Blind Tasting Competition 7: Bowmore Devil’s Casks II, 10yo, 56.3%

Posted on 13 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A third in and yesterday I climbed to the fourth spot. I have no illusion of keeping this up, but so far I’m on quite a streak compared to other years. I actually managed to get points every day so far!

Today’s dram is rather dark in color so I expect it to be vastly different than the rather not-so-good Lochside that was yesterday’s. I did not like that one at all.

Sniff:
Massive sherry, the bitter kind. Lots of oak too, this smells very familiar. Yet, I don’t have a clue. There is some stewed fruit in there, pears, and maybe also some dried dates. Quite sweet and quite bitter. Behind it all is a thick layer of peat. Quite earthy with fried mushrooms and autumn leaves.

Sip:
The palate isn’t overly sharp but there is some alcohol to it. The peat is prominent, but I’m not sure if I’m getting salty notes. Quite barbecue-y too, with nuts, mushrooms, that autumnal stuff I sniffed out. I’m doubting between port and sherry. And it just might be a dram I did earlier in that Port & Peat bottle-share. The BenRiach or the Longrow. There is some fruit, and I think I am getting the salty notes now. Dried red fruits, with some hazelnut.

Swallow:
Quite smoky at first, and the smoke even dissipates before the alcohol does. What remains is a bit of sea salt chocolate with a touch of nuttiness.

A second sip later I might be persuaded to go for a more Islay approach. It’s a delicious dram, let’s get that out of the way as well. Heavily influenced by the cask but not in a way that it is overpowering.

To go for specifics. After considering Longrow Red for a spell, I am going back to sherry after all. The salinity and fierceness don’t match with the Longrow and more with the Kilchoman from Abbey Whisky I recently had the joy of tasting. So that’s that…

It turned out to be the Bowmore Devil’s Casks II. Which I tasted and investigated before twice. The only excuse I can come up with is that the Kilchoman was tasted in the same period. Anyway, still absolutely love this dram. I wish I had gotten the three bottles Ewald used for this competition.

Bowmore Devil’s Casks II, 10yo, 56.3%. Long gone by now. Expect to pay heaps in auctions.

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Blind Tasting Competition 6: Lochside 1991-2008, 46% – Gordon & MacPhail for the Whiskytalker

Posted on 12 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

After this day we’re over a third of the competition in. So far I don’t consider I’m doing badly, although I am quite jealous of other people’s scores. Still, I can wrap my head around this being for fun better than I could last year. Possibly because the fun that’s had on Twitter with these drams.

Lochside 1991

Lochside 1991

Sniff:
Lemon and leather. Lime even, with alcohol, which makes it smell a bit like a cleaning product.

It’d be fun if they put Ballantines Brasil in the competition and just gave everyone a 100 points. Just to screw with us…

I can barely put my nose around the massive lemon and lime notes. Not sure how everybody else is getting honey. I’d say the ABV isn’t too high, some 46% maybe? A touch of wood in the background. After about 20 minutes, I’m getting more and more honey notes. Almost like there’s actual honey in my glass.

Sip:
After yesterday I don’t really trust my palate on ABV anymore. This has some peppery bite to it at first, but it goes quickly into a more gentle feel. Also, pepper isn’t alcohol but it might mask some of the ETOH in it. The lemon is still present but a tad toned down. Some honey here, and a dusting of cracked black pepper. I might even get some sweet banana in the background after having it swim for a couple of seconds.

Swallow:
The finish is warming with lemon tart, oak and pepper. The lime comes back a bit too.

Not entirely sure of what to think of this and apart from a Creative Whisky Company Aberfeldy I don’t think I’ve had many whiskies this lemony. Although I seem to remember there being more vanilla in that one. The pepper doesn’t indicate much since that is quite the common denominator.

It’s not earthy, peaty or smoky so I’m not going for an Islay dram. Lowlands might be the case with some Auchentoshan in here. The Springwood maybe. That can’t be it because that’s at 40% and the lowest in this year’s BTC is 43%. By sheer numbers I’d have to go for Speyside, but I don’t really have a clue for the distillery.

