Single Malt Report: The Longrow Taste Off! (Part 1)

When The Springbank Distillery began double-distilling the highly peated (approx 50-55ppm) Longrow malt in the early 1970s, the goal was to demonstrate that one doesn't need to be located in Islay in order to make an Islay-style malt.  Forty years later, the Longrow malt is still going strong.  The quality of the product proves its success.  I'm biased though (I've raved about Longrow here, here, and here) as I'm a sincere Longrow nut.

I had been daydreaming about doing a Longrow Taste Off for well over a year until I decided put those dreams into action.  As you can see below, I assembled the troops from multiple sources:

Firstly, we have the dregs of my bottle of Longrow CV.  Yes, look at that delicious sediment at the bottom of this unfiltered whisky.

I included Longrow CV as the point of reference. As I've gotten pretty familiar with the CV, it was present as something to compare the others to.

Secondly, we have Longrow 14 year old Sherry Finish, courtesy of a Master of Malt dram.  I feel lukewarm at best about sherry finishes, but I'm always willing to keep an open mind.

I went with those two first, as they were lightweights of the tasting.  You know you have a good taste off when the lightest whisky weighs in at 46% ABV.

Thirdly, the Longrow 10 year 100 proof (that's UK proof, so it's 57.1% ABV), via Master of Malt.

Fourthly, the wild card: Longrow 14yr Burgundy Wood.  This was among my first samples ordered from Whiskysamples.eu.

Going into this experience, I had the following expectations:
1.)  I was most excited about the 10yr 100proof.  I not only expected it to be the best, but I was willing to buy a bottle of it blind from Europe.  But I remained patient.
2.)  I had mixed feelings about the Burgundy Wood, expecting the wine to smother the Longrow spirit.
3.)  Sherry finish: Meh?

In this post, I will cover the CV and the 14yr Sherry Finish.  In the next post, I'll report on the 10yr 100proof and the 14yr Burgundy Wood, along with some final thoughts.

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Random trivia: You'll often read that this Islay-style malt was named Longrow after one of the many fallen Campbeltown distilleries. But, curiously, in "Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom", Alfred Barnard reports on a Longrow Distillery within Campbeltown AND a Campbeltown Distillery in the Longrow center of the Campbeltown township. Thus a Longrow Distillery in Campbeltown and a Campbeltown Distillery in Longrow. Both were among the smallest of the Campbeltown distilleries, with Campbeltown Distillery (60,000 gallons) having a higher output than Longrow Distillery (40,000 gallons).

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LONGROW CV

Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Longrow

Ages: between 6 and 14 years

Maturation: sherry, port, bourbon, and rum casks

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Bottled: 2011

(As per Whiskynotes.be: "6 years old whisky from bourbon casks, 10 years old from port and rum casks, and 14 years old from sherry casks")

NEAT:
Color -- Cloudy gold
Nose -- Lemon rind, tangerine juice, young spirit, apple juice, fruit tart (sugar glaze and all), and peated vanilla custard
Palate -- Honeyed rummed peat smoke with brown sugar
Finish -- Sweet ex-bourbon oak, then toasted wheat bread and long lingering smoke

WITH WATER:
Nose --- The port pipes come out to dance with the lemons, lots of moss
Palate -- Very thick texture, lovely solid volley of brown sugar + cereals + wood smoke + tapioca
Finish -- Peat smoke, vanilla, and simple syrup

The notes here are brief as I'd intended this one only as a point of reference, so I poured a very small sample.  Nonetheless, what started out as love at first nose, 15 months ago, has never abated.  Sadly my CV lass has been replaced by a "Longrow Peated" bottling within the official range.  While I will not denounce that new young whisky, I will miss the CV greatly.  I hope to pick up one more bottle before it's gone.

