Malty's oddball evenings - Whisky for One

[Deactivated Member]

As promised earlier:

North Port, OMC, 36y, 1966
Nose: Delightfully rich with plums, old Oak, a little marzipan and just a hint of iodine.

Palate: An initial iodine tingle on the tongue, fading quickly to a creamy smoothness and then a sudden burst of marzipan and plums as the explosion returns.
A second taste increases the presence of marzipan and offers a fantastically smooth and creamy nuttiness with hints of dark fruits like plums, raisins and blackcurrant.

The flavours hit with an explosion, but quickly dissipate and then return slowly in a luxurious creaminess which lingers and lingers ..... and lingers....

Three drops of water open the nose a little and also increase the tingle on the tongue, making it slightly less creamy and possibly longer in the finish.

Overall Impression: Wonderful, from the deep amber colour to the rich nose and the smooth deep flavours.
This is a very good dram, perhaps not the most complex, but certainly luxurious, creamy and a delight to drink.

[Di Blasi]

Sounds very good Malt-Teaser, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing the notes!

[Deactivated Member]

The one sample I have left which I hope to taste during this weekend is a real stunner, or it certainly should be.

I recently sold my 35cl of 38y, 1955 Talisker and the new owner, being a drinker as opposed to collector, offered me a sample from it.

Lovely person!
Lucky me!

[Di Blasi]

The one sample I have left which I hope to taste during this weekend is a real stunner, or it certainly should be.

I recently sold my 35cl of 38y, 1955 Talisker and the new owner, being a drinker as opposed to collector, offered me a sample from it.

Lovely person!
Lucky me!

A great deal! Getting to share great whisky, special!

[Deactivated Member]

I so much want to try that Talisker.
But no, not tonight.

[Deactivated Member]

I would like all my tasting notes in one place, so if you don't mind WM, I'll use this place.

This means I will be adding a few retrospectively, but not too many to clog up your board(s).

Firstly:

Mortlach, OMC, distilled March 1984

Nose: My notes say this was a difficult one to identify. Maybe it was a little late in the day after quite a few samples

Palate: Some spice, orange and other faint citrus notes. However, the big surprise here was its similarity to a Caol Ila. I often say that CI reminds me of the peat-smoking chimneys of teh Yorkshire Dales. Well, this was just like that.

Overall Impression: Deceptively good!

[Deactivated Member]

Here's another Mortlach, but from right now:

Mortlach "Single Malt Connoisseurs Club München"
Distilled 1989, bottled 2001, Cask# 259 (sherry), 54.6%


Glass: My beloved Spiegelau

Colour: Wonderfully rich gold, just like a sherry cask should be, without being over-poweringly dark.

Nose: Marzipan, nuts and raisins. All bound together in a bunch of fresh herbs with just a faint dash of mint. This has a wonderfully fresh aroma, hence my 'herbs' comment as I have never experienced this before with a Mortlach.
The more I nose it, the more the herbs fade and give way to the marzipan and nuts.
There's still a little sting in this one, even after 6 or 7 nosings. Mainly due to the high alcohol level.
I will nose again with water later.

My mouth is now watering as I long to taste this one!

Palate: Different, very different, but I think good. I'll come back on that one.
What do I mean?
Firstly, it's creamy, very creamy. It initially hits the palate with a burst of tingle, which fades quite quickly, then returns with a vengeance.
At the same time, the initial flavour is one of nuts and raisins with a little marzipan. This also fades quite quickly, but almost immediately returns with double strength (of flavour).

The finish is long, very long. But the flavours change as the seconds pass. The nuts and marzipan suddenly give way to a burst of those fresh herbs where violet is pushed to the fore, just for a second or two.
The whole thing then just fades slowly into a very long and pleasant experience.

Overall Impression: I want more!

[Deactivated Member]

OK, so to catch up on my notes, here are a few of my tastings:

Rosebank, MMcD, (Orange Box version), 1990-2003, 46%

Glass: Glencairn

This is the last dram from a bottle opened 2 months earlier.

Nose: Slightly sweet and floral, but not too strong.

Palate: Smooth with vanilla, fruit and liquorice.

Overall Impression: Quite a strong tasting Rosebank and slightly different from the 'norm' as it's not so light and floral.

[Deactivated Member]

Talisker 10y, OB

Nose: Smoke and treacle toffee on the open sea.

Palate: Banana, vanilla ice cream, smoke and toffee.

Finish: Long repeating finish concentrating on roof of mouth.

