Balmenach Trio: Balmenach 25 year old 1988 Signatory, cask 2819

It started innocently.  A number of 1988 Balmenach single casks by Signatory started showing up on European retailer websites.  The prices weren't terrible.  And I thought, Balmenach?  Balmenach.  So, I started snooping around for reviews and discovered that people really liked these single casks.  Had we all been missing out on a nearly unheard of distillery all these years?  I'm all for unsexy brands, so I kept an eye on the progress.  More of these '88 Signatory single casks kept appearing, and soon a few made their way to The States.  I was intrigued, but I wanted to try a few of them in order to challenge my skepticism.  So I added it to my new Dram Quest, and sure enough I lined up samples from three of these casks:  One cask sold in Europe, one cask sold exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants, and one sold exclusively through Binny's.  I lined them up and tasted them blindly, so as to not let any biases slip in.

First up, cask #2819, sold in Europe.  I purchased this sample from Whiskybase Shop in The Netherlands.

Distillery: Balmenach
Ownership: Thai Beverages plc (via Inver House Distillers)
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 25 years (October 18, 1988 - August 12, 2014)
Maturation: Hogshead
Cask#: 2819
Bottle count: 245
Alcohol by Volume: 54.3%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The nose is full of citrus and candy.  Lemon bars, lemon creme filling, creamsicles, orange juice, and orange hard candies.  Vanilla, Cool Whip, and sugar cookies.  After 40+ minutes, some moderate notes of leaves and softly toasted oak appear.  The palate is more peppery than the nose and less fruity.  It's mildly sweet with limes and tart raspberries.  Slight musty basement note mingles with peppercorns and the growing tartness.  It finishes peppery, tart, tangy, and musty.  Small sugar and lime notes show occasionally.  A good length to it.

WITH WATER (~45%abv)
There's a little more vanilla and a lot more caramel in the nose now.  More flower blossoms, too.  The fruit reads as apricots rather than lemons.  The palate becomes much quieter, though also sweeter.  There's a slight creak of oak, but a better bitter note develops simultaneously.  No more mustiness.  A little bit of tart citrus.  The finish keeps its good length, getting sweeter and more tannic.

COMMENTS:
Of the three Balmenachs this week, this one had the best nose.  It's a sheer delight to sniff, both with and without water (though, without is preferred).  Meanwhile the palate, while perfectly okay, is very different than the nose.  It's neither a fruit basket nor a bag of candy.  I'm glad it wasn't tooth rottingly sweet, but it's a bit tight and water doesn't open it up at all, though it may require more hydration than I gave it.  But, goodness, that nose is awesome and that's what keeps the score up.  Perhaps the palate plays better at the midpoint of a 700mL bottle.  If you're working on a bottle of this, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Availability - It might still be found at some specialty retailers in Europe
Pricing - $120-$130 (w/o VAT, w/o shipping)
Rating - 87

OC Scotch Club Event: Michael's Last Stand

This is me workin' the hard sell for my LA/OC/SD readership.  Reviews shall return tomorrow...

As mentioned in a post two months ago, I help Andy Smith run the Orange County Scotch Club.  For the past ten months, I've been leading the tastings, talking a little bit about the history and processes behind Scotch whisky and its distilleries, and pouring the goodies.  It's been a great honor and a lot of fun.  I've met some excellent people and consumed some very good malt whisky.  But next week will be my final event because my family and I are moving out of the area.  More on that another time.

Michael's Last Stand

at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club
on May 26th

As it's my last go around leading an OCSC event, I elected to go with whiskys from my own recent purchases and my own secret cabinet of oddities.

Here are the scheduled whiskies:

Caol Ila 18 year old -- It's sadly no longer available in the US -- probably because they don't set aside enough casks, using most 18yo CI for Johnnie Walker Platinum -- but I was able to grab a bottle from the UK.  I adored this stuff the first time I tried it 2+ years ago, so I'm looking forward to sharing this one with all!

