Vintage Bourbon 25, 1976-2001, 43%

Posted on 12 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Old Bourbon is not a common thing anymore. At least, not until you start shelling out thousands of bucks on a bottle. The same goes for Scotch, but to a slightly lesser degree. So when Nils sent me a sample of this 25 year old one I was quite thrilled. It has been ages since I tasted anything this old.

The last time things like this were available in any sort of normal way was when I was travelling the USA with my wife in 2011. More recently I was in Chicago (about half a year ago) and picked up some awesome stuff too, but over 20 years old is not something you encounter on regular store shelves.

Image from Whiskybase

Like the other ‘Vintage Bourbon’, the 17 years old, it was released by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers. A company that used to distill until 1980, and then started again in 2012. Contrary to that 17 years old, this one could have been made at their own distillery, but I doubt it. Mostly because their Willett distillery used to release whiskies of similar age under their own label. Most likely, this is a whisky they bought, and possibly blended from several different distilleries.

In the end, that doesn’t really matter, since it’s the released product that counts. So, let’s review that!

Sniff:
A bourbon with gravitas. It’s old and rich with leather and oak. There’s not too much sweetness, although it’s not overly dry either. There’s some nuttiness, dark cherries, very classical.

Sip:
There’s a nutty bitterness with hints of walnut and almond. Dark cherries, old casks and a hint of popcorn. Dry autumn leaves, charcoal and oak.

Swallow:
The finish continues down the same route and brings a bit of a black pepper bite. Quite long with lovely hints of dark cherries, almonds and walnuts. Oak and salty popcorn too.

It’s a lovely and complex bourbon. Lots of flavors and layers to peel back and give time to. The only thing that might make this a bit better is a slightly higher ABV, since it’s a bit too low impact on that front. Real, old fashioned bourbon with lots of oak and cherries. Awesome!

90/100

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Lagavulin 13, Feis Ile 2021, High Char Port Finish, 56.1%

Posted on 11 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another one I dug up from the sample shelf recently. I’ve been putting it of to review this one, mostly because I wanted to give it proper time and attention. This high regard I have for Lagavulins bottled from Feis Ile is rooted in the fact that a decade ago it was ridiculously hard to get them and they were extremely sought after.

For this one, the outturn of the bottling is at 6000 bottles and even after two years they’ve only gone up to about € 250. Quite different from the much smaller outturns from yonder year where prices would soar to almost quadruple that in just a few days.

Image from Whiskybase

I guess that’s a good thing. On the other hand, the quality is a bit less spectacular than it was in those days, but with Lagavulin even lesser quality generally equals great whisky. Let’s find out!

Sniff:
While it very much is a Lagavulin, it is a bit more sooty, and a bit lighter. So, more soot and less earthy notes. Very smoky though! Brine, tar, marram grass and a hint of ‘just blown out candles’.

Sip:
The palate continues the somewhat lighter and smoky combination of the nose. There is that earthy flavor, damp soil and mulchy forest floor that I associate with the distillery.

Swallow:
The finish is surprisingly fiery, with the cask strength abv kicking in. Less earthy, more smoke and marram grass.

Very solid Lagavulin in all respects. I do feel like the heavy charring is more noticeable than the port cask. As in, I tried it without looking up specifics and hadn’t noticed it. There’s more sooty and charry notes than regular releases, and the generally funky notes from port casks are not really present. But, with how port casks generally go, I’m quite happy for it.

Very good stuff indeed!

89/100

Prices vary wildly, with the UK being significantly cheaper than the EU. Check for secondary market prices on Whiskybase.

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Balcones 3, 2017-2021, Cask 19264, 62.9% – Archives

Posted on 10 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I finally got to try the Balcones from Archives that sold out in about 12 minutes when it came online. I think the Texas distillery is doing some very interesting stuff, and has been doing that for quite a while.

