Willett, Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Rye, cask 124, 58.7%

Posted on 10 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I have no idea why exactly, but I really love Willett. They used to release heaps of old rye whiskies, but those stocks seem to have depleted. Since a couple of years they’ve been distilling their own whiskey. Before that the whiskeys were sourced from elsewhere.

This six year old is from the bought stock, since their own releases were only two years old when this one was available. I recently saw a four year old being released somewhere.

Their own distillates are not single casks, by the way, they’re small batch whiskeys.

Anyway, a single barrel rye whiskey from Kentucky. From a distillery that has a reputation for great whiskeys. Should be good, right?

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Image from WhiskyBase

Sniff:
Dry, spicy rye, with a crisp hint as well. Wet oak with a sweet touch. Dry leaves and cigar tobacco.

Sip:
The palate is smoother than I expected (especially since the ABV is quite high). With some pink pepper corns and dryness. Somehow the whiskey sticks to your teeth, if you know what I mean. It gets a bit more hot after some swimming. Lots of sweet oak notes with spices and leafy herbs. Some cinnamon.

Swallow:
The finish is very rich and gentle. ‘Ontbijtkoek’, which practically translates to breakfast cake, and some light spices. Pink pepper, with sweetness and hints of oak.

This is a pretty great rye whiskey. I hadn’t really sat down for it before, and when I did, I finished the bottle (there wasn’t much left anyway). It’s not overly complex, but the quality is very high and it delivers everything you expect from a six year old rye whiskey.

Apparently this still should cost around € 80, and I think it’s worth it. There are some cheaper rye whiskeys of similar age available (Sazerac comes to mind) but those are quite less impressive, while still good. This one just works. Shame it’s gone!

87/100

Willett, Family Estate Bottled Single Barrel Rye, cask 124, 58.7%

 

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Caol Ila 12, 56.2% – OB for Feis Ile 2016

Posted on 9 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The final dram in last November’s tasting at De Whiskykoning was this wee Caol Ila. Somehow Caol Ila had fallen a bit off my radar unless it was from the early eighties and I was a tad disappointed it wasn’t the supposedly tremendous Lagavulin for the Islay Festival of Malts and Music.

The make up of this dram was a bit random as well. While it’s not the ‘triple cask’ stuff they had a couple of years ago it’s hogsheads and butts, so not specifically a bourbon cask whisky, and not specifically a sherry cask one either.

In the past Caol Ila was one of my favorite distilleries and with some drams I’ve tasted semi-recently, I see why. Their milky, slightly dirty spirit with a good dollop of smoke really works for me. Let’s see where this one falls/fell.

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Image from WhiskyBase

Sniff:
The style of smokiness that hits first is a bit of a diesel-y Mezcal like smoke. I love Mezcal! It’s also creamy and spicy with oak and some vanilla. Rich, oily smoke with some engine grease. Quite gentle, rich and some lysol. Towards the end it gets a bit fishy (so, brine, salt, that kind of stuff).

Sip:
The palate is sharper but still very rich. Oak and vanilla with some pastry cream. Desinfectant with some corky apple.Quite some oak indeed.

Swallow:
The finish again is sharp and rich. That Mezcal like smokiness is back again, with some engine grease and diesel. Quite long with creamy vanilla.

Well, I hadn’t need to worry about this not being awesome enough to close out an Islay tasting. This dram is bloody awesome!

The way this whisky is smoky is not something I’ve come across often, and since I have a penchant to really like Mezcal, it really works for me. During the tasting most people loved this dram the most, and I was one of them. The combination of flavors really works, and even the occassional hint of vanilla was really well placed.

In short, this is a tremendous dram, and I thoroughly loved it. Far more than I expected. I even bought a bottle!

91/100

Caol Ila 12, Hogsheads and Bodega Sherry Butts, 56.2%, Feis Ile 2016. Available through secondary markets for some € 200.

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Laphroaig Lore, 48%

Posted on 8 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
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Image from WhiskyBase

Yet another NAS release from Laphroaig. I’ve said this in an article I wrote for our club’s magazine a few months ago, but Laphroaig has changed. And I am not talking about the distillate which was better in the sixties, or so I’ve heard.
When I started drinking single malt whiskies and be more than a little bit interested in this drink of ours, there were five different Laphroaigs regularly available. There was the 10, the 15, the Quarter Cask, a cask strength release and a 25 year old or so.

