Port Askaig 12, 45.8% – Speciality Drinks Ltd.

Posted on 28 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I recently got a small parcel of samples from The Whisky Exchange, including yesterday’s Midleton 1991 and this new Caol Ila Port Askaig 12. A not too new addition to their Port Askaig series which included a 17, 19 and 30 year old earlier in varying ABVs.

This 12 year old was already tried shortly at Maltstock, and now I got to try it properly and think about my early days of exploratory drinking. Back, when I was still in school and just stepped away from cheap blends and the first bottle of Glenfiddich 12.

Port Askaig 12

Sniff:
Salt, smoke, peat and heather. There’s some machine oil and sand as well. Along with sea spray and a certain weight to it, I’d say this is one of the most straight forward Caol Ila bottlings out there.

I keep saying Caol Ila, because I cannot imagine it being anything else. It has that specific oiliness that I always associate with the distillery.

Sip:
A little thin at first, but it builds up to some strength and spice. Peppery heather and smoke with coarse sea salt. It does get a bit sweeter after a few seconds to show some fruitiness and vanilla.

Swallow:
The finish is rather ‘normal’ for such a whisky. Medium length and dying on smoke and heather. Grass, straw and sea weed also come by again.

How can it be any other distillery?

How can it be any other distillery?

This is, as stated above, one of the most straight forward Caol Ila bottlings I have tasted in a long while. It proves how good a simple Caol Ila can be at a fairly young age. It also states that when Diageo had to decide which distillery to close in the early eighties, I can see this style making the cut above Port Ellen.

Good stuff, nothing too spectacular, but fairly priced and just a good ‘session whisky’, if such a thing is worth stating.

Port Askaig 12, 45.8%, Speciality Drinks Ltd., available at The Whisky Exchange for £ 43.95

Official sample provided by The Whisky Exchange.

Posted in Caol Ila, Undisclosed | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Midleton 1991, 20yo, bottled for The Whisky Exchange

Posted on 27 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last week I received a surprise package from The Whisky Exchange with 4 samples of their newest releases. Three of those samples were new Port Askaig releases and there was this one.

A single cask Irish Pot Still whiskey from Midleton, bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange. What more can a guy want? This stuff is rare!

Midleton 1991 for The Whisky Exchange

Midleton 1991 for The Whisky Exchange

The difference between Single Malt and Single Pot Still is that in the Irish version, the wash is made with a part unmalted barley, instead of all malted barley. There probably are more slight differences, but that is the biggest one.

This was originally done because there was a tax on using malted barley in Ireland at some point, and to get out of paying for every pound, they used unmalted barley. As a side effect, it created a uniquely Irish style of whiskey, which has recently begun a massive rise in popularity.

Sniff:
At first I get malt, vanilla and fruit. The malt is green and crisp. There are some leaf herbs like parsley too. Very, very gentle. Slightly spicy with a pinch of pepper, and there’s honey and fruit juice. Some banana, peach and mango.

Sip:
The palate is a bit more spicy, with salt and pepper. Pastry cream with vanilla but less than on the nose. A fair touch of wood too, malt, green malt too. Then there’s tons of fruit. Strawberry, mango and other things. Like a good fruit pie since there is cereal, pastry cream and fruit…

Swallow:
The finish is loooong with heaps of fruit again. Pastry, pastry cream, strawberries, sugar and syrup but also oak.

If you’re not a fan of fruity whiskies, leave this be. If you happen to like old Lochsides and such, this is the stuff of legends. I absolutely love it and it doesn’t happen this often I get images with what I’m tasting or smelling, but in this case it’s definetly so!

I might even stretch this out further. This is the best Irish whiskey I’ve had so far. And I have tried Powers John’s Lane and Midleton Barry Crocket Legacy which are the other premium releases from Midleton at the moment.

The only drawback this whiskey has, is that Midleton charges a sizeable premium for bottling a single cask with a private label. That is reflected in the price.

Midleton 1991-2012, 20 years old, OB for The Whisky Exchange, 54.1%, £ 235

Official sample provided by The Whisky Exchange.

