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

The Whisky Tasting Process. Part 2, The Experience

Yesterday, I typed about the various whisky-tasting settings I've experienced.  Today, I'll dig into how I actually come up with the nosing/tasting notes for the Single Malt Reports.

As mentioned in the previous post: the more people + the busier the environment + the more sensory distractions = more difficult situation for tasting notes.  That's not a bad thing.  It allows me to enjoy some whisky, hang out with fellow anoraks, and eat some snacks.  And, you know, crawl out of my cave.

But sometimes, I'm able to get enough notes together from external events and tastings to assemble some reports.  In those cases, I tend to follow my own practices (described later in this post) and kind of disregard what I'm told to do.  Because I'm a rebel Because whisky takes time and whisky tasting takes time.  That necessary time is not always allowed for at organized events.  But when I can create that space, I jot down my notes in extreme shorthand on my phone and then re-interpret them the next day into full thoughts in my whisky journal.

The good news about many events and organized tastings is that they often provide good nosing glassware.  Bars do not.

I try to do reports from whiskies I try at bars, but only if I can find something other than a tumbler to put the whisky in.  A tequila glass, a brandy snifter, a tulip shaped wine glass.  A glass with a bulbous bottom that curves up and into a narrow rim directs the aromas and flavors to the nose and mouth, not letting them float out in all directions like a tumbler.  That's why some whisky fans like the Glencairn glasses:

Bars, even major whisky bars, don't have 'em.  Thus I keep an eye out for anything snifter-like.  When it comes to whisky glass, think flower bud not flower blossom.

At home, I have the glasses.  At home, I can control the distractions.  At home, I can focus best on the whisky at hand.  At home, I can produce a full report.

---

TASTING AT HOME

First off, the whisky pours:

Most of my reports come from whisky samples or minis that I've purchased.  The samples (often from Master of Malt) are 30mL in size.  That's approximately 1 fluid ounce.  It's less than the good ol' American shot (1.5 fl oz).  In the picture above, that's the size of the 30mL pour.

Sometimes I have 50mL minis.  They're about 1.6 fluid ounces, which allows for more tasting and nosing.  And then sometimes I have a 700-750mL bottle (yay!), which allows for more time, more thought, more tastings.

The best way to suss out the details of a whisky (for me) is to do a Taste Off.  A Taste Off is simply a tasting organized around two or more related spirits.  They can be from the same distillery (Ardbeg), have a similar finish (Sauternes), or be of a similar spirit (single grains).  Comparing and contrasting allows for the subtleties and nuances of each pour to reveal themselves.

And it's really fun.  Which is mostly the point.  Lining these guys up and going back and forth through them makes for the best malt moments.  (Apologies to two Malt Maniacs for stealing their favored terminology.)  It's a bit of a multi-dimensional whisky voyage and always results in better notes.

For all tastings, I actually aim for a 1 fluid ounce pour.  If I'm doing a Taste Off from different sized whisky sources, I still do the 1 fluid ounce pour.  This isn't a lot of whisky so divining thorough notes gets quite challenging.  In fact, if I have a stuffy nose or if there's too much distraction, then I don't even start, saving the tasting for another time.

I don't think Don is enjoying his whisky.
That's because he's using a flat-sided tumbler

Next, the time:

I mentioned earlier that "whisky takes time and whisky tasting takes time."  The booze itself has sat in oak for years.  Time allows for different chemical interactions between the spirit and the cask.  More time in the barrel often results in a more complex liquid.  So, whisky changes.

Many of the Malt Maniacs believe that it also changes in the bottle, though much more subtly than wine.  No seal is perfect, thus oxygen creeps through over the years.  Sometimes the bottle fill decreases over the decades as spirit continues to be lost to the angels.

Once that bottle is open, oxygen has easier path.  Thus the whisky will change once I bust into my latest new bottle.  The first sips will not taste exactly like the bottle's final pour.  The more time between the first and last drams, the more change.  The lower the whisky level within the bottle, the more oxygen gets in, oxidizing the odor and flavor compounds.

