Bea's Birthday Booze: Inchgower 37 year old 1982 Old & Rare Platinum Selection

Yes, I've just run off three 90-point reviews in a row, as if this were Whisky Advocate or something. Now I'm risking blowing even more sunshine out of my ass with today's 37 year old Inchgower. Now, Inchgowers can be weird, and I like weird, but a tragic 1982 Inchgower once found its way into my glass. Today's cask has a reasonable outturn and ABV, so no potential negative indicators there. And whiskybase's lone written review is by a reliable fellow. So I'm ready for this!

Distillery: Inchgower

Distilled by: Arthur Bell & Sons

Current owner: Diageo

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: Old & Rare
Sub-Range: Platinum Selection

Age: 37 years (1982 - 2019)

Maturation: probably a bourbon cask

Outturn: 178 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 50.1%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose is......like nothing I've smelled before. I'll try to do it justice. Stale milk chocolate + Cheerios + hay + Underberg. Sour milk + agave nectar + mint toothpaste. Apple cider and metal? Not much changes once the whisky is diluted to 46%abv, maybe more flowers, orchard fruits, and metals. Maybe?

The palate is slightly easier to describe. Bouquets of flowers encircled by a minty glow. Flower Kiss candy, white peaches, and fresh cherries. Cashews and raw wheat. Never too sweet. Diluting the whisky to 46%abv, makes it sweeter and bitterer. The florals and mint still dominate, while a comfy apple cider note expands beneath.

It finishes cheerfully, with flowers, sunflower seeds, lemons, and mint leaf. At 46%abv, there's apple cider, mint, and a rooty bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Okay, maybe I wasn't ready for this. Is it UnWhisky or ÜberWhisky? Or both? It's strange, fascinating stuff, as Inchgower can be as it gets older. Not sure if I'd make a habit of drinking this whisky, but it's truly a singular spirit. It's the mintiest single malt I've ever had, and also one of the most floral (though never perfume-y). It's also the third straight whisky that left me preferring the palate over the nose, which probably has never happened before on this site. This Inchgower is remarkably unique, not unlike Beatrice (all flowers, lemons, mint, and rooty bitterness herself) who turns six years old today.

Availability - Might still be available in Europe?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 87 (a pointless (LOL) score)

Inchgower 16 year old 1967 Cadenhead dumpy

Yes, the previous whisky was older but I wanted to end 2022 with this one.

The whiskies within the black-labelled Cadenhead dumpy bottles are dreamy, and I'm not entirely sure if ol' Cadenhead has ever topped that consistently outrageous quality since. My new year's wish is for all of you to have a chance to try one of those bottlings — owning an actual bottle is no longer a realistic goal — as they offer their own sort of whisky education about what was, and what is. Even a Tullibardine will do. Here's an Inchgower.

Distillery: Inchgower
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Owner at time distillation: Arthur Bell & Sons
Independent Bottler: Cadenhead
Age: at least 16 years (1967 - 1983)
Maturation: ??????????
Bottled for: ME! (I wish)
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose: Dunnage and burlap. Mushrooms and black walnuts. Hot tar and Hot damn. Semi-sweet ganache. Hints of band-aids and the ocean. And then come the guavas and peaches.

Oh dear, the palate matches the nose. Black walnuts, tar, band-aids and dunnage. Tart guavas and sweet oranges. Horseradish bitterness, sea salt, bonfire smoke. It has basically everything.

Raw nuts, salt, stones, tar, and a few squeezes of tart grapefruit and sweet clementine are swept up in the finish's plumes of coal smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I knew this was going to be good but......this is one of the best whiskies I've had in ages. Like the Moncreiffe, this Cadenhead Inchgower holds a significant amount of smoke. But like ye olde Laphroaigs and Ardbegs it infuses so many other characteristics into that smoke, especially a stunning balance of sweet and tart and salt. What a lovely capper at the end of a less-than-lovely year. See you on the other side!

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - Don't tell me

Rating - 93

Inchgower 21 year old 1967 Moncreiffe, Meregalli Import

Now it's time for the real motivation behind this Inchgower series: two Inchgowers distilled in 1967. That's how I'm closing this year out.

Arthur Bell & Sons updated the distillery a bit in the '60s as Bell's Extra Special won the hearts and livers of scotch drinkers in Scotland. They doubled their stills from two to four in 1966, and switched from floor malting to sourcing, though when they did the latter is a bit unclear. So it's possible these next two Inchgowers came from the old floor maltings. SPOILER ALERT: These are very different whiskies than the Inchgowers I previously reviewed. Something must account for that, and I'm thinking it's the malt!

First one:

Distillery: Inchgower
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Owner at time distillation: Arthur Bell & Sons
Independent Bottler: Moncreiffe & Company
Age: at least 21 years (1967 - 19??)
Maturation: SHERRY casks (all caps, my caps)
Bottled for: Meregalli Import, Monza, Italy
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

This is easily the darkest whisky I've had this year. Like Stagg-in-your-black-coffee dark. But don't put Stagg in your coffee please, unless you're ready to drink it on the toilet. Where was I?

The nose is MASSIVE. Coal smoke and dates and figs and very dark chocolate. Raw nuts and salt and toffee pudding. Seaweed! Ultra-aged sake (try it when in Japan!). It gets earthier with time, and picks up a whiff of dunnage funk.

Wow, the citrus rocks the palate. Limes and yuzu, peels and juices. Figs and coal smoke. Sultanas in black strap molasses. Dried savory herbs arrive later, as the sultanas and smoke swell.

"Power Citrus" reads my finish notes. Mizunara-style incense. A few dates, some heavy smoke and a hint of herbal bitterness arise in later sips.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Yes, you read that correctly, lots of smoke in an Inchgower! ❤ It's an absolute hammer at 46%abv. Subtlety be damned, it's loud and rude and glorious and this is what old Inchgower was like???! (See here and here for additional happy takes.) I can't wait to get to the next one!