Availability - Rare in the US.  Not prevalent, but still somewhat available in Europe.
Pricing - $50-$60
Rating - 92

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LONGROW 14 YEAR OLD SHERRY FINISH 1997

Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Longrow

Ages: at least 14 years

Maturation: ex-bourbon barrels
Finish: ex-sherry casks (probably second or third fill)

Region: Campbeltown

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

NEAT:
Color -- Light pale gold (must have been a refill sherry cask)
Nose -- Brief sherry note, orange zest, tar, mild peat smoke, pineapple, lemon juice, rotting apples
Palate -- Much softer than the CV, mossy peat, red LifeSavers, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, a floral perfumy note develops after some time.
Finish -- Light lemon sourness, a whisper of peat, pepper, very sweet

WITH WATER:
Nose -- More sherry comes out now, cherry lollipops, candied cranberry sauce, moderate citrus note
Palate -- Simple, sweet, hints of pepper and tobacco
Finish -- Sweet and mild, lots of berries and vanilla

The sherry notes did not intrude, rather they snuck in around the corners.  The former sherry casks, as well the additional time in the ex-bourbon barrels, greatly calmed the peat.  There's another version of the 14 year old in circulation (not sure how the labels differ) that's a vatting of sherry and bourbon cask matured malt, which is what I'd tried at last year's Peatin' Meetin'.  That one was more farmyardy and salty than this one and probably preferred by my palate.  But for a sherry finished whisky, I was much impressed with this version from the Taste Off.  Perhaps the keys are using a refill cask......and having stellar malt to start with.

Availability - Rare in the US.  Not prevalent, but still somewhat available in Europe.
Pricing - $100-$120 in the US.  $75-$95 if placed in a sizable UK order
Rating - 87

K&L Single Cask Whisky tasting with the LA Scotch Club (Part 2)

(link to PART 1)

Let us start Part 2 with a pair of lovelies, sampled neatly.

Distillery: Caperdonich -- no link as it's now defunct :(

Independent Bottler: Sovereign (Douglas Laing)
Sold Exclusively via: K&L Wines

Age: 18 years (1994 - August 2012)

Maturation: ex-bourbon (possibly second fill?)

Region: Speyside (Rothes)

Alcohol by Volume: 58.4%

Caperdonich Distillery was Glen Grant's younger sibling, constructed by Glen Grant's ownership across the street from the older distillery.  In fact, it was known for some time as Glen Grant #2.  A very creative name.

Whisky was experiencing one of its boom phases in the 1890s, and the Grant family wanted to take advantage of that by expanding quickly in 1898.  So up the new distillery went.  Four years later, the boom ended (as *ahem* booms have been known to do) and the baby distillery was shuttered.  Over sixty years later Glenlivet Distillers bought it, spruced it up, and reopened it.  After passing between owners for a few decades, Caperdonich was closed again in 2002, this time permanently.

I'd never tried a Caperdonich before the K&L tasting.  Nor had I previously sampled any Sovereign bottlings, most likely because Sovereign is a label that Douglas Laing only sells outside The States.  (The K&L Davids have done a little trailblazing, bringing in four whiskys from the Sovereign label this year.)  When I arrived at the tasting on Wednesday night, I had no particular favorite but once the event began this one did pique my curiosity the most.

The first taste was a winner.  But as I had a long trip home at the end of the night, I scooped up a 25mL sample to try the next evening:

The color is light urine.  #1 as opposed to #2.  You're sold already, aren't you?
Wow.
Okay, let's start this again.

The color is a pale amber.  It's very herbaceous and vegetal on the nose at the start; some serious anise and pine.  But it also smells sugary and candied.  It's light on the vanilla, though heavier on banana, apples, and pencils.  There's a mossy note, followed by smoked apricots.  It's weird.  I love it.  The palate goes from chocolate to banana to pear to peat cinders.  I also found some perfumy herbs and wood smoke within the ethyl sting.  A hot hot finish.  Enormous in fact.  A big hit of white fruits, black pepper, and peat smoke.  It's actually not that peated but the note is sharp.  There's some cerealy barley couched amongst more of the gin-like herbs.  I think my chest is still warmed by it a half week later.

I'm a fan of the odd stuff.  This one won't appeal to the sweet-tooth nor the sherry-tooth nor the easy-going-tooth(?).  But it will appeal to the weird-tooth.  I've heard it takes to water well, softens it up, but I didn't force it to swim.

