Tag: whisky | Page 13 | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

April 18, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Bruichladdich Laddie Eight

Dram data:
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: original bottling
Distilled: 10.03.2008
Bottled: 15.03.2016
Age: 8 years
Limitation: –
Casks: American and European oak
Alcohol: 50%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: white wine
The nose opens on the fresh, light, almost “springtime” side. Honest fresh, young 8-year-old whisky. An initial hit of alcohol after pouring the dram, but it mellows down quickly. Citrus peel, sherbet lemon, green and white apples, pears, green Kiwi (but not sour), sour apple drops with a pinch of salt. And then there’s something else – Freshly sprung herbs, possibly and hint of vanilla but there are traces of other spices not found in American oak – a whiff of cinnamon stick and allspice. Continue reading “Tasting: Bruichladdich Laddie Eight”

April 15, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Glenglassaugh 45 years 1968 – 2014 cask 1601

Dram data:
Distillery: Glenglassaugh
Bottler: original bottling
Distilled: 1968
Bottled: 2014
Age: 45 years
Limitation: 349 bottles
Casks: Sherry hogshead finish in cask 1601
Alcohol: 44,3%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose opens on dark dried cherries with kernels and a load of PX sherry underneath. There’s also the distinct smell of freshly unpacked leather shoes, a hint of cask smoke, a pipe tobacco mixture of Latakia and Black Cavendish paired with a whiff of burnt oak. No distillery character whatsoever remains – this is completely taken over by oak and then a fresh sherry finish added on top to get other than oaky flavours in. Continue reading “Tasting: Glenglassaugh 45 years 1968 – 2014 cask 1601”

April 11, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Kininvie 17 + 23 years

Last weekend I got the chance to taste the Kininvie 17 + 23-year-old releases while visiting malt mate Keith Wood for a dramming session (or two). Oliver Klimek also popped over and we had a great chat about both malts (and possibly a few more). You’ll find my tasting notes below – a tad shorter than usual due to the handwritten notes.

Dram data Kinivie 17 batch 001:
Distillery: Kininvie
Bottler: original bottling
Distilled: 1996
Bottled: 2014
Age: 17 years
Limitation: –
Casks: American Oak and Sherry Casks
Alcohol: 42.6%
chillfiltered and coloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
The nose has baked apples with walnuts and hints of vanilla pods, slightly sour apples, milk toffee, a hint of fruit cake with spices – rich and sweet, a tight christmas-cake mix, with bitter Kiwi kernels in the background. The palate is quite different. green apples with peel, Kiwi, gooseberries, quite mouth-coating. A hint of acetone emerges upon adding water (disappears soon afterwards). More bitter apple peel and dried oranges. Continue reading “Tasting: Kininvie 17 + 23 years”

April 4, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Invergordon 27 years 1988-2015 by Maltbarn

Dram data:
Distillery: Invergordon
Bottler: Maltbarn
Distilled: 1988
Bottled: 2015
Age: 27 years
Limitation: 132 bottles
Casks: Ex-Bourbon
Alcohol: 51.3%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: light gold
The nose opens on a surprisingly light note for the age of the whisky, but then again spirit intended for blending (as this Invergordon probably was destined for) is sometimes even matured in 5th-fill casks. Let’s delve deeper. A slight spirity note, fresh wheat, citrus, breakfast cereals, lemon rind, fresh ginger, ginger in syrup, white pepper, a hint of cloves, cake icing with lemon juice, unripe gooseberries. Continue reading “Tasting: Invergordon 27 years 1988-2015 by Maltbarn”

March 31, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Springbank Local Barley 16 yo 1999 – 2016

