Arran 2005-2015, 9yo, 59% – Bottled for the Arran Malt and Music Festival 2015

Posted on 15 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Sometime in June Arran hosts their own little whisky festival with a lot of music there too. It almost seems like a miniature copy of the Islay Festival a couple of weeks earlier. As on the Feis Ile, as the Islay Festival is officially called, they also release a special bottling to celebrate the event.

This year it was this nine year old bottling, coming from a French Oak Barrique. What the label doesn’t say, but the folks of Arran on Twitter did, is that the previous contents were Calvados. Whether that would be red wine or apple brandy makes quite a difference.

Because of it being a Calvados cask, I knew I wanted it, since from the early days of Arran whiskies I really enjoyed that strong Calvados cask that came out back when they did dozens of cask finishes and such.

Anyway, someone in the UK was friendly enough to do the bottle share since shipping it to The Netherlands and then shipping samples back to the UK seemed a bit nonsensical. Unfortunately, it didn’t fill up and since I requested the share I felt I had to get 20cl.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
It’s rough and not much refined. Quite spirity, like the cask was very tired. The fruit distillate is noticeable. Some hint of apple scent, but it’s not very clear. It’s crisp and summery with hints of barley. Barely any sweetness, though.

Sip:
A strangely crude texture, a grainy mouth feel. Dry with old apple, some alcohol and white pepper. It’s quite green and hot. Young wit quite a lot of spirit coming through. Something crisp in the background.

Swallow:
The finish is consistent with the palate. Strong, warming with apple and barley. Some oak too.

This is a strange whisky. As in, when I tasted it I wasn’t thrilled with it. It’s okay, but there’s not too much going on. However, when writing these tasting notes into a blog post, I felt like trying it again.

Normally a good bit of spirit in a dram is something I enjoy, and since it’s all quite crisp and summery I should be happy with it too. However, I do still feel like the cask was very tired and didn’t impart as much flavor as at least I would have liked.

So, interesting and something worth trying, but I am glad I didn’t get an entire bottle.

Arran 2005-2015, 9yo, 01/08/2005 – 03/06/2015, French Oak Barrique, 59% – Bottled for the Arran Malt and Music Festival 2015. Still available at the Arran Distillery shop for the sizable amount of £ 125

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Highland Park 1997-2008, 10yo, Cask 5820, 57.6% – Gordon & MacPhail Reserve

Posted on 14 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

When this bottling came out in 2008, it happened to be around early autumn when the Whisky by the Sea festival was held in Vlissingen. I was there with my friend TT and we ended up talking to Michiel Wigman of Dutch Connection for a long time. Michiel is one of the more prominent Dutch whisky collectors.

He told us to keep our eyes out for this bottle, specifically cask 5820, since it was going to go fast, and it’s awesome. We tried it, and when we got back home we ordered it. As many as we could.

At one point we had ordered a case (on top of the bottles we already had) but were sent the wrong cask number. I opened one bottle to see if it wasn’t as good (it wasn’t) and sent the rest back. In the following months we found some more bottles here and there.

Somehow, now I see it’s available at a nearby bottle shop but the price has quadrupled. It’s a bummer that I didn’t see it in that shop earlier, since I would have bought it without thinking. Now, at € 200, I won’t.

This entire anecdote tells you what I think of this whisky, so not many surprises will follow.

Sniff:
The sherry is smooth, but big. The whisky is quite sharp so it’s not just sherry I’m getting. There’s chocolate and fruit and spiced cake. Sweet, soft oak notes with lots of bakery scents (the kind of bakery that focuses on pastries as much as bread). Slightly meaty with a trace of smoke as well. Coffee and cinnamon. Damn.

Sip:
The palate is not as sharp as it ever was (this was tried from the end of my bottle), but it still packs enough punch. Lots and lots of flavor. Sherry, oak, chocolate and dried fruits. Treacly, coffee, pecans.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly sharper and long. Again that pecans and chocolate thing, with sherry, cinnamon and some oak. A trace of smoke again.

This whisky is as awesome as it was when I got my bottles in 2008. I’m absolutely loving it still. The sherry is big and beautiful, with lots of different flavors going on, quite layered. Luckily the whisky isn’t overpowered by all that Spanish violence.

