SMWS Festival bottlings 2019

Here is my review of 5 SMWS festival bottlings.

A festival in front of my laptop

SMWS 93.109 - Let Them Eat Hake

8yo 59.7%

Cask filled 1 April 2010 - 1st fill barrel ex-bourbon

(Peated)

SMWS, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, is an independent bottler that uses number codes to identify distillery and cask. 93.109 is cask number 109 bottled from their distillery number 93. Distillery number 93 is Glen Scotia

This was bottled for the Campbeltown Malts Festival, which takes place from 22-24 May

The nose is warm and welcoming. Sweet and meaty with medium fruity touch of peat.

This whisky is extremely oily the the extend it feels like actual drinking oil. It's dominated by a touch of both peat and salt, with warm almost olive oil flavour. No, not really, but the viscosity gives me that association. Later comes  a little meaty-ness and the finish is medium with some vanilla.

Rating 88/100

SMWS 10.169 - Obsidian Salmagundi

9yo 60.6%

Cask filled 22 October 2008 - 1st fill hogshead ex-oloroso

(Oily & Coastal)

This is the 169th cask bottled from Bunnahabhain, SMWS distillery number 10

SMWS operates with 12 colour coded flavour profiles. I have added them in paranthesis.You can also see the colour codes on the bottles on the bottles. The vertical line and age statement has a dark blue-green colour. This colour is the catagory "Oily and Coastal"
Colour coded flavour profiles is probably a good idea, but for me personally I have a hard time setting up a new system to box my whisky into it. I allready have a system and it's hard to learn old dogs new tricks.

This was bottled for the Islay Festival, Feis Ile, which takes place from 24th May to 1st June

The nose is dominated by the oloroso sherry notes and some sweet wet wood notes, likes the smell of just unbunged casks. Whisky does smell different from a cask than a bottle.

This is a sweet,  a little sharp, sherry dominated flavour. It's not a sherry monster, but one of those delicate woodforward sherry whiskies. As I often find in Bunnahabhain, the spirit have quite some maltiness

The finish is long and this whisky remninds me of drinking straighth from the cask

Rating 88/100

SMWS 7.216 - Champagne and Crepes Suzette

14yo 58.9%

Cask filled 17 November 2003 - 1st fill ex-bourbon 

(Juicy, Oak & Vanilla) 

Beside the number codes, each bottle also carries a name for the whisky. This whisky has the name "Champagne and Crepes Suzette". Let's see how it fares. I really dislike Champagne, but I love Crepes Suzettes. Number 7 is Longmorn from Speyside and this was bottled for the Spirit of Speyside festival which happened in the beginning of May

The nose is very dominant on vanilla. Vanilla whisky. Tasting it, I immidiately get a lighter and less oily whisky compared to the other ex-bourbon, the 93. It's a bit simple and one dimensional, it's good that that one side is vanilla. The only other thing I can find is a very faint soapy note

The finish is medium and doesn't reallt add much to this whisky

Rating 84/100

SMWS 30.106 - Succulent, Scintillating, Substantial

21yo 57.2%

Cask filled 17 April 1997 - 2nd fill butt ex-PX

(Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits)

SMWS is an independent bottler and you need to be a member to get access to their bottlings. They were founded in Edinburgh and have two locations in Edinburgh and one in London. Beside that they have chapters and partnership bars all over the world. I can sometimes be seen helping pouring craft beers at the one in my hometown. "Mig & Ølsnedkeren" in Aarhus, Denmark

Number 30 is Glenrothes. This was also bottled for the Spirit of Speyside festival

The nose is a classic sherry bomb. I am very sulphur sensitive, but I have to really dig into this to find the faintest hint of rubber. Or maybe not. There is also a faint hint of balsamic vinegar. 

The palate is huge sherry bomb, with a lot of licorise. Add a faint hint of rubber and balsamic vinegar. It's super dry as some dark sherry bombs but more on the fruity side. 

The finish is rather long and spicy

I am probably not the biggest fan of heavily sherried whiskies but I can drink this one. If you are a sherry whisky fan I suggest you check this out. if you can find it

 Rating 87/100

SMWS 29.261 - An Evil Dutch Dentist's Dram

21 yo 50.3%

Cask filled 1st fill hogshead ex-oloroso

(Old & Dignified)

Being a member in Denmark we have these great opportunities every 2nd month to taste all the new bottlings (usually around 14-16 bottles) at outturn casual days events set in various bars around Denmark. It's always good to try a whisky before you buy.

