Bruichladdich 12, 2008-2021, Barrel 1710, 59.6% – Archives for the Whiskybase Shop

Posted on 9 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

After last week’s Islay theme, I wanted to do an Archives theme this week. As in, not necessarily Archives, but things from Whiskybase, since they also release stuff under that label. I guess a transition should be done by doing an Archives bottling, for the Whiskybase shop, from an Islay distillery. Ticks all the boxes, right?

This Bruichladdich was advertised last year as a love-it-or-hate-it whisky, and not for people who like middle of the road stuff. Said to be an old fashioned Bruichladdich, it could go either way, but with Archives/Whiskybase selecting the cask I knew it wasn’t going to be shit. Or at least I had high hopes, since they’ve not really let me down as far as I remember.

Interestingly it didn’t sell out quickly in the shop, and was made available online for a little while. Not a clue if it went quickly, but I do know I was in time to get myself a bottle. A part of it was shared with friends, and now I’m slowly going through the last quarter of it. Yesterday I finally sat down to write a proper review.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Floral and grassy, with a certain milkshake-y touch. Milk, weeds, violets, but not perfumy. Hints of chalk and licorice (schoolkrijtjes) and those candy hearts with text on them. However, not overly sweet.

Sip:
A fairly gentle arrival before the alcohol really kicks in. Lots of heat from a mountain of white pepper. Dry sawdust, candy hearts, icing sugar, violets and milkshakes. Apparently it’s that sherbet thing.

Swallow:
The finish becomes a bit more fruity, but also shows strange notes of iron and copper. Milkshake, blood orange sorbet, candy hearts, oak shavings.

Drops a point on the finish with that iron and copper note that I can’t really wrap my mind around. However, it definitely is one of the more interesting whiskies I’ve tried in a while. It’s a unique character that rubs against the perfumy notes of 1980s Bowmore, but doesn’t go into laundry detergent territory.

And therefore, I think this is a great pick. Highly enjoyable and it really ‘adds’ something to my collection. It’s the one whisky that gives me these tasting notes, and that makes it awesome.

89/100

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Ardbeg Traigh Bhan, Batch 1, 19yo, 2000-2019, 46.2%

Posted on 6 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Older Ardbeg isn’t exactly as rare as you’d expect it to be. And, compared to quite some other distilleries, it’s not even that ridiculously priced. Of course, it’s expensive, but at approximately 20 years old, they tend to clock in at € 250. A lot of money but I don’t think I can get a Lagavulin, Bowmore of Bunnahabhain for that money.

For this one, I paid slightly less, about a year and a half ago when holidaying in France. In a (to me) random little town in Brittany I found a decent bottle shop where I hoped to get some craft beers. They had those, but less than advertised. What they also had was a lot of Ardbeg. They turned out to be an Ardbeg Embassy, which meant a lot was available.

I picked up this one, and some beers, and some apple based distillates (when in Rome…). Oh, they also had a deli, so some cheese, sausages, patés and bread as well. If I remember correctly, that was a pretty decent afternoon at our camping spot!

Anyway, this 19 year old Ardbeg then. Matured in American Oak and Oloroso Sherry Casks. All kinds of batch numbers and bottle code information is available, but ‘batch 1’ will do. Let’s dive in!

Sniff:
A crisp but gentle coastal nose. Marram grass and fishing boats. Sea breeze and sand, with a slight salinity. Quite different from the Laphroaig. Also, the silky smokiness really works wonders.

Sip:
The palate continues largely down the same line, but does add a whiff of freshly cracked black pepper. There is some apple like bitterness, coastal salinity. The coastal notes are slightly fishy too. As in, it is a bit like you’re at the sea side near some fishing boats. Crisp and bright.

Swallow:
The finish has a bit more sharpness. It is still bright, but the bit of heat brings a bit more warmth and richness too. Quite a long finish true to the character of the island and the distillery.

