Single Malt Report: Mannochmore 16 year old 1990-2007 Connoisseurs Choice

Mannochmore has a short unromantic history compared to other Speyside distilleries.  Built in 1971 on the same property as the Glenlossie distillery, Mannochmore's original purpose was to supply malt whisky for the Haig blends.  For more than three decades the two distilleries even shared employees.  Shut down in the second half of the '80s when rough times hit the Scotch industry, Mannochmore's distillery was shut down again in 1995, then reopened the following year.  Diageo currently uses 100% of the distillery's output in blends.

Connoisseurs Choice is one of Gordon & Macphail's longest running brands.  What has made Connoisseurs (no apostrophe) Choice great is that it has allowed whisky fans to try single malts from nearly every single distillery, especially those distilleries that do not have their own official releases.  On the other hand, all of the CCs are bottled at reduced ABVs.  It seems as if they were mostly (or entirely) bottled at 40%abv for a couple decades.  Then some were bottled at 43% and others at 46%.  Those 46ers are the ones I look to snap up, especially if they're priced reasonably.  And that's just what I did with this 16 year old Mannochmore from 1990.

Distillery: Mannochmore
Ownership: Diageo

Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail (Connoisseurs Choice)
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Age: 16 years old (1990-2007)

Maturation: "oak casks"

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(review sample taken from the bottom half of my bottle)

NEAT
The nose has an entertaining mix of fruit and industrial stuff.  Pears, peaches, canned fruit cocktail, and lychee candy meet plaster, paint VOC, and a hint of moldy basement.  There are also some small notes of caramel and balsamic vinegar.

The palate has a bit of heat to it, but it's also big on fruits and fruit candy.  Lime, pineapple, pears, and fresh ginger.  Steady sweetness throughout and also that cayenne-like burn.

There's a hint of coffee in the otherwise sweet finish.  Gummy bears, lemons, limes, in-season apples, and ginger read loudest.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose gets maltier and picks up more caramel and vanilla bean action.  New notes of bubblegum and lavender flowers.  Still a lot of pears in there.

The palate cools off a bit.  There's vanilla, cream soda, limes, ginger, and black pepper.

The finish is similar to the palate with its lime and cream soda character.  But it also has the nose's caramel sauce and malt.

COMMENTS:
I enjoyed this whisky more at home (with a much larger pour) than I did at the Malt Nuts event.  The quirkiness of the nose became clearer, and actually worked despite what sound like clashing characteristics.  The fruits appear consistently throughout the experience and I liked them despite the occasionally aggressive sweetness.  It swims pretty well too, to the point where I might experiment with adding water whenever I drink what's left of the whisky.

There's a 15 year old 1990-2006 CC Mannochmore floating around out there too.  That one was from refill sherry casks.  Whatever "oak casks" this one came from, I'm going to guess they were refill (2nd or 3rd) too because aside from the little bit of caramel and vanilla, this was mostly spirit forward.  While this one won't win an excess of superlatives, it is a decent whisky and goes to show there's no need to fear the Mannochmore.

Availability - Scarce
Pricing - $75-$80
Rating - 85

Mannochmore Multitudes with The Malt Nuts

A few weeks ago I attended my first Malt Nuts monthly event.  Though it was their 55th get together and everyone already knew each other, they were very welcoming and I felt like I instantly fit right in.  And AND(!) these events are blind tastings.  So, though we may know the distillery or theme, we don't know the age or strength or anything about what's sitting in our glasses.

This month's event was all about Mannochmore (with one surprise) and a pair of Alexander Murray single casks.  For more details and photos, please see The Whisky Jug's post about this same event.  Because my notes are nearly illegible and because there's a lot of whisky to write about here, I'll keep my reviews as Sku-sized as possible.

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ALEXANDER MURRAY CASK STRENGTH WHISKIES

These were poured for us by an Alexander Murray rep who claimed there will be more cask strength stuff coming from his company soon.  That would appreciated since the rest of their range is 40%abv, colored, and filtered.  Note: these two were not poured blindly.

Highland Park 13yo 2000 Alexander Murray, ex-bourbon cask, 56.1%abv

Review: The nose has something strange and stinky like moldy fruit. That's followed by floral gum, anise, and burnt hay. The palate has that odd funk from the nose, followed by some vague floral notes and moderate malt levels. It's quite drying, especially in the finish.

