Glenlivet 14, 1995-2009, 46% – The Ultimate

Posted on 17 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

At the moment I only have one Glenlivet in my collection. There were two, but then I drank the Nadurra (one of the first batches, stunning stuff). It also is one of only three bottles from The Ultimate on the shelf.

The Ultimate is a Dutch bottler owned by long time whisky guru Van Wees. They bottle random things from Scotland (and some Amrut) at usually very fair prices. Of course I don’t agree with all of their choices, but there have been some rather terrific picks, like a 20 year old sherried Highland Park for € 50, a 1966 Glenfarclas ‘Mystery Speyside’ for € 125 and such.

This Glenlivet was a random bottle I bought in one of those urges to buy a bottle. Therefore it’s been sitting idly on my shelf for the last three years. I thought it was time to start drinking it.

Glenlivet 14, The Ultimate - Image from Whiskybase

Glenlivet 14, The Ultimate – Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Some barley and barley sugar sweetness. All this is completely overpowered by light tropical fruits, by the bucket. Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Some plums, mango, pineapple, all this is very sweet and juicy.

Sip:
The palate is rather friendly but has a certain bite to it. Fresh and juicy again with the same fruitiness as on the nose. Like fruit juicy with a shot of whisky in it. Not much depth, but deliciously summery.

Swallow:
The finish is of medium length, and again fruity. There are some more whisky like qualities here with more wood and more barley showing. Still very tropical.

As I said, this is a very good dram to drink with a dessert while enjoying the sun in the back yard. Nothing complicated, just deliciously juicy and fruity. Way to go, at such prices, I say!

Glenlivet 14, 1995-2009, 46%, The Ultimate, cask 144363, € 45 back then.

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Bowmore Tempest Batch 4, 10yo, 55.1%

Posted on 16 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The newest and not-yet-everywhere-available release of the Bowmore Tempest. I believe this one was released early this year but I haven’t seen many shops that actually have it in stock.

The story is, of course, exactly the same as it was yesterday, but I can make the addition that all Bowmore Tempests are matured on first fill bourbon casks. Else they wouldn’t have been allowed in the ‘Love First Fill‘ tasting.

IMAG0518Sniff:
The nose is a lot gentler than number 3. Not that much ‘Bowmore Reek’, more vanilla, sweeter and less smoky. It has the same scents, but without the creosote, kippers, rope. So there is vanilla, and some wood, lemon curd, and a touch of smoke.

Sip:
The palate continues is this more ‘accessible’ way. Gentle, a hint of pepper and it does start to build up a bit. Wood, salt, smoke and heather.

Swallow:
The finish continues again. Not much new which makes this composed of pepper, wood, vanilla, lemon, heather, some smoke and peat.

This dram is a LOT friendlier. So much so that on it’s own it’s a very nice whisky. On the other hand, it loses by knock-out from batch #3. This one is a tad too gentle and is rather limited in the scents and flavours it displays. Still, for the € 45 to € 55 it’s a damn fine whisky. If you have about € 100 available to spend on booze, you could choose worse than Bowmore Tempest batch 3 AND 4. On the other hand, I’d buy two bottles of batch 3 😉

Bowmore Tempest Batch 4, 10yo, 55.1%, available at The Bonding Dram in Belgium for € 49

Official sample provided by Bowmore / Morrison Bowmore. Thanks guys!

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Bowmore Tempest Batch 3, 10yo, 55.6%

Posted on 15 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

In the recent #LoveFirstFill Twitter Tasting from Morrison Bowmore Distillers the final two samples were the latest batches of Bowmore Tempest. The Bowmore Tempest is a relatively new series from the Islay distillery that was first launched in 2010. Since then they’ve released a new batch annually, being up to batch four now. I bought a bottle of the first one at the distillery from the Feis Isle series. This was a limited version of the first batch with some metal thingy around the neck of the bottle. Of course, with my scheme to reduce the amount of open bottles in my collection this one hasn’t been opened yet but I know it’s a very tasty dram. I knew that of this one too since we gave a bottle of it to my brother in law for his birthday last January

Bowmore Tempest

Sniff:
You notice right away that this is a complex dram.  There’s hints of malted barley, straw, smoke, lemon, leather. It’s a bit spirity in the way I like it. Crisp and fresh, but more in the style of Bowmore that they had before. A long time ago before the hideous FWP era. There’s a bit of ‘reek’ in it that only Bowmore can pull of and it’s damn nice. Some brine and peat, with a touch of juniper too. So a jenever-like hint is present. In a good way. Islay in a glass.

Sip:
The palate continues in this manner of complexity with a little bit of a sweeter touch. Slightly smoky with leather wax coats, kippers, pepper. I also get creosote and tar, with peat, iodine. Like standing in Bowmore’s harbour with some fishing boats there. There are some notes of a diesel fire on a peat bog, if I may get lyrical.