If you call up any whisky specialist’s website now, you’ll see Lore, An Cuan Mor, PX Cask, Canto Cask, QA Cask, Select, Brodir, Triple Wood on top of what was already there. Apart from this all being quite young whisky, it’s all quite expensive compared to the 10 year old. Also, and this bugs me most, apart from PX Cask, you don’t have a clue what to expect.
This Lore edition is one of the last ones to be added (until early 2017 that is, since there’s a Four Oak and a ‘The 1815’ on the way) and gets mixed reviews. Some people say this should be called Laphroaig ‘Core’ since it covers all the basics of Laphroaig, other say it should be called Laphroaig ‘Bore’ since it doesn’t do anything any of the dozen other release don’t do.

Sniff:
On the nose it’s medinical at first, with a rather gentle smokiness. Some oak, some tarry rope and shammy leather. Warming with a hint of cheese, petrol and barley. It’s quite spirity (read: young).

Sip:
The palate is very dry, and sharper than I expected. Slightly thin and watery, somehow (it’s 48% after all) with oak and barley. A hint of apple, pear and smoke follows.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit corky, with sweet lemon and spirit. Some oak, some salt and candy ‘foam blocks’.

5b661a7da709a72e3889d4797c8abcea_1349433651This is a slightly tricky whisky to review. I can see both Lore, Core and Bore versions of this having some merit. The whisky isn’t bad, although there could have been a bit more complexity and depth on the palate. It’s not a dram that will keep you occupied for a longer period of time.

On the other hand, young whiskies that aren’t overly interesting is something that Laphroaig has an abundance of on the shelves at the moment. I don’t really understand releases like this since it doesn’t add anything to ‘the Laphroaig experience’ people have.

So, the whisky isn’t bad, but not extremely good either. It’s quite forgettable and, let’s be honest, far too expensive for what it does. Especially since when it came out you could buy the amazing 15 year old from 2015 for the same amount.

80/100

Laphroaig Lore, 48%, available for about € 100 in The Netherlands.

 

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The Half-Century Blend, 45.5%

Posted on 6 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A sample of this at-least-50 years old whisky was sent to my by Master of Malt some months ago. The fact that I’m only blogging about it now is one of the reasons I decided to focus a bit more on commercial samples. As in, those companies sent me stuff for reviewing, and I fail to do that. It’s like a bad trade for them, instead of the good one it should be for both parties involved.

So, this is a blended whisky made of old, old whiskies. Of course there’s no recipe given but the fact that every component is over half a century old eliminates a lot of distilleries, but it also opens up some other possibilities.

Of course, a whisky like this is far from free, but compared to single malts in this age bracket it’s on the cheap side. Shockingly, the cheap side means that there’s only three digits before the decimals start. It comes in at 700 Euros.

the-half-century-blend-whiskySniff:
It starts off with the gentle sweetness of very old grain whisky, but there is something else too. Soft oak with some light spices. Old mango and peaches. Also more resinous notes and thyme. Some hints of copper, chalk and peppermint.

Sip:
The palate is slightly oily, but also a dryness of grain and grist. The soft oak is more dry here, more musty. Baking spices with pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Lots of flavors, but very wood driven.

Swallow:
The finish is slighty more ethereal, maybe because of the higher strength. Full and long. Oak, grain and a hint of coconut.

This whisky has gotten rave reviews everywhere, with 90 points from Whiskyfun to top it off. This is very well deserved. It’s a tremendous whisky that delivers far more than I expected. Generally when I get whiskies of this age there’s a sort of genericness to them. The oak has influenced the spirit so heavily that it’s delicious but it’s hard to recognize distillery character.

While this is a blend it’s quite impossible to decipher where it comes from based on flavor anyway, it does taste more complex than ‘just oak’.

Summarizing, this is a stunning whisky and it does everything right. The age has tamed it but it’s still quite feisty.

90/100

The Half-Century Blend, 45.5%, The Blended Whisky Company. Available through Master of Malt for just under 700 Euros.

Thanks to The Blended Whisky Co. for sending a sample. Much obliged!

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Book review: Empire of Booze by Henry Jeffreys

Posted on 2 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Henry Jeffreys is a booze writer who produces several columns, for newspapers and magazines, mostly about wine. In his latest book, published through ‘the kickstarter for books’ Unbound he dives into the important role booze plays in the history of England. Or maybe the other way around.

empireThe history of the United Kingdom is entwined with a lot of different types of booze throughout history. From Champagne, Claret, Madeira, Marsala, Port Wine, Sherry, Gin, Rum, Beer, Cider and Whisky, every topic is covered in this book.

