Two Sherry Cask Ben Nevises, one heavily peated

The Maltman (of Meadowside Blending) seems to squeeze out at least a couple Ben Nevii every year. Back in 2016 they birthed my favorite BN ever, a glorious sherry cask for Shinanoya. Just a few months ago, they deposited a 14 year old "Heavily Peated" Ben Nevis upon the marketplace, and I was able to take part in a bottle split.

At the same time, I got in on a split of a 20 year old sherry cask Ben Nevis from Elixir Distillers (formerly known as Specialty Drinks). Any day that I get to try two sherry cask Ben Nevii is a good day. Here are the results of this recent good day:

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Elixir Distillers
Range: Single Malts of Scotland
Age: 20 years old (25 October 1996 - 3 April 2017)
Maturation: sherry butt
Cask #: 1528
Outturn: 466 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.1%
(from a bottle split)

Photo from
Whiskybase

NEAT
The nose shows a front line of apricots, limes, dunnage, dried leaves and almond extract. Behind that are dozens of tiny notes, like tobacco, toffee, cantaloupe, shoe polish and miso. It still has some spirity fight to it even after two decades in a sherry cask. The palate is more earthy than smoky. It has a dried fruit sweetness, think dates, dried cherries and dried apricots. There's also a zesty bitterness to it that then carries over to the finish, where the dates, dried cherries, limes and earth follow.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or < 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
A nice shift here. There are white peaches, lime zest, kiwi Kasugai gummies and almond extract in the nose, but also a strong whiff of old newspapers. The palate feels bigger than the neat version. The dates are joined by citrus zests, white peaches and a Clynelish-ish industrial greasiness. The finish, happily matches the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
There's a good mix of old school and new school, bright cask and dirty spirit. The whisky also takes to water very well. It's a very pleasurable Ben Nevis that doesn't force one to think too hard. I could see a bottle of this being emptied much too quickly.

RATING: 88 (with or without water)

Then......

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Independent Bottler: Meadowside Blending
Range: The Maltman
Age: 14 years old (Feburary 2005 - September 2019)
Maturation: refill butt
Cask #: 57251
Outturn: 552 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.9%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Photo from
Whiskybase

Cold peat kiln, smoked almonds and a leaf fire warm up the nose, with dried cranberries and pomegranate juice just beneath the haze. Then broken stones and orange zest. Per my notes: "A farm + a bakery. Cow pies?" I regret nothing. One can find quite a cocktail on the palate, which includes earth, stones, ganja and Carpano Antica. Then almond butter and a horseradish bitterness. As per the label, there is a real peat wallop but again it's more on earth than smoke. It finishes with leaf smoke, Underberg, leaf smoke, almond butter and grenadine.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
On the nose, The Barn Is On Fire (sorry cows). Also jelly rings, poppy seed candies, clementines and melted toys. The palate is smokier and figgier than before. Some vanilla fudge, lemon candy and soil in the background. The fruits move forward and the smoke drifts back in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Though this very modern whisky, with extra peat and extra cask, it's very entertaining throughout. Fun points abound. I'm not sure how "heavily peated" Heavily Peated is, but it doesn't dump the whisky into South Islay. Instead there's a good dose of earth, farm and bitterness, especially when neat. Also thanks to the reasonable abv and double-digit age statement, it's not exhausting and it's not a palate killer. Plus there's still plenty of Ben Nevis to be found within, and that's why I like it.

RATING: 87

Mortlach 19 year old 1991 Signatory UCF, cask 7710

Mortlach Week ends with an indie. Signatory seems to have (or have had) quite the stash of Mort casks in their Pitlochry warehouses, and today's whisky was dispatched from one of those wooden receptacles, then bottled in the respected Unchillfiltered series. Though it was a from sherry butt, the whisky's color is very light (as you may or may not be able to glean from the photo below) so I doubt this was a first fill.

I paired this whisky with Wednesday's official 16yo. The 16 was example of decent blending, so I though it would be fun to pit it against a single cask. Who would win......

