Ardbeg 18, 1991-2009, Whisky Live Spa, 55.6% – La Maison du Whisky

Posted on 6 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I bought a sample of this some years ago and put it in my stash upstairs. Then I forgot about it for three years. Since I’m going through that again to get rid of the endless number of mini bottles with random whisky and other booze I encountered it on Saturday and thought the time was right for a peaty dram in 2014.

I’ve been going through some slightly more luxurious whiskies for a couple of days now and this fits that line-up nicely.

The bottling done by LMDW is very limited to only 30 bottles, with the whisky being matured in a sherry cask.

Ardbeg 18 for Whisky Live Spa. Image from Whiskybase.

Ardbeg 18 for Whisky Live Spa. Image from Whiskybase.

Sniff:
Light and fruity sherry with a lot of peat. It reminds me heavily of the Uigeadail. Some tropical fruit, rather sweet but the smokiness is a bit coarse.

Sip:
The palate is sharp and peppery, with smoke, soot and straw. It’s rich with fruits after the initial blast, slightly greasy and sweet.

Swallow:
The finish is rather long and sweet. The smokiness is still here but diminishes quickly. What it leaves behind is the same fruitiness as before, but with a more bitter edge.

This is a belter. Although the ABV sits nicely at 55.6%, it comes off much sharper than I expected. The sweet fruitiness behind it all works very well. A rather typical Ardbeg with the quintessential straw flavours also being present.

Ardbeg 18, 1991-2009, Whisky Live Spa 2010, 55.6%, La Maison du Whisky. According to Whiskybase it sits at € 150, but I expect that you have to pay much more if you can find it.

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BenRiach 1969, 40% – Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice

Posted on 5 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While BenRiach is rapidly becoming one of my favourite distilleries (as are all that I taste a couple good drams of), it’s always lovely to taste where it all comes from. How whisky from now compare with ones from decades ago.

At whiskyauction.com I picked up a miniature to do exactly that, compare things from yonder year to more recent releases. The drawback with old miniatures is that they’re not very reliable, but every once in a while you have to take a slight leap of faith.

The level of whisky was just below the neck, which means a good 10% of the bottle’s contents had already evaporated in the 25 years it sat quietly waiting to be consumed.

The drawback of the label? There’s no age on it. According to whiskybase there are two versions of BenRiach’s 1969 bottled under the Connoisseurs Choice label. A 10 year old and a 19 year old.

BenRiach 1969, 40%

BenRiach 1969, 40%

Sniff:
Like many of the really old BenRiachs there is a lot of tropical fruit in it. The nose starts in this trend. It’s also waxy with apple and mango. Slightly peppery and some oak. There’s also a layer of spices, with some sand as well. A very old fashioned whisky, and in line with my expectations.

Sip:
The palate is much, much richer than you’d expect from a 40% whisky. The fruit and waxiness are back with a gentle layer of oak to back it all up. Very delicious.

Swallow:
The finish is very similar to the palate. Not too much development which I usually think of as simplicity. In this case I can’t complain since it just continues to goodness. The fruitiness is a bit more like old fruit, somewhat less fresh. And it’s a bit dryer.

While it is closely followed by yesterday’s Glenmorangie, this is the most delicious dram I’ve had this year. Of course, there are still 360 days to trump it and I’m certain I will be trying to do exactly that.

The dram has a lot of complexity and many layers, like Shrek, even though it’s bottled at ‘only’ 40%. All in all, a very rich and very delicious whisky. I think I paid € 12 for the miniature. That would make € 172 for a full bottle. I’d gladly pay that.

BenRiach 1969, 40%, Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice

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Glenmorangie 1974-1999, for duty free, 43%

Posted on 4 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another one of the samples that I got from Stefan van der Boog, together with the Macallan one. Of course you have to buy more than one thing, since postage has to be made the most of.

I don’t have too much experience with older Glenmorangie. It is one of those distilleries that is seen as a common one, like Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, with the result that I don’t usually seek them out.