It’s a shame that bottle is now € 200, but otherwise it wouldn’t have been available anymore since I would have bought them all. This is an instant classic in my book.

It’s a shame that the other casks were not as good as this one. I know that at least 5823 and 5832 have also been released, and those were very different. Still good, but not AS good. These casks were distilled on the same day and also matured in First Fill Sherry casks

Highland Park 10 years old, 17/11/1997 – 04/2008, First Fill Sherry Butt # 5820, 57.6%, Gordon & MacPhail Reserve. Now available for € 200 at Zeewijck.

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Tomatin Contrast, bourbon and sherry matured, 46%

Posted on 11 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

For those of you who don’t follow whisky news, or do but have been living under a rock:

Tomatin is quickly becoming one of the cooler distilleries out there. I said it a while ago, and I’ll say it again. Keep an eye on those guys.

Their newest release includes two sherry finished whiskies at cask strength, each accompanied by the exact sherry that came from the cask before the whisky was put in. In this case a 30 year old Oloroso and a 20 year old Pedro Ximénez. Not sure how I’m going to get both of these with the current spending stop… (please check this page).

Anyway, before that there was the Cuatro series, in which the finished the ‘same’ whisky in four different kinds of sherry casks. Then there was this Contrast box. A blend of old and young whiskies (much like the Balvenie Tun 1409 series) either matured in bourbon casks or sherry casks.

I wanted those, I bottle shared those. I like the concept, and I like whisky geekery. The casks for each part of the Contrast box came from:

Year Bourbon Sherry
1973 2 hogsheads 1 butt
1977 2 barrels 1 butt
1988 3 hogsheads 1 butt
1991 2 barrels 1 butt
2002 4 barrels 1 butt
2006 2 barrels 1 butt

Obviously there need to be more hoggies and barrels than butts. Butts contain 500 liters of whisky, and hogsheads and barrels from 190 to 250, more or less. (Table ripped shamelessly from Ben Cops’ blog)

Tomatin Contrast Bourbon matured, 46%

Sniff:
Light and fruity bourbon cask, quite clear. I get apple and pineapple, some white oak and a very light hint of pepper. Lime, slightly drying and cotton. Also twigs and dried leaves.

Sip:
The palate is crisp with oak, and it tasted very fresh (as in, not old and woody). Slightly spirity even. Dry, cotton and the fruit is a bit late to the party. Lots of it though, fresh pineapple and dried pineapple. Also apple and pear.

Swallow:
The finish veers slightly towards more spices. Some heather and white pepper, and therefore drier. Less fruit.

Tomatin Contrast Sherry matured, 46%

Sniff:
The sherry matured version is darker and slightly warmer on the nose. Oiled leather, but also dry and spicy. ‘Ontbijtkoek’, baking spices and oak. Plums and milk chocolate.

Sip:
The palate is slightly drying with a hint of chili pepper. Oak and sweet dried fruits. Plums, chocolate. It becomes a tad sharper after a few seconds of ‘swimming’. Rich, spicy sherry and even a tad of sulfur. In a good way that is. Dates too.

Swallow:
The finish is sweet and gentle with great balance. Spices and fruit with caramel and chocolate.

Let’s start with: They’re both awesome. The sherry matured on is quite different from the bourbon one, and that’s quite great to show the differences between one type of oak (and previous content) compared to the other.

Their individual balance is great too. The sherry shows the typical dried fruits and baking spices, where the bourbon casks go more towards lighter, fresh fruits and cooking spices. The cotton in that one is a note I’ve not found often before.

Because it was a share I only had 5cl of each, but they only lasted one day since after tasting them I finished them both right away.

My favorite one is the bourbon matured. That shows the pineapple flavors that tickle my fancy at the moment, with nice hints of pepper and oak. The lime flavor was nice too and it didn’t even get to smell and taste like washing up liquid (which happens quite often with lime and alcohol combined).

Great stuff by Tomatin. Now to figure out how to do those sherry/whisky combinations. I feel another bottle share coming up!