Distillery: Mortlach
Owner: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Dufftown)
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 19 years (1 October 1991 - 21 October 2010)
Maturation: Sherry Butt
Cask#: 7710
Outturn: 769
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant Added? No
(sample from My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT
The nose has a bit of a brothy meaty note. Then some nuts and mint. Snickerdoodles and golden raisins. It reads sort of like several casks mushed into one. The palate is hot and narrow. There's some tangy citrus, vanilla and flat stale raisins. A copper/blood note lingers in the background, then comes to the front of the finish, which is otherwise grainy, salty and ashy.

DILUTED TO ~43.4%abv, or ⅓ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Golden raisins, vanilla, caramel and a hint of honeydew on the nose. The palate is very JW Black Label. Caramel, sugar, pepper, a dash of ash and a little bit of sour apple candy. More sugar and acid in the finish, with a little bit of black pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
The UCF range is far from perfect, and this is one of those *shrug* kind of casks that would probably be right at home in the old G&M Connoisseurs Choice series. My brain really kept flashing JW Black Label sign with every sip. No, not the '70s stuff. Nor the '90s. The current JWBL. That's not a compliment, but it does speak to the whisky's mid-shelf-blend style. My Annoying Opinions did seem to like this Mortlach better than I did, but not by much. A couple of whiskybase readers liked it even more.

I'm not sure to whom I'd recommend this whisky. It won't excite bourbon cask Mortlach fans. It'll disappoint Meaty Sherry Bomb fans. Maybe it's for Johnnie Walker Black fans!?

Availability - Sold out a long ol' time ago
Pricing - from $90 to $110
Rating - 77

Mortlach 16 year old "Distiller's Dram"

Diageo gave up on Perfume Bottle Mortlach and switched to something more consumer friendly in 2018. All three official Mortlachs now had age statements, different packaging and much lower prices. The 12 year old 'Wee Witchie' is ~$50, the 16 year old 'Distiller's Dram' ~$90 and the 20yo 'Cowie's Blue Seal' $200. Though I'm not saying $90 for a diluted official 16yo is a hot deal, but the Tacky Eighteen was $300, so this is a good step.

Unlike its sparring partner, Monday's Rare Old, the Distiller's Dram comes from sherry casks (first and refill) alone and I've seen no word about it being a mix of spirits. So perhaps this is a more focused whisky?

Distillery: Mortlach
Owner: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Dufftown)
Age: at least 16 years old
Maturation: first fill and refill sherry casks

Alcohol by Volume: 43.4%
Chillfiltered? Yes
Colorant added? Yes
(from a bottle split)

NOTES
The nose starts with a floral note similar to the Rare Old, but then shifts to bananas, papayas and orange zest. Moments of apple pie filling and pumpkin pie spice meet with raisiny sherry and dried leaves. The palate is sweet and friendly with LOTS of maltiness. Almond brittle and oranges in the  midground, some chiles, good bitterness and a hint of smoke in the background. More complex than the palate, the finish blends notes of coffee, smoke, leaves, almonds, bitterness and a slight woodiness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
In my highly valued opinion, anticipated breathlessly by the industry, Mortlach 16 year old is two steps better than the Rare Old, with its two different sides merging well into a moderately complex and very drinkable whisky. The "smoke" note is likely related to the spirit's slightly sulfurous style, which may turn away some drinkers and attract others. Overall, the Distiller's Dram competes with (and probably tops) Macallan and Dalmore in the 15-18yo range, and at a lower price. I would have liked more spirit and less wood, but you knew that already.

Availability - Specialty retailers in US and Europe
Pricing - from $90 to $110
Rating - 85

Mortlach Rare Old

Nearly 1200 reviews here, but only 1 of Mortlach single malt. No, I'm not of the Mortlach cult, though I do like some of some fruity bourbon cask Morts I've had from indie bottlers. And I enjoyed watching Diageo's flubbed attempt to force an ultra luxury version of Mortlach (the bottles!) upon a market that did not want it. And I reveled even deeper in the irony-free hyper technicolor cheerleading of this branding, led by the usual industry apologists and industry employees masquerading as bloggers.

