Glen Scotia 15yo, 2001, Mashman’s Reserve, 58.2% – Distillery Only

Posted on 20 September 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

As with most Distillery Only bottlings, you actually have to go to the distillery to pick it up. Which is yet another good reason to visit such a little piece of heaven on earth.

I picked this one up at an ‘after hours‘ tour during our trip to Scotland in April 2018, together with a Sherry Cask that had just been released too (which I apparently still have to review).

This one was bottled to celebrate the mashman that works the distillery. An amazing guy which we were lucky enough to meet. A farmer as well with, according to the stories, a very good stamina with little to no need for sleep. Callum told us he runs the farm as well as the mashing at the distillery, even in spring when the sheep are having their lambs and he gets only about four hours of sleep. Anyway, great chap, let’s celebrate by drinking whisky!

20190914_195005Sniff:
Sweet with very malt driven scents. Lots of barley, porridge, bread, without being one-dimensional. Twigs, oak, some vanilla. In the background I get some lemon balm, thyme, focaccia.

Sip:
The palate is rather intense, but there’s a line of sweetness that keeps it in check. Pastry-like with lots of bread, pastry cream, some herbs as well. Quite some white oak, focaccia or ciabatta, flour and the burnt bits. Thyme, rosemary, olive oil.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more sweet and vanilla like. It goes back to the porridge flavors, more so than the bread from before. Slightly cornflake like too.

So, this is an interesting whisky to say the least. I’m nearing the end of my bottle which has influenced the palate a little bit. I still love it, but it was better half a bottle ago.

I do like that there’s those bready flavors in there, but rather different than I get most of the times. The olive oil and focaccia with some herbs gives a nice twist on a familiar theme. Add to that the quality spirit of Glen Scotia and you’ve got a happy camper in me.

The only drawback is that this 15 year old whisky set me back over a hundred quid, which is a bit steep, if you ask me.

89/100

Glen Scotia 2001-2017, 15yo, First Fill Bourbon Barrel 626, 58.2%, Mashman’s Reserve

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Kilchoman Inaugural Release, 2009, 3yo, 46%

Posted on 13 September 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Little under a decade ago I was about to move to Krommenie, and my wife went on a short holiday with her sister. Which resulted in me finally finding the time to drive to Sint Oedenrode and visit The Old Pipe with my friends TT.

I had been collecting some bottles that needed picking up and paying for. This one, honestly, was one of the least interesting ones, even though it was the very first ‘whisky’ from Kilchoman ever to be tried. The others were OB Brora’s from 1974, and two 1981 Rosebanks from the Rare Malts series. This one got lost in that violence.

But, after a long while I finally opened my bottle and only this week I finished it. The bottle has long been recycled, but I still had a sample of it lying around which, as with these samples of the last few weeks, I had completely forgotten.

Since 2009 I’ve tried numerous Kilchomans, which isn’t hard since the distillery is rather prolific, with loads of strange casks coming from it. Of course, the sherry and bourbon casks are the best (imho), but there’s a market for anything from Islay, and they need the cash flow, so who can blame them.

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Image from WhiskyBase

Sniff:
Quite smoky, with lots of barley and brine. Very coastal, and very Islay-like. Lots of straw and dry grass, lots of sand, lots of salinity.

Sip:
The palate is not too sharp, but you do taste the youthfulness of this first release of Kilchoman. Very grassy, lowlands-like, but with a significant amount of peatsmoke. So, typical for Islay, I’d say. The smoke is a little bit sharp, but there’s barley and salinity to give it a bit of depth.

Swallow:
The finish has a flavor of “a dying bonfire on a beach”. So, charcoal, salt, brine, sand, oak, fire and smoke.

It’s pretty promising (and we’ve seen by now this is not wrong), but still too young and not with enough depth. I would never have guessed this was a sherry finish, because even that doesn’t come through.

Strangely, even for a promising like this, it is only promising since it is only three years old. Apart from that it’s rather underwhelming. Currently only available through the secondary market, for about € 200, I honestly would have expected a higher price tag since it’s a first, of a whole line of new distilleries.