Going back to the Lowlands as Wemyss’ Tarte au Citron release just popped back into my mind. That might just be it. It fits the 46% note, the lemon one and apart from that it’s completely random. Interesting. I’m going for it.

I kept sipping this whisky while working on our club’s magazine and therefore I let it sit for a while. After about half an hour the honey notes get completely overpowering and it seems to lose all balance. Kind of a bummer since I’m not a fan of honey at all…

It turned out to be a single cask Lochside for The Whisky Talker. If this is the quality of Lochside just before its closure, I don’t find it too odd the owners decided to shut the plant down. After 17 years of maturation this dram is completely out of balance I think. First the lemon and lime overpower everything and half an hour later it’s honey that does the same thing. Barely any flavors are there to balance them out. I’m not a fan. I rated it 80 but consider that too high in hindsight.

Still I got 20 points for the age (40 – 2×10) and 20 for the ABV. I even rose from 5th to 4th spot. Let’s hope I can keep this up and stay in the top 10 for a while. Oh, fun fact, nobody got the distillery right.

Lochside 1991-2008, 46% – Gordon & MacPhail for the Whiskytalker

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Blind Tasting Competition 5: Benromach 10, 43%

Posted on 11 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Yesterday was a very good day for me with scoring 80 points. That is more than I scored in a week last year.

Today, I just hope to get some points. I try to trust my palate and refrain from getting too confident. That generally kills any sort of ‘at least I’m getting points’-streak in my case. Let’s see what today’s dram is about!

Sniff:
Dry with paper ash and cigars at first. Some dry refill sherry cask behind it. Some candy floss like sweetness too, quite a combination. It surely has a grilled beef edge to it. Some banana in there, and grilled peach.

Sip:
The palate starts of sweet, but turns dry and slightly spicy after that. A tiny note of oaky bitterness, with sweet vanilla, and an edge of beef again. With some sweet marinade. There is some concentrated peach flavor in there too, with the sweetness of banana. The cigar like flavor is present too, but comes in quite late.

Swallow:
The finish is surprisingly rich compared to the palate. The cigars, beef, gentle smokiness, it’s all here. It’s quite long too.

This is definitely a fine dram. Something that’s right up my alley with some really heavy flavors without ever getting too cloying. The alcohol is on the low side this time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a 43% dram.

Now, for my guess, I’m gravitating towards Mortlach because of the heavy, beefy flavors and smells. Now, to find an expression that fits the credentials. I think this one isn’t too old as the spirit is pretty clearly present and there isn’t too much wood influence yet.

Getting back to that alcohol statement. After taking a second sip it sure tastes a lot stronger. And heavier. Very interesting, and big. This is a big whisky.

After the reveal:

I should have stuck to my 43% idea for more points. Although, this being that Benromach 10 of a while ago, I am not overly surprised. Back then it tasted way more intense than such a supposedly timid release had rights to. A very intense dram of a style long missed from the Scottish whisky landscape. I love Benromach for releasing this stuff at such an acceptable price point!

About the price. I recently heard from someone that G&M covers part of Benromach’s costs by their indie bottlings and that’s why it is so affordable. Noble, but not very sustainable. I hope they keep this up, but I fear for a decision to undo this, if it’s true.

So, in short, I’m going to repeat my previous post on the Benromach 10: Get yourself a bottle of this. One of my favorite drams of 2014.

Benromach 10, 43%. For sale everywhere and should be around € 40

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Blind Tasting Competition 4: Ledaig 8yo, 2005-2014, 53.3% – Whisky-Fässle

Posted on 10 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Yesterday was a proof in point that I can somehow trust my palate. I still am afraid of making a total ass of myself by stating something contrary to what I’ve said before on my blog. So far so good, though.

Also so far so good is the fact that I’ve already gotten close to a hundred points in 3 days. Last year it took me forever to get there and if I keep scoring the 20 per day I will do a lot better than I did then.

Let’s hope I can improve beyond the level of ‘dumb luck’ though!

