Notes from a Tasting: Escape to Las Vegas 2015

I've lost track how many times I've been to Las Vegas.  More than 20 times, probably fewer than 25.  Usually my brother is my coconspirator.  He organized my bachelor's party in LV in 2010.  Though we had an awesome ridiculous time there, it was then that I began to learn the time limits to a Vegas getaway.  On subsequent trips, it has become even clearer.  Two nights are perfect.  One night is not enough.  Three nights are wearying, and it's not just one's own gambling and drinking that run its course.  Here's out how it goes:

Night 1 - Woohoo!  You're tired from the flight/drive but by utilizing alcohol and caffeine, you'll just blast through!  Due to exhaustion and sensory overload, you don't really notice much about your surroundings except for the hot people and weird people.

Day/Night 2 - If you didn't lose all of your money on Night 1, you stay sober enough to do some relatively responsible gambling.  Once you or one of your crew have a good night at the tables, you then stay out stupidly late.

Day 3 - You are hungover.  You eat too much at a breakfast buffet, swearing off those feeding troughs for life, again.  You decide to wander The Strip to see the new casinos.  There are no old casinos.  You begin to notice that Americans no longer make up the majority of the tourists here.  But everyone, regardless of nationality, seems to have the same empty look on his and her faces.

Night 3 - Dinner at one of the new, decent, possibly overpriced restaurants.  You're trying not to lose any more money, so maybe you'll just get plastered instead.  But after two beers, it becomes laborious.  So you go back to wandering and people watching.  Gradually the emotional and sensory weight of tens of thousands of people submitting to depression-fueled destruction begins to hollow out your soul.

This March, I stayed in Vegas for four nights.  That was a lot.  Especially with my infant daughter, Mathilda, strapped to me.  My wife had an eleven day (dear god) conference at City Center.  Mathilda and I tagged along for the first third.  We ate well, which is one of the upsides of Vegas.  Dave Chappelle arrived at the hotel just as we did, then I saw him again later at Starbucks.  So that was cool.  My daughter and I walked The Strip a bit.  I ogled the new stuff, mourned the loss of the old stuff, as I'm sure she did as well.

I limited myself to one night of gambling.  After I won a not insignificant amount of money via video poker, I immediately exited the casino (as I always do after winning).  What was I to do with my winnings?  Save it for Japan!  This cash would help make that voyage more comfortable.  But I had to do something now to celebrate.  So, I did what I did the last time I won well there: go to Craftsteak and get some whisky that I couldn't otherwise afford...

Tending bar was Larry, the same friendly chap who was there the last time I'd stopped by to spend my winnings, two years ago.  He handed me a tablet with an interactive menu app.  The first thing I noticed was Craftsteak's selection, while still one of the best in the city, is nowhere near as extensive as it used to be.  They used to have loads of incredible indies and dead distillery malts.  There were tons of "craft" bourbons and plenty of officially bottled scotches on their shelves.  They also still don't have whisky glasses, which is a little weird, so I used a bulbous wine glass instead.  Larry brought over a whole bunch of bottles to the table because I'm a pain in the ass (don't worry, I tipped him well) and also because almost no one else was at the bar.  I almost dropped a mint, a pile, a boatload on a glass of Highland Park 30, but at the last minute I called an audible and spent the same amount of cash on these two instead:

Tomatin 34 year old 1976 Duncan Taylor "The Octave" cask 682039, 46.3%abv

Color - Dark gold, but then again the bar's lighting was dark gold

Nose - Biscotti with Nutella.  Mint chip ice cream.  Milk chocolate.  There was also an herbal + malt note still lingering after all these years.

Palate - Loads of cayenne pepper.  A groovy herbal bitterness.  Seared beef with mango and peaches.  The oak can't cover up that fruitiness.  Maybe some soil.

Finish - Tropical fruit, salt, dried blueberries and currants.

Thoughts and things: This was my first Tomatin 1976.  If one believes in whisky vintages then this is considered one of the great ones.  Though I have many doubts about the whole vintage theory (as I've previously stated many times), I still had my expectations high.  So while this was very good whisky, it wasn't tremendous or moan inducing.  I'm wondering if the tiny octave cask had something to do with it.  Anyway the finish, while colorful, was sort of brief.  The nose was nice, but I've found those same notes in younger and cheaper Glenfarclas.  The palate was excellent though, and easily the best part.  If only the other parts could have matched it!  I am thankful for the opportunity to have tried this.  I believe that had I sampled this blindly, I may have had a higher opinion of the overall package.