80/100

Kilchoman 2006-2009, 3yo, Inaugural Release, Oloroso Sherry Finish, 46%

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Bowmore 2000-2014, 54.4% – Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange

Posted on 9 September 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

I really was happy with all these 2000 Bowmores. It started with a slew of them around 2009 from Berry Brother’s & Rudd. Then, a few years later this one came out, and if I remember correctly there were a few more casks going around.

I bought it based on previous experiences with both Signatory Vintage and the selection from The Whisky Exchange. However, back in the day, I wasn’t overjoyed with my bottle. Keep in mind, that’s based on me looking for something else than I look for in a whisky nowadays.

Then, literally last week, I found a sample I kept of it, after not having the bottle anymore. I’m not entirely sure if I traded it, sold it in parts or just drank it with friends without giving it proper attention.

Anyway, now I did, I think.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Very sooty at first nose, with only a little bit of the lemony crispness I know Bowmore for behind it. There’s an oily sweetness, with lemon balm, golden syrup and a bit of coffee treacle. Some straw, cookie dough and peat smoke too.

Sip:
The arrival is rather sharp with a lot of alcohol heat in it. Not much oak, but there’s a mossy, spirity flavor that’s rather nice. Crisp, with lemon, some minerals and slate. Lemon sherbet candy / Napoleon, with the heat turning into a bit of woody warmth after a while. Still quite syrupy and oily.

Swallow:
The finish mellows a bit, before some heat rises from your throat. Not very dry, but more of lemonade sweetness than before. Still there’s a bit of smoke which increases as the other flavors wane.

So, thinking back to 2014-ish, I can see why this wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. The Bowmores that were coming out were high voltage belters, mostly, and this one is a lot more gentle than I expected.

However, giving it some TLC five years after, I do think it’s a rather nice dram. It’s not too impactful and doesn’t change anything about my perception of Bowmore, Signatory Vintage or The Whisky Exchange. It does, however, change my view of this whisky. It’s quite a bit better than I thought back then.

86/100

Bowmore 2000-2014, 14yo, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel 800093, 54.4%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange.

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Glendullan 13, 2001, 56.2% – SMWS (84.17, Fluffernutter)

Posted on 4 September 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Who in the world can think of a thing like ‘Fluffernutter’ and NOT think of things with a PG rating? Fluffernutter? Really?

Anyway, this Glendullan, a whisky you don’t come across often, was bottled quite a while ago by the SMWS at 13 years old. It was drawn from a Refill Bourbon cask at 56.2%

Honestly, with what I know of Glendullan, we’re in for a bit of a bore. It’s just one of those distilleries that is producing whiskies for blending, and only occassionally has a single cask come out. Not entirely surprising, since it does generally come of as a bit of a blank canvas. Maybe this one is different?

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Image from The WhiskyPhiles, who also took part in the share.

Sniff:
Rather spirity, green and fresh. A whiff of oak, vanilla, and some minerals. Iron, green apple, slate.

Sip:
Quite some alcohol, chili heat and freshness. Again, quite green and spirity in a good way. Light, slightly dry and some foresty, moss like flavors.

Swallow:
Still somewhat sharp and hot, with green apples, moss and ferns. Short on the burn down though.

Right. Spirity in a good way, meaning it’s not only vanilla and some fruits from the cask. It does prove the rule of it being a blank canvas, because after tasting this and getting a bit of a feel for the distillery, it’s just not very rememberable.

There’s not much to say I guess. It’s not bad, but it’s not a whisky you want to go back to.

79/100

Glendullan 2001, 13 years old, Refill Bourbon Barrel 84.17, 56.2%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society ‘Fluffernutter’.

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Highland Park 15, 2003-2019, 58.2% – Wu Dram Clan

Posted on 2 September 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

So, Highland Park seems to have found their spot with single cask releases! A few years ago everybody was releasing ‘an Orkney whisky’, and now we’re getting Official Bottlings for chains of stores, single stores, clubs, whisky bars and whatnot.

