GlenDronach 1995-2015, 19yo, 54.2% – OB for Whiskybase

Posted on 3 May 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

How is it, that without any indication a market can get fed up with a certain brand of whisky? I think that’s more or less what’s happening with mid-nineties (and younger) GlenDronach.

Every year the distillery releases about two batches of single casks and a couple of years you had to run to get some bottles of them. Now that might still be the case with the older whiskies, but the younger ones are still taking up shelf space.

Strangely, the WhiskyNerds bottling sold out almost instantly last year, but the Whiskybase one, which came a few months later is getting dusty in the shop. They’re going so far as giving you a fairly sizeable discount on it when you buy it (10% at the moment).

It might also be partly due to the ever increasing price of GlenDronach. Currently a more or less 20 year old should fetch € 150, while that was only € 90 some five years ago.

Anyway, I think GlenDronach should appeal to all people who still love Macallan for their old releases, where they actually used proper sherry casks. They were widely known for that, although you can barely get one nowadays without spending hundreds and hundreds of euros. Suddenly GlenDronach doesn’t seem so bad!

Sniff:
Pretty rich, ‘real’ sherry on the nose. Dates and dried plums. Lots of fruit. Surprisingly spicy for a PX bottling too, maybe because of the puncheon instead of a butt? Something quite heavy is there too, like the leather and rubber of sneakers.

Sip:
The palate is spicy but also with lots of fruit. Quite sharp but not overly so. Peach, apricot, dates and some oaky bitterness.

Swallow:
The finish is similar but also adds a note of beef. Like steak and ale pie. Rich and long.

On one hand this whisky does everything you would expect a mid-nineties GlenDronach to do with lots of dried fruits and slightly spicy sherry notes. On the other hand there’s a surprising amount of that spice and the shoe like notes on the palate and a beefy flavor on the finish.

Those added flavors make it slightly more interesting than I would have expected. Most GlenDronachs are quite predictable in their heavy and fruity sherry flavors. Luckily this ones does that and a bit more. I prefer it that way, so there’s something left to discover.

Recommended.

88/100

GlenDronach 19 years old, 20/09/1995 – 08/2015, PX Sherry Puncheon 3804, 54.2% – Available only at Whiskybase for (at the moment) € 135

Thanks to Whiskybase for sending the sample!

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Beers of April

Posted on 2 May 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Once again, my list of beers from April. Some great ones, some good ones, and unfortunately some utter crap ones.

Thornbridge

I finally went for a few beers at the Thornbridge pub in Den Bosch and had a couple of their brews. Both were really good, but the Valravn really stands out. It combined the goodness of roasted malts and hops on a high level. Very recommended.

  • Thornbridge Valravn
  • Thornbridge Halcyon

Wild Beer Company

Ever since trying their Modus Operandi I liked this brewery. They dare to do things differently in such a way that their beers, while sometimes similar to others, are not really comparable. They have sour beers but accept that they are not Geuzes, so they make something of their own.
This month I tried the Wildebeest and Brett Brett Double IPA.

Both are great with the Brett Brett having a greater depth than I expect an IPA to have. The Wildebeest is a very well balanced chocolate/coffee/malt combination and awesome for it.

  • Wildebeest
  • Brett Brett Double IPA

Lowlander

  • Lowlander White Ale
  • Lowlander Poorter
  • Lowlander I.P.A

Traditional styles brewed with some botanicals. A nice initiative but so gently spices that I didn’t get many of the ‘added flavors’. So the White Ale is just that, as goes for the Poorter and the IPA.

Geuzes

  • Oude Geuze (2011-2012), Brouwerij Boon
  • Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L’Ancienne (2010-2011), Gueuzerie Tilquin
  • Oude Geuze Vat 77, Brouwerij Boon

All of them are good, but the Vat 77 stands out. Made in a vat that’s been in use for over a hundred years at the brewery, this one was really special and had just a tad more fruity flavors and acidity than the others.

I’d have to say the Oude Geuze Vat 77 by Brouwerij Boon is my favorite beer of the month. Well earned, by making something special.

Other good ones

Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout, Anderson Valley Brewing Company

This one I had sitting around for a while but hadn’t gotten around to. It’s great. Highly recommended Oatmeal stout (like their Barney Flats) but matured in Wild Turkey barrels. It just adds a nice oaky sweetness without overpowering it. Awesome stuff, this.