But the story didn't end with that Mortlach rebranding. Diageo has been known to pivot and adjust when something is not working. Yes, that Diageo. As mentioned in last year's post about single malt prices in America, the Big D has been leading the way on stabilizing the prices of their single malt in reaction to the market since 2016. And with Mortlach they knew enough to stop and reboot because Protzig Morty wasn't working.

But more about the new stuff next time. This time I'm going to review Rare Old, the Mortlach that was neither rare nor old, the Mortlach without an age statement, the Mortlach with an SRP of $140 in 2014. In February of 2016 I found this bottle of Rare Old.

Yes, that is $42.99, not $142.99. Such was the whisky's popularity. I then included it in that month's OC Scotch Club event. Here is the remaining pour from that bottle:

Distillery: Mortlach
Owner: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Dufftown)
Age: NAS
Maturation: first fill American and European oak casks, refill casks, rejuvenated casks, all the casks

Alcohol by Volume: 43.4%
Chillfiltered? Yes
Colorant added? Yes

NOTES
The nose begins with both a dirty, earthy edge and some sunny sugar. And they don't mix. Then there are flowers and brief peaches. The dirtier side recedes leaving flowers, Jolly Ranchers and a little bit of milk chocolate to make up the whole. The palate is mild but peppery, nuttier than I expected; specifically a mix of almond butter and honey. Lots of Milk Duds (caramel + milk chocolate). Milk Duds and pepper finish things up. A slight zippy horseradish note lingers in the background, as does some more honey.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Other than sheer size, blending has historically been Diageo's greatest strength. But that is not showcased in Mortlach Rare Old. Not only are there four (or six) types of casks in the mix, but according to Ruben there are three spirit styles as well. These parts never congeal, so it feels like there are at least two whiskies battling it out throughout. Cuddly cask-driven chocolatey Speysider versus Burly spirity Northern Highlander. No one wins and everything remains partisan. *cough* As a result this Mortlach would make for an interesting $40 whisky but an unfortunate $140 whisky.

Availability - It is not in short supply in the US
Pricing - from $60 to $160
Rating - 79

Three Talisker 18s: A tasting

On Monday, I posted an introduction to today's tasting. Now, just a little more bottle background before I begin:

I opened the 2012 bottling several months ago for a fundraiser, though I did save one ounce for today's purposes. Its bottling code was L2352CM000, likely one of the first three runs of the new-label 18.

For reasons unknown, the 2011 bottle's code went unrecorded, even though I've written down much less useful bottle code information before and since. I do know that the bottle was bought in September 2011. So it's either of the L1244CM000 coding or the batch before. Either way it was one of the last three bottling runs of the old-label 18.

I opened the third bottle for this tasting. Its code is L6172CR000.

Surprise, surprise, this is what happened to its cork:

But not a single nub of cork fell in the bottle.

To the drinking!

TALISKER 18-YEAR-OLD, 45.8%abv, L2352CM000, bottled 2012

Nose - Good 'n Plenty candies, limes and grapefruits. A merging of gentle ocean-y and mossy peat notes. Hints of white stone fruit skins. The anise candy and limes ramp up over time, and are joined by a slight rosy note.

Palate - Lots of fruity sweetness at the start. More peat than on the nose. Tangy pepper sauce, dates, lemon peel and a bit of minerals. It gets more peppery with time and white fruity with time.

Finish - Fiery chile peppers, mild sweetness, a stony minerality (mineralness?), ashy smoke. The pepper and smoke last the longest.

Comments - It's good stuff, though not as gorgeous as I'd remembered the 18 used to be......a circumstance that will be confirmed in a moment. The palate dearly needs some of the nose's complexity, and the Talisker character doesn't come through until late. Still, it's well balanced, the oak stays out of the way and there's plenty of youth to be found. Were it still $80, I'd be enthusiastic. At twice that price, I'd find it disappointing.

RATING - 86

---

TALISKER 18-YEAR-OLD, 45.8%abv, bottled 2011

Nose - A peatier thing than the 2012. There's menthol and dark industrial smoke. Yellow peaches and yellow plums, then a splash of plum wine. A combination of lemon juice and freshly cut grass. A bit of dunnage. Citrus and floral fruit skins last the longest.

