Malt Fascination

The time is right for another bottle-share, or at least, that’s my opinion! After some deliberation I chose to do one with ‘Malts of Scotland‘ bottlings. Its an independent bottler mainly active in Belgium and therefore rather hard to get in the Netherlands. In shops at least, the internet solves those problems.

The bottles are of course, a guideline. There is always the off chance that some are sold out by the time I will place the order. And, contrary to the last few times, I will only get one set of bottles. To fill up 13 spots is rather easy, but 27 is a hell of a lot more. Plus the work and administration involved is also no small task.

The bottles:

Bunnahabhain 1973, Sherry Butt, 50.2%
Caol Ila 1981, Bourbon Hogshead, 59.8%
Glen Keith 1970, Bourbon Hogshead, 47.9%
Glenallachie 1995, Bourbon Hogshead, 53%
Glenglassaugh 1984, Sherry Butt, 54.7%
Laphroaig 1998, Bourbon Hogshead, 59.6%
Littlemill 1989, Sherry Butt, 52.8%
Macallan 1990, Oloroso Sherry Hogshead, 49.1%
Port Charlotte 2002, Bourbon Hogshead, 64.2%
Tamdhu 1990, Sherry Butt, 49.8%

I really hope they’re still available by the end of the week, when I expect to fill the list of participants. That should be manageable, since there are only two spots left! I emailed previous bottle-sharers last Saturday and the list filled up rather quickly! Not as fast as the Buffalo Trace Antiques, but still pretty fast.

A set of 10 x 5cl samples will set you back € 90, so if you’re enthousiastic, please drop a comment here, on Facebook or Twitter, or in my mailbox!

Last Friday I went to the Whiskykoning in Den Bosch for a rather special Bunnahabhain tasting. He had been saving for a couple of years for this one. Not money-wise, but bottles. There were 4 (!) Feis Isle bottlings and only two regular ones. Very nice things to try, and at a very sharp price at only € 27,50 for such rare whiskies, I was a happy camper!

The first two drams were the regular, but new, 12 and 18 year old.

Bunnahabhain 12, 46.3%
Cinnamon and fudge with some nuts. Rob, the host and owner of the shop, insisted they were hazelnuts. A little sharpness with leather and a massive amount of sherry. What a difference with the old version. New and improved indeed! The palate was a bit more mellow and more thin with a hint of salt and sherry, with a little wood. A medium and dry finish with a little bit of a burnt wood edge. A tremendous improvement over the old version which is (to say it gently) boring as hell.

Bunnahabhain 18, 46.3%
Christmas cake, with those little confit fruit bits in it. Again, quite some sherry and a bit more wood than the 12 year old. A little bit more crisp too, with a hint of glue (not in a bad way) and anise. Caramel and nuts again. The palate gave a bit of a disappointment since it tasted rather thin compared to the full sherried nose. Not bad, just a bit thin. The finish had raisins, some wood and peaches. Warning: This one doesn’t handle water well. A few drops and it just went flat for about half an hour.

Bunnahabhain 14, Feis Ile 2011, Cognac Cask, 59.6%
A LOT of alcohol on the nose with a rather big hint of cognac. Quite like spirit or cheap grappa. The palate was razor sharp and it took about an hour to lose a little edge. Dry with chili peppers and I had a sensation in my mouth like chewing cork. The finish was again sharp and hard, with a hint of salt. Very much not my cup of tea…

Bunnahabhain 14, Feis Ile 2006, Pedro Ximenez Cask, 52.6%
It starts off with candied orange peels. Sherry with heaps of fruit is next. European oak, but wet with sherry. A touch of glue and salt. The palate is full but not too heavy. Slightly drying with leather. The finish is tremendous, with chocolate and marmalade.

Bunnahabhain 16, Feis Ile 2007, Oloroso Cask, 54%
Although I thought it couldn’t get any better during the evening, here was a little Oloroso baby changing that plan! Leather polish, chocolate and oozing caramel. A fresh fruitiness with sweet citrus, like blood orange. That’s just on the nose. The palate is dry and sweet with cocoa and again orange. The finish gives sherry wood, is incredibly long with a fresher variety of Christmas cake.

Bunnahabhain Moine, Feis Ile 2004, Heavily peated, 59.6%
Due to the sherry theme of the evening I wasn’t really looking forward to spoiling my buzz with a peat bomb. This one came along and I just didn’t feel like it at all. I was wrong in that. It has a bit of a chemical creosote scent to it, but in a good way. Although I didn’t think it was a nutty scent, it did remind me of salted peanuts. Crisp with lavender and heater. Even tomato and singed bell peppers. The palate was very sharp with wood, peat and smoke. Rather simple, but not bad at all, for a +/- 7 year old. The finish is incredibly sharp, but not bad either.