Swallow:
The finish has that leather, diesel, tar, iodine, rope, vanilla, lemon, salt, pepper thing again. So all flavours come back for a last goodbye.

This, my friends, is a damn fine dram. There’s a lot of stuff going on, it has some good strength behind it and it does exactly what you want a Bowmore to do. The Bowmore stench that I only know from 1960’s Bowmore is coming back to the distillery’s product and I really enjoy that. This bottle is available at the better liquor shops and shouldn’t set you back more than € 45 to € 55. That means that apart from friggin’ delicious, it’s also very affordable. Good stuff! I really want a bottle of this (or two).

Bowmore Tempest, 10yo, 55.6%, available at Master of Malt for £ 44.95 and you get a sample of batch two with it too.

Official sample provided by Bowmore / Morrison Bowmore. Thanks guys!
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Clynelish 13, 1993-2006, 46% – John Milroy Selection

Posted on 13 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another Clynelish I’ve recently emptied and one that I bought in a clearance sale a few years ago for some € 40 or so. A nice price for a single cask Clynelish if you ask me. Of course, there have been some terrible Clynelishes so I hoped this one was a nice one.

Clynelish 13, The John Milroy Selection

Clynelish 13, The John Milroy Selection

Sniff:
Lots of vanilla and quite a bit of white oak. Very fresh with menthol and lemon, lemon curd for a nice sweet touch too. It does have the traditional Clynelish waxiness, but not a lot of it. A pine resin and needles scent is something I pick up a bit later, as well as some white pepper.

Sip:
Spicy, sweet, some wood but mostly vanilla, like on the nose. It’s rather light with lemon curd and a touch of white peppery heat again.

Swallow:
The finish has more pepper than I expected but the vanilla is back, as well as the white oak, wax and pine needles. There is something spicy about the finish too, that is different than before. Some more salty and nutmeg too.

A rather simply Clynelish but a very tasty dram nonetheless. It doesn’t have the complexity of some others I’ve recently reviewed, but it’s a nice session whisky (if you want to use such terms).

Clynelish 13, 1993-2006, 46% – John Milroy Selection. Used to cost around € 40.

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Kavalan Concertmaster, Port Finish, 40%

Posted on 12 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Kavalan is a whisky which nobody had ever heard of until about three years ago. It then was chosen in a blind tasting to be the most delicious whisky of the bunch. Whether or not that makes any sense in a tasting of completely random whiskies, I don’t know. I feel a bit like the tasting was set up so that Kavalan would come out on top.

Anyway, Kavalan is produced at King Car distillery in Taiwan. Much like Amrut in Bangalore, India the angel’s share is huge which makes all their whisky bottled at a young age, since you wouldn’t have anything left otherwise.

They produce a regular whisky, the Concertmaster and a lot of ‘Solist’ bottlings. The last one is a cask strength series with all kinds of cask finishes. This Concertmaster is finished in a Port cask. No age statement, no information apart from ABV (40%) and which cask was used to finish this dram in.

Kavalan Concertmaster at The Whisky Exchange

Kavalan Concertmaster at The Whisky Exchange

Sniff:
Fresh and fruity. Not too sweet but definitely sweet. There’s some wood influence with (most likely) white oak. There are red fruits (strawberry, raspberry) and some tropical fruit too (peaches, mango). After a couple of minutes it does show a certain mustiness, but everything does feel well integrated.

Sip:
Again fresh, with the port influence becoming more clear. The single malt influence isn’t very clear. I don’t get any malt, and barely and wood flavours. Rather sweet, more so than on the nose. The red and tropical fruits are back too.

Swallow:
The finish continues on like the palate without many new things happening. I find this typical of whiskies matured shortly and in warm climates. Amrut has this in quite a few of their whiskies too. Anyway, still nice and fruity.

This is not a complex dram. It’s tastes are very straight forward, but light and fruity works well for almost anyone. This feels a bit like an entry level dram. The drawback with Kavalan is that is had to travel a lot of food miles, and unlike the earlier Amruts, this is fairly pricy.

Kavalan Concertmaster, 40%, Port Finish, available at The Whisky Exchange at £ 51.95

Edit: The Solist series aren’t finishes but whiskies fully matured on their respective casks.  There are four different versions: Bourbon, Sherry, Vinho and Fino. Thanks Billy!

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Auchentoshan Valinch 2012, 57.2%

Posted on 11 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I loved Auchentoshan Valinch 2011. That doesn’t automatically mean I bought a bottle, but in this case I did. At the moment it wasn’t one of the smartest decisions of the year, but for not even € 40 I couldn’t pass up such a nice dram!