Palate - Salt and sweet and tart, perfectly balanced. A charred-bell-pepper smoke. Oranges and citrons and fig. Then the second gear kicks in: a zap of minerals mixed with lime zest.

Finish - Tangy fruits and cigarette smoke. Salt, stones, barley and figs.

Comments - I used to think of Talisker 18 as one of the titans of single malt, and this reminds me why. It sits perfectly between the Drinky single malt and Thinky single malt categories. I've seen people use the word "effortless" to describe the whisky, but I won't do so because I don't know what that actually means. BUT this whisky's complexity is accessible to any nose, while on the palate every element merges into one and then shifts into a second gear. Though the rating is lower than the one I'd listed seven years ago, know that this is an excellent whisky.

RATING - 90

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TALISKER 18-YEAR-OLD, 45.8%abv, L6172CR000, bottled in 2006

Nose - Lots of dunnage and dark chocolate and grapefruits. Jalapeño oil, wet sand, citronella, peaches, a few old sherry casks thrown into the mix. I could keep going on but that would serve only the ego.

Palate - Here comes another list! Dunnage, lime zest, minerals, hay, dark chocolate, toffee, a pepper-oil smoke, then swirls of salty smoke with sweet lemons around the edges. It's the biggest and boldest of the three, yet also the most mature.

Finish - Lemons, stones, salty/peppery smoke, white peaches, musty staves and a hint of Thai chiles.

Comments - Gorgeous and grandiose, dark and delicious. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of this one. It's of a remarkable quality that's difficult to compare to anything other than maybe old Springbanks and other old Taliskers. I can't really discuss this further without referring to the other two, so let's go...

RATING - 92

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WORDS WORDS WORDS

The 2012 was a very different whisky than the 2011. Meanwhile the 2011 and the 2006 feel much more akin. There's a curious thread running through these three, though. Each one reads older than the previous, with the 2006 bottling seeming like it's a good decade older than its age statement. And I think that's the key here.

Until 2011, Talisker's 25-year-old was bottled at cask strength. And those 25s were big whiskies, bottled between 54%-60%abv. Then in 2011, the 25 was bottled at the diluted strength of 45.8%abv. What if low-strength 25+ year old casks were added to the 18yo, once upon a time? Older casks that wouldn't fit the flavor profile of the 25 or were of low proof could have been used by the blenders to boost the profile of the 18 year old. This isn't a revolutionary idea because blenders have used this approach, historically.

There's a depth/complexity/dimensionality (sorry) missing from the 2012 bottling that is present in the two earlier bottles. I think there was a change in the recipe, and thus I wonder if the missing element was older Talisker. Its absence is a loss for Talisker fans.

Five and a half years ago, I found the 2012 bottling of the 25 year old suffering from a similar decline in quality. I believe the 10 year old has also seen a dropoff, though perhaps not as extreme. I look forward to putting that to the test in 2021...

Three Talisker 18s: An introduction

Diageo doubled the breadth of the Talisker range, from two to four, in 2004, by adding an 18 year old and a 25 year old to a line that had only included a 10 year old and the Distillers Edition. While the 25 year old was aimed for the ultra-luxury market, the 18 offered Talisker enthusiasts a way to ascend the consumer's ladder for a smaller premium. The 10 year old was about $40, while the 18 year old cost $80. That opportunity ended abruptly when Diageo hoisted the 18's price to $150 in 2012. This increase met with widespread grievance from customers and some retailers, as one of the best deals in the single market was gone.

New packaging, from boxes to labels, came with this price increase, so the whisky itself was not only more expensive but it looked different. I had been a very vocal devotee of the 18 year old in its previous livery, so I was curious when three whisky friends from different parts of the world told me, separately, that the "new" 18 year old was not nearly as good as the "old" one. And I wondered, "Had a change in recipe been partnered with the new visuals?

I dare say, 2012 is now a long time ago. And I'd been waiting to do a comparison of Talisker 18s since then, but I didn't know how.

