Independent bottler: Signatory
Cask #: 1683
Outturn: 180 bottles
(from a bottle split)
Pricing - ???
Gonna keep the Mathilda Malts and movie reviews going, though today's film is truly the wrong movie to be reviewing in this case, with the murderous siblings and all, but here it goes anyway.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)
![]() |
pic source |
![]() |
pic source |
Folks from my whisky generation are used to only seeing Oban's 14yo, Distillers Edition, and (occasionally) the 18yo on retailers' shelves. (Nowadays you whisky kids have an NAS and a host of young "Special Releases" to choose from.) So I always enjoy seeing older cask strength versions of Oban hit the market, even though they're usually priced well above any level I deem reasonable. Sometimes I'm able to join a bottle split, like I did with Diageo's other 21yo Oban release, which turned out to be a great whisky, and the 21yo SR that I'm reviewing today. A pour of a 2017 bottling of the 14 year old served as a warmup for this post.
Distillery: Oban
Ownership: Diageo
Range: Special Releases
Region: Western Highlands
Age: at least 21 years (1996-2018)
Maturation: Refill European Oak Butts
Alcohol by Volume: 57.9%
Limited Bottling: ???? bottles
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? Probably not
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
The nose starts off like a similarly-aged Glenburgie, full of fresh stone fruit. With this Oban, it's apricots! Pears, lemongrass, and damp moss fill the middle ground, while saline and crème brûlée linger in the background. Apricots, oranges, and tart cherry compote appear first in the palate, followed by roses and a whiff of wood smoke. It's slightly tannic and drying, though not too much so. It finishes with tart cherries, tart limes, and a tannic touch.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
More minerals and saline in the nose now. White peaches, golden raisins, and flower blossoms keep it bright. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and molasses move to the palate's fore, with minerals and tart berries in the aft. Oak spices, lemons, and salt finish it up.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Lovely nose, decent palate. The oak doesn't ruin the palate, but something does seem to keep the whisky flavors from merging and ascending, keeping it from besting aforementioned similar Glenburgies. Experimenting with dilution might help. As always, my score arrives independent of the whisky's price, though the QPR here could be disappointing to those who buy a bottle.
Availability - Secondary marketSpeaking of Japan, Hibiki Japanese Harmony blended whisky graces my glass today. I had tried this before and found it uninspiring. Its fancier cousin (the Master's Select) left me feeling the same. So why on earth did I buy a full bottle of the stuff at Binny's last year? Well...
Though none of these three whiskies were world beaters (oops, SPOILER ALERT), it's still a tremendous pleasure to drink these old Glenmos after consuming American whiskies 1/5 to 1/10 their age for the past few weeks. As a an added plus, none of these three malts (SPOILER ALERT) were tannic oaky beasts.
It's time for me to switch verb tenses and move on to the last of the trio.
NOTES
Ah, the most complex nose of the group. Crème brûlée w/ orange zest, talcum powder, and dried apricots up top; a mix of apples and pears, like a Calvados Domfrontais in the middle; dusty and floral with a pinch of baking spices in the back.
On the palate, picture limoncello but with much less sugar. Apricots, peaches, and a squeeze of lime. Toasty oak spice and a little bit of good bitterness. Never too sweet...
...though the finish is sweeter. Mint candy and lemon candy. Oak spice and some of the palate's bitterness.
WORDS WORDS WODRS
The two Cadenhead bottlings fought it out for my favorite from this group. This one has more angles, but also shows more oak, while the other one offers more drinking pleasures, so I'll give Thursday's 37yo "A Highland Distillery" the slight edge. I'd be happy to own a bottle of either......if 30+ year old whiskies were anywhere near my budget. If your budget is broader, and you want a birthday (or child's birthday) bottle of good drinkin', these secret Glenmorangies might be for you.
Availability - Secondary market, maybeThe 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...
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? |
![]() |
So much good wood |
![]() |
That's what she said |
![]() |
Big hands, I know you're the one. |
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.
![]() |
Is this heaven? No, it's a Bob Ross painting. |
![]() |
Happy little trees, flooded |
![]() |
Me posing with Ardbeg's latest cask experiment. |