Image from Whiskybase

As it turns out, it was part of a tasting of American Single Malt whiskies by Norbert/Whisky4All that I joined in June 2021. However, my wife was ill that day and I had to entertain the kids during the Sunday afternoon scheduled for it. “And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost“.

When packing for our holiday to Zeeland last week, I randomly packed a box of samples that I hadn’t opened for a year or so and some interesting stuff resurfaced. Among the samples were the seven wee bottles for the tasting and I decided to give them a go, in the sun, in the afternoon, on holiday. Sounds like a recipe for success to me!

Let’s see what I missed on several occasions. A side note: This one was tasted blind.

Sniff:
A very oak forward nose, with a slightly metallic scent behind it. Some dried fruit, not unlike dates and plums like you get from European oak.

Sip:
Quite a lot of chili heat, with alcohol bite too. Oak, iron filings, dates and almonds. Cedar, a bit of sulfur.

Swallow:
The finish shows a bit more youthfulness, but still packs a lot of flavor. Very European in style regarding the wood.

86/100

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Bunnahabhain 33, 1980-2013, Bourbon Barrel, 45% – James MacArthur

Posted on 9 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

It’s been a minute since I tasted something new of a vintage like this! With older stocks depleting, older vintages become more rare as we go. Of course, that has always been the case, but I think in the future older vintages are going to be ever more rare than they are now, since the younger stocks are being sold rapidly too.

Of course, even if older stocks were still regularly released, they’d have to be a bit cheaper than they currently are for me. I’m generally not in the business of shelling out a thousand bucks for a 25 year old whisky. Or any whisky, for that matter.

Image from Whiskybase

Anyway, a bottling from the Fine Malt Selection by James MacArthur, from a decade ago. I’m not even sure if they still are in business because Googling the brand name doesn’t really show much from an official website. And according to Whiskybase, the last bottling was from 2017. At least, the last one with a bottling year filled out.

Older Bunnahabhain tends to be pretty awesome, so let’s not dawdle any longer and get to it!

Sniff:
Old barley, dry autumn leaves, a bit of a coastal salinity. All in all, quite a mature dram. Dried apples, hints of hay. Slightly cigar-y too.

Sip:
The palate, surprisingly, has notes of dried fruits like dates and plums, on top of the apple that was there before. A dry bite with hints of pepper, straw and salinity.

Swallow:
The finish holds the middle between the nose and the palate. There’s the dried fruit notes, as well as the straw, but also the leafy, cigar like note. Quite dry indeed but with a hint of burnt butter.

Very complex with lots of layers to be peeled back. This is more or less exactly what older Bunnahabhain is known for, and this bottling does it very well. I love that the spirit is still noticeable after 33 years, so it’s not just the cask that you’re tasting! Great stuff!

90/100

Thanks to LF for the sample!

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Thalassa Whisky 10, 2011-2022, 55% – King Cask

Posted on 8 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

But wait, wasn’t this reviewed already?

Image from Whiskybase

Yes it is. Correct. However, this is a whisky that was ‘dynamically aged’ on the Thalassa, sailing across the Atlantic a couple of times before being bottled in Terschelling.

Joris, of Dam Dranken on Terschelling gave me a sample of the original whisky as it was before some extra maturation at sea. A great way of comparing between boat-aging and just plain old warehouse aging!

Sniff:
A very heavy nose with quite a young character. Alcohol heat, porridge. Very spirity with an almost eau-de-vie quality to it. After a little while there are more notes of barley and shortbread.

Sip:
Very young and spirity on the palate too. It is quite hot with a lot of chili pepper and alcohol. Porridge, fudge, lots of oats and barley. There’s some oak, but it’s rather green all in all.

Swallow:
The finish is still hot. Far more hot than I would have expected and that’s something new. Slightly iron-y, but mostly alcohol spirit and a whiff of grains.

I quite liked the finished product, but this one is a different story. The extra aging really added some smoothing of the spirit, and imparted quite a bit of oak flavor to the whisky. It’s miraculous how this one tastes too young and spirity, and the final bottled version is very different. Great too compare!

