Malt Fascination

Yesterday, the first Dutch blind twitter tasting took place with 11 other tweeters. It was hosted by Stefan from Gall & Gall Van der Boog, which is a MASSIVE whisky shop in The Netherlands.

We got into a discussion on tasting blind a few weeks ago from which he got the idea to host this tasting. Thankfully I was in time to participate, because he had only 12 spots available!

Whisky Number 1
This one started with lemon curd, creme brulee. It was a very smooth dram and I expected an old Lowlander, or maybe a soft Highlander, but I was as wrong as I could be. The nose, taste and finish were very much in balance. It wasn’t a very complex dram, but the flavours were just damn good. Just a hint of wood. It turned out to be a Bell’s Royal Reserve, bottled in the 80s. Fun fact: There is no ABV on the label!.

Whisky Number 2
Quite some alcohol on the nose, with a hint of peach and some sponge cake. On the palate I thought to get a hint of rubber, old vanilla, caramel and some woodiness. The finish starts of really nice but turns a little bit bitter after a few seconds. Quite fruity. Contrary to what I was thinking (sherry cask and all) it turned out to be a 48 year old North British (single grain whisky) at 47.9%, from a refill bourbon cask! This one was bottled for Gall & Gall van der Boog bottled under the The Perfect Dram label.

Whisky Number 3
This one had one massive off-note. The nose was nasty from the moment I poured it. I couldn’t really pinpoint it. It had some artificial cherry flavouring and something sour. Stefan said balsamic vinegar and he was right. It was a 1989 Lochside, bottled at 21 years old, 48.2% by Old Malt Cask.

Whisky Number 4
After the last one it could only go up. This one was a peat bomb from the first second. Quite floral and perfumed. Lavender, heather, brittle peat. The taste had some saltiness, iodine and tarry ropes. I especially liked the rather strong heathery note. It was another bottle by The Perfect Dram for Gall & Gall Van der Boog at 52.9%. It is a very limited 12yo Laphroaig, only 24 bottles will be available.

In order of preference: Bell’s, Laphroaig, North British, Lochside. I really hated that third dram 😉

About a million years ago I went to a tasting of six Japanese whiskies at De Whiskykoning in Den Bosch. For some reason I completely forgot to blog about it, and that is not doing justice to some of the terrific drams that were poured!

Hakushu 12, 43.5%
A bit of an easy dram. Quite smooth, floral and light. It feels a bit green with leaves and trees and such. Some fruitiness, with spices and cereal later on.

Karuizawa Malt, 40%
The standard edition Karuizawa, apart from the fact that almost nobody stocks it. Its a little dry with dried peaches and European oak. It gets lighter quite quickly. The flavour is somewhat thin but it builds to a rather traditional, but young, sherry matured whisky.

Miyagikyo 15, 45%
Miyagikyo is the distillery that was formerly known  as Sendai and is located in the area that was struck most by the earthquake. Light sherry with lots of fruit, peach, apricot. Also wood spices like nutmet and cinnamon. The taste is slightly alcoholic and less sweet than I expected. A hint of wood before a long finish with not too many new flavours popping up.

Yoichi 20, 52%
Yoichi is one of my favorite ‘distilleries’, if you count the whisky. Unfortunately, I have not been able to visit yet 😉 The nose starts off with soup spices, wood, banana and sweet citrus fruits. Also some burnt caramel. The taste is fierce and dry with tannines, wood, dried orange zests and quite oily. The finish has some cereal and sweet fruit.

Taketsuru 21, 45%
Nikka’s blended malt whisky which recently has won many ‘blended malt whisky of the year’ awards. A hint of alcohol, dry with dusty cereal, straw and pear peels. A rather thin flavour (especially after the Yoichi), quite some wood and almost no sweetness. The finish offers charcoal and singed wood.

No rating, as it was terribly beaten down by the Yoichi. I’ll taste this again someday.

SMWS 119.12 (Yamazaki), 16yo, 54%
The nose starts off with some glue and tannines. Quite bitter as well with wood, anise, wood polish, leather and liquorice. The dry leatheriness continues when tasting this, but some sweet fruits are added. The finish offers wood polish again with sweet citrus fruits and plums.

I’ve recently contacted the supplier of the bottles I ordered for the teeny-tiny Bottle-Share, and the order is still in progress. The importer in the Netherlands has had a slight delay in getting the bottles from the UK. I will contact everyone who participates soon to get things rolling.

Most likely, the samples will be sent out in approximately 2 weeks.

This is not a lowest common deniminator beer.

This is an assertive beer.

We don’t care if you don’t like it.

We do not merely aspire to the proclaimed heady heights of conformity through neutrality and blandness.

It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate the depth, character and quality of this premium craft brewed beer.

You probably don’t even care that this rebellious little beer contains no preservatives or additives and uses only the finest fresh natural ingredients.

Just go back to drinking your mass marketed, bland, cheaply made watered down lager, and close the door behind you.

And with that, new personal heroes of mine were born. This is what it reads on the back label of BrewDog‘s Punk IPA. I was already very interested in IPA, and especially in small batch craft brewing, as I am in small batch craft distilled whisky. BrewDog caught my attention with their off the beaten path style of marketing and lack of subtelty.