Both the sherry casks were, by far, the best drams of the evening, combating for the top spot. In the end I liked the Oloroso just the littlest bit better than the PX cask. Both are top drams, though. The Cognac cask, although I’m sure there are people for it, was one I really didn’t like one bit, and the 18 let me down on the palate and it couldn’t handle water.

Mmm. That Oloroso cask is just soooo good.

Last Friday, a week ago already, I spent the evening with my in-laws. Father, and two brothers. Just before our vacation he ordered some new bottles of whisky and he wanted us all together to open them. I never expected him to keep that promise since that would mean keeping 4 new bottles closed for 6 weeks. Tough one!

Apart from the four tasted below, the evening resulted in tasting a lot more from his whisky cabinet, from Ardbeg Uigeadails to a Port Ellen and Sazerac 18. Not a single bad whisky was had that night!

Glen Garioch 1991-2011 (20yo) 54.4% Ex bourbon hh – The Whisky Agency
Heaps of liquorice at first with a hint of smoke. Floral with a defined honey undertone. The palate was more or less the same but with a little citrus added and a bit more smooth.

The Glen Garioch reminded my father in law of a Bladnoch by G&M he had sitting around, so we had to taste that one in between. It did taste alike, but the Bladnoch was much more fruity.

Ardmore 1992-2011 (19yo) 49.9% – Liquid Sun
Salty with wood, vanilla a little bit of charcoal Some minor spice note. On the palate it didn’t develop much and a bit of water did’nt help either. Not bad, just a tad dull, maybe.

Tomatin 1976-2011 (34yo) 51.9% – Liquid Sun
A lot less sweet than I expected. Lots of sherry though, with quite a lot of wood. It reminded me of those really big chocolate bars with dry raisins from Aldi supermarkets. The raisins weren’t too sweet in those. Some hazelnuts. After a while I got a strong hint of red cinnamon. Most certainly the most kick-ass dram of the four tasting.

Caol Ila 1984-2010 (26yo) 59% – Liquid Library 
Lots of smoke and wood. Some leafy garden herbs and a little pickled ginger. Fiery black pepper, quite fierce on the palate and again some wood. Never too overpowering in any aspect, and certainly a lot better than older Caol Ilas I’ve had over the last couple of years.

The big winner was the Tomatin. The Caol Ila was a surprise too but just missed the top spot. The first two weren’t bad, although they both could have done with a bit more development on the palate.

The Beer Temple is an American Beer Bar in Amsterdam. I had never heard about them until last week when an old friend invited me to join him for a couple of brews. We hadn’t talked in over a year so it was a terrific time to catch up on old stories.

Rolf is a bigger beer addict than I am could guide me through quite a few of the beers and give me a couple of tips here and there. The selection is massive with 20 beers on tap, and dozens more in bottles. Varying from loads of American IPAs, stouts and other ales to some non-Americans by BrewDog, Minerva and even some special Duvels.

I didn’t make any notes, so this is from the top of my head:

Rogue – Yellow Snow IPA
A very bitter IPA, with heaps of hops and quite some maltiness. I remember it getting more bitter near the end of the glass, or I got more attuned to drinking beer.

Nøgne ø – Imperial Stout
My first Norse beer. While it was oozing out of the tap, I expected a very thick and cloying stout, but that turned different. Quite a crisp one with some gentle notes of espresso and roasted malt.

Flying Dog – Raging Bitch Unfiltered 2010
Big on grapefruit, as expected. This is still a terrific beer, but I do find that I’ve been getting used to more different brews. This one could have been a bit more challenging.

Read the more elaborate review!

Minerva – Stout Imperial
A Mexican stout, in the same flavour area of the Nøgne ø, but somehow not as good. Still good, just not AS good.

Mikkeller – Texas Ranger
A porter with chili peppers. It was quiet a spicy beer with the chili playing a quite prominent role. It wasn’t overpowering which is a good thing. Quiet fun to try this one!

I was a happy camper when leaving the bar. Luckily I came to Amsterdam by train, since, obviously, driving was out of the question yesterday. I never planned to drink 5 beers, but there was too much available to go home after one or two (or three or four)!