The Carpenter’s Mikan Ale, Baird Brewing Company

A Japanese fruit beer with Mikan, which apparently is a Japanese citrus fruit, a sort of tangerine. I didn’t know when I bought it, and that might be a good thing since I normally avoid fruit beers. This one is very good though, although if you would have told me it was a regular IPA, I’d have believed you.

 

Some okay ones, that aren’t a waste of money but are also quite forgettable

  • Out of Office, Weird Beard Brew Co.
  • Grand Cru, Brasserie St-Feuillien
  • Othmar Rauchbier, Ootmarsummer Bierbrouwerij Heupink & Co
  • Broeder Jacob Bruin, Brouwerij Broeder Jacob
  • Hopbock, Brouwerij de Vriendschap
  • La Vache Folle: RyePA, Microbrasserie Charlevoix
  • Monteith’s Southern Pale Ale, Monteith’s Brewing Co.
  • Single-Wide I.P.A., Boulevard Brewing Co.
  • Castaway IPA, Kona Brewing Company
  • Drunken Sailor, CREW Republic
  • Teikoku IPA, Baird Brewing Company
  • Wipers Times 14, Brouwerij Kazematten
  • Just Another IPA, Brouwerij Kees
  • Aooni, Yo-Ho Brewing Company

Lots of IPAs were had on the sunny days of April. Unfortunately, most IPAs are good but they just won’t top the awesome ones that are my benchmark. Punk IPA, Jaipur, Raging Bitch. They might get close but in the end you’re better of buying Punk since that’s always available, consistent and at least one Euro cheaper than the rest. We keep trying though.

Utter shit beers

Warsteiner Herb / Double Hopped

There’s no reason this exists. One of the big brewers that tries to get a share of the craft brewing hype. It’s just marginally better than their factory lager. Only an option if nothing else is available.

Dead Crow Rum Beer, Beverage Brands

I already had their Bourbon Beer, and it went down the sink after one sip. This is of a similar level. Only a teeny tiny bit less shit, but still highly undrinkable.

Homebrews

Not much useful stuff to say about homebrews, since you’re not going to have them anyway. These were given to me by a homebrewer who works at the customer I’m currently building a site for. Good stuff.

Hoppy B. – Biermug
An over the top and bone dry IPA. I was warned, but it wasn’t as bad as the warning made me expect.

Mister Bock – Biermug
A malty bock that isn’t as sweet as most bocks, which meant I liked it better.

SPA – Biermug
This session pale ale is based on BrewDog’s recipe for their Dead Pony Club and is a very close approximation of that. Good stuff.

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Invergordon 1972-2016, 43yo, 49.8% – WhiskyNerds

Posted on 29 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Apparently a sizable batch of Invergordon casks has been released from the warehouses of Martin Armstrong. A while ago he released a few on his own WhiskyBroker label, and one was bottled for Whiskybase, for their database containing 70,000 whiskies.

Now, WhiskyNerds, a small Dutch bottler run by club buddies Bram van Glabbeek and Floris Kooistra has come out. It has been released on the Dutch market and is only available in a few selected shops. Shops that Floris and Bram have good relations with.

So, another 43 year old Invergordon, which is a nice way of comparing between the Whiskybase one and this one.

Sniff:
Sweet with a definite character of corn of wheat. With the way grain whisky is distilled, it’s hard to taste since most of the flavors are distilled out of the spirit. But, a real grain character nonetheless. A bit of sharp spices with black pepper and ginger. Fresh peach. It gets slightly dusty after a while.

Sip:
The palate is gentle, sweet and quite grain like. Also a bit drying, but rather rich. Again, slightly spicy, and slightly fruity. Peach and pepper.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly and mostly the grain flavors remain. There’s a bit of sweetness from it, and the pepper lingers in the background too.

It’s interesting to see two whiskies that are so similar but taste quite different. They are literally sister casks (this is 13-05, and the Whiskybase one is 13-04). Where that one focuses on grain, pastry and honey, this one is slightly more fruity and way more spicy.

I prefer the spicy one, so it seems. Maybe because this one is a bit less sweet, and has a tad more depth to it. But, as with many grain whiskies, it gets its goodness and tastiness in a rather simple way. There aren’t many layers or much complexity to discover. Still, really tasty stuff!

