Malt Fascination

A small batch bourbon from Jim Beam and a brother to the other three in the series: Knob Creek, Basil Hayden’s and Baker’s. This one is a strong one at almost 60% to 64% ABV, depending on the batch.

We were waiting for a table in the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Mammoth, Wyoming when I spotted a bottle of this on a shelf at the bar. I believe they charged me some $ 9 for it, which I consider a fair price, especially for such a high profile tourist location.

Nose:
It starts off with a rum like sweetness with molasses. Its quickly followed by autumn leaves and some cigars. Quite the alcohol burn on the nose (and I didn’t have any water available).

Taste:
The taste is incredibly sharp with the alcohol but also from a taste of chili peppers. I also got notes of red fruit and oranges. Nice!

Finish:
This also starts peppery with chilis and crushed black peppercorns. Due to the alcohol you get a very dry mouth.

This is a rather strange one, since it is so very sharp. Not even George T. Stagg is this sharp, as I remember. The flavours are still quite noticable which I really like at this kind of ABV!

In the end I picked up a bottle before we flew home from Philadelphia for some $30, which is nice since it is more than twice as expensive here! Very much worth to seek out but that shouldn’t be too much trouble. It was available at all shops that sold alcohol, for some reason.

Booker’s Small Batch Bourbon, 63.4% for € 65 at the Whiskykoning.

I still had this straggler standing around from our trip to Islay about a year and a half ago, and it was about time to finish it off. This 13 year old Lagavulin was matured in a 4th fill cask. Something that doesn’t happen too often, except maybe for whisky that’s set aside for blending in some cases. A 4th fill cask means that the cask influence is very limited compared to 1st or 2nd fill. I didn’t write everything down about the sample we got at the distillery, during the warehouse tasting with Iain McArthur so I don’t know the exact ABV and the type of cask it was matured in.

Nose:
Quite some heather and smoke with the impact of regular lagavulin. Apart from that, not much is happening. It already shows almost no maturation and is very spirit like. Almost no depth, but still loads of character.

Taste:
The flavour is reasonably smooth, but very spirity. Some vanilla but quite watery and I can barely detect any cask influence. The color is almost white, like water, too.

Finish:
Here it does show some more flavours. You get the thick Lagavulin smoke with almond cookies. The finish is short and slightly astringent with hints of leather and raw steak.

This was an interesting dram. It really shows why not many 4th fill casks are bottled, since it is really lacking maturation. The character from Lagavulin is already present, but it really lacks the depth I want from a whisky. A fun thing to try, but I wouldn’t buy a bottle of this stuff anytime soon.

Another very limited bottle that was long gone before I knew it existed. This time, it was bottled for Whisky Magazine and released at Whisky Live London in 2008. It is a 15 year old Karuizawa, matured in an American oak Sherry Butt. That does not happen often, as far as I know.

Karuizawa used to be one of my favorite distilleries, but I have to admit that I prefer their big bold sherry bottlings more than the incredibly woody bottlings that are available as well. That also means I no longer buy them without tasting them, and since stocks are so limited that means they’re sold out most of the time before I can get hold of them.

Nose:
Shoe polish, leather, the rubber noses of Allstar sneakers and furniture polish. And all that in the first whiff. Nothing bad about that, although I did enjoy the addition of banana, mango and some spicy wood to give it a bit more depth.

Taste:
Sweet and sharp. There is some wood there, something spicy as well and some more wood. Then slight fruitiness and dry sherry. The more feinty scents I got are not overly present on the palate.

Finish:
The finish is spicy with a hint of sweetness. And, in a good way, massive amounts of wood.

A bit of a strange one. It’s definetly a good dram, but it wanders a bit between the overly wooded Japanese character you sometimes get, and a more fruity sherry style. The combination works very well and although I think it lacks a bit of depth on the palate and on the finish that is there on the nose, I think it a dram worthy of seeking out and getting a sample of!

Karuizawa 15, 1992-2007, 60.6%, American Oak Sherry Butt, Cask #3434, Bottled for Whisky Magazine.

Another sample from the Whisky Live bottlings of last year. The strange thing is that I recall ordering these samples a lot longer ago, but apparently I’m wrong about that. I might have to start cataloguing a little bit better…

Evan Williams. A single barrel bottling for the Whisky Live festivals. I think it is a very nice thing that American whiskies are getting into those specific bottlings for events. In the Netherlands, bourbon and American whiskey in general have a long way to go before they can stand in the same light as Scotch. It is still seen as inferior by many. I, of course, strongly disagree.

Nose:
Its full and heavy from the start. Autumnal, with lots of fruit like black cherries and green bananas. Quite some wood scents are present with a crisp spiciness that I find very appealing.

Taste:
Although there is a massive amount of alcohol, it isn’t overly sharp and handles its ABV quite nicely. It has a certain pepperiness with some wood influence. There is fruit again and its a bit more spicy than it was on the nose.

Finish:
The finish is a bit thin, compared to the palate and the nose, but that might be because of the alcohol percentage. A sweet spiciness, like a curry, which really fills every pore in your mouth. Nice!

