October 2008
The Twenty Sixth Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !
Nights are Fair Drawn In ......
Another one of Raymondos excellent value forum bottlings ! Caol Ila has been a bit of a strange one for me , never really liked the first O.B. i had , the 15yo F&F , then when i joined the Society and tried theirs i fell in love with it ! The Distillery 12 and 18yo Bottlings have failed to impress since but the CS , NCS and 2 25yo's have hit the mark ! So how does this compare ?
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Expression - Bladnoch Caol Ila Age - 25yo ABV - 53.2% Details - Hogshead No.4807 , Dist . 12/10/1983 , Bottled 18/10/2008 . Colour - Honey Gold . Nose - Gentle Smoke , Slight Citrus (Lemon Drizzle Cake) , Medicinal , Seaweed on the seashore when the tides gone out ! Palate - Creamy Fudge at first , apples , peppery , a wee bit peaty . After a wee while it becomes more medicinal and pepperminty . Finish - Long Creamy peat . Medicinal after a little while . Comments - Very oily with great legs in the glass . Seems a bit of a different to other 25yo Caol Ilas at first but after a while the medicinalness seems to come through . Will need to do a head to head with the others soon...... |
The SMWS Whisky Buffet - Newcastle 18/10/08
Something a wee bit different for this tasting , it was marketed as a Whisky Buffet but We thought it was more of a meal ! The Idea behind it was 10 chefs around the country were given 10 Society Malts and had to produce a meal to accompany and include said malt , Catherine then travelled around tasting the meals and narrowed it down to 5 to be served , So the next time Catherine says she's got a terrible Job i'm just going to say "Ha !"........
The Menu....
Amuse Bouche
Rock Oyster Beignet with Citrus Jam (Served with and including 26.49)
Main Course
Finest Northumbrian Game Sauté (37.33)
Rare Breed Pork Strips , Black Pudding & Caramelised Apples with Herbed Mash (28.14)
Duo of Desserts
Dark Chocolate & Chilli Panna Cotta (39.61)
Winter Berry Jelly with Coconut Tuille (121.21)
The Food was of an excellent standard , we both agreed the Oysters taste so much better cooked ! The main courses were both really nice and the Panna Cotta was to die for ! Mel thought the Pork was the best bit of the meal and i thought the Panna Cotta , something about Chocolate and Whisky.......
So onto the Whisky 5 Society Drams but we did actually get No.2 twice , once with the meal and once on the way in !
First one was the 26.49 ( Clynelish , Highland Northern , 22yo , 58.3% , 474 Bottles , £69) , probably the second best dram of the night , on the nose very prickly , smoky woody and quite sweet . On the palate it was very warm and slightly peaty , the finish was very long and warming , a very nice dram but not nice enough to buy a bottle .
Next was the 37.33 ( Cragganmore , Speyside Spey , 14yo , 60.9% , 587 Bottles , £45) , This won hands down as the best of the night , a beautiful amber colour , the nose is best described as Smoky Christmas Cake ! The Taste had Christmas written all over it as well , Cake , spices ..... The finish was of Very strong Dry Sherry . Must say it's the best Cragganmore i've ever had ! How good was it really ? Mel had her welcome one , half of my welcome one and her main one so it was a good Whisky !!!!
Third was the 28.14 ( Tullibardine , Highland Southern , 16yo , 55.7% , 273 Bottles , £47) , the nose was Fishermans Friends and Pepper , the palate was Stewed Apples and pepper . The finish was of of the weirdest i've had , Custard and Pepper ! Still haven't found an outstanding Tullibardine yet .
The penultimate ram was the 39.61 ( Linkwood , Speyside Lossie , 11yo , 55.5% , 235 Bottles , £40) , this one is probaly one of the nicest Linkwoods i've had simply because it didn't have the nasty smell i usually associate with this malt but it's still nothing exciting to write home about . The nose was green fruits and wood, all i got in the palate was sweetness and the finish was of Confectioners Sugar .