89/100

Invergordon 43yo, 1972-2016, cask 13-05, 49.8%, WhiskyNerds. Available in some shops in The Netherlands for around € 170

Thanks to the WhiskyNerds for a sample!

Posted in - Grain Whisky, Invergordon | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Balmenach 1988-2014, 25yo, 54.3% – Signatory Vintage

Posted on 28 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Balmenach is one of those distilleries that you don’t see many bottlings of. The first one I ever tried was a dirty and slightly rubbery Blackadder bottling, probably about ten years ago. They were put on my map again in one of the Blind Tasting Competitions, where there was a ridiculously strong, eight year old bourbon cask that was amazing.

Ever since I’ve been keeping an eye out for comparable bottlings, but so far I’ve not bought any, even though there have been some. Part of that is a budgetary problem, but also because I don’t normally have the guts (anymore) to buy bottles without having tasted them first.

So when DSA sent me a sample of this I was quite happy. At the time I didn’t know it was a Balmenach, but I was happy to find out it was. Matured in a hogshead for a quarter century, this stuff is bound to be good, right?

Sniff:
A quite straight forward maltiness at first, with some oak. A whiff of lactic acid. So, sourness and slightly buttery. Bladnoch like, so to say. Milky with some stewed apple.

Sip:
The palate has that slightly funky milkiness with buttery acid. Syrupy and fatty too. Oak, with lots of malt too, dry and slightly sharp.

Swallow:
The finish is more classic and focuses on malty and oaky. A bit sweeter than before but long and rich. Quite beautiful.

Since I tasted this completely blind I had no expectations, but I’m quite happy with this one. A good whisky that’s rather straight forward in a very old fashioned / rustic style. I’m already on the prowl to find one for my collection.

I start enjoying these more rustig kinds of whisky more and more, nowadays. That also translated in there being quite a lot of older whiskies from bourbon casks in my collection than there were a few years ago. I’m not discounting other styles, but this one seems slightly more accessible, and to my liking at the moment. Good stuff, and recommended!

89/100

Balmenach 25 years old, 18/10/1988 – 12/08/2014, Hogshead 2819, 54.3%. This used to go for € 149, but it sold out now.

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New Compass Box releases

Posted on 27 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While this might not be the biggest news to a lot of you, I find it hugely interesting.

Compass Box has long been on my radar, but somehow, two years ago The General slipped by me. I only got my eye on it after it came out and sold out. I don’t want that to happen again, since that is one bloody awesome whisky.

So, these two are upcoming and first on my wishlist at the moment:

The Enlightenment is a themed whisky for the ‘Transparency Campaign‘ Compass Box is running. They got reprimanded for disclosing the contents of their blended and blended malt whiskies last year, which is a ridiculous thing.

Based on the experiences I’ve had with The General, The Lost Blend, This is not a Luxury Whiskey and last year’s Flaming Heart, I’m going for both of them.

The completist in my rears its head too, since now I want all of the previously listed ones and since there’s no General available anymore, that might be tricky. But who knows!

Posted in - Blended Malt, - Blended Whisky, Compass Box | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roughstock Montana Straight Rye Whiskey, 45%

Posted on 26 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This second Roughstock whiskey is a 100% rye whiskey from Montana. It came third in Shai’s samples and, as the rest, it wasn’t labeled. It’s labeled as a straight rye whiskey, and there’s no age statement I can discern, so that would mean it’s at least four years old.

It took me a while to figure out what kind of booze I had in my glass, partially because it could literally be anything, and partially since I just had yesterday’s Mezcal before this one (in a separate glass, though).

Sniff:
There’s a lot of focus on the oak, and after I figured out it was a rye whiskey, the spicy rye notes became more clear. Spicy with pepper and sawdust. Some nutmeg and ginger. Quite young tasting.

Sip:
The palate is peppery again, but the pepper comes in after an initial wave of chocolate and oak. Quite dry and it increases in sharpness as you let it swim. Almost no sweetness.

Swallow:
The finish is, not surprisingly, peppery again. Quite dry and sharp with rye and crusty bread.

Much like the Roughstock Pure Malt whiskey I reviewed last week, this is quite a nice dram. It seems a whole generation of ‘we do everything ourselves’ distillers is standing up and claiming some time in the spotlight nowadays. Thank God, since I wouldn’t be thrilled with an industry that’s based on bought whiskey with flavorings in it, like Templeton.