Most abruptly though, the whisky will change in the whisky glass once its poured.  It's now out there naked to the world.  But that's okay, in fact it's great!  When you see long lists of descriptors in people's tasting notes, it's because they've taken their time with their drink and documented the liquid's evolution.

So, I pour then wait.  I agree with Ralfy's theory of 1 minute per year of whisky age.  30 minutes for a 30-year, etc.  Even with the young ones, I'll wait at least 15 minutes before starting to nose it.

I pour it and put on a whisky yarmulke or whiskippah!

This allows the aromas to build up inside the glass.  I don't want to let them escape.  Sometimes, with boozy booze, the alcohol steams up the sides.

When the wait has expired, it's sniffin' time.

Sniffin':

I don't have a particularly good nose, but it's a heck of a lot better than my tastebuds.  In fact, we all have a better olfactory sense than taste sense.  Its range is much more vast.  (Here's a wikuhpeedeeuh link on olfaction.)

I spend a lot of time smelling the whisky.  First some distance from the glass, then gradually closer.  I don't dip my nose right in because the alcohol can burn and numb the olfactory bulb, essentially crippling the experience for the rest of the night.

Again, I take my time with this.  Everything isn't revealed all at once.  I usually don't taste it until I've figured out some of the nose.

Tasting:

Because it's just a one ounce pour, gotta take little sips.  Enough to cover all of the taste buds.  I tend to think the longer its in there, the better.

To make it not sexually graphic at all, the longer you stay at it before finishing off, the better it is.

Anyway, back to whisky.  Often the first thing that I find is sweetness, everything else hits later.  I enjoy the finish a lot because I can ponder it a bit.

I keep nosing and tasting -- taking my time -- until I'm about halfway through.

Water:

At this point, I decide if I'm going to add water.  If the whisky is amazing as is, I may choose to let it go undisturbed.  But most of the time, I add a little water.

Because I'm a nerd, I actually use a scale and calculator to figure out the ABV% I'm creating with the added water.  If it's a high ABV whisky, then I try to get it down to 40-43%.  If it has a lower ABV to start with, I'll drop it a little below 35%.  It takes so little water to get it to this point, so it's added with caution.

I use either filtered water or spring water.  The fewer additives in the agua, the better.

I give the newly-hydrated whisky a swirl, then give it 5-10 minutes to sit.  Then I give it another swirl and commence smelling and sipping.

Descriptors:

Some people take issue with overly flowery tasting notes.  Some people seem to delight in going over the top.  I write what I experience.  Sometimes it's brown sugar, sometimes it's childhood memories.  I don't tone it down or ramp it up for anyone.

I won't even tone it down for the kitten's sake.
Okay, maybe for the kitten.
(Source)

Other stuff:

Before I nose the whisky, I do an olfaction exercise that Adam Carmer of The Whisky Attic taught me. He's awesome, the method is unusual but it totally works, and it's copyrighted.  You can Google around for more info, but I won't spill the method out of respect to a great guy and his successful business.  He's doing a book on it right now, so I hope it gets published soon!

I recommend finding a white background and some excellent lighting when determining the color of whisky.  But sometimes, it just looks gold.  And that's okay.

I use moleskine journals and black ink for my notes.  When I first started, last year, the handwriting was neat and careful.  Now, it's sloppy.  Part of it has to do with the inky pens.  But mostly, I have to slow down.  I may take an hour to taste two whiskies, but I rush through documenting the process and it's my loss.

I have heard that the taste buds are at their peak first thing in the morning.  While I would love to do a Taste Off at 8am, I'll save that for a special occasion.  For now, I prefer to do my tastings before dinner.  If I do it after dinner, I'll wait an hour or two after the meal.

Since I always enjoy process and historical context, I study up on the distillery and/or bottler before the tasting.  BUT I do not read anyone else's tasting notes, especially the official ones, beforehand.  I don't want that sort of context to influence my experience.

