October 2009
The Thirty-Eighth Edition of "A Whiff of Peat Smoke...." , Why ? because i can !
More Tastings , more Bottles to buy......
If you look around at the Online sites / Blogs (this isn't a blog by the way, i get most upset when people refer to it as that....) you tend to notice a lot of them (especially the "connected" ones ) get a lot of pre-release samples / bottles from Distilleries and producers to sample or they get invited to special tastings to try new products . I've been lucky enough to get a few samples in my time from good hearted marketing people or a try of some new stuff from the kind people at the Islay distilleries and i've been invited to tastings but they are usually in far away places during work hours and as this is site is a hobby (note lack of sponsors , adverts etc ) i can't usually get to them as it means me losing valuable bottle purchasing / Host paying money ! Most of the Whiskies i've tried and wrote notes for i've bought or the tastings i attend i pay for . Lately the good people at The Whisky Exchange have been more than generous in their passing of samples ( Whisky ones....) onto me , The recently launched Port Askaig range and the Pe1 "Elements of Islay" , it is always most appreciated !
It was with some trepidation i rang up The Whisky Exchange after receiving a message from Tim "We've got a proposition for you....." . Hmmm.....
Luckily it wasn't anything involving money or giving blood, they were just wondering if i'd be interested in endorsing the next two releases in the "Element of Islay" range....... It involves me tasting the aforementioned releases and if i like them they put my signature on the bottle , just like some bloke called MacLean did on the previous releases . So i get to drink Islay whisky and recommend it ? Oh go on then.....
Two samples duly arrived ......
| Ar2 | |||
| Year - | Age - | ABV - 60.5% | |
| Colour - Polished Gold . | |||
| Nose - A clean young Ardbeg , tickles the nasal hairs at first , then sweet peat closely followed by creamy fudge and dark chocolate . I could smell this one all day , great nose . | |||
| Taste - Very strong across the palate , again very clean , nice and lemony at first then the peat , not as much creaminess on the palate as the nose , a touch of bitter chocolate . | |||
| Finish - Long , lemon and peat . | |||
| Comments -to my shame i never tried the Ar1 , perhaps i need to buy a bottle after trying this . A classic young Ardbeg of the Glenmorangie period , actually quite refreshing on the palate . | |||
| Lg1 | |||
| Year - | Age - | ABV - 56.8% | |
| Colour - Polished Gold . | |||
| Nose - Slightly stronger on the nose than the Ar2 . Very peaty , again lemon citric , a slight creaminess to it , it actually reminds me of our trip into the Lagavulin Warehouse during the summer , later on a slight bitumen note arrives . | |||
| Taste - A huge wallop of peat across the palate ! Very warming , just a touch of sweetness to balance the peat . | |||
| Finish - Incredibly smoky finish , like peat fire smoke , lingers on and on and..... | |||
| Comments -It's not very often you get to taste a genuine independent bottling of the Lagavulin (the SMWS 111,16 was my last one ) and this is a privilege . A young , peaty Laga not overly sweet , more akin to the 12 than the 16 , lovely ! Just like the Young uns we tried on Pinkies warehouse tour . | |||
Thanks to Sukhinder and Tim for giving me the chance to try these two Islays . Will i be endorsing them , you'll have to wait and see........
Berry Bros and Rudd Tasting Newcastle 16/10/2009
It's almost a year ago since Newcastle was visited by Berry Bros for a tasting , it seems Ed Bates liked us enough to come back and do another one ! Last years tasting was the highlight of the 2008 tasting season for a lot of people , i voted equal best tasting on the Annual SOI Awards . Would Ed be able to match up to the very high Standards of the first tasting ? It introduced me to the high quality of the Berry Owns Range and a few have been purchased since , So Was it as good ? Or did Ed Surpass himself ? BTW Eddie is Eddie from The Whisky Lounge , Ed is Ed from BBR just to save confusion......
Tonights tasting was Chokablock ! 40 eager whisky souls and Eddie could have sold more , I think Eddie has captured the Geordie whisky drinkers hearts with what he's doing here . Ed gave us a brief history of BBR to start with and then we got down to the serious bit of the night , the whiskies ! First up was a Lowlander from Everyones favourite Lowland Distillery.....Bladnoch ! A 1990 18yo (£47) at 46% from a Refill Hoggie (Cask 2442 according to the BBR site ) . A very good example of a Bladnoch imo , Pale straw in colour , with all the right aromas and tastes for a lowlander , Grass meadows , green apples , a freshness and Lemon citric . The finish was good and long , it was a flying start to the tasting , i gave it 8.5 out of 10 , unfortunately Eddie didn't have time to work out the group average due to numbers but i'll post it as soon as it is released .