This one shows lots of rye flavors and that’s not surprising since it’s a 100% rye whiskey. It’s also quite good and, for American ‘craft’ whiskey, quite affordable in Europe. Or maybe I’ve just gotten used to spending € 60 on a bottle of young hooch from a fly over state.

84/100

Roughstock Montana Straight Rye Whiskey, 100% rye, 45%. Available for € 62 at Master of Malt.

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Benevá Añejo Mezcal, 38%

Posted on 25 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The second totally random sample from DSA’s array of niceness. That this was a Mezcal was something that was rather clear from the beginning, although the oak aging bit masked the normally stand out scents quite a bit.

I know absolutely nothing about Benevá Mezcal, apart from what I just glanced on some websites. It apparently is mostly available in Mexico and there it doesn’t cost too much, little under € 20 if I’m not mistaken.

The Añejo bit means that it has been in oak for at least a year, and according to what I saw on their website they keep it aging for some four years. The bottle does come with a worm, which is not something I’ve actually seen all that often.

Sniff:
On the nose there’s oily agave, quite ‘green’ and a bit herbaceous. Quite clean and the oak influence doesn’t overpower the scents, but does make itself known. Some straw, dried grass and slightly earthy.

Sip:
It’s a tiny bit spicy but very smooth. Some agave, and again that oiliness I also found on the nose.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly more deep. Agave, oily but also some smoke and a rather long lasting flavor.

My tasting notes are rather short, but that’s not out of brevity. I just couldn’t find that many flavors. Mezcal is not a very strong spirit when it goes into the barrel, so the extraction from the oak is not as intense as, for example, with bourbon. Therefore the flavors are very timid too. They are, however, strong enough to mask quite a bit of the mezcal and agave flavors that you’d normally get from an unaged Mezcal.

So, while far from a bad drink, it’s also not very special. I wouldn’t have minded to spend a couple of bucks on this, but if I’d spent a ‘Dutch’ amount on it (what you pay for this stuff here) I’d be bummed out.

80/100

Benevá Añejo Mezcal, four years in oak, 38%. Available in Mexico

Posted in - Other Spirits, Beneva | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Roughstock Montana Pure Malt Whiskey, 45%

Posted on 22 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So this happened. DSA, whisky buddy of mine from the USA/Israel/Austria sent me a bunch of samples with just a number on the cap. No further info was given, and knowing him it might or might not be whisk(e)y. It took me a while to get to them, but I started going through them on our weekend away a little while ago.

Only after I tried all seven of them, I looked up what each number corresponded to. It turned out to be a combination of Scotch, American whiskey, Armagnac and Mezcal. Shamefully I have to admit that I didn’t pick up on each type of booze completely. But more on that in a later post.

Roughstock is located in Bozeman, Montana. Although I’ve never been to Bozeman due to travel and time constraints when driving through Montana, I do love Montana. It has a bit of a rough edge but the scenery is gorgeous and it’s mostly smallish towns. I like small towns. I wish it made sense to go back there, but with a 1 and a 3 year old it’s very expensive and they’re not going to remember it anyway.

Roughstock makes just about every kind of American whiskey that’s out there, and also a pure/single malt. Contrary to many upstart American distilleries they make everything themselves without buying a base product elsewhere. Montana has lots of grain so it makes sense to not buy from somewhere else.

Sniff:
The nose is smooth with lots of oak influence. Pretty sweet as well with something that reminds me of a wine cask. Stewed strawberry and other red fruits. Some heavier scents in the background, which is a pretty strange combination of aromas.

Sip:
The palate isn’t stronger than the nose made me expect. Oak and sweetness with lots of fruit. Somehow it’s not well integrated and it feels like there’s more than one track being followed at the same time. Peach, strawberry, sweetness and a light hint of pepper.

Swallow:
The finish is dry with mostly oak, some sweetness and some spices. Quite long.

The age, after looking it up, turns out to be between two and five years old. This is quite young although not necessarily for American whiskeys. However, Montana is pretty far north and quite a bit colder than Kentucky, which means maturation is different. In this case you can taste that it’s quite a young whiskey.

Having said that, for a young whiskey of only two to five years old this is quite good. I think it can do with a bit more age to it for proper integration of the spirit and the oak, but they’re on to something here. Add to that that this is a ‘real’ whiskey that’s made from grain to glass. That earns some kudos in my book.

Also, it’s available in The Netherlands for € 50, which is a very fair price for a product like this.

