A Highland Distillery 37 year old 1985 Cadenhead Original Collection

The second member of this week's 1985 Glenmorangie Secret Highland bourbon casks is a 37-year-old bottled by the folks at Cadenhead. Though this bottling may have been reduced to 46%abv, I have a feeling that it wasn't diluted that much, considering its sibling casks were 45.8% and 46.1%abv.

Yesterday's 35yo was fine, though not as fabulous as one would hope for in a Glenmo at its age. How will this '85 compare...

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Ownership: LVMH

Region: Highlands

Independent Bottler: Cadenhead

Range: Original Collection

Age: 35 years old (1985 - 9 June 2022)

Maturation: "Bourbon"

Outturn: ??? bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46.0%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

At first, it noses of very old cognac and rum. Sauternes and tobacco with a hint of hard toffee. Brown sugar and whole grain toast crusts linger in the background.

The palate holds a mix of baked peaches, lemon juice, and herbal bitterness. Some oak spice here, Sauternes there. It picks up a delicate earthiness to go with the bitterness after a while.

It finishes with toasted oak, tart nectarines, lemon juice, and a wasabi-like zing.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This one feels its age, in a good way. No overwhelming tannins, nor fragility. The musty and earthy moments mix well with the whisky's steady stone fruitiness. The palate's slight narrowness, and the finish's limited length keep this from climbing into the 90s, but on the whole, the whisky feels almost as luxurious as its price.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - €550 - €650
Rating - 89

Secret Highland Distillery 35 year old 1985 Sansibar

Still trying to get my whisky review legs back under me, I'm going to go with a trio of 1985 indie Glenmorangie casks this week. Since Glenmorangie is one of the many distilleries who do not allow their name printed on another bottler's label, all three of these malts were stuck with generic "Highland Distillery" monikers.

First up is the youngest of the trio, a 35-year-old bourbon cask exclusive to Sansibar and deinwhisky.de. It seems to have found an excellent drinking strength during its fourth decade in American oak, 45.8%abv (aka Talisker Strength or 80 UK Proof). The oldest Glenmo I've had to this point is the terrific OB Quarter Century, so I do not know what to expect with these elders.

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Ownership: LVMH

Region: Highlands

Independent Bottler: Sansibar

Age: 35 years old (1985 - 2020)

Maturation: Bourbon Barrel

Outturn: 178 bottles

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

NOTES

Nutty whole grain bread, covered in sunflower seeds, arrives first in the nose, followed by Granny Smith apples and sour apple candies. Roses, orange peel, dried cherries, and an unexpected black walnut moment follows later.

The mild palate offers mild maltiness, mild vanilla, mild sweetness, and mild bitterness. Tart citrus slowly takes over until the whisky has a crisp, sharp bite.

It finishes with oranges, hay, vanilla, and a moderate sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A vibrant youthful edge lifts the whisky above a generic "quite good" designation. As is often the case with whiskies of any age, the nose brings the most delight. The palate falls a little short, especially considering this whisky's WB score, so I keep comparing it to its two sibling casks, just to make sure my tastebuds are working. I'd happily drink this Secret Highlandmorangie during any season, but I'd want more from my pour were I in the market for a 35-year-old single malt.

Availability - Secondary market, maybe
Pricing - €500 - €600
Rating - 86

Five decades of Johnnie Walker Black Label: 1930s, 1970s, 1980s, 2010s, and 2020s

Twelve years (and one week) ago, I said I would never again write a post about Johnnie Walker. Since then I've written seven posts about Johnnie Walker. But none of those posts was solely about Johnnie Walker Black Label. Today's post is solely about Johnnie Walker Black Label.

Alexander Walker, Johnnie's son, created the blend in 1865, and copyrighted it two years later. The black labelled whisky was first called Old Highland Whisky. Once the brand expanded, this specific blend was renamed, Extra Special Old Highland Whisky. In 1909, the range was rebranded as Johnnie Walker, though for most of the century "Extra Special Old Highland" was still used on the black label throughout Europe. Meanwhile, the bottles exported to the US had "Johnnie Walker Black Label" in large font on the label.

I'm mentioning this label curiosity, because my friend recently opened this bottle:

Though its tax stamp had a "36" on it, I doubted that it was from 1936. But then I looked closer at the bottom label:

Late King George V became "late" in 1936. And in 2025 my buddy let me take a sample of the bottle's contents home. (Thanks, AP!)