Grade range:  B/B+

Glenlivet 21 year old Gordon & MacPhail, 43%abv
Color - Medium gold
Nose - Straightforward.  Dusty grains, a little bit of perfume, and lots of apricot.
Palate - Lightly creamy, mostly fruity spirit notes.  Orange, tangerines, peach candy, elderflower syrup.  A moderate amount of vanilla.
Finish - Sweet, but also crisp and tart.  The vanilla, elderflower, and peach remains.

Thoughts and things: There was a motive behind this selection: I've been window-shopping this bottle for over a year.  According to Whiskybase, its average price is $40 cheaper than that of the official (and much more prevalent) 21 year old.  Plus the pour price was reasonable by LA/LV standards.  And......I saved myself $130+ because I don't need to buy a whole bottle now.  The whisky itself is good.  I have no qualms about its quality.  Probably right smack dab in the middle of Grade B Land.  It's simple, easy drinking, without any major flaws.  Exactly what I'd desire in the (shrinking) $40-$60 range.  But it's not in that price range, which is a bummer.  Still, it was a perfectly satisfying one time thing.  And now I can walk away and lust after another pretty thing.
Grade range: B

My indulgences ended here.  A third drink would likely have been wasted on my tired senses, and that money could be better spent in Japan (and it was).  I walked back to the hotel elated and peaceful, for just a moment.  One is allowed so few of those moments as a new parent.

Knockandone: Knockando 21 year old 1962 Extra Old Reserve (Justerini & Brooks, Dateo Import)

Photo, from LAWS, may or may not
be of the actual bottle reviewed here. 

Our Knockando journey which started in 1999 now ends in 1962.  1962 was the year the whisky in the bottle was distilled, back when Knockando utilized its own floor maltings, back when they were owned by International Distillers & Vintners.  It was bottled in 1984, long after the maltings were closed and Grand Metropolitan (future Diageo) had taken over.  According to whiskybase, the "Extra Old Reserve" bottlings had started just a few years earlier, joining the 12 year old in the distillery's single malt range.  Like the 12yos, this one has its vintage year listed, as well as the bottling year.  Unique to the range, though, was the fancier looking square decanter, which is a pain in the ass to pour from.

Distillery: Knockando
Ownership at time of bottling: Grand Metropolitan (via Justerini & Brooks)
Importer: Dateo
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 21 years
Distilled: 1962
Bottled: 1984
Maturation: dunno, but there are probably ex-sherry casks in the mix
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
(Sample purchased from LA Scotch Club)

The color is medium gold, darker than the previous four whiskies from this series, and less orange than the 1999.  The first thing I notice in the nose is the peat!  A definite medium level peating.  Then grains like barley and corn.  Then orange oil termite treatment in a moldy basement.  In a good way.  Sheep (yep, sheep), followed by caramel and basil leaves.  After 20+ minutes in the glass, a note of refill sherry casks comes along.  Think hot cocoa and toffee, or perhaps a Heath Bar.  The sherry and peat smoke grow with additional time.  The oily-textured palate is grassy and mossy with a medium sweetness.  Mild sherry and the basement note, again.  Toffee pudding with a glass of Campari.  Moments of salt and mango.  With time, a hint of something darker and industrial arises, followed by a hint of something brighter, like citrus peels.  The finsh is mild and barley-ish with toffee and orange peel.  Hints of hard cheese, black pepper, and peach.  A lemon/grapefruit tartness.

As the nose and palate sizzled, this was shaping up to be a 90+ point whisky, but then the finish fizzled.  Andy, who furnished the bottle, wondered if it felt a bit too watered down at this ABV.  While I didn't find that problem on the nose and palate, it may explain the weakish finale.  On the bright side of things -- and things are almost totally bright with this whisky -- the peating works wonders in the nose, as do the sherry casks.  Both are present and contribute well to the whole without overtaking the experience.  The palate has a slight edge to it that raises it above an average decent Speysider.