Distillery number 29 is Laphroaig. And this Laphroaig is also a Feis Ile bottling

The nose is sweet, sherrried and very peaty

On the palate I get eucalyptus, hint of red berries and loads of peat and it's quite light on the viscosity surprisingly. 

The finish is long with medicinal notes

Rating 88/100

You can find a decoding of the SMWS distillery codes here:

http://www.whiskynyt.dk/index.php/whisky-faq?id=1626

Danish Whisky Blog Awards 2015

This is my awards of 2015

2015 was a great whisky year for me. Many private gatherings, from Las Vegas, Netherlands, Limburg to Islay and Aarhus. Many of these has been while visiting other countries for Whiskyfestivals. This year I went to Limburg, Feis Ile and Maltstock. SMWS Casual Days at Highlanders whisky bar in Aarhus is now a regular event for me as well

My awards are very personal in that sense I can only award whisky I have tasted, and I can only award events I participated in.

As usual there is just 4 catagories, And just 4 awards. No medals to please everybody and not 100 awards for the same reason. Here we go:

Tasting of the year

Juuls wineshop in copenhagen hosted a fantastic Gordon and MacPhail tasting, which I was lucky to participate in while visiting Copenhagen

The tasting included several bottles of what I would describe as whisky from yesteryear. I don't see a lot of whiskies like the one served here being bottled anymore. The tasting list was

Glenlossie 1995 Connoisseurs Choice 46% Bottled 2013
Linkwood 25yo Distillery Label 43%
Mosstowie 1979 43% Bottled 2010
Longmorn 1973 Distillery Label 43% Bottled 2012
Mortlach 1971 Disrillery label 43% Bottled
Clynelish 1997 Connoisseurs Choice 46% Bottled 2013
Brora 1978 46% Bottled 2013
Caol Ila 2004 60.1% Bottled 2015

Brora was as good as you hope a Brora would be. The Linkwood 25 was also fantastic, but the supreme whisky of this tasting and the reason for the reward was the Longmorn 1973. Old style sherry, leather, a hint of medicinal and one of those whiskies that candidates for the best I ever tasted

Dereck Hancock from Gordon and MacPhail hosted the tasting. He is down to earth and presents his whiskies with the honesty they deserved

So this this was a genuine fantastic tasting with great whiskies.

Independent Bottler of the year

Canadian Whisky seems to be the theme here in 2015, but believe it or not, I decided this award last summer around July. So don't blame for ridin' a Justin Bieber Wave

Canadian whisky can be hard to find outside noth america. but we do have the occasional independent canadians here. A lot have been bottled by Cadenhead. But despite Cadenheads brilliancy, this awards goes to Whistlepig who doesn't just isn't one of the best independent bottlers of canadian whiskies, but their standard bottling is also one of the best canadian whiskies available. In my opinion.

Rumours are that Whistlepig will start their own distillery in Vermont. Or maybe allready have. This means that Whistlepig some day in the future might not be canadian whisky anymore

Distillery of the year

Laphroaig. 

So why Laphroaig ?. Normally I am not that excited by Laphroaig, it's just a distillery like most others. But at Feis Ile I thought their offereings clearly outshined anything I tasted from the other distilleries. These three bottlings particular

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015
Laphroaig 15yo
Laphroaig 21yo

I thought they all three were like a timetravel back in time, back to when whisky was much better than today. The fact that a distillery releases awesome bottlings at affordable prices is also something I think is seldom seen these days.

So the Laphroaigs of 2015 outshined anything else coming out from Scotland

There was a couple of couple of distilleries I felt was getting up there and deserves an honoury mention, and that is Benromach and Arran, but that's another story

Here is my opinion of the Cairdeas 2015

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 51.5%
Should be around 12 years old according to Laphroaigs distillery manager John Campbell

Nose: Intense. Salt. Sweet Peat
Palate. Very salty. I normally don't find salt in whisky and some people says there is no salt in whisky. Citrus. Oily Harbour. Fish. Tar. Ropes. The main features is oily, peaty, salty and citrus

Rating 91/100

Whisky of the year

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2015 release 54.3%

Four Roses, A distillery that just seems to do everything right
This is a blend of OBSK 16yo, OESK 5yo, OESK 14yo, OBSV 11yo