Another great one. Surprisingly different to the Laphroaig, even though they’re just 3 kilometers apart. Terroir might be of interest, but there’s a lot more to differentiate between distilleries. Again, I am surprised at how shit I am at that…

I love the focus on the coastal notes and also how this is many steps up from the 10 year old. That is, if you’re looking for something more subtle and mature. The 10 is great, but very fierce compared to this gentle giant. Absolutely gorgeous, once again!

91/100

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Bruichladdich 1986-1996, 57.2% – Scott’s Selection

Posted on 5 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So, three days ago I talked about starting off 2023 with reviews of some Islay whiskies. Somehow, in my mind this transformed into a week of ‘old’ Islay whiskies and that is obviously not something I can keep up. There are a few more that I haven’t written notes for yet, but to have whisky on a workday at 10 am doesn’t seem to set the correct precedent for the year to come.

Anyway, Bruichladdich from years ago. These drams are the epitome of hit-or-miss. Sometimes you have something really good and rather unique in the world of whisky, and sometimes you have the most watery barley juice with alcohol you can imagine. Some samples indicated why it wasn’t a bad idea to close the distillery back in the day, and some prove how much of a mistake that was.

Image from Whiskybase

I guess, in the grand scheme of things, you need a proper reboot to start doing things differently, instead of plodding on and trying to tweak things as you go. Let’s see where this one ends up.

Sniff:
It starts with a strange combination of warm vanilla custard, shortbread biscuits, and a whiff of violets (without being perfumy!). Hay, barley, a bit of coastal salinity.

Sip:
The palate is surprisingly gentle, with only a tiny hint of white pepper for a bit of heat. There’s barley, white oak and a hint of vanilla, much less vanilla than on the nose. Grassy with a floral note, like daisies.

Swallow:
The finish has all the notes from before, but shows more salinity, and has a bit of a sherbet-y note that is not atypical for Bruichladdich

A true old fashioned Bruichladdich, showing all the weirdness and idiosyncrasy of the distillery. There are some floral notes with a dairy touch, it’s coastal, and it’s old fashioned. You won’t hear me complaining about things like this, until the floral notes turns into 1980s-Bowmore-laundry-detergent. Lovely stuff, this!

88/100

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Caol Ila 32, 1990-2022, Refill American Hogshead, 51.5% – Cask of Distinction

Posted on 4 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Sometimes people go ballistic when it comes to bottling luxurious hooch. In this case we should point the blame at Wu Dram Clan, but not only them. Bram and Floris of The Whisky Nerds are guilty of this one too, as is Pierrick Guillaume, distillery manager at Caol Ila.

But, if bottling a Cask of Distinction isn’t a big enough splurge, for Wu Dram Clan it’s the second one in 2022, after their rather magnificent Lagavulin 30 from earlier in the year.

Now, Caol Ila then. Older Caol Ila is a bit of a strange thing. In general it’s great, but what I mean by it being a strange thing, is that young Caol Ila is so very different. When ageing a Lagavulin or a Laphroaig, there are slight shifts of balances and the smoke mellows to allow for more and other flavors to come forward. However, with Caol Ila there are more changes, or so I think. The diesel fumes dissipate, it becomes a lot more fruity, and in my experience with cask strength Caol Ila the cask is far more noticeable at 10 to 15 years old.

That last one is weird. It’s like the cask influence becomes more ingrained in the whisky after some 15 to 20 years, instead of it becoming more dominant, as you would expect.

Image from Whiskybase

In short, Caol Ila generally ages very, very well. Let’s see what this one has been up to!

Sniff:
A fairly rich smokiness, with hints of pastry cream and soft notes of oak. Although there is the typical Caol Ila note of engine grease, it is very subtle. A hint of copper polish, granny smith apples.

Sip:
Quite some oak, sea shore, engine grease and copper. Quite a lot going on. Apples and star fruit, crisp fruity stuff. Slightly syrupy, with a gentle hint of vanilla.

Swallow:
The finish is quite long and focuses a lot obln the stereotype Caol Ila notes. Less fruit and vanilla. More engines and smoke.