Dram data:
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Original Bottling
Distilled: September 1999
Bottled: January 2016
Age: 16 years
Limitation: 9000 bottles
Casks: 80% Ex-Bourbon, 20% Ex-Sherry
Alcohol: 54.3%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: barley gold
Springbank Local Barley. Those three words make a malt lovers’ heart beat faster. The old bottlings are legendary and after many years of waiting a new edition is out, with four more to follow in the upcoming years. The barley was grown a few miles south of Campbeltown on Low Machrimore farm. The barley variety used was Prisma – not particularly often heard of these days and I’m glad they mention these little details because the influence of barley on the whisky is rarely talked about these days, but it does exist – just ask a homebrewer – and why would it be different for whisky? This dram was, of course, also malted, distilled, matured and bottled in Campbeltown. A 100% local product. Except for the glass, cork and box… Right, on to the whisky then!
The nose opens on the light, delicate and mineral side. Quite a lot of bourbon in the mix and I can’t help but think of the sublime bourbon matured Kilkerran for a second – they’re sisters in spirit, but different enough. Very well-integrated peat smoke, on the smokier side as far as Springbanks go. A delicate hint of non-vulgar vanilla with wet beach pebbles, sewing machine oil, aromatic red and green apples, sweet pears, pear peel, slightly green gooseberries and apricots with a hint of apricot distillate (including kernels). Continue reading “Tasting: Springbank Local Barley 16 yo 1999 – 2016”

March 29, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: (Glen) Ord 10 yo 2004 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: (Glen) Ord
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 2004
Bottled: 2015
Age: 10 years
Limitation: 450 bottles
Casks: Bourbon Butt
Alcohol: 60.5%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: barley gold
Well, well, well… those guys from Cadenhead’s have always been a wee bit crazy – but in a good way. You’ve got to read the neck tag of that bottle twice. Or thrice. Matured in a bourbon butt. Yep, not a typo – at 450 bottles I believe this is not “small batch” but actually “single barrel”. I’m sure Mark Watt will correct me if I’m wrong… Anyway, we’re here for the whisky…
The nose opens with – well, what else – quite a bit of alcohol. Hey, this baby was bottled at over 60% ABV! Let’s set the glass aside for a few minutes. Ah! citrus fruits (oranges and tangerines) sprinkled with vanilla seeds (restrained), citrus seeds, zest and pulp. Orange blossom, tea with milk a dash of lemon (I know you shouldn’t add both, but hey…), fresh gooseberries and apricots. Continue reading “Tasting: (Glen) Ord 10 yo 2004 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s”

March 20, 2016March 16, 2019

Tasting: Benromach 35 yo / 2016

Dram data:
Distillery: Benromach
Bottler: Original bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: 2016
Age: 35 years
Limitation: –
Casks: First fill Ex-Sherry
Alcohol: 43%
most likely chill filtered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: reddish amber
It’s not every day (for me at least) that there’s a 35 year-old whisky in the glass, so this is a special occasion. Time to assume position, pour the remainder of the sample I was sent for the #Benromach35 tweet tasting and sniff away!
The nose opens just as expected from a whisky past a certain maturation point. Beeswax, polished oak, oak-matured honey (wait, what?), oily, thickened grape juice and dried orange peel paired with chocolat-ey cigar tobacco and an old, slightly dusty leather jacket forgotten in grandma’s closet (but in a good way). Continue reading “Tasting: Benromach 35 yo / 2016”

March 20, 2016October 7, 2016

Highland Park ICE or: Where’s the ceiling?

I don’t often feel inclined to post a short opinion piece, but I just had lunch and sat down with a cup of coffee in front of my computer to look at new arrivals at whisky shops. That’s when I saw the new Highland Park ICE on offer. Let’s put it that way: Coffee stains on my keyboard and screen when I saw the price.

Highland Park ICE. The latest instalment of Highland Park’s highly collectible series of whiskies. There are 30.000(!!!) bottles worldwide. That’s hardly “limited” by any standard, most distilleries have much smaller batches with their regular bottlings.
In essence it is 17-year-old whisky, selling at 350€ a bottle. 350€! Their very good standard 18 year-old is already sold at a steep price – and it’s “only” 100-125€. If you’re lucky, you can get four bottles on offer for the price of one bottle of this new limited edition.

I am scratching my head here. Did I miss something? Is Highland Park a lost distillery, closed for 10 years or longer? Is there a pure gold stopper on the bottle? Or did the queen sign them? Or perhaps the queen’s poodle sniffed the vatting tank? What’s the heck is going on here?