Just before beginning this post, I tumbled down a JWBL internet rabbit hole and started worrying that this whisky might be a fake. But after an hour of mania, I was able to piece it all together — the top label, bottom label, cork, etc. — and felt more confident. Also this official magazine ad from the late '30s helped:

So, ladies and gentlemen, I think I have an actual pour of Black Label from 1936 on hand.

I also have my final fluid ounce from my 1970s bottle. And 60ml from a 1980s bottle split. As well as minis from 2014 and 2020.

Ignore the shiny forehead reflection in the background.

I shall consume them from newest to oldest...

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Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old, 50mL mini bottled in 2020, 40%abv

Though I've had JWBL at bars here and there, I haven't actually consumed any Black Label in my home for nearly 12 years. So I'm not exactly sure what the current version is like under analysis.

Nose: Early sniffs find apples and blossoms on top, crushed brick below. Low-rye bourbon and bread crusts appear later, with kiwi juice in the background. It fades relatively quickly.

Palate: Better than anticipated. Some seaweedy peat up front, a hint of wasabi beneath. Lots of black peppercorns. Caramel may be present, but it isn't too sweet.

Finish: Smoke, peppercorns, and gentle bitterness. Slightly sweeter than the palate.

More words: Before this tasting, I could tell you that Johnnie Black still worked as a highball. Now I'm happy to say that it still works when neat, and one big ice cube probably won't break its back. A good start.

Rating: 81

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Johnnie Walker Black Label Extra Special 12 year old, 50mL mini bottled in 2014, 40%abv

Right around 2014, when I'd order Black Label in bars or restaurants, I started to find real issues with the whisky. It had gotten sweeter and oakier than it had been just a few years earlier. Was it just my palate or had the blend changed?

Nose: Vanilla-flavored fabric, which isn't a tragedy. But it smells like cheap grainy blended thing like Jameson and Canada Dry. Hints of orange peels and dried raspberries stay far behind.

Palate: Barrel char and grain whisky. New oak sweetness. Mild wood smoke covered by bitter woodiness. Seeing a theme?

Finish: Shorter finish than the 2020. Mostly new oak and woody bitterness, with a touch of smoke.

More words: That was actually worse than I'd remembered, though maybe I was drinking on the rocks when I was out and about. I can imagine this was much better than Red Label at the time.

Rating: 72

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Johnnie Walker Black Label Extra Special 12 year old, 60mL sample from a 1985-1989 bottling, 43.4%abv

I've had JW Black from many eras, but never from the '80s. It has to be better than the 2014, right?

Nose: Gentle smoke, wet stones, and an ultra dry nutty sherry up front. Metal, maple, and barley emerge later on.

Palate: The polar opposite of the 2014. Lean, dry, and a bit raw (in a good way). Raw walnuts, raw almonds, and Kirschwasser. Canned peaches and honey arrive after a while, providing some balance.

Finish: Honey and smoke match the raw nuts well, as an herbal bitterness provides an additional angle.

More words: Refill casks and a sherry drier than Oloroso? That's more my speed. One won't confuse this with a single malt, but it's of a style that's not contemporary. Enjoying a bottle of this (mostly responsibly) would not be terrible.

Rating: 85

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Johnnie Walker Black Label, no age statement, sample from my own late 1970s duty free bottle, 43.4%abv

Finishing the final sip of this bottle hits me directly in the feels. This was my first dusty Scotchy, a bottled time machine with thick, Paxy whisky within. Slàinte mhath

Nose: It starts off earthy and fruity. Moss and stones and ocean. Grapefruit, blood oranges, and red plums. Amaretto and Havdalah spice box.

Palate: Very dark chocolate, wormwood, menthol, cayenne pepper, and orange pith. And dates.

Finish: A bitter herbal liqueur subtly brightened with blood orange juice and dates.

More words: One of the great blends. I had thought it may have collapsed after more than a decade in a sample bottle, but it might have actually improved. Had I been of age in the 1970s, I would have been a happy mess, between this and ND-era Old Taylor. Though a 90-point score was not anticipated--

Rating: 90

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Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old, sample from my friend's ~1936 bottle, 43%abv

1936 was another time. Or at least it was for whisky.

Nose: WOW, it is still potent. Apricots, citron peel, Nestle milk chocolate, clay, kelp, dates, palo santo, shoe polish, and dare I say pre-Beam Laphroaig? Er, very pre-Beam.

Palate: Peatier and saltier than the nose. Figs and cigarette smoke. Balsamic reduction and iron.

Finish: Nearly the same as the palate, but with golden raisins sweetening it up.