Ledaig 8yo. Image from Whiskybase

Ledaig 8yo. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Lots and lots of peat, but not very salty (hunching away from Islay). Quite funky and I think it’s not overly old. We have a compost container in the back yard, and it smells like that. A little bit at least. Not too strong, by the scent of it. I do get some grassy notes, but it’s all a bit more funky than I would expect of Islay whiskies. I might be awfully wrong here…

Sip:
The palate is drier and a lot sharper than I would have expected based on the nose. I’d say highest of the competition so far. Hay, rotting wood, old casks and wet earth. Quite funky indeed. If I let it swim for a bit some strawberries pop up. Quite thick after a while too, weird stuff.

Swallow:
The finish is fairly hot, but the heat is almost all you get, apart from that funky stuff. Rather green/autumnal. But not necessarily in a good way.

I’m not a fan of this. I’m definitely going for Ledaig since I generally dislike those in the same way. Still pondering on which bottle it might be, but with almost all clubs and festivals doing a limited private bottling of Ledaig, it might be a tough one. I think it’s strength is reasonably high, higher fifties or maybe even a 60% bottling. I’ll start looking at Whiskybase in a minute.

Anyway, the funky scents are too composty for me. A certain scent of decay. I’ve had that before, almost every time with a Ledaig. For some reason I have the feeling that they got their hands on a couple of bottlings from Dramboree.

The specific pick is mostly because I know a couple of club guys went there, I have heard of that bottling and I feel positive about it being Ledaig.

Unfortunately I was completely off on the ABV and it was much lower than I expected. So no points for that, but the rest of the points were all smack on. An 8 year old Ledaig. Who’d have thought? I’m a happy camper and really like the fact that for once I guessed right on the distillery. I don’t think this has happened at all last year. Happy happy, joy joy!

Ledaig 8yo, 2005-2014, 53.3%, Whisky-Fässle. Still for sale at Whisky-Fässle for € 69

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Bottle-share: FEW Spirits Distillery from Evanston, Illinois

Posted on 9 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

An extra post in the whisky onslaught of the Blind Tasting Competition to get some booze sent out before the new year!

In good tradition I’m doing another Bottle-share of American stuff. I wanted to say whiskey, but in this case there is whiskey, gin and white dog (I refuse to call White Dog whiskey…). Unfortunately their grappa was sold out, because I wanted to get that too.

Now, we ‘only’ get the Spirit (of the bourbon recipe), the Single Malt, the Rye Whiskey, the Bourbon both at regular and cask strength, their Standard Issue, Barrel Aged, and regular American gins. Eight spirits in total, with an option for a ninth (more on that later in this post).

​

The list of stuff we’re going to try, if you decide to participate is the following:

  • FEW White Dog, 40%
  • FEW Standard Issue Gin, 57%
  • FEW Barrel Aged Gin, 46.5%
  • FEW American Gin, 40%
  • FEW Single Malt Whiskey, 46.5%
  • FEW Rye Whiskey, 46.5%
  • FEW Bourbon Whiskey, 46.5%
  • FEW Bourbon Whiskey, Cask Strength batch 14-62, 58.7%

A share of all these bottles consist of 10 cl of each of the above eight. It’ll set you back € 75, excluding shipping of course. Unless I can drop things off, which would be handy for both of us.

Why FEW? Mostly because I have tried their Cask Strength Bourbon last year and while I wasn’t raving about it back then (I still loved it), the thought of getting a bottle never left my mind. Even stranger, I wanted a bottle of this more than I wanted a bottle of things that I was more positive about.

FEW produces things with an eye for quality and also lots of guys I trust that have tried more of their stuff are ridiculously enthusiastic about it. Reason enough for me to want a part of the action.

FEW Distillery is located in Evanston, Illinois, a ‘suburb’ of Chicago and tries to recreate the drinks that were popular there before prohibition hit in 1920. FEW stands for Frances Elizabeth Willard, who was a key figure in the Temperance Movement that got the Volstead Act in place in the first place. Kind of cruel to taint the woman’s legacy by sticking her name to hard likker. I love it.

Generally I did bottle-shares of 5 cl, but since there are quite some gins, and also whiskeys that work well in cocktails, and Christmas is a season for sharing (even if it is from samples) I’m upping the game to 10 cl. Also, I am lazy and don’t want to have to ship a bazillion packages.