Ben Nevis 16 year old 1998 Càrn Mor from a Fino Sherry butt -- Ben Nevis + Fino cask.  Couldn't pass it up.  This should be a real trip.

Springbank 17 year old 1997 Sherry Wood -- I reviewed it, loved it, and bought it.  There's a nagging feeling inside of me saying this will be the last time we'll ever see a fully sherried cask strength teenage Springbank for under $200.

Benromach 10 year old 100 (UK) Proof, 57%abv -- I'm FINALLY getting around to this one.  I'm a fan of Benromach's regular 10yo, and that one's only 43%abv.  The plaudits are numerous for this big baby so let's try it out and compare it to...

Benromach 19 year old 1978 Scott's Selection -- Distilled by DCL (neo-Diageo) before the distillery was mothballed and sold to G&M, this is this indeed my birthday whisky for 2016.  I'm opening it a few months early this year in order to share with whomever shows up to this event.  And yes, I snuck a sniff already after I salvaged the bottle's shattered cork.  If the palate matches the nose, holy moley.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE?!?!?!?
As soon as we sell 20 tickets, I'm going to start pulling more bottles from my cabinet.  The more bodies, the more bottles.  I clearly need help drinking my whisky and here's your opportunity to assist.  We're only two tickets away now...

With dinner served on the pool patio of a fancy yacht club and optional post-tasting cigar smoking, this shindig will send my ass out in style.  For more information on this May 26th event, please see the official site.

Mathilda Malt Report: Macallan 37 year old 1969 Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, cask 8360

Closing up this week of vibrant old expensive stuff, I've elected to go with a Macallan.  "A 37 year old Macallan?!" you squeal.  "Yes, from an ex-bourbon cask," I intone.  "F*** that," you bemoan and walk away.  And you miss out on something good.

I've had a handful of ex-bourbon Macallans from independent bottlers, and I've liked them all because they allowed me to experience the actual Macallan character freed of its sherry shackles.  The result is usually very good whisky.

This single malt is the first of a number of reviews of the five olden whiskies from last week's delightful Calabasas event.  I'll sprinkle the other four reviews here and there.  Despite what this week demonstrated, I don't want to smother you excellent readers with reports on impossible to find/afford whiskies.  But since my daughter just turned two, I figured I should let my hair down, because it let me down.  (Dr. Katz reference!)

Distillery: Macallan
Ownership: The Edrington Brand Group
Region: Speyside (Central)
Bottler: Duncan Taylor
Series: Rare Auld
Age: 37 years (September 1969 - October 2006)
Maturation: "oak casks" -- um, thanks, I guess? And I do believe this is one "cask"
Cask #: 8360
Bottle #: 129/178
Alcohol by Volume: 45.8%

So two things happened during and before this tasting.  Firstly, this wasn't from a bourbon cask.  It's definitely a refill sherry cask.  So much for my intro.

Secondly, it finally happened... The Spill!  I had the glass sitting on a normally very stable nightstand, but when I opened one of the drawers, the entire nightstand toppled over.  Many things went airborne, including the 37 year old Macallan.  Magically, the glass landed in a random open spot in one of the drawers, though not before half of the sample hit the carpet.  Thus my shorter palate notes below:

The color is a light yellow gold.  Definitely a sherry cask on the nose, but as per the color it's a refill and the result is more cask than sherry.  The orange peel notes I usually find in Highland Park 18 are here as well, but mustier and more delicate.  Primary notes of fudge, butterscotch, and fresh roses mix with smaller ones of canned peaches and dried berries.  Amongst these prettier things is a moderate amount of salty meat and an emphatic metal grease note.  The palate is quite potent for the ABV, even after 45 minutes of air (and the spill).  It's very creamy with lots of both malt and exotic wood spice.  Then apple pie filling, lime zest, creamiscles, cinnamon, and a hint of pecans.  The impressively long finish has a strong barley note which sits atop the toasted oak, followed by black pepper, pecans, and mint leaves.