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???

Rating - 92

Inchgower 28 year old 1985 The Whisky Agency

Inchgower went corporate in 1985. Guinness consumed the distillery's former owner, Arthur Bell & Sons, as the beast slowly grew into United Distillers / Diageo via hostile takeovers. The Bell's Extra Special blend was a hot property at the time, as it held more than a 1/3 of the UK market. Swallowing Bell's, Guinness gained a trio of distilleries in the process: Bladnoch, Pittyvaich and Inchgower. Inchgower has been the only one of the three to distill without pause across the past four decades, and is the only one still in Diageo's portfolio.

Today's Inchie may have been distilled during the Bell's era, or was among the earliest batches produced by its new corporate overlords.

Distillery: Inchgower
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: The Whisky Agency
Series: Stamps
Age: 28 years (1985-2013)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Outturn: 266 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.8%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose begins with bananas, barrel char and paint VOCs. Lemons and mineral white wine develop after 30 minutes, then circus peanuts a bit later. The palate comes in with a curious mix of dried ginger, cardamom pods, moss and sweet riesling. Tangy chiles and a woody bitterness fill in the middle and background. Black peppercorns and tart limes move to the fore after nearly 45 minutes. It finishes sweet and bourbony, until some tart limes and dried herbs make things interesting.

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

Now I find dates, pecans, lemonade and circus peanuts in the nose. The woody bitterness and tart citrus expand in the palate, with peppercorns in the background. It finishes grassy and tart, with plenty of bitter oak.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Serge was a bigger fan of this than I, as was Ruben and the Whiskybase community. The tartness and sweetness worked well on the palate, and the nose was never boring, but the bitterness — though interesting — was too woody for my mouth. Feels like something that stayed in the cask for too long, and as a result the whisky shares none of the great characteristics of the previously reviewed Inchgowers. For a different take, please see the aforementioned experienced palates' takes on the whisky.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???

Rating - 82

Inchgower 30 year old 1990 Old Particular, cask DL14899 for K&L

I'm always game for some old Inchgower, so when I saw an opportunity to get in on a bottle split of a recent K&L Wine Merchants single hoggie of 30(!) year old Inch I leapt at it with both legs and some cash. Like Friday's OB, this indie Inchgower is from the 1990 vintage and spent its life in refill American oak. Expectations are set moderately high...

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Douglas Laing
Range: Old Particular

Age: alllllllmost 31 years (Oct 1990 - Sept 2021)

Maturation: refill hogshead

Cask #: DL 14899
Outturn: 225 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 54.4%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Spiced apple cider, honey and roses lead the nose. Ocean water, lemon and a hint of caramel fill in the background. There's a bit more wood in the palate but still plenty of bright fruit: think applesauce, lemons and limes. A swirl of golden syrup, cardamom and honey moves forward slowly. It finishes tart, slightly sweet and lightly tannic with hints of anise and peppercorns in the far back.

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

Apple, cinnamon and ocean compose the nose's body, with new notes of shortbread and mango providing highlights. The palate becomes hardier with tarter and bitterer citrus. Smaller notes of honey and cherry candy offer sweetness. Some more oak shows up, but I don't mind it as it reads almost smoky. It finishes sweeter with hints of tart and tannin.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Another one bottled at just the right time. The oak seems almost ready to take over, but it doesn't! I think I prefer it with the extra oomph that dilution provides. The spice and zing make it a better winter drinker than the average Inchgower. Because the OB Special Release had the benefit of being a small batch, it's slightly more rounded and complex than this 30yo, but they're very close in quality. Good stuff.

Availability - Might still be available at K&L?
Pricing - $250

Rating - 87

Inchgower 27 year old 1990, Special Release 2018

If you haven't resigned yourself to the fact that Diageo and Pernod Ricard (and their predecessors) have emptied thousands, if not tens of thousands, of the greatest casks of malt whisky ever made into their mass market blends over the past century, then......well......keep walking drinking, my brothers and sisters.

Inchgower is one of the What-If distilleries that always come to mind. It's been one of the main malts in Bell's for at least 85 years, and I've always wondered, "What if the malt was allowed to shine and develop as one of the Classic Malts?" Yeah, there have been Flora & Fauna bottlings, but I've yet to have an F&F that has left me thinking that I was getting anything better than middle-of-the-road casks from any of the distilleries, with perhaps Dailuaine being the only exception.

Thankfully, Diageo offers up a Special Release series each year. Unthankfully, the prices ceased being reasonable almost a decade ago. But all those bottlings have not blasted off the shelves. Today's 27yo Inchgower was released more nearly five years ago, but can still be found for its original SRP at primary markets in North America, Europe and Asia. It wasn't priced too extravagantly, often below $400. But who was paying $400 for non-single-cask Inchgower in 2018. Hell, who is paying $400 for single cask Inchgower now? Though I don't make a habit of spending $200 on a bottle I've never tried, this release could have been an exception at that price. But here we are, 2023 is approaching and I have finally sourced a sample.

A pinch to grow 'er an Inch?

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo

Series: Special Releases 2018
Age: 27 years (1990 - 2018)
Maturation: refill hogsheads
Outturn: 8544 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 55.3%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Honey on cornbread. Mint, apple peels, lychee and lemon bars. The nose starts very nicely. American oak appears in the background a little later, offering bananas, cream puffs and Boston cream pastries. The palate launches with malt, tart lemons and ginger candies. Salt and vanilla drift through the background. It's never too sweet, and it does have some savoriness here and there. The simple but long finish shows orange zest, ginger and cinnamon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Fruits (guava, lychee and apple) and spices (cardamom and clove) arrive first in the nose, followed by some old dusty oak. The palate reads sweeter now with lots of citrus candy. A tangy chile or two, and a dash of salt, add some balance. Gentle tannins arrive later. It finishes with citrus candy, guava and honey.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

One gets the sense that, out of the 40+ hoggies forming this batch, there were a few rich second fills and a few lean fourth fills. It's all blended together pretty well. The fruit's allowed to sing, and the oak never bullies its way to the fore, so it works for my nose and palate. I'm not sure if Diageo will ever offer a Inchgower at this age again, so perhaps $300 isn't too unreasonable in this market. What say ye, Inchgower fans out there?

