February 2009

The Thirtieth Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !

Could be a busy Month ......

A Stunning Glenmorangie

125.18
Year - June 1995 Age - 13yo ABV - 56.9%
Colour - Gold .
Nose - absolutely brimming with Chocolate and Orange , a little bit of smoke .
Taste - Wow ! if that's not Liquid Terrys Chocolate orange i don't know what is ! A touch Vanilla as well .
Finish - Silky , creamy Chocolate that goes on forever .
Comments - From a 1st fill Bourbon Hogshead , 1 of 298 . Distilled June 1995 . This is the second weirdest Glenmo i've had (Signet was the first ) , A superb Glenmo....

Islay - The Return ! The Whisky Lounge Tasting


The Man Himself !

Well another Whisky Lounge Tasting and another Islay One ! Same Format as usual , 6 malts tasted blind then Scored out of Ten (the Group scores are the Average ) .

First up was a Bruichladdich 2001 (7yo , 46%) , Gold in Colour , it had Red Fruits , young Spirit , smoke , toffee and slight Lemon on the Nose . The Palate was young Damp Peat and Red Fruits . It had a medium Finish , soft and spirity . I thought this was either the Rocks or Waves , At least i had the right Distillery....... I gave it a score of 7 , the Group score was 7.45 .

The Second was the Whisky Lounges "Bonnie Haven" , a 1976 , 31yo Bunnahabhain at 46.5% . The Colour was Polished Gold . On the nose i got Light Sherry , Creamy Fudge and Dried Fruit . It was Christmas Cake with slight Smoke on the palate . It had a long and fudgy Finish . Again was Bang on with the distillery , gave it a 8 , the group score was 7.67 .

Number 3 Dram was the only one i guessed bang on the button......Ardbeg Blasda ! A pale Chardonnay Wine in Colour , It was Young Peat , Seashore and Seaweed on the nose . The palate was TCP , Iodine , medicinal and Chocolate . It was Long and Medicinal on the finish . Scored this one at 8.5 , The group 7.28 .


A Set of Happy Drammers


More Happy Drammers.....

4th up was a 2000 Bowmore from Murray McDavid at 46% . Polished Copper in colour , It had slight Smoke , sherry and Parma Violets on the nose . It was Floral , smoky and peaty on the palate . The finish was long , sherry and floral . Not one of my favourites of the night , i gave it 7 , group 8.07 .

The Penultimate Dram , A Caol Ila Cask Strength at 55% , Golden Barley in Colour , The Nose had my Nasal Hairs tingling at first , then Earthy and Peaty . The palate was Medicinal , Erthy , Peaty and very seashore . The Finish was long and Medicinal , i had this down as a Cask Strength Laphroaig (what do i know....) and gave it 8 , the Group gave it 8.22 .

The last one threw me as well , i said it was a 12yo Lagavulin , it was actually a Laphroaig , the Elements of Islay LP1 (58.8%) . Pale Gold in the Glass it was Spirity at first on the Nose then Sweet Peat . The Palate was peat and pepper with the finish coming in long and peppery . I gave this one 8 , the group gave it 8.62 .


Everyone Hangs on Eddies Everyword......

Another Excellent tasting , my Favourite was the Ardbeg , i know Surprise , Surprise but it was all done blind ! The overall group Favourite was the Element of Islay LP1 . Till the next one !

Super"duppa"nova !

Ok in the past i've been told loads of time i'm totally Ardbeg biased , on a Swedish Whisky Forum it has been written that anything i say about Arbeg bottlings should be taken with a pinch of Salt ! Frankly i'm not bothered as there are very few Ardbegs i haven't enjoyed (list can be provided...) , So now i'm going to Carry on the fine tradition of praising an Ardbeg to high Heaven (pun intended...) ! The Supernova is Fantastic ! No one knows how old it is but going off the bright Golden Colour its not as young as some have been saying......