Posted in - Irish Whiskey, Midleton | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Teaninich 21, 1973-1994 – James MacArthur’s

Posted on 26 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

In 1994 there was some celebration that whisky had been in existence for 500 years. It was of course nothing like the stuff we know and love today, but back in that day Friar John Cor was ordered to make grain into whisky, and that is the first official reference to Uisge Beatha in the Exchequer Rolls:

“To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.”

Anyway, James MacArthur was one of the few bottlers in existence back then, and he did his part in bottling quite a few limited editions of ‘random’ distilleries. I knew there is a Springbank, a Linkwood and this Teaninich. According to Whiskybase there also is a Blair Athol, Macduff, Ardmore, Glen Keith, Dufftown and Ledaig. The Springbank isn’t mentioned.

Sniff:
Teaninich 1973-1994I get grist and barley first, quickly followed by vanilla, white oak and yellow fruits. It has lots of pineapple, pineapple syrup and ‘normal’ apples, without the pine. There is a slight herbal note of coriander too. Yellow wine gums and some pepper.

Sip:
This baby is sharp on the palate with alcohol and pepper. Fresh and sweet with fruit. Pineapple, sugar, wood, apple. Some green banana peel and it’s spicy. White pepper and pastry cream.

Swallow:
The finish is long and fresh, again with the yellow fruits. Gentle with a touch of white pepper. Wood, vanilla ice cream and pastry cream.

Although it had been open for quite a while, I barely detected any oxidation. Although I remember it as being sharper and more focussed on the barley, I kind of like it better now. The fruit does sometimes go a bit chemical, but not overly so. Great stuff, and a steal when I bought it for € 75. That’s been years, though.

Teaninich 1973-1994, 21 years old, James MacArthur’s 500 years of whisky. 57.2%

Posted in Teaninich | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Mackmyra Twitter Tasting 2013

Posted on 24 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The Mackmyra Twitter events seem to become an annual thing with a Twitter Tasting happening in 2011, 2012 and most recently in January.

It’s already been a month since all this happened, but for some reason I have not gotten around to writing this rather sizeable blogpost. Finally, I am making time for it, so here it goes.

The event was postponed from autumn 2012, which in retrospect, turned out to be a good things with my kid being born then and such. We tasted 5 blind samples from Mackmyra and, if the previous tasting was any indication, Angela d’Orazio doesn’t limit herself to sending only samples of available bottlings. Cask samples, to be released stuff and what not has been tasted before.

Special 09 - Vildhallon

Special 09 – Vildhallon, Wild Raspberry Wine finish, 46.1%
This first dram has an appealing nose of nuts, vanilla and very bourbonny corn scents. The wood influence is clear too, but not overpowering. A bit later I get candy bananas (so that’s banana flavour flavour, not banana flavour) and peardrops. Definetly sweet. The bourbon notes are very appealing to me. The palate was rather hot and less woody than expected. The spirit shines through nicely. Slightly tangy with caramel, bourbon, vanille and old red apples. The palate turns a bit bitter at the end, and goes into a finish of wood, almonds and a fast fading candy sweetness. If I let it sit for a while it gets more autumnal with tobacco and rotting leaves. Forest floor and such.

Moment KallaMoment Källa – 53.4%
The nose starts off with hints of aceton. It’s a lot more spirity and has some musky notes. Wet leaves and hay. Also red fruits and charcoal. On the palate there is a spiciness of hot chili peppers and fruit. Mixed red fruits from the freezer. It gets more jammy with water, into fruit cake and forest fruit jam. Pepper, fruity and sweet, with plums. The alcohol is still rather pronounced. The finish is great with spices, fruits and some oomph. It has hints of wood, but never a lot.

Moment GlodMoment Glöd – 51.2%
KABOOM! Some serious sensory overload, in a good way. Corsican myrthe bushes, licorice, wood smoke, Indonesian fried bananas, all with barbecue sauce. Very different to the previous two! Pulled pork glazing, greasy with quite some alcohol behind it. Spices, pepper marinade. Simply amazing. The finish is almost infinite. The barbecue notes get stronger and it reminds me of the fifth whisky of the previous Mackmyra Twitter Tasting. I find this style of whisky very appealing, just as I like the Balcones Brimstone. This feels like the European version. Ridiculously delicious.

