Tag: whisky | Page 4 | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

February 11, 2018February 11, 2018

Tasting: WFFA 2000 17 yo “Orkney” Single Malt

Dram data:
Distillery: Shhh… it’s a secret distillery on Orkney!
Bottler: WFFA
Distilled: 2000
Bottled: 2017
Age: 17 years
Limitation: 266 bottles
Casks: refill hogshead
Alcohol: 58,1%
not chill filtered; uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Boy, how time flies, it’s already in the middle of February and I haven’t posted a whisky review yet! I’ve been feeling under the weather and feeling the blues quite a bit lately – not ideal prerequisites for an unbiased review, so I didn’t write one. Right, let’s get back on track with this 17-year-old mystery Orkney distillery bottling (I could tell you but then I’d have to… you know… ), which was a cask share between a bunch of online friends in a super-secret Facebook group. *Cue mysterious music*
Right, so, how is the whisky?

Tasting notes:
Colour: golden honey
On the nose we’ve got a touch of alcohol – no wonder given the rather high ABV! Beneath the pleasant alcoholic freshness, there’s a pleasant whiff of smoke (burning heather and roses), followed immediately by honey, pickled ginger, caramelised orange rind, lemon peel, tinned tangerines, golden syrup and oak wood shavings. The original character of the spirit has been well-preserved by the cask, not overwhelming the delicate, light notes, which is a profile I really like. Let’s move on to the palate!

Continue reading “Tasting: WFFA 2000 17 yo “Orkney” Single Malt”

December 7, 2017December 7, 2017

more MORE M-O-R-E! Whisky and the aspiration trap

I can’t lie. I’ve been a bit silent these past weeks and months. As the whisky world is buzzing with more and more distilleries, more and more releases and more and more messaging put out there, there is less and less “for me” out there that truly excites me. In the course of this year, I have found less and less to buy and spending will have decreased considerably for the second year running. The more hyped up the whisky world gets, the farther it distances itself from me – or the other way round. With the closure of the Cadenhead’s shop in Salzburg at the end of the year, I’m losing my main source for affordable, interesting bottles, which “doesn’t help” either.

Anyway, this should only serve as an introduction. No, this will not be a blog post about whisky prices, I’ve written about that before. Today I want to talk about whisky, luxury and aspiration due to two things that happened just today: A discussion about whisky magazines and their content/target group in a Facebook group and listening to a podcast about luxury. That made things click for me and prompted me to write a few lines… Continue reading “more MORE M-O-R-E! Whisky and the aspiration trap”

November 19, 2017November 19, 2017

Tasting: Highland Park 40 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Highland Park
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: ?
Bottled: 2008
Age: 40 yo
Limitation: –
Casks: refill casks
Alcohol: 48,3%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

Finally, there it is: The culmination of the vertical Highland Park tasting. The coveted, sought-after, eye-wateringly expensive 40-year-old. Let’s see what all the fuss is about!

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose is surprisingly light and fragrant. If the 30 yo was a Rock & Roller on crack and steroids, this is a laid-back soul singer. Err, yeah, enough with these silly comparisons, what do we actually smell? Undeniable oak in the background. Think disused, aged, dusty library shelves someone now uses to bake Christmas bakery on, infusing them with spices (star anise, allspice) and sprinkling rum aroma on top of dark fruits (dried plums and dates). Vanilla-infused icing and dark chocolate are also involved. All of this happened a few days ago and the aromas are muted and starting to fade slowly. A very intriguing, complex nose, but someone turned down the volume just a bit too much. Let’s check the palate!

Continue reading “Tasting: Highland Park 40 yo”

November 9, 2017November 19, 2017

Tasting: Highland Park 30 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Highland Park
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: ?
Bottled: 2013
Age: 30 yo
Limitation: –
Casks: refill sherry casks
Alcohol: 45,7%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

Two whiskies down, two to go in this vertical tasting series of Highland Park. Let’s pour the 30 year-old next!