Apart from the cool back label, the beer itself is pretty fantastic with mountains of hops in there, a full flavour like I’ve not tasted in ages in a beer. So, go out there and get your hands on some of their stuff.

Will my fandom mean I will love all of their stuff: No. I doubt I will like their porter and stouts, since I don’t really enjoy that style of beer, but it does mean I will try to taste as many as I can, and in case of the Punk IPA, as often as I can!

Also check out their blog and closely related website BeerLeaks!

A while ago I have decided that my whisky collection needs some pruning. I am finishing off a lot of samples lately, as well as emptying some bottles that have been gathering dust for a while.

Apart from those things, I have also decided to sell some of the bottles I have collected over the years to free up some space. Below you will find a list of the bottles available:

I think this list might grow in the future, when I’ve mentally gotten over saying goodbye to certain bottles. I will make a page, just like the sample page, then.

The last untasted whisky from the Bladnoch Bottle-Share. The sixth tasting note in a row for these drams, two of them (the Cambus 24 and the Bladnoch 18) were tasted before and I’m sticking with those reviews and scores!

Nose:
Light and delicate with some hazelnuts and Chili pepper. I get a tiny hint of cheese as well, plus a lot of dried peaches.

Taste:
Sweet with a nice wood influence to it. A little bit dry on the tongue but fruity, soft and tropical. Quite full and unexpected after a rather light nose.

Finish:
The finish is of medium length, with some nuts as in the nose. Polished wooden furniture. Pretty smooth.

This is a dram I like a lot more than I expected. I got a bit sceptical after some rather disappointing dram (the Teaninich and Benrinnes), but this one is nicely balanced, has some complexity and no overpowering notes of alcohol.

Inchgower 28, Bladnoch Forum, 30-6-1982 – 5-8-2010, 50.7%, still available at Master of Malt.

Nose: 8
Taste: 8
Finish: 7
Overal experience: 8
Price/quality: +2

Total: 33 points

Teaninich is another low profile distillery from the Highlands, that produces quite a lot of whisky for blending. There are quite some bottlings available of this distillery, but most of them are from independend bottlers. Of course, there is a Flora & Fauna release.

Nose:
There is a little acidity at first, with some vanilla and the scent barley. Also some green leaves and hay. Quite fierce on the nostrils too.

Taste:
Very light, almost delicate, but with quite the alcohol kick to it. It quickly gains some weight as it becomes more creamy. The alcohol burn reminds me of Italian spirits like some grappa and Sambuca. There a bit of vanilla as well.

Finish:
This has a rather short finish and the more weighty flavours are gone pretty quickly after which the light alcoholic flavours remain.

Another dram that was not as great as I hoped it would be. It had some quality to it, as did some others of this Bottle-Share but in a few cases, I suspect the wood management has not been optimal.

Teaninich 27, Bladnoch Forum, 1-12-1982 – 4-8-2010, 50.7%, no longer available at Bladnoch but Master of Malt has it in stock.

Nose: 6
Taste: 4
Finish: 4
Overal experience: 4
Price/quality: 0

Total: 18 points

The fourth in a row of the Bladnoch Forum Bottle-Share! Balmenach is a rather unknown Speyside distillery of which only a Flora & Fauna release is available. Even independent bottles are hard to find. As far as I know they have recently fired the stills again after being mothballed in 1997.

Nose:
It takes some time for the whisky to really start working. At first I barely got any scents at all, but after a few minutes it came loose. I found it quite nutty with very distinguishable European oak tones. Hazelnut and caramel were the most prominent.

Taste:
Quite fierce with a lot of wood. However, the wood never overpowers the other flavours. Caramel, just a little bitter. I also got grilled banana. How that popped up in my mind, I don’t know.

Finish:
The finish is a little stale, but quite smooth. Soft caramel fudge and toffee.

Quite some nice flavours in this one, but its a little bit one-dimensional. The banana I tasted was a nice surprise but other than that its mostly caramel, toffee and fudge. Nice, although I’d like something more to find.

Balmenach 26, Bladnoch Forum, 14-9-1983 – 12-06-2010, 52.8%, available at the Bladnoch website and distillery.

Nose: 5
Taste: 7
Finish: 5
Overal experience: 6
Price/quality: +1

Total: 24 points

Benrinnes, another rather unknown distillery. There have been some tremendous Benrinnes, which I really liked, from sherry casks. This one could be something very nice! Lets hope it lives up to my expectations!

Nose:
It smells young, and its 25 years old. What’s happening here? Quite some alcohol and I’m getting the idea this was laid down in a third fill sherry butt. I think I smell coriander. Leaf herbs, but still spirity. Some biscuits.

Taste:
Lots of pepper and some biscuits again. A tiny hint of lemon zest. It gets a bit smoother after a while and then a little bit of creamy vanilla pops up. Creme brulee without the caramel.

Finish:
Something that sears your tongue a little at first, and then very smooth. A short finish as well and nothing exciting is happening.

This cask is truly a blenders’ dram in my view. I get the feeling the cask has been reused too often and it had only a little maturing influence on the whisky. Its not a bad whisky, but there is nothing there to remember it by.

Benrinnes 25, 17-10-1984 – 19-8-2010, 51%, available at the Bladnoch webshop and distillery.

Nose: 4
Taste: 5
Finish: 5
Overal experience: 4
Price/quality: 0

Total: 18 points