Four Armagnacs from Alfred Dubois Lizee, bottled for Jack Tar

Posted on 24 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Jack Tar, the new-ish bottler of high-end spirits sent a bunch of samples over a while ago. I normally try to get around to samples like this fairly quickly, but in this case I wanted to make it a more special moment.

Why, you ask? Well, because of what the samples are. In the package were four different Armagnacs from Alfred Dubois Lizee, with vintages from all over last century. The ‘youngest’ of the bunch is from 1973, and the oldest is from 1934.

Especially if your frame of reference is whisky, these vintages are exceptional. Even if you’re used to older spirits, these vintages are exceptional, by the way. It’s just utterly ridiculous to try 88 year old booze.

Alfred Dubois Lizee is a producer of Armagnac that dates back to 1830. I guess they are a rather unknown one with a very specific market, since the website is in Polish. Jack Tar owns the brand name, which means these Armagnacs are very unlikely to pop up elsewhere. The brand name and the producer are two different things in this case, as the ‘house’ that produces these brandies is called Veuve Goudoulin Armagnac, but this house was founded for Alfred Dubois Lizee in 1935. I wonder what this means for the origins of the older vintages…

Of course, who owns the brand and the language of the website doesn’t affect liquid of this age, but with a date of origin that far back, it’s not overly surprising some older stuff is available!

Under the ‘Retrouve Anime’ series, two sets have been released by Jack Tar. The first and the second, where these samples are from the first. The second series consists of even older vintages, on average, with the oldest being from 1914 and the youngest from 1952.

All of the Armagnacs have been bottled at natural cask strength, and in this series the availability ranges from 60 to just over 100 bottles.

Brigitte, Bas Armagnac 1973, 49yo, 47.8%, Single Dame Jeanne

Image from Jack Tar

Sniff:
This one needs some time to open up. More ‘straight forward’ for an Armagnac. Lots of grapes, a hint of copper and candied orange.

Sip:
A gentle palate that doesn’t really bite, but does bring complexity. Lovely notes of oak and pepper, held in check by slightly syrupy fruits like orange, plums and grapes. A hint of raisin and cherries.

Swallow:
The finish is gorgeous with a nod back to the crispness of the first one, Paul. Lots of fruits, a minor hint of copper and oak and pepper.

Insanely complex and gorgeously layered. The balance between wood and spirit seems completely spot on!

92/100

Paul, Bas Armagnac 1965, 57yo, 43.4%, Single Dame Jeanne

Image from Jack Tar

Sniff:
Gentle oak and an almost rum like sweetness. It’s not overly heavy, as in it’s surprisingly crisp for such an old dram. Blue grapes, pineapple, pear. Quite a lot of fruit. Oranges too.

Sip:
A surprisingly wood forward palate. Dry with a hint of bitterness. Grape seeds, raisin twigs, a hint of copper. Very different from the nose. There’s some sweetness after a while, with more direct fruity notes. Grapes, raisins, apricot.

Swallow:
The finish holds the middle between the nose and palate in the fruit department. It’s a bit more rich and dark, though. The woody notes linger longest. A bit of orange pith shows up towards the end.

Here the oak starts to get a bit more pronounced, although it’s unmistakably similar to the ‘Brigitte’. Lovely fruity notes!

91/100

Jane, Bas Armagnac 1963, 59yo, 46.2%, Single Dame Jeanne

Image from Jack Tar

Sniff:
Lots of copper, iron and minerals. Old apples, white grapes, and some oak. Not a lot of wood. Cherries and blackberries, black grapes. Fresh and baked fruits. Very fruit forward.

Sip:
Not surisingly, as the third of these beauties, there’s a lot of oak, rancio and black pepper. The red fruits are here too, mostly black cherries and blackberries.

Swallow:
The finish continues down the same line, but is slightly more sweet and syrupy. A whiff of port, even.

The more syrupy port notes are very interesting and quite different from what I found in the ‘younger’ siblings.

90/100

Claude, Bas Armagnac 1934, 88yo, 44.2%, Single Dame Jeanne

Image from Jack Tar

Sniff:
Dark with chocolate raisins and plums. Lots of oak, but very gentle. There’s a very light note of nuts. Somewhere between walnuts and pecans.

Sip:
The palate combines dark fruits like plums,cherries and raisins, with lots of oak and a cherry stone bitterness. Dark chocolate and, somehow, bay leaf.