Ultimately, when I'm doing a tasting at home, I make sure to take my time and not rush a good thing.  That's what's most important to me.

For some excellent nosing and tasting tips, check out Whisky Magazine's (free) thorough seven-part nosing course.  If you're a Ralfy fan, the Manxman dishes out an awesome (free) seven-part video tasting masterclass.

The Whisky Tasting Process. Part 1, The Setting

Two months back, Jordan at Chemistry of the Cocktail posted a great piece on his spirits tasting methods.  It got me thinking about my own whisky tasting system.  I am a man of rituals, but most of them become involuntary once I discover how well they suit me.  So I wanted to step back and document how I experience my whiskies.

This isn't meant to be a How-To, but rather How-I-Do.  If anyone has thoughts about his or her processes, please feel free to share.  We may do things differently in the macro sense, yet have similarities in amongst the minutiae OR we may end up doing the same thing while taking different routes to get there.

In Part 1, I'll walk through the various drinking environs that I've experienced.  The milieus, if we're feeling nerdy.  (Also, please pardon the constant pronoun switcheroos.)


WHISKY PARTY or WHISKY SPECTACULAR
(Whiskyfest, Peetin' Meetin', Whisky Live, etc.)

Sounds great right?  It is.  At a price.

A festival provides the opportunity to try a dozen (or dozens!) of whiskies you haven't yet experienced.   There's food and water (both important), 100+ people, social time, brand ambassadors, distributor reps, and free swag.

The financial requirement begins with the tickets.  Often there are two types, regular and VIP (which gives you fancier booze and more time with industry folks).  The prices can range from $75 to $500.  You also must factor in travel and transport expenses.  If it's out of town, then you'll need a place to stay.  If it's in town, you'll need to get there and back, safely.

This can get expensive.  BUT there's so much whisky!  So you need to figure out the personal value of the experience (and the fab liquor) and see if the financial requirement is appropriate.

Because I'm on a limited budget, I tend to eye the well-regarded lower cost festivals.  I also take into account that at a certain point I'm probably not going to appreciate the multitude of whiskies by Hour Three or Hour Four.  Will I really be able to discern if the fifteenth sample was better than the sixteenth?  No.

Thus, I try to develop a plan beforehand.  If the event lists the whiskies present, that's even better.  I don't always go after the most expensive bottlings, instead I sometimes prioritize the whiskies that I've always wanted to try or always wanted to buy.  I have strong irrational bouts of window-shopping-whisky-lust, but I almost never buy blind.  So a festival gives me a chance to bring my crazy whisky dreams to reality and suss out if they're worth the lust.  Often, they're not.  And I save money as well as valuable Whisky Cabinet space.

I never do Single Malt Reports from festival tastings.  I quickly jot down some notes on my phone's notepad app, but that's it.  The events provide too much sensory distraction to really dig into the drink.  There's noise and smells and food and people -- usually all good things, so I enjoy them and leave the liquor analysis for another setting.


BRAND-SPONSORED FREE TASTINGS
(Raise the Macallan, JW Striding Man Society, etc.)

The atmosphere for these can vary.  I went to a Johnnie Walker Black event that was structured like a corporate event at a hotel.  Then there was a Raise the Macallan in a nightclub with thumping dance music and bright lights.

The brands are there to sell their products to you, but it's free and the booze is carefully limited.  I recommend these mostly for the free drinks and to get a kick out of what they're willing to do to deliver the hard sell.

I don't do Single Malt Reports from these events either.  Aside from all of the distractions, the brands tend to push through their products very quickly.  While it's nice to compare items within a product line, a whisky needs time in the glass.  Especially older whiskies.  Thus I prefer to talk to folks and enjoy the free whisky without thinking too much about it.


BRAND-FOCUSED EVENTS
(Bowmore on a Boat, etc.)