Another cracker from the Whisky Live bottlings. It has some alcohol and although it doesn’t feel like almost 64%, it does take some getting used to. The flavours are very nice and while there are the benchmark bourbon flavours there, it doesn’t taste ‘standard’ or anything. A very, very good bourbon!

Evan Williams, Single Barrel, Whisky Live, 10yo, cask #4108751, 63.9%

When browsing through my sample shelf and thinking I had to finish off some of those samples finally, I found a nice Highland Park 10 bottled for Whisky Live Belgium 2010, at 59.3%. An original bottling of the Orkney distiller and I thought I was pretty lucky to be able to procure a sample!

Nose:
Sharp and spirity, quite young at first. It does have quite a big nose on it with polishing wax, old furniture. Some over ripe fruit with cinnamon and fruitcake.

Taste:
The flavour is full and sweet, quite sharp in my cheeks but smooth everywhere else. It has spiced hot fruit, with some wood to it and a hint of caramel.

Finish:
The finish is a little more crisp than I expected. Quite long and very complex. Some fudge notes are added to what was already there. Something nutty as well.

This is one cracker of a Highland Park! Its not much like other Highland Parks I remember from the top of my head, but it sure ticks a lot of boxes of the ‘good whisky’ category. I love the complexity, and the complexity of a Highland Park shouldn’t be all too surprising. The biggest surprise came when the spirity note on the nose passed to deliver all those heavy scents. Love it!

Highland Park 10, 2010, 59.3%, Whisky Live Belgium

De Groote Weiver (facebook) is a place where bands come to play and people go to drink beer. It used to be in Krommenie in an old factory building but due to environmental regulations that had to be demolished, and now the bar and venue moved to an building just out of town.

They used to have a beer tasting every month, called ProBieren, but that had been rather silent since the closing of about 5 years ago. Now they started again, and this time the theme was American beers. Of course, I just had to go!

Anderson Valley Amber Ale
A nice beer to start the day with hints of tea, barley and old apples. I quite liked it but I was looking forward to the next one!

Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ IPA
A cracker IPA with a massive bitterness that is not for the faint of heart. People loved it or didn’t like it at all, was my conclusion. Reviewed here.

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA
Slightly burned meat or a cleaned and scrubbed barbecue grill. Barley, malt, slighty too brown potato chips (or crisps). A little bitter but kept in check by the other flavours.

Anchor Old Foghorn Barleywine
A lot of flavours, but a bit too sweet for me. Everything you find in a regular dark brown ale is there, but more intense. Thick malt, almost sirupy, not too hoppy, but not lacking either.

Flying Dog Gonzo Porter
I avoided this one when I bought some Flying Dog brews because I thought I didn’t like the black beers. Apparently, my taste in beer is very season dependent, since now it’s no longer summer I veer towards them more and more. Coffee, some cocoa, roasted malt but quite crisp too. Very good indeed!

A nice afternoon with some beers I already knew, and some new ones too. Liked all of them, loved some of them, which is a very good score! I hope to make it there next month as well!

Although Jock Shaw does about 100 tastings per year, according to an interview in Whisky Etc., I had never seen him live yet. That changed this Friday at a whisky tasting in Haarlem. The tasting was hosted by the people who run Liquid Gold, a whisky specialist in Haarlem and was a gift to the King’s Court Whisky Society, because of their 10 year anniversary. I think I joined that club right in time last spring!

Jock is a jolly Scotsman who does a lot of tastings, almost always accompanied by live folk music and a never ending train of jokes and funny anecdotes. Maybe this sounds a bit corny, but I sure as hell had a lot of fun! You can find more about Jock on www.scotchandfolk.nl.

Great King Street – Compass Box, 43%
Apparently there is 50% Clynelish in this blend, but I don’t remember if that is in the final blend, or 50% of the malt component is Clynelish… Its a cracker dram anyway. First Fill Bourbon and some new oak casks. Sweet on the nose with peardrops, a light wood influence with something waxy (the Clynelish influence). On the palate it had a bit more oomph than I expected with a slight pepperiness, thick and sugary. Vanilla, caramel and something more crisp on the finish. The finish is quite short though.

Laddie Ten, 46%
The first 10 year old from Jock’s favorite distillery and a brand new bottling. A little sharp but burnt toast and creme brulee, and a hint of fruit. The palate is slightly fizzy, not too complex but nice. The finish has that burnt toast hint again with lemondrops and rather short. A nice dram for the € 35 it’ll cost you.

A.D. Rattray 19 yo Blended Batch 1 – Sherry, 55.8%
This blended malt got everyone raving, except me maybe. The nose is very good with quite some sherry influences, wood, caramel and some peach. The palate is fierce and peppery and other spices and the same flavours appear in the finish. Water opens this one up a bit but also makes it too thin for my liking. A nice blended malt, but I thought it a bit too straight forward. The malts in this whisky are Auchentoshan ’91, Balblair ’90, BenRiach ’89 and Bowmore ’91.