Moment SkogMoment Skog – 52.4%
This one smells the most mature of the bunch. There’s quite some gentle wood influence. Barley and some sweet spices. Very ‘straight forward’, whisky-wise. There’s more vanilla as some of the alcohol airs off. Mostly barley, burnt sugar and quite some alcohol on the nose still. Very reminiscent of Scotch whisky. The palate is rather sharp, with bitter peach stones, barley, bread crust and wood. And then vanilla. And then more vanilla.

The only issue with this one is that I find it very Scotch-like. While that doesn’t make the whisky less interesting, it does make it less typical of Sweden. And since Mackmyra isn’t too cheap, I wouldn’t go for this one anytime soon.

BeeBee – Honey Whisky Liqueur, 22%
Weird. There’s a tingling in my nose like this is carbonated, which it is not of course. It’s definetly not whisky, that much is clear right away. Cassis, berries, candy sweetness. Also hints of iced tea and the sweetness of wood without the bitterness. It’s very different than any whisky liqueur I’ve ever tried, whether from the USA, Scotland or Ireland. Not bad, but not my cup of tea either.

I knew right away that number three, the barbecue dram was my favourite of the bunch. For second place I’m not so sure, since I liked all the other whiskies quite a lot.

Unfortunately, this kind of stuff rarely is available outside of Sweden, even though these are all bottled whiskies instead of cask samples. Usually, when they do get out of their native environment, prices soar to about € 125 or thereabout.

But anyway, my sincere thanks go out to Angela d’Orazio and Colin Campbell for hosting this truly global Twitter event. Participants came from Canada to Taiwan and everywhere in between. Incredible to pull off and it was a success!

Posted in - World Whisky, Mackmyra | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Clynelish 1971-2009, 47.9% – Old Malt Cask

Posted on 22 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A Clynelish from the early years of the distillery! After it was opened in 1968 it was only in production for three years before this barrel was laid to rest. It waited a glorious 38 years before it was bottled at a fairly high ABV of 47.9%.

I bought this bottle some years ago, just when it came out and I think I was right on time, since at the price of € 140 I still believe it was a steal for this kind of dram. A serious amount of money, yes. Expensive, no.

Clynelish 38 - Old Malt Cask

Clynelish 38 – Old Malt Cask

Sniff:
Slightly spicy at first with quite some waxed oak that’s gone shiny with ages of use. Beautiful and complex, but not overly so. Mint, cinnamon, pine resin and beeswax. Warming and sweet.

Sip:
Spicier than expected with dark bread, pound cake, bread pudding, black pepper and a touch of salt. I wrote down acacia honey. Dry wood as well. Maybe some ginger and mint.

Swallow:
The finish has salty honey, with milk chocolate. It’s not overly long, but a touch of vanilla and old oak remains.

This is was one of the best whiskies in my collection. I absolutely loved every drop of it, although it is one to sit down for since it has too many flavours to offer on just a quick sip. If you can get hold of this, get it. I think after only the Prestonfield 1973, it’s the best Clynelish I ever had*.

The wood spices are very present, but never dominate the taste to become bitter as is the case in some whiskies. There is a certain smoldering fruitiness in the background too, but I found it very hard to wrap my taste buds around. There is just so much going on, it’s barely possible to write everything down, but the resin, wax, mint and wood combination makes for beautiful Clynelish however you put it. The rest is just bonus.

Clynelish 1971-2009, 38 yo, Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, 47.9%, hogshead.

*: If you believe I am mistaken, please send me a sample of a better one as proof 😉

Posted in Clynelish | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Clynelish 12, 57% – Samaroli Coilltean

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Samaroli is, of course, the famous bottler from Italy that bottled (according to many) the best whiskies ever some decades ago. I believe this was the early eighties. Since then they have only released a couple bottlings until a large batch came out in 2008. This bottle is one of those.

A few years ago he revamped his brand with a new range of bottles of which this Clynelish is one. I bought it in 2008 and it has been getting emptier and emptier every now and then until I finished it last weekend.

A cask strength, First Fill Sherry Butt matured gem of a Clynelish, that deserves a review and deserved it years ago.