These are similar to the previous setting, but are not free.  The brand ambassador will walk the attendees through the product line in a smaller, sometimes swankier event space.  I actually like some of these events more than the free ones because the attendance is smaller and those that do attend actually enjoy whisky.  The attendees have plenty more opportunities to talk to the brand ambassador.  Most of these guys/gals really know their stuff and are great to chat up.  Plus the pours flow more liberally.

Because I have a little more control over the spacing between the drinks (and the amount!), I try to do a Report or two from the event.  This is another case of me typing wildly on my phone or scribbling on a small notepad.  But if the notes distract from experience, then I put them aside.


SOCIAL EVENTS
(LA Scotch Club, OC Scotch Club, etc.)

As you may notice, the setting audience gets smaller as we go.

Whisky clubs are a great way to meet fellow anoraks and to puzzle over drinks.  A good event will take place in a relatively quiet public place, like a bar or restaurant, and have a series of related whiskies for comparison.  This can cost anywhere from $10 to $50, depending on the bottle prices.

To me, this is still a difficult atmosphere to do a Report well.  I want to be social and meet folks, and I am of the opinion that continually looking down and typing on my phone during a conversation is rude.  I know that opinion isn't as common as it used to be, but I'm sticking to it.


BARS AND RESTAURANTS

Unless you know something I don't, this is a paid experience.

You buy your whisky, you sit with it, spend as much time as you'd like with it.  There's still a social scene here, but (unless you're a hottie) it's one that you can control.  There's always the challenge of a multitude of other scents: bathrooms, buffalo chicken wings, garlic mashed potatoes.  Garlic mashed potatoes.  Garlic mashed potatoes.

Garlic mashed potatoes.

Sorry, got lost there for a moment.  Another prevalent obstruction is inconvenient glassware.  Tumblers are amongst the worst vessels to appreciate liquor.  So often one has to snoop around the available glasses and request the most bud-shaped glass available.  (I'll talk more about glassware in Part 2.)

If I can get a decent glass, then I'll do a full Report.  It's a fun (sorta exhibitionist-ly) public act of nerdry.  I even bust out the official Whisky Journal and a tiny pen.


PRIVATE TASTING

An expert sits down with you (and friends/family if you so choose) and walks you through a selection of similar whiskies.  These could be grouped by distillery, region, palate, nose, bottler, or price range.

These can also get a bit pricey, but if you have the time and cash, it's a great way to explore the whisky universe with someone who knows a lot more than you.  Sort of a whisky consultancy.

I've been to only one of these and it was AWESOME.  I recommend writing everything down, because after some hours and some cask strength experiences, things become difficult to sort out.


THE SLOW-WHISKY EXPERIENCE
(inspired by this blog post)

You sit at home with a glass of whisky and give it time and full attention.  You make sure no one's cooking with onions or garlic or curry.  Maybe you throw on some mellow tunes.  You don't necessarily need to shut the door or close out your loved ones, but a lack of serious conversation is important.  Halt the rush of information.

In general, how often do you give yourself that moment of calm?  Not all sensory response is instant.  There's always more to be seen and heard and smelled and tasted and felt with time, with lucidity.

You can choose to go without the music.  Sink into something more quiet.  Allow yourself zen.

In stillness comes clarity.

This isn't whisky yoga, it's more of an appreciation of one's being and the existence of the amazing bit of alchemy held in the glass.

To me, this is the best way to unlock a whisky.  I may refer to my Taste Offs as exciting events, but they happen in quiet and with a considerable amount of time.  I actually have to schedule them ahead of time to make sure that everything is set.

Now I don't often get those moments right, but when I do I find elements within a whisky that I've previously missed.

I'll expand upon the technical steps in my individual tasting process in Part 2, The Experience.

Single Malt Report: Trader Joe's Irish Single Malt

When we lived in Maryland, I was disappointed to discover that their Trader Joe's (TJ's) grocers were not allowed to sell alcohol.  It was difficult to describe to Marylanders how agreeable TJ's booze pricing can be.  And I am not talking about Two Buck Chuck.  That doesn't count.