Many of the guys from the Calabasas event liked this whisky the best and I understand why.  It's a tremendous single malt that really sticks the landing with one of the longest finishes I've ever experienced.  The nose is gorgeous, and though this did turn out to be from a sherry cask the mature spirit powers right through.  The rich palate is well punctuated by that aforementioned finish.  It's a toss up between this one and the Ardbeg for my favorite this week.  In either case, they're both grand whiskies if you can find 'em and afford 'em.

Availability - Auctions?
Pricing - Thousands?
Rating - 91

Mathilda Malt Report: Glenfarclas 34 year old 1968 Old Stock Reserve

Now that these reports have moved from Islay (Ardbeg and Port Ellen) to Speyside (Benriach), let's stay there in Single Malt Central for the last two reviews.  With the previous three whiskies seeming to be from primarily ex-bourbon American oak casks, I'm going with a whisky from a pair of ex-sherry European oak casks.

Between 2000 and 2003, Glenfarclas had a series they named "Old Stock Reserve".  And it was indeed old stock that they bottled for that label, ranging from 1967 to 1970 distillate.  Some were in squat dumpies, while others were in classic tall bottles.  They all had the nice simple labels seen below:

Though Glenfarclas continued to bottle old vintages, they ended the Old Stock Reserve series name pretty quickly, replacing it with a number of different names until settling upon the current super expensive "Family Casks".  Many thank yous go out (again) to Cobo who sent me a sample of the 1968 OSR from his own bottle.

Distillery: Glenfarclas
Ownership: J. & G. Grant
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: at least 34 years (February 7, 1968 - January 8, 2003)
Maturation: two ex-sherry casks
Cask #: 686 & 687
Bottle count: 341
Alcohol by Volume: 54.1%

Tasted alongside yesterday's 35 year old Benriach.

Its color is a very dark crimson brown.  The nose is enormous.  Damp attic, oloroso, hot fudge, blackberry syrup, and old cognac.  Then cloves, clementines, leather, and carob.  After 30 minutes, it picks up more old wood character.  After 45 minutes, the fruit comes in; think mango and apples in honey.  A fresh cilantro note lingers in the midground.  Lots of baking spices in the palate.  Cloves, nutmeg, black peppercorns, chili oil.  Then baking chocolate, cherry juice, and a sandalwood note reminiscent of mizunara casks.  Plenty of tannins and salt with a mild woody bitterness that actually works for me.  A hint of fired caps and apples.  The actual sherry wallop hits later on, after 30+ minutes of air, and then carries through to the lengthy finish.  Prunes and pipe tobacco.  Macintosh apples and a hint of fresh peach.  Toffee and clover honey.  A sharp tart bite meets an increasingly sweet dessert wine.

To say this is oak-heavy would be an understatement.  Normally that doesn't work for me, but that's usually with American oak.  Here (with what I believe is European oak) one can actually feel the time in the cask, the toasted staves gradually giving into the spirit, the hardy stuff left behind after decades of evaporation.  It's not punishing like the 1970 single cask bottled for K&L a few years back.  It won't pucker your cheeks and dry out your tongue.  Instead it's the aromatic spices and tobacco and chocolate which stand up front, slowly mixing with the spirit's and wine's fruits.  Yes, it is oak dominant, probably to the point where it may be slightly out of balance towards the tannins.  But it provides a more dynamic experience than the cleaner 35yo Benriach.

Availability - Auctions?
Pricing - $??? - $????
Rating - 90

Mathilda Malt Report: BenRiach 35 year old

As you may have heard, Billy Walker (a scientician) just made an absolute fortune by selling the Benriach Distillery Company to Brown Forman.  Some of us had a studied thoughtful response to the news.