Comments: It is by far the least pleasant Highland Park I've ever tried. After sipping it, Josh (The Whiskey Jug) and I were like "WTF?" Man, I'm glad I didn't buy this blindly.

Grade Range: C-  (and that's probably generous)

Dalmore 15yo 1999 Alexander Murray, ex-sherry secondary maturation, 55.6%abv

Review: The nose is very floral with a little bit of mango and larger notes of dried cherries. The palate is herbal, buttery, and sweet.  Peppery alcohol heat, occasional hints of malt, and drying in the finish.

Comments: Though the palate was forgettable, the nose was pretty good. I'm not a Dalmore fan, but this one was better than the Highland Park.  Still, it's tough to recommend.

Grade Range: C+/B-

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THE MANNOCHMORE BLIND TASTING

1A - Mannochmore Flora & Fauna 12yo, 43%abv

Review: The nose is very clean, herbal, and full of crisp grain notes.  The palate is a little bitter, a little fruity, a little malty. Texturally, it's thin and watery.

Comments: A happy lack of oak makes this a reliable naked malt.  I really wish it had more oomph and depth to it, but it's a Diageo product so they likely abused this stuff within an inch of its life.

Grade Range: C+/B-
(A full review to follow later this week!)

1B - Mannochmore 16 year old 1990-2007 G&M Connoisseurs Choice, 46%abv
This is the bottle I brought to the event.  Because it was unopened until that night, I had no idea what this whisky would taste like.

Review: A musty basement note starts the nose, followed by spicy, salty, and savory things. Also, nutty sherry? The palate is bright and mildly peppery with lots of malt.  White fruit notes start small then expand with time. A hint of salty toffee.

Comments: I'm so thankful it wasn't crappy.  It's not amazing either, but it's a solid drinker.  I'm looking forward to drinking some more of it.

Grade Range: B-/B
(A full review to follow later this week!)

1C - Mannochmore 11 year old 1996-2007 Duncan Taylor NC2 for D&M Wines, 46%abv

Review: The nose is all spirit.  A little bit of white fruit, lime, cucumber, sugar.  There's also a fishy/seaweed note in the background. The palate is perfumy and cloying with a slight leathery note.  I've had glasses of water with longer finishes than this.

Comments: Totally out of whack, this is the second D&M exclusive whisky I've found unpleasant.  I love spirit-forward whiskies, but......bleh.

Grade Range: D+/C-

2A - Mannochmore 13 year old 1998 G&M for Binny's, 57.8%abv

Review: The nose is fruity with a slight barbecue note.  Toasty, herbal, medicinal with pencil shavings and sherry? The palate is sweet and tangy with lovely bright fruity esters.

Comments: Surprising levels of depth and complexity.  The best of the bunch.

Grade Range: B+

2B - Glenlossie 17 year old Hepburn's Choice for K&L Wine Merchants, 55.4%abv
Surprise! A Glenlossie, Mannochmore's older sibling and next door neighbor.

Review: Baked bananas, vanilla bean, and lemon lollipops on the nose.  The palate is sweet, herbal, toasty, and malty.  Lemon candy and vanilla notes run right through into the finish.

Comments: Whisky candy! K&L recently dropped the price on this one to $69.99.

Grade Range: B/B+

3A - Mannochmore 12 year old 1999 Blackadder Raw Cask, 60.6%abv

Review: Sulphur, leather, and rocks on the nose. Sulphur, pepper, sulphur, heat, sulphur, and a slight sweetness in the palate.

Comments: Sulphur. It gets points for brutality, but I can't say I have any desire to drink this again.  A number of Nuts liked this whisky more than I.

Grade Range: C+

3B - Mannochmore 16 year old 1991-2008 Signatory, South African sherry butt, 55.8%abv

Review: Bananas, caramel, apples, and toffee pudding on the nose.  The palate is mild, grainy, grassy, and a little floral.

Comments: The Whisky Jug found the nose inert, but the palate vivid.  I had the exact opposite experience.  I wish the palate matched the great nose, though.  Meanwhile, I would have never guessed this was anything but a regular refill cask.

Grade Range: B-

3C - Mannochmore 11 year old 2003-2014 SWMS, first fill ex-bourbon cask, 62.3%abv

Review: Marshmallows, marzipan, confectioner's sugar, potpourri, and cherries in the nose.  On the sweet palate light perfume and white fruit notes meet spicy oak.