E stands for 20% rye recipe and B is the 35% rye recipes
K and V is yeast variety
K is the yeast described as: light spicyness, light caramel and full-bodied.
And V is light fruityness, light vanilla, caramel and creamy

Here is my notes

Nose: Sweet. Cakes. Mint. Spicy
Palate:  Toffee-caramel. Wood. Liquid Candy. Butterscotch
The finish is long, a sweet and has a bit of floor varnish woodyness

This is a very easy drinking bourbon

It's a warm, spicy, woody sweet dram that is very complex and it puts a big smile on my face. Unlike most scotch single malts I need a bigger pour to get the most from this dram. Maybe I should get myself some more bottles, as this won't last long

Rating 92/100

This whisky is simply my best buy in 2015. Fantastic

Feis Ile 2015

I am just back from my first Feis Ile.

You can skip to the bottom for a review of the 2 rarest Feis Ile bottlings

I have been to Islay a few times before, and I must admit that after a few days I usually get cabin fever. This year I decided to go to Islay for twice the length of time I usually stayed there. So I was a bit worried

And this time I also didn't stay in one of the major urban hubs as I usually do. Before I stayed in Port Charlotte, Bowmore or Port Ellen

This time I stayed in a cottage 2 miles outside Port Ellen

But it's hard to get cabin fever on Islay during Feis Ile. It's a bit more crowded than usual. The Island is loaded with happy whiskyentusiast. This is what makes the festival what it is.

It's an 8 days festival. Every distillery has their own "Open Day". This also includes Jura who shares its day with Kilchoman.

The biggest problem with Feis Ile is accomodation and event tickets in my opinion. Accomodation must usually be sorted a year in advance, if not earlier if you want a specific place. Event tickets sell out too fast online, so if you don't sit in front of a PC 24-7 you won't get any. Not for the good events. The Islay distilleries should look to Campbeltown to see how this is done. They just set up more similar events when things sell out. On Islay you need to be fast, lucky or know someone.

The different Open Days are somewhat similar . There's a bit of music, quite a bit of whisky, the same seafood shack, and a lot of queues. Especially for bottlings.

I managed to get to Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila and Ardbeg Open Days. I visited Bunnahabhain and Jura outside the open days and also had a tour at Port Ellen maltings.

Lagavulin Warehouse tour

I did the Lagavulin Warehouse tour twice. It's one of the best distillery events to do, and you can do it outside the festival as well. This is a must for all whiskyfans. Iain McArthur does a cracking job presenting a handful cask samples

Here is my short review of the five Open Days

Lagavulin
Free whisky, Lagavulin 16yo and Lagavulin DE to be tried. A fun blind tasting competion where you had to guess age on three cask samples as well. There was a long queue for buying bottles and no queue for being served whisky, so there is no price guessing where I was :-)

Caol Ila
Similar style as Lagavulin.Well organised. Big thumbs up to Diageo for their two open days

Laphroaig
Another great event. They hosted a big array of "Pick and Mix" tastings lasting twenty minutes. There was tickets enough, as far as I could see. I came down late and still got a ticket for one of the ones I wanted. It was three whiskies with the theme 2015. It was the Cairdeas 2015, The new 15yo and the upcoming 21yo. Three magnificient whiskies and that's for just a tenner. I should have come earlier

Ardbeg.
Many small fun events all over the distillery. People were throwing sheep, dipping their hand in a barrel ofsheep shit for a lottery to aee what they could find. Vaporized whisky, Ardbeg museum, food stalls, music, several themed bars and loads of Ardbeg whisky

Bruichladdich
Very crowded, You paid to get in. 5£, but that entitled you to one free dram whisky. Weather was not the best, but not too bad either. This was my least favourite event, probably because I had to drive home...

Jura
I went to their events the day before the open day. Great they decided to offer events on other days so it was possible to get in and do something there. I did a boat trip where we tried a few of the current Jura's, and a beer/whisky tasting that was great fun. I was especially fond of the Jura Tastival beer made by Drygate. Lucky to taste that one, only 500 bottles. Jura also had a bar where you could taste some of their whiskies, including their festival bottling

Bunnahabhain
I did a warehouse tour outside their festival, but there was a chance to get some BYO whisky from their new warehouse setup and that was great whisky. 3 casks to choose from, with 20cl bottlings

I think most distilleries sold one or more special festival bottlings. Some were cheap, some where expensive, Some were good, some were not. My favourites were the Laphroaig Cairdeas and the Laphroaig 15yo. The latter isn't really a Feis Ile bottling, but a special one-off to celebrate Laphroaig 200 years 1815-2015. The Cairdeas is made 100% from floor malted barley and they didn't use their big spirit still in the production but a balanced distillation of their other 6 stills. That means they paired the three wash stills with the three spirit stills.

