if some may claim that technically, mushroomy notes are a flaw – I beg to disagree). Anyway, these combined notes of mushrooms and iron are very interesting for sure. No water needed here. Mouth: frankly, this is plain weird. It doesn’t taste like malt whisky at all, rather like some kind of obscure herbal liqueur. Or maybe like a cocktail that’s been invented by some bartender on acid who would have mixed retsina, olive oil, soy sauce, Cynar (artichoke) and bitter oranges. Is this nice? Not sure, but interesting it is – and very funny! Finish: quite long and a tad cleaner I must say. More on mint liqueur with hints of kummel and Seville oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: how they did this, I don’t know. I’m wondering what Glenturret’s young whiskies do taste like today, probably not like this one. It’s really spaced out malt whisky, I won’t go below 80 only because it’s so funny. SGP:382 – 80 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: there used to be a great punk (well, rather early new wave) band called the Doctors of Madness in the 1970. They were using a violin and I used to enjoiy their music very much. Let's listen to Waiting (that was on Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms) and then buy their music...

October 7, 2010

Solo tasting – another old indie Glen Moray

Glen Moray 36 yo 1973/2010 (53.1%, The Perfect Dram, bourbon hogshead, 301 bottles) A joint bottling with Three Rivers Tokyo. Quite funnily, Duncan Taylor already had a 1973 Glen Moray bottled this year and it was at 53.1% as well. Same cask? Impossible, the numbers don’t add-up. 301 bottles + 328 bottles = 629 bottles, that’s way too much for a hoggie. What’s sure is that the DT was excellent (WF 89). Let’s try this new one…

Colour: deep gold. Nose: the oak is loud here, this baby really smells like a carpenter’s workshop until you get used to it, but after that it’s a maelstrom of honeyed, floral and fruity notes, with just the right amount of natural vanilla. Dried figs, apricots, peaches, white chocolate, yellow flowers (nectar), honeydew… Also something mineral (rather clay)… The oak strikes back with quite some cinnamon. With water: more mint, herbs, a little dill… Also touches of dry white wine that I already got in the DT. Mouth (neat): faint kirschiness in the attack, the whole being quite oily. Many spices (cinnamon and nutmeg as often) and notes of oranges, sweets, and only touches of honey this time. Tannins in the background (strong tea). With water: perfect! Opens up like a thirsty oyster ;-). Ginger, vanilla, honey, citrus fruits… Finish: fairly long, with the citrus fruits a tad louder as well as, as usual, the oak. Touches of fruity beeswax ala 1970s Clynelish. Comments: I think the cask did a hell of a job here, it was a perfect hogshead. Certainly in the same ballpark as the DT although the PD may be a tad drier. SGP:561 - 89 points.

Just for fun, tasting two weird Chinese liqueurs

This may be quick. I’m in China since a few days and spent only a little time in Beijing, Ningbo or Xian looking for Chinese whisky. I could find some Chivas look-alike (almost a fake, it’s called DaNieGrant but the price is 330 Yuans a bottle, which is way too expensive for such a dirty product) but that’s all. As for Scotch, it’s mainly Johnny Walker, Ballantines, Chivas, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and Macallan everywhere. Anyway, let’s rather have two very cheap Chinese liquors that sell for less than 20 Yuans a 125ml bottle. Not quite sure about what they are, maybe we’ll find out when tasting them?

Jingpaibaojianjiu (35%, OB, China, +/-2010) Colour: suspiciously amber. Nose: ah, it’s a herbs liqueur. There’s some anise, liquorice, maybe some thyme, a touch of rosemary, maybe some verbena… Behind that, something a tad ‘rotten’, molasses, caramel… It’s all rather expressive and certainly not completely offensive. I must say it’s got something of Jägermeister.