Since it’s a vintage bottling there is no age on the label, but it has to be 24 or 25 years old, if you do the calculations. One of the oldest Glenmorangies I’ve tasted so far.

Glenmorangie 1974-1999. Image from Whiskybase

Glenmorangie 1974-1999. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
It’s very fresh and rather minty at first, but those scents are quickly joined by candles and beeswax. Very light with not much direct oak. Some green leaves and hints of flowers. Straw as well.

Sip:
Rather typically Glenmorangie, if there is such a thing. Chalky, slightly salty with white oak. Rather rich with minerals, basalt and wax.

Swallow:
The finish is very gentle with full honey, beeswax, some light oakiness and chalk again. Some apple too.

I want a bottle. This stuff is so layered and rich, I can barely believe it. Of course, it’s not as in-your-face as some cask strength bottlings, but the gentleness in this case lets the flavours shine. Really, really, gorgeous whisky. I might have to seek out how it compares to the current Glenmorangie 25!

Glenmorangie 1974-1999 for travel retail, 43%, 750ml.

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Macallan 1966-1999, 43% – Gordon & MacPhail Speymalt

Posted on 3 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

When an offer comes along buy a sample of a dram like this at an acceptable price, there is no time for doubt. Luckily I was in time to snatch up one of these babies before they sold out at Van der Boog.

The bottling is 14 years old, so from 1966 it’s 32 or 33 years old. For a Macallan that is significantly old. I don’t come across samples of this kind of whisky all that often, and certainly not at a price level I can afford.

It’s from Gordon & MacPhail’s Speymalt series, which is more or less a rather acceptably priced series of mostly Macallans. There have been some other distilleries in the series, like Highland Park, but normally when someone says Speymalt, they mean Macallan. Gal tasted an even older one recently and that got me even more anxious to try it.

Macallan Speymalt 1966-1999. Image from Stefan van der Boog

Macallan Speymalt 1966-1999. Image from Stefan van der Boog

Sniff:
It starts with really rich and woody sherry. The wood is very much present, but not overpoweringly so. Not bitter either. European oak with wood spices and apricot. There’s the slightest hint of sellery sticks (like in Zuidam’s Millstone 1999). The focus stays on the oak but it’s very gentle.

Sip:
A lot more spicy at first with black pepper. It eases out really quickly though. Peach and apricot with a hint of orange. It does suffer a bit from the 43%, or maybe the time in the bottle since it feels a bit thin after a while. Still, quite some spicy oak.

Swallow:
Again, the spices in a gentle way. Nutmeg, ginger and also some orange notes. Canned peaches too. It’s not very long.

While this is a lovely whisky, I am not as thrilled by it as I hoped it would be. The flavours are all there but I had hoped for a bit more intensity and a bit more complexity. There’s quite some oak and spices but apart from a, rather typical, orangy note not much is happening.

Bummer, but no biggie. Let’s just hope this week of posh whiskies picks up a bit. I know it will. Review for tomorrow is not the most expensive one, but a rather great dram nonetheless!

Macallan 1966-1999, 43%, Gordon & MacPhail’s Speymalt. By the sample price it should be worth about € 280 to € 300.

Keep an eye on his Facebook profile for lots of great samples!

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Jura 30, Camas an Staca, 44%

Posted on 2 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Let’s start off the new year with a series of decadent whisky reviews, with this 30 year old Jura to be the first. Camas an Staca means ‘standing stone’, referring to one of the eight standing stones dotted around the Isle of Jura.

Jura is a bit of a hidden gem, especially to me. Most people, by now, know that they can produce some top notch whisky, but ever since I tried a sample of their old 10 year old about a decade ago, Jura is a no-no for me. Of course, such opinions should be revised every now and again, especially with some really good 20+ year old coming from different bottlers. The ‘really good’ is hearsay of course, I haven’t tried any of them.