Availability - Not too hard to find
Pricing - $250-$450

Rating - 88

Inchgower 13 year old 1994 Manager's Dram

Who has two thumbs and two rounds of Covid? This guy! Luckily the second burst came in at half the strength of the first. My palate and nose were fine throughout (I give them an 85!), but I did put whisky and other poisons aside for over a week. I tested them before dipping back into the review game. Grateful for my vaccine power-ups, I am ready to go.

Without further ado, the Inchgower series continues with Diageo's Manager's Dram, a series that preceded the Manager's Choice by a couple of years. (To note, I don't believe this was a single cask because the pic on Whiskybase shows "Bottle 0805".) This one went side-by-side with my great '95 single sherry butt.

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo
Range: The Manager's Dram

Age: 13 years (1994 - 7 June 2007)

Maturation: possibly a sherry cask?

Outturn: ???? bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 58.9%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Almond butter arrives first in the nose, and sticks around a while. Green grapes and apple peels meet with it well. Burlier notes, like dried leaves, ocean brine, and a bit cruciferous veg appear next, followed by crème brûlée and orange zest. Earthy bitter chocolate and raw nuts hit the palate first. Hints of raspberry jam and graphite sit in the background, but nothing else materializes other than heat. It finishes hot, bitter and earthy, with just a little bit of citrus in the back.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Now vaguer, and less focused, the nose offers only walnuts, brine and some organic funkiness. The palate also fades. Bright bitterness, soil, a little bit of chocolate, and a lot of ethyl heat, is all it offers. It finishes with that bitter chocolate note.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

While I appreciate the hardier, drier sherry style of this whisky, it just could not stand up to the 21yo 1995 Old Malt Cask. Though it would probably wallop many contemporary sherry cask whiskies, that doesn't mean it deserves superlatives. Its strength is in the nose, and the palate seems to beg for water, but hydration does it no favors. Drink it neat, and be ready for a dry, lean, hot Inchgower.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???

Rating - 84 (neat only)

Things I Really Drink: Inchgower 21 year old 1995 Old Malt Cask, cask HL14253

TIRD time! Yes people, I do open my bottles, though usually with a plan in mind. I had a completely different three-week plan for the end of this year, but I realized at the last moment that I possessed neither the time nor the liver power to carry it out. Inchgower Improv resulted. And I'm quite satisfied with the whiskies so far.

The label on today's TIRD offers up generic sherry cask tasting notes, the sort of stuff I try to avoid when buying full bottles. And, oops, I did not check the notes before my purchase.

This bottle received the double deluxe review treatment via head-to-heads against the two previous Inchgowers. There were slight differences between each tasting's notes, but not much. I'll note the shifts below.

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: Old Malt Cask

Age: alllllllmost 22 years (Oct 1995 - Sept 2017)

Maturation: sherry butt

Cask #: HL 14253
Outturn: 708 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 50%
(top third of my bottle)

NEAT

The nose lands well, with earth, stones and walnuts. Touches of almond extract, burlap and yuzu peel here and there. The second tasting reveals some fruity cinnamon and orange blossom notes.

Figs wrapped in herbal smoke, so says the palate. Plenty of soil and ink. A moment of black tea (Keemun?). Hints of metal and oranges appear in the second tasting.

It finishes with tangy lemons and limes, salt, earth and a hint of fig.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose is mossy and herbal, with honey and orange zest around the sides. Hints of forest floor and white chocolate in the background. In the second tasting, the nose opens even better: cocoa powder, soil, rocks, white peaches, honey, ocean brine, toffee chips, and some dry sherry in back.

Gentle citrus and herbal bitterness leads the palate, with a curious industrial note and light dusty smoke underneath. Nearly identical in the second tasting, with a bit more limes and dried pineapple.

The finish seems longer at this strength. Tart limes and apples, anise, brine and a hint of that industrial character.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

No raisins nor caramel here, just some well-tuned earthy, dry stuff with fruit and smoke at the edges. Thank goodness! Rarely does a blind purchase work this well. This bottle could even become a 90-point whisky before it meets its end. The metal and industrial notes are bit odd, which is what's holding me back from scoring it higher right now. I'll attempt to remember to report back if this Inchgower goes either direction, but I'd be okay if it stays the same.

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - £71 on my last Master of Malt order five years ago

Rating - 89

Inchgower 19 year old 1995 First Editions (US Release)

Monday's naked Inchgower did its job. Now it's time for a pair of sherry cask reviews. First up, a bottling that I eyed for years, a sherry hoggie (or half butt?) of Inchgower from Hunter Laing's stash. After waiting too long, I was thankful to get in on a bottle split. Time to find out if I missed the whisky train on this one.

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: The First Editions

Age: 19 years (1995 - 2014)

Maturation: sherry cask of some sort
Outturn: 240 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 55.2%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose reads a bit closed at first. Heat, walnuts, lemon zest and a hint of Werther's Originals start things out. It gets more candied and floral with time. The palate arrives sweeter than expected, with cherry lollies, lemon candy and dried apricots. Again, it gets more floral (actual flowers) with time, a heavy pepperiness appears, and the lemon candy shifts to lemon peel. It finishes like a cherry, lemon, and pink peppercorn lollipop. A thing?

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Indeed, water releases the party. Here's the nose list: Figs, orange zest, cloves, cinnamon, dried blueberries and a hint of forest floor. The palate has the nose's cloves and cinnamon, with a pinch of brown sugar, a sip of herbal liqueur, and a wee orange candy. It finishes sweet with orange and lime candy.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

NOT a generic sherry cask here. And despite the dark color, the whisky is neither heavy nor tannic. The cask held onto the spirit's florals and sweet fruits, while adding moderate quantities of baking spices and dried fruits. It seems like that balance is harder to come by, with the push to oak the hell out of most things now. So, I approve! Not sure what the price was, but this would've been fun to own.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???