Availability - K&L Wines
Pricing - $125.99
Rating - 90

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And then there was the oldie, the show closer, the Glenfarclas 1970.

Distillery: Glenfarclas
Ownership: J&G Grant Ltd.
Sold Exclusively via: K&L Wines
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: 42 years (1970 - September 2012)
Maturation: ex-oloroso sherry cask
Alcohol by Volume: 56.9%

Look at that ABV.  Most 40+ year old whiskys would have alcohol content down in the low forties by that point their lives, the angels having walked away with the rest.  But this particular cask spent much of its life high up in a very warm corner of the warehouse.  As a result it aged a little like some bourbons do, with the water evaporating faster than the alcohol.  This resulted in only 134 bottles coming out of an entire sherry cask.  This is essentially whisky concentrate.

Even with my phone's goofy flash going off, the whisky's color matches the photo.  If you look above and below the label, you can see the black coffee tone.  Upon sniffing the sample at home, I instantly began pondering what it must be like to afford drinking glamorous whisky every day.  The billionaires must get spoiled for taste.  Can they still appreciate the greatness of the sensory experience?  This rich man's whisky has a glorious nose.  A Worcestershire sauce-soaked steak.  A dark rich boozy ice cream.  Brandied Hershey's syrup.  The very insides of an old European oak barrel.  The alcohol still flexes its muscles around moments of orange rind and oceanic salt.  The palate took me by surprise.  It's very salty.  The thick texture holds bitter baking chocolate, unsweetened cranberries, lots of grapes, dried cereals, and cured meats.  It's exceptionally dry and a little metallic.  The finish adheres itself to the tongue.  A duet of sea salt and bitter horseradish, followed by lemon sour candies and coffee grounds.

Those nose is phenomenal.  The palate and finish, though, really didn't do it for me.  I don't mind bitter and citric sour, but when combined with the big salt, metal, and dryness the result can cause a bit of pucker-face.  There's an unrelenting quality to all of its features that's admirable.  And its age is something be appreciated.  Going with a cask like this is a bold move on The Davids' part.  I do believe this would appeal to others' palates, especially folks who take their coffee black.

Availability - K&L Wines
Pricing - $579.99
Rating - 83

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I cannot overstate the importance of K&L's Exclusive Cask work to us American whisky fans.  Compared to Europe, U.S. retailers have a limited amount of cask strength bottlings.  Even fewer independent casks.  Many of those we do get here have bloated prices.

To recap the selection from the tasting:
As you can see above, the Caperdonich would be my favorite.  The Kilchoman 100% would be second in line.  The Bruichladdich is good, but gone.  May I also recommend the very easy drinkin' Longmorn 10yr Signatory to those looking for an Exclusive in the lower price range.

Yet, of all the drams, I'm actually leaning towards buying the Faultline 10 year old North Highland.  Yes, a sherried whisky.  The reasons for this choice are as follows (in no order):

1. It tastes good.
2. The price.
3. Quality-wise, it's a leap ahead of Glenm*****ie Las***a, at a similar price.
4. I want to support the Faultline label so that we may see some more good picks in the years ahead.

Thanks again to The Davids for their excellent work.  I look forward to this year's discoveries...

K&L Single Cask Whisky tasting with the LA Scotch Club (Part 1)

Last Wednesday (2/27), 45 of us met at Blu Jam Cafe for dinner and drams with David Othenin-Girard of K&L Wines.  David brought along a slew, a flock, a murder of K&L's single cask releases for us taste (and possibly contemplate purchasing).

Here's a slightly mostly out-of-focus pic of the main lineup:

David walked us through each of these eight single malts, talking to us about the distilleries and the bottlers.  He shared some cask selection tales, as well as some industry insider info.  And, yes, there were Diageo tales, none of which am I going to repeat since they only reinforce my disgust with that company.  Despite that, it was a very positive and extremely enjoyable tour through these delectable goodies:

Glen Garioch 14 year old 1998 - 55.2% ABV - $100
Aged in a bourbon hogshead, this whisky has a lot of whole wheat bread and gingerbread on the nose with plenty of sweet fruit and honey on the palate and finish.  I'm a fan of all things Glen Garioch, both old and new, and this one was made a few years after they had stopped peating their malt.  The price may look steep, but it is GG's lowest priced cask strength bottling to date.

