Secret Speyside 31 year old 1989 Asta Morris, cask AM153

Sometimes unnamed "Speysides" are not Glenfarclases. I think this one is Glenrothes, as per Mark Dermul. He was fond of the whisky, as was Ruben and Serge. It looks like this cask's content (40.8%abv) was months away from becoming Spirit Drink, but I trust Asta Morris, a bottler who is batting 1.000 in my scorebook. I've been looking for some excuse to try this pick of theirs, and here's the excuse: It's the weekend!

Distillery: Glenrothes?

Region: Speyside (Rothes!)

Independent Bottler: Asta Morris
Series: Heritage

Age: 31 years old (1989 - 2021)

Maturation: former bourbon vessel

Cask #: AM153

Alcohol by Volume: 40.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Oooh, a fun nose! A layer of fruits and flowers (peaches, citrons, kiwis, lemon blossoms, and jasmine blossoms) rests atop crème brûlée, nougat, toasted oak, and black walnuts. Later on, orange & white gummy worms join in.

The palate has more fight than one expects from 40.8%abv. Manuka honey, mangoes, limes, guava, and sea salt fill the fore- and midground, with hints of tartness and bitterness moderating the sweetness in the background.

A dessert-like combo of vanilla, orange, and toasted almonds fills the finish until a bit of bitter oak sneaks in.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The nose is WOW, the palate is great, and the finish is......good, an almost inevitable scenario with many older low ABV casks, as the oak's personality tilts from ally to aggressor. That being said, this is a groovy whisky I'd be happy to possess, and certainly the best Glenrothes I've ever had. And the price wasn't too bad when the bottle was available.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - €230, imagine that price on a 31yo today!

Rating - 88

Speyside's Finest 32 year old 1989 Old Malt Cask, cask HL18977

No qualifier on this one. This is Speyside's Finest, as per Hunter Laing. So the whisky should knock me on my ass, or my face, or my assface. This particular Glenfarclas Finest spent 32 years in a refill hoggie, so it has my attention. Time provided it with an excellent drinking strength, so I shall now wet my whistle.

Distillery: Glenfarclas
Region: Speyside (Central)

Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Series: Old Malt Cask

Age: 32 years old (Dec 1989 - Jan 2022)

Maturation: refill hogshead

Cask #: HL18977

Exclusive to: The US of A

Alcohol by Volume: 45.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Fruit juices lead the way in the nose, with apple, kiwi, and white peach right up front. New notes arrive slowly. A dusting of vanilla powder. Twizzlers. Newspaper print. Musty oak. Vanilla frosting starts taking over 45 minutes in, with the fresh fruit retreating but not vanishing.

The palate arrives quietly. Soft florals, tangy citrus, a slight creaminess, and a whiff of old oak. It opens up after 30 minutes as key lime pie and Thai chiles appear. With more time in the glass, the whisky gets tarter and sweeter.

Key lime pie and agave nectar stick the longest in the sweet finish, with hints of wood smoke and bitterness far behind.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Far from actually being Speyside's Finest, this whisky is a pleasant, easy drinker. Unlike many older whiskies, it's best consumed early. Don't let it sit in the glass too long, or else the oak will take over, especially in the nose. Like Tuesday's "Probably", this bottle's price was very reasonable considering the whisky's age, but as far as quality goes, it registers as more of a "session" whisky than Nikka's NAS attempt.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - it was less than $200, two years ago
Rating - 85

Probably Speyside's Finest 28 year old 1992 Old & Rare for K&L

Sometimes the Laings are confident in their secret Speyside distillery's single casks, naming them Speyside's Finest, but sometimes they're less sure, offering qualifiers such as "Probably", "Possibly", "Plausibly", and "Perhaps", as with today's whisky, named Probably Speyside's Finest. Is there a code here or are all of these whiskies of the 'Farclas sort? I really don't know, and I'm not the biggest fan of distilleries who forbid the usage of their names on their own malts bottled by independents.

Hunter Laing bottled this refill barrel for their Old & Rare series, slinging it exclusively through California's K&L Wine Merchants during the peak Covid months. It still sold through as its price was very reasonable for a 28yo.

Distillery: Glenfarclas
Region: Speyside (Central)

Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Series: Old & Rare

Age: 28 years old (1992 - 2020)

Maturation: refill bourbon barrel

Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Alcohol by Volume: 47.4%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Orange blossoms and orange oil lead the nose, followed by a little bit of wood smoke and caramel sauce. The smoke shifts towards an earthiness, the oranges to yellow peaches, and the orange blossoms to roses.