Now I'm back in Cali.  And TJ's now has a well-chosen selection of whiskies -- Dalwhinnie 15, Balvenie Doublewood, Glenfiddich 12 & 15, Macallan 10 Fine Oak, Laphroaig 10, etc.  They also have their own label of Scotch whisky, though the quality of those have been mixed at best.

This year, much to my (and many others') surprise, a Trader Joe's Irish Single Malt suddenly appeared on the shelves.  Somehow TJ's had successfully contracted with Cooley Distillery to bottle some of their 4-year-old juice under the store's label.  At a price of $19.99.

New whisky at that price is difficult to pass up.  In LA, $19.99 is less than two glasses of mid-shelf booze at a bar.  For a whole bottle of something new, an IRISH single malt no less...

It's half full!

Label: Trader Joes

Distillery: Cooley
Type: Single Malt
Region: Ireland (Louth)

Age: minimum 4 years

Maturation: "single use bourbon oak casks"

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

It was a bold move by TJ's to go with an Irish single malt, something not very familiar with the average drinker in The States.  And I use the word "was" because now that Beam Inc has taken over Cooley and announced that most of their independent contracts will not be renewed, we may not see this whiskey for much longer.

It's also a bold choice because the nose and palate of this whiskey is quite different than the usual Irish blend or Scotch single malt.  It's sorta its own soup.

Sku and the guys at L.A.W.S. gave this decent reviews.  And I'm going to agree with Sku, though the bottle says this is only matured in bourbon casks, there is undoubtedly sherry stuff in here.

At first sips, this one was a puzzler.  I couldn't get my mind around it.  But with some oxygen and time, it has improved and I've had better luck cracking the malt.

NEAT
Color - light amber
Nose - sandy and/or dusty, teeny bit of smoke, smoky butter?, old notebook paper, winey tannins, hints of a sweet sherry and dried fruit
Palate - lots of cocoa, cloves, sweet malt, oak tannins, very drying
Finish - still very drying, mildly flat, cocoa

WITH WATER (near 33%ABV)
Nose - gets sugarier, some coconut oak stuff, starts to sniff more like a good blend
Palate - less cocoa but more vanilla, a little smoke, very oily and silky texture, still quite drying
Finish - goes weird here, a brief bitter vegetal vanilla puff

Though I don't recommend adding a few drips of water, this whiskey actually makes for a pretty good highball as the club soda brings out the palate's sweetness.

To be honest, I haven't been the biggest fan of Cooley's Irish single malts.  I do like the Knappogue Castle 12yr and the Tyrconnell finishes, but their Connemara bottlings and indie spinoffs have underwhelmed me.  This one sits somewhere in the middle.

On one hand: I won't go back for a second bottle of this TJ's malt.  It makes me yearn for Irish single pot stills.

On the other hand:  Some people are enjoying it quite a bit.  If you like the Cooley malts, then this may be your jam.  And at the price, it's a rarity and not much of a risk.

Availability - Trader Joe's
Pricing - $19.99
Rating - 75

The Monday after Peetin' Meetin'

The LA Scotch Club's annual Peetin' Meetin' commenced this past Saturday.  I was present and am still in one solid piece.  There was great PEATED barbecue, rockin' live tunes by the Brick Top Blaggers, cocktails mixed by the Seven Grand bartenders, sunshine, spring water, and large quantities of phenolic restorative.

Because many of the 80-100 bottles are of cask strength, the opportunity to get dangerously drunk is ever-present at the fest, but all 130+ attendees were quite responsible with their intake.  That's not to say that any of us were sober at the end, but it was nice to see folks enjoying the evening without getting stupid.  Whisky is meant to be consumed, not vomited up.

I will attend again next year.  I encourage you to do so as well.