While this could result in a rather boring recount of how a certain type booze was created or brought to prominence, the book is riddled with interesting anecdotes, fun facts and opinions from producers or the writer.

My main problem with Unbound, while appreciating what they’re doing, is that the books tend to be quite expensive and I have the feeling the proof reading isn’t done as carefully. While this might not stand out to everybody, there were some references in regard to Dutch history that were written wrongly:

  • The Dutch word ‘daarler’ would have resulted in the American word ‘dollar’, which should be ‘daalder’.
  • The word gin is an abbreviated version of Geneva, which would be our juniper. That should be ‘Genever’. But if you talk posh-English, I can see where this went wrong, phonetically.

Back to the book. While I don’t hold an interest in all kinds of drinks, this book made me want to drink. It made me more aware of all kinds of different types and subtypes of boozes I am familiar with, and it rekindled my drive to try as many different things as possible.

Also, the chapters themselves are not too historic. They are not too political and not too long. This means that every chapter is a self contained unit of interesting information. There are all kinds of interesting tidbits that can be used in future tastings I’m organizing for others and a better understanding of how things came to be.

The short conclusion can be: England picked a lot of fights over the last millennium and therefore had to get booze from elsewhere…

What I absolutely loved about this book is that it is not just statistical information, but mostly information gotten from personal connections, with a bit of a personal feel to it. Also, the fact that mr. Jeffreys is not shy with his opinion makes this book all the more readable and fun!

“There’s a stench of rotting vegetation combined with sulfur; it’s like opening a vent to a tropical island hell.”

I laughed out loud. Literally.

Highly recommended!

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Yamazaki Limited Edition 2016, 43%

Posted on 1 February 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Mind that this is not the one that got the rave review from Jim Murray and went up in price from some € 80 to € 1500 in a few months.

I have been able to try the previous two releases in Yamazaki’s Limited Edition series, thansk to whisky buddy BP. I really enjoyed them and was actually positively surprised that they were so good. The surprise happened because most Japanese whiskies have lost their age statement and are now fairly random bottlings, or so I though.

The whisky consists of young Yamazaki from bourbon barrels and over 20 year old whisky from port and sherry casks. All from American oak, if I read the press release correctly.

Sniff:
Oak. A massive lot of oak. Quite spicy as well. Dry, with tree bark and almond. Quite gentle and complex with ‘that Japanese style’ thingy going on. Quite heavy on the spirit.

Sip:
The palate is dry too, and it feels very heavy (it’s actually quite light, but this is an alternative fact). What I’m trying to say is that it tastes quite light, but feels rather heavy. Smooth, with a lot of oak and some sweet and ripe fruit. Plums and the oakiness of red wine. Some powdered spices with sweet cinnamon and clove.

Swallow:
The finish is unsurprisingly dry and long. Smooth with pink peppercorns, lots of oak, wine and sherry oak. Still, quite clean.

While this was an expensive whisky at € 200 a bottle, it’s quite worth it since it is utterly delicious. The ‘Japanese style’ which I think is, in this case, a combination of sherry casks, port casks, plums and their heavy spirit, is gorgeous and well represented here. I thoroughly love that style.

The fruit, spices and oak are very well balanced and it doesn’t feel young at all, even though there’s some pre-teen whisky in here, most likely. I don’t keep a wish list, but if I did, this would be on it!

I only had a sample from my own bottle-share. Now I wish I kept more!

89/100

Yamazaki Limited Edition 2016, 43%. Available for some € 200 around the web

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Kilchoman 2007-2016, 8yo, Feis Ile 2016, 56.6%

Posted on 31 January 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

During November’s Winter Whisky Tasting at De Whiskykoning there are bound to be some Feis Ile bottlings. He does try to get some drams in that I don’t already know and while that sounds awfully entitled, I book the entire tasting so there’s always going to be some discussion about the line-up.

Generally, I’m somehow not a huge fan of Kilchoman. I have tasted some incredibly awesome drams from the distillery, there have been some merely okay ones too. What also really turns down my liking for a distillery is when there are hundreds of single casks out there in under a decade. There’s just too much randomness.

