January 2007
The Sixth Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !
Welcome to 2007
Well here goes another New Year , off to a quiet start , dark days but hey why get depressed ? Lots to look forward to .......waiting to see what the Feis Ile has to offer , booking our summer holiday , the 10th Anniversary of Ardbeg being re-opened just to start with !
And of course lots of good whisky ....i hope .....now i'm returning to the 23.35 to think about it !
Two More Bunnahabhains.....
Further to the vertical tasting on the forum here are the notes for 2 more recently acquired Bunnies .
OMC 1989 17yo 50% - This one went down a storm at last years "Whisky Fringe" , bright Straw in colour and very oily in the glass . On the nose bags of sea air , ripe green fruits (apples/pears ) , sherbet and Edinburgh Rock . Once on the palate it's once again Edinburgh Rock (sugary sweet) , a wee touch peppery but definitely gorgeous on the tongue . A lovely warm finish tops it all off , A damn lovely Bunny , C'mon BSD give us some O.B.'s like this .
Signatory Vintage 1997 "Heavily Peated" 9yo 46% - This one is a bit of a rarity , if this is from the same batch as at the distillery i've tried it at 6yo and 8yo only at CS . Colour is Pale Gold and again it is very oily in the glass (Loads of legs ) . Very peaty on the nose with the Bunnahabhain sweetness lingering in the background and a touch of smoke . The peat really comes home to roost on the palate with a little pepper . Long , peppery , peaty and smoky on the finish . A different type of Islay peatiness to the others , not quite as refined as the others but could be a cracker in a few years time .
Two Totally different Drams from the same stills , both equally as dramable but the OMC wins by a nose !
Traffic Cones....Ice Cream Cones....Peat Cones!!!!
As many of you will have seen on the Old Kiln shop site Ardbeg have started selling something pretty unique , Ardbeg Peat Cones ! Now as many of you will know i'm a bit of a sad git when it comes to all things Ardbeg , so in the interest of science i've done some tasting notes (!?!) for them ......so to speak......
So....you get 20 of these little beauts in the tin , all perfectly formed . I road tested them during last wednesdays chat to create a bit ambience in the Homer residence during the usual 3 hours or so of chat and dramming . They are a little bit of a bugger to light with normal matches , a kitchen match , taper or lighter might be better but once they get going it's worth the wait!
They do remind you of an open peat fire ! On the nose you get peat smoke , kippers , The Port Ellen Maltings effect ( when you drive past the Malting and they're doing a heavily peated batch and the smell is everywhere ) and it's gorgeous ! Don't get much on the palate but if you want to chew them that's your lookout ! The finish is very long and surprisingly peaty , even though they burn for about 20-25 mins it's there for days to come ....... Mel wasn't impressed i went through 5 on the night (hey! they're addictive !!!!) or that some washing she had on the radiator in the same room had to be washed again.........
So the verdict.....96 out of 100 , highly recommended ......just like my Port Charlotte !!!
