Things I Really Drink: Dewar's 21 year old Double Double

Welcome to this year's new blog edition addition: Things I Really Drink. As a wee offset to all of my sample reviews, each month I'll post about an actual bottle of whisky I purchased, opened and drank. Though I'm not sure how many clusters 2022 will hold, there should be plenty of TIRDs.

I can't stand the standard Dewar's products. The 12yo nauseates me (literally), the Mizunara Cask thing seems like it was never tried by anyone before it was put on the market, and White Label is Cutty's only real competitor for the worst major blend. So it surprises me even more than you to see a Dewar's blend leading off this series. Yes, I bought a bottle of Dewar's 21 year old Double Double, and I finished it very quickly, only partly because it was 375mL.

As expected, I did not take a photo of the bottle. Though I did take a pic of the packaging. Because.

The whole "Double Double" thing is certainly a shtick. But it does seem sort of like a shtick devised by a blender.

Step 1: Age the grain whisky and malt whisky. (The most subversive step!)

Step 2: Blend and vat the grain whiskies with the grain whiskies, and the malts with the malts. Age some more.

Step 3: Blend the vatted grain whiskies with the vatted malt whiskies. More aging.

Step 4: Finish the blend in _____ casks.

Each of the Double Double releases has its own Step 4 closer; with the 21, it's Oloroso. If Dewar's decides to add another member to the Double Double team (after the 21, 27, 32 and 36), I hope they consider using refill hogsheads to finish the job.

In any case, the result of this maturation approach is pretty good at 21 years. Though I think the success is more due to its grownup presentation:

As mentioned, the contents of my bottle vanished quickly. Luckily I set aside 60mL for this review.

NEAT

The nose starts off very nutty, of both the raw and roasted sort. It also has a light brininess to go with a nori flake note. The color is quite dark, but it's not a contemporary-style sherry bomb in the sniffer. Small touches of toffee, toasted oak and vanilla bean are its lone modern notes.

The palate has some bite to it, and luckily only a little bit of tannin. It's mostly dried raspberries in semi-sweet chocolate, with a little bit of honey in the background.

It finishes with tart blackberries and limes. Some honey and Cabernet Sauvignon.

ON ICE

Here it reads more like a familiar sherried malt, with more dried stone fruits and simple sweetness. But it drinks very well without being too smoooooooooth.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A friend (Dr. Springbank) and I recently tried to figure out what Dewar's gets so wrong with its basic blends, because Bacardi owns either very good or neutral single malts. And until recently they weren't in the single malt game. I wondered if the grain was the problem. Dr. Springbank put it better, "Whatever they're using is terrible."

The Double Double 21 not only leaps over that issue, but is (to my palate) better than Bacardi's Aberfeldy 21, possibly even maltier. Kudos to the company for following the proper presentations of the Aultmore and Craigellachie single malts with this 46abv/NCF/NC blend. I look forward to buying another bottle this year.

Availability - It's around, though not in Ohio anymore (damn it)
Pricing - $50ish for a 375mL bottle
Rating - 85

Randy Brandy and Michael Kravitz drink five 30+ year old French brandies

MK: Randy, I apologize.

RB: Good.

MK: I had thought Malört had a brandy base.

RB: I'm glad you're comfortable with saying that out loud.

MK: We should probably start this thing. Hi everybody!

RB: Kravitz and I are tasting some properly aged brandies today.

MK: Via Zoom.

RB: I can't believe adults walk around saying words like zoom, tweet, tiktok and google. We're a nation of children.

MK: So says the pro wrestling expert.

RB: YOU. DO. NOT--

MK: I'm just saying--

RB: YOU DO NOT BESMIRCH THE SPORT. Pro Wrestling is America's opera.

MK:

RB:

MK: Today we're drinking three cognacs, one armagnac and a mystery pour.

RB: "We"? The fifth one clearly spells out who it's for. So you can sit and watch, Cucky.