My cupboard included one bottle of the 18 in its new packing, purchased for me by my wife. That was probably the last whisky bottle she bought for me because we both later agreed that more whisky bottles is not what our household needs.

Two years ago,  I discovered to my great surprise that I had saved a sample from my last old-label 18. It wasn't even in my whisky spreadsheet, so I had discovered a secret I was trying to keep from myself.

That then inspired me to scour the European auctions for an older bottling of the 18, specifically a 20cL bottle (one of the great bottles sizes, if not the best), and found just the one.

So there were three. One bottled in 2006, during the 18 year old's early years. One from 2011, just before the pivot, and one from 2012, just after.

The comparison was scheduled for late February 2020 but I could no longer fend off the anticipation. The tasting was moved to the day I write this introduction. In two days, I will post the results.

All The Baby Laing Taliskers, including this Talisker 6 year old 2009 Old Malt Cask for K&L

Independent Talisker releases by vintage:

2012 - 0
2011 - 7 (all by Laing companies, all 5 to 7 years old)
2010 - 11 (all by Laing companies, all 6 to 8 years old)
2009 - 16 (all by Laing companies, all 5 to 8 years old)
2008 - 31 (mostly or all by Laing companies, one was 9 years old, the rest were 5 to 8 years)
2007 - 0

At some point, the Laing family of independent companies obtained a sizable collection of Talisker casks that had been barreled between 2008 and 2011. And they've released 99% of them at 8 years of age or younger. If 10 or 11 year old Laing Talisker was going to make an appearance, 2019 would have been the year for it. But nothing yet.

Why is this happening?

(If anyone from the Douglas Laing side of things is reading this, please share!)

I've experienced four of these baby Taliskers (including today's), and owned one bottle. The first time a drinker tries one of these wee Talis it's kind of neat, in a raw mezcal sort of way. But no one with tastebuds in his face would say the whisky is anywhere within sight of Talisker at its best.

Meanwhile, on the financial side of things, imagine the whisky geek excitement of 11+ year old indie Talisker. Imagine the prices! Can be I an optimist and hope there are 200 more Talisker casks sitting in a non-Diageo warehouse, destined to provide the whisky world with a journey of Talisker through the ages?

I can understand why a retailer would scoop up one of these casks. It's Talisker, a known name, something that will sell faster than a six year old Tullibardine. And maybe that's the engine behind it all.

In any case, today's whisky doesn't appear to be among one of the above listed 65, so we can call it the 66th baby Laing Talisker. It's a single cask exclusive to US retailer K&L Wine Merchants, and the sample comes from My Annoying Opinions. How those two must love sharing space in the same sentence!

Distillery: Talisker

Independent Bottler: Douglas Laing
Range: Old Malt Cask

Age: 6 years
Distillation year: 2009

Maturation: refill sherry hogshead

Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Chillfiltered: No
Colored: No

NEAT
The nose starts out farmy, yeasty and raw. Slightly briny. Lots of cinnamon syrup, a few Glenfiddich-like pears. It gets cheesier with time, and very sugary. The palate is hot and acidic, vaguely grainy and peaty on the first two sips. Then comes the yeast and cheese. Then a grape candy sweetness that nearly takes over. Some dusty smoke lingers in the background. It has a drying, yeasty, cheesy finish with bursts of refined sugar and smoky mezcal.

DILUTED TO ~43%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose has shifted to peated simple syrup, sharp cheddar and limes. The palate and finish are both very sweet and very yeasty.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I think disliked this less than MAO. We both found the yeast and mezcal bits. He experienced lots of plastic while I tasted lots of sugar. But we came to similar conclusions as you may see in the score below.

Farmy and yeasty notes aren't dealbreakers for me, in fact Tobermory often finds a way to weave them right. But they don't work well here as they crash into the piles of cheese(!) and sugar. I have to think doubling the maturation time would have helped it all out.

Is this (and Macallan M) the future of single malts? Or are 5-6 year old whiskies an aberration, something we will have forgotten about in 5-6 years? If not, that'll keep my spending down.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $40
Rating - 74