I wasn't a big fan of Ardbeg Perpetuum which I found added nothing to their current lineup and I didn't like the Bruichladdich Open Day bottling. The Caol Ila and Lagavulin was basically their DE versions aged for about 7-8 more years in inactive (their own words) Puncheons and were good drams. I also had a wee sip of the Bowmore Virgin Oak, which I really liked, The Jura tastival was also a good one. Especially if you like Jura whisky in general and the style of Whyte and Mackay malt whiskies.

The worst thing on Islay is probably the lack of good beer. I am not a big fan of Islay Ales and not much exciting goes on beer wise on the island otherwise. At Ardbeg they had Beck's and Miller's, it's a bit like if the Brewdog bars only sold Bell's in their pubs

Highlight was, as mentioned above, the beer tasting at Jura, and then cleaning out the Coop's for good beers. Which I wasn't the only one doing. The good shelves were usually empty or almost empty at most times. Whiskyentusiasts love their good beer for sure. Luckily we stocked up on good beers at Loch Fyne Ales on the way over, but that stock dissapeared to fast really

The distilleries wasn't the only ones bottling special Feis Ile bottling. SMWS and Douglas Laing both had special Feis Ile bottling out

1. SMWS 3.243
Bowmore 17yo 57.1%
Dark, Smouldering Flamenco Gypsy

Photo by J. Hamilton

Bowmore's are hit and miss for me. The further away from the eigthies they are distilled the bigger chance for a hit. This was distilled 25 Spetember 1997 and bottled April 2015. This whisky is warm, gentle, sherried, quite peaty, floral and very drinkable. There is a hint of lavenders growing on a bed of newly molten lava in there. It has a major sherry influence, licorise especially, and a long finish

Rating 88/100

2. Old Particular Laphroaig
Feis Ile 2015 14yo 48.4%
Douglas Laing

Photo stolen from DL facebook page

As expected for a Laphroaig this punches a lot of peat. This is bottled at around the same strength as Ardbeg Perpetuum. It has a little more oomph though. It resulsts in a tender and flavourful whisky. Beneath the peat, there is a lot of wood-cinnamon like spices, some citrus and vanilla. Easy drinking peated whisky, quite complex with a lot of flavours and with a medium-long vanilla-peaty finish

Rating 88/100

I would like to thank the deerhunter(s) for the samples

But the best thing at Feis Ile is all the whiskyentusiast present. They really makes this festival great. I will say I LOVE you all for making this a great week and for all the good whisky you decided to share with me

A sunny day at Caol Ila

The six PLOWED bottlings

Here is a list of the 6 PLOWED bottlings, the labels has been retrieved from the COLA site.

Bottled in 1999. Fantastic old Springbank. This is a favourite PLOWED bottling by a considerate fragment of the group.

Another Classic. Early 70's Ardbeg by Douglas Laing. Say no More. Another favourite. Bottled 2001
Dave Broom and Michael Jackson disagrees HERE 

Brorageddon. The best Brora I have tasted. My favourite of the PLOWED bottlings. It's even a candidate to the best whisky I have ever tasted. 

Bottled 2003. First label to include the slogan "Self-styled whisky connoisseurs" It wasn't meant as a compliment when a Bowmore rep. adressed Bushido, after an enquiry about the tasting notes he had discovered in recent bottlings, which he described as FWP

LAWS reviews it HERE

Port Ellen from 2004. This one divides the group. Some like it (a lot), some don't. I am not a big fan

LAWS like it , HERE 

The last of the Old Malt Cask quartet. A Laphroaig bottled in 2006

Serge reviewed this one and liked it here

The latest addition to the range and the first OB, a 1986 BenRiach bottled in 2009, which again combines peat and sherry. Another bottle that split opinions, seems like it need some time in the glass/bottle

Conclusion? Don't drink with PLOWED if you're pregnant

12 whiskybase whiskies in 4 hours

Long time whiskyfriend Ras Mazunga, and fellow PLOWED member likes to send me samples from his whiskybase.com shops own independent bottling label ARCHIVEs, some of which has been sitting on my shelf for some time now. I better do something about it. Normally I would only review 1 or 2 whisky at a time, but today I will do 12!!. A lot of puritans will shake their head on this, but this is in fact a great mirror of how I often drink whisky with friends, where we sit down and go through 20-30 drams and just have fun, and do some light comparisons between the drams

Ras filling our bourbon cask at Las Vegas Distillery

So this is a set of fast reviews where I will spread thoughts about these malts and compare them to each other.

