Clynelish 17 Year Old, Manager’s Dram, 61.8%

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This dram is legendary before I even tasted it. I don’t think anyone has tasted this without being blown away, and I am not necessarily talking about its intensity.

Anyway, the fourth dram in my Fiddler’s adventure. It’s turning out to be a good adventure with many favourite distilleries coming along to enjoy me. Lagavulin, a Brora, Highland Park (albeit not the best one ever), and a Clynelish.

This manager’s dram was reviewed by Serge Valentin and it came down to 92 points. 61.8% is nothing to be ashamed of and it indicates that this one might swim well. Mister Beach warned me that there was not enough water in the world to water this one down. I doubt it’s that severe but after tasting it I get the gist.

Clynelish Manager's Dram

Clynelish Manager’s Dram

Sniff:
A surprising whiff of peat (suprising after knowing which one it is). Not much of course. It does need a couple of minutes to breathe and open up (what do you expect at this ABV). Quite salty as well, with a hint of medicinality. Sweet, with some waxy, fatty sherry hints.

Sip:
It’s full and sweet on the palate, much less salty and medicinal. Sharp, dry and lots of oak and caramel. Slightly thick too.

Swallow:
On the finish I get honey, beeswax and oak. It lasts for a long time

Yes, this does take water well. Yes, this is a ridiculously intense dram. Yes, this is quintessential Clynelish. Yes, this is still available, at £ 499 at The Whisky Exchange.

Anyway, the nose of it sent me towards Lagavulin and I started doubting whether or not the previous one was guessed right. However, on the palate and finish the honeyed waxiness indicated Clynelish without a doubt.

Clynelish 17 Year Old, Manager’s Dram, 61.8%, £ 499 at The Whisky Exchange

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Lagavulin 1995, Feis Ile 2013, 51%

Posted on 24 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

As Jon told us in his post last Monday, he went to Feis Ile again this year for Port Ellen shenanigans. Thanks to that, and Diageo releasing a lot of bottles this year, he was able to procure a Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013 for me.

When I got to Fiddler’s he had my bottle waiting for me, and a dram poured in the mixed-up line-up that I was to sort out. I’m very grateful for both the bottle and the fact that he let me taste it!

I have always wondered what his angle was when he wanted me to taste some great whiskies at his place without getting anything out of it. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to help him sell booze (or as Jon calls it, the finest craft ales and Scotch whiskies) during the night, but I hope to be able to make that up to him someday.

I am definetly hoping to bring a couple of friends over to Drumnadrochit next year when I am planning a short whisky trip. Fiddler’s might be a nice command center from which to do stuff. It would check accommodation, food, evenings spent drinking and great booze from the to-do list!

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013. Image from Whiskybase

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
It’s surprisingly sweet with lots of dried apricots. I also get creme brulee and brown sugar. There’s quite a lot of peat and smoke here, and it’s a lot more ashy than I would have expected.

Sip:
There’s some alcohol on the palate but not too much. I get a lot of astringency, with pepper, oak and peat. Gorgeous though!

Swallow:
Here the flavours take a turn for tobacco and cigar smoke. Some ash again too. Oak, and still drying but less so. Spices, but not too heavily focussed on the pepper.

This, dear friends, is stunning whisky. It’s absolutely gorgeous and does everything Lagavulin does well. Depth, peat, sweetness. It even adds a bit of an ashy layer that I normally associate with Ardbeg, but it’s far from misplaced here.

I was even more happy with the bottle I have of this after tasting it! I’m going to try it again soon at De Whiskykoning’s Islay Tasting. Already looking forward to that!

This seriously is one of the best whiskies I have tried this year. The coming drams (tomorrow and the day after) will be too. I feel blessed with friends like this!

Lagavulin 1995, Feis Ile 2013, 51%, over € 250 by now, in auctions.

Thanks a million, Jon!

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Highland Park, Batch 1, 44.7% – That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Posted on 23 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

While everyone who was at the tasting at Maltstock was promised to be in on the selection process I never got these samples (damn you, mail man!). Which meant, I never tasted this dram even though a cartoony version of me is on the label! Don’t start looking, without a list of names you’ll never find me since I look exactly the same as 15 other people on the label.

Anyway, during my afternoon in Jon Beach’s whisky parlor this was sitting on the table too. I knew it was, but not in which glass until I determined it had to be the second one.