Comments: A good spicy dessert whisky.  Drinkable at full strength.

Grade Range: B/B+
(A full review to follow later this week!)

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This great experience has me looking forward to June's Malt Nuts event (which will be my final LA whisky event).  Many thanks to Mr. Kaye for the invitation!

My favorites from this session were:
1. Mannochmore 13 year old 1998 G&M for Binny's, 57.8%abv
2. Glenlossie 17 year old Hepburn's Choice for K&L Wine Merchants, 55.4%abv
3. Mannochmore 11 year old 2003-2014 SWMS, first fill ex-bourbon cask, 62.3%abv

My own Connoisseurs Choice bottle probably finished fourth.  As I noted above, I will be providing full reviews of the Connoisseurs, Flora & Fauna, and SMWS bottlings later this week.  Stay tuned...

Single Malt Report: Arran 15 year old 2000 Sherry Hogshead for K&L Wine Merchants

Like Wednesday's Longmorn, here's another K&L exclusive single cask featured at the K&L Strikes Back event from two months ago.  In this case, K&L purchased the cask from the distillery itself rather than from an independent bottler.  Ooh, and like the Longmorn, it's actually still available for purchase as of this moment.

Distillery: Isle of Arran
Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers
Age: 15 years (February 24, 2000 - April 7, 2015)
Maturation: sherry hogshead
Bottle count: 257
Alcohol by Volume: 56.8%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Its color is a dark gold, flexing its sherry hogshead tint.

The neat nose leads off with a blast of dry nutty sherry.  Then green apples and cinnamon.  A bit hit of vanilla bean.  York Peppermint Patties crossed with Cow Tales and a generous helping of floral esters.  With water (~46%abv), it becomes very floral; both blossoms and soap.  A bit of fresh ginger too.  Some of the sherry pulls back letting larger notes of American oak (vanilla and caramel) come through.

The neat palate is also big on the florals.  But it also has notes of canned peaches and dried apricots.  Plenty of dry nutty sherry throughout, again.  Marzipan, raisins, green (Granny Smith?) apples, dried cherries, ginger ale, and a hint of malt.  With water (~46%abv), a nice bitter Campari note pops up, joining the stone fruits.  The ginger ale and malt remain, though the whole becomes more sugary.  Raisin Bran raisins and orange candy.

The peaches and apricots remain through the neat finish.  Lots of clean sherry.  Dried cherries, almonds, and prune juice, along with an ethyl tingle.  With water (~46%abv), it's almonds, apricots, orange candy, and caramel.

COMMENTS:

I'll say it here and then you can tell me to f*** right off, but I liked this better than the 29yo Longmorn.  The Arran's palate and finish not only match the nose, but surpass it at times, creating a more balanced experience.  The good sherry cask leads the way, though it does leave room for some more spirit-driven fruit and floral things.  For my nose and palate, 10-15 years is the prime spot for Arran's single malt, and this particular whisky continues the trend.  Like the Longmorn, K&L recently dropped the price to get more bottles out the door, shifting this to $97 from $130.  Not a bad idea.

Availability - Exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants
Pricing - $97, was $130
Rating - 88

Single Malt Report: Longmorn 29 year old 1985 Hunter Laing "Old & Rare" for K&L Wine Merchants

Hey, about a whisky you can (as of the writing of this post) still purchase in the United States?  This one is a single cask sold only through K&L Wine Merchants, who seem to have a heck of an exclusive deal with indie bottler Hunter Laing.  In this instance they have a 1980s Longmorn, something one doesn't see much of anymore.  I absolutely adore good old Longmorns, so I was looking forward to this.

I came by a sample of this long-aged Speysider thanks to my installation as the substitute LA Scotch Club host for the K&L Strikes Back event at Lost Property in Hollywood on April 10th.  Andy, Mr. LA Scotch Club, was out of town that night, so it was David OG and I who held court.  Actually, it was 99% David OG.  I was just there to take care of money stuff, check people in, and be the keeper of the bottles.  I grabbed a sample for myself that evening and now here's my review seven weeks later:

Distillery: Longmorn
Ownership: Pernod Ricard (via Chivas Bros.)
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: Old & Rare
Age: 29 years (October 1985 - July 2015)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Bottle count: 251
Alcohol by Volume: 51.9%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Its color is yellow amber, a good sign the oak levels are moderate.