Oh gross. https://t.co/q3ak7NM8Rf

— Michael Kravitz (@kravitz_hubris) April 27, 2016

While you may feel differently, I find all of Brown Forman's American whiskies to be especially foul.  All of them.  Okay, some of the Old Forester Birthday Bourbons and the occasional JD Single Barrels are drinkable, but those are the only exceptions.  Their brands' regular ranges are bad enough to make me nauseous while typing this.  Meanwhile, I really like Benriach and Glendronach.  So, my hope is that Brown Forman leaves a good thing alone.  Then there's my unsupported conspiracy theory that Walker pulled a Bruichladdich and got out when aged supply started running low.  In any case, Brown Forman finally got back into the Scotch game just when whisky needed more corporate futzing.

One little treat Billy Walker & Company did make before departing was the 35 year old BenRiach.  OC Scotch Club bought a bottle for our April event.  I was unable to attend the shindig, but the man of the hour, Andy, saved me a sample.

Distillery: BenRiach
Ownership at time of distillation: Glenlivet Distillers Ltd / Seagrams Distillers
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Age: at least 35 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 42.5%

Its color is dark gold.  There are rich bourbon notes in the nose, as in actual bourbon, like Elijah Craig and Blanton's.  Then cream puffs and vanilla pudding.  Lime juice, fresh cherries, and candy canes.  Honeydew and watermelon rind.  With time it focuses on the melon notes, with hints of flower blossoms and green tea.  There's also something slightly earthy/smoky in the far background.  Baskets of fresh peaches in the palate, along with watermelon rind and tangy limes.  Butterscotch, salted caramel, and vanilla beans.  With 40+ minutes in the glass, it develops a fizzy ginger beer note, as well as agave nectar and a hint of hay.  More peaches in the finish. Peach nectar, peach candy, summer peaches.  Then vanilla bean, agave nectar, black pepper, and a bit of tannin.

Yum.  Without a single rough or troubling note, this whisky is a glass full of hugs.  Supposedly there are sherry casks in the mix, but I'm mostly getting good American oak and well-matured spirit.  The fruits and flowers and desserts notes are what I imagine folks would call "Classic Speyside".  Andy and I both thought this was going to be momentous, judging by the Malt Maniacs' reviews.  It turned out to be very good, just not momentous.  Andy gave it a B+ and I'm having a hard time putting it in A- territory.  The finish is on the shorter side and the palate loses steam once the peaches fade out.  Or maybe I'm just naughty and expect more than hugs in return for a A- grade.

Availability - European specialty retailers
Pricing - $500-$650
Rating - 89

Mathilda Malt Report: Port Ellen 25 year old 1982 Old Malt Cask

Port Ellen.  It's expensive.  It's also frequently excellent.  I've never had a Port Ellen that wasn't great.  Okay, I've had all of five PEs but anyway.  This is the last Port Ellen sample in my stash and very likely the last review of the dead Islay distillery here on this blog.  I certainly can't afford a bottle and I don't think anyone is actually opening his or her Port Ellens anymore.  Anyhoo, this (paid for) sample is from the LASC Dead Distilleries event in 2014.  I worked the door and took my pour home with me.

The undertaker is sorry for your loss.

Distillery: Port Ellen
Ownership: Heartless Bastards
Region: Islay
Bottler: Douglas Laing
Age: 25 years (November 1982 - January 2008)
Maturation: refill ex-bourbon barrel
Cask #: I have no idea, two other folks have reviewed this cask but neither listed a cask number, also Whiskybase has no listing for it
Limited Release: 300 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50%

I tasted this alongside yesterday's Ardbeg 30 year old...

Its color is five beer piss.  Yay!  The nose is very spirity.  Burnt barbecue sauce on the grill, arugula, mint leaves, celery, and Spanish smoked paprika.  Some cashew butter, cassia cinnamon, veggie peat.  Was this from a 15th-fill barrel.  This is like young Talisker and Caol Ila.  After 30 minutes, a little bit of brighter fruit sneaks in.  Then yeast and parsley.  Kristen said it smelled like sewage.  The palate is aggressive and herbal.  Think weed and hot basil.  Quite sweet and grassy, then rock candy and brown sugar syrup, making it feel slightly rummy.  More smoke than moss in the finish.  Black pepper, brown sugar, and paprika.  Simple but full.