Swallow:
The finish brings a bit of sweetness, but stays very dark with wood, fruit and chocolate. Massively old, of course.

With this having matured for longer than anyone in my family is old, it’s not overly surprising that the oak starts to get the upper hand here. It’s a truly remarkable thing with it being very wood forward, but not ‘over oaked’ as some very old distillates can get.

89/100

The word ‘impressive’ comes to mind! This was one of the better Sunday afternoons in recent history, with all four of these drams being incredibly gorgeous.

The set of four Armagnacs is available from Jack Tar for € 1900. Thanks a million for giving me the opportunity to try these awesome brandies!

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Bowmore 17, 2002-2019, Bourbon Hogshead, 53.6% – Cadenhead

Posted on 23 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Over a decade ago I visited quite a lot of whisky tastings at De Whiskykoning in Den Bosch. Even back then, when a 6 to 10 year old Bowmore from around 2000/2002 came out from bottlers like The Ultimate or Signatory, they were lovely.

Now, we’re quite a few years further along and these Bowmores have come of age. Also, they have come of price. But, when you can get a sample, you’re in for a treat. Especially, at least from personal preference, these Bowmores from bourbon casks are amazing.

Image from Whiskybase

Let’s see if this ones lines us with expectations!

Sniff:
Very spirity, with lots of fresh leaves and moss, fresh white oak and some alcohol. There’s a bitter note too, with some minerals. Iron and hay. After a couple of minutes there’s a coastal note, with some salinity.

Sip:
The palate starts very gentle, without giving way to a sharp sensation. It’s dry, woody and there’s a note of alcohol. Moss, ferns, fresh leaves, oak shavings. A bit of an austere bitterness with some minerals and salinity. There is the slightest wisp of smoke.

Swallow:
The finish is rather similar, but does add a note of vanille and leaves all sharpness behind immediately. After a little while the very light smoky note lingers longest, but shows mostly in a slight briny note.

I love that the cask hasn’t overpowered the spirit and went very well balanced instead. Bourbon casks have the risk of over influencing whisky with vanilla aromas and flavors. This one luckily hasn’t gone that way.

The smoke is very gentle, which is also rather typical. But the green notes that come along with it make for a cracking whisky! Gorgeous stuff.

89/100

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Glasgow Distillery: Delicious Urban Whisky

Posted on 21 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

On the way to Campbeltown for a ridiculous tasting with the ‘Springbank Stallions’, Tom also visited Glasgow Distillery. Here’s an impression

It was time for me to get back to Scotland too, after a few dark years of lockdown. On our way to Campbeltown we managed to peek inside the Glasgow Distillery. It is not open for visitors but nerds gonna be nerds. We had a delightful tour in this very hands-on operation on a very sobering industrial complex, just a few miles from Glasgow Airport. Here, they don’t care about the make-up, it’s underneath that counts.

Glasgow makes a few versions of their malt. The production is split in three parts: unpeated and peated traditionally double distilled spirit, and triple distilled. This output can all be tasted in their standard range. Which we did to conclude our visit. Here is a quick impression.

Glasgow 1770 Triple Distilled – 46 %

First fill, refill and virgin oak matured. Around 3 years old. On the nose lots of yellow fruit, banana is very dominant, interestingly enough the wash smells the same, we just discovered. On tasting it’s very Irish, slightly alcoholic but also smooth. The departure is a bit hot. Easy going, nice everyday dram. Score: 79.

Glasgow 1770 The Original – 46 %

First fill matured, then finished for 6 months in Virgin Oak. They like virgin oak a lot at Glasgow. The label says Fresh & Fruity and that’s exactly what it is. The nose is modest, the taste is much more talkative. Sweet, rounded, very fruity but also a hint of black pepper and other spices. Classic Scotch, amazing quality at 3 years of age. Score: 81.

Glasgow 1770 Peated – 46 % (50ppm)

Virgin oak matured with a finish in PX casks. Very industrial and promising on the nose. Gasoline, charcoal. Upon tasting it comes across a bit harsh, and at the same time this smooth character that seems to be the Glasgow DNA. Nice kick on the finish. Score: 80.

The standard range is already one Glasgow can be proud of. The variety of products is also impressive. For whisky nerds who want to be challenged a bit more, there are numerous single cask or small batch bottlings. We tasted an unpeated Sauterness finished expression and a Golden Beer Cask Finish that were both reaching to mid-80s scores. These are also bottled at a higher age, around 6/7 years old. Glasgow is a distillery worth following while it gives meaning to Urban Distilling, reminiscent of the vibe I get from Teeling Distillery.  