Mouth: sweet and very herbal, not bad, slightly bitter (cinchona), with a fair mouth feel. Hints of corn syrup, then verbena again, anise, touches of absinth… Hey, it’s not repulsive despite some hints of burnt ‘stuff’ in the background. Burnt caramel? Finish: long, even more on herbs, with some sugar coating your palate. Too bad the aftertaste is a tad dirty and slightly tarry, not in a very nice way (but I guess our Chinese friends may think the same thing when they try Laphroaig or Ardbeg). Comments: a good surprise! I’ll not too much into herbal liqueurs but this one’s far from being completely ridiculous in my opinion. SGP:880 – 56 points.

Unknown Liquor – please see picture (56%, OB, China, +/-2010) Probably some rice involved in here. Colour: white. Nose: ouch! Powerful and very ‘burnt’, with some overcooked fruits, cheap sake, wood alcohol, rotting fruits (lots) and not much else, which is certainly good news. Mouth: not plain awful but weird, slightly sour in the attack (are some litchis involved in the mix?) The bad news is that it keeps getting worse after that, with some charcoal, rotten oranges, cheap rosewater, some soap, celeriac, cheap kirsch like some use to cook… Very hard. Finish: long, drier, kind of rotten, sourish. Very weird aftertaste on cheap confectionary and cooked cabbage. Yes. Comments: I guess this one is for poor people who want to get high quick, but China’s growing so fast that nobody here will need this kind of swill anymore in a few years. Macallan 30 or Louis XIII will probably work just as well for that purpose. SGP:340 - 4 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: Brazilian clarinettist extraordinaire Paolo Moura plays Espinha de Bacalhau. I remember I had a fight with a guy at a Moura gig in Juan-les-Pins back in the 1980s because that moron was expecting some stupid samba instead of the superb 'Choro-style' music that Moura was offering to us - and just couldn't stop hissing. Hey, why am I telling you this? Please buy Paolo Moura's music (he sadly passed away in July this year)

October 6, 2010

Solo tasting – are all 1972 Ledaigs utterly great?

Ledaig 37 yo 1972/2010 (48.1%, Alambic Classique, oloroso butt, cask #10722, 152 bottles) 1972 on Mull, what a year! Tobermory-Ledaig were making their first peated batches and most have become legends, whereas what was distilled later on was more, say ‘so-so’ (except 1973 and 1974 and, as I could find out, very recent batches). Anyway, let’s try this oldie now…

Colour: pale amber. Nose: very punchy, bigger than what I‘d expected at 48%.  Imagine a mixture of orange liqueur, tar and motor oil, that’s pretty much it, at least for a few seconds. It’s all very dry, very ‘Ledaig’, with the kind of peatiness that’s also to be found in unsherried versions such as James MacArthur’s. Develops with more cooked vegetables, leather, a little chalk and just wee hints of ‘perfumed’ pastries (orange blossom and rosewater). Quite some cocoa powder too. The big tar makes me think of some heavily sherried Port Ellens. With water: more mineral and grassy, much more so. It’s now completely dry and interestingly medicinal (cough syrup). Mouth (neat): rich and punchy but not really oily or creamy. Rather bitter in fact, with several heavily infused herbal teas, such as thyme and cherry stem (tannicity). Also notes of rubber bands (that we all used to chew at school ;-)). Definitely not an easy one on the palate… Unless water will unleash some fruits? With water: indeed, there’s a little marmalade now but other than that it’s all pretty dry. A little mint liqueur as well, the whole being much oilier than when neat. Finish: rather long, very dry, herbal, medium-peated. Aftertaste on bitter chocolate and something metallic. Comments: interesting whisky but it’s certainly not the easiest old Ledaig, that’s all I can say. Alambic Classique once had a 1972 cask #8721 that was much more to my liking. SGP:266 - 83 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: do you remember the fantabulous Bristish jazz-rock band Isotope and their great guitarist Gary Boyle (he also played with Brian Auger!)? In 1975 they recorded a superb album called Illusion, especially this track called Rangoon Creeper. Please buy Isotope's music, and Gary Boyle's as well.