Let me know if you want in. First come first serve. There are only six spots available so it might go quick. On the other hand, American booze isn’t overly popular in The Low Lands, so it might be longer than 40 minutes before it fills up.

Oh, and then the ninth bottling. Master of Malt/Maverick Drinks released their That Boutique-y Whisky Company FEW bourbon today (at the moment of typing). This is a fun one since it’s a wheated bourbon while their regular recipe is different.

Of this bottling you can add a 5cl sample to the above for € 8. There are only 67 bottles of this stuff produced, so there isn’t much to go around. Why is this separate? Because the bottle is only 50cl instead of 75, so I’m kind of short on booze to do the same size samples for this.

Posted in - American Whiskey, - News and Announcements, FEW | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blind Tasting Competition 3: Balvenie Single Cask #214, 15yo, 1999-2014, 47.8%

Posted on 9 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Finally I got some points with my guessing! Yesterday and the day before I got some kudos for guessing the right region, today I got it for that, some for age and two more points for ABV.

I think they have picked this Balvenie single cask because it doesn’t taste like Balvenie. It’s an interesting pick, and an unexpected one. But hey, I’m getting off to a way better start than last year, so I’m a happy camper!

Balvenie 15 Single Barrel. Image from Whiskybase

Balvenie 15 Single Barrel. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
A very timid nose at first, with some minor woody notes and a bit of a dusty attic. After a couple seconds some lemon pops up. The total lack of burn says we’re much lower in ABV than we were yesterday. Quite watery, with maybe some minerals in the background. Basalt or slate or so. Minor hints of straw too. The drawback is that they’re all minor hints.

Not a huge fan as of yet.

Sip:
The palate is slightly peppery, white pepper I think. Quite dry with some used oak. A hint of apple on the palate and the pepper gets stronger. Slightly musty too. A minor bitter flavor of lemon pith.

Swallow:
The finish has quite some lemon, old papery dust and some refill oak. The peppery notes linger longest and the sudden lemon lasts too.

The general consensus at the moment of tasting was that nobody had a clue what this might be. I’m with that group of tasters, but I have the hugely annoying idea that I know this dram. It somehow tastes familiar, but I can’t pinpoint it.

I wasn’t a fan of this on the nose, and the palate and finish don’t do a lot to rectify that. Of course, there is the reason I’m making an ass of myself by saying this, but let’s keep it at this being a mediocre dram. Still, no clue to what this might be. Funnily, all things that come to mind are Highland whiskies, which this cannot be as per the rules of a region not coming by back to back (except the first Longmorn, since last year’s final dram was a Longmorn too).

I considered this to be Balblair, Old Pulteney, Glencadam, Deanston. All Highland drams. This one really sucks. Not just because I don’t really care about it, but just because it’s hard. In the end I settled on Glen Elgin, because of the minerality and I seemed to remember Glen Elgin tasting something like that. I picked one from Whiskybase that seemed to fit the profile at 16 years old and 46%. That netted me some points at least!

In the end I don’t really like this dram. I’ve somehow never really liked the Balvenie 15 single casks, which seems to a be a staple in so many collections. This one lacked the typical honey profile I associate with Balvenie, but didn’t offer much in return. Weird stuff, this.

Balvenie Single Cask #214, 15yo, 1999-2014, 47.8%. No longer available but had an initial cost of some € 62.50

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Blind Tasting Competition 2: Glen Garioch 22yo, 1990-2013, 51.2% – Kintra Whisky

Posted on 8 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So yesterday I was off to a dubious start. Compared to last year it’s better since I’m actually getting some points in, but still, it feels a bit like the consolation prize by getting the region points. Especially since it was Speyside which covers about half of Scotland, distillery wise.

I did like the whisky, yesterday. That Longmorn wasn’t all bad, and I regret not buying some of the four casks that were released by Ultimate.

So, what’s next?

Glen Garioch 22yo by Kintra. Image from Whiskybase

Glen Garioch 22yo by Kintra. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
This is sharp on the nose and suggests quite a lot of alcohol (vigorous shaking and the remaining beads do so too). Quite green, with some unmalted barley, and some ‘sticky’ plants (just before the twigs get really woody, you know?). Vanilla and cheap reine claude lemonade. The green prunes continue if the initial blast of alcohol has wafted off. After which it gets quite a lot better, if you ask me. Some Granny Smith, oak and slightly bitter wood too. Some spices, and the lightest touch of vanilla.