We went a little out of our way to visit Chico, California. The fact that the recommended motel in the Lonely Planet had a pool helped, but the main reason was the Sierra Nevada Brewery. I only knew their Pale Ale, but there had to be more where that came from!

Arriving at the brewery at dinner time, we decided to wait at the bar having some tasters before having dinner in the restaurant. I ordered the ‘sampler plate’ and was kind of surprised to receive 16 (sixteen) small glasses of beer for only $12! Me happy!

I tasted in order on the tray, so that might wrong or right. I liked it!

Vienna Lager
Bread, malt, quite stale and a little dull. A recreation of old style vienna lager, but apparently, that’s not my style!

Estate Homegrown Ale
Grapefruit, cereal and a likeness to the Raging Bitch by Flying Dog. Crisp and quite bitter.

Blonde Ale
Very crisp, but apart from that a rather boring beer. A little herbal but mainly rather dull.

Hopsichord
Fruit and hops! It reminds me of BrewDog’s Trashy Blonde, and I like that. Enough bitterness to keep me satisfied but its never overpowering the fruit.

Ovila Saison
A triple style seasonal ale. Acidic, like a whisky mash. Very tasty and the finish is mostly acidic again.

Bad Luck Blonde
Rather flat on the nose and very easy going. Somewhat floral and slightly fruity on the palate. As the blonde ale, not much happening.

Old Chico Crystal Wheat
A white beer style brew, but more clear and slightly more acidic. A little hint of citrus and maybe basil and other leaf herbs.

Tumbler
This one smells like a celler with wooden casks of beer. Smooth but with a certain spicyness and fierceness.

Kellerweis
Somewhat acidic on the nose, but the flavour is very nice. Smooth and filled with spices. Definetly like the German Weizens.

Oktoberfest
Rather neutral on the nose. The flavour is a bit sweet and stout-y at first. It gets better and more bitter. The finish goes back to the sweetness.

Torpedo IPA
WOW! Bitter to the brink of being too much. Grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Also some passion fruits. IPA to the max!

Bigfoot
This barleywine has got it all! Fruit, hops, malt and all in balance. I really, really loved this!

Draught
Reminds me of Citra hops, but in a regular beer…

Pale Ale
I knew this one, and drank a lot of it this vacation. Its good, and a dangerously easy drinker. Close to the same level of the Punk IPA, but a little more mainstream.

Porter
Malt, milk chocolate and much lighter than the next one.

Stout
Thick and sweet, with lots of roasted malt. Some coffee too.

As you notice, this was a highly varied visit to a very big craft brewery. They have long ago stopped being qualified as a micro brewery, since they’ve grown quite big. What is cool, however, is the sheep in the hop fields and the craft feel that it has to it. A lot of different styles of beer, with many different results. The fact that in the afternoon it was over a 100 F/40 C didn’t helps the dark beers, but it did the hoppy, bitter ones a bit. Good stuff! If you’re around, go there!

I wasn’t planning on going to the Potstill festival this year, since it would be only two days after returning from our USA travels. But, as I could have expected, just before the vacation started I decided to get myself and JP a ticket after all!

The Potstill Festival is held in Amersfoort every year by liqour specialist / importer / bottler Van Wees. They bottle their own range of whiskies as The Ultimate series and since a few weeks they have some rums available as well. Apart from bottling they import quite a few brands varying from Amrut, Gordon & MacPhail to Signatory and Arran. Apart from that there is a whole list of rums, grappas, calvados’ and such. One of the best things about the festival is that nothing of what you taste costs you anything extra. Quite dangerous too!

I decided before I went that I wouldn’t limit myself to whisk(e)y alone this time, since I’ve come to realize through various tastings that some rums and other distillates can be quite spectacular too.

Take in mind that all these drams were shared by two people, and the drams poured were very small. I tasted a lot but drank very little. There are a LOT of notes, though…

Here’s what I found:

Grappa: Villa de Varda Pinot Grigio
The first grappa I enjoyed! Brandy with a whiff of alcohol that dissipates after a short while and displays more fruity tones then too. Light, crisp and fruity, with some sugar and raisins. Thanks to Robin Brilleman for recommending this one!

Liqueur: Villa de Varda Limoncell0
Well, lemon. A nice drink, but not complex or anything. Just massive amounts of lime. Exactly as expected and how it should be.

Whisky: Sullivan’s Cove Bourbon Cask
Lots of vanilla and wood, spicy but fairly closed and compact. The taste has quite some vanilla as well as clove and cinnamon.