1. Tomintoul 1969 42.4% 42yo
Sweet, fruity, candy, winegums, fruit drops gently replaced by a delicate sweet spicyness when the first nips are taken. This is exactly how you hope an old Tomintoul will taste. Rating 90

2. Glen Grant 1975 46.6% 36yo
Sweet, spicy, also candy again, which for is typical old Glen Grant. Similar in style to the Tomintoul, but more dry and oily, with a lot more spicy wood with a medicinal finish. Rating 88


3. Dailuaine 1983 47.3%  28yo
Very Oily, heavy in texture, classic malt whisky. Grassy oiliness oozes in the nose, and I find it remarkable how the oilyness hits you allready at the nose. Just a hint of woodspice. The remarkably oilyness continues for long in the finish Rating 86

4. Longmorn 1992 48.5%  19yo
After the Daluiane this is back to a more normal texture. Mint is the first thing that hits me, not intense, but more on the light side, still nice oilyness and this has a slight meaty texture as well. Rating 87

5. Imperial 1995 51.7%  16yo
Great Classic Imperial. Mint. Vanilla. This is sooo imprinted with these bourbon characteristics that I could describe this as a bourbon without the heavy wood and the sweet corn. What's left ?. Mint and vanilla. Simple. Great. Delicious. Rating 90


PS Many great Imperials "flooding" the market at the moment from bottlers like Gordon and MacPhail, OMC and Duncan Taylor. This is another one to mark up this relative unknown and unfortunately closed distillery.I'm a big fan of this relaxed simple vanila/mint/bourbon style

6. Glenrothes 1988 53.4% 23yo
Never been the biggest fan of Glenrothes. The 1991 OB was a big pleasuree to me though, and this reminds me of that. This actually tastes a bit like a mix of the Dailuaine and the Imperial!. Fullbodied, not a lot of vanilla and mint, but it's there. Rating 88


Allright, feeling slight intoxicated by now, brewed some coffee (Ethiopean beans off course), to clean my palate between drams. Still 6 drams to go


7. Littlemill 1988 49.3% 23yo
This is the 2nd Archives Littlemill and I really loved the first one, which was an unusual and weird malt malt whisky, but hey, isn't that the Littlemill in a nutshell ?
It's reviewed here : http://danishwhiskyblog.blogspot.dk/2012/03/whiskybase-part-ii-of-iii.html
This is the first "tainted" dram in the session. I wouldn't expect otherwise from Littlemill, which is almost always on the weird side in the world of whisky. Tainted is a hard word, cause there is nothing wrong with this dram, just a slight rubberness, but its my favourite kind of rubberness, it's the women in tight wet latex again. This is smooth velvet latex sherry cask and quite nice. Not very herbal opposed to the first bottling, more mainstream, but still the light fingerprint of Littlemill. Quite smooth and delicious actually. Rating 87


8. Glen Garioch 1990 54.0% 21yo
I always considered Glen Garioch recent bottlings to be somewhat on the rough side, and this is also a bit rougher compared to the 7 first drams, but not as much as expected. The first thing that hits me is the peat. Is Glen Garioch a peated malt or not?, it depends on the period it was distilled in. Around 1990 they for sure used considerable amounts of peat, at least enough for me to pick it up :-)
This Glen Garioch got quite a lot of peat (relatively) but is still very delicate highland whisky. Rather dry, medium woodspicy Rating 88