Second of the night was a Speysider from Dailuiane , a 1974 31yo (£68) at 46% from a refill Hoggie . Bright gold in colour this was a bit of a strange one , the nose gave nothing away apart from a Honey sweetness and appeared very light . But when it hit the palate it told a different story , quite hot , spicy peppery and a touch creamy ! It had a long and spicy finish , From a quiet nose it packed quite a wallop on the palate , very nice ! 8 /10 . Third of the night was a one we had as an extra last year , the Blue Hanger 4th Edition , a blended malt from 7 casks ( 3 Bourbon , 4 sherry) , youngest 16yo , oldest 34yo , all from 3 Speyside Distilleries (Glenlivet , Glen Elgin and Mortlach) . A cracking Vatting ! Amber in colour and bursting with the usual sherry characteristics in the nose , palate and finish , your archetypal Christmas cake in a Glass dram . 45.6% , £59 a bottle . 8 / 10
Next up was a 1982 27yo Glenlivet from a Refill Sherry Butt , 52.7% , £69 . This is a brand new bottling filled over the last couple of weeks , hence since i couldn't purchase one last night i can't find it anywhere on the internet yet ! Another stunner from BBR , a perfect Christmas dram , Bags of Christmassy Cake stuff ( Spices , dried fruits , cake mix etc ) . A very long and sherried finish . This must have been a cracking cask as there wasn't one hint of any sherry nastiness , another 8 / 10 . For the next two drams we hit Islay , Number 5 was from Bowmore , distilled in 1994 , this was another good Bowmore at 14yo from a Refill Hoggie and at 56.3% (£49) . Pale Gold , it was very medicinal , smoky and sweet on the nose . Pretty much the same on the Palate as well with a long and smoky finish . Berrys have restored my faith in Bowmore with the two i've tried this year , has Bowmore gone back to the decent stuff of yesteryear ? I gave this 8 /10 (again) and would have bought this one but along came Dram Number 6......
A 1995 13yo Caol Ila at 58.9% from a Refill Hoggie (£42) ! Now if there's one think Caol Ila is , it's reliable , you tend to know what you're going to get from it in an independent Bottling , Medicinal , wet peat , Sea air on the nose . Peaty , antiseptic (tcp) , oily and sweetness on the palate . A long , peaty , antiseptic finish . A classic Caol Ila , and well worth £42 a bottle ! 8.5 / 10 .
At the end we were given a try of the Blend BBR made for Eddies festival , very nice it is too . So was it as good as or better than last year ? Well , if you look at the scores i gave some higher ones last year but they were more consistant this year . I enjoyed this years better as it was a more consistant bunch of malts . Short sermon....i don't like giving scores out as this is where they go wrong for me , how can you compare something from last year with something from this moment , that's why when i write notes for my site / forum i never score them , no matter what anyone says you cannot be consitant , how you feel at that time , where you are tasting at all come into the equation and what's the greatest dram of today probably won't be next week ! What it basically comes down to with me is do i like it or do i not ! End of Sermon......
Thanks to Ed and Eddie for a great night , another contender for the tasting of year award , long may our annual Berry Bros tasting continue and now i must keep an eye out for that Glenlivet......
Since Raymond and his Brother decided to restart production at the redundant Distillery they bought to turn into holiday homes , they've been building up to this release with a steady stream of aged Bladnochs distilled by the previous owners UDV . We have had a trial release of 6 and 7yo's but this is the new standard bottling . They launched it on the 3rd of October during the Wigtown Book Festival with a special release of 250 Bottles at 46% (Below left) . There are two versions available , a 46% "Distillery Label" and a 55% "Beltie Label" (Below Right) . Further Details Can be found at the Bladnoch Online Shop .