Lychees and limes mix with smoke chiles on the palate. Mangoes meet subtle tannin. After 45-ish minutes more toasted oak spices and a hint of savoriness appear.

Truffle salt and black pepper make up much of the finish, with quieter notes of mango and smoke linger behind.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Because I normally find bourbon cask unnamed-Glenfarclases to be underwhelming, this cask was a nice surprise. I'm not sure where the smoke comes from, but it plays well with the fruit and oak. Tannins never take over, nor does the sweetness. It's a good, balanced Speyside single malt with some oomph. If you're searching for a sherried Glenfarclas, look elsewhere.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - it was $179.99
Rating - 87

Miyagikyo Grande, Japanese single malt

Sorry, I can't help but pronounce "Grande" like Nachos BellGrande. Was this Nikka's intent? Most of the whisky world (and internet) would see "grande" and assume this single malt comes in a Balthazar. But then they'd be deeply disappointed about the comparatively wee 700mL bottle. So, um, Earth to Nikka, estarás decepcionado.

So what is this grand(?) Miyagikyo? Compared to the standard NAS release, Grande has more sherry casks in the mix and 3 more points of ABV. And it is/was only available via Travel Retail stores. It's still not as dark as Wednesday's Suntory Chita disappointment, so the e150a level is likely minimal.

Despite the above snark, I am curious to find out if this is indeed grand or grande.

Distillery: Miyagikyo

Ownership: Nikka

Type: Single malt

Region: Japan

Age: ???

Maturation: a mix of sherry and bourbon casks with an emphasis on the former

Alcohol by Volume: 48%

Chillfitered? No

e150? Not much if any

(thanks again, Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

The nose pleasantly mixes almond extract, toffee, toasted pecans, and orange peels. Hints of flowers and peaches brighten the background, and there are no generic raisin/prune notes. The palate comes in malty, salty, and sweet, with more almond than vanilla action. A bit of Meyer lemon zips through the middle, and a light woodiness stays in the background. Its short finish offers tarter citrus, more vanilla, and louder oak spice.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though neither grand nor grande this Nikka malt, like yesterday's Session, would be a good everyday pour, if you in fact enjoy everyday pours and don't have the widespread Whisky Attention Deficit Disorder. Compared to Session, Miyagikyo Grande is fuller, rounder, and bolder, which is likely due to the higher ABV and single distillery focus. Grande's finish proves to be its weak point with its brevity and louder oak.

I don't have the standard Miyagikyo NAS in front of me, so I cannot state with certainty if Grande is better, but the quality is pretty similar. So if you're in Japan, and are looking at the standard release (¥4500) and Grande (¥10000), you may not get much more for the latter's premium.

Availability - Japan, mostly Travel Retail
Pricing - it was ¥10000 not too long ago
Rating - 83

Nikka Session, a world blended malt

Nikka's blends and vattings have held more than just Japanese ingredients for a long time, at least since their parent company, Asahi, purchased the Ben Nevis distillery in 1989. It wasn't until 2020 that they finally outed one of their creations as "world" whisky, just like their main competitor, Suntory, did the previous year.

Nikka Session mixes Yoichi, Miyagikyo, and Ben Nevis malts, and three fine malts those are. The label has a bit of a Vegas gentleman's club feel to it, which is......a thing. The whisky has been chillfiltered and reduced to 43%abv. It's probably been colored too but much less so than yesterday's grain. Was Nikka trying to create a "session" whisky like a session beer, something that can be casually consumed in quantity over an evening (or morning)? And isn't that what most major blends aim to do? Or maybe it's referring to a music session, or a therapy session. Or all of the above?

Sláinte + Kanpai = Sláin-pai

Ownership: Nikka

Type: Blended malt

Regions: Japan and Scotland

Distilleries: Miyagikyo, Yoichi, and Ben Nevis

Age: ???

Maturation: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

(thank you, Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

Lemon blossoms, fennel seeds, and ginger snap cookies lead the nose, followed by bread and kiwi juice. Its vanilla note grows with time. The palate starts off light and floral, with a pretty note of passionfruit candy. Mild bitter, sea salt, and chile oil notes help mellow the sweetness for a while, but can't keep the sugar down forever, especially once the toasted oak spices arrive. It concludes with white peaches, brown sugar, and a slight sourness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Indeed, Nikka Session is an easy drinker. One could overpour this onto a big ice cube and drink it mindlessly. So the whisky probably achieved its purpose; as in, it could get someone terrifyingly drunk via fewer calories than session beers. I don't think I could have picked out the Yoichi or Ben Nevis, rather it seems like a young, diluted, slightly oaky Miyagikyo. Not bad, not great, and if it's still going for its SRP in Japan then the price is right.