MK: Today's three cognacs were all from Vallein Tercinier, the highly esteemed producer located in Saintonge, right on the edges of the Fins Bois and...Bon...Bois...règions......What's that face?

RB: Listening to your French is worse than reading your notes. Your French "R"s sounds like someone force-feeding a Japanese "L" to a suffocating cat.

MK: Isn't that how they say "R"s in France?

RB: Yeah, sure. Make sure you say them just like that to the locals.

---

MK: Behold the first cognac:

Vallein Tercinier 33 year old Lot 86 (1986-2019), Maltbarn #120, 49%abv

Per your request, Barracuda, start it off.

NOSE

Here are my notes: Old leather shoes, new American car, pineapples and mothballs.

I get lime peel, hazelnuts and toasted oak up front. Then white peaches and roses, with tar and leather in the background.

You're wrong about all of those except the leather part.

PALATE

I like the heat. Cognac at 49% has some hair on it. It's also sweet. Fresh ginger, some oranges, leaves.

Are they fresh leaves or dead leaves or--

Leave.

Mmmm, it's very fruity. I'm thinking guavas and grapefruits. Some whole grain crackers. And it is sweet, Randy's right.

Always am.

FINISH

Strong finish. Leaves. Leaves. Menthol and fruit.

It's less sweet than the palate. Earthy and tangy. And yeah, menthol.

RANDY RATING: It's good. B
Michael Rating: Yeah, B.

RB: Good let's keep it moving. Your readers shouldn't have to scroll for the content. This isn't some cooking blog where the author overshares about her 13 ex-boyfriends, two abortions, and persistent asphyxiation night terrors before listing Five Ways to Spice Up Your Mac 'n Cheese.

MK: Okay. Next we--

RB: Actually I'd read the shit out of that.

---

Vallein Tercinier 32 year old Lot 86 (1986-2018), Maltbarn #137, 44.5%abv

NOSE

You first.

It's fruitier than the 33, especially grape skins and figs. Honeyed confections [What does that mean] and leather.

Mothballs, candy canes, dryer sheets and raspberry fig newtons.

PALATE

I like the bitterness [good for you]. Like a bitter aperitif. Some papaya and menthol too.

Not sweet, some tannins. I haven't had all the tropical fruits that this guy claims to have had. So "tropical fruits".

FINISH

There's the menthol again. And the aperitif. Tangy fruit too, maybe guava.

It finishes like it starts.

RANDY RATING:  B
Michael Rating:  B+

RB: Your score makes no sense. I'll start the next one.

---

Vallein Tercinier 30 year old 1989 Grande Champagne, 48.4%abv

NOSE

Mango, toffee, Chips Ahoy, dirt and romano cheese.

First up: lemon zest, the beach and a good dose of milk chocolate. Then a little bit of toffee and, yeah, mango.

That is correct.

PALATE

Tropical fruit gummy bears, some flowers and bitterness.

Holy moley, it's over-the-top fruity. Mangoes and papayas, white stone fruits and kabosu juice [what]. Something nice and sharp underneath.

FINISH

Fruit and flowers.

Those tropical fruits and just the right amount of salt.

RANDY RATING:  B/B+
Michael Rating:  A-

MK: Wow.

RB: A little short on words there, Fruitcake?

MK: That was...

RB: Bet you wish you got that MFA degree now dontcha?

MK: Actually I don't--

RB: Good. Universities are a scam.

MK: So you approve of one of my life choices?

RB: **Chokes**

RB: **Falls out of his chair**

RB: **Struggles back into his seat, gasping for air**

RB: Are you trying to kill me?

MK: Gradually.

---

L'Encantada (Domain de Laoue) 34 year old 1985-2019 for Antioch Fine Wines, 48.1%abv

RB: You couldn't resist bringing out The Orange Wax, you big Bater. That's a portmanteau for brandy and tater--

MK: Yes, I know--

RB: --because you take away the "t" and replace it with the "b"--

MK: I know--

RB: --and that makes "bater"--

MK: I know--

RB: --which makes you a jerkoff.