The neat nose starts off with a great fruit basket: limes, lemons, grapefruit, mangos, and clementines.  The vanilla note here is subtle, thanks to the refill-ness of the cask.  There are also roses, cherry lollipops, lime jello, and citronella candles.  With water (~46%abv), the limes and lemons grow louder.  Toffee pudding, butterscotch hard candies, and peach gummy candy notes arrive.  With water (~40%abv), it's still very pretty.  Fresh flowers, peach candy, and toffee lead the way.

The neat palate reads hot and tight at the start.  Tart citrus proves to be the biggest note throughout.  There's salt, some maltiness, a little bit of sweetness, vanilla, and a floral note.  Seems to need water to open up.  With water (~46%abv), it still has that tart bite, though it does become somewhat fruitier and floral.  Hints of malt, sugar, vanilla, and tangy lime candy.  With water (~40%abv), there's more malt, some baking spice, vanilla, and a peach hint.

The neat finish is tart, sharp, minerally, with hints of malt and vanilla custard.  With water (~46%abv), it's still mostly tart and tangy citrus.  Some quiet notes of vanilla and toffee pudding.  With water (~40%abv), it continues to get quieter.  Hints of canned peaches, vanilla extract, and chocolate malt.

COMMENTS:
The nose is the winner here, as it delivers all those fruit notes I so adore.  It has depth and dimension, as well as stamina as it stands up to well to water.  Had the palate matched the dynamic nose, I would have broken my rule about >$200 bottles and bought one of these for myself.  But the palate and the finish never really open up nor switch into another gear.  Time and water help the palate a little but shuts down the finish.  Thus this goes from an A- grade nose to a B palate to a B- finish, for those keeping score.

What I will say is that the current price of $199.99 is, in the current market (the usual qualifier), a great price for an almost-three-decade-old single cask Speyside.  The original $349.99 sticker is closer to what the market would call for, but it doesn't seem like this whisky flew off the shelves as fast as needed so K&L dropped their price, something we all wish other retailers did.

Availability - Exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants
Pricing - $200, was $350
Rating - 85

Whisky 600: Box Whisky Advanced Masterclass Number One

The Box Whisky Distillery is located way up at the 63rd parallel in Sweden.  To give you another idea of how north it is -- the most Northern distillery in the world, they claim -- the 63ºN runs through the center of Alaska, the top of Hudson Bay, the bottom of Greenland, and the center of Siberia.  Whisky drinking climate indeed.

They do not control the temperatures in their Norrland warehouse, which must allow for some interesting maturation being that the temperatures outside can have up to a 100ºF span (-20ºF to 80ºF) during the year.  They use two types of casks, first-fill American oak and ex-Oloroso sherry from Spain.  After importing both cask types, they re-cooper them all down to 39.25 liters.  They use Pilsner Malt, the unsmoked stuff from Sweden, and the smoked from Scotland (wherever the hell that is).  They use French distiller's yeast and ferment for "unusually long periods".  I know that "" part sounds vague and questionable, but if you've drunk any Swedish drink or eaten any Swedish food (no, IKEA's Äppelkaka doesn't f***ing count) then you know they really like to ferment stuff. Filmjölk in da house!

You knew this was coming.

In 2013, Box released a boxed set of five 200mL bottles called Advanced Masterclass Number One - Toasting.  Along with the set is the class text, a website which actually anyone can view.  It's very informative (data heavy!) and I recommend anyone interested in whisky to give it a read.  Google Translate does a good job with the Svenska, though I do like the part when "the spirits are walking in and out of the oak". Spooky!

The distillate is the same in all five bottles, having been from one distillation run.  It was all barreled (the site even has data on the trees that were felled for the barrels) on April 26, 2011 and then bottled on November 1, 2013.  From the site, here's the meat of the set/class:

The contents of this box is stored for 30 months in 100-liter barrels of new Swedish oak with five different roasting degrees. It is not old enough to be called whiskey, but it does not matter in this case since the purpose is merely to understand how different roasts affect the odor and taste.

Five whiskies.  Five levels of cask toasting/firing/charring: Light, Medium, Medium+, Heavy, and Charred.  (Yes, they share the data behind these levels too.)  The student is to read the text, then nose and taste the whiskies and guess which one (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) was from which toast level.

Six of us split the cost of the Masterclass bottles (thank you, Andy, for initiating this opportunity).  Everyone else took the test almost a year ago, I think.  I just got around to doing it last week.