The Last one was 121.21 ( Arran , Highland Island , 9yo , 57.8% , 600 Bottles , £38) and another one (IMHO) to add to the "Why did they bottle this ?" File , it was awful , I had one try then left it , Mel didn't get passed the first sniff ! The nose was Burnt Matches , Sulpur , Rubber , oh and a slight smell of Oranges . The taste was loads of sulphur and the finish was Orange , not bad sompared to the Nose and Palate ! This one done nothing to change my opinion of Arran Whisky.....
On the whole a very good night , Food - Excellent , Whisky (apart from the first two ) - a very disappointing selection , and before anyone says anything it was not to do with the lack of a whisky from a certain Region ! I ended up ordering a Cragganmore to be picked up from The Vaults on our next visit and i also managed to buy another one of the first Regional Mighty Mini packs that they had on offer !
The Whisky Lounge Scotland Vs Ireland Tasting , Newcastle 3/10/2008
Another of Eddies tasting , this time 3 drams from Scotland , 3 drams from Ireland , tasted Blind !
Number One was at 45% , straw Coloured , the nose was Fruity , lots of Apples , Vanilla and Citric (Lemon) . On the Palate i got sweetness with Apple Crumble and Custard . TThe Finish was long and Sweet . Turned out to be a Balblair 1989 , i gave it 8 0ut of 10 - The Room averaged 7 1/4 . Not a bad wee dram to start the night .
The Second Dram was Bright Gold in Colour and at 40% , on the nose i got slight Sherry and Christmas Cake Dough . The Plate was very Christmas Cake . To top it off i got Marzipan on the finish . Turns out it was a Redbreast 12yo ( 7 1/2 - 7 ) , not as nice as the first one but still drinkable , need to try the 15yo of this one as it's supposed to be a hell of a lot better .
The Third dram was the first at 46% and NCF , Gold in colour , the nose was very muted with Spices , lemon and slight peatiness . on the palate it was bitter with not a lot else to be honest . A medium slightly peated finish . This turned out to be a Tyrconnell 10yo Port Finish , though the port finish seemed well hidden ! ( 7 1/2 - 7 1/4 ) , probably my least Favourite of the night .
Fourth up , i must admit caught me out , again 46% and NCF the colour was light amber , the nose was very winey and the palate was of Fishermans Friends (god knows where this came from !) , it was the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban ! Quite enjoyable but not my favourite of the range ( 8 1/2 - 7 1/4 ) .
The Penultimate Dram , back to 40% and CF , again bright gold in colour , it was Briney with iodine and Peat on the nose , very iodiney on the palate but it's finish was very short lived . Turned out to be Connemara , not a bad dram actually ( 8 1/2 - 8 ) , would be nice to see it at least at 46% / NCF if not Cask Strength .
The last one was at 43% and CF and it was also my favourite of the night ( 9 - 8 1/4 ) , latched onto what distillery it was straight away but not the right expression ! Gold in colour , the nose was peat , iodine and germoline . The Palate and the finish was basically the same . Turned out it was the Caol Ila Distillers Edition , i thought it was the Standard 12yo so only 1 year out ! Better than what i expected of the DE as the Moscatel Casks don't seem to have done that much !
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable night , not a bad whisky in sight . If you want to see if Eddies doing anything in your area keep an eye on his website at http://www.thewhiskylounge.com , Always an enjoyable night !
This was Mels Birthday treat to me , 2 nights in the Vaults ! The first night we didn't get there till late and had agreed to meet some friends there from the Whisky Mag Forum . It was a pleasure to finally meet up with Lawrence and his wife Caroline from Canada , closer to home were Willie , Paul (Leither) and Mark (jmrl) . With Nattering so much i never got to take notes but i did have ......
7.45 , Longmorn , Oct 84 , 23yo , 58.7%
7.36 , Longmorn , Feb 68 , 38yo , 53.5%
35.24 , Glen Moray , Mar 98 , 10yo , 59.5%
23.59 , Bruichladdich , Apr 93 , 14yo , 52.1%
53.124 , Caol Ila , Mar 96 , 12yo , 60.3%
From Memory the 23yo Longmorn was good but not as good as the 7.42 , the 38yo was stunning as ever , The Glen Moray was ok , The Laddie wasn't nice at all (see below) and the Caol Ila was a superb example (send a bottle to Diageo to show them how the 12yo should be please !). After bidding fair well to all after an excellent night we retired to our hotel ......