October 5, 2010

Solo tasting – sharp Charlotte

Port Charlotte 8 yo 2001/2010 (65.4%, Art of Whisky, Artworks, bourbon, cask #203) You would have thought Port Charlotte’s ABV would become at tad lower after eight years of maturing under Islay’s damp climate. Well, this one’s still very high! It’s from the very first runs, I believe the distillers were already filling at +/-70% ABV instead of the regular 63.5. Let’s try this big baby now…

Colour: straw. Nose: quite amazingly, probably because of the very high strength, I get almost no peat or simple smoke, rather a combination of vanilla and white fruits (pears, apples). That’s pretty all but it’s true that I’ll need my nose in the coming days, so I won’t take any more chances. Okay, maybe hints of soot… With water: that works. It’s now a crystal-clean, ashy, sooty and slightly pearish malt. Maybe not the most complex ever so far but this sharpness is most pleasant if you’re into this style. Mouth (neat): cough, cough… no I won’t go down on my knees to this monster! Well, it’s actually quite sippable, very zesty, lemony and mineral, with a very clean sort of peat and quite some almond oil, then soot and even more lemon. And very strong it is! With water: lemon juice, ashes and smoke plus drops of brine and hints of fresh almonds. Gets then saltier, more briny, more coastal. Samphire? Finish: long, maybe a tad medicinal now (camphor), which was unexpected. Very ashy, smoky aftertaste. Comments: it’s great to be able to try a totally ‘naked’ PC that’s already a little mature. It’s excellently sharp and zesty, the smokiness being also kind of bigger than in other Islayers in my opinion. Tell me about the effects of tall stills! SGP:338 - 89 points.

Solo tasting – a pretty naked Glen Garioch

Glen Garioch 20 yo 1988/2009 (53.4%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #19.44, ‘Old grandad whisky’, 251 bottles) What’s a grandad with only one d? Can’t be a granddad, can it? So this isn’t for old men, is it? Good, let’s try it…

Colour: pale gold. Nose: spirity, almost aggressive, dry, mineral, chalky and very grassy at first nosing, with also whiffs of lemon juice and old wine barrel. Maybe even a little vinegar. Unsexy so far but water should help. With water: it doesn’t. Even more austere and very, very grassy. Also whiffs of boiled cereals, mashed potatoes… And again a little vinegar. Mouth (neat): quite aggressive once again, sweet, almost sugary, with notes of sweets, jelly beans and a lot of grass. What’s sure is that this roughish baby doesn’t show its age when neat. With water: a little better and curiously ashy and smoky. Also some grenadine. It became okayish. Finish: rather long, with quite some cinnamon now. Some flour. Comments: this one’s pretty all right but I doubt my granddads would have loved it. Not quite sure it deserved to be bottled as a single cask but hey, as I always  say, not my business. SGP:362 - 76 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: how about a little funky Afro-american beat today? Let's have some by one of its godfathers then, the famous Plunky Nkabinde and his band Oneness of Juju (then renamed Plunky). This amazingly groovy track was called Poo Too and it was recorded around 1975 (must have been remastered!). Please buy Juju's music!

October 1, 2010

Colour: pale gold. Nose: hey hey, this is quite nice at first nosing! It’s got these faint metallic notes that can sometimes be found in old blends, plus obvious whiffs of fresh grains as well as a little paraffin and linseed oil. It’s globally quite dry. Goes on with more beeswax and a little shoe polish, then various herbal teas and cut grass. Little amplitude but it’s all nicely clean mineral and waxy. Mouth: this is a little sweeter now, as often, but we’re still close to the grain, on cornflakes, butterscotch and touches of liquorice. Not really big but not weak either. More oranges after that (bitter ones) and hints of herbal liqueurs, putty, marzipan… It’s good. Finish: not long but clean, grainy but not mashy. Roasted peanuts. Comments: it’s not grand in my opinion but it’s much better than expected. No hammering and more than just a story or a marketing stunt for sure. SGP:241 - 78 points.

MUSIC - Recommended listening: fusion jazz lovers, LISTEN UP! The very great Eddie Henderson does his supra-bitches-brew-esque piece Scorpio-Libra (from his1973 album Realization). Stunning music by one of the true pionneers. Please buy Mister Eddie Henderson's music!