Jura 30, Camas an Staca. Image from Whiskybase

Jura 30, Camas an Staca. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
At first I get an old, badly aired, grain barn. Some fake chocolate too. In Holland the stuff is called ‘cocoa fantasy’ and is used in cheap chocolate sprinkles and such. Anyway, some rubber bands, overripe banana and lots of old oak. A leather armchair, also typically Jura. Warm milk after a short while.

Sip:
It’s lighter than I expected with black pepper, the rubber bands again. Very creamy and quickly becomes very oaky and very gentle.

Swallow:
The finish goes in the direction of spicy Highland style whisky. It does have that creamy, warm milk thing going on. Rather buttery with chocolate, banana, some vanilla and candied pear.

While there is enough to like in this dram, there also is that milky thingy going on. I’m not sure if I like that. It’s very interesting and since I had a rather sizeable sample I kept pouring until there was no more. That’s an indicator if there ever was one.

After all is said and done, I’m just not sure if I’m as thrilled by this as I had expected. Maybe those high expectations are the problem. Anyway, the buttery, creamy thing puts me off a bit. The spices, banana, chocolate and oak combination is lovely though.

Another drawback is the price. I still have not wrapped my head around what old whisky costs nowadays and that means everytime I see the € 400 price tag it startles me.

Jura 30, Camas an Staca, 44%, £ 340 at The Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum.

Thanks to Gal for the sample!

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Predicting 2014 (or New Year’s Resolutions)

Posted on 1 January 2014 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Since I’ve been blogging I’ve been taking part in the ancient tradition of setting goals at new year’s. What this tradition is infamous for is that those traditions are out the window come February, but I’m going set resolutions again, just to keep some reminders.

This year I’m going at it slightly differently than last year where all goals were rather absolute. Either you made them or you didn’t. Everything could be counted or checked off.

Of course, there are going to be similar ones too but in general I’m going to try to improve myself in general. Be more efficient, spend more time doing things I love than things I loathe. Be more focussed at what I’m doing, be it work, reading, writing or whatever.

In general, I’m going to try to waste less. Stop wasting time watching the 1000th rerun of Big Bang Theory. Stop wasting money on £ 12 bottles of beer simply because they are from BrewDog (not meaning I won’t buy any, but I’ll skip the Belgian Triple & English IPA mash-ups…). Stop wasting my health by eating that extra Nutella sandwich.

However, this is a whisky blog and it will remain that way. That means there has to be some crap in here about booze. So here go the more absolute ones:

  1. Bring down my amount of open bottles from 92 to 65.
  2. Host a Bottoms-up Tasting and the 4th Blog Birthday Bash.
  3. Go to Hielander Whisky Festival and Maltstock. Maybe also to Whisky & Rum aan Zee.
  4. Visit the Whiskybase Shop, and Van der Boog.
  5. Visit Brouwerij De Molen.
  6. Organize a trip to Speyside with some friends.
  7. Brew some beer.
  8. Do at least one Bottle-Share.
  9. Stick to my budget.

Compared to last year, this is a fairly modest list. This is a conscious decision since 2013 didn’t match anything I had planned, apart from the holiday to Scotland. More or less all other items were not checked off by yesterday so I should slightly adjust the expectations I set for myself.

I usually feel that ambition is a motivator, but if I set the bar at an unreachable height, I stop caring about it. So that’s that. Happy 2014 and let’s try to make the most of it!

Posted in - News and Announcements | 4 Comments

2 Gins to end 2013

Posted on 31 December 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While I now call myself ‘interested in gin’ in know absolutely nothing about it in terms of which tastes like what. The process itself is fairly straight forward with the devil being in the details.

Anyway, with a recent Master of Malt order I thought to include some samples of gins that looked interesting and not too expensive. Of course, compared to whisky, gin is rather cheap anyway but I was stretching my budget beyond its breaking point anyway.

Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Bathtub Gin

Professor Cornelius Ampleforth Bathtub Gin, 43.1%

Crisp with some alcohol on the nose. Lime and lemon and maybe some cucumber. It’s light and gentle but has some nice rough edges. On the palate it’s a bit rougher than expected. Slightly buttery with more bitter lemon too. Some savoury spices are in there but I can’t pinpoint them. The finish is a lot more gentle with a touch of peppery heat. Vanilla here?

Oh, Cornelius Ampleforth is more commonly knows as Ben Ellefsen. The champ who concocts a lot of these ridiculous things.

The Botanist Gin, 46%

This is a lot less expressive on the nose with lots of different notes. Spicy and a lot less fruity than the Bathtub. That’s no surprise since it’s made with Islay botanicals. I haven’t seen many orchards there. Even the light gin base is somewhat more timid. The palate is warming and light with maybe even a hint of peat. That might be Islay’s heather that is present too. Moss too and grains. The finish is slightly spicy with black and white pepper, heather, hay alcohol and peat.

While both gins are very different, I can honestly not say which one I prefer. The fruity parts of the bathtub gin are delicious, but the botanist shows a bit more terroir in a very good way. I guess I just have to put both on my wishlist and start hosting a gin tasting in a couple of months.

I think The Botanist is slightly more whisky-spirit like since it shows more of the heather and peat characteristics I associate with that. The bathtub gin is lovely and much more crisp. I’m not big on gin-tonic so that comparison won’t happen anytime soon.

Bathtub gin, Master of Malt, 43.1%. About € 40 from Master of Malt.

The Botanist, Bruichladdich, 46%. About € 26 from DH17.

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My favourite events of 2013

Posted on 30 December 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Looking back at the almost gone year I remember quite a lot of whisky events. Not as many as some years ago when I visited so many festivals I couldn’t even remember them all, but the quality of each individual event has gone up I think.

Festivals

I visited some festivals (Hielander, Limburg and Maltstock) and some tastings. Also, during our family holiday in Scotland we visited some distilleries. All in all, that makes for a great year in booze!

My favourite festival is, of course, Maltstock. It was another great year of whisk(e)y and friends. Some nice tastings with the surprise tasting by Hans Offringa on Woodinville and innovation in Bourbon really standing out. Unlike last year in which I took extensive notes of everything, I barely remember which drams we had sitting outside and yapping whisky-geek-jargon with people from all across Europe.

Maltstock's Bonfire. An annual highlight.

Maltstock’s Bonfire. An annual highlight.

Tastings

Most of the whisky tastings I visited this year were at De Whiskykoning in Den Bosch, with the first one for 2014 already planned. There were several themes of course, Winter (Islay), Spring (Lowlands), Autumn (Highlands and Campbeltown), the surprise tasting with the 12 whiskies to preselect from for Christmas and others.

The favourite of the bunch was the surprise tasting. Not necessarily because there was a LOT of whisky involved (12 drams in under 3 hours) but also because of some real stunners: Balvenie Tun 1401 #8, Glenmorangie Ealanta, a reprise of Auchentoshan’s Solera.

Distilleries

During our holiday in Scotland we did no less than 4 distillery tours, which is quite something if you’re travelling with a 8 month old kid. Apart from tours we visited 6 other distilleries too of which I remember Glen Moray most fondly since they allowed us to wander around as long as we stayed out of the way. I’m not counting my stroll around Brora Distillery, although it was something to remember too.

The tours we did were BenRiach, Talisker, Glenmorangie and Balblair. BenRiach was my favourite for several reasons:

  • It’s not very touristy so there were only six people on the tour
  • Ronnie Routledge guided us around
  • There’s a warehouse tasting involved

In the warehouse we tasted some great drams with a BenRiach 1975 from a refill butt leading the charge. Other than that the tour was extensive with no subject left untouched. Ronnie’s knowledge of whisky making is impressive.