The merriment continued for us at lunchtime in the Vaults on the Saturday , a bite to eat and the following drams.....
77.14 (Glen Ord , Aug 87 ,20yo , 59.1%) , Bright Gold in Colour , this one tingled the hairs in my nose , very citric ( Orange and Lemon) and sherbert dip . It was very sweet on the palate , slight Chocolate as well , on the finish it was long Warming and Chocolate Orange . Interesting ly after a while the nose went to Terrys Chocolate orange .
24.101 (Macallan , Apr 85 , 23yo , 52.8% ) , A Rich Amber , This for a non-sherry Macallan was superb . Cinder Toffee and Terrys Chocolate Orange on the nose , it went very spicy after a while . On the palate it was Orange with Vanilla , the finish was long with Christmas Cake Dough . A Cracking Macallan !
Went off on a tangent here , B11 (Heaven Hill Bourbon , 11yo) , Ruby Red/Teak in colour , Very smooth , touch nail varnish remover , loads of vanilla , long and woody (in a good way...) on the finish , a very nice bourbon !
We took a breather for the rest of the afternoon , gave us a chance to freshen up and pick up some bottles i had on hold at RMW ( pair of 1998 Laddie Sherry editions and a Dewars Rattrey 31yo Bunnie, Cheers Arthur !) .
We returned to the Vaults in the Early evening to resume the Birthday Celebrations , after one of their delicious Venison Burgers and hand cut chips the Dramming continued....
7.45 (Longmorn , Oct 84 , 23yo , 58.7%) , Went back to this one as i wanted to check it out again , bright Gold in Colour , Butterscotch , Glace Cherries on the nose , Citric and creamy fudge on the palate. The finish was Stewed apples , citric and long ! Was contemplating buying a bottle but passed on it as it wasn't as good as the 7.42 . Gave the sister cask a try just in case.....
7.44 (Longmorn , Oct 84 , 23yo , 57.3%) , Pale Gold and very sweet on the nose (confectioners Sugar) and also Lemon Drizzle Cake Topping . Was very citric on the palate as well, lemon sherbert , a wee touch of wood as well . Long and Tarte on the finish , got very dry as the dram went on.....
After the Laddie on the current list was such a let down , i tried the sister cask as well . 23.58 (Bruichladdich , Apr 93 , 14yo , 51.3%) , The nose was very Laddie , Apples , Pears and Fudge but it was also very Young (Spirity) tasting . On the palate it was Stewed apples , slightly Caramel and it tasted younger than it's years , Long and Spirity on the finish this was slightly better than the 23.59 but very, very disappointing . I think they were both off Refill Hoggies so i wonder if they were 2nd or 3rd refill and the casks weren't doing much to the spirit ?
104.8 (Glencraig , June 74 , 33yo , 49.1%) , Another decent old Glencraig , slight Acetone on the nose with a touch of sweetness but not a lot else . Confectioners Sugar on the palate with slight fruitiness , Long and slightly acidic on the finish . Not the best Glencraig from the society but still pretty damn enjoyable .
116.13 (Yoichi , Mar 85 , 23yo , 51.7%) , This was really nice ! Really Smoky on the nose with Fruit syrup . All i wrote about the palate was "Smokin' !"and it was......
Revisited the 24.101 at this point , definitely a very good Macallan.........
73.28? (Aultmore , May 92 , 15yo , 59.8%) , this one was thrust into my hand at the end of the evening and all i was told was it was a 15yo Aultmore ! So i think it was the 73.28 , It was possibly the nicest i've had.......
Well i had an absolutely great week-end , great to meet up with the gang on Friday night !
Thanks to my wonderful Wife for treating me to the Week-end !!!
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