[Deactivated Member]

Bruichladdich Waves, 7y, 46%

Nose: Oats and traces of a sweet malty drink (Milky version).

Palate: This is usually quite spicy, but this bottle has been opened for about 6 weeks and is now much more mellow, with considerably less 'tingle' on the tongue.
It still exhibits Bruichladdich's typical passion fruit, but it does taste quite old.

Extra Note: I normally love his whisky, quite a lively young Bruichladdie and not as creamy as the 14y versions (Links & WMD), but I have opened a few bottles and they soon seem to deteriorate. After as little as 2-3 weeks they can taste quite old and musty.

Malty's top tip: Drink them quickly and you'll be OK!

[Deactivated Member]

Now a series of 8 international whiskies, with none from Scotland!
This was a tasting I ran called "Around the world in 8 drams":

1. Milford 10y, New Zealand

Nose: Not quite as flowery as when opened the day before, but still has lots of banana, toffee, choclate and a little sea air.

Palate: Bonfire night in the UK. Oh boy, back to my childhood again! Smooth toffee followed quickly by lots of banana. This is not what I would call pure banana, but think of a fruit shop where you see lots of bunches of banana. You want to buy some, but not a full bunch, so you break three or four from the bunch. As you break the stems, a specific type of banana aroma is released. This is the banana aroma / taste of Milford 10.

With water: This has now totally changed. It has a little smoke and a sharper taste, a little more spicy.

Overall Impression: I love it, but without water please.

In my notes I talked about bonfire night. This is 5th November in the UK when we celebrate one of England's great failures; That of Guy Fawkes trying to blow up Parliament. To celebrate, we hold bonfires all over the country and this is the one day when it is legal to let off fireworks.
As a child, this was a big event for my family. We had a massive bonfire in the garden and invited lots of friends.
The typical food served on bonfire night is a selection of soups, baked potatoes and home-made toffees and ginger cakes. With the unique toffee and banana falvours, this Milford 10 immediately took me back to Nov. 5th as a child, sitting around a burning fire, watching fireworks and eating wonderful toffee apples, gingerbread men and other similar delights.

[Deactivated Member]

2. Slyrs, 2003-2006, from Schliersee, Bavaria

Nose: Hay, straw and hints of rubber welly.

Palate: Sweet rubber wellington boot.
The initial flavour is short, soon fading awaay to leave a tingle on the middle of the tongue. Then it returns to swamp the palate with flavours of bitter honey and rubber welly.

Overall Impression: Long finish and quite smooth for a 3y.
Apparently they sell 50% of each annual distillation as a limited edition 3y, then save the other 50% with the intention of releasing a 12y version from 2012.
I am looking forward to trying the 12y version, but I have no need to come back to this 3y one.

[Deactivated Member]

3. Amrut, India

Nose: Aniseed, coriander and a bouquet of other herbs.

Palate: Aniseed and hints of citrus. Also smooth and pleasant.
The initial flavour is short, but it quickly returns with lots of aniseed and citrus.

With water: Much more spicy and aggressive

[Deactivated Member]

4. Crown Royal, Canada

Nose: Rich with oak, maple syrup, cloves and marzipan.

Palate: Lots of oak and cloves. Very smooth.

Overall Impression: Good but not impressive. Quite similar to an average cognac.

[Deactivated Member]

5. Yamazaki 12y, Japan

Nose: Wonderful rich wood, raisins and prunes.

Palate: Slow to start, but then faint raspberries very briefly coming through the oak, smoke and honey. The raspberries soon fade, leaving the oak and smoke.

With water: Spicy oak

Overall Impression: I think I just about prefer this with the 3 drops of water, but it's a close call.
I like this.

[Deactivated Member]

6. Penderyn (Madiera cask), Wales

Nose: Gin, Juniper

Palate: Dry, juniper and cinnamon. Quite a distinct tingle on the front of the tongue.

With water: Juniper and much more spicy.

Overall Impression: This does have a strong gin-type flavour and one person on the tasting described at as a whisky with a shot of Bombay Sapphire.

[Deactivated Member]

7. Redbreast 15y, Ireland

Nose: Almost bonfire night again. Treacle toffee, dark fruits and a little Christmas pudding.

Palate: Rich and creamy, treacle toffee and dark fruits swimming in sherry.

Overall Impression: I like this one, very much.

[Deactivated Member]

So, the final one in this little trp around the world:

8. Blanton's Gold Edition, single barrel No. 247, Warehouse H, rack 41, dumped 8.31.06

Nose: Rich and velvety with a slight perfume.