Clynelish 12 by Samaroli. Image from Whiskybase

Clynelish 12 by Samaroli. Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Gentle sherry with lots of fruit and honey. Also some furniture polish and a salty background. Creamy with mint and something slightly acidic, like passionfruit.

Sip:
The palate is a bit sharper than I expected after such a gentle nose, but nothing too fierce. Dry crushed peppercorns, lots of tropical fruit like peaches, peach skins, dried prunes. There’s a bit of bitter wood, sweet sugar syrup.

Swallow:
The finish burns a little but therefore it lingers quite a while. I think there’s a little hint of sulphur in there, but in a way that I absolutely love it. Fairly bitter, sweet and creamy.

This is a stunning Clynelish. For only 12 years old it tastes much more mature, and the cask must have been one of the best available. Actually, I don’t think I have tasted many Clynelishes that are better than this one, apart from a couple from the early seventies (Old Malt Cask, Prestonfield, Berry’s).

Clynelish 1995 – 08-2008, 57%, Samaroli Coilltean, it used to cost a litte under € 100, but is long gone now.

Posted in Clynelish | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Clynelish 12 – Friends of the Classic Malts

Posted on 19 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I haven’t seen any new bottlings recently, but until 2010 or so Diageo bottled a new ‘Friends of the Classic Malts’ bottling every year, more or less. There have been a Talisker, Lagavulin, Cragganmore and this Clynelish in the period that I was aware of them. I think there also was a Caol Ila at some point.

Anyway, these bottlings are, like the Distiller’s Editions a twist on the regular distillery’s character. In this case, a pretty sherried Clynelish, opposed to the mostly bourbon cask matured regular 14 year old, Why they changed the age to 12 is probably because all FotCM bottlings are bottled at 12 years old, regardless of the age of the regular edition.

Clynelish 12 FotCM at The Whisky Exchange

Clynelish 12 FotCM at The Whisky Exchange

Sniff:
At first light and grainy, but the sherry starts giving its secrets rather quickly. Minty, and fruity. A little dry too, but nothing too fierce.

Sip:
Fruity sherry all the way. Apple, beeswax, honey. Typical Clynelish with that fresh herbacious and waxy character. Quite some influence of European oak.

Swallow:
The finish is a little dry again with lots of dried fruit. At the end there is a little bit of bitterness from the oak. Not really long.

A fairly decent Clynelish and at approximately € 45 in shops (if they still have it) very affordable and very good value for money. A nice change of palate after the regular edition.

Still available at The Whisky Exchange at the very low price of £ 30.49!

Posted in Clynelish | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Hielander Whisky Festival 2013

Posted on 18 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

The whisky festival in Alkmaar, hosted by Wullie MacMorland of The Hielander Scottish Restaurant is usually the first official whisky event of the year. This year it is no different. Funnily enough I go there every year with different people. The first time with Anneke, the second time with friends and this year my in-laws were up!

We went for the Saturday afternoon session since that is the quietest, and I like to have time to choose a dram and chat to the people behind the stands.

IMAG0437 When we came in we did an exploratory round by all the stands during which we tasted a dram here and there. Probably not the best ones since I barely remember what we had (and I didn’t take notes).

After round one I tried Drinks & Gifts new bottling of “Somewhere in Speyside 2003” (which is a Balvenie, probably tea spooned, since I didn’t see ‘Single Malt’ on the label). This was one of the better indie Balvenies I’ve tried and I really liked it. This one has been put on the wish list.

After that it was time for some GlenDronach and BenRiach. I tried the new GlenDronach cask strength, which was oddly expensive at the festival (3 euros of a sip) but it’s a pretty nice dram. I’m probably not as swept of my feet as the rest of the world because it wasn’t the first of the day and I didn’t do a proper tasting. Next was a BenRiach 12 Virgin Oak bottled for The Netherlands. This, my friends, is a stunning dram. The spirit and the oak work wonderfully together and give a clean basic whisky with lovely flavours.

IMAG0439
After that we tried some Clynelishes since I feel I have to top up my amount of bottles. I’ve finished three of them over the weekend, so it’s about time to invest in this again. We tried a Berry Brother’s & Rudd and an Old Malt Cask which were rather similar with the BBR version just winning out.