Talisker had a pretty nice tasting too after the tour, with the guide being very knowledgable too. Something I didn’t expect after earlier experiences with Diageo’s tour guides (more often than not some hired hand who knows shit outside the regular story).

BenRiach's back entrance (from Longmorn)

BenRiach’s back entrance (from Longmorn)

Posted in - Distillery, - Festival, Auchentoshan, Balblair, Balvenie, BenRiach, Brora, Glen Moray, Glenmorangie, Talisker | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Other great booze in 2013

Posted on 29 December 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Although I try to limit my spending on non-whisk(e)y booze, sometimes variety is king. And, of course, you can’t drink whisky all the time. I’m trying though. Here’s the highlights of 2013 that are not whisk(e)y:

Beer

This year, I had quite some beers but nowhere near as much as the previous two years. I limited myself since I was stretching my booze budget to the point of breaking with spending increasing amounts on beer, and on beer per bottle. When I started drinking craft beer I started with some € 2 per bottle, but not long after I bought some bottles between € 10 and € 17. This, of course, is not maintainable. So this year the expensive beer was limited to BrewDog’s Equity for Punks beers, and I didn’t even get all of them. The best beers were the following:

The last one deserves a bit of explanation. I had a few different ones of them, some unregistered ones at Maltstock with Jon Beach. Also some at the brewery straight from the cask in which it was still maturing. All of them were great. The cask and initial beer style makes a great difference, but again, all of them were great.

Gin

I hadn’t had any proper gin in ages, and I think I didn’t have any at all except when at St. George Spirits. This summer I opened the bottle I brought from there and I drank ik in a week. Don’t worry, it was only 2ocl, and not a full one. That would have been rather disturbing. Anyway, St. George’s Terroir Gin is my favourite of the year, and still trumps all other gins I’ve had.

Vodka

I don’t think I ever tried vodka for its taste, except for the Hangar One I had, also at St. George’s distillery. I did drink rather copious amounts of the stuff when clubbing in Minsk for work (back in the day, when I worked at Colours).

This year I tried a glass of Belarus’ Kristal Vodka and didn’t like it. After I got in contact with William from Vestal Vodka, he sent me some samples and I was very, very impressed by the products. It’s purity and heaps of great flavours swept me away. So, to be more specific Vestal Podlasie Vodka takes the prize here!

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My favourite whiskies of 2013

Posted on 28 December 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I see a lot of blog(ger)s out there have already started their end-of-year lists rating some of their most favourite whiskies of the annum. I’ve been doing the same since I started so I can’t lag behind now, can I?

These end of year lists can be a nice ‘what to buy’ guide, but also work for me to see whether or not I should adjust my buying strategy a bit more to collect the drams I like most. Of course, this will not be a 100% guarantee that I will gather all my favourite drams as you will see further down this post.

I decided to list the top ten whiskies I’ve had this year. All of them will be reviewed on this blog and all have to have been released in 2013 or very late in 2012. Sometimes it takes quite a while for whiskies to pop up in Dutch stores so there is a bit of leeway there.

The list is in no particular order.