Palate: Wow, long lasting herbs and perfume. Gloriously smooth.

Finish: The finsh is akin to a good cognac.

Overall Impression: I am indeed impressed.

[Deactivated Member]

Just for fun, the results of this international tasting brought up some surprises.
As usual I was driving on the vening of the tasting, so I tried the drams the night after at home.

On the tasting itself, the Amrut was voted favourite dram by a majority of people.

As for me, I am not a fan of aniseed, so it scored lower. My own ratings were as follows, in reverse order:

8th Place: Slyrs (maybe due to the rubber welly influence)
7th Place: Crown Royal (It was smooth and OK, but really not distinctive or special)
6th Place: Amrut (Just the aniseed put me off a little)
5th Place: Penderyn (Really quite good)
4th place: Blanton's Gold (Surprisingly good).

My top 3 were difficult to decide. All the three remaining drams were excellent. But I decided I had to make a choice, so ....

3rd Place: Redbreast 15y
2nd Place: Yamazaki 12y
1st Place: Milford 10y

[Deactivated Member]

Compass Box Asyla, tasted Feb 5th 2007

Nose: Light perfume, slightly floral and almost citrus.

Palate: Initial cream, very smooth with some vanilla, lime and honey.

Overall Impression: Very pleasant, but not a great.

[Deactivated Member]

Now a small series entitled "Back to Back Bowmore" as I compare the (now discontinued) Bowmore wood finishes to the standard 12y.

1. Bowmore 12y

Nose: Sweet with honey and fruit.

Palate: Light bitter chocolate and not quite ripe pears.

Edit: A second and later nosing / testing of this 12y showed the nose to be less sweet than my first impression. I also noted the palate to be creamy with vanilla, lime and honey.



2. Bowmore Dawn

Nose: New leather shoes on a beach. Slightly salty with hints of new leather.
Further nosing began to introduce some fruit elements.

Palate: A lovely tingle to the front of the tongue followed by raisins, currants, leaves and a little smoke.

Finish: Smooth and smoky with dark fruits and wet leaves.



3. Bowmore Dusk

Nose: Smoke and sea air without the new leather attributes of "Dawn".
Further nosing introduces some toffee and banana.

Palate: Chocolate, liquorice, a little peach and vanilla.

With water: Hints of celery suddenly appear with the water.



4. Bowmore Darkest

Nose: Banana and leather with some smoke.

Palate. Smooth and spicy at the same time, with some hints of liquorice and toffee.
The toffee builds quite quickly on the palate then fades equally quickly, promising much but delivering little. Although the liquorice finish is quite long.

Overall Impression and author's note: Since this tasting Bowmore have re-aligned their product range with Dawn & Dusk no longer being available. This particular Darkest had no age statement, but is the one to remain in the range, albeit now as a 15y version.
I find this a great shame as for me, the Darkest was rather one-dimensional and possibly my least favorite of the three.

I would also like to say that I found the 12y too indistinctive and I really prefer the "Legend" to this 12y.

[Deactivated Member]

Three further wood finishes from the same evening:

1. Arran Trebbiano D'Abruzzo

Nose: Dried fruits with cheese

Palate: Spicy grass or meadow with white chocolate.
The flavour hits the palate, then recedes only to return once more before fading slowly.

Overall Impression: In the tasting, some people were not impressed with this dram, but if you like your whisky with a spicy tingle, slightly dry and a long finish, then go for it.



2. Auchentoshan 3 Wood

Nose: Treacle toffee, sherry, dark chocolate and a little citrus trying to break through.

Palate: Toffee, sherry, chocolate and dark fruit (dark cherries / bramble)
This has a long finish which fades slowly.

Overall Impression and author's note: This is an interesting whisky as it is a lowlander which is heavily sherried from three different types of cask. However, even through the sherry and wood, the typical lowland attributes of Auchentoshan can still be determined through all those dark, heavy flavours.

I have recently revisited this whisky and found the nose to be less distinctive, but the flavours exactly as noted here.



3. Bruichladdich 20y "Islands" (Edition 3)

Nose: Typical Bruichladdich passion fruit alongside a perfumed bouquet of Spring flowers, with a hint of a rural smoking chimney in Winter.

Palate. I have some difficulty in exactly identifying the individual flavours here. It'S good, very good, like a smooth concentrated version of the 14y offerings (Links & WMD).
The aftertaste begins as toffee, then turns into a smoky cross between Parma and Serrano ham.

