Whiskybase part II of III

1. Littlemill Archives 1989 48.3%
Bottled 2011, 22yo, refill sherry hogshead
Whiskybase link : http://whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=92&whiskyid=25065

Nose : VERY herbal, makes me wonder if this has been infused with herbs :-)

Palate : Licorise, burnt sugar, hint of latex, and faint hint of mint emerges on the finish

Finish: Long

This is a powerful tasting whisky. And very unusual. It's very herbal and the sherry impact is powerful. Big and bold, but its in both sherry and flavour. The distillery profile and the cask is battling, but there is no clear winner.

Rating 90

2. Strathmill Archives 1974 44.5%
Bottled 2011, 37yo
Whiskybase link: http://whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=120&whiskyid=25064

Nose : Delicate fruit. Apples with a layer of sweet lemon-orange

Palate : Orange liqueur, spicy, did I say oranges, this is like sugar marinated orange slices, finished with a spicy minty layer. Medium intensity

Finish : Medium and minty

Rating 89

Nice dram, that has a nice oomph, despite the lowish ABV

Whiskybase part I of III

Whiskybase is a great online catalogue, were whiskyentusiasts can keep track of their collections and rate whiskies. It has in just a few years become one of the best sources of tracking whiskies on the internet.

The site can be found here http://whiskybase.com/

Just recently the guys behind whiskybase has opened a whiskyshop in Rotterdam, check the link above for their online whiskoshop. They also have an excellent facebook page where news from the whiskyshop can be followed. I know both Menno and Ras personally and as Ras and I are in a whisky society together, I had a chance to taste their products acouple of times. Whiskybase shop has existed in just months and has allready made joint bottlings with Whisky-Fässle and Silver Seal beside bottling their own range - Archives

Whiskybase shop

Archives

I will start with a couple of joint bottlings between Whisky-Fässle and Whiskybase

1. Bunnahabhain 1968 Whisky-Fässle 43.8%

Bottled 2011, 42yo, refill sherry

Whiskybase link : http://whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=85&whiskyid=25627

A delightful nose, very typical old Bunnahabhain. Some light fruityness of aples and pears

The palate is ozzing of old whisku woth a delicate pine spicyness. It's not the most intense whisky on the market, it's more of the delicate subtle specie. The finish has the, for me, typical Bunnahabhain maltiness and a little wood bitterness

This is a great old Bunnahabhain

Rating 89

2. Caperdonich 1972 Whisky-Fässle 45.0%

Bottled 2011, 39yo, refill sherry

Whiskybase link : http://whiskybase.com/whiskies.php?merkid=124&whiskyid=25576

Nose : earthy, light fruits again but not as prominent as the Bunnahabhain

Palate : nutty, slight musty. Another delicate whisky. The wood impact is almost nonexistant, as usually seen with old Caperdonichs. But the many years in the cask has mellowed and softened this whisky into a delightful smoothness

Another great 1972 Caperdonich

Rating 90

Both of these whiskies are very delicate and subtle, some would say a bit fragile. I enjoyed them much more today than the last time I tried them which was in the middle of a somewhat extended dramming session :-). Whiskies like these can be overpowered in a situation like that

Coming soon : 4 Archives 

Danish Whisky Blog joins The Whisky Round Table!!

I am very honored to join a group of whisky bloggers called the Whisky Round Table

Each month the groups members take turns hosting a question which the members can opiniate about!

March is hosted by 

Edinburgh Whisky Blog

The Question asked is about distilleries bottling new-make and/or similar

You can read about it on Edinburgh Whisky Blog HERE

A little bit about Edinburgh Whisky Blog :

It's a group of now 5, but original 2 young, posh and classy guys from Edinburgh. They've met through working for the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh as tourguides. 

They sometimes host events and I had the pleasure of meeting most of their team last November. 

EWB pours :-)

Simple whisky from the big boys

The big boys in the whisky business tends to focus on 40% mass market whisky or silly overpriced whiskies in excessive packaging. But there's a few bottlings out there worth a notice for those of us who like to add the water ourselves and releases sold at a sensible prices!

Time for 4 short reviews:

1. Glenfiddich 15yo 51%, Distillery Edition


Going through Schiphol I spotted this whisky on the shelves of a whisky speciality store.  1 liter at 45 euros. I couldn't resist the temptation and bought a bottle

Nose : Dark fruits and candy toffee and a touch of red wine/ grapes

Palate : this whisky is rather complex. fruity, grapes, nutty and woody. Quite hot (alcohol) and a somewhat bitter finish.