Clynelish 17, 1992 – Cadenhead, 56.7%
A very typical Cadenhead whisky. Lightly coloured and not too big on bold flavours. Crisp and a little thick, vanilla and citrus. Reminds me of some great Chardonnays, with a little wax in the mix. The flavour is full, a little sharp with pepper, wax and vanilla. Again full on the finish with some fudge now. Doesn’t handle water all too well, Quite some flavour for a Cadenhead, but it fits their house style nicely. Not overly complex but beautiful flavours nonetheless.

Port Askaig Harbour 19yo – Specialty Drinks Ltd., 45.8%
This one is a little fishy. Salt and smoked eel, with heather and charcoal. The charcoal reminds me of the burnt logs of a beach campfire. A hint of factory smoke too. The palate builds up and opens up nicely. Quite some flavour, but again, rather straight forward. The finish has some wood and vanilla.

Laphroaig 20, 1990-2011, The Perfect Dram with Bresser & Timmer, 53.3%
This being the final whisky of the evening, it had to be drank during the SM game and the highland toast. That means that there were two swallows and it was gone, the first one got everyone teary eyed. The SM (single malt) game means you mouthwash your mouth with a big sip of this Laphroaig for 10 seconds, swallow it in one go and after a few seconds take a deep breath. “No pain, no gain”. The flavours are some iodine, citrus, bonfire wood and smoke with creme brulee and licorice.

This was a terrific night and I was very glad to be able to be part of it, so a big thanks to the guys at the KCWS, Liquid Gold and Jock Shaw himself!

Apart of going to a beer tasting this weekend with (I believe) 5 beers at De Groote Weiver in Wormerveer, I tried quite some beers over the last couple of weeks. I’ll share some short notes. All beers are from the De Molen brewery. I did some posts on them before. This should give you an idea of the sheer range of beers they produce (1, 2, 3) :

Donder & Bliksem – De Molen
More in the line of a regular beer. Crisp and fruity, with a little sharp edge. Quite some hops but for some reason a little boring.

Bed & Breakfast – De Molen
A coffee ale. The colour is nice and orange. The scent and flavour are coffee and beer. It works in some stouts, but this is like you didn’t rinse your cup after having coffee from it this morning. Quite acidic but a very strange combination of tastes. Cold coffee…

Stout & Hop – De Molen
Quite light stout, with a grainy soft flavour. The scent is rather hoppy, especially for a stout. All in all, exactly as the description, but not much more than that. Nice beer though.

VYXXM – De Molen
Bitter and a dark roasted flavour. Chocolate, coffee, thee, cereal, malt. A lot going on! The bitterness is almost perfect and really supports all the other flavours.

Mooi & Meedogenloos – De Molen
Dark with coffee and chocolate. Sweet burnt malt, and not too sharp. Getting crisp and has a sensation of being carbonized. Not too exciting.

Again, some pretty good ones, and some minor ones. I’m still not through their entire range of beers but love to get there eventually.

The autumn is in full swing by now. In the Netherlands it started around half June, just after spring. Autumn means that there will be a lot of whisky events going on around the country, and who would I be if I didn’t visit some of them.

This year I decided not to go to the International Whisky Festival in The Hague. It is getting way too expensive and I don’t want to spend 45 bucks just to get through the door.

I did, however, spend some money on the Masterclasses there. This year they have the option to visit some masterclasses without visiting the festival, which seemed like a good option to me. Bruichladdich with Jim McEwan, Dalmore with Richard Paterson and Four Roses with Hans Offringa. Very much looking forward to those!

Apart from that there still is a whisky tasting tomorrow in Haarlem, with Jock Shaw.

Then of course, there will be a lot of tasting at home, since I still got about 100 samples to get through and the upcoming Bottle-Share will add some to that. This winter will be good!An American beer tasting in De Groote Weiver in Wormerveer.

The annual winter tasting at the Whiskykoning that I’m heading off to in November, and a massive amount of twitter tastings that are coming up.

This winter will be quite warm and good. I hope to visit some cool festival early next year too. Alkmaar, Limburg and Groningen. Maybe even Gent.

Drambuie 15, or Yellow Drink in Gaelic, is a whisky liqueur and a special edition of the well know regular Drambuie. This one is made with 15 year old whiskies, instead of the much younger ones in the regular edition. While not being the most expensive edition of Drambuie, that is, I believe, the Legacy, this is a serious step up, both in flavour and in price.

This one allows for a bit of serious sipping and tasting, because there is a lot more to explore than in the regular one. I tried a sample of this since I was hearing many good stories about it from whisky-friends and regular friends alike!

Tasting notes:
The well known sweetness is present, but the freshness is clearly a more spicy and herbal freshness. While the regular one works on mostly honey notes with some whisky added in, this one does it the other way around. I even pick up some mint. There still is honey of course, but with some black pepper and more woodiness in the mix. The juicy sweetness with a dry hint finishes it all off.

This is pretty good! I wouldn’t say I’d pick this over a regular whisky, but I can see myself drinking this with a cup of coffee as a digestive.

Although its a limited edition, it shouldn’t be too hard to find in a good liquor shop, and it’ll set you back about 45 to 50 euros. I know Drinks & Gifts had some bottles standing around. Oh, and not unimportant, the bottle is a litre.