Therefore, I was wondering how this one would rate, especially when tasted just before a couple of punchy Bowmores! I expected the Valinch to be tasted before the Glen Garioch, but that one was such a gentle dram that it would’ve been overpowered.

Auchentoshan Valinch 2012 at Master of Malt

Auchentoshan Valinch 2012 at Master of Malt

Sniff:
At first I only get dusty malt and barley. It definetly needs a couple of minutes to settle and open up. It’s pungent in a very spirity way. I knew it was young but this is REALLY young I think. Very untamed and definetly not as clean as I am used to from Auchentoshan. After a while I get some nutmeg, vanilla and oak chips.

Sip:
Dry and really sharp. Again very spirity, with lots of pepper and sweetness that isn’t as oaky as you’d expect.

Swallow:
The finish continues the pepper rampage but doesn’t do much apart from that. There is some sweetness and a hint of oak and vanilla, but not much else and you already have to search for these notes.

Weird stuff. It’s very young, untamed and incredibly sharp. Because of that you barely get any hints of anything. I get that the Valinch is a young dram, but I think this was made with too young whisky. Or, that’s the other option, they wanted to show what Auchentoshan is capable of apart from the gentle grassy Lowlands style.

Auchentoshan Valinch 2012, 57.2%, OB, Available from Master or Malt for £ 36.88

Sample provided by Morrison Bowmore and Auchentoshan, Thanks guys!

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Springbank CV, 46%

Posted on 10 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another one from the CV range from this iconic Campbeltown distillery. What CV stands for is kind of weirdly unknown. I’ve seen Curriculum Vitae, but also Chairman’s Vat and I believe some other abbreviation.

Springbank is Springbank’s main brand with Longrow being the second and Hazelburn trailing as third. They distill 2.5 times which more or less means some spirit is distilled twice, and some once more. I’m not sure what it does for the flavours but if, of course, changes a couple of variables.

While they’ve had their ups and downs in their products, the last couple of releases have been well received by many people and especially the new 21 year olds sell out so quickly they rival bottlings from over a decade ago in price.

Of course, the CV is nowhere near that price category with a bottle selling between € 35 and € 40. Nicely priced, so let’s see if it’s nicely flavoured too!

Springbank CV at Whiskybase

Springbank CV at Whiskybase

Sniff:
Heavy from the start. There’s leather, some smoke, spices and some tea. The spirit is rather young but carries the flavours well. It reminds me of some Jura and Lagavulin whiskies I’ve had, but obviously less smoky. It is rather pungent. White oak. Not much depth to it, but that’s to be expected in a young spirit.

Sip:
The palate is a bit lighter than the nose at first, but gains a bit of that heaviness. Again, light smoke but also salt, leather, spices and a hint of marmite without it becoming awful.

Swallow:
The finish is fairly sharp and has some sweet stickiness to it that wasn’t there before. Some salt too and it lasts surprisingly long for a young dram like this.

While I wasn’t positive on the Hazelburn CV, I know I liked the Longrow and this one is rather well done too. I don’t think it represents Springbank all that well so I have to go with Chairman’s Vat instead of Curriculum Vitae. From the last description you’d expect a whisky that says “This is what Springbank is about”. And that’s not it.

The recent releases have all been relatively light and this one goes in the exact opposite direction. What it does show is how the wood further tames the heavy spirit they produce!

Springbank CV, 46%, OB, available at the better whisky shop and at De Whiskykoning for € 38.25

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Glen Garioch 1995, 55.3%

Posted on 9 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last week Morrison Bowmore hosted a Twitter Tasting with a couple of their newest releases, which were all matured in First Fill Bourbons casks. The Twitter handle #lovefirstfill was used.

Glen Garioch Sample

Glen Garioch Sample

Unfortunately for Gal and me, DHL messed things up and delivered our samples the day after the tasting, so we decided to still do it the regular Twitter way, but just a day late.

Glen Garioch is a Highland distillery of which I haven’t tasted many drams. For some reason though, I really want a bottle of theirs since what I’ve tasted is rather delicious. Their whisky has a very old fashioned thing about it which I really enjoy.

Throw in that with some Bowmores and an Auchentoshan and you’re set for a rather tremendous Twitter Tasting.

This 1995 vintage whisky is from batch 10 of their releases, done in late 2012.

Glen Garioch 1994 at Master of Malt

Glen Garioch 1994 at Master of Malt

Sniff:
The nose is rather present since I don’t have to put my nose in the glass to get some scents. There’s allspice and oak at first, just a tad bitter. Dried lemon, old vanilla and banana, hard candy and creme brulee. It gets spicy later, so spicy, then creamy and fruity, then spicy again. A lot of things going on without it being all over the place.