If you are looking for serious whiskyblogging I would stop reading now


9. Highland Park 2000 50.9% 11yo 
According to the whiskybase website this is 11½ years old. I thought only kids younger than 6 counted their age in ½ years :-)
I didn't describe colours of the drams before, so far most of the drams have been whiskycoloured. This one is far lighter in colour than any of the other drams. Highland Park is said to be heathery and this is exactly what I can taste from this dram right now. After 8 drams my palate is not in the best shape, but I reckon what I pickup is mainly differences from what else I had. HP is also supposed to be peaty, but being a peathead for many years I often find myself immune to peaty flacours, especially after a series of drams. The heather is here. The colour would suggest an immature whisky but is not so. It's rather delicate flowers and probably a good way to experience the true distillery character of Highland Park, not masked by Sherry casks. Well, some would say that sherry casks is part of the HP distillery character so maybe not..:-). First time in this session I feel the spirit of the whisky coming through (ethanol). This is very different to what HP offers itself via their OB's
Rating 83


10. Isle of Jura 1988 51.3% 24yo
What can be more scary than Isle of Jura ?. The OB line tends to scare away most whiskyentusiast, while at the same time being quite popular with people that are not every day whisky drinkers. I have similar views as the mainstream whisky entusiast on Isle of Jura, but I have to admit that some of their special releases have been very nice as well as a few independents. Lets see how this fare...
Some sour notes in the notes which I don't like, but my nose quite fast get used to it and a lot of fruityness emerges. But everytime I lift the glass back to my nose I get this (baby)puke. The palate is better, but still this offnote I dont really like in Jura. Cabbage ? Yuk. This will only appeal to Jura Fans. Admitted, there's a lot of good things going on in this malt, but a delicious sticky toffee pudding is never gonna taste good with sour parmesan cheese in top. Rating 70


I am getting pished now. I for surely how hope the last two whiskies are better


11. Ledaig 2004 61.9% 7yo
The youngster in this seesion. Ledaig often gives me same troubles as Jura. There's just this offnote I never liked (I usually refer to it as the tobermory-note, as this is where I experienced it first many years ago.)
This has got it just a little bit on the nose, but not much. The palate is a fullbodied malt whit great oily texture, but still with a sour ledaig youthness that I am no particular fan of. Well, if you drink a young whisky, expect it to taste like a young whisky. But do young whiskies have to taste sour. No. Rating 79


My hopes are now left on Laphroaig


12. Laphroaig 1998 54.2% 13½yo
After 10 and 11 this is pure whisky heaven :-). A well balanced peaty whisky. Not as floral as I find younger OB Laphroaigs, and this is exactly why IB Laphroaigs is my favourite to OB these years when it comes to 15 years or younger. This is a nice peaty Laphroaig, and if you are a peathead looking for great alternatives to OB islay releases this will not dissapoint you. Rating 87

Final comments :

Archives is an excellent independet bottler which easily matches OB's when it comes to Tomintoul, Laphroaig, Glenrothes and Glen Garioch and gives a good alternative when it comes to Highland Park. If you don't like Ledaig and Jura, Archives wont change your mind. For the more unknown distilleries expect top class whiskies

Last drams of 2011 part 2

Laphroaig Quarter Cask 48%

Quarter Cask  is a No Age Statement Laphroaig. It is regular Laphroaig that has received a finish on quarter casks. Quarter Cask , having a quart the size of a normal cask, hence the name, has a larger surface to volume ratio. This results in larger wood impact to the spirit, well some would call this a slightly speeded up maturation

Nose : sweet, peaty and floral.

Palate : Again quite sweet, with some floral notes and a background of peat

Finish : Long and peaty

This is a dram for peat lovers. The peat is dominating, but its a very delicate and drinkable whisky, despite its young age and relative high ABV. Recently I found a lot of the Laphroaigs distillery bottlings sligtly floral, opposed to independent Laphroaigs. It's all a matter of taste but personally I prefer the independent bottlings of Laphroag out there, with the 10yo cask strength being on the same level

It's no where floral on the same level or same kind as many associate with Bowmore, especially Bowmore from a few years back!

Rating 83

4 blinds for California

Recently I went on a holiday in south-western USA, mainly California, Utah and Las Vegas.

Apart from visiting family and friends of my parents, some fantastic National Parks in Utah (recommended), I also managed to get some time with whisky friends. I have always liked to serve blind samples to people. At this trip I had made 4 samples. Only hint was that they were from different distilleries, and all had peat and was from sherry casks. One wasn't from sherry casks thou, but it taste like that. More about that later

The crash-test-dummies were fellow PLOWED members and a couple of their friends.