At the end of the session we tried some old and ‘no longer available at decent prices’ drams at Dutch Whisky Connection. And old Hanyu, Port Ellen, Littlemill and some others. The old Port Ellen is absolutely filthy. One of the worst drams I’ve ever tried. Don’t really remember the exact tastes but I assure you it wasn’t good.

IMAG0440

In between we also took some time to try different Prichard’s bourbons, a rye and their single malt. The single malt was my favorite of the bunch, albeit still only interesting for novelty.

We also had a long chat with the man who runs The Maltman bottlings. A nice chap who unfortunately didn’t bring his latest Ben Nevis 21 but did tell the sister cask is being bottled soon. We tried a Springbank, Hazelburn, Glen Keith and Mortlach. The Glen Keith was stunning, and the rest pretty good too.

All in all, a pretty fine afternoon with some really good drams. The best ones were the BenRiach 12 and Balvenie 9, and those were also the most affordable ones. Doubly successful, so to say!

Posted in Balvenie, Ben Nevis, BenRiach, Clynelish, Glen Keith, GlenDronach, Hazelburn, Littlemill, Mortlach, Port Ellen, Undisclosed | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Brora 26yo, 46% – Dun Bheagan

Posted on 15 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

OOOH! Brora!

That’s what I thought when I opened a package from the German-Dutch booze exchange that has been going on between me and Frank Lieck.

The Booze Exchange

Enough has been said about Brora, but this is a fairly young one. At 26 years old, it cannot be a bottling from after 2010. The plant closed in 1983 after all. A single cask from a sherry butt, so we’re bound for a treat, I’d say!

Brora 1983 from Whisky Depot

Brora 1983 from Whisky Depot

Sniff:
It takes a while for this one to open up. At first I didn’t smell much apart from a gentle smokiness. After ten minutes or so I start getting gentle fruity sherry tones on a background of a peat stoked campfire. The keyword is gentle.

Not as peaty as most other Broras I know, lightly fruity, peach and pineapple. A little bit salty too.

Sip:
Slightly spicy! Quite some properly sherried wood. Nice and spicy with pepper, cigar tobacco. Reasonably complex. Light, peppery and salty. If tasted blind I would have said it was a 1970s Highland Park or so.

Swallow:
The finish has some heat to it as well and lasts for quite a while. Not much smoke is left but there is some heather, honey and dried fruit.

It’s a very nice whisky. See how I said ‘very nice’ and ‘really good’? It ticks all the boxes and is complex enough to be very interesting for quite a while. But, since you know it’s a Brora you expect a bit more. At least I do.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it missed that bit of Oomph that I remember Brora for.

It’s still available, miraculously, at Whisky Depot in Germany, for € 160.

Posted in Brora | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Inchgower 1982, 57.2 – Malts of Scotland

Posted on 14 February 2013 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

After trying an Inchgower from 1982 by Duncan Taylor at last year’s Hielander Whisky Festival and being really enthousiastic about it, I got a few messages from people who had samples for me if I wanted them.

Well, who am I to turn down a good sample, especially from such a key year from a distillery?

Inchgower 1982 at Van Zuylen

Inchgower 1982 at Van Zuylen

Sniff:
Wood and spirit. So the two main elements of whisky are tackled. Straw, vanilla and other spices. Delicious bourbon cask influences. Rye bread, dark brown bread with all kinds of seeds. Also pastry cream and lots of wood (in a good way).

Sip:
Sharp with pepper and wood. Spices, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla. Never too much of anything. Still creamy with again, quite some wood. Lots of ‘difficult’ flavours.

Swallow:
The finish is beautiful and long with all flavours passing by once again. Lots of spices.

Do you sometimes have the idea that a whisky is out of your league? I have that with this one, as I had with the 1982 Inchgower by Duncan Taylor. Also with a 1982 Clynelish we had during the Blind Tasting Competition. Is it the year?

Anyway, this stuff is utterly delicious and very much worth the € 115 they ask for it. It’s available at Van Zuylen, and some shops in Germany.

Posted in Inchgower | Tagged , | 3 Comments