Highland Park Batch 1, the Maltstock Edition

Highland Park Batch 1, the Maltstock Edition

Sniff:
A rather gentle nose with flavours of vanilla and some slightly burnt caramel. There are touches of spice and wax in there too.

Sip:
The palate is gentle and soft with dry oak and weak tea.

Swallow:
The finish goes back to the spicy touches and doesn’t last very long. It turns a bit mineral-y. By that I mean you get to flavours of stone and iron.

No big tasting notes here. A nice ‘session dram’ as people like to call it. By that I mean it’s a whisky that is easily drinkable and doesn’t require a whole lot of attention to be appreciated. If you start paying attention you do notice, however, that it’s not a very special dram. There isn’t too much to be discovered.

Honestly, for a dram like this I think the price of £ 75 for 50cl is pretty steep. There isn’t much that Master of Malt/That Boutique-y Whisky Company can do about the prices of casks or old bottles to be blended together but I, for one, was hoping for a dram with more impact.

The fact that I knew how to pick this one from the line-up was a process of elimination. I would not have been able to say it’s a Highland Park on it’s own I think.

Highland Park, Batch 1, 44.7%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Available for £ 75 at Master of Malt.

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Queen Margot 8 years old – Lidl

Posted on 22 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Fiddler's' Whisky Glazed Salmon Salad. Delicious

Fiddler’s’ Whisky Glazed Salmon Salad. Delicious

When visiting Jon Beach last summer and after a day of ‘work’ at the local brewery, I was back at Fiddler’s for lunch a lot earlier than anticipated.

The day of work didn’t consist of much, since their equipment was full and waiting on a local farmer to come collect the spent barley. They have a small trailer to get rid of that and it was full. The farmer had missed an appointment and that meant the brewery was silent for a couple of days. I only cleaned some kegs before they didn’t have anything to do anymore.

Anyway, back at Fiddler’s after a nice lunch of whisky glazed salmon Jon took me back to his whisky room. Or, whisky-gathering-pile-encompassed-by-four-walls, as you could describe it at the time. He had set up a challenge for me: putting the right bottle with the right glass. This was the first glass:

Queen Margot 8yo

Queen Margot 8yo

Sniff:
Light, thin and typically a cheap blended whisky. There is a tinge of peat but you have to strain to find it. Some vanilla, and a tiny bit of oak.

Sip:
Gentle with sweet vanilla, wine gums and other sugary stuff. A really high percentage of young, watered down grain whisky, I’d say.

Swallow:
The finish isn’t too bad actually. Some sweetness, vanilla and a gentle ‘refill sherry’ thingy going on. I guess that last bit is actually not true, since this bottle will probably cost you € 15 or so.

To be honest, I expected this to be much, much worse. It’s a dead giveaway that this was the blended whisky in the line-up for the afternoon. All the markers are there: young, watery, simple flavours and not much depth.

Then again, I could have done much worse.

Queen Margot 8 years old, 40%, Lidl. It’ll cost about £ 13.

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Guest Post: Jon Beach on my visit to Fiddler’s

Posted on 21 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Jon Beach. Image knicked from sltn.com

Jon Beach. Image knicked from sltn.com

A first on this blog: A guest post! When I visited Jon Beach this summer in and around his inn he agreed to do a guest post for me. Unfortunately, he’s been very busy writing his Whisky Sponge blog 😉

I visited him with the idea to do some work in the Loch Ness Brewery and then hang around at Fiddler’s during the evening to chat about whisky all night long. Things worked out a bit differently, but here goes his report:

 

 

A call goes out on twitter for help in finding holiday accommodation in the Loch Ness area from Whisky Blogger Sjoerd de Haan (Stuart the Hun) earlier this year. My first thought was to recommend my sister’s holiday cottage to him as its good to keep things in the “family” and there was a chance of a kick-back from my beloved sibling (no chance). Meeting Stuart at last year’s Maltstock and knowing that he’s one of those decent Whisky Guys (they all are) I find out when he’s in the area and invite him to drop by for a chat and possibly a dram or two but mainly to marvel at his uncanny resemblance to TV funnyman Hugh Dennis.