Faultline 10 year old North Highland Single Malt - 50% ABV - $55
Faultline is K&L's own label.  Over the past couple of years they've been able to pluck some whiskies and gins to bottle on their own and then sell at a relatively reasonable rate.

They do not disclose which distillery this malt came from and neither will I, specifically.  But I will say this, as a sherry casker it beats the daylights out of the Las***a.  That's possibly due to the fact that it spent its entire life in a sherry cask rather than just being finished in one.  Or maybe it's because that cask was a second fill.  Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that this Faultline whisky wasn't engineered to try to suit everyone's tastebuds.  No matter the reason, the whisky works.

As for the booze, it has a great silky, almost oily mouthfeel.  There's buttery caramel and toffee on the nose.  The sherry element is mild.  There's a touch of spice and cocktail bitters in the palate.

Caperdonich 18 year old 1994 (Sovereign) - 58.4% ABV - $126
I grabbed a little sample of this to take home so...
Full tasting notes on this tomorrow!

GlenDronach 19 year old 1993 - 54.7% ABV - $140
The GlenDronach single cask releases have been getting rave reviews for the last few years, so why K&L still has ton of these in stock, I don't know.  As the Davids note, it's considerably better than Macallan 18, at a higher strength, older age, smaller availability, and a lower price.

As I've written on a few occasions, my palate is really not taking to lots of sherry in my whisky, recently.  But this one was fun to try.  Dark chocolate, leather, and spent matchsticks on the nose.  Yes, something sulfur-ish.  But it was quite good.  There's some earl grey tea and cayenne pepper amongst the sherry in the palate.  The finish is sourish, not at all sweet.

Kilchoman 100% Islay Single Sherry Barrel Cask Finish - ??? ABV - $120
I missed getting the ABV on this, but it is at full strength.  Like its Kil'oman brethren, the whisky is young but of stunning quality.  Kilchoman usually gets its barley from Port Ellen at the Ardbeg peating specs.  But this one is made from local Islay barley and is peated much lower, in the 10-15ppm range.

The whisky has a bright crazy zippy nose full of pepper, ginger, and molasses.  The palate is "carrot cake, delicious, more baked sweets".  The finish reminds me, oddly, of Corsair's Wry Moon with its cinnamon and white pepper.

The Kilchoman may have been the most popular one at the event.  It's a bit out of my current price range, but if it wasn't, I would buy it yesterday.

Bruichladdich 2003 Peated Single Barrel - 54.2% ABV - $73
This one is sold out, so this is just a damned tease.

It's not that sherried, in fact it reminded me of Kilchoman.  In fact, my notes say "More Kilchoman than Kilchoman."  Otherwise, the palate is full of pepper, brown sugar, and peat.  It is solid cask strength peatness at a good price.  I won't tease you further.

BenRiach 27 year old 1984 Peated Sherry Cask - 49.6% ABV - $200
This peated malt spent its first twenty-three years in ex-bourbon, then the final four years in Pedro Ximenez casks.  I'm glad I had a chance to taste this one.  Part of my brain (the part I'm trying to corral) was trying to find some excuse to buy this blindly.  The price is considerably below almost all 40-43% whiskys of its age, let alone the cask strength ones!  Plus I'm liking the peated BenRiachs.

Happily good sense won out in the end.  It's good stuff, but I like the oddball Authenticas 21 year old better.

But for those with the means to grab this one (and it is going fast), lots of chocolate and sherried cigarettes on the nose with dried fruits and menthol on the palate.

Glenfarclas 42 year old 1970 Family Cask - 56.9% ABV - $580
Yes, you read that right.  42 years old.  56.9% ABV.  Guess who took his sample home for quiet study?
Full tasting notes on this tomorrow!

I also had the opportunity to taste these two:

Since I'm a big Signatory fan, I had been eyeing both of these bottles online and in-store.  The Longmorn is a 10 year old bottled at 46%.  The Benrinnes is a 12 year old bottled at full strength, 58.2%.  Neither disappointed, though I really enjoyed the Longmorn much more than I'd expected.