COLOR
Visually, one can begin to sort the whiskies out.  Whiskies 2 and 4 have the lightest color.  Whiskies 1, 3, and 5 are noticeably darker.  Since they all spent the same time in the casks, the darker the tint, the heavier the toast.  And this proved correct on the nose and palate.

THE WHISKY:

WHISKY 1
NOSE - Neat (56%abv) - Golden raisins, yeast, cocoa powder, twigs and leaves. With time, some more caramel arises along with a hint of orange peel, and big chocolate croissant note. With water (~44%abv) - Caramel, milk chocolate, and grassy, with a hint of new make.
PALATE - Neat (56%abv) - Salted caramels, barrel char, malt, cigar tobacco, and a nice peppery zing to lift it all up. With water (~44%abv) - Curiously hotter.  Peppery, lightly sweet, lightly bitter. Some toffee.
FINISH - Neat (56%abv) - Sweet, caramelly, with toasted grains. With water (~44%abv) - Grass and herbal

WHISKY 2
NOSE - Neat (56%abv) - Lemons, mangoes, leaves, and spicy basil leaves.  With time, notes of underripe peaches and pine sap show up. With water (~44%abv) - Loses the fruits except for a little bit of lemon.  Cardamom, curry powder, burnt butter, and grains.
PALATE - Neat (56%abv) - New make.  Confectioner's sugar, heat, slight floral note.  Some caramel and almond paste to give it a little depth. With water (~44%abv) - Sugar, vanilla, sourness, raw spirit.
FINISH - Neat (56%abv) - Not much other than sharp new make and caramel. Maybe some salt and pepper. Plenty of heat. With water (~44%abv) - Drying, bitter, with some vanilla.

WHISKY 3
NOSE - Neat (56%abv) - Caramel, vanilla, nougat, mint and marzipan.  Then vanilla fudge and cherry lollipops. With water (~44%abv) - Caramel, vanilla, fresh wheat bread, lemon, and malt.
PALATE - Neat (56%abv) - Very nutty.  Cashews, almonds, pecan pie.  Caramel and a hint of prunes. With water (~44%abv) - Caramel, vanilla, creme brulee.  Very desserty.
FINISH -  Neat (56%abv) - Caramel, almonds, and toasted oak. With water (~44%abv) - Sweet and creamy.

WHISKY 4
NOSE - Neat (56%abv) - Burnt grains, burnt paper, black raisins, and agave nectar.  The rawest of the bunch. With water (~44%abv) - Burnt, vegetal, and yeasty with cilantro and saltines.
PALATE - Neat (56%abv) - All grain at first.  Hay, mild tartness, very drying, a hint of vanilla. With water (~44%abv) - Toasty, mildly nutty, light on the vanilla.  A decent bitter bite.
FINISH - Neat (56%abv) - Drying with hints of sweetness and barley. With water (~44%abv) - Tart, bitter, and sweet. All of which barely show up.

WHISKY 5
NOSE - Neat (56%abv) - Milk chocolate, menthol, and tree bark.  Then big note of Three Mustketeers candy bars. With water (~44%abv) - Very rich, almost sherryish. Toffee, malt, pepper, and milk chocolate.
PALATE - Neat (56%abv) - Marzipan, sugar, rosewater syrup, and caramel sauce. With water (~44%abv) - More complex. Milder sweets, nice toasty oak.  Hints of vanilla and nuts.  Malty and peppery.
FINISH - Neat (56%abv) - Mellow sweetness and caramel, with a cooling zip at the end. With water (~44%abv) - Vanilla, nuts, chocolate malt, and mint. Very aromatic.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND GUESSES:

Whisky 2 and 4 do prove to smell and taste the least oaky; while 1, 3, and 5 feel more oaky...
WHISKY 1 - My second favorite of the bunch.  With all this wood spice and caramel, I'm guessing this is Charred.
WHISKY 2 - Excellent fruity nose, but that's all from the spirit.  It's not the roughest of the bunch so I'm going with the second lightest toasting, Medium.
WHISKY 3 - My favorite of the bunch.  A nutty dessert.  I'll go with the second heaviest toasting, Heavy.
WHISKY 4 - Too sharp and unformed for me.  Raw.  Thus, Light.
WHISKY 5 - This one swam the best.  I'd say it even improved with added water.  Some oak on the nose, but much less in the palate, so I'll go with the middle setting, Medium+.