So what's the 55% like then ?
| Bladnoch 8yo | |||
| Year - | Age - 8yo | ABV - 55% | |
| Colour - Polished Pale Gold . | |||
| Nose - A very fresh nose , A lot of Lemon , Green Apples , malt and a slight background note of Creamy fudge . | |||
| Taste - A lovely silky feel across the palate , Very refreshing , again lemon and green apples . A subtle sweetness as well . After a little while Lemon Drizzle cake and malt . | |||
| Finish - A longish finish , again fresh and lemony with a touch of spiciness at the end . | |||
| Comments -I never tried one of the very old 8yo releases , the 10yo Flora and Fauna never lit my fire but there is something about this one . Blind you would probably never say it was so young , highly drinkable at 55% , very refreshing . Mel was also very impressed with it , first nosing cleared the nasal passage ways ! She found it very smooth and refreshing . | |||
Congratulations to all at Bladnoch on the release of a stunning Malt , long may it all continue !
This month saw the General release of one of the most popular of Committee Bottlings , this one was of a different batch from the Committee Bottling , Unlike the Supernovas which were both from the same batch .
| Ardbeg Corryvreckan | |||
| Year - | Age - | ABV - 57.1% | |
| Colour - Polished Copper | |||
| Nose - Very fruity at first , blueberries , Strong Orange marmalade . The ardbeg Chocolate eventually appears along with the smoke and a sweet fudginess . | |||
| Taste - Very chewy , very oily , luxury dark chocolate , pepper , peat , creamy coffee and Blackberry Jelly . | |||
| Finish - Satisfyingly Long ! Peaty and peppery with a hint of Dark fruits and dark chocolate . | |||
| Comments -A beautiful addition to the Ardbeg range , very satisfying and moreish ! . | |||
So how does it compare to the Original Committee Bottling ? The Committee seems darker , Not a lot of difference between the noses , maybe the committee seems a touch more fruity . On the palate the committee seems to have more Chocolate but the standard seems to flow more gently across it . On the finish the Committee seems to have a bit more kick . Both are really good Ardbegs and i wouldn't like to choose between the two.....just drink both of them !
This edition of the Uigeadail saw a makeover in the packaging but whats the spirit inside like......
| Ardbeg Uigeadail (L9 126) | |||
| Year - | Age - | ABV - 54.2% | |
| Colour - Polished Gold | |||
| Nose - A big whiff of Chocolate to start with , Creamy Coffee and fudge . slight sherryness but nothing overpowering . | |||
| Taste - Sweet and chewy , again Chocolate , very smoky (smoky bacon Crisps ?) . | |||
| Finish - Longish and this is where i first really noticed the sherry , wrapped up in a honey sweetness and a huge smokiness . | |||
| Comments -A really good Uigeadail , nicely balanced and really smoky on the finish , could get to like this.......a lot ! | |||
Longmorn (Chivas Bros Cask Strength Edition)
I have a very big soft spot for Longmorn ! This is the newest batch of the Cask Strength Edition .
| Longmorn | |||
| Year - 1991 | Age - 17yo | ABV - 52.5% | |
| Colour - Golden Shred Marmalade | |||
| Nose - A beautiful nose , very soft , Confectioners Sugar , Soft fruits. | |||
| Taste - The Longmorn sweetness ! It actually does what it says on the label , "Soft Fruity Sweetness of Pears and a gentle oakiness " ! Also a slight Spiciness and Vanilla . | |||
| Finish - A long sweet , spicy finish with a drop of oakiness . | |||
| Comments -Batch LM 17 006 , Dist 1991 , bottled 2009 . An incredible Longmorn , outside of the SMWS ones this has to be one of my favourites ! Strange how it says "Highland Single Malt ...." on the label........ | |||
A new Elements of Islay release from our good friends at The Whisky Exchange !
| Elements of Islay Port Ellen1 | |||
| Year - | Age - | ABV - 58.7% | |
| Colour - Marmalade going on light amber | |||
| Nose - Sea air at first then really sooty , a hint of Cola Cube sweets (refill sherry cask ?) and a touch of iodine . After a while a slight Fishermans friend smell appears . Actually quite a nice nose for a PE . | |||
| Taste - Very , very dry , oily , a burst of pepper, also a sweetness , barley sugar at first then Honey . . | |||
| Finish - A long finish , a mixture of sweetness and pepperyness . | |||
| Comments -Now i'm not a big fan of Port Ellen but i must say this is a really good Port Ellen , well balanced and nice on the nose and palate . Thanks to Tim for the Sample . | |||
Another Birthday Trip to The Vaults
Once again my wife treat me to a weekend in Edinburgh for my birthday and naturally we hit the Vaults for a session or 3 ! We arrived late Friday Afternoon and after freshening up and grabbing a bite to eat at the Loch Fyne Restaurant just along from the Hotel headed along to Leith to spend an evening in our favourite local haunt . It had been a while (March ) since we visited the home of the Society so there was a few drams to try .......