About Tom van Engelen

Tom is a whisky enthusiast since the beginning of this millennium, not only savoring the taste of the drink but also the soul of it. Malt whisky from Scotland therefor remains his favorite focus. As former editor of the oldest Dutch whisky magazine he found a passion in writing about whisky too, with a mild preference for the nostalgic. He lives between the big rivers of the Netherlands with his wife Dasha, daughter Sasha and cat Amour.

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Two sort-of new rums by The Duchess: Uitvlugt 27 and ‘Savannah’ 19

Posted on 20 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A while ago I got two samples from rums released late last year by The Duchess. The Dutch bottler regularly puts out awesome rums and when I got these I planned to review them soon-ish, but things happened and life got ridiculously busy.

As in, for the last couple of weeks I’ve mostly been publishing tasting notes I’ve written months ago, just because I barely get around to anything. It’s a good thing I’m quite thorough in not throwing out old notes, I guess.

But anyway, two rums released in 2022. One Uitvlugt from Guyana, distilled in 1995, in a Port Mourant still. Wooden still, that means, which is not something that happens in the world of whisky. For a variety of reasons, but it has proven to make for interesting rums.

The other is a rum from La Reunion from Savannah Distillery, although it’s not saying that on the label. The website of Best of Wines isn’t really making it a secret though.

Let’s dive in!

Uitvlugt 27, 1995-2022, Bourbon cask 36, 56.9% – The Duchess

Image from Best of Wines

Sniff:
Very funky with lots of sugar cane juice. Oak, leather, some green mosses, molasses. The works. Burnt caramel, slightly charry and hints of beurre noisette. Very yeasty, the brewed sugary wort has clearly left a mark.

Sip:
The palate continues down the same line, but brings a bit of heat. Sharp oak and red chilies. It mellows pretty swiftly and goes back to funkiness. Yeasty chocolate and buttery and hints of slightly burnt molasses.

Swallow:
The finish is very similar to the palate. More mellow, but very long with lots of those yeasty flavors.

It’s exactly what you hope old rum is like. Lots of sweet and funky notes. And with rums like this it is absolutely not ‘just sweetness’ like you would expect from a sugar based distillate, or any mainstream rum. Lots of weird things are happening and the buttery notes work well with the yeast and chocolate flavors. Cool stuff!

89/100

Available at Best of Wines for € 240

La Réunion 19, 2003-2022, Cask 5, 67.2% – The Duchess

Image from Best of Wines

Sniff:
Very oak focused and initially, caramel and dark molasses. Not very green and therefore not very sugar cane like. Dark cherries, dark oak, golden syrup.

Sip:
The palate is dark with oak, black cherries and molasses. Red chilies and quite some heat after a while. It does mellow, but it takes quite some time. Lots of oak, all the way through.

Swallow:
The finish is largely the same as the palate, albeit a bit more mellow. Quite warming, and long, but it does get a bit more narrow towards the end with the focus on the oak.

My sample stated 57.2, but the website states 67.2. I’m not sure which is correct, but I would assume the website has been checked more meticulously. There’s heat, of course, but not as much as I would expect from something that is over two thirds alcohol. Lots of great fruity flavors are showing up, and it’s more sweet than the Uitvlugt. Good stuff, but the alcohol does push some notes back that would have made it a bit more complex, I’d imagine.

87/100

Available at Best of Wines for € 139

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Ben Nevis 17, 1998-2016, PX Sherry Cask Finish, 46% – Alba Import

Posted on 17 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So, Ben Nevis from 1995 and 1996 is considered to be among the best there is, currently. In a way that makes it easy to focus on something, but you can also investigate if there’s such a big difference with these highly regarded vintages, compared to other vintages that are pretty close.

Image from Whiskybase

Hence, this 1998 Ben Nevis, shared by Tom, of guest post fame. From a (to me) unknown bottler, from a PX cask. And not at cask strength. Strangely, this makes it almost everything that the great ones from 2 or 3 years earlier are not. Let’s go!

Sniff:
Funky sherry, some vanilla, pastry cream. Some tropical fruit, the overripe kind. Mulchy oak, sweetened oatmeal. Cigar leaves, stewed strawberries.