Tomatin Contrast box set, 2 x 35cl, 46%. Available in some shops for about € 130

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Springbank 16, 1998-2014, 56% – SMWS (27.107 – To The Manor Born)

Posted on 10 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It’s one of those obscurely named SMWS whiskies again. A Springbank at that. I’ve had some of the Society’s Springbanks before and was, unfortunately, never blown away by them.

Then this came along last year, just after Maltstock which I didn’t attend. I heard from some whisky buddies that this was one of the most impressive whiskies they tried at the festival and when I could order it through a whisky buddy in the UK, I didn’t wait long.

Luckily, I was also able to get a sample from the same source of hooch and I got around to trying last weekend.

Finally. Now, this deserves a bit of attention. This comes from a refill sherry gorda. A gorda is a huge cask of 700 liters and is with that the largest vessel allowed to contain whisky for maturation.

How they filled it, I don’t know. As in, did they fill it with spirit 16 years ago, or was this finished. If the latter, did they pour one bourbon or sherry cask in, or multiples to fill it to the full 700 liters? (A sherry cask generally is 500, and a bourbon cask varies from 200 to 250). Multiple casks would, technically, make it a not-single cask (SWA regulations and such).

Anyway, all geekery aside, let’s taste this supposedly awesome dram.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Old wine at a farm. There’s a lot of quiet, old sherry in here. The syrupy stuff with sediment. A light scent of oak with lots of dried fruit. Almost like a red dessert wine. So, quite sweet with chocolate and soft nutty flavors. Brazil nut, pecans, walnut. After that it gets more earthy with hay, stables and sheep. All in a good way.

Sip:
The palate is, again, sweet and winey. Fruit, with oak. A tad dry, but with flavors of grapes and plums, a lot of cherries. Slightly salty. A fairly bizarre whisky, this. Slate, over ripe cherries and that dessert wine again.

Swallow:
The finish is medium long, very rich with sherry and soft wine. Gentle and fruity.

I don’t think this is a very common whisky. I can’t remember tasting anything like this before and while it’s a bizarre dram, I’m loving it. I generally don’t care much for wine like whiskies, and I’m not sure what’s so different about this one, apart from the fact that it works.

The scents and flavors are all out there with fruit, wine, farmyard, but also a slight hint of minerals and slate (it is Springbank after all). That sedimented sweet wine is something I’m not entirely sure about and it does ring a bell, I just don’t know what else to call it. It’s not an easy one, this.

But, in short. It’s a gorgeous dram. I’m glad I got a couple of bottles!

Springbank 16, 31/5/1998 – 21/7/2014, Refill Ex-sherry Gorda, 56% – SMWS (27.107 – To The Manor Born)

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Port Ellen 16, 1980-1997, 62% – Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection

Posted on 9 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I can barely comprehend the amount of old and awesome whiskies I’ve been tasting these last few months. A lot of trades of samples have happened and that has gotten me some old Rosebank, Port Ellen, Brora and lots of other goodies that until recently were quite out of my league.

Apparently those Facebook groups for bottle sharing and sample swapping are good for something! What’s also nice is that those groups are actually used for sample swapping and such, and are not polluted by people bragging about the bottle they’ve just bought or any other totally uninteresting crap.

Anyway, this one did not come from that Facebook group but I did get a sample of it, from TE, just like that old Clynelish of last week. This is even more rare since it never even occurred to me that Port Ellen was bottled at middle age too. I only thought that in the heyday there were young ones, like this 10 year old and then there were oldies. Silly me.

Sniff:
The nose of this one is ridiculously strong. Lots of alcohol and razor sharp. Some oak, minerals and other austere notes. After a couple of minutes of airing it becomes warmer with pastry pie, apples. I also get candied lemon and lemon curd. Throughout this there’s a strong note of black tea.

Sip:
Dry and sharp. Dry and sharp. Pepper, alcohol, dry and sharp. Oak, spices, licorice. It needs water. With water the barley and barley sugars show themselves. The tea note is here again too. It doesn’t change all that much with water, but it becomes a lot more accessible. Somewhat sweeter too.

Swallow:
The finish is a little bit more gentle than the palate. A little bit. It’s still hot, but it finally shows that more typical Port Ellen flavor of lemon sweets and some leather. Tea again. Oak and white pepper.