Whisky: Sullivan’s Cove Port Cask 
Quite fruity due to the Port Cask I guess. Nutty, like a tawny port. In the finish is displays some fire. Not my kind of dram, as most port casks.

Rum: Zuidam White Rum!
Brand spanking new and the first Dutch rum ever. Maybe even the first rum from the European mainland. Not too much molasse, but fruity and tropical. Very smooth.

Whisky: Millstone French Oak 
Fruity and malty. Quite gentle and better than I expected after tasting the American Oak a while ago. Very light with some burn in the finish.

Whisky: Millstone peated
Not overly peated, but the peat that is there is quite heavy. Iodine, wood, cereal and in the finish some spice. Unfortunately also some cardboard but not too bad.

Calvados: Chateau de Breuil 20 yo
My first Calvados in a long time. I have tasted their 15 year old and some others as well, but this one is very good. Gentle with massive amounts of apple. A hint of flowers is present as well with some wood in the background. This was the best dram I had at the festival.

Liqueur: Zuidam Orange Likeur 
The liquid form of Lu’s Pims cookies, minus the chocolate.

Whisky: Gordon & MacPhail Ardmore 1992 Cask Strength
Dry, cereal, some peat but not too much. Nothing special.

Whisky: Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 1997 Connoisseurs Choice 43%
Heaps of malt, peat, malt, something sweet in the background and malt.

Whisky: The Ultimate Glencadam 1972, 46%
Quite malty for its age, with wood, some chalkiness and something tingling. A slight acidity and increasing fruitiness over time. A bit of a weird flavour that I couldn’t pin down too. Not bad, but at this age I expected something more. From The Ultimate’s Old & Rare range (with a Glenf…, Linlithgow and a Dallas Dhu), this is the least appealing. Still not bad though.

WhiskEy: Jefferson’s Reserve Presidential Select 17yo
Fruity and light, with a hint of hobby glue that only makes it more exciting. Not too sweet and a hint of cigars. A very calm and relaxing dram with some wood and pepper rounding it off into a full, but somewhat dry finish.

WhiskEy: Willett Pot Still bourbon
Lots of spices with quite some pepper. The corn is prominent. A full body and in the finish some red forest fruits.

Whisky: Gordon & MacPhail Reserve Imperial 1997-2011 53.6%
On the nose this one displays quite a bit of fruit. Some citrus fruits, but on the sweet side. The taste is rather fierce but also slightly cloying in its sweetness. The finish is more spicy.

Whisky: Gordon & MacPhail Reserve Caol Ila 1999-2011 60.5%
Malty at first but it becomes sweeter quite quickly. Some dryness and vanilla.

Whisky: Amrut 2 Continents 2011
Lots of ripe tropical fruits, banana, papaya. Also some musty malt.

Whisky: Amrut
This is a lot more spirity, although the only difference between this and the previous one is some maturation in Scotland and 4% abv. Coffee notes as well.

Rum: Cockspur 12
Enormous body, heaps of flavour. Sweet spices, cinnamon, molasse. Very tropical…

Absinthe: I don’t know which one
Crap absinthe. Cheap stuff. The producer has more gimmicks than taste apparently. In one bottle there was a small scorpion, in the other a locust.

Whisky: Signatory Glen Mhor 1-9-1982 – 6-4-2010 27yo 55%
Sweet and heavy. Quite sharp and dry with garden herbs, some vanilla and some wood. The finish is very nice, quite crisp and some sharp spices.

Whisky: Signatory Glen Grant 1992-2010
Very thick, very heavy and wintry. Sweet and fruity with wood and banana. Stewed pears with a long finish.

Whisky: Arran 12 Cask Strength
A very present sherry cask I think (although I am known for getting this wrong). Nutty, European oak. Fruity and dry on the palate with raisins and some wood spices. The finish isn’t too spectacular.

Whisky: Arran Sleeping Warrior 
Wine grapes. Lots of them. The wine finish is VERY clear. Quite sweet and still rather sharp. There is a hint of saltiness and nuts too.

Whisky: Akashi White Oak 5yo 45%
A very young Japanese whisky. Nice but not spectacular. It does have some maturity to it, for a five year old. Wet wood, spicy, vanilla. It all is a little thin though.

Whisky: Kornog ‘whisky breton’
A peated French whisky that displays a heavy palate with peaty and earthy notes. Rather gentle though.

A bit of a strange festival. I might have had a slow start on my palate since I hadn’t had any proper drams for a few weeks, but most of the whiskies just didn’t do it for me. The best dram was a Calvados and there were quite some nice rums present. Some just nice and not memorable or spectacular.