Stuart on a booze-fuelled Islay adventure with Diageo’s Colin Dunn

Stuart on a booze-fuelled Islay adventure with Diageo’s Colin Dunn

Over the past few months I have been getting involved with Drumnadrochit’s Loch Ness Brewery collaborating with them and developing a range of Whisky Beers using freshly dumped Whisky Casks from various different distilleries. I remembered that Stuart was into beer as well as Whisky and have tasted some of his impressive home brewed beer previously at Maltstock. I thought that maybe he may want to do a couple of hours graft down at the brewery.  Slowly the plan of him spending a day in Drumnadrochit working at the Brewery, Fiddler’s and doing some “Secret” stuff in my tasting room was hatched.

And so it came to pass that I picked Stuart up from the small hamlet of Abriachan early one morning. The fact that this small group of crofts in the hills above Loch Ness was a former hot-bed of illicit distilling  I’m sure influenced Stuart in his choice of accommodation. No illicit distilling for Stuart though as I dropped him off at the brewery for a quick tour followed by a brief (too brief, I reckon) bit of work with one of the Loch Ness Brewery brewers, Alan. Unfortunately due to a change in circumstances I had to cancel Stuart spending lunchtime spreading the Dutch Whisky Gospel to Fiddler’s international clientele and anyway I had something interesting literally lined up for him instead.

May was a busy month for me as I had been helping to organise the legendary Broracademy Day up in Brora and Dornoch as well as escaping to Islay for the second weekend of the Feis Ile and International Port Ellen Day 2013. My trip to the Feis was fortunate for Stuart as I had procured a 2013 Lagavulin Feis Ile bottle for him, easy enough this year as Diageo had in their wisdom decided to release 3,000 bottles of this gorgeous liquid in a bid to keep Feis Ile visitors happy and stifle eBay sales. Well done Diageo, though this does not make up for the ludicrous pricing of this year’s Annual Releases! Previous to Stuart’s visit I had opened my bottle of Lagavulin and together with that I had some “Lagavulin of the North” leftover from the Broracademy tasting. So I thought to myself would he be able to tell the difference between the Lagavulin and the Brora, I had tried and it wasn’t easy. Along with these two drams I threw in another three, the stupendous “Whisky of Mass Destruction” Manager’s Dram Clynelish, the Master of Malt Maltstock Highland Park and a stale drop of Lidl’s Queen Margot Blend.

Stuart’s afternoon of “Work”

Stuart’s afternoon of “Work”

I’m pleased to report that Stuart was absolutely spot on with identifying all five of the whiskies in the line-up, even the Queen Margot. I have yet to read his tasting notes. Unfortunately Stuart had to get back to Abriachan before I could let him loose on our customers in Fiddler’s where I’m sure he could of increased our Whisky sales five-fold! 

Since Stuart’s visit in June I have met up with again at Maltstock 2013 where we shared some of the recently bottled Loch Ness Whisky Beer Co. beers and caught up with the latest Whisky Gossip. Also Maltstock involved me having to repeat to everyone “No, I am not the Whiskysponge!” all weekend long.

Jon Beach

Fiddler’s

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Uberach W.L.P 10th edition 2013 46,7% – Distillerie Bertrand

Posted on 18 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

This is truly something rare. The final dram in the French Whisky Twitter Tasting was by far the darkest so a massive sherry bomb was expected.

The WLP edition, which stands for Whisky Live Paris is a vatting of left overs from casks 101, 102, 103 and 105 bottled during the past four editions of the festival. The 2013 edition is what they released this year, and very recently.

The Bertrand distillery is a place that mainly produces eau de vies and liqueus. Their website doesn’t even show the whisky on their products page. I guess this means we’re truly on a level of rarity very seldom seen. I feel all the more grateful for being included in the tasting!

Uberach whisky from Distillerie Bertrand. The Whisky Live Paris 2013 edition

Uberach whisky from Distillerie Bertrand. The Whisky Live Paris 2013 edition

Sniff:
Pencils at first, with a massive sherried smack in the face. There’s a lot of oak and raisin stems. Rather bitter stuff actually, with a plum like sweetness and chocolate. Jim Murray wouldn’t be able to say something good about this since there is quite a bit of sulphur.

Not sulphur like boiled vegetables or rotten eggs but more in a struck match kind of way. I like it when it’s done like this. The other kinds are not something I can palate.