  • Invergordon, 41.6%, batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company
    The first grain whisky from That Boutique-y Whisky Company and a stunning one at that. Ridiculously old on average (I believe 41yo) but the flavours were absolutely gorgeous!     (buy batch 2)
  • Midleton 1991, 20yo, bottled for The Whisky Exchange
    I don’t have much experience with Irish whiskies, but this one was absolutely lovely. Gentle and very flavoursome. A bummer Midleton charges a very high premium for private bottlings, since the only I won’t buy this is its price.     (buy)
  • What it's all aboutKaruizawa 1964, 57.7% – Number One Drinks
    As with the previous one, the price is prohibitive, but in this case even more so. I still feel very flattered and incredibly grateful to Master of Malt for sending me a sample of this. A whisky that changes your perspective of what whisky can be.     (buy)
  • GlenDronach 1995, PX Puncheon, 56.6%, The Whisky Exchange Exclusive
    A GlenDronach that is very sherried, but not overly so. That can be a pitfall for GlenDronach but this one was done perfectly. I bought a bottle right away.
  • Millstone 100 Rye, 50%, 100 months old – Zuidam
    The Dutch entry. A couple of years ago I would never have expected a proper whisky being made in The Netherlands. Zuidam has proven me wrong, on multiple accounts. This rye whisky is everything you hope for. Gentle but spicy, has incredible spices and is just very lovely. Oh, and compared to many ‘craft’ whiskies, affordable!     (buy)
  • Balblair 1975, 46%, 2nd release
    This one is very, very gentle. A whisky you have to sit down for to fully appreciate. One that wouldn’t have charmed me as much on a festival (Maltstock proved that) but one to be savoured at home, at a quiet moment. The flavours are stunning but need to be discovered. Again, a bit pricy (€ 250 or so) but at the distillery they sold miniatures at € 15, which made 14 minis cheaper than the full bottle… (buy)
  • Balblair 1997-2012, 46%
    A lot more affordable than the one above. Also, somewhat less impressive, but at its price of about € 55 VERY good. There’s fruit and spices which makes for an ideal highland whisky in my book. There’s a chance I’m picking this up today if the shop I’m going to has it. (buy)
  • Springbank 12, Cask Strength, 2013 edition, 53.1%
    A whisy that reeks of moldy cellars and damp attics. Old furniture covered in hessian. All kinds of weird flavours but because of its individuality it’s a great whisky. I’m glad I’ve been able to find a bottle of this exact batch! 
  • Glen Scotia 21, 51.5% – Douglas Laing’s Old Particular
    First tasted at the ‘unveiling’ Twitter Tasting with Cara Laing, I immediately fell in love with this one. It tastes a lot more mature than the 21 years suggest and the combination of all flavours just works very well. A posh whisky if there ever was one!
  • Lagavulin 1995, Feis Ile 2013, 51%
    Jon Beach was kind enough to pick up a bottle of this on Islay during the Feis Ile this year. I was a very happy camper when he let me know he had one for me! He also allowed me a taste during my afternoon in his Whisky Library (or store room, by how it looked). An Islay whisky that keeps the peat slightly down but compensates for that with tonnes of flavour.
  • Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2012, 55.7%
    I’m usually not much in the mood for bourbon that break the mould. That’s why during this year’s bottle share I was most enthusiastic about bourbons that did what bourbons do, but then do it exceptionally well. No strange flavours and just straight forward Kentucky Bourbon. This one does that. It’s fierce but every boxes is ticked after you’ve tasted it.
  • High West American Prairie Reserve, 46%
    This one fits the previous description well too, but the nose on this is just too good to be ignored. In retrospect this might my personal favourite of the bottle-share. It’s high on the wish list for next year. (buy)

Keep in mind that this list is by no means definite. There are so many whiskies I’ve missed, and even quite a lot that I did buy but haven’t tasted yet. For example, our club bottling of GlenDronach 10 Virgin Oak, BenRiach 1984 Peated Port Cask, Bowmore Devil’s Casks and many more.

There are, of course, a lot of interesting other whiskies that I’ve tried during the last year. I’ve left those out since if I start including every possible thing I tasted this year there would be no point in the list as it would be way too random. The same goes for whiskies that I didn’t write enough notes on (my own judgment). In these categories we can put a Strathisla 1937 I tried in Limburg, The Balvenie’s Tun 1401 batch 8, and others.

And for the ones that are truly paying attention, this is my version of 10. That how I’m home in ten minutes, drink ten beers or list ten whiskies. You smuggle in some extras.

Posted in - American Whiskey, - Grain Whisky, - Irish Whiskey, - Japanese Whisky, - World Whisky, Balblair, Four Roses, Glen Scotia, GlenDronach, High West, Invergordon, Karuizawa, Lagavulin, Midleton, Springbank, Zuidam | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment