Cleaning out my samples - part 5 of 5

1. Balblair 2001 46%

Balblair Stills

Since Balblair revitalised it's bottling style a couple of years ago, we have seen the distillery releasing a series of vintage bottlings. Of the youngest expressions we have seen 3 10yo's (or approximately 10yo). The 1997, the 2000 and now the 2001. This coincides with the distillery opening a new visitor centre.

This 2001 46% is upped in ABV from 43%, and is unchillfiltered. And I doubt there is added caramel, as it doesn't taste like that and the colour is delicious bright

In style this is faithful to the 97 and 00 vintages. It has got a bit more oomph and texture than the 00. The whisky is malty, nutty, vanilla and very fresh with a little sweetness on the finish. This would appeal to both geeky cask strength drinkers and those who have a more "normal" approach to whisky. It's not going to to revolutinise your whisky world but when whisky is represented like this it's a bit like drinking fresh beer opposed to canned/bottled beer , if anyone knows what I mean by that

Rating 84 


Recently I served some blind samples on a vacation to the US.

http://danishwhiskyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/4-blinds-for-california.html

Here are my views on two of them


2. Amrut 100. 57.1%

This is a special bottling by Amrut. 100 proof, 100cl's and it has been partly matured on 100l european virgin oak casks. The whisky was released with 100 bottled for five locations, of which one was Denmark-

I understand why this would easily come across people as being sherry matured as the european virgin oak casks have a huge influence on the palate of this whisky. 

The Amrut 100 is quite peaty. Medicinal, spiced wood and an unusual complexity for a whisky this peaty. Very often wood inluenced complexity comes with aging a whisky, but aging a whisky also diminishes the peat content. So here you got the cask influence and the high peatyness combined.

Some Amrut's can be overpowering at Cask Strength but its not the case here. This even ends up with a sweet delicious. This is in league with the intermediate sherry cask Amrut

Rating 88

3. Pe1 58.7%

A NAS Port Ellen, you don't see a lot of those around :-)

From the very fine series Elements of Islay from Whisky Exchange

Licorise. Peat. You don't really get the age of this whisky as it it very potent and intense. The finish is delicious long with a nice soft peatiness dominating. A bit of buttery kinda the scotch way notes underlying as well

Rating 85

PS I tried the Pe2 at the Jazz and Beer Festival a few weeks ago, and I liked that A LOT more

Dalmore 17 yo Duncan Taylor

Dalmore, 17 yo 06.1990/10.2007, Duncan Taylor's Rare Auld, sherry cask 7325, bt. 396/662, 55.5%

Nose: Creme brulée, irish coffee, delicate sherry nuts. Sweet strawberry notes and dark chocolate, exotic, mexican spirit - like dewdrops on a blade of grass. Caramel, yeast and freshly baked bread. Raisins and brown sugar.

Taste: Creamy, caramel candy, grass, strong alcohol. Juicy sherry with a rather fine, dry finish, where the cask comes out to play. A pretty good Dalmore.

Rating: 86


Lars

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 :-)

Highland Park vertical

Highland Park was one of my early favourites when starting out on my malt journey. Time to see how a large part of the standard range comes out here in 2011.

Highland Park 12 yo, 40%

Nose: citrus and toffee caramel - golden toffee. Crisp biscuits and some fruit. All good.

Taste: Sparkles in the mouth. A little peat coated in honey sweetness nicely balanced with flowers. In the finish a little smoke appears. A great 12 year old whisky!

This baby is mainly from european oak and it seems to me that the profile has changed over the years. Still a cracker though.

Rating: 87

Highland Park 15 yo, 40%

Nose: Fruits like kiwi and melon. Fresh, light and kind. Citrus fruits and bonfire smoke.

Taste: Malty freshness, citrus and meadow flowers. The finish is dry. Not my HP favourite.