Here's that pic I posted on Saturday:

I'm pretty sure there were a few additional bottles, but it was pretty difficult to tell once the fun had begun.  Independent bottlings of Laphroaig were everywhere, actually there were tons of indies around which always makes Thekrav a happy boy.  Diageo, Ardbeg, and Duncan Taylor were there, pouring their goods.  The only bottling that I wanted to try but missed out on was the Octomore 2/140.  That went very very quickly.  And, apparently there was a 27yr Caol Ila from Duncan Taylor that was enjoyed with alacrity before I found the empty bottle.

But I don't regret a damned thing from that night.  I tried 13 whiskies, received a shirt and a dram glass, sang along to "The Wild Rover", met some great people, and departed the ceremony on my own two feet.  THANK YOU again to Kristen for providing transportation.

---

Here are my actual Peatin' Meetin' notes from my phone, only edited to fix damn-you-auto-correct, with post-Meetin' comments in italics.

Ardbeg Supernova 58.9%ABV - like the Ten but freaking enormous; salt, seaweed, black peat smoke on the nose; brown sugar with lemon zest and the peat hammer in the palate and finish.
Folks didn't seem to realize that this extremely scarce (in the US) bottling was there for the drinking, so I went back for two passes.  It felt like the Ten on 'roids, in a good way.  I would still choose Uigeadail and Corryvreckan over it.

Clear Creek McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt - young but calm, almost sleepy; forgot about it already; come on America!
I really want to like this three-year-old malt from Portland.  It's a from a small family business that imports peated Islay barley, then distills it and casks it in Oregon oak.  But maybe it just couldn't stand up next to the Supernova leviathan.  I understand that the aged spirits business is a tough one, but I wonder what the whiskey would be like if it had eight years in oak?  I'm willing to give this another try on its own someday.

SMWS 127.13 (Port Charlotte 8yrs) 65.7%ABV - medium-peat, hot, industrial tar and sap and smoke followed by a bright fruit explosion
A muscular crazy PC that would have benefitted from some added water.  Bruichladdich really has their peated spirit in good shape.

Longrow 14yr - farmyardy sooty on the nose, salted, smooth peat, i luv longrow
I do.  I love Longrow.  It can hold serve with the Islay monsters, but has a character all its own.  Serge V. found coal stoves and wet dogs in the nose; that I can understand.  On a side note, these aged Longrows are 30-40% cheaper in the UK and that's INCLUDING international shipping.

Lagavulin 16yr - cinammon brown sugar cognac sugared peat vanilla cake rubber tarry on the nose, smoke stronger on palate with some bright spices like clove, nice bitterness, soft texture, a little vegetal after some time, it's a little different every time I drink it
Lagavulin 16 is getting more mysterious each time I try it.  It's always enjoyable, but constantly reveals different palates with each tasting.  There were moments when the palate felt similar to Ardbeg, but that may have been a sensory hiccup.

Lagavulin 12yr 2009 release; 57.9%ABV - mint on palate, bourbon oak on nose, lots of oak but also lots of malt, lots of lots; vegetal peat, wood ashes, brown sugared peat, seaweed and coast on palate and finish
I really liked this one.  It had a significantly stronger ABV than the 16yr, but also had a more lively spirit.  A million miles from the welcoming soothing character of the 16, this whisky wants to pick a fight.

Caol Ila distillers edition (I think 2010) - a lot of people liked this one, i didn't; weird bitterness in the smoked finish, an odd sweetie otherwise
A Moscatel finish.  My nose and palate seem to reject most non-sherry wine finishes, including this one.  My opinion is probably not to be trusted on this whisky.

Caol Ila 12yr - toffee and peat on the palate, honey and apple juice but also a little gaseous on the nose, very drying but short finish
I dumped half of this sample into the grass, I'LL ADMIT IT NOW!  It wasn't bad, but it really can't dance next to the Lagavulins.

Ardmore 19yr 1992 Whisky Doris 49.6%ABV - **WINNER** - loveliest nose of the night: flower blossoms and citrus punch with oaky red starburst candy; palate starts mild then goes to a fruit tart, boozy ladyfingers, the fruit explosion lasts through the finish: oranges & peaches
I'm considering buying this one if I can pull together the cash.  I nosed this Ardmore for 20-25 minutes before sipping.  I went back for a second round just to try to figure out how to describe it.  Probably one of the best noses I've ever experienced.  But it was also my ninth whisky of the night.