This is a weird one. It’s not the flavors that are weird, because most of them are expected. What’s weird is the insane sharpness of it, and the complete lack of smoke. I talked to TE from who I got this sample and he said that 1980 was the most smokeless year for Islay (and other whiskies), and I think I agree with him. I’ve tried late Broras which were more like Clynelish than what I expected of Brora, and some other whiskies were quite light on smoke in those days too (Ardbeg Kildalton…)

Anyway, to review things more specifically. The sharpness put me off this one at first, and I think it’s been bottled at too high an ABV. Of course they wanted cask strength so they went with it, but whereas in some cases whiskies ‘can use’ water, this one actually needs it.

Because of that I’m not a huge fan. Although I find the lemon and tea notes very interesting. It’s still an impressive dram, but not a great dram.

Port Ellen 16, 1980-1997, 62% – Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection

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Rosebank 1975-2005, 30yo, 54.8% – Silver Seal, Sestante Collection

Posted on 8 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Ever since I tried a 12 year old Rosebank Flora & Fauna some ten years ago this Lowlands distillery has been a favorite of mine. I think it’s a shame it’s gone and there is no other distillery that comes close to similar spirit, especially not one of the currently open ones. Maybe St. Magdalene comes closest, but that’s been closed even longer.

Anyway, it’s a shame the bottles have all but gone and the ones that come out are so expensive or just not all that good that it’s actually no longer interesting to look in to new bottlings. Quite a bummer.

A while ago I swapped a bunch of awesome samples with GI, and this is one of them. There was also old Oban, Port Ellen and some others. I hope to review those in a while.

Oh, Silver Seal is worth mentioning too. This Italian bottler is known for both high bottle prices and high whisky quality. They charge a premium for their releases compared to some other bottlers, but in general that is money well spent. Over the years I’ve tried some of their bottles and most of the ones I can remember by heart were awesome (Highland Park and Macallan, mostly).

Sniff:
This one’s sharp with lots of dry straw and some vanilla. White oak shavings, lots of alcohol but also, real Rosebank character. Floral and some light fruits.

Sip:
The palate is quite sharp with alcohol and white pepper. A touch of sweetness after that, sugary with mango. Straw and vanilla again.

Swallow:
The fierceness of the whisky lingers, there’s some vanilla too. Quite long, but also quite simple.

This one needs water. With water the balance improves and it becomes more fruity with mango and pineapple. The finish is still dry with white pepper and straw.

This is a strange whisky. I find it hard to call it complex, since it’s not in my book. What it is, however, is awesome. This is typical Rosebank from beginning to end and I love it. The combination of the few scents and flavors I’m getting works really well and ticks a lot of boxes.

The drawback of this kind of booze is that a bottle of it will set you back hundreds of euros, if not crossing the 1000 euro line (The 55.8% version is for sale for € 2700!). It’s a shame, but that’s the way things are at the moment with those closed distillery. Luckily, I was just in time to this game to get to try whisky like this occasionally.

Rosebank 1975-2005, 30yo, 54.8% – Silver Seal, Sestante Collection

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Ledaig 18, 46.3%

Posted on 7 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I’ve often ranted about how I don’t like Ledaig. Of course, there was that little 42 year old that was just out of this earth and so ridiculously good looking at that might be considered Malt Porn. It’s one insane whisky, unfortunately but not entirely unexpected, the price is quite out of my league too. I’d have to save some three years to afford that.

Anyway, most other Ledaigs I’ve tried over the years were all in the five to twelve year range. Mostly because that’s what’s most readily available. Just like everybody was bottling it for festivals and clubs at one point, it wasn’t hard to get a sample of one or the other bottle.

Then, a couple of months ago they released an official 18 year old. When comparing the youthful indie bottles of the last few years to the insanely good 42 year old, you might expect that Ledaig needs some age. Or at least, in my book, since I didn’t much enjoy the younger ones. The 18 year old is a step up, let’s see where that leads!