| 35,27 | |||
| Year - 1998 | Age - 10 | ABV - 58.4% | |
| Colour - Gold | |||
| Nose - Vanilla , honey and Slight Acetone . | |||
| Taste - Quite Oily , Again Vanilla and a touch hot (as in Spicy) . | |||
| Finish - A medium finish , a touch hot and Acetone . | |||
| Comments -Not a bad Glen Moray but have had better Society ones . | |||
| 37.43 | |||
| Year - March 1993 | Age - 15yo | ABV - 60.4 | |
| Colour - Ruby | |||
| Nose - Plum Jam , Humbugs , dry sherry , ouldn't think it was such a high ABV by the nose , no tingle at all . | |||
| Taste - Very strong on the palate , very meaty , Blackberry Jam , Cola Cube sweets , very sherried just a wee touch of sulphur in the background but nothing to be worried about . It's a lot more balanced with water . | |||
| Finish - Long and Sherried . | |||
| Comments -Not as good as the Bench Mark Cragganmore 37.33 but none the less a good one ! | |||
| 30.58 | |||
| Year - July 1992 | Age - 16yo | ABV - 56.7% | |
| Colour - Bright Gold | |||
| Nose - Quite Sweet , Oranges and Millionaires Shortbread . | |||
| Taste - Spicy and Oranges . | |||
| Finish - Long , Spicy and Oranges . | |||
| Comments -An unusual Glenrothes , very spicy , another one that benefits from a drop of water , brings out loads of Caramel Toffee . | |||
| 11.30 | |||
| Year - May 1990 | Age - 17yo | ABV - 58.9% | |
| Colour - Pale Gold | |||
| Nose - Sweet and Vanillary , with water becomes very Citric . | |||
| Taste - Very Fruity , hot and spicy . With Water it's still very fruity (Tinned Fruit cocktail ) and spicy | |||
| Finish - Long , Hot and Spicy , | |||
| Comments -A hot and Spicy Tomatin which mellows out with water . | |||
| 2,72 | |||
| Year - August 1985 | Age - 22yo | ABV - 56.9 | |
| Colour - Golden Syrup | |||
| Nose - Creamy Toffee , Honey and Chocolate . | |||
| Taste - Chocolate and Honey . | |||
| Finish - Long , Creamy and Spicy . | |||
| Comments -A nice old Glenlivet , but i preferred the younger one that was available..... | |||
| 2.74 | |||
| Year - May 1993 | Age - 15yo | ABV - 57.2 | |
| Colour - Golden Syrup | |||
| Nose - A touch of Caramel toffee sweetness , Chocolate , orange and a touch of smoke . | |||
| Taste - Again Orange and Chocolate with a touch of Menthol . | |||
| Finish - Long , Orangy and Cloves . | |||
| Comments -A Cracking Glenlivet , one was purchased...... | |||
| 53.131 | |||
| Year - Nov 1999 | Age - 9yo | ABV - 67.9%!!! | |
| Colour - Pale Gold | |||
| Nose - Incredibly Medicinal , smoky , with water it brings it back to reality . | |||
| Taste - Whooof ! The palate lets you know it's a high ABV , again water brings it back down to earth and reveals how good a Caol Ila is . | |||
| Finish - Looooonnnng.....................and medicinal . | |||
| Comments -An Incredible Caol Ila Strength wise , recommend adding water..... | |||
After a good nights rest we returned to The Vaults for an afternoon session on the Saturday , oh and had some of their wonderful food as well.....