Rating - 87 (diluted)

Inchgower 11 year old 2007 Signatory, cask 801387

I like Inchgower! Does anyone else like Inchgower? Hopefully some of you do, because there are nine Inchgower reviews comin' atcha. Or maybe you can't stand the stuff, but will happily hate read my notes. Either way, welcome to this Inchgower not-quite-a-Cluster set!

Though Inchgower takes to sherry casks very nicely (okay, not always), I'm beginning this series with a fairly nude Inchie from the reliable Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection, hoping that it'll be a solid point of reference for the stuff that follows. The distillery uses a quick mashing process and one of the briefest fermentation times that I've seen in Scotland. Time to find out the result.

Distillery: Inchgower

Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Un-Chillfiltered Collection

Age: 11 years (18 Sept 2007 - 16 Aug 2019)

Maturation: hogshead
Cask number: 801387
Outturn: ??? bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The pretty nose shows mostly barley and flowers for a while. Cashew butter and yeast then settle into the midground. Whole grain crackers and cherry juice in the back. It does have a slight sulfuric nip from the spirit.

The palate dishes out earthy molasses, hay and orange notes, with quieter moments of eau de vie and dried herbs. The earthiness and herbal bitterness combine into something almost peaty. It all arrives packaged in a creamy mouthfeel.

That good bitterness balances with mild sweetness, tart limes, and bunches of barley in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Hooray! Rustic and floral, with a little bit of fruit and whole lotta barley, the whisky did what I hoped it would, and I liked it. 46%abv was probably the best bottling strength for it as well since the rawness could have been too much at full power. Despite what I said in the intro, the next eight Inchgowers are not just sherry casks, so perhaps I'll find out what happens to these youthful characteristics once time settles in.

Availability - Still available at a few US retailers
Pricing - all over the place

Rating - 85

Inchgower 30 year old 1982 AD Rattray, cask 6964

I've decided to start mining the sample stash for the oldies more frequently. And by "oldies" I mean long-aged whiskies and/or samples I've had for a long time. Since I turn 91 years old on Saturday, I'm going try some nice roundly numbered single malts this week, all from Speyside.

Today's sample is an Inchgower — I like Inchgower — bottled by A. Dewar Rattray — I like A. Dewar Rattray — and was distilled in 1982. I love 1982. Two of my favorite humans were produced in 1982. This Inchgower is 30 years old, yet is still humming in at 56.3%abv. Perhaps this was a stubborn cask, or it sat in a warm corner of the warehouse. Or both. Or neither. I don't know, I'm just here for the whisky.

Distillery: Inchgower
Independent Bottler: A. Dewar Rattray
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Age: 30 years (30 June 1982 - 29 October 2012)

Maturation: bourbon hogshead
Cask number: 6964
Outturn: 208 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 56.3%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
The nose begins with fudge and raspberry candy. Small notes of mothballs, chlorine and moldy dunnage. Some peaches and apricots in the background. It gets more chocolatey with time. No alcohol prickle or burn. The palate is......unusual. Bitter fruit rinds, red pepper flakes, yellow mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Very tart, very tannic, very sweet. The finish is bitter, tannic and moldy with cocoa and burnt plastic. The heat lasts the longest.

I can't say that was pleasant. A little bit of water...

DILUTED TO ~48%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Lots of sugary candy shop notes in the nose. Some honeydew. There are also hints of plastic, metal and dunnage mold. While the palate has gotten more savory and gained a tangy lime, there's also plenty of burnt hair, burnt plastic and burnt peppers. There's a worrisome poisonous edge to it. The finish has gotten sweeter, but the bitter, tannic and peppery notes remain. Burnt plastic, burnt cocoa.

That did not help matters. More water.

DILUTED TO ~43%abc, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Gone are the nose's funky elements. Now there are roasted nuts, orange oil, caramel sauce and anise. The palate is less harsh, but it's still very tannic, moldy and plasticky. Peppercorns and sugar. The finish is bitter and tannic.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I like Inchgower a lot, and I'm aware that its single malt gets a bit divisive and weird with extended maturations. That's part of why I like it. And this whisky's low online scores actually inspired me to buy this sample.

But there are problems with this particular whisky, and it's a cask issue, not an Inchgower issue. The tannic assault is likely due to the whisky being left in the hoggie for too long, but the other palate problems may have been present years or decades earlier. I'm not sure if this could have been salvageable.

These are the bottler's official tasting notes, to wit:

Palate - Burnt Cajun spices and ginger.
Finish - An exceptionally different aged malt - curious.

Firstly, it's never a great sign when the official notes say "different", and even less great when they say "exceptionally different", and even more exceptionally less great when they say "curious". Secondly, the palate notes. "Burnt"? Certainly, but that's not always something to brag about. And, have they actually eaten Cajun food? Or, to be more American about it, do you even Cajun, bro?

The whisky's nose is very good, which makes grading this thing even goofier than usual. The real concern here is that five out of the last six Rattray products I've tried have been disappointing or worse. And I have another Rattray sample in the queue that is also not great. It's time for me to give up on this bottler.

Availability - ???
Pricing - ???
Rating - 74 (a generous grade which drops 3-5 when the whisky is diluted)

Two sherry cask 1995 Inchgowers from the Laings

Sherry cask Inchgowers are somewhat scarce. The Laing companies seem to have 90% of the casks, which I don't entirely understand. That they would be enthusiastic about the stuff is reasonable; yet almost no other indie bottler is. Inchgower can be a quirky spirit, but it seems to do very well in a vibrant cask.