Sip:
As expected there’s a lot of spice with banana cream behind it. If I was Joshua from JewMalt.com I’d put this picture here. I get pepper, caramel, oak, autumnal with dry leaves and dirt.

Swallow:
The spices keep going for a bit on the rather long finish, but after a few seconds the vanilla, banana and buttery caramel get bigger. There’s some coconut here too.

If a cask has to showcase first fill bourbon, this is it. I really love the flavours present and this, to me, shows what a good bourbon cask is capable of. Lots of depth, lots of complexity while not just going the oak route. This one made the wish list!

Glen Garioch vintage 1995, 17yo, 55.3%. It’s available from Master of Malt at £ 49.46

Official sample provided by Glen Garioch / Morrison Bowmore. Thanks guys!

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Arran, 49.1%, batch 1 – That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Posted on 8 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

One of the newest releases from TBWC is an Arran, happily being made available about a month or so after Master of Malt’s single cask from the same distillery. I feel I have uncovered a pattern there, with almost all of their releases, apart from the Brora, Port Ellen and Caperdonich varieties.

Arran Distillery

Arran Distillery

Anyway, Arran is a cute little place on the Isle of the same name, idyllically located in the valley near Lochranza. We camped across the distillery a few years ago which came in really handy for doing exorbitant tastings. After about a two minute walk I could crash if I wanted to.

That Boutique-y Arran at Master of Malt

That Boutique-y Arran at Master of Malt

Sniff:
Quite some wood influence is the first thing that stands out to me. White oak with some spices. Pepper and vanilla. Toasted oak and an exceptionally heavy feel for an Arran. The weight isn’t much like the Arran I know, the scent of apples is very much the distillery character. After a while the fruit scents get stronger.

Sip:
The palate is a bit lighter than the nose made me expect. There’s fruit, grass, straw. It’s also rather gentle, you never know with a 50% abv whisky. Rather full bodied with black pepper, apple and creamy vanilla.

Swallow:
The finish is light, and a lot fresher than the nose. Rather short but with fresh vanilla and some fruit.

While it isn’t my favourite Arran ever (that probably goes to ‘the Peacock’) it is a rather tasty whisky. There’s quite a development it goes through from nose to finish, and while that might set you off at first, it does make a second (or third) glass more viable since you just have to try some more to get all the nuances…

Oh, and it’s not expensive either. That can’t hurt.

Arran, 49.1%, batch 1, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. Available, but you can get batch 2 from Master of Malt for £ 39.95.

Official sample provided by Master of Malt. Thanks guys!

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Millstone 100 Rye, 50%, 100 months old – Zuidam

Posted on 6 April 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Zuidam is one of the few distilleries in The Netherlands that also produce whisky. Recently there have been some new start ups but so far, to me, Zuidam is the only one that counts.

Apart from them there is one in Friesland, but for some reason they have been distilling for over a decade but only release wine finished 3 year old stuff (I wanted to write crap, but decided against it).

Anyway, this one is from their rye series. They released the Dutch Rye 5 year old a couple of years ago and that is a rather good rye whisky, albeit short on the finish. Since then there have been more single malts (peated, unpeated, sherried) and some limited editions and private releases, even one by Millroy’s in Soho. This rye is the ‘100’.

The ‘100’ is present in multiple aspects of this whisky:

  • 100 proof (50% abv)
  • 100% rye
  • 100 months in the barrel

Let’s see how this turns out!

Millstone 100 Rye

Millstone 100 Rye

Sniff:
Rye and chocolate, right away. The chocolate isn’t something I have often found in American ryes. 100 months is a very decent age since it isn’t spirity at all. Warm, ‘young’-ish, pepper and spices. Also a bit grassy. A really thick scent is coming from the glass, lovely. There is a bit of a bourbon style sweetness in it which I usually associate with the corn used, but this has to be from the rye and/or the cask.

Sip:
The palate is spicy with toasted oak, cinnamon and pepper. Full and creamy too with sweet rye.

Swallow:
The finish continues in the same direction but gets even more spicy without getting really sharp. I also get some acidity and freshness.

The palate isn’t the most complex, but it is utterly delicious. This can, from my point of view, compete with any American rye! I wonder if the type of rye has anything to do with the chocolaty sweetness on the nose, but I guess I have to ask the guys at Zuidam.

This is defintely high on my ever-growing wishlist because it’s Dutch and I want to support local businesses, but even if they were from Russia I’d put it on there since this is an absolutely gorgeous dram!

Millstone 100 Rye, 50%, Zuidam Distillers. It’s available in the better whisky shops throughout The Netherlands for about € 45 to € 50.

Posted in - Other Distilleries, - World Whisky, Zuidam | Tagged , , | 1 Comment