Stellar phone photography courtesy of Me

SMWS 127.19 (Port Charlotte 9yr) - 66%ABV thus hot and spicy, also peat
Holy moley, this was a heater.  I don't even understand how they're delivering a 66%ABV liquid after nine years in a Scottish climate.  Heading into George T. Stagg territory with that ethyl.  This needs serious water to flush out its mysteries.

The Corryvreckan - because
it was there

Penderyn Peated Welsh Single Malt - piney, bland peat felt added, a pipsqueak next to The Corry and PCs.
Also had this alongside my second Ardmore pour.  I'm rooting for Welsh whisky, but I would actually trust their wine finishes over this.  Or maybe even their regular malt.

Brora 1972-1993 G&M's Connoisseur's Choice - @40% ABV insanely drinkable, peat beautifully integrated w/ the rest, all malt almost no oak, but a bit weak
This one...well...I wasn't supposed to have this one as it was only for members (though I'll be one soon). But I had it anyway. I will break rules for a Brora. Gordon & Macphail just updated their Connoisseur's Choice line so that it'll be 46%ABV and unchillfiltered going forward. Had this one been 46% and UCF, it would have easily made my all time top five. Alas it was stretched thin at 40%. Will I ever have another Brora opportunity? I hope so!

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Because an event like this isn't the best atmosphere for full Single Malt Reports and ratings -- peat smoke, barbecue and food scents, cigars, cigarettes, fresh air!, and, you know, socializing.  But if I were to rank these, not including The Corryvreckan:

Ardmore 19yr 1992 Whisky Doris
Lagavulin 12yr 2009
Longrow 14yr
Lagavulin 16yr
Brora 1972-1993 G&M
Ardbeg Supernova
SMWS 127.13 (Port Charlotte 8yr)
SMWS 127.19 (Port Charlotte 9yr)
Caol Ila 12yr
McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt
Caol Ila distillers edition
Penderyn Peated

Yes, the Brora finished 5th out of 12.  Perhaps it was the 40% ABV, the chillfiltering, and almost twenty years in the bottle, but it felt like I was getting only a hint of the Brora spirit's greatness.

Otherwise, had I the $$$, I would purchase any of the top four.  If the planets align, I'd like to do proper reports at least six of the whiskies.  We'll see what the next year brings.

Happy Monday!

Peetin' Meetin' tonight

This appears to be what I am up against tonight.  Well, I and others.  A few others...

If you're looking for me, I'll be the guy passed out inside a bottle of Longrow.

Friday Ramblings

Let's lead with the happy.  My favorite Got Milk commercial.



Dogs and peanut butter.  Call me a simple man, but that's enough to keep me watching this commercial repeatedly, twelve years later.

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The Yankees traded for Ichiro Suzuki in one of the better WTF? transactions of recent memory.  Upon hearing the news, I immediately Facebooked that I was now going to watch a whole lot of baseball for the rest of the season.  The next day, Alex Rodriguez broke his hand and now I'm going to go back to not obsessively following baseball.  24 hours of intense fandom, over.

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Mark Gillespie of Whiskycast wrote a good clear commentary on the Bruichladdich/Remy deal.

After reading it, yesterday, I came to a realization: The financial windfall for the distillery employees (who have been working their asses off for ten years for probably lower up-front pay) and their families is considerably more important to me as a human being, than a whisky brand losing its "independent" label.

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Happy 10th birthday to Whiskyfun!  Serge writes my favorite whisky reviews, so I hope this is the first decade of many.

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Jordan at Chemistry of the Cocktail just published an excellent post on the rising prices of the non-chillfitered higher-ABV single malts.

The rising single malt prices are beginning to aggravate me.  More to follow soon, as my full complaint is still in development status...

Happy Friday!