| 76.61 | |||
| Year - | Age - 12yo | ABV - 59.9% | |
| Colour - Pale Gold | |||
| Nose - Turkish Delight , Sweet and Floral | |||
| Taste - Very sweet , floral , very oily across the palate and very chewy . | |||
| Finish - Extremely nice long , sweet finish . | |||
| Comments -A thoroughly nice Mortlach . | |||
| 18.26 | |||
| Year - Feb 1985 | Age - 23yo | ABV - 48.3% | |
| Colour - Bright Gold | |||
| Nose - Acetone at first then that vanishes to be followed by Green Fruits (Apples and Pears) . | |||
| Taste - Peppery and Apple Juice . | |||
| Finish - Long , peppery finish , slight Green Fruits . | |||
| Comments -This Inchgower didn't smell too good to start with then opened up nicely . Water did nothing for it . | |||
| 48.13 | |||
| Year - April 1989 | Age - 19yo | ABV - 52.8% | |
| Colour - Bright Gold | |||
| Nose - Pepper , confectioners sugar , apple tart and custard . | |||
| Taste - Very peppery , sweet fruit juice (syrup from tinned fruit) . | |||
| Finish - Long , sweet fruit . | |||
| Comments -A half decent Balmenach . | |||
| 25.48 | |||
| Year - Nov 1990 | Age - 18yo | ABV - 59.9% | |
| Colour - Bright Gold | |||
| Nose - Very Honeyed , citric , very hot , glace cherries . | |||
| Taste - Very strong across the palate , very peppery , water tames the beast....slightly....Still peppery fuity and Mead . | |||
| Finish - Very hot and long , with water it's still hot but honeyed and citric....almost like "Lockets" cough sweets . | |||
| Comments -A very strange Rosebank , very hot at full strength ! | |||
| 44.40 | |||
| Year - Aug 1999 | Age - 9yo | ABV - 58.5% | |
| Colour - Polished Gold | |||
| Nose - Still noses very young , slightly chocolatey , shortbread , ripe bananas , with water a touch spicy . | |||
| Taste - Very strong on the palate , very sweet (Caramel / Chocolate on Millionaires shortbread) , with water the chocolate is more pronounced . | |||
| Finish - Very Long and Sweet , biscuity . | |||
| Comments -Really nice young Craigellachie , better all round with water . | |||
After returning to the hotel to freshen up and grabbing a bite to eat , we returned to The Vaults to have a couple of drams before Livvy and Francis Joined up for the evening......
| 104.12 | |||
| Year - June 1974 | Age - 34yo | ABV - 48.4% | |
| Colour - Golden syrup | |||
| Nose - Lemon Sherbet , slight honey and furniture polish . | |||
| Taste - Lots of Oak (in a good way ) and Lemon | |||
| Finish - Long and Oaky . | |||
| Comments -Another very nice Glencraig , oaky but in a nice way . | |||
| 24.104 | |||
| Year - May 1990 | Age - 18yo | ABV - 56.9% | |
| Colour - Amber | |||
| Nose - Overwhelming Rubbery and sulphur . | |||
| Taste - Not very nice , sulphury . | |||
| Finish - Long and Sulphury . | |||
| Comments -How i wished i'd noticed the word "Rubber" in the Society tasting notes , probably the worst Macallan i've ever had ! | |||
I also had another Caol Ila , 53.130 , which was even stronger (68%+) than the one above , didn't take notes unfortunately . Also had a few repeats after tht including the excellent Glenmorangie 125.19 from a previous tasting .
This month saw the release of Kilchomans First Whisky (They had released New Spirit previously...) , a 3yo which has matured for 3 years in Bourbon Barrels then finished for 5 months in Oloroso Sherry Butts
I wasn't going to bother buying one seeing it flew of the shelves in the UK but seeing it was my birthday and i needed to see what it was like to get whisky Delivered from La Maison Du Whisky i went for one from them......
The Packaging is very Swish , the blue box with the gold stands out very well . So to the Whisky....... Colour - Ripe Straw . Nose - Very young smelling , smoke , a touch of peat , green fruits , Lemon and a hint of humbugs (Sherry Casks ?) . Not as peaty as i was expecting and still quite immature on the nose given all the comments elsewhere on the web about how mature it was . Palate - Again quite immature , more peaty than the nose , Creamy chewy toffee and a touch of lemon again . Finish - Very long , peat , a tad toffee and right at the end a citric kick . Comment - Must say a tad disappointing after the right ups on the web , still drinkable but needs a few more years , will be interesting to see what it's like in another 3 years and compare it to the great Very Young Ardbegs . So how does it compare to the Anticipation ?
The 2yo New Make is slightly lighter in Colour , the nose seems more complex on the Anticipation but does have a bit more of a nip due to the higher ABV and seems peatier . Both are Pretty much the same on the palate except the 2yo does show it's youth more , And the finish is more youthful on the 2yo . Trying the 3yo next to the 2yo does make it seem more mature . Which do i prefer ? On First tasting together , The Anticipation !
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