Had I not been present when the bottle was opened, I'd never believe this was a 25 year old anything, let alone a Port Ellen.  It reads like an Islay, but an uncut 5-8 year old Islay through and through.  So it's not bad, but it shows nearly no signs of actual maturation.  I would think one would want something more out of a $1000 whisky, unless you're, you know, "investing" or something.  Money aside, this is still a solid B grade whisky that would appeal to us fans of zany young peaters.  Just don't go in expecting A grade stuff like I just did.

Availability - Auctions and black market
Pricing - $1000ish
Rating - 85

Mathilda Malt Report: Ardbeg 30 year old Very Old (bottled 1997)

Though she's been two years old at heart for at least seven months, my little girl had her second birthday yesterday.  And that means......it's Old Whisky Week on Diving for Pearls!

(pic source)

Eighteen months ago, whisky enthusiast Cobo emailed me to see if I'd be interested in splitting a bottle of long defunct Ardbeg 30yo with his whisky club.  I said yes.  Cool story, bro.

My only previous experience with old pre-GlenMo Ardbeg was via older bottles of Ardbeg Ten.  But this whisky is not 10 years old.  In fact, it sat in an unopened bottle for almost two decades.  The distillate used was from 1967 or earlier, and was the product of the distillery's own malting floor.  So, it's actually pre-Allied and pre-Hiram Walker.

Thus I begin the Mathilda Malt Reports...

Thank you, Cobo, for this opportunity!
Also, that's supposeed to be cumin on the right.

Distillery: Ardbeg
Ownership: Ardbeg Distillery Ltd.
Region: Islay
Age: at least 30 years
Bottling year: 1997
Maturation: maybe refill ex-sherry and ex-bourbon casks???
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Its color is dark gold.  The nose begins with a very clean defined medicinal note.  Then there's mesquite and a Peruvian spice rub.  Loads of cumin.  Its subtle peat reads similar to Kilkerran's, sort of twiggy and leafy.  A soft note of peach skin underneath.  After 30+ minutes in the glass, the whisky picks up small notes of old furniture and menthol, as well as (more prominently) glazed donuts, a peach tart, honey, and pineapple.  The palate begins very salty with a gradually building pepper and herbal bitter element.  That's well balanced by notes of pears and white grapes with whipped cream and Kit Kat bars.  Again, it's much subtler than today's Ardbeg, though there's a bite to it that builds with time.  30+ minutes later there's smoked shortbread, pie crust, and (not frosted) shredded wheat.  A little bit of refill sherry cask action shows up in the finish, with hints of dried stone fruits (apricots and cherries) and Oloroso.  Maybe a little of that pie crust.  There's a wee puff of smoke and soft aromatic peat, but that stays in the background while salt, pepper, and horseradish lead the way.

With its peat dialed back, this Ardbeg is so much more focused and graceful than anything distilled by the current ownership.  Yes, that is partially due to its advanced age and partially from (what I'm assuming are) refill casks.  But, take away the cask tinkering and the massive peating, then let the stuff sit for a generation and then maybe Bill Lumsden could get to this sort of whisky.  Though that doesn't seem to be of interest over there.

But my complaints about the current production are irrelevant to the quality of this 'Very Old' 30 year old.  It feels heavier than 40%abv and really does well with lots of air.  The nose, with its spices and fruit, is the star and its finish is even better than the palate.  With the fruit, salt, and mellow peating it feels more Highland and (other) Island than what we're currently experiencing from southern Islay.  I don't know if anyone is drinking this stuff anymore, but if you're reading this post and you have tried this whisky, please share your whisky thoughts in the comments below.

Availability - Auctions and black market
Pricing - $1300 to $2100
Rating - 91