Finish : short to medium

Rating 82

2. Balvenie 15yo Single Barrel 47.8%
6/3-95 -> 31/3-10 Cask number 2800

The 15yo is an "endless" set of releases which all are around 15 years old, but slightly older casks have been seen. It's not cask strength as the they all have been reduced to 47.8% as bottling strength. The whiskies are from different casks but very similar in styles

The nose is reminding me of armagnac and apples which are dominant, then a hint of citrus and malt

Palate : a very light dram, with speyside-nuts, some maltiness, and a hint of citrus

Finish : Medium

Rating 84

3. Glenlivet Nadurra 16yo batch 1110L 55.1%
Natural Cask Strength

Nose : Vanilla, Woodspices, joining together in a warming welcome

Palate : Fruity (banana?), vanilla, spicy, what a pleasant mouthfull. This whisky got loads of pleasant wood extracts. I wonder if any of the french oak casks went into this as this is more like the french oak than the standard 12yo

Rating 87

Lagavulin 12yo 56.5% bottled 2010


Walking trough Edinburgh Airport last around a year ago I picked this up at 41£


Nose : Heavy Peat, Earthy


Palate : Clean Peat, Malty, Some sweetness, cod-liver oil that isn't fishy (Don't ask, I can't explain it myself)


Finish Medium-Long, the peat lingers


Rating 87


Old fashioned peaty whisky, this just reminds of the way Laphroaig were when I first tasted a peaty whisky back in the nineties. Or maybe how I was back than. It's good to be back


End of the day, 4 nice no-nonsense bottlings of good quality whisky, and the last two are now on my favourite shelf

Tormore 1994/2007, Gordon & MacPhail, 59.9%

Tormore is another of the very low profile distilleries. Only a couple of official bottlings are around, and the whisky is not highly sought after amongst the independent
bottlers, but still, some bottlings do occur and with my (lacking) knowledge of this distillery’s products in mind, I think it’s time to try one:

Tormore, 15.09.1994/17.05.2007, Gordon&MacPhail’s Cask Strength Collection, casks 8350+8352, 1stfill sherry butts, 59.9%
Nose:
starts on lemon grass followed by buttery notes and burnt hay. There’s a
certain spicy toffeeness coating the whole thing which makes it kind of
fulfilling. Resin, sweet candy, liquorice and coffee comes in and add
complexity to what is becoming quite a lovely and characterfull nose for such a
young whisky. After a few minutes the butter steps forward and gives a creamy
feeling. There is also a sharp and fresh nature to this dram like a room that
has just been cleaned with Ajax – I mean this positively. If the palate is in
the same league, we’re in for a treat. Let’s see..

Taste:
burnt sugar, sherry and rather a lot of wood. Wood soaked in good sherry that
is. The wood isn’t overpowering but present all the way from when the first
drops hit the tastebuds to the long and drying finish. A special combination of
freshly cut grass and black coffee. Not as complex as the nose but very
lovable. Strong, yet elegant. Punchy, yet sensitive. Immensely interesting
whisky from well selected casks. A pleasant surprise!

Rating: 89

Those damn collectors, BRIC and feckin ebay

Whisky is getting more expensive, and NOONE is happy about it. Except the few thousands that lives of selling the stuff of course. So what are the reasons for this pricejump. Well I don't really know but I have some thoughts why it could be so and some are very obvious

1. More people drink quality whisky. This isn't just the BRIC countries, Brasil, Russia, India and China, entering the premium market. As money has started rolling in in these countries, a lot of people, as these countries has HUGE populations are getting more money in their hands. And they buying cheap local booze and replace it with more expensive "premium" spirits (for some reason a bottle of spirit is more expensive than a bottle of booze)
Well, this has mainly affected the blend market. Johnnie Walker is extremely popular in asia. The price of better blends hasn't really gone up where I live so if I want a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black I have no reason to complain.

But a lot more is drinking quality single malt whisky in the traditional markets, and with single malts being such a relative small part of whisky the business, a rise of consumers in this field is something that can be felt.

2. Some whiskies ARE getting rare. Quite a lot of distilleries were closed in the early eighties, Port Ellen, Brora being the most famous but also Dallas Dhu, Coleburn, Convalmore, Banff, Glen Albyn and St. Magdalene. Rosebank, Imperial, Caperdonich are later closures. According to Malt Whisky Yearbook, there is approximately 28 closed distilleries with bottles on the market. Most of these will not reopen. And their whiskies are getting rare. Some of them very rare. And some are very good and very popular. This will of course cause a price jump. Demand and availability. Add to this distilleries with large gaps in production years, resulting in big holes in stock. Ardbeg and Springbank just to name a couple.