Sip:
Quite sharp for a 46% whisky, with a bit of bite from oak shavings, and a bitter note from date- and cherry stones. Funky-fruity, the overripe stuff. Mulchy oak with an earthy note, some grain and wood pulp.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly less funky, and veers back to that strawberry from before. Oak shavings, sawdust, bitter fruit stones.

The vanilla on the nose was a bit of a surprise, but at the time I didn’t know it was a sherry finish instead of a full maturation. On top of that, the sherry is a bit weird with the overripe fruit aromas happening. Not always a good thing. The combination of overripe fruit, with the mulch feels a bit forced. Apart from that, there are quite a lot of nice notes as well. The strawberry and cigar leaves always work well for me. The slight bitter note of fruit stones does too. So, some good and some lesser things are happening.

85/100

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Lochside 23, 1981-2005, Port Hogshead, 56.7% – Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection

Posted on 16 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Every time I review a Lochside whisky I expect it to be the last. I might have to get some more samples from Teun before it’s too late!

This one didn’t come from Teun though, but from Jason B. Standing. He sent me a couple of samples about a million years ago and when going through these and my older reviews right now, I decided it was as good a time as any to post it.

Image from Whiskybase

So Lochside. A closed distillery with general consensus being that 1981 is their top vintage. I’ve had quite a few of these over the years with some being extremely epic, and some being ‘merely awesome’. Let’s see where this one sits!

Sniff:
Rich sherry but almost no bite on the nose. Very gentle indeed! Figs, dates, plums, the darker dried fruits. In the background there’s a whiff of menthol and some cigars.

Sip:
The palate has a little bit of bite on the arrival, with some red chilies. Dry oak with a bit of bitterness. Dried fruits too, the darker ones like on the nose. Freshly cracked black pepper, but all of this with a very syrupy texture.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly more focused on the fruits. The peppery heat dissipates quickly and apart from the already found dried fruits, there’s also some strawberries with a whiff of aged balsamic vinegar too.

Initially I didn’t recognize this directly as a port cask. It could just as well have been a sweeter sherry. The strawberries and balsamic vinegar should have given it away though! It’s quite a lovely flavor, and the menthol and cigars on the nose only add to the experience! A really good whisky indeed!

89/100

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Bladnoch 20, ‘Beltie Label’, Bourbon Cask, 55%

Posted on 15 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Bladnoch is a weird distillery. Especially these releases from a decade or more ago are very unique and not always in a good way.

Currently, under new ownership, the distillery is still releasing its own product with its own flavor profile, although it has become a bit more ‘normal’ over the years. These older bottlings tend to be freakish, in a similar way to older Bruichladdich bottlings breaking the mold.

Image from Whiskybase

In the case of Bladnoch that tends to come forward with flavors like cream and butter, with hints of acidity that are unique to the distillery. It definitely is not everyone’s cup of tea, and unique is not always better. But, I tend to quite like these oldies. Of course, there is some utter trash among the bottlings, so let’s find out where this one sits!

Sniff:
Milky, yeasty, and sulfury in a ‘boiled vegetables’ kind of way. Wet barley, fenugreek, a light kind of cheese and ammonia. It’s a unique kind of dram, so to say.

Sip:
Very dry with lots of oak. Creamy, a touch of vanilla, porridge (that wet barley note), fenugreek and cheese. After a while it’s a bit more sugary with simple syrup, butter cream and icing sugar. Barley, oak.

Swallow:
The finish is very consistent and quite fiery at first. A dry bite of oak and green malt. Very consistent with the palate.

While this sounds horrible, it’s actually quite a tasty dram if you’re okay with a unique taste on Scotch. As said before, Bladnoch used to do its own thing, especially under the Armstrong ownership, and they’ve become a bit more middle-of-the-road since. Unfortunately, if you ask me. Fortunate, I guess, if you ask the share holders.

Absolutely not an easy drinker, but with some attention it’s really cool!

88/100

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Williamson 2010-2020, Refill Barrel twj-Lph01, 52.2% – The Whisky Jury

Posted on 14 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

And yes, of course this is Laphroaig. Williamson is a regular name for undisclosed Laphroaig, named after Bessie Williamson, the distillery manager at Laphroaig from the Second World War to 1972, with her also being owner of the place since 1954. She was the first female distillery manager in Scotland.

Anyway, The Whisky Jury is a new bottler in the same line as Wu Dram Clan and WhiskyNerds, Michiel Wigman and several others aiming to bottle only the best of what is available. Their Ben Nevises sold out instantly and have, as far as I have tried them from samples, all been epic.