The nose quite often hints at a younger age but i don't find it spirity at all (perhaps my preference for younger malts...) , sets the nasal hairs tingling , intense peatiness but with the usual Ardbeg Characteristic of Dark Chocolate . Also has the Earthiness of a dunnage warehouse and the seashore smell of the salty water and Seaweed .

The Palate is at first hot , smoky and peppery . Then the peat comes flooding over the tongue followed by Supercharged Dark Chocolate . The whole experience on the palate is like a Condensed Ten ! The Finish is Looooong . long and peppery , incredibly warming but it just keeps going on and on and on and on........

Wow ! A worthwhile release , all i can say is that if you've got one of these bottles and you aren't opening it because (a) you're selling it on an auction site or (b) you've seen the price it's selling on said auction site and you consider it to valuable to open.....

You don't know what you're Missing !

and to be honest you don't deserve a bottle of it.....

Alternative Burns Night Tasting - Newcastle , 23rd January

The First Society Tasting of the year was the Alternative Burns Night Tasting . We had a new Venue in Newcastle for this tasting , the Northern Counties Club , Very nice place . I was expecting Haggis , Neeps and Tatties but we got a full Menu served over a few of the drams......

Our Hosts for the Evening was once again The North of England Society Ambassador John Kirk and his Wife . Throughout the evening john encouraged people to recite Burns , a few took up the challenge and did so really well ! Now onto the whiskies for the night......

First up was a Lowland , 25.46 (Rosebank , 16yo , 56.1% , 228 Bottles) , Pale Chardonnay in Colour , the Nose was very lowlanderish , Hay and Fresh Cut Meadows . The Palate again was typical lowlander but spicy . The finish was long and spicy . A Very nice way to start the evening for a 16yo the malt was still quite spirity and remarkably spicy .

Next a long was a young North Highlander 26.60 (Clynelish , 9yo , 60.1% , 241 Bottles ) , This one was slightly darker in Colour , A fresh Straw ! This one was very strong and needed a wee drop of water to open it up......Nose.....(F.S.)Lemon Drizzle Cake (W.W.) Very Maritimey and Salty . The Palate at F.S. was sweet.....Confectioners sugar , W.W. it was Apple Strudel and Custard . The finish was Long and Spicy , Not a bad dram but definitely prefer my Clynelishes older !

The Third Dram was an Ardmore ( Speyside Deveron , 10yo , 58.7% , 802 Bottles ) , This was a light amber in Colour , i should have paid more attention to how it had been casked but i'm sure John said it had been reracked into a QuarterCask but whether it was sherry to Bourbon or Vice versa i can't remember . The nose wasn't too bad , Smoke , Burnt Marmalade and Orange . But the palate was over loaded , in my opinion , with Sulphur but had a bit of Burnt Marmalade . I tried drowning it with water but the sulphur was still predominant but out came Fishermans Friend and Cinder Toffee . The finish was Long and Sulphur . A very Disappointing Ardmore , the sulphur totally spoilt it .

For the penultimate Dram we went to Campbeltown for a 27.71 (Springbank , 11yo , 59.4% , 221 Bottles ) , Gold in Colour , this , to me , was a very strange Springbank . If i'd had this blind i would have said Glen Scotia ! The Nose was weak TCP , Smoke and cool Mint ( Menthol ?) . The palate was very Cough Sweets / Fishermans Friends . it had a long , dry , Menthol Finish . As i said a very strange Springbank......

Lastly we had an Islay , a bit of a treat for some , A Peated Bunnahabhain ( 10.63 , 11yo , 59.4% , 221 Bottles ) , this is the 3rd Peated Bunnie i've had from the Society , seems they must have bought a nice Packet of them ! Pale Straw in Colour , a Typical young peated Islay on the nose....Iodine , TCP and Ash trays . The Palate was Peat ! Peat , smoke and TCP . The Finish was Long , Sweet and Medicinal . A really good peated Bunnahabhain , i'd put it up against a young South Shore and Caol Ila anytime .

Another good night in the company of some Society Malts , Came away with a 10.63 BTW.....

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