3. Price as a marketing tool. Like it or not, whiskies are brands, just like Heineken, Nike and Levi's. And there's a bit of a dogfight being the "finest" distillery out there. It seems like they all want a "THE" in front of the distillery name and a 10000£ 50yo in a bullet proof display cabin in the visitor centre. Our whisky is the most expensive and that by all logic means its also the best..

4. We are fashion muppets. Like it or not, whiskies are brands, just like Heineken, Nike and Levi's. And consumers are slaves to fashion trends, and so are whisky consumers. Popular Names, Fancy Boxes and Crystal Bottles sells just as well as the actual quality of the whisky. I've seen people looking on a designed bottle package with the same adoration in their eyes as when they look on their newborn child. And when Highland Park release their overpriced King Cucumber the 4th special release the internet is drowning with fans moaning they can't get hold of a bottle (those feeckin ebayers bought them all). Shut the fuck up, it takes 5 minutes internet research to find a brilliant bottle from some lesser known distillery, or one of those weird german independant bottler with home made labels, that is a lot better whisky, cheaper, but unfortunately doesn't come with any bragging rights.

But in the end I have a painful suspicion that the main reason for whisky getting more expensive is

5. Drinkers, like me, hoarding. I buy a lot more than I can drink. I got "a few" bottles in my stock (IT*S NOT A COLLECTION). I have continuesly bought more than I can drink. So have more or less everybody I know in the world of whisky. The amount of bottles stocked up on the shelves of whisky drinkers outnumbers the numbers of bottles that collectors have in their collections. Tenfold. I bet you!
Off course the limit between drinkers and collectors is blurred, but I tell you something. The next whiskycrash will come the day us drinkers decide to drink what we have in our cabinet and stop buying!

Me and a whisky collection. Not mine though!

That said, I don't like ebayers making profit of releases from last week. It's just bad whisky karma !. But hey, we live in a capitalist society and they only take advantage of the fashion slaves, don't they ?

Every Year I make a new year resolution not to buy more whisky bottles and drink less. I did so this new year. It didn't go very well, I allready ordered three bottles. But now it's over. No more purchases!!

Until I get one more whiskycupboard, I am out of space

Happy New Year. May your drams in 2012 be as good as the ones I had in 2011 :-)

Mortlach - hit or miss?

Mortlach is a distillery that has caught my eye with some excellent bottles in the past and also caught my eye with some, well, not so excellent bottles. I know several whisky enthusiasts who have Mortlach among their top distilleries, but for me so far it's been either hit or miss. It's been a while since I had a Mortlach - time to put that right with one of the most popular releases from the Flora & Fauna series, the 16 year old Mortlach, which I actually never tried before. I bought this bottle in 2010 at Blair Athol Distillery and at the time they had plenty. Those days are surely over... For good measure let's oppose it to another youngish Mortlach, a 1991 from Gordon & MacPhail.

Mortlach, 1991/2004, Gordon&MacPhail, 10th Anniversary bottling for Danish wine shop Vinens Verden, Slotsgade, cask 7863, refill sherry, 43%

Ok, the colour suggests that it is indeed a sherry cask. Unfortunately caramel has probably been added so nothing to read from that and besides, what does colour tell us about the quality of a whisky? You're right, absolutely nothing!

Nose: boiled fruits, lemonade and figs. Then comes some dark notes of sweet cherries. Add to that orange peel and apple pie and you have an entertaining albeit not spectacular nose.

Taste: Again boiled fruits, also dried fruits and some citrus. Not really complex and fades a bit fast but hey, it's well made and has no flaws.

Rating: 81

Mortlach 16yo, Flora & Fauna, 43%

Nose: starts on candied apples and apple juice, peach and walnuts. Orange notes of dried oranges, delicious fruits at full speed forward. Very confident and lively. After a few minutes coffee and sugar join the party. Let's see how this one tastes.

Taste: first some sherry followed by dark coffee and a little unexpected peat! Dried fruits, orange chocolate and prunes. Gets drier in the medium length finish that ends in dark chocolate, flint and bonfire smoke.

Surely a fine dram which I' sure would have hit a couple of extra marks had it been bottled at, let's say, 50 %.

Rating: 87

Concluding comments: These two Mortlachs are not in amongst the best I've tasted from this distillery, nor are they in the hat with the not so good Mortlachs that have come my way. Let us say that they are in the group of the interesting and entertaining Mortlachs which is not bad.

Lars