Author's Note: The 20y Islands was the star of this particular tasting, with the Bowmore Dawn & Dusk in 2nd and 3rd places.

[Deactivated Member]

Scapa, G&M, 43%

Nose: Crisp, clean, vanilla.

Palate: Initial fruit, rapidly turning into delicate and creamy white chocolate with a hint of apple.

With water: Just 2-3 drops of water turn this into pure vanilla.

Overall Impression: This is avery good Scapa, much better than the normal OB version. It is also an excellent accompaniment to a chocolate-based dessert.

[Deactivated Member]

Port Ellen, 25y, 1978-2004, D. Laing OMC, advance sample for Alambic Classique, 61.1%, Cask 655

Nose: Slightly medicinal hay with just a touch of soft and gentle smoke.

Palate: Smooth and creamy, very soft peat with a little wood smoke and flowery hay in the background.

The smoke and peat are more pronounced in the aftertaste where a hint of banana is also introduced.

Matching with food: You need a strong flavoured dish to accompany this one.

Overall Impresison: Excellent.

[Deactivated Member]

Clynelish, MMcD, 1990, 14y, 46%

Nose: Liquorice, vanilla

Palate: Immediate faint liquorice turning into smoke and heather. Tingles on the centre of the tongue and leaves a long but dry aftertaste of toffee and liquorice.

Overall Impression: A good, solid whisky.

[Deactivated Member]

Glenfiddich Havana Reserve, 21y

Nose: Rum or molasses, oak & raisins.

Palate: Initially sweet, then apricots marinated in a cocktail of rum and brandy.
Not a long finish, but very smooth and very pleasant.

Overall Impression and author's note: I like this. It is an easy whisky to drink, very smooth and quite more-ish, with a very good rich flavour.
Unfortunately, this is no longer available as Glenfiddich's largest export market has a trade embargo, banning any products supporting Cuban business.
So no more Cuban rum cask finishes.

Such a shame as the replacement "Gran Reserva" is not as good as this one.

[Deactivated Member]

Glenmorangie Port Wood finish

Nose: Cloves, cardomom seeds and redberries

Palate: Incredibly smooth. Ribena over faint apricot and banana, with a little creamy toffee.
Long aftertaste.

Overall Impression: A wonderfully smooth Glenmorangie. Very good, but not a great.

[Willie JJ]

Just for a minute there I thought you had tasted that lot this morning.

[Deactivated Member]

Just for a minute there I thought you had tasted that lot this morning.

Hic

[Deactivated Member]

Todays additions are from The munich Whisky Festival, 10-11 March, 2007.

Firstly, a Masterclass from D. Laing, hosted by Stewart Laing.

1. Ardbeg 15y, OMC, Oct 1991, one of 358 bottles

Nose: Gentle and soft, with sea and a little peat. Slightly sweet. This is not so pungent on the nose as a typical Ardbeg. (I understand it was 50ppm).

Palate: Much more power than the subtle nose, with smoke, peat, salt and iodine. The finish is long and dry.

With water: Softer with hints of heather and flowers.

Overall Impression: A good bottling.

[Deactivated Member]

2. St. Magdalene, 24y, 1982

Nose: Slight heather, herbs and a very faint touch of liquorice.

Palate: Immediate spice, liquorice and citrus (lemon). I also described this on the day as "penetrating" on the palate.

Overall Impression: A very surprising whisky.



3. Tactical, 25y, Dec. 1980, one of 418 bottles

Nose: Smoke, pepper and a faint mix of ginger and peat with a bouquet of flowers thrown in.

Palate: Honey, smoke, oats and malt.

Overall Impression: Excellent, the star of this Masterclass.

[Deactivated Member]

4. Mortlach, March 1984, OMC

Nose: A little hard to fully identify. (maybe due to my palate and nose being overdone on that day).

Palate: Spicy with citrus (orange), but in the forefront is the smoke of a Yorkshire Dales farmhouse chimney in Winter.

Overall Impression: Deceptively good.


5. Port Ellen, 26y, Nov. 1979, OMC

Nose: Herbs, salt and slight peat.

Palate: Sea, smoke and slight iodine making it just a little pungent.

Overall Impression: Very good, especially ass when nosing this one, my mind was immediately transported onto an Islay jetty on a clear Spring day.


6. Macallan, 1975, 30y, Platinum Selection

Nose: Sherry, oats and malt

Palate: Light sherry. Definitely not a typical Macallan, but certainly a good one.

Overall Impression: As I mentioned, not typical as it was lighter than I would have expected, especially for a 30y version. But it certainly was good.