All three sherry cask Inchgowers that I have previously tried were great. So great that I went ahead bought a bottle of another sherry cask Inchgower. Blindly. 😱. One could say I was pretty excited about this Taste Off.

Inchgower 19 year old 1995 Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing), sherry butt 11402, 50%abv

NEAT

Right up front, the nose is strange. Wet wool, mold, raw alcohol. But also plum wine and apricots. After 20 minutes there's caramel sauce and fermenting apples. After 30 minutes, dark chocolate, prunes and more caramel. The palate is quirky, though it's a bit filthy and earthy, almost peaty. But also bursting with citrus and blackberries, with a subtle grassy undertone. There's a soy sauce and sesame oil combo happening in the background, and it kinda works. At the 30 minute mark there's some manuka honey and burnt raisins. It finishes with the palate's fruit and nose's fustiness. Then some raisins, vanilla and a hint of tannin.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose's oddities have calmed. Now it's dunnage and a tiny bit of peat. Prunes and chocolate make up the rest. The palate is sweeter, with more generic sherry cask notes (raisins, prunes). But there's also a savory note that meets up with orange candy. It gets very very sweet, and that sugariness goes right into the finish. Vanilla, golden raisins and lemons. The savory note lingers here.

---

Inchgower 20 year old 1995 Old Particular (Douglas Laing), refill sherry butt 10880, 51.5%abv

NEAT
Oats on the nose. Oats and barley and lemons. Feels very raw and young. Roses and rock candy. The whole thing gets grainier with time. No sign of sherry cask to be found. Except, maybe, rubber. The palate leads with barley, burlap and cardboard. Sand, plastic and ethyl heat. A little bit tanginess and cayenne pepper, which also carries over into the finish, as does the sand, heat and plastic. Like a polluted beach.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or ¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose perks up a little. Barley, honey and oranges. But also fabric and alcohol. Barley, dried herbs and something meaty linger about in the palate, as does cardboard and plastic. The finish is papery, grainy and herbal.

---

COMMENTS ON BOTH
The 19 year old is weird, but has its charms. I like the earthy, musty, phenolic notes. And there's a good spot somewhere between 10- and 30-minute mark after the whisky is poured. Its character is constantly on the move, which is entertaining but also slightly annoying. Diluting it to 46% straightens it out and declutters, but also risks turning it into just another generic sherry cask Speysider. It gets points for amusement but falls short of my previous experiences with sherry cask Inchgowers.

The 20 year old comes from one dead ass cask. Possibly a dead ass cask in a warm warehouse corner. Sometimes it's reminiscent of the tragic Dewar Rattray Auchentoshan (also 20yo and from a sherry cask) I reviewed last year. Sometimes it's almost recommendable for nosing purposes. The good news is it's devoid of vanilla and tannin. And there's plenty of barley rolling around the nose and palate. I'm hard-pressed to say anything else positive about it.

The two main takeaways today: I will not be buying another sherry cask Inchgower blindly anytime soon, and I'm beginning to understand the reluctance of all the other indie bottling companies.

Inchgower 19 year old 1995 Old Malt Cask (Hunter Laing)
Rating - 82

Inchgower 20 year old 1995 Old Particular (Douglas Laing)
Rating - 72

Malt Bar South Park, the second night, part one

Malt Bar South Park posts
1. Bar introduction
2. Night One
3. Night Two, part one
4. Night Two, part two

My second trip to Malt Bar South Park marked my final Japanese bar stop. I found my way to the Nakano bar using a printed-out map and my memory. Parts of my cellphone didn't work that night, nor the next. (Frankly, fuck my Samsung Galaxy S6 for being useless when I was lost and in trouble during this trip. I'm happily ridding myself of it this week.) For instance, neither my wireless or data worked that night. Neither did the keyboard. Neither did the power, at times. But the camera randomly functioned (as you'll see below), until it didn't.

As a result the notes for this night were handwritten on the back of the map...until my brand new pen ran dry.

Despite these issues, this experience was awesome. I'll add the narrative for your enjoyment.

---

After I'd bypassed Malt Bar South Park, again, I found it, then rushed down the stairs to find shelter. Fujita-san was still behind the bar. Everything was still spotless.

The seat at the center of the bar had a "RESERVED" card, which I dumbly and Americanly didn't see as I sat down on it. The owner's wife hurried over to politely ask me to move to another seat, explaining that a special guest was expected to arrive soon. So I thought it would be a great idea to plant my ass next to this mystery person's seat.

After getting another great plate of fruits and nuts and dark chocolate, I began with an Ardmore from an independent bottler that does its business only on that side of the Pacific Ocean.

Ardmore 16 year old 2000 The Whiskyfind for Mash Tun Tokyo, cask 800214, 55.5%abv

Color - light amber
Nose - Very fruity. Lychee, Meyer lemon, apricot and barbecued peach(?). Mild peat, subtle vanilla. Wet sheep!
Palate - More smoke here. Tangy and lemony, with a nice sprinkle of cayenne pepper. From my notes: "Sweet, though almost out of its baby fat phase." Yes, this was my first drink.
Finish - Smoke, lemon and sugar. There was something Hakushu-ish about it.

Words: This is a good intro for drinkers new to Ardmore thanks to its lemons and beachy peat. Despite its 16 years, there was no oak interrupting the flow. I liked it.
Grade: 85

Sherried Inchgower!

Inchgower 32 year old 1980 The Whisky Agency, refill sherry butt, 52%abv

Color - gold, Jerry
Nose - Chocolate fudge, chocolate frosting, chocolate pudding. Nutty pudding. Leather. #FromMyNotes "Nummy sulfur".
Palate - Chocolatey, similar to the nose, but there's also pineapple and peaches. Smoked paprika. Fresh ginger and lychee. Its fruitiness grows with time. Just a whisper of gunpowder, like a seasoning.
Finish - The fruit remains in the finish, shedding the chocolate. Some new notes of oranges and nuts. A hint of smoke.