The tiny Islay distillery is on the short-list for our planned visit in 2018. Things might change then, and I might come back loving the place. It wouldn’t be the first time for something like that to happen (like with Bruichladdich).

Anyway, this year’s Feis Ile bottling was drawn from a single Oloroso Sherry Butt and resulted in 634 bottles of cask strength whisky.

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The nose is sharp and the first thing to hit you is the barley. There’s a rather light smoke with some fruit. It’s slightly dry with peaches and apricot. Also, there’s a whiff of vegetable like sulfur.

Sip:
The palate brings a gentle fruitiness too, with sharp, fierce smoke and peaches.

Swallow:
The finish suddenly is ashy with sharp, medicinal smoke. Hints of oak, dried peaches and a general sense of dryness.

Well, while this is a fairly straight forward whisky, it is actually rather tasty. I like the finish most with the more ashy and medicinal notes. It’s never too complex and actually doesn’t do anything unexpected, its quite tasty and if I would have picked up a bottle at the Feis I’d be happy. I’d never pay the € 200 it’s going for now, though.

88/100

Kilchoman Feis Ile 2016, 2007-2016, Oloroso Sherry Butt 429/2007, 56.6%

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Jameson 12yo, 43%

Posted on 30 January 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

If you’re very familiar with Jameson in it’s current form you’ll have noticed this is at 43% instead of the regular 40% at which they are bottled nowadays. I didn’t notice it since I don’t have a clue about these things.

This is, as that tells you, not a review of the regular 12 year old Jameson you can get nowadays for about € 50. This is much, MUCH older. This specific bottling is one from the 1960s, with distillate from the early 1950s.

This also means that this liquid is from the old Bow Street distillery in Dublin, instead of the gigantic whisky factory they’re using in Midlton since the early seventies!

I tried this specific whisky before during my Blog Birthday Bash this summer, in which it was one that hit us from an unexpected corner. Nobody saw this one coming. Of course, this is such a weird dram that it by no means means it’s automatically the best whisk(e)y of the evening. It was the most impressive though!

Luckily, my friend MZ gave me a sample to try this at home, in the relative peace and quiet of familiar surroundings, and without other booze and barbecue messing up my palate.

jamesonSniff:
The nose is quite funky to begin with. There’s a hint of rancid butter, with some plastic and another (harder to pin down) chemical scent. Some oak and grains too. Quite some OBE, even though this sample has sat around for a while. Luckily there’s some redeeming scents of forest floor and autumn leaves.

Sip:
The palate is a bit more intense than the nose, and a bit drier too. More peppery hints, and some apple as well. After that there’s oak, grains and a whiff of wood spices.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly more green. Fresher leaves, wetter barley. Still, the hint of plastic and a chemical sweetness is present still. Some crisp and dry hints too.

What I find most interesting is that the same hint of chemical sweetness (winegums in a plastic bag) is present here, as well as in the Power’s from last week. That seems to be a theme in the days of declining popularity of Irish whiskey.

This one is best on the finish. The nose is a bit weird and although the descriptors would make me run in the other direction, it’s quite interesting. Not necessarily kick-ass though. The finish does make up for that and the palate is far from bad as well. So, it’s a very interesting whisky and it does, like the Power’s, give us a look into the old Irish whiskey world.

I would never spend the asking price on a bottle of this, however. Apparently shop prices are over € 700 for a bottle of this stuff, and while truly interesting and unique, that’s just too much.

87/100

Jameson 12yo, mid-sixties bottling, 43%

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Ardbeg Dark Cove, 46.5%

Posted on 27 January 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The Darkest Ardbeg Ever!

According to Ardbeg that is. It’s a very strange statement since there are plenty of darker Ardbegs out there, both from independent bottlers and Ardbeg themselves. So marketing nonsense to get people hyped up.

In the current political climate of ‘alternative facts’ this still works its magic since there was no shortage of people getting enthused by this release last year. That people were posting pictures on Facebook and Twitter with darker Ardbegs from other bottlings didn’t matter one bit.

But, as with all releases since Ardbeg invented the Ardbeg Embassies, I didn’t buy this one. Not necessarily because of that fact, but mostly because I generally find the releases to be overpriced for the quality of booze you’re getting. Like yesterday’s Talisker, with Ardbeg there’s the Uigeadail. That’s a tremendous Ardbeg that’s also from sherry casks and clocks in at about 60% of this ones initial RRP.