80/100

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Springbank 11, 2011-2022, Local Barley, 55.1%

Posted on 5 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

With it being Liberation Day in the Netherlands, I decided to liberate the last of my sample of this from its bottle. I was lucky enough to do a bottle-share with this, after winning a ballot for it at AceDrinks. Of course, unlike many slightly more expensive shares, this one filled up really fast.

This is the first Local Barley release that also contains a bit of rum matured whisky in it. Before it was mostly Bourbon, with an occasional Sherry side step. The barley for this version came from Glencraigs farm and was made from the Belgravia strain. None of these things are new, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a thing.

Image from Whiskybase

I tried to keep my fanaticism in check when tasting this. Just to get to a more accurate rating instead of being simply too enthusiastic about the new Local Barley release existing, and being available.

Sniff:
Funky spirit with quite a bite. There’s a sweetness that’s new to the series. A syrupy sweetness with sugary fruit. A mountain of straw and barley.

Sip:
Barley, straw, coastal salinity. Hessian, old paper and wet attics. Sugary fruit, boiled candy. A whiff of oily smoke too.

Swallow:
A funky finish, lots of salinity, lots of barley. Not overly long, but intense. A bit of oily smoke too.

At first I was pretty thrilled with this one. The very straight forward approach of very clean Springbank with a huge focus on the barley. Then, I started doubting whether it was actually that good and if I wasn’t being blinded by my enthusiasm.

Luckily, there was something left in the bottle and I sat down to drink that too, the day after the initial tasting. I gave it a lot of wiggle room, with me drinking a glass in the sun, when lighting the barbecue. Then, at night, when doing something else. And the conclusion is that I wasn’t too enthusiastic. This is absolutely gorgeous whisky.

90/100

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Longrow 15, Oloroso Hogsheads, 56.2% – Open Day 2022

Posted on 3 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I’m glad this one only had a Whiskybase number on the side of the bottle instead of a full label. That would have caused much more anticipation and maybe would have been suggestive in to what to expect.

Of course, even though this sample hasn’t been on the shelf for a year, I don’t remember where it came from. Of course, I can make some guesses, but just be safe and not credit the wrong person by accident.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Fresh and fruity sherry, almonds and peaches. Dates too, but without being overly sweet and rich.

Sip:
The palate has a bit of bite like chili peppers. A bit of oak, lots of peaches, apricots, dates. A grainy dryness behind that, with old warehouses.

Swallow:
Very classical sherry on the finish. Lots of depth, with even hints of leather and raisins being added to it. Quite gentle, but also quite deep.

I did not pick up on the peat at all until I noticed it was a Longrow. It is way more an earthy note than a smoky one. Of course, the sherry is quite noticeable, and it still makes for a great dram. With past experiences of blind tasting competitions, I’ve noticed that sometimes the peatiness of a dram can change a bit when sampled. I have no explanation for this, but a couple of years ago I, and a lot of others, didn’t recognize a Lagavulin because the smoke had turned into a certain earthiness.

Anyway… Very, very good whisky. Interestingly earthy with lots of sherry goodness.

89/100

Still available in the secondary market for about € 120. That seems quite affordable until you realize that that is for 20cl.

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Teeling 23, 1998-2022, Rum Cask 100040, 49.3% – Hand-Filled at the Distillery

Posted on 2 May 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Hot on the heels of Michiel Wigman’s Teeling single cask there is another one. My friend Tom van Engelen visited Dublin recently, and brought back this single cask from the distillery. A rum cask, of no less than 23 years old!

Image from Whiskybase

I was a bit skeptical about this since Irish whisky already tends to be on the sweet side, especially older versions. Add to that the sweetness that rum casks can (but not always do) impart. This might just be sweetness overload. But, of course, never scoff a thing before trying it, in case of whisky at least.

Sniff:
Surprisingly spirity with clear notes of the sweet graininess that is Irish whisky, and also a molasses funkiness of rum. So, not an insignificant cask influence. Lots of green malt and unripe pears too.

