Friday, June 30, 2023
Old Pulteney 14 year old 2004, cask 128 for TWE
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Old Pulteney 13 year old 2004, cask 244 for Warehouse Liquors
(Thank you to Doctors Springbank for the sample!)
Monday, June 26, 2023
Old Pulteney 16 year old 2002, cask 722
Old Pulteney had released official single casks before, but from 2018 to 2020 they seemed to toss casks out of the warehouse at a crisp rate. This week I'll be reviewing three of the casks released in 2018. And since I've already consumed all three samples, I can tell you (SPOILER ALERT) that they were quite different from each other.
There have been two cask 722s. One was a 2006 distillery-only ex-bourbon cask that tipped the scales at 62.8%abv in 2020. The other, today's whisky, was also an ex-bourbon cask but with a little more age and a little less fire.
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
The fruity nose offers apple juice, peach juice, and a mineral white wine in its early sniffs, picking up quieter notes of malt and lemon vinaigrette later on. Sweet and salt are in near perfect balance in the palate: apples, mint candy, a few flowers, and a touch of salted caramel. It finishes with apples, lemons, limes, and flowers.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Leaner, the nose has become brinier and more mineral while also adding more barley. Oh, guava and peaches on the palate. Bits of herbal bitterness, barley, raw almonds, and strawberry candy too. It finishes with guava and barley.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Simple and solid when neat, but with a more delightful palate when diluted, this OB OP is exactly what I'd hope for when buying a bottle of single cask Pulteney. The cask was dumped before the oak took over, holding onto some great fruit notes, while shedding immature rawness. On Wednesday, I'll review another, contrasting, ex-bourbon cask bottled in 2018.
Availability - Probably sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88
Friday, June 23, 2023
Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Jews & Booze 4 year old MGP Rye, The Holiday Armadillo
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Balblair 27 year old 1993 SMWS 70.42
Yesterday, it was a 44.4%abv 26yo Balblair. Today, it's a 60.2%abv 27yo Balblair. From one extreme to another. And yes, I did try them side by side.
While yesterday's Cadenhead lost 60-65% of its barrel contents, 35-40% of this barrel's whisky evaporated over a similar time period. The Cadenhead gave up plenty of alcohol, while this SMWS lost a lot of water. Was this refill barrel coopered better/tighter? Or did it have a nice cool warehouse corner? SMWS named it "Elegant, dark and stormy". I've had elegant Bablairs, but no dark nor stormy stuff from the distillery. Not sure if I'm intrigued or doubtful.
Distillery: Balblair
Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)
Region: Northern Highlands
Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 27 years (Jan 1993 - 2020)
Maturation: refill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 70.42 "Elegant, dark and stormy"
Outturn: 180 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 60.2%
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
Paper, broth, and metal on the nose. Some dried leaves too. It feels closed and hot, like many green-bottle-era Cadenheads. The palate is more approachable. Tart citrus fruits, sweet white fruits. It gets tangier with time, but says hot throughout. It's all a bit vague though, like the finish, which is very hot and kinda fruity-ish.
DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose remains brothy and metallic. Mineral. Still a hint of paper. Subtle notes of brown sugar and lemons swim around in the back. The palate improves, sweet and buoyantly tart. Limes, Demerara, lemon peel-infused honey. It finishes sweet and slightly tart, without any other clear notes.
I'm hesitant to apply additional water to long-aged whisky, but...
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Yeasty, bready, and floral, with hints of lemon candy and caramel. Not the nose I expected from a 27 year old single malt. Meanwhile, I think the palate is starting to collapse. Salt, pepper, Demerara, and squeeze of lemon are all that remain. It finishes with honey and salt.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Not elegant, not dark, and not stormy, this whisky's money spot is probably around 48%abv. But even then, it couldn't compete with yesterday's Cadenhead. I tried them side-by-side, waiting to sip the 26yo until this SMWS was diluted to 46%abv in order to allow for a more accurate comparison. This 27yo was fine, and I am glad they didn't re-rack it into in a recharred sauternes octave, but Balbair at this age can be so much more.
Pricing - ???
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Balblair 26 year old 1990 Cadenhead Authentic Collection
Pricing - ???
Friday, June 16, 2023
Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Barrell Seagrass Rye, 59.92%abv batch
Company: Barrell Craft Spirits
Type: blended American and Canadian Rye whiskies
Age: I wrote "9yo" on the sample label, but I don't know where I got that info from
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Ballantine's 23 year old blended whisky, for Travel Retail
Ballantine's 17 year old is one of the best blends on the market, when bottled at 43%abv. At 40%abv, it is not. Unfortunately, I think the 43%abv version is only available in the US (though it might be down to 40% here too). When I was in Japan five years ago, the 17 was only ~$45, but I didn't buy it because of the 40%. This year it was up to $80ish, even with the great exchange rate, but at the same strength. So I did not buy it this time either. (Though there was a tempting 48%abv special edition.)
Meanwhile, the whisky section of all the Haneda Travel Retail shops were barren:
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Maturation: first-fill American oak
Chillfiltered? probably
e150a? probably
(from a bottle split)
Monday, June 12, 2023
Balvenie 15 year old Single Barrels: Bourbon vs Sherry
Many of us remember the Balvenie 15yo Single Barrel, the stronger, older sibling to the 12yo Doublewood, back when that Barrel was of the bourbon sort. This bourbon cask expression existed for at least 23 years before it was retired, and traded out for a sherry cask version in 2015. That more expensive version lasted less than seven years. It appears to have been replaced by the even more expensive 16yo French Oak in 2022.