Rating: 84

Highland Park 18 yo, 43%

Nose: Flowers and honey, great mouthfeel. Sweet and full of joy. Salted almonds. A sherry harmoy that lights up this humble taster.

Taste: Beautiful honey, heather, flowers that caress. Like the perfect dream you don't wanna wake up from. Fruity notes flicker by and ends in a dry finish.

This whisky is combined of 40-50 casks. It has always been a favourite of mine and will continue to be so.

Rating: 90

Highland Park 21 yo, 47.5%

This 21 yo is from american oak that has held sherry. According to a HP representative it should contain whisky more than 40 years of age and in style is aiming to be close to the old Bicentenary.

Nose: delicious. Crispy nuts and golden cornfields united. 'Burnt' candy, fresh made coffee. Really fantastic.

Taste: simply beautiful. A juicy complexity with vanilla and wood from the cask in just the right amounts. A synergetic whisky.

Rating: 91

Highland Park 25 yo, 48.1%

Nose: the 50% 1st fill sherry european oak comes forward. The sensation is of deep sherry, boiled fruits accompanied by tangerines, nuts and pine.

Taste: what a whisky! The balance is out of this world. Sherry, fruits, nuts, raisins and pine wood. This 25 yo is better than I remember. Has it improved over the years or is it just me?

Rating: 92

Highland Park 30 yo, 48.1%

Nose: Nutty chocolate, brittle, diesel-sherry. Almost beyond words.

Taste: Harmonic and complex for sure but it's actually hard to pin down specific notes after the stunning 25 yo. There is a sweetness but it's also a bit thin, again compared to it's smaller sibling. Perhaps it's the fact that more refill casks have been used here.. It's like a mountain climber well on his way dreaming of the summit but when he gets close the weather changes and he has to return down. A fine dram that deserves to be enjoyed on its own.

Rating: 90

Concluding comments: Highland Park has more than stood the test over time and is still a favourite of mine. The quality is high and the style really suits my palate. For me, the 12 yo seems to be the one which has changed the most over the years. The 25 yo especially is a fantastic whisky and I look forward to trying the Viking range in the not so distant future.

Lars

Amrut Two Continents Second Edition

1. Amrut Two Continents Second Edition 50%


Steffen's review

Nose : Belgian beer, vanilla and exotic fruits

Palate : malty and nutty, very chewy with a lot of texture, a lot of spicy vanilla

Finish : Medium-long with some wood spicyness hitting me late

Rating 85

Comment : This is quite different than the first Two Continents. There's a lot more of India than Europe in this. I would describe this as vanilla infused Amrut!

Further Comment. Retasting a couple of weeks after initial review, this is just of of those whiskies that improves from being open.

Lars' review

Nose: Cereal, hay, warm spirit. In the background almonds and different nuts try to play their part. Exotic fruits – cocktail berries and unripe litchis. After a while some clean toffee arrives.

Taste: Nuts, chili and pears with a touch of ginger in the finish. A good, uncomplicated, young and straightforward whisky.

Rating 80

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.

Highland Park 12 and Lagavulin DE 1980

1. Highland Park 12yo (L0671F L11) 40%

Nose : Very delicate. A pleasant mix of fruit, light peat and flowers

Palate : Moss, flowers and peat with a dominant floral background. Is it heather ?

Finish : Medium-long with a little bitterness

Rating 84

Comment : This batch is tad more floral than I remember and maybe a bit over the top. The batch variation of this standard OB is greater than you think. Nice level of peat. My mum likes it

2. Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1980 43%

Nose: Very sweet with underlying spicy peatyness

Palate: Woody, sweet and peaty

Finish: Sweet and long

Rating 84

Comment : The sweetness affected by the PX cask is huge. This whisky is for people who likes very sweet sherried whiskies

Final Comment. Two very drinkable whiskies. Sweet and welcoming. I was gonna describe them as very female whiskies until I remembered quite a few woman doesn't like peaty whiskies :-)