The biggest drawback is that these whiskies are coming in at about € 150-180 for a 15 year old. The main redeeming factor is that they’re bloody amazing!

This one came out for the Wu Dram Club, of which Boris Borissov and Sebastian Jaeger (of Lagavulin and Springbank fame) are part, and it was them who sent me a sample for trying. Fun fact: When I looked it up on Whiskybase for more information, I found that there’s a bottling for ‘Dutch Flagship Stores’ that is the other half of the split cask! So, there’s ways to actually get this whisky!

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Sniff:
Strong on the nose with the alcohol masquerading the sherry a little bit. Lots of spices and fruit, but very clean. Candied fruits, with heaps of dried mango and apricot. Some cinnamon and other baking spices. Very tree bark like.

Sip:
It’s very strong on the arrival, with the sherry giving the whisky a dryness that’s a bit stronger than normally with Highland Park. The spices kick in again, with spiced pound cake. Clove, cinnamon, black pepper. Maybe some nutmeg too, freshly grated. There’s a bit of fruitiness too, with mostly apricot, and maybe some prunes.

Swallow:
The finish is a lot more mellow, but a little bit heavier on the palate. Even a bit leathery and tar like. Fruits and spices, dry oak dust.

The only thing that stops this from getting a 91 point mark from me, is the simple fact that I prefer Highland Park from bourbon casks. But enough with the nagging!

This is a cracking whisky and the dryness and spiciness, combined with a backdrop of tropical fruits makes this a cracking dram. It’s pretty strong, so not an easy drinker at the beginning of the evening, but one that can trump a lot on quite a few tastings.

I absolutely love the clear notes of baking spices, with these dried fruits. It’s not as rich as Christmas cake, but the spices are more pronounced and identifiable. Stunning stuff.

90/100

Highland Park 2003-2019, 15 years old, First Fill European Oak Sherry Cask #6162, 58.2% – Available through (I guess) the Wu Dram Whisky Clan and ‘The Dutch Flagship Stores’.
The bottle can be ordered through the Clan’s Facebook page.

Much obliged to Boris and Sebastian for sending a sample! Loved it!

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Irish Single Malt Whiskey, 1991-2016, 49.5% – The Perfect Dram (TWA)

Posted on 30 August 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Let’s try again.

Normally, as ‘loyal readers’ might know, I find Irish single malt with an age like this hit-and-miss at best. Generally they’ve got a massive dollop of chemical sweetness not unlike the plastic bag supermarket wine gums come in. In short, I don’t like that. There are some exceptions which don’t show that flavor. There are some exceptions who do show it, but in a way that it’s transformed from an overpowering sense of artificial sweetness to a layer in a lot of other layers.

Now, this one then. The Perfect Dram is a bit of a presumptuous name, but generally they don’t bottle shit. A decent age, and a bourbon barrel. It *should* be good, right?

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
A fruit bomb, with lovely pineapple, pear, sweet apple. Wine gums too, it is an Irish Single Malt after all. Star fruit, brioche, and somehow no wood.

Sip:
Quite intense, with lots of fruit, albeit less sweet than on the nose. Still lots of wine gums, apples, pears, (galia) melon too. The dryness is more woody here.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly different again, with more fruit, a bit more chemical/artificial now. Quite long with some tropical fruitiness lingering.

So, as it turns out, this is one of those whiskeys that knows how to integrate the wine gum sweetness into the rest of it and make it better because of it. A cracking whiskey at, unfortunately, a bit of an outrageous price. Not unexpected though.

I do like that the sweetness shows in multiple ways, with the brioche bread, pineapple, melon and other fruits. Interestingly, the woodiness of 24 years of aging shows only on the palate and finish. All in all, a great whiskey!