A decade or so ago, Caol Ila from the early 1980s wasn’t a rare thing. Back then that was 30-ish years old, like this one. And yet, that was a far less subtle whisky than this one is. Whereas those went for rather typical Caol Ila with more age, and therefore a more mellow approach, this one is a few notches up from that.

This one shows a balancing act between Caol Ila spirit and smokiness, with subtle hints of cask influence over a long period of time. It tastes more ‘mature’ than I expected, without tasting ‘old’. Lovely crisp fruity notes, with that engine grease that screams Caol Ila. However, it’s a dram that requires you to sit down to fully appreciate. It’s not one that draws the attention by itself, I expect.

Great, great stuff!

92/100

Available in Germany and The Netherlands for about € 2000

Thanks for the sample, Wu Dram Clan and WhiskyNerds!

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Unnamed Islay 30, 1991-2022, Bourbon Barrel 2674, 51.4% – Signatory Vintage for Wu Dram Clan

Posted on 3 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

To celebrate their third anniversary, Wu Dram Clan released three very different whiskies. A Caperdonich, a Glenburgie and an Unnamed Islay. The Islay one is reviewed today, the other two will follow shortly, but with a week of Islay whiskies to be reviewed, that will be next week or so.

Look at these gangsters! Image from Whiskybase

Anyway, this secret Laphroaig (did I say that out loud?) has been matured for almost 31 years, which is a fairly stunning age for any whisky, but even more so for Islay whiskies. Nowadays, a lot of that is bottled at a relatively young age because the massive smoky notes are very popular. However, as said in yesterday’s Laphroaig 25 review, I personally prefer the more subtle notes of mellowed Islay drams, which give more room for sublter nuances and other flavors to shine through.

Sniff:
It is very true to what you’d expect from old Islay whisky. A whiff of smoke, leather and some band-aids. There’s a hint of dehydrated lemon slices. Old yellow fruits in general.

Sip:
Some white pepper on top of the old lemon. The powder from inside Napoleon candies, cracked leather, sawdust. Some ciastal notes as well, salinity, sand.

Swallow:
A lovely and slightly drying finish. Again, a lemony acidity, some leather, some coastal salinity and brine. Long and comforting.

Yeah, this is pretty good stuff indeed. For whiskies of this age there are not many whisky brokers and bottlers you can go to nowadays, I guess Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory are the main ones. This one shows some older Laphroaig notes of band-aids, which only adds to its loveliness and the nostalgia that comes with it.

90/100

Still available in Germany starting at € 500.

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Laphroaig 25, 2016 edition, 48.6%

Posted on 2 January 2023 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

To start off 2023 I’m going to review some old Islay whiskies. Some of them are from my own collection, others are from samples I got sent in December and didn’t get around to because I had a cold for the last few weeks before Christmas.

I am one of those guys that really likes older Islay whiskies because of how well integrated and subtle to smoky notes get. I sometimes like young Islay stuff as well, but I often find them to be a bit clunky and off balance. There is a time and place for those, but they’re not my go-to.

Of course, with prices that keep going up, older Islay whisky is a rarity nowadays. I believe that even now, 25/30 year old whisky from the Queen of the Hebrides has gone up from about € 350 to about € 450/500 in the last year alone. And those are the independent ‘undisclosed’ bottlings, not the official bottlings.

So, after all this complaining, let’s dive in. I bought this Laphroaig 25 about two years ago on the secondary market for about € 250. Currently it sits at € 450. Of course, an older bottling is not overly representative, but the current official cask strength bottling (2022 release) clocks in at € 400 too. In The Netherlands it’s over € 550. Just to prove my previous paragraph.

Sniff:
Gentle smoke, lots of brine, band-aids. Soft oak, salinity, marram grass. Very smooth on the nose. Iodine too, after a while.

Sip:
A whiff of black peppery heat on the arrival, but with a syrupy texture. Salty, coastal and quite old fashioned. Slightly medicinal, slightly smoky, some barley and dry pastry.