More words: Such drama and vitality in that nose! Though the palate is merely great, one wonders if it was better 89 years ago. (Or if the nose was worse.) That this was made before blending labs, master distillers, and corporate quality control......is not terribly surprising, but moving nonetheless.

Rating: 88 (a nonsense score)

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Thank you for spending some time with my words, and allowing me to be insufferably romantic in (online) public. It's been a long time since I did a dusty tasting at home, and this reminds me why I adore keeping this log of my whisky adventures. More to follow, and maybe even another Johnnie Walker post a few years down the line.

Kentucky, Day 7 & 8: Louisville, then home

Though I awoke without a hangover (magically!), I stepped outside into 2025's first blast of humidity. Dark clouds cruised overhead scattering rain, then moved on as if uninterested. Sweat glued my shirt to my back even before my 10-mile city walk began.

Though one doesn't have to go too far from Main St to see that the city has seen better days, industrial facilities still appear to be functioning and employing:

Old buildings have been given new lives with new businesses...

...or not.

The brick side of the now-closed Barbarella club reminded me of the most intense Male Gaze ever applied to a film's opening sequence:

I walked past Dylan's Heaven's Door facility without stopping inside, because I understand his foray into whiskey even less than his Christian Evangelical period.

On my way back to Main Street, I stopped off at Las Margaritas in the Highlands for some very good chicken mole.

Once back among the crowds, I went to a AAA Louisville Bats baseball game, with a great view of the field:

But I struggled to enjoy the experience, and I don't remember the score, because several rows to my left sat a group of 70-somethings who......heckled isn't the right word......screamed at the players with every pitch, with the stadium's ushers seemingly encouraging them. That's 250-300 pitches. I've been in the bleachers at old Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field, but have never heard such a barrage of incoherent misplaced rage. White Boomers harassing Gen Z, mostly people of color, free from consequences for two-and-a-half hours? It was like watching a Maga hat masturbate.

I left Louisville the next day, but not without stopping at a Total Wine first, because I clearly hadn't weighed down my trunk with enough bottles already, then drove straight home......okay maybe I stopped off at Neeley Distillery for a bottle of absinthe.

It was a smooth sunny drive. Yes, now that my vacation had finished, the rain clouds had retired to the Atlantic Ocean. Upon returning home, I set out all my purchases in the hallway, feeling simultaneously angry and proud of myself. My cat, pissed off at me even though she had been spoiled by the cat sitter, parked herself between the bottles and me for the rest of the night, like the queen she is.

The next day was Saturday, a day of acting and dancing recitals from my amazing girls, and an evening with friends, from whom I received a pour of the dusty gem that will begin my return to whisky reviews next week.

Kentucky, Day 6: Louisville

Having just visited a series of small towns, I was startled to find that Louisville is an actual city city. And I love cities, especially those wherein I can find parking so that I may walk and drink and walk and drink and so on. Louisville offered me that very opportunity. My hotel was one block south of Main Street downtown, and everything was accessible by foot, including...

Phallus much?

...the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Yep, that's where they make the actual bats!

So much good wood

That's what she said

MLB players go to the factory to customize their game bats for the season.

Big hands, I know you're the one.

It was all very geeky and smelled wonderful. Good news: this bat company plants multiple trees for every one they cut down, much like Beam and Heaven Hill. It's relatively sustainable, and may also keep us all alive a little longer.

After the tour, I handled Dick Allen's immense bat.  *Pause for effect*  I also got to swing Ronald Acuña Junior's model in the batting cage, and neither embarrassed myself nor re-injured either rotator cuff. At the gift shop, I customized my own bat, which turned out to be so large that it looks like I'm trying compensate for something.

Next up, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, a snug spot that masterfully utilizes a wee bit of city real estate to create a full-on bourbon tour. Before my official experience, I went upstairs to the bar for last call, downing one batch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and one batch of Bernheim Barrel Proof (which I discovered existed only at that very moment) much too quickly.

A young whippersnapper named Jacob led the tour, his final one of the day, and imparted way more Louisville history than I'd expected. Some random booze facts:

• Heaven Hill Distillers makes Hpnotiq!?!
• The big Louisville distillery uses the same yeast as the Bernheim facility.
• Evan Williams 23 year old comes from only the bottom two rows of the warehouses.
• They have their own mini distillery onsite that produces the Square 6 brand.

The tour concluded properly with a tasting...

...with Evan Williams 12yo 101 Proof winning everyone over. In case you don't recall, I've been to London and to France, but only Tokyo has the queen's damned undies 12yo 101 Proof for one-fifth of the price that this Louisville gift shop slings it for (when in stock). It's good bourbon, though!