Sniff:
It’s quite meaty and the slightly higher ABV really shines through. It’s much richer than a regular 40-43% whisky. Beef and teriyaki marinade. Nutty, earthy and soy sauce. I think I get some pineapple like bitterness too. The smoke is a real barbecue smell, which fits the meaty scent very well.

Sip:
Strong, but not sharp on the arrival. Not too thin, not too thick, but quite rich. Fatty and meaty. Quite a lot of smoke and peat on the palate. Salt and pepper, sweet teriyaki marinade again, sesame seeds. Soy sauce, this is a weird dram.

Swallow:
The finish focuses on ashy smoke on one side, and a combination of bitter oak and sweet soy and pineapple on the other. A long and rich finish.

Well, I can now start rambling on about what I like and dislike, but there’s not much I dislike. It might have been a little richer still, or not. Both could work. In short, I’m thoroughly enjoying this and am considering whether or not I’m ordering this in a while.

The meaty flavors are quite unique and there’s not much that you can compare this too. Some Mortlach bottlings maybe, but the added smoke makes this an entirely different dram. It’s lovely.

It’s slightly more expensive than the Deanston, but I think it still sits at a justifiable € 110 bucks (if ordered from the UK). In Holland it’s about 120 euros. Good stuff, and thanks again to Ronald Zwartepoorte for giving me a sample!

Ledaig 18,46.3%. Available at Master of Malt for £ 76.31

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Deanston 18, 46.3%

Posted on 4 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

When I got that awesome sample of Ledaig 42 from Ronald Zwartepoorte, of Whisky Passion fame, I also get a sample of the then new Deanston 18. Since that was June and that wasn’t that long ago, I think we still can call it a relatively new release.

Luckily, it’s not a limited release it’s actually still available! That’s something rare nowadays, permanent additions to ranges! Anyway, I got a sample and when I was going through my stash yesterday, I decided to taste it.

Deanston, to me, is a bit of an odd one out. I think I never spent money on Deanston, while I like the distillery and its product well enough. I remember trying a single cask from Master of Malt which I should have bought.

The distillery was featured in The Angel’s Share, and it’s quite easy to reach from Edinburgh, which maybe I should have done when I was there a couple of years ago.

Sniff:
On the nose I found this one slightly spirity, but in a way I like it. In a way that the distillery character shows. It’s surprisingly rich with lots of fresh barley and sugar. There’s some vanilla and Creme Catalana. Quite ‘standard’ but in a very accomplished way.

Sip:
The sugar and vanilla are here again, and it’s slightly hot from the alcohol. Barley and shortbread. It’s quite light with oak, some chalk and a slightly creamy mouth feel.

Swallow:
The finish is beautiful. Really rich and full. A hint of coconut on top of the vanilla, oak and barley.

This is a very simple whisky, in a way. None of the flavors are surprising, not for whisky in general and not for Deanston. But what they’ve done with it is simply great. A thoroughly enjoyable dram that shows enough of both spirit and oak maturation. Very well balanced.

And another fun fact: It’s actually affordable. It’s not exactly cheap but with the way things are going right now, an 18 year old Official Bottling for some € 85 (in the UK) is nice!

Deanston 18, bourbon cask finish, 46.3%. Available for £ 61 (€ 83) at Master of Malt

Thanks to Ronald Zwartepoorte for the sample!

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Clynelish 32, 1972-2005, 53.5% – Glen Master

Posted on 3 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Glen Master must be the most corny name  for a bottler they could come up with. I can imagine thinking of something like that after an evening of heavy dramming and considering it a great idea. I can also think of a way you regret a name like that in the morning.

But, at the end of the day, what counts is what’s in the bottle. And, in the case of 1972 Clynelish, you’ve obviously done something right. Not everybody gets awesome casks like this.

Clynelish is a long time favorite of mine, as are many others (Lagavulin, Springbank, Rosebank, BenRiach, Brora, Caol Ila, Bowmore, Highland Park, Arran, and so on). But what makes Clynelish unique is that they’re masters of the waxy highlands profile. There are some others (Inchgower comes to mind too), but none are as notorious for it as Clynelish.

It so happens that I love that profile. That makes me biased towards Clynelish, but in both ways. If it complies with my expectations I’m overly happy and enthusiastic about it, but if it’s not, I’m overly harsh.