Swallow:
The finish is very similar to the palate. A bit more smooth, a bit more gentle. More the flavor of black pepper than the heat.

There is something magnificent about old Islay whisky… The complexity that gets added by the tamed layer of smoke on top of all the old style distillate and coastal notes is just insanely good. This one is no different. I think the two years it’s been open didn’t hurt it and gave it some time to mellow further, which is exactly what gives more room for complexity and more subtle nuances to pop up.

Epic stuff.

91/100

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Ben Nevis 9, 2012-2022, Manzanilla cask, 59.6% – King Cask

Posted on 31 December 2022 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Ben Nevis is hugely popular nowadays, with their regular 10 year old being one of the best entry level whiskies out there. That is, if you can get it. However, I tend to steer away from the plethora of young variants being released by loads of bottlers. There’s only so much 8 or 9 year old whisky that is interesting, after all.

Then this one came along. By King Cask, a Dutch bottler that approaches things with a bit of a twist compared to everyone else. Like their boat-aged Blair Athol, and various other bottlings that never state that they’re single malt whiskies.

What also helps, apart from being directly in touch with the bottler, is that this one was finished in a Manzanilla cask. Like Fino casks, I like these whiskies, generally. As in, they’re bone dry and have just enough influence as to not overpower the initial spirit. It normally ends up being a successful marriage, single malt and dry white sherries. Let’s see what this one brings to the table!

Another piece of our house revealed…

Sniff:
Slightly funky with lots of oaky notes. Some vanilla and puff pastry in the background, and there’s a certain acidity to it as well. Fruity notes like white grapes and apple come through after that.

Sip:
The palate is sharp and dry, lots of oak shavings and sawdust. The Manzanilla has added quite a bit of its dryness too, and a bit of a crisp fruity thing as well. Apples and white grapes again, star fruit. The sharpness and dry bite keep building for a while. White pepper, and a bit of vanilla syrup.

Swallow:
The finish becomes a bit more wine-y, with more flavors that I normally find in a wine finish than in a sherry one. The bourbon cask pastry notes linger, as does the woody pepper. The wine notes are fruity sweetness, and a bit of a buttery chardonnay note.

The almost 60% ABV is not something to scoff at. It really packs a punch, and together with the incredible dryness it is not something for everyone, I think. However, for such a youngster I do like the combination of the Ben Nevis spirit and the added dry and fruity notes from the sherry cask finish. Good stuff, once again!

86/100

Still available at The Whisky Office in Limburg, for € 85.

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Amrut Triparva, Batch 1, 50%

Posted on 30 December 2022 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Also during lockdown, as with many other fairly random bottles in my collection, I bought this one for a tasting. Triple distilled Amrut, at a decent ABV. Not generally something I would shell out a hundred bucks for, but Amrut has surprised me in the past with high quality stuff that doesn’t seem all that appealing based on the label. The Amrut Rye comes to mind.

There’s not a lot to go by on the bottle or in the Whiskybase statistics, but let’s remember that it did really well in the tasting, some two years ago.

Sniff:
Lots of crisp barley notes, some vanilla and grass too. Mango and banana, toffee, sweet pastry notes.

Sip:
The palate is similarly tropical, with pastry and vanilla. A hint of peppery dryness that dissipates a little bit after a while. Some straw and reed too.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly less fruity, and more pastry like. Lots of dough, some oak.

Another Indian whisky that punches quite a ways above its weight, I’d say. It’s massively tropical with mango and banana notes, something I would expect from bourbon, and far less from single malt whiskies. Really solid stuff!

88/100

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Glenlochy 1979-2012, Refill Sherry Hogshead RO/12/04, 46% – Gordon & MacPhail

Posted on 29 December 2022 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I only ever had one bottle of Glenlochy in my collection. I got it after reading about ‘Whisky of the land‘ in one of the April Fools articles on WhiskySponge, which is a very good article that I sometimes even re-read.

Back then, it was one of the best whiskies in my collection. Maybe not the highest scoring, which sounds really weird, but it was very interesting and unexpected. And while that didn’t necessarily translate into a rating based on flavor alone, it did make for the whisky I loved to come back to most.