Before I show my test results and spoil the whole thing, I'll conclude here with my final comments and rating.

photo source

This was an excellent whisky experience.  Not only was it informative and often delicious, but these were legitimately five different whiskies.  I wish more whisky companies (especially those who claim to be committed to their fanbase and experimentation) would offer something like this.  Buffalo Trace does stuff like their Single Oak project and Experimental collection, but no one's doing this in Scotland.  Maybe one of the legion of new distilleries could try this, thus setting themselves apart from the rest of the pack.  I highly recommend this set, though I also recommend you split the cost with friends because it's very expensive.

Availability - Europe only
Pricing - $200 and up
Rating - 92

***SPOILER ALERT***

***I AM NOW GOING TO SHOW THE TEST ANSWERS.  SO STEER AWAY IF YOU WANT TO BUY THIS THING AND TAKE THE TEST.***

Well, I got them all wrong.  But!  At least I was only one-off with all of them, save one.

Whisky 1 - Medium+
Whisky 2 - Light
Whisky 3 - Charred
Whisky 4 - Medium
Whisky 5 - Heavy

In hindsight I should have known #3 was Charred since it was all gooey and chewy rich with non-spirit notes.  Should have gone with my gut there instead of studying the text's charts.  Meanwhile, the difference between the Medium and the Medium+ was drastic.  While their toasting levels were relatively close, the resulting whiskies were completely different.  Curiously, Medium+ is the one toasting level that the website doesn't give specifics, but the results are much closer to Heavy than Medium.  In fact, Whisky 4 (the "Medium" one) smelled and tasted almost unaged.  Perhaps their actual unaged spirit is pretty good on its own (the "light" one smelled great) and needs more than a Medium toast to come into its own.  In any case, I'd be happy to purchase a full bottle of 1, 3, or 5 if it were at a reasonable price.

NOT Single Malt Report: Noah's Mill Bourbon, batch 15-18

Upon the recommendation of one Bourbon Truth, I purchased a bottle of Noah's Mill, batch 15-18.  I'd drunk Noah's at bars before but never my own bottle.  Mr. Truth was so very ecstatic about this particular batch, and I found a bottle for such a good price while in Arizona, that I risked a blind buy.  After I bought the bottle, I found an emphatic negative review of this same batch by Reddit user XenonBloom, then a moderately positive one by user ShooterFlatch.  I handed out some samples from my bottle to get some feedback.  My friend Linda, who knows bourbon probably better than I, liked the whiskey a lot.  My Annoying Opinions has a sample and once his sniffer is back to 100% functioning power, you may see his review of this bottle.  (And I'll try to remember to post a link of his review when it's up.)

Though bottled by the Willett folks, Noah's Mill was distilled by the Midwest Grain Products WonderFactory™ another undisclosed Kentucky distillery.  It used to have a 15 year old age statement, but now it's NAS.  I've read online that it's now a mix of bourbons between 4 and 20 years old, but I don't know if that's just rumor.  What is curious about Noah's Mill is that nowhere on the bottle is the word "Straight".  As in "Straight Bourbon Whiskey".  Does this mean there are additives in the mix?  Or are they using whiskies younger than 4 years, and thus by not stating the <4yo age, they then can't call it "Straight"?  I know they're not required to use the Straight designation, but it just seems a little odd to me.  Anyway, on to the review!

Brand: Noah's Mill

Owner: Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Ltd, (aka Willett Distillery)
Distillery: unknown, other than that it's in Kentucky
Type: Bourbon

Mashbill: ???
Age: ??? (maybe 4 to 20 years, thus maybe 4 years)
Batch: 15-18
Alcohol by Volume: 57.15%

NEAT
Right up front, the nose shows furniture polish, lumberyard, roasted corn, and honey.  It opens up considerably with air, picking up flower blossoms and an orange meringue thing.  Burnt vanilla beans (if that's a thing).  A hint of mango juice and confectioner's sugar.  On the palate the heat reads as chili oil.  It's not too sweet, but rather leafy with some bitter chocolate and halvah.  With some breathing time it picks up some white fruit juices and almonds.  It has a BIG tannic finish.  Very spicy, almost rye-ish.  Lots of black pepper and burnt toast.  Caramel, vanilla, and barrel char.