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose is the most expressive of the range so far. There’s a vibrant oaky not up front – but not too much oak. There are spices, a whole bucket of spices, including cinnamon, star anise and allspice. Someone’s thrown a very sweet, candied orange into the bucket as well and poured some caramel and maple syrup (the oak aged variety) over the mixture. Oh, and don’t forget the sultanas. In fact, this smells like a dusty, oaky whisky-infused fruit cake you can buy in the visitor’s center of many a Scottish distillery (it does get dusty if you leave it open for months. Ask my brother!). Can’t say, I’ve seen them at Highland Park, come to think of it. Oh, and what’s that? Just the hintiest hint of smokiness in the background adding to the complexity. Properly aged whisky, not overdone, not too less. I just hope it doesn’t disappoint on the palate!

Continue reading “Tasting: Highland Park 30 yo”

October 30, 2017November 19, 2017

Tasting: Highland Park 25 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Highland Park
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: ?
Bottled: 2012
Age: 25 yo
Limitation: –
Casks: mainly European oak sherry casks
Alcohol: 45,7%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

After starting off with the 21-year-old Highland Park in this vertical tasting series, let’s take a look at the 25-year-old next. The use of mainly European oak sherry casks should make for quite a difference…

Tasting notes:
Colour: medium amber
The nose starts off deep, rich, with a lot going on – it reminds me of the Christmas baking season which is upon us! Caramelised orange dried over a bonfire meets pickled ginger, rum-infused sultanas and baked apples with cinnamon and star anise. A retired baker watches his apprentices from a distance and fills his pipe with sweet, black cavendish-laden tobacco, but doesn’t light it. (Oh, come on now, how many have you had today….?) The European oak is there, but it is by no means overpowering or oaky, which is always good to see or, rather, nose. We don’t want oak to spoil the Christmas bakery, don’t we? Let’s check out the palate before my mind wanders off completely! Continue reading “Tasting: Highland Park 25 yo”

October 24, 2017November 19, 2017

Tasting: Highland Park 21 yo

Dram data:
Distillery: Highland Park
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: ?
Bottled: ?
Age: 21 yo
Limitation: –
Casks: mainly American oak sherry casks
Alcohol: 47,5%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

How about a wee mini-series of Highland Park tasting notes, say, the 21yo all the way up to the 40? I was fortunate enough to visit the distillery this year (click here for an in-depth article) and squirrelled away the samples I got to taste on a later day – which is now. Let’s start with the youngest of the bunch, shall we?

Tasting notes:
Colour: light amber
The first aroma I get on the nose is that of a dunnage warehouse. A whiff of earthy notes and a hint of mushrooms, which is gone after a few seconds, to reveal a dense mix of rich vanilla, very light smoke (burning heather), smoke-dried apricots and dates stored in grandma’s spice cabinet next to a fresh orange. They said, this is made up of mainly ex-American oak sherry casks, which accounts for the creaminess and not overwhelming spices. A very nice, complex nose indeed. Let’s check out the palate!
Continue reading “Tasting: Highland Park 21 yo”

October 10, 2017

Brora, Port Ellen and Rosebank revived? A new era begins!

This week something unprecedented happened in the whisky world. Three “lost”, disused, in some cases partly or even completely dismantled distilleries are in the process being resurrected. Not one, three!

On Monday, Diageo announced it would invest 35 million GBP to rebuild / revive the now legendary Port Ellen and Brora distilleries. The news took everybody by surprise and created a lot of buzz amongst whisky lovers around the world. Not to be outdone, Ian MacLeod distillers (Tamdhu, Glengoyne), announced, they would also be reviving the – also mothballed and partly dismantled – Rosebank distillery.

Distilleries have shut down, been mothballed, dismantled and sold – and sometimes restarted ever since the invention of distillation, but this is taking things to a new level. There is a Scotch whisky boom going on and companies are reaching for the stars. Distilleries are getting expanded left and right, new gigafactories for malt whisky production emerge from the ground like mushrooms – even more so the hard to keep track of group of new (and old) entrepreneurs starting new, smaller whisky distilling enterprises all over Scotland and beyond. The next, logical step in this industry-wide capacity-crave is the rebuilding/revival of legendary distilleries – and the start of a new era.