So, when I got the chance to try another Glenlochy a little while ago, I jumped on it, even though it wasn’t exactly a cheap sample. Of course it wasn’t, because Glenlochy has been closed for almost four decades.

Of course, when it closed down it wasn’t regarded as a must-keep distillery, obviously. Likely it was a highly inefficient, old place that hadn’t been properly maintained, and was cranking out a spirit that wasn’t all that fashionable in the early eighties. Enough reason to cut that one, if you have to make cuts. Now, 39 years later, it’s a shame because some of the most characterful distilleries are no longer around and we all shell out big money for those 1 or 2cl trips down memory lane.

Let’s have one of those trips.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
There is that typical scent of old whisky that can only be found in old whisky. Not all whiskies from before about 1980 have it, but when you find it, it is such a pleasing thing. This dram has it. It is that slightly funky scent, but not in a similar way to modern day Springbanks, although that is not far from the mark.

On top of that there is old white oak, steeped barley, stale bread and a whiff of vanilla. In the background there is a note of iron, minerals and apple.

Sip:
The palate starts with a surprising amount of ‘poivre gris’, a mix of white and black pepper. Over baked pound cake, some sweet coconut (think Bounty bars), baked apples. That note of iron is found on the palate too.

Swallow:
The finish brings back that old whisky from the nose. It does push back other notes, but in this case that’s not too bad. Very gentle on the way down, with soft notes of oak, apple, and some vanilla.

Even though it has that great note of old scotch on the nose and finish, there are not too many other things happening. Glenlochy is not an onerly familiar distillery to me, but I did expect a bit more character. Based on the limited experience I have with the distillery, that is.

So, a very good whisky, but not as good as I hoped it would be. Expectations and management thereof, it is a thing…

88/100

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

Posted on 28 December 2022 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Another one of those weird whiskies from King Cask. And by weird I am talking about the way it came to be instead of the actual whisky.

This one, with an ‘Origin near the Falls of Bruar’, or as is well known by people in the King Cask loop, Blair Athol, matured on a Bourbon hogshead for a decade before being finish in a Cognac cask aboard the Thalassa

Image from Tallship Thalassa

This automatically means that it didn’t mature for it’s full time in cask in Scotland and therefore there is no mention of ‘single malt’ or ‘scotch’ anywhere on the label. And while I can be known as a bit of a purist, this doesn’t bother me one bit.

Of course, with this whisky having matured ‘stationary’ in a bourbon cask, and ‘dynamically’ in a Cognac barrel, it’s a bit hard to contribute flavors to specifics during maturation, but let’s see what this one is all about!

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Apart from the things that are predictable, there’s a strong note of milk chocolate. The predictable things, without that meaning anything bad, are pastry cream notes from the bourbon cask, and a certain coppery note from the cognac finish. That cognac cask also brings a bit of twig like bitterness, on top of the yellow fruit (apples, pears) note of the bourbon cask. I guess that is all started by the fruity Blair Athol spirit.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of a sting, but in a very ‘chili powder’ way. Lots of chili pepper heat. After that there’s oak and ‘low on vanilla’ pastry cream. The slight ‘harsh’ notes of cognac are still here, but the spirit does stand-up to it nicely. A rich spirit, with quite some fruity notes, on top of a bourbon cask with apples and cream, combined with the Cognac bitterness and notes of copper work quite well.

Swallow:
The finish is rather gentle, surprisingly so compared to how harsh the arrival was. A slightly drying taste lingers, and here the slight youth of the spirit shows. The cask influence has been dialed down a little bit, giving the spirit itself more room to shine. Slightly more grainy because of it.

This is a very decent whisky. Cognac casks are a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it thing because they tend to make a whisky quite a bit more astringent and dry, but I’m not averse of that. I think the richness of the spirit really helps keeping the cask notes in check, although I cannot say whether the maturation aboard a ship really did anything for the drink!

86/100

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