90/100

Irish Single Malt Whiskey, 24yo, 1991-2016, Bourbon barrel, 49.5%, The Perfect Dram by The Whisky Agency

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Bruichladdich 2003-2018, Syrah Cask, 63.3% – Valinch 33

Posted on 27 August 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

Last year on April 5th I would have sworn I’d never buy a Bruichladdich wine cask ever again. I’ve had some in the past and they were pretty shit. Then, in the week after I went to Islay and we stopped at the distillery. There was a wine cask available as their Distillery Only bottling.

I tried it, loved it and bought it. Then I started doubting myself. Was this only good because I was at the distillery? Was this only cool because we more or less had to wring out the cask to get the four bottles we wanted (one each)?

Because of that, I opened it fairly quickly after returning home, and boy! This is a cracking dram! It’s weird, it’s out of balance, and it doesn’t make any sense at all, but it is bloody delicious.

20190724_221809Sniff:
Loads of rancio, old wine casks, soaked dirt and dunnage warehouse. Lots of heavy fruitiness with dates and plums. Pot pourri, a certain perfumy hint.

Sip:
Thick and syrupy at first, but it grows exponentially into a massive belter of a whisky. Immense woodiness, lots of dried fruit, plums, dates, figs. Wine casks, wine stone. Very dry after a while, and cracked leather.

Swallow:
The finish leaves your mouth hot and dry while it warms your inside. Lots of juicy dried fruits, lots of wood and even big notes of dark chocolate.

There is so much happening and on paper it doesn’t really read like it would be a good one. But, after finishing the bottle, everyone who had a sip agreed with me. This is a cracker. The combination of the core of fruit with all the other notes as bells and whistles makes sense, somehow. An absolute belter at 63.3% which you taste. It’s not gentle at all.

I’d almost buy another at 200 euros. Almost.

91/100

Bruichladdich 14yo, 2003-2018, Syrah Cask 1543, 63.3%, Laddie Crew Valinch 33 – Jenna McEachern

Only available through the secondary market as we emptied the cask, for 195.

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Ben Nevis 1996-2017, 20yo, 46% – Edinburgh Whisky Ltd.

Posted on 25 August 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

When I started drinking whisky, Ben Nevis was one of those distillery that just ‘existed’. Nobody cared about them, and most of what came from the distillery was either a cheap blend, or pretty shit (or both). Of course, sometimes there was a great single cask, but those were few and far between. Luckily, back then these were affordable.

Nowadays, Ben Nevis has had some kind of revival and there have been numerous really good, sometimes great, single casks over the last couple of years. Those with some age on them, from the mid-nineties, are scoring high marks left and right.

The result is that even the 10 year old is pretty hard to get. That 10 year old official bottling for for around € 50. Not cheap for a 10 year old OB, but very much worth in when compared to its contemporaries at similar ages.

This review is not of one of those official bottlings, but of one of these older single casks. Bottled at 46% and drawn from a bourbon barrel in 2017.

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Big and typical for Ben Nevis, but with a bit more cask influence than normal. So also big pastry and vanilla notes, with stewed apple and a bit of oily funkiness. Engine grease behind it all, with some grassy notes as well. Twigs and a light woodiness.

Sip:
Very smooth and creamy on the palate. Pastry cream, with hints of vanilla (not too much though) and milk. After that, I start getting a bit more dryness, a bit more wood and twigs and grass. Still, there’s a bit of a sweetness going on, which is accompanied by some black pepper and chili pepper.

Swallow:
The finish carries on down the same line, with not much of an addition, but it does feel like a rather classic whisky. There’s cask influence with vanilla and sweetness, and the spirit makes itself known with grass, engine grease and a bit of Ben Nevis funkiness.

I can only imagine the ‘size’ of this would it have been bottled at cask strength. Now it’s a bit toned down and still makes for a very, very good dram. There’s a lot of things happening and the cask hasn’t overpowered the spirit yet, which makes for a good whisky. With this being a 46% bottling, it feels a bit like a gateway drug to those higher strength and even better Ben Nevises.

89/100

Ben Nevis 1996-2017, 20yo Ex-Bourbon Barrel 283, 46%, Edinburgh Whisky Ltd.