[Deactivated Member]

Other drams which I sampled during the same festival, but ones for which I only wrote basic notes are:

Jura 16y: Smooth, round and good.

JWWW 'Auld' series - Laphroaig 10y: Not as medicinal as the OB, but still an excellent Laphroaig.

Glenlivet 15y French Oak: Fruity and quite dry with some citrus and a little wood.

Glenlivet 18y: Soft, smooth and fruity.

[Deactivated Member]

Then a Masterclass with Richard Paterson:

1. Dalmore 1973, Cabernet Sauvignon, 50.2%

Nose: Dark fruits with brambles, black cherries, blackcurrant and cedar.

Palate: Christams Pudding! Dark fruits, liquorice, plums and marzipan.

Overall Impression: Very smooth, rich and elegant with wine and dark fruits.
This was the 50% version but we were told it would be reduced to 45% for bottling.


2. Dalmore 12y, Madeira, 59%

Nose: Floral, slightly citrus and with aniseed.

Palate: Sweet and initially quite powerful, but softer on second taste as it then offers a flavour of rose petals.

With water: Softer and very smooth with more petals and not so fiery.

Overall Impression: Too imposing without water, but very good with a few drops.


3. Jura 1988, sherry, Festival bottling, 60.3%

Nose: Burning, then strong raisins and currants.

Palate: Nuts, marzipan and rich fruit cake.

Waith water: Opens up to release more defined flavours and much better when reduced from that 60%.

Overall Impression and author's note: We were told that this was an exclusive. Only Richard himself and the distillery managers had tried this so far.
It certainly was good and had a very long finish. But better with just a few drops of water.

[Deactivated Member]

Sunday 11th March, 2007.

I arrived at the Munich Whisky Fair just in time to book on a vertical tasting (does that mean we have to stand throughout? As it turned out, thankfully not! ) of drams from one of my favourite distilleries; Caol Ila.

Five drams, one distillery:

1. 8y Unpeated, 59.8%
2. 12y 43%
3. 18y 43%
4. DE, Moscatel finish, 43%
5. 25y 58.4%

It looks like today could be a good day!


1. 8y Unpeated

Nose: Clean and fresh, almost swimming pool with bio apples and a faint hint of leather.

Palate: Initially fierce with lots of alcohol burn. Sharp apple and malt flavour.

With water: Spicy malt.
More water: Now a much more floral nose. Fresh air, malt and still spicy. Also dried apples.
Yet more water: No longer fiery (spicy), now very smooth, but quite bland.

Overall Impression: I always say that I like my CIs to be as near to 60% as possible, but this one really disappointed. There was always something missing (PEAT!!!) and it never really caught the imagination.



2. 12y, 43%

Nose: A peat smoking chimney in Winter

Palate: Smoky, peaty almonds. Slightly oily.

Overall Impression: As I say, CIs should be CS, around 60% ABV. This had all the right direction, but it was just too weak and watery.



3. 18y 43%

Nose: Not so smoky and peaty, this was fresh with grass and straw, plus a little wood.
Edit: After the 3rd & 4th nosing, a little more smoke started to appear.

Palate: Sea air, oak, pears, a little grass, hay, straw and malt.

Overall Impression: A good whisky, but again it would have benefitted from being a little stronger. This one actually reminded me of a Scottish jetty in Autumn.



4. DE 43%, Moscatel, 1993-2006

Nose: Warm fire with wood and a little merlot. Then some leather and oak started to become apparent.

Palate. Initial peaty wine is followed by spicy liquorice and then fades to grainy hay.

Overall Impression: A good wood finish with a very interesting character.



5. 25y, 58.4%

Nose: Malt, smoke and new paint. Eventually, after further nosing, the floral aroma of an alpine meadow begins to come through. This eventually turns to oak.

Palate: Smoke and malt with a nutty cereal and pungent dark fruits.

With 3 drops of water per 1cl: Magic! A smooth, gentle Caol Ila.



Overall Impression of the tasting: This was a good tasting / masterclass for a few different reasons; it was an excellent chance to compare five quite different Caol Ilas and also to include a couple fo the rarer / more expensive ones. This confirmed my own impresison that CIs should be CS, as they are often just a little character-less or weak at under 50%.
However, what made this a really good event was that it was quite early in the afternoon, not long after opening time and there were only 14 people present. The speaker also didn't want to play waiter, so he just passed the bottles around saying "Help yourselves, I don't need to take any back at the end"