Around 5pm, I floated out of The Experience over-whiskied, looking for a walk and some food. After strolling for an hour I entered Garage Bar, which had many positive online reviews. Unfortunately after weathering burnt dry pizza, an extra syrupy old fashioned, disinterested service, and a very musty odor, I wondered if there was another Garage Bar somewhere else in town. There doesn't appear to be.

My city-wandering continued until after sundown. After peeking into some live music bars and finding only contemporary country awaiting me everywhere, I found my way back to the hotel room, wrapped myself up in Hilton's very fluffy duvet, and fell asleep without setting an alarm.

Kentucky, Day 5: Clermont

So did I wake up early enough to get to Bernheim Forest before my lone distillery tour? NOPE. I was a 46-year-old man drinking unwise amounts of oak extract for four days in a row. The fact that I woke up at all is a testament to the existence of an intact liver.

Perhaps I should qualify and quantify "unwise amounts". Some of you excellent readers burn through 1/4 or 1/3 of a bourbon bottle on a Wednesday night. I cannot. Usually I'll make 30mL of bourbon disappear without much struggle, but then the sweetness and tannins lead me to a low-abv lager to wash it all down. On this Kentucky trip, I was trying 8-12 whiskies a day, some 15mL, some not.

Thus when I woke up on Day Five after 11 hours of sleep [Ed. Attention parents, this is a thing you can do when vacationing without children.], my priority was hydration and finding an easy breakfast, rather than sticking to a silly schedule.

Nonetheless, I made it to James B. Beam Distillery on time. And I was the only one in my tour group. That made for a great visit, especially since my guide didn't toe the entire company line about all of their products. In this person's professional defense, I will say they provided all the production facts and history at a perfect pace. And they also didn't disagree when I stated my feelings about the Basil Hayden range, and the company's Canadian brown spirits.

Triple sploosh

The thing is, I really like Beam's bourbon (aside from BH). Despite the company being another soulless conglomerate, they've honed a certain type of figurative wheel that cannot be reinvented by any of the new startups, unless those baby companies are still around in 100 years. (If anything is still around in 100 years.) Knob Creek bourbon just hits right, as does the new Jim Beam 7yo Black Label. OGD 114 still works, as does the latest version of Baker's. I'll never forgive them for disposing of Old Taylor and degrading Old Crow, but that doesn't mean Beam can't maintain a good product or two.

As you may see above, the product ranges aren't just about picking barrels in the rickhouse, though Booker's does come from the center rows, furthest from the windows. There are different spirit cuts, and varying fermentation times (3-5 days) depending on the mash's starting temperature.

Their 65'x6' column still easily measures up in any size contest. They continue to source their corn (yellow #2) from within Kentucky. Bernheim Forest provides their water. And they're transparent about batch sizes. Beam White Label = 1000 barrels. And "small batches" are around 250 barrels.

The company now has a trio of distilleries: the one I visited; another in Boston, KY (where White Label is made); and a little crafty one that was completed four years ago.

At the conclusion of the tour, I got to put my thumbprint on my own bottle of Knob Creek Single (1 of 1, baby! It's worth a fortune!), and then I went upstairs to the bar, because of course.

Clermont Steep, Beam's single malt, works for my palate because it is very barley-forward, and not gussied up with extra-extra-charred barrels. Baker's High Rye 7yo, is good enough to buy......once I whittle down the bottles that came back to OH from KY. The OGD 16yo with the excellent label was probably the best of the four, with KC18 just behind it. Not a single complaint from me about their qualities.

Then FINALLY, Bernheim Forest.

Is this heaven? No, it's a Bob Ross painting.

Yes, a day with sunlight! I highly recommend a visit to Bernheim Forest, especially since it's just across the road from Beam, and the perfect place to indulge one's buzz and then walk it off on a clear day.

Happy little trees, flooded

Me posing with Ardbeg's latest cask experiment.

Upon returning to the hotel, I got changed and headed out for another long stroll, this time to downtown Bardstown. After an early dinner, I went to Evergreen Liquors to explore their bar.

After trying two of Evergreen's sold out exclusive single barrels (see above), I ventured to the nearby Volstead Bourbon Lounge. Why there? Because:

With a visual setup reminiscent of my favorite Tokyo whisky bars, Volstead provides the patron with just a few beverage choices. Luckily, I sat down right in front of an 11yo single barrel of MGP rye. Was it delicious? I'm going to say......yes. Only upon finishing my pour did I realize the bar was closing.