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Tomatin 7yo, 2011-2018, 59.6% – 12 Barrels

Posted on 23 August 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

12 Barrels is a ‘bottler’ from The Netherlands. Apart from the fact that they’ve bottled some casks, they’re more like a club of friends who happen to own a couple of casks than anything else. Anyway, last year they released two of their casks, a Bruichladdich and a Tomatin. I bottle-shared one of the bottles I bought from each, and here’s the review of one.

The cask was a sherry hogshead, and that’s noticeable in the color and in tasting the whisky. Even though it’s a young one, there’s a lot happening, so dive right in!

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Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Big, fat sherry, but not too much of one thing. Lots of dried fruit, but also some spices, oak and a bit of distillery character. Rather light, a bit sweet and fruity. On top of that, there’s the sherry, which brings heavier fruit.

Sip:
Dry and strong. Lots of sherry and wood. The distillery brings apples, grass and straw. The cask brings plums and dates. Then there’s the spicy wood with cinnamon and nutmeg and clove.

Swallow:
The finish is a little fiery with charcoal and flint. Big and fruity, with mountains of dried fruit.

87/100

A bit too simple for more points, but nonetheless a great little whisky for only 7 years old! A lot is happening and it’s fun to taste the layers in the whisky, the distillate and the cask. It’s more or less still layered and not matured long enough to be merged into one line of flavor. In this case, I think that’s a good thing. Cracking stuff! Especially at € 55 a pop!

Tomatin 2011-2018, 7yo, Sherry Hogshead 1674, 59.6%, 12 Barrels

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Glenturret Toiseachadh Ur, 13yo, 57.5% – Distillery Only

Posted on 21 August 2019 by Sjoerd de Haan-Kramer

After touring Glenturret a couple of months ago, with my mate JPH, we did the mandatory visit to the shop. We didn’t need to exit through the gift shop, but we came to Scotland with the intention to get some nice Distillery Only bottlings. And this we did. This one was both a Distillery Only and a nice one, as we had just experienced during the warehouse tasting. (Note to self: Blog about Glenturret Distillery)

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Tasigur, the Golden FangOf course, it wouldn’t be a Distillery Only bottling if it didn’t have some Gaelic name on it, and this Toiseachadh Ur apparently means ‘new beginnings’ or something like that. A nod to the recent sale of Glenturret from Edrington to Lalique.

You more or less pronounce it as Tasigur, which is funny to some, because that’s a Magic: The Gathering card that I’m quite fond of.

What happened, as with every trip to Scotland I do, is that I overspent on the entire ordeal, so I bottle shared it. The benefit of that is that I actually get around to opening the bottle, and I already went through my own 10cl. Hence, a rather timely review.

20190820_222449Sniff:
Strong and rich, with lots of fruity sherry. I get some of the typical heavier and feinty notes of Glenturret. Slightly leathery, with peaches and apricots. Some berries too, with a lot of oak behind it all.

Sip:
Pretty strong, and quite dry, although I think that’s mostly the alcohol. Lots of fruity, sherry sweetness. Apricots and peaches. Dry raisin twigs, so a bit of bitterness too. A bit of syrupy thickness, with lots of character. Leather, matches, hessian, rancio.

Swallow:
A big finish that is a little bit dryer than the palate. The fruitiness is a bit more generic, and it gets less feinty as it lingers.

20190602_155234Well, this is a big whisky. In every possible way this whisky tries to overachieve, which also makes it everything but subtle. I kind of like that every now and then. What’s a bit strange is that even though I tried it at the distillery, it didn’t remember me of my visit. That did happen with the other samples I took from the Warehouse Tasting, but not with this one. So, quite a belter if it manages to push out such an experience.

The fruit is big, the backdrop of the heavy Glenturret spirit is really well matched. It doesn’t taste too young, but the wood hasn’t overpowered it either. Great stuff!

89/100

Glenturret Toiseachadh Ur, 2005 – 2/6/2019, 13yo, Refill Sherry Butt GTUR2005 #92, 57.5%, Distillery Only

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