MK: It's not my bottle.

RB: Bater.

NOSE

Dark chocolate, dijon mustard and a red from Burgundy. Change my mind.

I see the red wine, but it's more like a California syrah. [You're making that up.] It's oaky, slightly gluey. Very dark chocolatey, yes, but there are also hints of applejack and flowers.

PALATE

It's sweeter than I thought. Grapes, berries and bourbon.

It's such a different creature than the cognacs. There's the silky old bourbon thing, but without bitter oak. So it keeps the good stuff and loses the bad stuff. Lots of tangy citrus in the back.

FINISH

Tangy and sweet and bourbon.

Citrus and bourbon, yeah.

RANDY RATING: It's whiskey brandy.  B-/B
Michael Rating:  B

---

Mystery Brandy, courtesy of LV33 (thank you!)

MK: Finally the mystery brandy!

RB: How do YOU have a pour?

MK: I kept ten milliliters for me.

RB: That your name on the bottle, Monsieur ʁ?

MK: So glad we're stopping at five drinks.

RB: Why?

MK: Because you're this close to slurring your words.

RB: But I like slurs.

NOSE

It's fancy. Tropical fruit, rye seeds, brownies and bananas with caramel.

I'm getting guavas, grapefruits and pears. Some milk chocolate and roses, maybe.

PALATE

I dunno, it's NOT BOURBON. Fruits and flowers and no tannins.

I still get that whiskey thing, but also tart citrus, green plums and Christmas pudding.

FINISH

It's long. Flowers and grapefruits.

Christmas pudding with lots of tart dried fruit.

RANDY RATING: My favorite of the bunch.  B+
Michael Rating:  B+

MK: How are you feeling?

RB: When are we going to start the tasting already ever'body?

MK: Need a moment or do you want to guess what the mystery brandy is?

RB: Huh? I dunno, sure. It's armagnac.

MK: Correct.

RB: It's dark like Orange Wax, but ain't no orange wax.

MK: Correct again.

RB: I'd say it's 40 years old.

MK: Um. Yes.

RB: From a 1981 harvest.

MK: ...uh....

RB: A dry cellar.

MK: How on earth--

RB: I mean, I'm just guessing here, but it's Dartigalongue's 40 year old 1981, bottled at 42%abv in 2021.

MK: What the f--

RB: There were my notes. Good night, kiddo. Ah yes, the Leave button--

Killing Whisky History, Episode 39: Ambassador 25 year old, bottled 1960s

I'm celebrating the end of 2021 by opening up a blended scotch whisky likely crafted from pre-WWII distillate. AND it has a sparring partner...

Concluding the Bowmore cluster

(Bowmore cluster homepage)

I needed something to get me to the end of 2021, something emotionless and focused, a simple trail to follow. This cluster served that purpose. And now I'm here and the end of the 24th month of 2020 has arrived. I'm going to take a break from clusters for a while, bringing back variety, or perhaps even a little chaos in 2022, since chaos has been the order of the day. But before that, I need to complete this series.

At the Bowmore cluster's halfway point, I highlighted how there was little difference in the quality between the OBs and the IBs. The second half of the series had zero official bottlings, and by the end I became interested in the Sherry Casks vs. the Bourbon Casks.

The Rankings!

Total Bowmores - 19

Mean - 85.58

Median - 86

Mode - 86

In the first half, the sherry casks had a ratings lead over the bourbon casks: 84.4 to 81.3. But the story flipped in the second half. In the latter half alone, the bourbon casks won out, 85.5 vs. 88.6. And though there were way more bourbon casks than sherry casks in the second half, 7 versus 2, it was the other way around in the first half, 3 berbs versus 7 sherries. So, unintentionally, the two types nearly equal in number.

Overall, the bourbon cask Bowmores edge out the sherry cask Bowmores, 86.4 to 84.7. If I lop off the highest and lowest score in each category, the scores get even closer: 87.3 to 86.3.