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Smoked oranges at first, which reminds me of a Smoking Barrels beer from The Wild Beer Company I tried last year. That beer also had quite some salt in there, and that too compares to this Ardbeg. Some oak with lots of sweet citrus notes. Also, the typical Ardbeg notes of band-aids, oil and ash.

Sip:
The palate starts sweet and fruity, a bit rum like. Slightly sharper than the nose made me expect. Oak, ash, smoke and oranges again. Quite dirty, in a good way. Slightly salty and medicinal, with hints of band-aids again.

Swallow:
The finish is quite different, with it being far less pronounced in its flavors. The typical Ardbeggy notes overpower the rest. It’s sweet, smoky and there’s some oak.

Somehow, while Ardbeg is doing pretty well I think, they seem to be missing out on the hype that is whisky at the moment. They were at it before the massive interest peak started a decade ago, but somehow they can’t catch the public’s attention. By that I mean that while they release actually limited editions they don’t sell out. Highland Park and the likes seem to have no trouble asking ridiculous prices for underwhelming whiskies, Ardbeg releases at a much more decent price just sit on the shelves.

Maybe it’s because they’re NAS releases while a lot of Highland Park’s have an age statement? Maybe people DO want to know what they’re drinking, contrary to what sales rep are trying to convince us of?

Anyway, in this case, and with most Ardbegs I’ve tried over the last couple of years it’s actually pretty surprising. This is a very decent whisky, like Ardbog, Corryvreckan, and to a slightly lesser degree the Ardbeg Day release from 2012 and Auriverdes. The one I likes least was the Perpetuum and Galileo, I think.

It’s got an especially interesting nose and palate, with the hints of oranges and medicinal stuff. But, as said above, the Uigeadail is better and cheaper.

86/100

Ardbeg Dark Cove, Dark Sherry Casks, 46.5%. Available online for some € 115

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Talisker Dark Storm, 45.8%

Posted on 26 January 2017 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Talisker is releasing a lot of NAS whiskies nowadays. And by a lot, I mean a lot. Especially if you realize it’s only one brand in a pool of many. It started about a decade ago with the Talisker 57 North, and about five years it continues with Storm, Port Ruighe, Dark Storm, Skye and I’m probably forgetting one or two.

As it seems now the Talisker 10 is less available than it was before and I’ve heard rumors that is because they (Diageo) is repositioning the brand. It’s going to come back a bit more expensive in a while.

Rumor also has it that Diageo has stopped using Talisker in their Johnnie Walker Black Label and the smoky whisky for that is now coming from their Roseisle plant. This would conflict with the general press information that the NAS whiskies are being released because of a lack of aged whisky. In a few years they should be swimming in 10 year old Talisker…

About that repositioning. I can imagine it since

a) Talisker 10 was dirt cheap. When discounted you can get a bottle for under € 30

b) It’s a cracking whisky and is easily worth more than that € 30.

Now then, the Dark Storm. I tried this as the opener for the Winter Tasting at De Whiskykoning. The Winter Tasting is the one with all the peated whiskies.

The whisky is drawn from heavily charred casks, whatever that means. As in, a lot of casks are heavily charred and it has never been something to market unless the whisky is bourbon for which it matters a lot more.

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The nose is pretty gentle and there’s some fruit. Some smoke, but not an awful lot. Quite light though. Roasted malt and an ashy note. Very ‘warming’.

Sip:
The palate is a bit more spicy with the typical notes of black pepper (typical for Talisker). Other spices too, with a lot of oak influence. Quite sharp, and sweet with brown sugar.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly, with a sweet, sugary flavor. Oak, fruits and spices. Not too long and the ashy note is back.

This, in a way, is a pretty decent whisky and I can see where it’s different from regular Talisker (10) and Talisker Storm (without the ‘Dark’). It’s a bit sweeter and more mellow than the latter, and a bit more oaky than the 10 year old.

The vast drawback this whisky has, as do all the NAS Taliskers that are not cask strength, is that the 10 year old is cheaper. Also, it is better. All Taliskers have that drawback, that they have to overcome the vast shadow of the 10 year old, which is about the best value-for-money whisky money can buy.

85/100

Talisker Dark Storm, Heavily Charred Casks, 45.8%. Look for prices online, since it varies from € 50 to € 85 somehow.

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