Image from Whiskybase

Of course, with them being insanely popular, it means their bottlings are very hard to get and often end up being ballotted out instead of being available for regular purchase.

Let’s see if it all makes sense, shall we?

Sniff:
Massively peaty, with a veritable mountain of peat. Earthy, sea-weedy, salty and briny. Cooked pear, some bready notes, a bit of a pastry sweetness. Washed-up wood on beaches, quite classical. Not an ‘engineered’ whisky.

Sip:
Quite gentle on the palate. There’s a bit of a tingle, but it’s not fierce. Some black pepper, dry oak, lots of coastal notes. A whiff of dried lemon and lime. Lots of earthy, and briny peat, but it’s not overly forced on the smokiness.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly more lemony, with a whiff of black pepper. Oak, sea weed, some grapes, but also some candied citrus fruit.

What I love is that it really is a typical Islay whisky without any weird cask usage and trying to hard to be something else. It’s a very clear and straight forward approach, and I love it. The combination of yellow citrus, peat and pepper works really well. I really love this one!

89/100

Available in the secondary market for about € 225 at the time of writing.

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Old Pulteney 15, 1997-2013, Bourbon Cask 1077, 58.3% – Hand Bottled at the Distillery

Posted on 10 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Even though I went to visit Old Pulteney in October, and bottled two bottles when I was there, I’m reviewing a different one. This one was bottled by Thijs (of Words of Whisky fame), all these years ago and has been sitting on my shelf for ages.

Of course, as things work with samples, there’s a ‘last in, first out’ system. So, when new samples arrived this got pushed to the back, and was completely forgotten about until recently. Well, to be honest, it was still forgotten, but found. Not remembered.

Image from Whiskybase

So, bourbon cask Old Pulteney. The type of cask that works best with that spirit, if you ask me. But then again, that goes for most distilleries and most whiskies. It’s a 15 year old, which is a good age at which the new make has sufficiently matured and the alcohol has mellowed, but it’s not typically so old that the cask dominates everything.

Sniff:
Hay and salt from the get go. Some lemon and vanilla custard too. Marram grass, sandy beaches. After that I start getting white pepper and oak. More vanilla after a while.

Sip:
It’s pretty sharp on the palate, with a lot of white pepper and heat. Very light on the oak and vanilla, a very light palate. It mellows after a little while and you get a very straight forward Old Pulteney with quite a lot of fruitiness on top of the coastal salinity. Some apple, white grape, pineapple.

Swallow:
The finish is rather gentle, with the fruit being present still, and the grassy, hay like notes being slightly less pronounced.

A very decent dram. Not spectacular, but one that is highly drinkable. The ABV holds that back a little bit, it’s a tad sharp on the palate. But the fruity notes are quite lovely. To be fair, this is textbook Old Pulteney, and that’s quite a good thing!

87/100

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Aberlour 12, 2006-2018, Barrel 102, 56.8% – Archives

Posted on 9 March 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

An older review today. Lately I’ve been emptying some bottles and a LOT of samples, ever since the beginning of the year. A couple dozen that I’ve gone through since were not reviewed here yet, and I even found some that I apparently reviewed in the past but hadn’t remembered.

So, today, a 12 year old Aberlour from Archives from back when I apparently didn’t just buy anything from Archives that falls within my price range.

Image from Whiskybase

Aberlour tends to be on the sweet side, and I tend to like sweet whiskies slightly less than the more hearty ones. However, when Aberlour is good, it is quite glorious. Let’s find out where this little Speyside whisky sits!

Sniff:
Very modern, very oak forward. Hints of vanilla and baking spices. A whiff of coconut, dry as well.

Sip:
The palate is rather strong, and fairly generic. It still does tick all the boxes of a whisky that should be popular. Lots of oak for a 2006 vintage, lots of vanilla and sponge-cakiness.

Swallow:
The finish is more complex with a shift to more spices, more wood influence without it being all about wood itself.

This whisky tastes like a very modern, very generic bourbon cask matured single malt. There’s quite a lot of vanilla and coconut, some to-be-expected spices and pastry notes. Nothing out of the ordinary, and it could also have come from a handful of other Speyside distilleries. It’s absolutely not a bad whisky, just quite generic.

And it’s modern. By that I mean it tastes a bit like it was made to taste like this with early-on cask selection. Getting a very active cask for new make spirit to direct it into a direction like this that has many fans. Contrary to randomly selecting casks when they’re ready and taste great.

85/100

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