Blind tasters were Mikey, Ganga, FX, Xray, Marty, Hyperfuji, Andy, Tim (Ardbegproject) and Jake  

One of the nights, while the others were going through the 4 blinds, FX poured me a blind. I really liked it. Unadultered sherry, extremely peated and with some age. I guessed it to be Laphroaig 20+yo, but it showed out to be the legendary Brorageddon, one of the earliest PLOWED bottlings. Nice treat. I knew I had this before, but couldn't recall it tasting like this. But then again, I probably wasn't in an analytical corner the first time around. Which I actually seldom is. Most of the time (95% or so) I drink whisky just to enjoy it without being overly analytical, rating it seriously or writing feeble tasting notes.

Now to the four secret drams. They were served in table discussion fashion, and I tried to note as many things down as possible. A total of three sessions in various locations in California.

First one up was Amrut 100, 57.1%. 

Peated Amrut, 100 british proof, 100cl, 100 bottles. Gives the name. Matured in ex-bourbon then transfered into 100liters virgin oak barrels. Thanks to Ashok and MACY for the sample, it has now travelled the world :-). This is the one whisky that has not been on a sherry cask, but could they tell ?

Comments : 

Very Peaty, Fruity, Sherried. High ABV (Mikey)

Peated Speyside, Refill Sherry, Irish ?, Peaches, Burnt Peat, Pinenotes, Stonefruits (Ganga)

Jura Prophecy, Japanese, Old Jura, Chocolate, Peat, but not heavy, Chocolate (Marty)

Sulphur, Iodine, Bitter Red Apple Peels, Sticky finish, not a lot of sherry (Hyperfuji)

Golden Delicious Apple, Chili Pepper, Lemon (Andy)

Oranges, Peppermint, Amrut? (Tim)

Anis, Toffee (Jake)

Whisky no. 2 was Caol Ila 1996 Gordon and macphail Cask Strength, 59.0%, cask 16070-16072, bottled 2007

Comments:

Butterscotch, vanilla, young cask strength, Bowmore (Mikey)

Syrup, Candycorn (Jake)

Butterscotch, Bitter Licorise (Ganga)

Coconut (Marty)

Butterscotch, Saw dust, citrus, fino sherry (Hyperfuji)

Nutmeg, Iodine, Charred Wood (Andy)

29.83 Kissing a Balrog's Bum(Laphroaig) 20yo 52.3% bottled by SMWS, Refill Butt

Before I purchased this was reported to me as being terrible sulphured. Personally I can't find any, and I am very sensitive to sulphur, well, I look at it as an off-note. Maybe more when it express itselfs as rotten eggs sulphur, opposed to rubber-latex on a mild level. I was looking forward to see to what extent the others would pick up sulphur here. The name gives a hint, but these guys didn't know the name

Black Tea, Nice, Sweet, Cherried (Hyperfuji)

Rubber Cement, Bitter Greens (Andy)

Impressed, Slight rubbery the way I like it (Marty)

Saltwater, Cocoa powder (Jake)

Raisins (Tim)

Soapiness, Hot, Young (Xray)

Apple, Sweet peat, Laphroaig like, freshly cut grass, medicinal peaty (Mikey)

The 4. whisky was PE1 by TWE, 58.7%

Kind of perfumy, 80's Bowmore (Mikey)

Grains Hay, Red Licorise (Tim)

Sulfur (Jake)

Creamy, Caramelly (Xray)

I really like this, Sweet, candied, cherry, graphite (Hyperfuji)

http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com/whiskey-profile/1635/Port-Ellen-Pe1-Elements-of-Islay (Andy)

I recommend LA whisky society http://www.lawhiskeysociety.com a great source of whisky reviews from a group of whisky entusiast that I regard high

So what were the favourites ?

Mikey and Xray : Amrut 100

Hyperfuji, Andy and Tim : Pe1

Jake, FX and Marty : Kissing a Balrog's Bum

Ganga : Caol Ila 1996

Next Blogpost : I will take on Amrut 100 and Pe1

Thanks to everybody to be being willing to participate and going public. I know of whisky "experts" who never would do things like this :-)

Whisky Agency

Whisky Agency is a german independent bottler associated with the organisers of The Limburg Whisky Fair, one of the best whisky weekends out there.