Words: A treat. The chocolate is a bit heavy on the nose. Though that sounds silly as a complaint, the chocolate's weight prevents additional depth. The whisky is at its best once the fruit comes through in the mouth. (And no, I have no idea what the heck Serge was drinking when he reviewed this, an issue I've been finding with increasing frequency.) But this whisky would be great for dessert.
Grade: 87

I had to do it. One 1978, please.

Tomatin 35 year old 1978 Cadenhead small batch, bourbon hogsheads, 44.4%abv

Color - light gold
Nose - Dunnage. Musty melons. Chalk. Mangoes. Canned peaches and pears. A biscuity malty note. It picks up some oomph with time.
Palate - It's as thick as a liqueur. Loaded with fresh peaches and mangoes. The fruits' essences rather than sugars. Dunnage! A hint of herbal bitterness.
Finish - All tropical and stone fruits, playing separately, then together.

Words: Yes, this was a small batch and, yes, that ABV is accurate. Cadenhead has a few of these '78s with low abv. The result is whisky concentrate. And it is fab. Romantic, even.
Grade: 92

So there I was, sipping on this whisky, looking like a total baller, when the special guest walked in.

To be continued...

The Grand Epic Tasting of Calabasas

I've never led a private tasting like this before and probably will never have the whisky opportunity to do it again.  It was a dreamy Thursday night.

The bottles

The placemat

The host then brought out his 20yo AD Rattray Bowmore because what we really needed was a baker's dozen.  I got home at 2am, then "slept" for four hours, woke up, and started prepping for another event (bachelor party!).  I'm just coming to grips with how incredible this experience was.

Single Malt Report: Inchgower 20 year old 1995 Hepburn's Choice for K&L Wines

When searching for a sherried malt for last month's OC Scotch Club event, I selected this Inchgower, a whisky of interest to me since its arrival at K&L Wine Merchants.  I enjoy Inchgower quite a bit, but its indie bottlings almost never make it to The States.  Plus the one sherry cask Inchgower I have tried was excellent.  So I was looking forward to it.  It turned out to be a hit (possibly the biggest) at the event, especially with cigar fans.

from the K&L site

Distillery: Inchgower
Bottler: Hepburn's Choice (Hunter Laing)
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Age: 20 years (1995-2015)

Maturation: sherry butt

Alcohol by Volume: 57.5%
Limited Release: 496 bottles
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

NEAT
The nose begins with toffee, some classic Inchgower flower notes, and (curiously) old ex-bourbon-cask-style tropical fruit notes.  There's dusting of cocoa, lime candy, then some autumnal leaves.  Almond brittle candy.  After some time in the glass, the whiskey gets a little woodier with bigger caramel notes.  Maybe some whipped cream.

The palate starts with the Macallan-style clean sherriness that many of us used to love 5+ years ago, a characteristic now missing from current Mac.  Here it's deeper and fuller than any of Mac's 43%abv bottlings (including the 25yo).  A real toffee/caramel/nutty sherry cask.  There's bitter dark chocolate, salted caramels, a smoky note, and salt (smoked sea salt?).  There are smaller notes of dried blueberries as well as the nose's florals.

It finishes with nutty sherry, salt, and tart limes.  Small notes of flowers, dried berries, and mild oak.  A good length to it.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Here come some more familiar sherried notes in the nose.  Prunes, raisins, and smoky dark chocolate.  Three Musketeers nougat.  Aromatic toasted wood spices.  Roses and mangos.

The palate picks up big dried leaf notes, almost Kilkerran-like.  Subtle smoke and lime notes meet with a sweeter sherry.  A little bit of the salt remains.  A medium bitter dark chocolate.

The good length remains in the finish.  Big sherry cask-style dried fruits.  Brown butter.  A peep of oak.  Some salt and savoury notes.

COMMENTS:
Wow, this is terrific.  It swims very well too.  Even though the cask and its previous contents are of much influence, lots of well-matured spirit notes remain.  There's definitely something smoky going on here too.  Good fruits, flowers, sweets, earth, chocolate, toffee, salt.  I can't find anything wrong with it.  And it's not like I'm not trying.  It ranks with the dirtier K&L Craigellachie and Chieftain's Fettercairn as my favorite current sherried whiskies I've tried this year.  I give the Inchgower the advantage because it takes to water so well.  A darn good selection by K&L.

Availability - At K&L only
Pricing - $99.99
Rating - 90

Saturday Malt Report: Inchgower 13 year old 2000 for Austrian Whisky Connoisseurs

Yes, it's another rare weekend whisky review!  This one arrives courtesy of a sample from Cobo.  I've only covered some old Inchgowers thus far, now here's a chance to review a younger one.  It's a single sherry butt (perhaps half of one as per the bottle count) selected by Cobo for the Austrian Whisky Connoisseurs group in Graz.

Distillery: Inchgower
Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)
Owner: Diageo

Bottler: Austrian Whisky Connoisseurs

Age: 13 years (2000-2014)

Maturation: sherry butt

Alcohol by Volume: 59.1%
Limited Release: 271 bottles

NEAT
It has a dark gold color.

The nose is of sherry and the ocean.  Fudgy and fruity (peach nectar and honeydew).  Reminiscent of sherried Yamazaki (wherever it may be).  Meanwhile the spirit still sings through.  There are floral esters peeking out here and there, a little bit of grass and watermelon rind, and an organic note that's almost peat-like.  Ooh, and toffee pudding.  After 30 minutes, larger notes of raisins and tobacco appear.

The palate is moderately sweet and pleasantly sherried, the way Macallan 12 used to be.  Chocolate and salt, easy on the dried cherries.  The melon rind shows up here too.  Some butterscotch and good maltiness.  Limes and black pepper.

The sherry notes retreat in the finish, leaving the green stuff and organic notes from the nose.  Malt, salt, and pepper.  A good herbal bitterness, like a German digestif.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Boldly floral nose, Inchgower spirit!  The sherry gets dirtier, the greener notes get louder.  Some mineral and lime sharpness.  Small notes of pound cake and prunes.