Sip:
The palate is surprisingly gentle, but my previous beverages might have something to do with that. After some seconds a heat of white pepper starts coming up, with some dry white oak behind it. Other spices too but hard to pinpoint. Granny Smith apples again, and those Reine Claude prunes. Highly consistent with the nose. Maybe some resin too. A waxy feel and some rather bitter notes going on.

Swallow:
The finish isn’t sharp but there is some heat to it that warms you up. The spices linger, as does the oak but the more fruity notes are gone quickly.

This does scream Highlands to me. I kind of rule out other categories, but with the Whiskybase regions Islands might also have a chance. I don’t get any peat so I can rule out some others there too. I’m thinking of the region just west of the Speyside with Glenmorangie, Clynelish and Glen Ord. An interesting dram and one that fits my palate after a hefty dinner (which is accurate, at the moment).

I initially estimated the ABV to be rather high, but with the palate as it is, I will have to tone that down a little bit. In this case I find the beading to be quite inconsistent to the way it tastes, especially compared to yesterday.

The strange thing is that after going back after a couple of minutes the whisky has changed completely again. A total shape shifter, so I’m not trusting my own notes at the moment. It does stay on the green notes though!

It turns out, if I would have gone for east instead of west of the Speyside, I would have been a lot closer and upon reconsideration, Glen Garioch seems a good fit. Another bottling from a Dutch company, namely Erik Molenaar’s Kintra Whisky. I think this might be one for the wish list, since I find a very intriguing whisky.

With this bottle being still available, and it being a 22 year old single cask from a rather cool distillery, I think the price tag of € 83 should be considered ‘only’ 83 bucks!

I tried this at the recent Whisky & Rum aan Zee festival, but not at the right time. If I did, I might have remembered it, since it is quite remarkable. Two guys from the club did remember it and got the full 100 points! Kudos!

Glen Garioch 22yo, 1990-2013, 51.2% – Kintra Whisky. Available at Jurgen’s Whiskyhuis

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Blind Tasting Competition 1: Longmorn 17, 1996-2013, 57.5% – The Ultimate by Van Wees

Posted on 7 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So, the competition has started. As long as I’m further up the ranking than last year I’m going to quite satisfied. Let’s see what this dram is about, since there’s nothing else to talk about right now.

Longmorn 17 by Van Wees. Image from Whiskybase

Longmorn 17 by Van Wees. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Old fashioned with oranges and sherry, not too heavy but quite sharp. I get an older style of sherry from this one, like Macallan can have, and GlenDronach, Glenfarclas. Some cappuccino, light notes of vanilla, and the orange notes turn from sweet to more bitter, pithy ones.

Sip:
The palate starts off pretty sharp and dry, and I think there’s quite some alcohol to it. The sherry is slightly more powerful than on the nose and the orange has lost a bit of the sweetness. Again, some creamy notes too that make me think of American oak, but then a sherry cask instead of bourbon. It’s all rather sweet, and there are hints of the all famous Christmas cake, with candied oranges, and mulled wine. Clove, cinnamon and such.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly but keeps that sweet, sherry and orange notes. Slightly heavier on the oak than before. Quite long, and the more dry, spicy sherry notes remain longest.

A pretty good start to the competition and a really tasty dram to start with. I would put my money on The Macallan, since I remember them for those orangy, sherry notes. Regarding the age, I would same mid teens since there is some oak influence, the whisky is not too sharp but the wood has not become very powerful yet. On the other hand. I remember a 21 year old that tasted very similar to this one. A rather timid, but great sherry cask could work too for that age.

The alcohol could be anywhere. The beading does remain for a little while, but not more than 10 seconds. Some 50% or so?

In the end I went for a 21 year old Macallan that I think tastes a lot like this dram. The ABV was just above 52%.

As it turned out, I only got some points for the region, as the whisky was from Longmorn distillery. A properly sherried one at that, bottled last year by Van Wees. I was slightly off by age but enough to not get any points. What I find most surprising is that the alcohol was way higher than I thought. This whisky tastes surprisingly smooth for a 57.5% drink!