In my opinion this bottling is displaying everything that’s wrong with the whisky industry right now. It will be talked about not only amongst whisky enthusiasts (heck, I’m even giving them publicity here, even if it’s more of a rant so I too fell into the trap…). It is one of many puzzle pieces as of late changing public perception of whisky being that of an elite luxury, a dream only rich can fulfill, worse, a snobist’s tipple. Whisky used to be a tipple of which nearly everyone could afford a “special” bottle for special occasions. These days the market is increasingly divided.

I have to congratulate Highland Park and their marketing team for pulling it off, though, and I’m dead serious about this. It takes skill, a great reputation, a large following of collectors and devotees, predecessor bottlings which are highly sought after and a superheated market to be able to place a bottle of whisky in pretty high volume at such a price level. Not everyone can do it and I’m sure it will be a quick sell-out.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s a lovely dram and if you head out to buy and enjoy it – good on ya, no envy involved, enjoy it with a few mates as intended. But, in the end, it’s still “just” a very big batch (30.000 bottles amounts to roughly 150(!) barrels at 200 bottles each) of 17yo ex-bourbon matured whisky that isn’t any more expensive to produce than the standard expressions (except for a few additional coins for the admittedly very nice packaging – which you can’t drink).

But, in the end, when you look at it from a distance, it’s just another sign of how superheated and completely over the top a portion of today’s whisky market is and it makes me wonder whether we’re getting close to the ceiling or if there’s still loads of head space to trump it in the upcoming years…

March 9, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Glen Spey 1995 20 yo by Cadenhead’s – 2015 Club bottling

Dram data:
Distillery: Glen Spey-Glenlivet
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1995
Bottled: 2015
Age: 20 years
Limitation: 180 bottles
Casks: Ex-Sherry hogshead
Alcohol: 52,7%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: dark forest honey
It’s been ages since my last whisky review – the cold ruined my nose and palate for quite a while. In the glass today is one of my most anticipated bottles of the year – the “free” bottle from Cadenhead’s club which you get when you trade in a full stamp card (i.e. for buying six bottles of whisky from them). Great deal and it’s always a big mystery what the surprise bottle is going to be. For last year’s bottling, which arrived here in Austria in February 2016, they chose a sherry hogshead (!) from a rather obscure Speyside distillery. So let’s check it out!
The rather gentle nose is that of a well-aged (probably first fill) proper dry Sherry (Olorosoor Fino? – i.e. not overly sweet cream sherry) European oak sherry cask. Slightly dry sherry notes and wood spices (sandalwood, cinnamon, star anise) up front, met by what remains of a clean, slightly citrus-laden distillate. When I first tasted it I had lightly vegetal notes too – I think I can attribute those to my cold, I can’t find them anymore. Continue reading “Tasting: Glen Spey 1995 20 yo by Cadenhead’s – 2015 Club bottling”

February 20, 2016October 7, 2016

Tasting: Dalmore 12 yo (late 80s/early 90s duty free bottling)

Dram data:
Distillery: Dalmore
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: 70s to early 80s
Bottled: late 80s, early 90s
Age: 12 years
Limitation: –
Casks: –
Alcohol: 43%
Most likely chill filtered and coloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: dark orang-ey gold
Woohoo! my nose is finally working again and properly calibrated after being stuffed for well over a week! So it’s back to business with an old Dalmore 12, bottled in the mid-80s to early 90s. This might very well contain whisky distilled in the 70s! I’m excited! The nose is, well, recognisably Dalmore-ish! Light, fruity, sweet and pleasant but not without depth. The first thing you notice is a sweet – but not cloying – rich sweet sherry and fruit sweetness. Px sherry, dried dates and figs, dried pears for making fruit-bread, plum spread, seasoned with Swiss herbal cough lozenges and a dash of plum distillate (with cracked kernels!). Continue reading “Tasting: Dalmore 12 yo (late 80s/early 90s duty free bottling)”