83/100

Roughstock Montana Pure Malt Whiskey, 45%, available through Drank Dozijn and other retailers, starting at € 50

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Springbank 1998-2013, 14 years old, 54.3% – Whiskybroker.co.uk

Posted on 20 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another bottler that somehow is not on my radar. Which is a silly thing since most of what Martin Armstrong (the son of the former Bladnoch distillery owner) releases is at least decent in quality, and the bottles are quite cheap, normally. This 14 year old Springbank was only £ 45 when it came out, for example.

I also know that Whiskybase’s recent Invergordon 1972 came from there, and that was a very, very interesting bottle of hooch! The same goes for the new release from WhiskyNerds, by the way.

I tried this one more or less at the same time as the three releases from Whiskybase so it certainly had some competition! This one was drawn from a fresh bourbon barrel, so that steered expectations towards more cask influence and more vanilla for a bit.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
The rough spirit is clearly present, but there’s also quite some oak. A clean kind of alcohol, albeit a bit unrefined. Slightly sweet with good balance, some scents of resin. The oak is present, but doesn’t overdo it. Nicely balanced.

Sip:
The palate is tingling with lots of alcohol. Oak, spirit, a whiff of smoke and barley. Malty with flavors of apple and a lot of ‘Springbankness’.

Swallow:
The finish is light, and focuses heavily on the spirit again. Oak, apple, straw and that trace of smoke is back too. Quite malty as well.

This is a quite typical Springbank. Luckily the cask hadn’t taken over yet, which sometimes happens with fresh bourbon barrels. I didn’t pick up on any vanilla, luckily. The spirit is quite rough and unexpectedly present after 14 years in oak. The rest of the nose, palate and finish doesn’t do anything unexpected.

However, what it does, it does quite well. The whiff of smoke works with the lightly fruity and malty whisky. Rather classic and typical for Springbank. Especially at only 45 quid, this is a cracking dram.

87/100

Springbank 14yo, 27/11/1998 – 12/02/2013, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel 448, 54.3%, bottled by Whiskybroker.co.uk

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Arran 19, 1996-2016, 54.7% – OB for Whiskysite.nl

Posted on 19 April 2016 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The Dutch like Arran. Or more apt, the mainland of north-western Europe likes Arran. Over the last couple of years there have been loads of single casks for just about every festival and shop that’s in the business of doing single casks.

The Dutch alone have had at least five single casks for the country, and I know there are festival bottlings in Holland, Belgium and Germany, apart from other private bottlings.

So, apart from liking them a lot, there seems to be plenty to go around. Maybe this is why they come out at quite reasonable prices. A 19 year old single cask at a hundred bucks is all but unheard of nowadays.

But, as always, is it any good? If history would be an indicator, then yes.

This one comes from a sherry hogshead, which seems to be the sherry that goes well with Arran, and apparently was quite available over the years. It follows neatly on last year’s single cask Arran for Whisky in Leiden, which is a festival organized by the same shop (which currently has a neat 10% discount on everything).

Sniff:
Somehow, these newer, older Arrans all have a bit of a ‘middle of the road’ nose to them, while still being very good. There’s some white oak with dried fruits. Nothing too exotic, mostly peaches and apricots. Maybe some plums too. Quite sweet with a touch of cinnamon. The oak becomes more prominent after a short while.

Sip:
More spicy than expected, and a bit sharper than the nose too. Sweet, with oak and fruits leading the way. A touch of vanilla and quite some white oak. Peaches, apricots, plums, all dried. Becomes more spicy and a touch dry after about half a minute or so.

Swallow:
The finish is even more spicy than the palate, with cinnamon, and some dried ginger. The fruits are still there with maybe some orange added to the mix of stone fruits. Quite some dryness from the oak too.

As said before, the nose is good but not spectacular. However, the spiciness that builds over the nose to the palate to the finish makes this a far more interesting drink than expected based on the nose. The ginger on the finish is rather good and not overpowering, and the oak never takes the lead over the fruit and spices either.

Not the most spectacular Arran I’ve ever had, but a very good whisky nonetheless. Actually, there’s nothing to complain about and with a 19 year old single cask Arran coming in at € 100, it’s a good deal as well!

88/100

Arran 19, 30/09/1996 – 02/02/2016, Sherry Hogshead 1390, 54.7%. It was available for € 99.99 but it sold out by now.

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