The evolution matches the times:
- The 15 year old single bourbon barrel listed the exact distillation and bottling dates, and was sometimes older than its age statement.
- The 15 year old single sherry barrel did not list the distillation and bottling dates.
- The 16 year old French Oak is not a single cask, is wine cask finished, and has a slightly lower ABV.
I had the opportunity to try the bourbon version of the 15 about a half dozen times (as recently as 2017 when I found a bottle in a neighborhood bar), and tried the 15yo sherry barrel twice. All eight barrels were pleasantly tasty casual sippers, which is right on brand for Balvenie. Had I known the older version was going to vanish, and had the newer version been cheaper, I would have been happy to buy a bottle of each. But here I am, in 2023, sourcing a sample of both for this Taste Off.
15 year old Single Barrel bourbon cask 11950 - 47.8%abv 10 Dec 1993 to 12 Oct 2009 | 15 year old Single Barrel sherry cask 1900 - 47.8%abv |
---|---|
A mix of honeydew, honey, peach candy, and vanilla ice cream appears first in the nose. Cracked black pepper and smoky barrel char fills in the background. It gets more floral (roses) with time. | The nose starts with flower blossoms and raw almonds, followed by honey, nectarines, and strawberry candy. Milky chocolate and orange peels appear after 20 minutes. Butter caramel at the 30-minute mark. |
The sweet and fruity palate offers up Juicy Fruit gum, pear juice, pineapple juice, and toasty oak spices. Hints of chile peppers and vanilla slowly emerge. It all gets tarter and sweeter with time. | The palate is very salty, and not that sweet. Limes and chiles, first. Dried apples and dried apricots second. Leaner and meaner than expected. |
The pineapples, peaches, vanilla, and chile peppers stick around through the finish. | The finish gets sweeter while holding onto the salt and tart limes. Maybe some dried apples too. |
Summary: Lots of oak, lots of fruit. I'm not sure they ever balance out, but it is another "tasty casual sipper", as referenced above. More of a drinker than a thinker. | Summary: Not a contemporary sherry cask, much to my surprise. I expected a sherry-seasoned barrel to be much different than this. The palate is pretty simple, but I appreciate its spartan character. |
15 year old Single Barrel, bourbon cask 11950 - 85
Friday, June 9, 2023
Aultmore 9 year old 2008 Sovereign, cask HL13138 for K&L
After this week's two DCL-era Aultmores, all I'm able to offer you is a review of a contemporary Aultmore, a 9-year-old single sherry cask that butts in at 59.8%abv, with a color as dark or darker than those two elders. Back in 2018 it was offered exclusively by K&L Wine Merchants for the very reasonable sum of $55. Those days are far behind us all.
Distillery: AultmoreAge: 9 years old (June 2008 - Aug 2017)
Maturation: Sherry butt
Alcohol by Volume: 59.8%
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
It has a vibrant nose, full of raspberry candy, orange peel, apricot jam, and A LOT of alcohol. Minor notes of flowers and metal develop with time. The palate brings the heat as well, but it's also sort of bourbony, with a mix of cherry jam, cinnamon candy, and honey. Maybe a few apricots too. The hot finish leans more towards cherries and nectarines, sweet and tangy.
I'm going to be careful with this youngling at first...
DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Yep, oloroso cask-aged bourbon on the nose: vanilla, maple, walnuts, and raspberries. Though one can find hints of apple jam and bitter citrus, the palate is so woody. Charred lumber and extreme tannins. It finishes with apple peels and tannins.
Maybe a little more water will help.
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL cask strength whisky
A whole new nose of flowers, pears, prunes, and mint. Meanwhile the palate is all bitter oak and unripe pears, and the finish is sour and tannic.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Keep this one neat as dilution wrecks the palate. I like the strange bourbon-like style that this Aultmore shows at full strength, especially since it's a fruity bourbon style. In fact, I like this whisky a little more than Wednesday's 30yo! It's too hot and oaky for it to be a regular drinker for me, but it's more enjoyable than many officially-bottled NAS cask strength sherried things from more popular distilleries.
For other takes, see the reviews by Whisky Musings and Whiskey Jug. At least we three can agree the price was right.
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Aultmore 30 year old 1989 Single Cask Nation, cask 2459
Designed by the fellow who built Craigellachie, and originally run by Oban's owners, Aultmore has since passed through relatively few hands. John Dewar & Sons bought Aultmore on the distillery's 25th birthday in 1923. Dewar & Sons was then purchased by Distillers Company Limited, which later became United Distillers and Diageo. When Diageo had to sell off some of its holdings in 1998, the Dewar's portfolio found a buyer in Bacardi Limited.
On Monday, I tried an Aultmore distilled by Distillers Company Limited, and it was excellent. So, here's another one from that era, also matured in a sherry cask, bottled by J&J of Single Cask Nation. It's one of the oldest whiskies SCN has offered so far, and comes in at a zippy 57.1%abv.
Distillery: AultmoreOwner at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: 30 years old (June 1989 - Nov 2019)
Maturation: first fill sherry butt
Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%
(from a bottle split)
Monday, June 5, 2023
Aultmore 35 year old 1982 Adelphi, cask 1575
Owner at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: 35 years old (1982 - 2017)
Maturation: sherry something or other
Alcohol by Volume: 54.8%
(from a bottle split)
Friday, June 2, 2023
Bunnahabhain 10 year old, Distillery Exclusive cask 3201
Region: Islay
Maturation: Manzanilla cask
Cask #: 3201
Alcohol by Volume: 55.1%
Rating - 88