Sip:
A sharp but light palate with lots of fresh barley, grass and sugar cane. The bite is quite typical for rum, in a very surprising way. Oak shavings, molasses, pears, apples, and a grape seed bitterness.

Swallow:
The finish shows a bit more sweetness, a bit more rum and molasses. Creamy caramel, green malt, and orchard fruits

After the recent White Wine cask, it seems Teeling carries casks very well. I’m liking this more than I expected. The sweetness of the rum is present, but the spirit handles it very well so it really turns out to be a combination of the spirit and the cask.

89/100

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Teeling 19, White Wine Finish, 56% – OB for Michiel Wigman

Posted on 28 April 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer
Image from Whiskybase

Contrary to almost all bottlings by Michiel Wigman, this is an official bottling done for him, instead of an indie bottling done by the man himself. To stay in line with the whisky icons of the ‘They Inspired III’ series, this one shows Jon Beach on the back label.

One of the legends that I actually know a bit better after spending quite some nights (and money) at Fiddler’s in Drumnadrochit. Of course, there was also Maltstock a few times, and random shenanigans on the way there and back.

Unfortunately, it has been a couple of years since I’ve been over there. I’ve been to Scotland, just not in the vicinity of Loch Ness, except for once when Jon wasn’t home.

Anyway, the whisky then. A decent age, and a cask that I would normally not go for. Wine casks are a bit too unpredictable. However, with Michiel doing the selection, a few hurdles have already been taken. Let’s dive in!

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
It’s definitely Irish in style, but the wine casks adds a crisp note. A wine gum like sweetness on top of oatmeal porridge. Pear drops too.

Sip:
The palate is initially quite gentle, but does add a bit of bite after a couple of seconds. There’s sweetness here too, but far from the wine gum style on the palate. More like grapes, pineapples on syrup. A twig like bitterness is there to keep it all well balanced.

Swallow:
A long finish that builds on the palate with a note of pastry, and gives more of a sweeter wine and grape note too.

Well balanced and lots of lovely flavors to discover. With both the wine and the Irish style adding a bit of sweetness, the bitter note on the palate is very well countered. Lovely stuff indeed, one for the wish list!

89/100

Available from Dutch Whisky Connection for € 195

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Pure Kentucky 17, 1983-2000, Batch 00-70, 53.5%

Posted on 26 April 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

A very old bourbon indeed, both in the way that it is 17 years old, which is very old for an American whisky, and that it was distilled 40 years ago. Bottled before we even had Euros.

I got a wee sample of this recently from buddy Nils, and decided to not wait a long time before trying it. I still have the plan to get through all my samples this year. It’s not going well so far, of course.

Anyway, again, this one was bottled by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, which means that it was sourced from another distillery and they blended and bottled it. They didn’t have a distillery in 1983, after all. Interestingly, this isn’t something you have to be overly clear about in America. So, if you want to try something from a specific distillery and not from a bottler that sourced its spirit, you’ll have to do a bit of research with some brands.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Quite intense at cask strength-ish (I assume) with a lot of age behind it. Not old, just mature. Dry leaves, oak shavings and a minty freshness.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of a punch with an interesting combination of sweetness and dry notes. A chili peppery heat comes right after, with oak shavings and fresh black pepper. Cherry syrup, some hazelnuts, old popcorn.

Swallow:
The finish reignites a little bit, but mostly just leaves a bit of a nice heat. A very long finish that leaves me warm and smiling.

I am always a bit apprehensive with older bourbons like this. Not all American whisky ages well and they tend to go bitter after too much time in oak. Of course, I like bitter notes, but not when they’re overpowering everything else. Luckily that’s not the case here.

It’s a lovely and mature bourbon with lots of autumnal notes. It really makes me think of sitting on a porch in September, when the leaves have just started to turn. Now, how to get a porch, and enough trees for that? (My wife would suggest buying less whisky, for starters…)

89/100

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