Because the sample size of one type was very small on each side of the midpoint, it's difficult to come to a solid conclusion. But it did seem like time and mild casks worked wonders for the bourbon vessel share, while youth and perky butts helped the sherried portion. So the victor depends what one's palate desires. Though a sherry cask release took first prize, the consistent high quality of the older hoggies won my heart in the end.

The Notes!

Because the '80s (and the ‘80s distillery management) were unkind to Bowmore's spirit, I'm only going to focus on the latter 17 members of this series. Also, please note, I am not counting descriptors like "peat", "smoke" and "sweet" unless my notes are more specific. I'm looking for more detail here.

The most used NOSE notes:

This surprised me because I thought I was using "Coastal", "Kiln" and "Seaweed" in almost every review. To me, those are part of the soul of the Bowmore spirit. But I'm glad to see there was a lot of variety in the nose notes across the cluster, and it's great to see that apricots and manure made the list! And I only said yuzu twice.

The most used PALATE notes:

Well, "herbal bitterness" and I go way back. The "pepper" category includes chiles, chile oil and cayenne, FWIW. What's curious about the limes, lemons and "tart citrus" is that those notes almost never overlapped. Combining them (and grapefruit) into one category would have put them in first place with 14. So my palate finds the citrus and salt in Bowmore very frequently.

The most used FINISH notes:

This confirms my unoriginal theory that Bowmore is one of the saltiest single malts. And when that salt mixes with fruits and phenolics, I am one happy drinker. Curiously, the whole tart citrus sensation only carried over into the finish about half the time. Salt and bitterness seemed to have more stamina.

The End!

The key to the pleasure of this cluster may have been the gentleness of the majority of the casks, especially the hogsheads. (Note the lack of "vanilla" and "tannic" and "woody bitterness" in those lists above.) The Bowmore spirit, since 1990, has been a glorious thing, and may even become a bit classy in its 20s. If Suntory can't figure out how to keep the oak levels down in their official releases, I hope more casks somehow find their way to the independent bottlers. If not, then we'll all miss out on something special.

Bowmore 17 year old 1991 AD Rattray, cask 2059

(Bowmore cluster homepage)

This cluster concludes with one more of those AD Rattray Bowmore casks about which I never shut up. I'll have to pipe down about them now, because I don't see a path to sourcing more of them. Also the Morrisons may be running low on this part of their stash. From 2005-2018, not a year went by without one ADR Bowmore release, but after only one in 2018 there hasn't been another since. So it goes.

Distillery: Bowmore
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Islay
Independent Bottler: AD Rattray
Age: 17 years old (15 July 1991 - 30 June 2009)
Maturation: sherry cask
Cask #: 2059
Outturn: 340 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 58.1%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Peated milk chocolate cherry cordials start the nose. There's a significant heft to the peat, reading like Port Charlotte or Ballechin. One may also find fresh ginger and pineapple, orange peel and mint, and just a hint of soap. Reducing the whisky to 46%abv brings out that great kiln note I've been referencing recently. That's followed by damp leaves, almond extract, the ginger/pineapple note and the drop of soap.

The palate begins with a blast of sherry cask dried fruits and wood smoke. Then almond butter and homemade marshmallows (a fancy fluffer nutter). Salt, dried orange slices and a wormwood bitterness hide in the background. At 46%abv, the peat and sweet merge nicely. Less bitterness. More almond cookies. Hints of savory and tanginess around the edges.

It finishes with peat ash, salty almond butter, and "Macallan-but-burnt". It's similar, but sightly better at 46%abv. The Macallan-ish sherry cask-style remains, but it's less burnt. Savoriness and lemon join the peat and salt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I tried this sherry cask Bowmore side-by-side with Monday's 25yo. Both improved with water, but neither sang the way I expected them to. This one had the slight edge because it was the better balanced of the two when neat. The nose's soap and the palate's generic sherry cask notes held this one back. Despite that, I wish I'd gotten a bottle of this when it was €75 twelve years ago!