Sip:
On the palate this whisky is thick and sweet, with a slightly bitter oaky dryness in the back of your throat. It’s gentle but a chili heat is building up as you let it swim. Cough syrup, the sherry, pencil shavings, plums and raisins.

Swallow:
Here the struck match is back again. Bitter chocolate too, raisins, raisin stems and dried prunes. Overly sweet but still interesting. The finish is long and luscious.

Here’s the catch and why this is not my favourite whisky of the evening: I think if you would buy a bottle of this you either drink it very quickly or let it go to waste. This kind of whisky scores highly at most tastings but I always think it will get a bit boring after the fifth glass. There’s a lot happening on the surface, but if you scratch below you discover little depth.

Having said that, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I would love to own a bottle and surprise people at tastings with stuff like this. The struck match sulphur notes are quite stunning and I love it all the more for it. I certainly never expected to say something like that!

Uberach W.L.P 10th edition 2013 46,7%, Distillerie Bertrand. It cost € 60 at the festival for 50cl.

Again a lot of thanks to Franck for organizing this. I feel honoured!

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Secale, Single organic malted rye, 56%, Domaine des Hautes Glaces

Posted on 17 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Domaine des Hautes Glaces is a small farm distillery in the French Alpes. The name suggests is a winery or someone producing armagnac, but they’ve been producing whisky. Not for long though, since everything is only being released as a spirit. Actually, the name suggests they’re high up in the mountains and there is a lot of ice (hautes glaces = high ice).

They do have a nice variety of products available from different batches and probably also different grains, since I find it highly unlikely to produce only a rye spirit in Europe. The website has some information on their single malt spirits too.

Secale is latin for rye, by the way.

Secale, Malted Rye Spirit. From Hell

Secale, Malted Rye Spirit. From Hell

Sniff:
Not sure what’s happening here. Lots of very over ripe fruit, ginlike spirit and sweet barley. Also yogurt, vanilla, and fruit, and fruit, and fruit salad. Then, a massive burst of licorice root.

Sip:
Sharp and dry with again fruit and yogurt. The licorice root is even bigger than on the nose. Fruit salad, star fruit, vanilla and hints of rubber. It’s turning nasty.

Swallow:
WHAT. THE. FUCK.

It took my five minutes to get past that. The finish suddenly has massive hints of burnt plastic and rubber. Some glue too, and lots of licorice root. This is very, very nasty.

While the nose on this one started out not too bad (nothing special too), after that it took a dive like a Stuka bomber. The finish is absolutely atrocious. One of the worst things I’ve ever tasting in a whisky.

This needs much more time in a cask and I doubt even that will salvage this trainwreck of a whisky. I just cannot explain properly how awful the finish is. If you’re up to it, I still have some left in my sample bottle.

Secale, Single organic malted rye, 56%, Domaine des Hautes Glaces. € 68 from the distillery website.

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Armorik Millésime, 2002-2013, Single Cask, 56.3%

Posted on 16 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The second Armorik whisky of the night and the only distillery that conquered two spots on the FrenchWhiskyTT event! A single cask at 11 years old is, for such a relatively new whisky, nothing to be ashamed of and it being matured in an Oloroso sherry butt might just make this even more interesting.

Armorik is distilled at the Distillerie Warenghem in Brittany. Brittany is one of the places in France that is the most like the United Kingdom. This happened over the last 1500 years when they shared quite a bit of history and were conquered by England and France a couple of times.

The Millésime series started in 2012 with their first edition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the distillery. This years edition was released in Februari of 2013.

Armorik Millésime 2002-2013

Armorik Millésime 2002-2013

Sniff:
A bit of dryness from the start, but quickly followed by tinned fruits and syrup. Fresh orange as it opens up a little bit. I also get straw, oak and chalk. It needs a bit of time in the glass as it opens up more and more. An indicator for cask strength?

Sip:
Quite some pepper on the palate, with dry (but not dried) apple. There’s a bit of citrus in a rather generic way. Also black pepper with a strange combination of crispness and a certain fatty oiliness in your mouth. Also some cut grass.

Swallow:
The finish is sweet and sharp with again the notes of apple., oak, ginger, citrus, barley and cut grass.