Of the six Knockandos from this series, this 21yo 1962 and the 12yo 1966 were my favorites.  There wasn't a stinker in the bunch.  Each was slightly different, thanks to variables like cask types, barley sources, Old Bottle Effect levels, and (maybe) vintage variation.  I have been told the sherry cask Knockandos can be dynamite, and I'm sure this 1962 hinted as much.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the cask selection in these whiskies, and admire the blending work required to produce a good single malt.  Thank you to Cobo, Florin, and LASC for making these two Knockando weeks possible.

Availability - Auctions

Pricing - ???

Rating - 88

Knockando The Time Warp Again! Knockando 12 year old 1965 (OB) Justerini & Brooks Chandon Import

While I don't buy into most of the talk about distilleries' magical vintages (due to all of the variables involved in the creation of a single malt), these old official Knockandos do provide the potential for a more valid discussion.  Their barley was malted in the same place and the barrels matured in the same warehouse.  It's likely that the yeast remained the same and the fermentation and distillation times did as well.  While there are other factors at play, there should be wider interest amongst some of the whisky gods to do further studies on the Knockando floor-malting-era vintages.  While I am not a whisky god, I am going to drink some more Knockando...

Yesterday, I wrote about the birth of the Knockando single malts via Grand Metropolitan and Justerini & Brooks.  I also reviewed a very good 12 year old official Knockando from 1966.  And today, here is one from 1965.  As seen with its younger mate:

Thanks again to Cobo for the sample and the photo!  Thank you for the opportunity to match these two up at the same tasting.

Distillery: Knockando
Ownership at time of bottling: Grand Metropolitan (via Justerini & Brooks)
Importer: Chandon
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 12 years
Distilled: 1965
Bottled: 1977
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Its color is light gold, again.  This time the nose starts off with pineapple, lemon peel, green apples, and ginger tea.  There's a little bit of barley in here, salted caramels, and also some of the lemongrass I'd noticed in the 1966.  But it has a bit of an old-bottle-style moldy basement note too.  Some more oak slips in with time, but so does a tropical fruit note.  Ah, the palate has little bit of smoke to it, reminiscent of wood smoke, floating mid-ground.  There's confectioner's sugar, bubblegum, and a light bitterness up front.  It gets a little drier with time, picks up some lime and a simple sweet custard.  Slightly musty.  Pepper in the back of the throat.  The musty moldy basement note lingers into the finish.  I get an herbal bitterness at first, but then it becomes a little sweeter and more citric.  Hints of the bubblegum and confectioner's sugar.  It holds onto the (good) bitterness and tartness throughout.

A different whisky than the 1966.  The nose, while bolder, is less glamorous.  The palate is sweeter and smokier and the finish bitterer.  The musty note, absent from the '66, shows up in various places in the '65.  I happen to like that sort of thing, but others may not.

Overall, I like the '66 more with its lovely nose and lean sturdy palate.  But really if you find either of these, whether at an auction or some magical mysterious retailer, they'll probably be priced well considering their historical value. And they taste pretty good too, if you rightly choose to open the bottle.

Availability - Auctions

Pricing - not as expensive as most other distilleries from this era

Rating - 85

Knockando The Time Warp! Knockando 12 year old 1966 (OB) Justerini & Brooks Dateo Import

The Whisky Wayback Warp deposits us in 1966, just four years after W & A Gilbey merged with United Wine Traders to become IDV, and more importantly when Knockando distillery was still malting their own barley.  By the time his whisky was bottled in 1978, the maltings were forever shuttered and Grand Metropolitan had taken over.

The Grand Metro takeover wasn't all bad.  Almost immediately upon their ownership change in 1972, Knockando's single malt was first released.  It was done by utilizing the name of Justerini & Brooks on the label.  Justerini & Brooks (also part of Grand Metropolitan) had achieved worldwide success with their blend J&B Rare.  In fact in 1963, they were the second Scotch brand to sell one million cases in a year (after Cutty Sark did so in 1962).  So the brand recognition was strong, thus, "Here's another J&B scotch!" approach.

Thank you to Cobo for this great photo.  And thank you, of course, for a sample of this whisky.  The Single Malt Sentinels approve.