Oh, and I tried this blind, but it took me about three seconds to figure out it’s Clynelish.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
A wax bomb! Candles and such. Sharp but it does lighten up after a couple of minutes. There’s wood and chalk, licorice and some salmiac. There’s also slate and some minerals. Quite austere, but with wax. Something sweet comes in late, like brioche.

Sip:
The licorice is on the palate too, with white pepper and some alcohol. Sharp, with chalk, vanilla and freshly cut white oak. It does get a bit sweeter after a couple of seconds and slightly spicy. Slate, minerals, apples, leafy greens. Wax, obviously.

Swallow:
The finish is mostly waxy again, old and spicy. Rich oak and beeswax, candle wax. Some furniture polish and lacquer.

And yes, this ticks many of the right boxes. It might be a bit on the alcoholic side on the palate, but the combination of the wax and austerity is great. This is an absolutely gorgeous dram, and it’s a text book Clynelish in all regards.

The fact that it’s ancient and therefore has been in oak for 32 years hasn’t overpowered the spirit at all. It really added to it, but the wax and minerals are typical in many younger Clynelishes, but then they’re not as refined as this.

Great stuff!

The label states that this is a ‘single barrel bottling’. So I’d assume based on that and the flavors that this is a bourbon barrel bottling.

Clynelish 32, 1972-2005, 53.5%, Glen Master

Thanks Tom!

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Glenglassaugh 1976-2004, 27yo, 46.8% – Signatory Vintage

Posted on 2 September 2015 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Glenglassaugh is a distillery in an area that has seen many closings, technically. The eastern highlands still have some distilleries open, but there’s a lot of them that have shut down over the years. One of the most prominent ones is Glenugie. A rare thing to come across that now, and the prices have soared accordingly.

For a long time Glenglassaugh itself also was part of that list of lost distilleries. Luckily a couple of years ago some folks were able to buy and restore the place, and get it back up and running. Even more recent the BenRiach Distillery Company bought Glenglassaugh from them and took over, after which Stuart Nickerson (involved in the restoration) moved to Shetland to start building a distillery there.

The result of Glenglassaugh’s silent years is quite obvious in the complete lack of middle aged whisky. There quite a bit of old stuff available at hefty prices, and there have been some releases since its reopening of new whisky. Of course, that new stuff is all very young, up to six years old by now. The old stuff is at least 29 years old since they initially closed in 1986.

Anyway, this dram is part of Signatory’s Cask Strength initiative. They release those whiskies in nice looking vases now, but a decade ago there were dumpy bottlings. Generally those are always of very high quality. I don’t I remember having one that was not nice or better than that.

Image from Whiskybase

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Wow! With only 46.8% ABV I expected this to be a lot less strong and fierce It has scents of wet rocks and is very austere. Very sharp. Grass and straw with a hint of vanilla. There are scents of wild flowers, daisies, daffodils, dandelions. Also apple and iron.

Sip:
The palate is very, very sharp with a strong flavor of alcohol at first. Some oak, grass and straw. I also get apple and unripe pear. Flowers and leafy herbs. Floral again, and slightly strangely waxy.

Swallow:
The finish is very floral again as well with some vanilla. After the nose and palate this part is surprisingly soft and gentle. It’s not very long and the waxy flavor is back here too. White, fresh oak.

This is a very strange whisky. As in, a whisky of this ABV that is this sharp is an exception in my book! The austerity it displays on the nose and the palate are fairly off the charts and there’s a lot of alcohol happening, even though a lot of it has gone to the angels over the almost three decades of maturing.

Apart from that austerity there’s a very light whisky hiding in there. A very floral and light dram with lots of wild flower flavors. That makes it something different than we generally get these days, it seems that most of the distilleries producing really floral, herbaceous whisky are closed or silent. I really hope Glenglassaugh can bring whisky like this back to the world!

So, interesting: yes. Tasty, yes, quite. Very, very interesting and actually, after you know what to expect it’s a great little dram. Just be wary of the first sniff and/or sip!

Glenglassaugh 1976-2004, 27yo, cask 2383, 46.8%, Signatory Vintage

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