1. Tomatin 34yo 1976 51.2% Liquid Sun
Bottled 2011. Matured in a sherry butt. 272 bottles

Nose : Sweet sherry wine, with a bit of wood

Palate : Very fruity sherried, and quite woody. Plums, vanilla

Finish: Medium-long and woody

Rating 85

Comment : I can't help wondering how much sherry they forgot in the cask before filling it with newmake. This fruityness is very sweet and fresh, and much more plums than dried fruits a lá raisins. This is a sherry monster, and if you like sherry and sherried whisky, you will like this. I think it's a bit too much. But behind all the pieces of fruits floating down the glass instead of legs, there is some depths to explore. Give it time and it develops in the glass!

2. Ardmore 19yo 1992 49.9% Liquid Sun
Bottled in 2011. Matured in a bourbon barrel. Heavily peated. 202 bottles.

Nose :  ash and fruits. This is a very fruity

Palate : A nixe mix of spice, peat and fruits (sweet apples and pears) and dry ash

Finish : Medium-long and the peat lingers

Rating 88

Comment : When you aim for a bottle of Ardmore this is exactly what you hope to get. A nice mix of peat and a fruity whisky typical for speyside. And a peated whisky benefits a lot from when you can taste the age kicking in

3. Laphroaig 13yo 1998 53.3% Liquid Library
Sample

Nose: Classic Laproaig how it should be. Clean and simple. Peat, vanilla, and a bit of citrus and apples

Palate: A clear follow up to the nose. Very peaty, but you expect that. Dry and the fruit is just detectable

Finish Short-medium

Rating 86

A very sherried whisky for the ultra sherry fans, a very peaty whisky for the peatheads, and a nice peated speysider, which is also for the peatheads...

DMWA, Danish Malt Whisky Academy is the danish importer of these bottlings.

Peat and Sherry

Two very traditional ways of "flavouring" whisky is to use peated malt or to use a cask which prior content will affect the current

A lot of wellknown brands, like Highland Park, Ardbeg Uigeadail are of this type and BenRiach has been bottling quite a few old expressions of peated malt that received a finish (see : http://danishwhiskyblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/port-askaig-at-cockney-pub-arhus-and.html for a review of a 1984 BenRiach finished in a Pedro Ximenez Cask)

In this blog I'll be tasting a couple of Islays, one Caol Ila and one Laphroiag. These days a lot of distilleries have side productions of peated whisky, but only very few distilleries have the production of very peated whisky as their main expression. They are Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, Kilchoman and Bowmore on Islay and Talisker on Skye. Port Ellen on Islay, which closed in 1983 would belong on this list as well. Caol Ila and Laphroaig uses mainly ex-bourbon casks for maturing their whisky, so getting your hand of a bottle of whisky matured on a sherry cask from these distilleries isn't very common.

Laphroaig 2001

The main "problem" with peat and sherry is balance. You want to be able to taste both. You don't really want one of the flavours to dominate the other too much. Maturing has its affect here. The peatyness of a whisky will decrease as the whisky matures, and the influence from the cask will increase. As the sherry influence comes from the cask, this will increase as time go by. Cask influence is not an exact science so some casks will hold their peat flavour better than others. The sherry influence is also dependant on if the cask used is a 1st fill, 2nd fill or so on, and also to what kind of sherry was used in the original cask!

Laphroaig 2001

1. 29.83 Kissing a Balrog's Bum (Laphroiag) 20yo 52.3% bottled by SMWS Refill Butt


This whisky somehow seems a bit closed and don't really want to to come out and say hello and release its flavours. It takes some time


Nose : ashes, fruity - some dried sweet fruits but "normal" fruityness as well, peaty

Palate : Nice peat, and the ashiness is still there, the sweet sherry hits you first but then the peat comes creeping in, some woodiness. The sweetness is there but the ash gives you a dry impression. Vanilla and then liquorice which dominates the finish


Overall a very nice dry mix of sherry, ash and peat.


Quite a few finds sulphur in this, but I don't!. I got the thought that what I pick up as ash (dust!) others get as sulphur, but who knows ?
Rating 85

2. Caol Ila 1996 Gordon and Macphail Cask Strength, 59.0%, cask 16070-16072. Dist. 29/10/1996 bottled 05/04/2007


Nose : Fudge and vanilla, benhind the peat and sherry


Palate : The first thing that hits you is a sherry whisky but the finish is a very powerful peated Islay. Liquorice


The finish on this Caol Ila is amazing long mix of liquorice and peat, ending up with a hint of smoked bacon/meat after several minutes
Rating 85

Caol Ila 2001