Whew. After today's anticlimactic finish, I'm going to pull my notes together to provide the Cluster Conclusion tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - €75 in 2009
Rating - 86 (diluted)

Bowmore 16 year old 1993 The Perfect Dram (53.8%abv version)

(Bowmore cluster homepage)

In 2010, The Whisky Agency bottled three separate 16 year old 1993 Bowmore hogsheads without cask numbers, with nearly identical labels. Graphic design doesn't change the flavor of the whisky (yet), but that approach is confusing. Anyway, one last sherry-free Bowmore for the year...

Distillery: Bowmore
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Islay
Independent Bottler: The Whisky Agency
Range: The Perfect Dram
Age: 16 years old (1993 - 2010)
Maturation: bourbon hogshead
Outturn: 222 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose has that perfect balance of kiln and seaweedy smoke. Then fresh herbs, fennel bulb, lemon peel, toasted pecans and a hint of watermelon candy. Diluted to 46%abv, the whisky shows less smoke, but more fruit variety (plums and apricots join the lemons) with a hint of rose blossoms in the back.

The zippy palate is full of bitter chocolate, charcoal smoke, horseradish and lemons. It has a great bitterness and just a touch of metal. At 46%abv, it's simpler, much more peppery, with oranges and ashier peat.

It finishes with lemon, salt and horseradish up front, dried herbs and smoke in the back. At 46%abv, the finish matches the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Another great lazy cask lets the coastal spirit shine, especially at the reasonable full strength. It may not be as complex as other Bowmores from this cluster, but it is exactly what I'd want from a 16yo Islay malt. I have a feeling there were hundreds of such hogsheads filled with 1990s Bowmore distillate made available by independent bottlers. I hope many of you obtained a bottle or two or seven of these, opened them, shared them and enjoyed them.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88 (when neat)

Bowmore 25 year old 1994 Adelphi, cask 554

(Bowmore cluster homepage)

Down to the final week of 2021 and this cluster, I wonder, "Is everyone cheering the end of both?"

Today's single Bowmore cask has the largest age statement of this series. Twenty-five year old sherry cask Islays will never again be cheap, and neither will Adelphi releases (just because), so this one appeared with a price tag three times that of last week's lovely 22yo OMC bottlings. But one cannot be angry at an inanimate object for the actions of humans. The whisky's price is not its fault, but hopefully it'll taste good!

Distillery: Bowmore
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Islay
Independent Bottler: Adelphi
Range: Limited
Age: 25 years old (1994 - 2019)
Maturation: refill sherry butt

Cask #: 554
Outturn: 498 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 54.2%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose feels closed at first with fleeting whiffs of orange peel, ash and cut grass. The ash note expands then shifts towards wood smoke. Small bits of cherry candy and butter become cloaked in menthol. It improves once diluted to 46%abv, as it picks up seaweed, seaside and cold kiln notes, followed by limes, baked pineapple and charred marshmallows.

The palate comes across kind of wonky and weird. It's very ashy and plasticky, yet also sweet and tannic. A little bit of salt and seaweed in the background. Dilution also helps here, once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv. The tannins and sweetness recede. The ash and plastic are replaced by kiln smoke. Citrus peels appear along with a good (not-woody) bitterness.

It finishes tangy, smoky, sweet, metallic and very burnt. Much better again at 46%abv, as the lemons, herbal bitterness, dry peat smoke and a touch of sweetness linger.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

As per my notes, water is the key to this whisky, though it still doesn't strike me as something I'd pay €135 for, let alone its €335 primary market price from two years ago. Perhaps my palate has been spoiled across these seven weeks of high quality Bowmores, but this cask does not fill me with the exuberance experienced by the Whiskybase community. I think it's pretty good stuff at 46%abv, so if you're struggling with your bottle, get out your pipette, eyedropper, or turkey baster and have at it.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - I dare not look
Rating - 85 (diluted)