The palate is sweeter, spicier, maybe even richer, but definitely louder.  More vanilla, more tart citrus, and some tobacco.

The good length finish is a now a dessert, all vanilla, toffee, and spice.

COMMENTS
This was a very good cask with high quality sherry, oak, AND spirit notes all in tune.  The whisky works well with or without water.  (Sorry about the alliteration there.)  Plus the price was very right (54 euro).  I'm jealous.  Well picked, Cobo!  Now will someone please get a high quality well-priced sherry cask of Inchgower to The States?

Availability - originally was exclusive to AWC, but now it might be found in the secondary market
Pricing - was €54
Rating - 89

Birthday Booze! Inchgower 36 year old 1974 Master of Malt

Third review of the week!  You know what that means...  Super short introduction!

As I had for the previous two birthdays, this year I opened and consumed a sample of a whisky that was as old as I.  This time it was this Inchgower that Master of Malt bottled back in 2011.

I actually bought the sample in 2011 too, back when UK shipping was half of what it is now.  Oh, the days.

Before this sample, I'd tried a grand total of two Inchgowers; both 29 years old.  I liked them both, but now that I've downing a 36 year old Inchgower, I'm pretty sure I have no idea what their regular teenage or Flora & Fauna versions taste like.  This is a situation I normally don't find myself in since I'm unable to make a habit of drinking old whisky.

Distillery: Inchgower
Owner: Diageo

Independent Bottler: Master of Malt

Age: 36 years (September 16, 1974 - June 9, 2011)

Maturation: refill bourbon hogshead

Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Alcohol by Volume: 53.4%**
Limited Release: 177 bottles

** - One bit of weirdness.  The sample says it's 53.4% ABV.  The website says it's 53.4%.  But there was an identical cask distilled and bottled on the same exact days which produced same number of bottles and was labelled 41.5% ABV.  And the official photo on the website shows an ABV in the 40s, when zoomed in.  Whiskybase and whiskywhiskywhisky say it's 41.5, while Ruben from whiskynotes says his was 53.4 and Bonhams shows a bottle with the 53.4.  It could be that there were two very identical casks, but I doubt it.  Master of Malt split the cask with whiskybroker, and whiskybroker's bottles were 53.4% ABV.  So I'm going with 53.4% ABV.  Whew, that paragraph took longer to research and write than the rest of the entire post.

On to the stuff!

The color sits between light gold and amber.  The nose is a blast of fruits, candies, and creams.  Orange-mango juice, limes, fresh bananas, lemon peel meets peppercorns.  Cherry Blow Pops.  Vanilla and tapioca custard.  Hints of barrel char, but much less oaky than current "rejuvenated cask" whiskies.  Some anise and mothballs give it another boost.  On the palate, a big fruitiness at the start is reined in by a soft bitter close.  It's very zesty and spicy (yes, I know Ruben used those words in his review too, but he's a copycat with a time machine).  More creamy than buttery.  To be more specific about the fruit-to-bitter development: it goes from tropical fruit juice to lemon candies to tropical fruit Skittles to flower blossoms to dark chocolate to coffee.  A very effervescent finish, mint leaves and menthol.  Crème fraîche and mocha.  Fruity candies too.

A very pleasant nose leads to a zippy palate which leads to an enormous finish.  40+ minutes of that effervescent glow.  I like this a lot.  And now I'm 3 for 3 with old Inchgowers, with this being the best of the three.  And yes, this 36 year old single cask whisky was 75GBP (62GBP, ex-VAT) three years ago.  Seriously.  The 15 year old Balvenie is more expensive than that now.  It's unnecessary for me to say that this single cask sold out a long time ago, so my condolences if, like me, you wish you had a bottle.

Availability - Not
Pricing - £74.95 with VAT, sigh
Rating - 91

Meeting at The Morgan, starring The Coopered Tot

Last Friday I had the honor of meeting one of my great whisky friends, Joshua Feldman of The Coopered Tot.  It wasn't just a "Hey, how are you doing?" meeting (though it was that as well), but a meeting inside a lovely museum.  With a lot of whisk(e)y.

Josh was a tremendous host, guiding Kristen and I through the museum as well as his beverage selection.  The Morgan Library is a great little museum on Madison and 36th in Manhattan.  Formerly the home of JP Morgan and his son JP (Jack) Morgan, the museum displays the Morgan's tremendous library, great architecture, elaborate frescos, as well as the art pieces Jack did not sell off.  I also found myself unexpectedly drawn to ancient seals.

Not these:

These:

(source)

The intricate detail the artisans were able achieve three to five thousand years ago gave this contemporary viewer a moment of considerable reflection.  Some of these small cylindrical etchings revealed action sequences like the one above, while some were dramatically spare and subtly honed, like a later period seal of a single bull pausing on a flat plane.  The level of precision, texture, and space scratched into these tiny pieces made those people from halfway around the world and thousands of years previous feel very close and very present.  May we all leave something behind to remind our ancestors that we were once human as well.

And then there was the drinking.

Here's Mr. Feldman:

Here's one of his guests:

Actually my pose was a ruse.  I barely got any notes down because we had such a great time discussing all things malty; such a great time that I probably made him significantly late for his trip out to his kids' summer camp.  Sorry, Josh!

Here's the liquor lineup:

Balcones Texas Single Malt (Batch 12-4) - Really good! It's very young, very crafty, but delicious.  Chip Tate is doing something right out there.  The whiskey is intensely expressive like a barrel strength rye or high-rye bourbon...yet very malty.  Lots of citric fruits, massive waves of vanilla beans, gingerbread cookies, and deep boozy spices.  And heck, Kristen liked it too.

Hudson Manhattan Rye - Also better than I expected, but it's almost quaint next to the Balcones Malt.  Some good dusty spices sitting on a rye bread base.  Pity about the price, though.