I exited the bar and walked 45 minutes through dark neighborhoods, back to the hotel. Was that wise? Probably not. Was I sober? I'll let you guess. The evening air was calm and cool, and I didn't have to pee. Equal pluses in my book.

Under the covers I went, moments after returning to my room. I slept the sleep of an organism processing ethanol. Louisville would beckon me in the morning.

Kentucky, Day 4: Bardstown

I started writing this post a few days ago, and now I'm completing it on a day when many of my coworkers and friends were laid off. And I'm doing so without a drink in hand. The optimism of the first half of the post is genuine, but no promises about the second half.

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Downtown Bardstown won me over instantly. It's so cute! A bunch of restaurants, independent shops, coffee houses, bars, and at least one good liquor store. It all closes up very early though.

Thousands of acres of bright green not-quite-bluegrass surrounds the town. And upon that land stands a number of distilleries and their warehouses. Thus I booked two nights in Bardstown.

My original goal was to wake up early and walk a few miles of Bernheim Forest. I did neither. And in a rare moment of insanity, I arrived at my first facility early.

Though I have no pictures of the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, there are plenty of notes staring back at me right now. Heaven Hill's actual distillery operates in Louisville, but their offsite Experience offers more whiskey stuff than Evan Williams in River City (more on that in a few days). At the Experience I chose the "Grain to Glass Tasting Experience" experience.

That Heaven Hill had partnered with independent farmers to make spirit-forward whiskies I had known, but not much more than that. The Grain to Glass range offers a bourbon, wheated bourbon, and rye. With the corn (strain Becks 6198) and wheat grown at Peterson Farms. The event lets tourists try each of the three, get all the supply chain details, and receive a Heaven Hill history lesson.

While the wheated bourbon and rye rumble in at barrel strength, the rye-d bourbon is bottled at a lower strength, 52%abv. Each has a 6-year age statement. And, yes, they are spirit-forward, but in a calmer fashion than Craft whiskey. For what it's worth, I enjoyed all three, but the straight rye won (surprise!), it also took to water much better than American whiskey usually does.

Heaven Hill stats: The founding family, the Shapiras, still owns the company with Kate Shapira running the show. (Yes you read that correctly, a woman of Jewish lineage oversees a massive American whiskey company. 🩷)  Within their 83 warehouses, in seven different locations, Heaven Hill has the second-highest volume of aging whiskey in the country; 2.6 million barrels, with Beam edging them out at 2.8 million. The current distillery produces 450K barrels per year, while a new smaller distillery in the works.

If you have not seen any of the footage of the 1996 Heaven Hill fire, I strongly recommend you do so. The images may be triggering for some of my California readers, specifically the size and intensity of the conflagration's flames. As the company rebuilt its facilities in the late '90s, many of the other major distilleries provided whisky for Heaven Hill to bottle so that business wouldn't stop completely. One wonders if the industry would be so united today.

On a final note, I may have discovered why I find HH's whiskies so much more palatable than most of the other distilleries' products. The majority of major bourbon distilleries use a #4 or #5 char inside their barrels, while Heaven Hill uses #3 char. Could that lead more graceful aging, more spirit notes, and less bitterness? I think so.

And then I went to Willett...

I'll start with the positives. The tour guide, Ila, was EXCELLENT. The distillery has three cats, which gets three thumbs up from me. And there's a large black rooster that appeared on their grounds one day and then never left.

So that's pretty cool. The two guys behind me on the tour making B.B.C. jokes about it were not very cool.

On the tour I tried nine of their whiskies (all of them distilled on site), and liked none of them. The rye, of all things, was the most difficult to drink. The bourbons were all very bitter and acidic. The rye was such a shock because, after all the years of gorgeous MGP-sourced single barrels, the product with the same bottles and labels now contain unbalanced Craft rye. Expensive unbalanced Craft rye. Maybe it gets better after 4 years?

Here's the rundown of Willett info: They have seven five-story rickhouses, none of which are temperature controlled. They do not rotate their barrels (similar to Four Roses but with very different results). Their mash gets 2-3 days of fermentation (in their seven 10K fermenters) until the beer is 8-10%abv. Each whiskey comes from a small batch, 18-24 barrels (#4 char).

After buying a bottle of Noah's Mill — Why? I don't know. — I drove to downtown Bardstown for dinner at the Talbott Inn bar. Then I walked around until the sun set. This old body started feeling beaten up by all the booze. Weather reports said there'd be no rain the next day. So I tumbled into bed, setting my alarm so that I'd wake up early enough to get to Bernheim Forest before my lone distillery tour...