Last year when these came out I didn’t buy them for some reason. I regret that now. Those are some amazing, well sherried and properly matured whiskies (there were some four casks bottled, I believe). And, interestingly, they’re in my favorite age range of their upper teens. Personally, I think in this range most whiskies have the best balance between wood influences, the influences from the previous drink that was in the cask and the character of the distillery’s spirit.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Oh, and congrats to Yoav for being on top for today! Keep it up, mate!

Longmorn 17, 1996-2013, 57.5%, The Ultimate by Van Wees. Sold out.

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Blind Tasting Competition 2014

Posted on 6 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The year is drawing to a close and that means that apart from massive amounts of holidays, there’s also the Usquebaugh Society‘s Blind Tasting Competition.

A competition that starts right after Sinterklaas, and runs until Christmas. 18 days of tasting, analyzing and making a huge ass of yourself, if history is any indication of what’s to come.

I am ridiculously bad at it, and the fact that the selection of drams can be anything as long as its Single Malt from Scotland. All ages, casks, years of distillation, bottler, region and alcohol. The drams that have passed the gauntlet have been anything between a 33 year old Glenkinchie, a cask sample of 7 year old Glenfiddich to a 1970s bottling of Strathisla.

This year the competition is bigger than ever with over 70 people participating, from four different countries (mostly Dutch, a couple of people from Belgium and Israel and a gal from Sweden). It’s going to be fun if you can look at the competition passed the humiliation.

Last year I almost finished last (45 out of 59), while the year before I ended up at a satisfying 12th place (out of 52). I hope this year is more like 2012 than 2013. I don’t necessarily have to win but of course I play to do just that. Luckily, even if I screw up massively, I end up drinking 18 different and interesting whiskies.

I am hugely looking forward to it, and if you find this interesting, you’ll find my blog and those two very interesting over the coming 2.5 weeks:

Two of the Israeli participants and the Swedish one have blogs too, so those might have some updates on what’s what too:

This is going to be a fun month!

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Glenlivet 20, 1993-2014, 47.1% – SMWS (2.88 Cinderella weeping over matchmakers)

Posted on 4 December 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

With post titles of this length means we’re back in SMWS territory. A place I don’t mind dwelling all that much. Of course, they have their misses every now and then, and some bottlings are just not all that interesting, but lately the ones I’ve tried were pretty bloody awesome in general.

Mostly thanks to my whisky buddy Ben Cops, since he’s in the UK and a member. A good combination. We send each other samples every now and then and in the latest batch this baby came along. For some reason I don’t often try Glenlivet, which might be a shame since they seem to be doing something right. Otherwise they wouldn’t have expanded to 10.5 million liters or so two years ago.

Sniff:
This is pretty heavy on the vanilla, but without being cloying. It’s actually rather crisp and floral. A tinge of salted caramel and some gentle wood in the background. It’s not smoke I get but there is a certain burned scent, more like charcoal. A tiny metallic hint which reminds me of the lead in a pencil.

Sip:
The palate is quite sharp for a whisky below 50% abv. Not too thick but clear vanilla and white oak. Some creme brulee, and a hint of salt again. Some hints of wood spices like ginger and cinnamon, some pepper too.

Swallow:
The finish is maybe a little bit generic. It fits the palate but doesn’t really taste all that exceptional. Pretty long!

The fact that I don’t find this whisky all that exceptional flavor-wise might come off as it being not so great. That thought is wrong. This might not be the most exceptional whisky, but as ‘regular’ whisky goes, this is ticking all the boxes and being rather good at everything. I often love it when a whisky does a simple thing very well instead of trying to be all that special which usually makes it not all that great. Exceptional in the meaning of it being an exception is not always a good thing.

To be short: This is a good whisky. It is simply delicious and comes from a proper bourbon cask that hasn’t imparted too much vanilla and caramel flavors. Very well done, Glenlivet and SMWS!

As per usual, I don’t have a clue what the name means.

Glenlivet 20, 1993-2014, 47.1% – SMWS, 2.88 Cinderella weeping over matchmakers. It used to cost some € 100.

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