Wemyss Malt "The Dunes" Inchgower 29yr - As Josh has discovered, this one can be divisive in the intensity of its character.  Think citric clay, big bursts of floral fruits, menthol, and flowery perfume (but NOT f.w.p.).  I like Inchgower and found this one zesty and bright.

Yoichi 15yr Japanese Single Malt - Fantastic!!! Think Laphroaig without the peat blast, which is a hell of a feat. Gorgeous iodine and seaweed float on a nutty soft malt. Its price is a bit steep for me, but I need to figure how to make it happen.

Brenne French Single Malt (cask 262) - White chocolate, orange peel, saltwater taffy, cardamom. Both K and I liked this one a lot.  It would be nice as an aperitif, but also maybe as a mellow digestif. When trying this, drop your preconceived notions of what single malt should taste like and let yourself float down Brenne's silky creamy stream.

Pine Barrens Single Malt - Josh had me try it out just to see my reaction.  It's so weird but not fun weird.  Somehow both coniferous and chemical.  Pine cones and bug repellant.

Blair Athol 12yr Provenance - Sturdy solid malt. Soft on the oak. Very easy drinking at 46% ABV. Or maybe it was just so pleasant after the Pine Barrens. The Tot says this is the best of the recent 200mL Provenance releases.

Glen Grant 37yr 1972 Duncan Taylor - I think I've found my sherry tolerance point: very old refill sherry malts. I jest, but I don't. Almost all of the old refill sherry matured whisky I've tried has displayed a perfect merging of the wine and malt to the point where it is difficult to find where one ends and the other begins. This is another excellent example and it is dangerously consumable at cask strength.  So, more 1970s whisky for me!

Port Ellen 1982 23yr Provenance (sherry cask) - Oh yeah. Four for four on Port Ellens. PE is the best petrol you will ever drink. Seriously, think Islay boat docks: gasoline fumes, seaweed, salt, smoke from the village chimneys. Plus this one drops a spent matchstick into the mix. Yeah, Murray would flip his lid over that sulfur note, but he can keep his lid flipped, I love this stuff.

Balcones Brimstone - If the Brimstone is on the tasting list, it must bring up the rear.  Big, intense barbecue, mesquite, bonfire notes.  Kristen found a brisket note in it as well.  It's a large, singular experience.  Very Texas.

Josh is a warm brilliant guy and a terrific generous host.  It's a pity we're on opposite coasts, because I could foresee us causing some whisky trouble around New York.

Thank you, Josh, for all your kind words, shared knowledge, and welcoming whiskies.  You have been one of the most important members of the whisky blogging world since the first day you entered it, not only being a great whisky guide, but also by bringing people together both online and off.  When the time is right, we all look forward to the return of The Coopered Tot!

Single Malt Report: Inchgower 29 year old 1982 Single Cask (Master of Malt)

Distillery: Inchgower
Owner: Diageo

Independent Bottler: Master of Malt

Age: 29 years (June 1982 - November 2011)

Maturation: refill bourbon hogshead

Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Alcohol by Volume: 53.9%
Limited Release: 190 bottles

We go from Tuesday's 4-year-old to Friday's 29-year-old.  From Irish to Scotch.  Single Malt to Single Malt.  Indie bottler to Indie bottler.

Though these two malts are entirely different, they both brought a unique flavor and nose that took some time to figure out.  Unfortunately, though I had an entire 750mL of Trader Joe's Irish Single Malt, I only had 30mL of this Inchgower to mull over.  Thanks to its mysterious notes and advanced age, I enjoyed a very slow whisky experience.

Looking back, I'm not entirely sure why I bought this sample.  It may have been because I knew nothing about the distillery and had never seen a bottling of it.  Or it may have been because it was one of the cheapest old whisky samples they were selling.  Its affordability was likely due to the fact that the seller and the bottler are the same company: Master of Malt.

Inchgower is a mid-sized distillery (and apparently a beautiful one) whose malt goes entirely into blends -- mostly Bell's but also some Johnnie Walker and White Horse.  Diageo briefly released the single malt as a 14-year Flora & Fauna bottling, then again as two different limited Rare Malts at 22 and 27 years of age.  It also appears as if Diageo doesn't sell many Inchgower casks off to other bottlers.  There are one or two Connoisseur's Choice bottlings floating around out there right now, but that's about it.  So this was a rare chance to try a malt that's normally created just for blends.

So here's what I found after sitting with this dram for over an hour:

NEAT
Color - Trumpet brass
Nose - Blueberry pie!, nice dry oak, raspberry bars, sweet balsamic reduction, apple juice, curried maple syrup
Texture - Very thick
Palate - Smoked sugar cookies, salted caramel tart, touch of milk chocolate, dry cheese, smoky cocoa
Finish - Pleasant sweet maltiness gets sweeter, apples, more of the fruit pie thing, and also more of the smoky cocoa

WITH WATER (6 drops) and a shortbread cookie on the side!
Nose - Apple juice, oak vanillins, barley, more sugar develops, ethyl has awakened, Fig Newtons, curried maple syrup, a feminine mustiness (I'll leave it at that)
Palate - light peat smoke and pungent (possibly smoked?) dried tropical fruit, musty, a little salt, dry cheese
Finish - more of that smoke and fruit, mildly sugary, a hint of the fruit pie element

The blueberry pie and raspberry bar notes were unusual.  That note isn't strong but it's always there in the background.  The mystery notes I could only describe as curried maple syrup and smoky cocoa.  Unique (in my brief experience) but enjoyable.  It was also priced very well for a single cask bottle at its age.

Here's where it gets crappy.  It's sold out!  That one and the 36-year they'd bottled.  :(  I hope Master of Malt can get pry another cask of Inchgower from the corporate claws of Diageo.  This malt needs to be experienced.

Availability - Master of Malt only, but sold out

Pricing - Was only 70GBP plus int'l shipping

Rating - 85