Very varied tasting notes, and maybe a bit judgemental. I think I had to become more strict in my ratings, with all the 4 and 5 stars flying around on the blog. I had a bit of mixed feelings in the end. I had a great time, but mostly because of the company and meeting heaps of people I know, talking to distillers and such. Some drams did it for me, but most of them were only so, so.

Another beer review, and a special one in anyone’s book. My e-friend Frank Lieck sent me a bottle of this to promote something local from Dusseldorf, Germany. An Altbier (old beer) from a local brewery, and the beer is Thomas Magnum’s favorite.

If I disregard some details, Altbier is more or less the German version of English Pale Ale, but due to extensive lagering and top fermenting yeast, it leaves a cleaner and crisper beer than the more cloudy Pale Ale.

The Uerige brewery in Dusseldorf is located in the city center and has been running for 150 years in 2012. I guess that means Dusseldorf moved up a few notches on the wishlist for 2012! According to their website they even distill some of their products into a Single Malt Whisky. On one hand such notes make me both enthousiastic and fearful since I’ve tasted some really bad ‘whiskies’ from breweries.

Short tasting notes:
Its pretty heavy for a pale ale. Not so much in alcohol but the taste is firmer and less light than some IPAs. There is a certain spiciness with a hint of coffee present. The hops are present, but not in their millions, it is a slightly bitter beer with a rather well balanced flavour profile.

While this all sounds very dry and statistical, it is a very good beer. It is a very good variety on the Pale Ales I’ve been tasting over the last couple of months and a variety in a good way. Enough diversity to stand out, and enough flavour to back that up!

It keeps a nice middle ground between the more heavy porters and stouts by keeping some of the spicy and roasted flavours, but keeping the crisp and fresh palate of the Pale Ales and India Pale Ales. Oh, and dangerously drinkable.

The Valinch is the steel pipette with which whisky is dram from casks. In this case, they called the newest limited edition Auchentoshan the same, since it is straight from the cask into to the bottle. No tampering, no watering down, no coloring and such. That is rather promising, since there aren’t that many OB’s from Lowlands distillers at Cask Strength. Mainly because there aren’t that many Lowlands distillers…

Nose:
Quite some cereal and alcohol burn on the nose. After come the more typical Auchentoshan notes like apple and citrus, and a hint of dry and dusty grains.

Taste:
The taste starts out with quite a kick as soon as you sip it. Its pretty dry with old corky apple. It becomes a bit more full bodied and sweet after a little while.

A very typical and good representative for the Lowlands style, although it is different enough to stand out. I was quite afraid at first that the Cask Strength was too much for this ‘Auchie’, but after the initial burn on the nose, palate and finish it becomes much more full bodied, richer and shows more of its flavours. A very nice dram, and especially so at € 40, although I don’t know if its interesting enough to keep you hooked for the entire 70cl.

This sherried beauty was a gift from my wife to celebrate that she didn’t have to bug me with school stuff anymore. She gave ME a present when she graduated. How cool is that?

I still have a little bit of this one sitting in the bottle and I only drink a dram of it when I am very much in the mood for a nice and relaxing night on the couch. No quick dramming from this one!

Nose:
Even far from the glass you start getting sherry notes after a few seconds. Incredibly aromatic whisky, this is. Full and sweet, but not thick or cloying at all. The 55.5% keeps the sweetness nicely in check. Clove and other woodspices are prevalent, but the woodiness is almost overpowering. Black cherries and other dark fruits too.

Taste:
Its very fierce at first. Much more powerful than I expected from a 31 year old. Chili pepper, some fruit and not much alcohol in the flavour. That is a good thing. At first it might be a bit thin, but it gets a bit more rounded when you let it swim for a few seconds. Lots of wood, but after the spices and woodiness in the nose, that is no surprise, though. Not too much, luckily!

Finish:
The finish is unexpectedly smooth. Full and sweet as the nose with a more creamy mouthfeel to it. Dried prunes and other fruits.

Wow. This is a terrific dram with massive sherry influences. It is woody enough to pass as a Japanese whisky, and has enough sherry to make a bodega proud. The whisky is always standing up to it without letting the wood or the sherry win at any point. One of the best thing in my cupboard.

I once thought this was a heavily colored dram, as you can read in the comments at whiskybase. Now I know better, but can you really blame me? Its as dark as coffee! The price has gone up over the last couple of years, but at € 180 its still very much worth it!

Benrinnes 31, 16-05-1975 – 19-10-2006, 55.5%, about € 180