This is a very, very good whisky. The complexity is rather high and there are lots of flavours to be discovered. I have not detected many flavours stemming from the sherry cask, but I don’t care since it was delicious anyway! I am seriously considering buying this, if I can find it.

Armorik Millésime, 2002-2013, Single Cask, 56.3%. I don’t think it’s available anymore.

Thanks to Franck for the sample and for including me in the Twitter Tasting!

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Armorik Double Maturation, 46%, non filtré à froid

Posted on 15 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

With a tag like ‘non filtré à froid’ I just couldn’t get myself to translate it to non-chillfiltered. This is much more pretty if you ask me. The double maturation bit in this whisky’s name is for Breton oak and sherry cask, by the way. Breton oak meaning as much as oak from Brittany.

Anyway, the second whisky in Franck Debernardi‘s Blog Birthday Party tasting! Armorik is a much more known brand, but not something you come across at every street corner. I’m not sure if I ever tasted one before. I think so, but it might also have been a Glann Ar Mor or two that I’m confused with.

Armorik Double Maturation, 46%

Armorik Double Maturation, 46%. Apparently Shrek conquered this whisky.

Sniff:
The oak influence is a lot bigger on the nose than it was in whisky number one. There’s quite a lot of barley here too, sweet and not very spirity. I’d say there is more age to this one. The sweetness is rather fresh like in apples or pears.

Sip:
On the palate it’s a rather dry dram with flavours of wood shavings and old vanilla. I get apple cores, cereal, bread & butter pudding with stewed Granny Smith apples. Slightly sour even.

Swallow:
Here it gets more spicy. There was some on the palate but here I get gingerbread and ginger ale. Pepper, apples again, just like the Bread & Butter pudding. Slightly dry again and slightly sour.

This whisky is much more like Scotch than the previous one. There’s a great mixture of orchard fruits and spices which blend nicely together. Not the most special dram of the evening, but a very tasty whisky nonetheless.

Armorik Double Maturation, 46%, non filtré à froid, available from the distillery for € 45

Thanks to Franck for the sample and for including me in the Twitter Tasting!

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G.Rozelieures Rare Collection, 40%, un-chilfiltered – La Maison de la Mirabelle

Posted on 14 October 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Yes, that actually IS a whisky. I can’t blame anyone for not knowing since I never heard of it either. At least, until last Thursday when Franck Debernardi from La Cave de Cobalt hosted a Twitter Tasting to celebrate his blog’s third birthday.

Unfortunately he blogs in French, which means I don’t understand much of what he writes. I probably could if I put some effort into it, but that would look a lot more like school excercises than leasurely reading.

G. Rozelieures is a single malt whisky distilled in the Lorraine area of France, which is rather northernly. The distillery mostly makes fruit eau de vies and liqueurs but apparently has ventures into whisky making for a little bit, and not without results!

G. Rozelieures Rare Collection, 40%

G. Rozelieures Rare Collection, 40%

Sniff:
It’s dry and oaky at first, but there is a young and spirity quality to it. Not in a  bad way. It’s quite heavy with a bit of sweaty notes and maybe a touch of cheese. Some red wine tannins and it’s very irony, like blood or Dutch apple treacle. Also, for some reason it feels very restrained. Like there is a lot more about to happen, but it doesn’t.

Sip:
Here it gets more sweet and spicy. It’s pretty sharp and rough around the edges with red cinnamon. It mellows quickly though and becomes very sweet indeed. Butter, iron, apple treacle (appelstroop) again. Some overripe fruit and gingerbread too.

Swallow:
The sweetness now becomes rum like, with lots of sugar. The spirity quality is back and some oak is present too.

The sweetness was later explained by the fact that Sherry, Cognac and Sauternes casks were used to mature this dram.

While this will never be my favourite whisky it is an interesting dram to try. For a first venture away from fruit alcohols it’s not a bad effort either from La Maison de la Mirabelle.

A nice introduction to a young-ish distillery and a young-ish whisky brand. Especially for a French Whisky Twitter Tasting I love that Franck ventured out to do something off the beaten path! The fact that this distillery is in the lorraine area makes me want to visit it too. It’s not far, so it might actually happen someday!

G.Rozelieures Rare Collection, 40%, un-chilfiltered, La Maison de la Mirabelle. Available from the distillery at € 44.50

Thanks to Franck for the sample and for including me in the Twitter Tasting!

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