Distillery: Knockando
Ownership at time of bottling: Grand Metropolitan (via Justerini & Brooks)
Importer: Dateo
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 12 years
Distilled: 1966
Bottled: 1978
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Its color is light gold.  The nose begins full of peach and papaya, limes and lemongrass.  Then orange pixy stix, bubblegum, and a whisper of vanilla bean.  After some time......apples, salty butter, fresh wood pulp, caramel, and cassia bark.  The palate's fruit is a bit tarter than the nose lets on.  Some bold bitterness up front, then sugar later on.  A bit sharp at first, almost austere (fancy word!).  But eventually, the nose's bubblegum shows up and some sweet barley sugars emerges, brightening things up.  Hints of blood orange and grapefruit appear later on as well.  The finish is quite dry, like a minerally white wine.  Some tart citrus.  A tiny bit of sugar.  Lots of grass/chlorophyll.  A moment of ripe bananas and the essence of Juicy Fruit gum (without the sweets, if you can picture that).

What a nose!  So fresh and bright after 37 years under the cork.  I didn't mind the woody notes that appeared later because they danced so well with the fruity spirit.  After the beauty queen nose, the palate seemed almost blue collar, a lean mean malt.  I think you'd have to dig super dry white wine (like I do) to really enjoy it.

If you're looking for other opinions on it, Serge reviewed it almost eight years ago.  And I think Cobo likes this one quite a bit.

This was a lot of fun.  Whatever could be on deck for tomorrow?

Availability - Auctions

Pricing - not as expensive as most other distilleries from this era

Rating - 87

Knockando-do-do De-da-da-da: Knockando 24 year old 1979 Justerini & Brooks (private bottling)

Photo and sample courtesy of Cobo

Cobo won this bottle at an auction and sent me a sample.  The bottle's personalized label reads: "The whisky in this bottle was distilled at the Knockando Distillery during 1979. It was drawn from cask and specially bottled to commemorate the 50th Birthday of George 12th December 2003."  We don't know who George is other than a very lucky individual.  Hopefully there were other bottles and George was able to enjoy them.  But I'm seeing a water stain on the label and now I'm wondering if something terrible happened to George.  Like a flood or sobriety.  George is a great guy.  Give him a break, God.  ;-)

Distillery: Knockando
Ownership at time of bottling: Grand Metropolitan (via Justerini & Brooks)
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 24 years
Distilled: 1979
Bottled: 2003
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

The color is light gold.  The nose is big on florals (blossoms and soap) and is very delicate.  Dust, cotton, fuji apple skins, honey, and lemons right from the tree.  Whipped honey butter and cantaloupes.  Hints of grapefruit and the ocean.  The palate starts of musty, like a much older bottle.  Then there's apple juice, vanilla beans, and burnt toffee.  A slight note of industrial plastics, another of carpet.  But overall it grows sweeter and spicier with time.  The moderate length finish has the apple juice and vanilla beans as well.  Though it's more like vanilla meringue here.  Bit of the carpet fiber note too.  Like the palate, it also gains spices and sweetness with time.

This is a fragile-feeling whisky whose nose seems like its about to float right off its face.  The nose is quite pretty (and I would say "feminine" if that didn't make the oceans seethe) with its flowers, fruit peels, and honey (again!).  The palate is mild and gentle as well, though its charms escaped me quicker than those of the nose.  Still, this is a heck of a thing to be reviewing and I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to do so.  Thank you, Cobo!

Availability - Ask George

Pricing - see "Availability"

Rating - 81

More Knockando for you: Knockando 26 year old 1980 Duncan Taylor Peerless

With today's Knockando we're taking a step back to 1980.  This the only independent bottling of my Knockando review sextet, as well as the one that spent the most time in its cask.  Indie bottlings of Knockando are rare, likely due to the cask hoarding Diageo chooses to do for the popular J&B blend.  Whiskybase lists only 18 indies; The Malt Monitor lists only 7; Serge has reviewed only 4.  Diving For Pearls now has 1.

Distillery: Knockando
Bottler: Duncan Taylor
Range: Peerless
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 26 years
Distilled: June 1980
Bottled: March 2007
Maturation: perhaps a refill ex-bourbon barrel?
Cask #: 1912
Bottle count: 268
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(Thanks to Cobo for the sample!!!)

The color is a light amber, even after 26 years in the cask.  The nose starts grassy and ends grassy.  The next largest note is fruity, a combo of mango, nectarines, and lemons.  There's a floral burst, right between blossoms and floral soap.  Then secondary notes of pineapple, apple juice, and honey.  Occasionally there's a slight musty thing going on, as well as a hint of solvent.  After about 30 minutes, a solid lemongrass note develops.  The palate has some caramel poured over grilled pears.  The whole pot o' honey.  Cinnamon bark, vanilla frosting, almond skins, honeydew, and toasty grains.  The sweetness goes right to the edge, but never teeters into Too Much territory.  The sweet finish is full of honey, pear juice, vanilla frosting, and witbier.

For its age this is feels like a young and spritely thing.  The honey characteristic is reminiscent of yesterday's 1999 official bottling.  And similar to that whisky, there's quite a lot of spirit character in play in this one.  I think its age mostly shows up in the subtleties of the nose and palate.  Since Duncan Taylor chose to only bottle this cask at 46%abv, I don't know if it would have been bigger or better at full power, but it's still very nice at this strength.  But, with all things considered, it's only slightly better than the 12yo 1999.  Happily this wasn't terribly expensive back in the day.  Imagine, a 26 year old single malt selling for €86!

Availability - Happy Hunting!

Pricing - around €86 in 2007

Rating - 85

(For a very different opinion of this whisky, see Serge's review.  For a third review, see the one from 'bakerman' on Whiskybase.  His notes couldn't be more different than Serge's and mine.  Apparently this stuff is a Rorschach Test.)

Let's Knockando it! Knockando 12 year old 1999 (OB)

Let's start where I started, with this recent Knockando 12 year old.  Knockando's official bottlings aren't sold in the US and their independently bottled versions are scarce everywhere because the J&B needs its 'do.  Thus when Florin (a prince) offered up a good portion of his bottle of the 12, I was happy to receive it.  At first I found it to be an easy drinker, something to sip and generally ignore.  With successive pours, it began taking on more form and character.  I set two ounces aside for a future review, and now the future has arrived.

Distillery: Knockando

Owner: Diageo plc
Type: Single Malt Report
Region: Speyside (Central)

Age: 12 years (1999-2011)

Maturation: primarily ex-bourbon casks with a smaller amount of ex-sherry casks

Chill-filtration? Yes
Caramel colored? Yes

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

The color is DiageoGold™.  Large quantities of barley and yeast in the nose, and a hell of a lot of honey.  Some notes of apples, fresh pears, orange hard candies, vanilla, and marzipan.  Some nuts, cigar tobacco, and cocoa from the sherry casks (probably).  An occasional gritty note.  With time in the glass, the whisky develops notes of dried berries, dried grass, and tangerines.  At first the palate is lightly smoky, with some salty butter and something a little dirty (literally dirt).  There are smaller notes of oak spice, lemons, sweet wine, and pilsner.  After some time in the glass, the whisky gets a little creamier, the lemons becoming lemon bars.  Some sugary frosting, orange pulp, walnuts, honey, and burnt barley emerge as well.  A hint of the honey.  The dusty/toasty/burnt thing sticks around into the finish.  There are also some oranges, black peppercorns, honey, and vanilla.  In later sips, the citrus grows as does a jasmine-like note.  A moderate length finish overall.

As I hinted at in the intro, the whisky really grew on me.  It's very pleasant and barley-forward.  It's not actually complex, but I did two different tasting sessions, which is why there's a pile of tasting notes.  I also wrote down, "Would be great with a beer."  It would be even better at a $30-$35 price point -- as it is in much of Europe -- since it's a small step up from Glenfiddich 12 and probably comparable quality-wise to Tomatin 12.  Hell, if J&B included more of this in their bland blend, I'd buy that as well.  But that's not happening, so maybe someday Diageo can find it in its cold black heart to bring Knockando to the US.  Perhaps?

Availability - European retailers

Pricing - $30-$40 (w/VAT, w/o shipping)

Rating - 84