Availability - Mostly Japan, and a few dozen retailers in Europe and USA
Pricing - it was in the $30s in Japan, but now $100-$200 in The West
Rating - 80

Chita Japanese Grain Whisky, Aichi Edition

You may think I ended my last grain whisky review saying that I'd never review grain whisky again, but the fine print in the penultimate review specified single grain scotch whisky. So what do I have here? A single grain Japanese whisky. Without an age statement.

Yep.

Internet whisperers say this whisky is in fact 12 years old and aged in red wine casks, but if Suntory doesn't put it on the label I'm going to ignore the rumors unless my palate tells me to do otherwise. Keep in mind, this is NOT the standard NAS "The Chita" that entered the market in 2016, instead this version was bottled in 2014 specifically for the Aichi Prefecture, where Chita (the city and distillery) is located.

Distillery: Chita

Ownership: Beam Suntory

Type: Single grain whisky

Country: Japan

Age: ???

Maturation: ???

Bottled: 2014

Exclusive to: Aichi Prefecture

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

As I'd feared, the nose is mostly Malibu Coconut Rum and imitation vanilla extract. The rubber bands, burnt wheat, and veg note in the midground doesn't save it. It kinda rolls over into a cream soda character after 30 minutes.

The palate is oddly hot, but not-so-oddly packed with sugar and vanilla. Peppercorn-coated cardboard moves between the mid- and background across each sip.

It finishes with cream soda and cardboard.

Things worsen once the grain is poured over a big ice cube. Picture: vanilla frosting smeared unevenly over a cardboard box.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I'm aware that my take on Nikka Coffey Grain ("one step away from being a total embarrassment" and would lose to Evan Williams Black Label in a blind taste test) is unpopular, but this limited edition Chita is worse than Nikka's grain. You know it's a sad pour when you're hoping the artificial vanilla note will return. And I don't really mind the cream soda aspect, in fact that might be its best part. But LOL the wine cask rumor. LOL my cat harrrfing up a hairball right now. LOL grain whisky.

Availability - Sold out, mercifully
Pricing - ???
Rating - 64

Glengoyne 14 year old 1999 Malts of Scotland, cask MoS 13044

Malts of Scotland had a significant presence in the indie bottling world 10 years ago, but I no longer see their single casks at European online retailers. Whiskybase shows MoS released 41 whiskies in 2023, so maybe their bottles don't leave Germany anymore. They've bottled some very good stuff and tend to have some bold sherry casks. Meanwhile, Glengoyne's spirit takes well to sherry casks...

Sadly I don't have any samples of the dreamy Glengoyne '72s, rather just a modest 1999 sherried hoggie that produced some dark stuff after only 14 years.

Distillery: Glengoyne

Distilled by: The Edrington Group
Current Owner: Ian MacLeod Distillers

Region: Highlands, but almost Lowlands!
Independent bottler: Malts of Scotland

Age: 14 years (July 1999 - October 2013)

Maturation: sherry hogshead
Cask number: MoS 13044
Outturn: 247 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 54.3%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Not just a generic sherry beast! Ocean water, raw walnuts, and citronella are the first nose notes to show. Then there's molasses and dunnage, orange oil and black plums. The moderately sweet palate delivers a mix of grape jam, orange marmalade, and cinnamon Red Hots. Hints of iron and musty old wood drift through the background. It concludes with sweet citrus, dates, and a whiff of iron.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Its nose holds on the walnuts and orange oil, while picking up creme de cassis. But it also gets meatier and finds a Hampden-esque funky note. The palate gets sweeter and oakier. Honey and marmalade up front, peppery mint leaf in the back. The finish nearly matches the palate, adding in ground white pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

My read on a whisky's color does not work well with the current market. Dark whiskies that spent less than two decades in oak turn me off, because I see nothing in them but extraction. So this single cask's color didn't inspire me. But I should not have judged a whisky by its color, and I'm happy to say that this Glengoyne is neither oak juice nor a generic sherried thing. It has an excellent nose and a very good palate that wobbles a bit when diluted. So keep it neat!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - less than €80 ten years ago
Rating - 86 (neat)