WITH WATER (~50%abv)
The nose gets fruitier and reveals some nice green herbal notes.  Less oak, more old school Robotussin.  Melting sugar and rock candy.  Not much change in the palate.  Less heat, more sweet.  More black pepper than chili oil now.  A slight tart and bitter bite.  The finish is also sweeter.  Still drying and tannic with bitter wood notes.

COMMENTS:
I love the nose on this one, though it needs a lot of time to open up and adding some water won't hurt it either.  Two things I like about the palate: A.) it's not super sweet; and B.) the oak is the quietest here.  The palate doesn't take to water as well, so overall I'd recommend it neat, even with the high ABV.  Like the nose, the palate works best with a lot of breathing time.  The oak does roar back into the finish, so be prepared for that.  When it comes to big American oak, I think it works much better in American whiskies (appropriately) than in Scottish ones.  But here the finish's wood attack is a bit above my tolerances.  I will naively guess there's quite some old whiskey in this batch or else the barrels were extra active.  It still makes its way into the "B" range because the nose is so good.

If you can find this batch for less than $50 and you have a high oak tolerance, then I recommend it.  But if your retailer is selling it for $60+ and you're more of a Scotch fan, my recommendation would be much less emphatic.

Availability - Noah's is widely available at US specialty liquor retailers, look for the brown sticker on the side of the bottle (see above photo) for the batch number
Pricing - $45-$65
Rating - 84

Balmenach Trio: Balmenach 26 year old 1988 Signatory for Binny's, cask 2805

As referenced on Tuesday, I did a blind tasting of three 1988 Signatory single cask Balmenach samples.  I did so in order to not let any sort of bias slip into my tasting experience.  In each instance, I graded each whisky and guessed which one was released by whom.  You'll be relieved to know that I got all three guesses wrong.  I mean, what does K&L taste like?  (*insert your own personalized joke here*)

I obtained today's sample via a group bottle split, courtesy of My Annoying Opinions.  As I mentioned in the two previous reviews, these 1988 Balmenachs have been getting good reviews and word of mouth.  In his review of this cask, MAO references the suspect Magical Vintage theory (see 1998 Laphroaig, 1972 Caperdonich, 1997 Clynelish, etc.).  As 1997 is for Clynelish, 1988 is the "vintage" which has the most indie releases for the Balmenach distillery.  Does the prevalence of these casks have some psychological influence that leads to the "Magical Vintage" idea?  I don't know.  Perhaps it's possible that well matured Balmenach is in fact good whisky, no matter what year it was distilled.  Hopefully there are more casks sitting warehouses in Scotland that will someday let us know if this is true.

On one final note, MAO was not a big fan of this particular Balmenach.  I am a big fan of this particular Balmenach.

Distillery: Balmenach
Ownership: Thai Beverages plc (via Inver House Distillers)
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 26 years (October 18, 1988 - September 1, 2015)
Maturation: Hogshead
Cask#: 2805
Alcohol by Volume: 51.6%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: Binny's

NEAT
The nose starts with a big ol' barley note, along with papaya and loquats.  Some lovely bright oak, sometimes piney, sometimes a little old school musty.  A small medicinal note is followed by a smaller metallic one.  The pine gets a little bigger with time and is lifted up by a solid fresh ginger note.  Toffee, barley, peach and apricot pie (with some cinnamon in the filling) start off the palate.  It's plenty sweet, but that's balanced by a moderate bitter note and a spicy zing.  Some vanilla shows up later on, along with a rye-like baking spice note.  Its nice long finish goes a little tropical, picking up bananas, rum, applesauce, and barley.

WITH WATER (~43%abv)
The medicinal note goes towards band-aids in the nose.  Then some dusty barley, citronella candles, and funky fermenting tropical fruit.  The palate gets milder.  It's peppery, salty, and tangy.  Some caramel sauce and dried apricots.  The finish is mostly the same as the palate, though less fruity.

COMMENTS:
While the European cask (2819) had a bigger brighter perkier nose, this one's nose was more complex.  This cask's palate and finish are the best of the three.  The fruit and spice and bitters play very well together and the long exotic finish really hits the spot.  It's close to getting itself a 90+ rating, but the whisky doesn't swim particularly well, especially when it comes to the palate where it flattens out.  As I mentioned above, MAO had a different take on this whisky.  Since our reviews came from the same bottle, take a look at his post in order to calm the great optimism I've now instilled in you.

Availability - Binny's
Pricing - $130-$150 depending on their sales
Rating - 89