Continue reading “Brora, Port Ellen and Rosebank revived? A new era begins!”

October 8, 2017

Tasting: Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2006

Dram data:
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: 2006
Bottled: 2012
Age: ca. 6 yo
Limitation: 7650
Casks: –
Alcohol: 50%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

By golly – it’s been over a week since my last post – I’m losing steam, and that’s not helped by the – yawn – constant PR onslaught of ever more expensive and ever more marketing-driven whiskies where one is less interesting than the previous one to the malt whisky veteran…
Right, that’s enough, Klaus, time to stop lamenting and do something. How about this nice bottle of Bruichladdich from the personal archives? Yes, that’ll do nicely!

Tasting notes:
Colour: golden straw
At roughly 6 years of age, this is still a young dram, but the nose reveals a nice and fitting balance of spirit and cask (probably mostly fresh ex-bourbon casks). The two dominant flavours are vanilla and – bere! I was on Orkney earlier this year and brought back a pack of bere flour. I’ve been experimenting with it a bit, so it is easy to detect the very distinct, sweet, bready, malty flavour, which is 10x the intensity of “normal” malting barley. These two main aromas are supported by those of wet millstones, aged orange peel, toasted bannocks and just a pinch of kitchen spices. A rather simple, clean nose, but it’s the nuances and the malt influence that make it interesting – and make it work! Continue reading “Tasting: Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2006”

September 26, 2017September 25, 2017

Tasting: Laphroaig 2006 – 2013 7 yo by Cooper’s Choice

Dram data:
Distillery: Laphroaig
Bottler: Cooper’s Choice
Distilled: 2006
Bottled: 22.04.2013
Age: 7 yo
Limitation: 750
Casks: cask 1340
Alcohol: 46%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

We had something very old for the last review – how about something very young this time around? Young Laphroaigs can be very interesting, so let’s crack this sample open!

Tasting notes:
Colour: pale white wine
Big, phenolic peat up front on the nose with a touch of freshly roasted coffee smoke on warm, sugared shortbread (baked with a pinch of vanilla). A nice amount of minerality (crushed shells) is to be found in the background. A no-frills, young, spirit-driven Laphroaig, just the way that style should be. Continue reading “Tasting: Laphroaig 2006 – 2013 7 yo by Cooper’s Choice”

September 17, 2017September 16, 2017

Tasting: Dufftown 1979-2010 “The Golden Cask”

Dram data:
Distillery: Dufftown
Bottler: The house of MacDuff
Distilled: 1979
Bottled: 2010
Age: ca. 31
Limitation: 395
Casks: Sherry Butt CM156
Alcohol: 51,5%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

People save special whiskies for special occasions, but sometimes it’s drinking a special whisky on an ordinary day that makes for a special occasion. It’s not every day you get to drink a 1979 Dufftown (or any indie Dufftowns, for that matter…), so let’s see if this malt does indeed make this mundane evening special!

Tasting notes:
Colour: mahogany
Big, bold, dry Oloroso sherry on the nose. Boom. That was to be expected, looking at the colour of the whisky. Huge sherry, European oak and, hello? Where’s the spirit character? Doesn’t really knock me off my socks initially, to be honest, but let’s dive deeper and give it some time! We’ve got liquorice, wood polish, an oak wood tray filled with herbs (including wormwood) and propolis sprinkled on top, distilled plums and cherries, with cherry stone bitterness. The distillate and alcohol give a quite noticeable, fresh, zesty top note. This does nose more like a 10 to 15-year-old whisky filled into very active Sherry casks rather than something from 1979. With a few drops of water, the lighter alcoholic and citrus notes gain influence. Let’s check the palate! Continue reading “Tasting: Dufftown 1979-2010 “The Golden Cask””