I don't have proper notes on either as they were sampled at the tail end of this epic tasting, but I can summarize.  The Benrinnes was lightly citric, mildly honeyed, light on the oak, and very drinkable despite its high ABV.  The Longmorn was lovely and light, full of vanilla and baked treats.

I must pause this entry here.  In Part 2, tomorrow, I'll post reports on two of the whiskys and give final thoughts on the whole tasting.

Single Malt Report: The Yamazaki 18 is not The Harlem Shake

In 1981, Al B, a fellow in Harlem, created a dance called The Harlem Shake.  The wiggling shimmying step became very popular in the urban hip hop dance scene over the next thirty years.  In 2012, a dubstep artist named Baauer released a track named "The Harlem Shake" that had very little to do with the actual dance.  The video for the song became a YouTube sensation.  A internet meme quickly followed it in which a single person does a random dance in the middle of a space and then is suddenly joined by dozens of additional dancers going crazy in the ensuing edits.  Like all internet memes, it will not end until it is embraced by celebrities, so (happily) the Manchester City soccer team, Jimmie Johnson's racing team, and The Miami Heat basketball team have all released videos of themselves dancing around.



None of these new videos have anything to do with the actual Harlem Shake dance (see video at the top of the post), but they all call themselves The Harlem Shake.

I have no stake in The Harlem Shake -- please, everyone keep dancing! -- but if everything is The Harlem Shake then nothing is The Harlem Shake.  Linguistic nihilism is fantastic when it is a purposeful act.  But this viral cognitive sloth strikes me as something similar to the rash of apostrophe's in the wrong place's.

I'm going to go drink some whisky, because The Yamazaki 18 is not The Harlem Shake.

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When I first reported on The Yamazaki 18 last year, I'd discovered it was pretty special.  Over the next seven months, the angels took their share of the sense memory from me.  Simultaneously the whisky became more and more mythical in my mind.  It was all SUPERLATIVE SUPERLATIVES.

Rumor on the malt street says that the newest batch of Yamazaki 18 should be hitting the States this month.  I have been counting the days.  I have also been dreading the price.  The previous release went from $80 to $100 to $130 in two years.

I didn't think I could trust my memory and, since I really do not like to spend that sort of cash on one bottle, I had to revisit the whisky.  Cue one trip to the secret bar that serves Yamazaki 18 at the same price as Glenmorangie 10.  Whisky funneled from glass into sample bottle.  Sample bottle shuttled home.  Three weeks later, the whisky slips back into a (Glencairn) glass.  Report time.

Distillery: Yamazaki
Ownership: Suntory Whisky

Age: minimum 18 years

Maturation: Toasted American oak puncheons, European oak sherry butts, Mizunara puncheons

Country: Japan

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT ONLY:
The color is a reddened mahogany.  An enormous nose.  Dark chocolate, fresh ginger, old bourbon,
pecans, cashews, thick molasses, bread pudding with Yamazaki 12 sauce, nutty cookies, amaretto, caramel sauce, and spicy fruit compote.  The palate......please allow me to drift into allegory... I taste things I don't understand.  They blossom for a moment, then I lose them, like a dream in the morning.  Unknown fruits (tropical? Asian?).  Rich rums.  A strange sandy wood.  Lime to gin to anise.  Aromatic toffee.  Marzipan, maybe?  Stewed fruits on a rum ice cream.  That marizpan-ish character continues through the finish.  The notes linger here so maybe I can net a few.  Brandied cherries, citrus peel, and anise.  Very aromatic and mildly sweet.  A flower candy moment.  Apricot jam and fresh oranges.  Endless...

Yep.

The question is, will the new batch be the same?  Because no matter how different it is from before, Suntory can still call it "The Yamazaki 18".  Much like The Harlem Shake.  Please don't let it be The Harlem Shake.

Availability - Scarce, for now
Pricing - $130-$150, for now [Ed. note: as of 1/1/14 its average price is $186]
Rating - 95

Single Malt Report: BenRiach Taste Off, Part 2 (Peated)

(click here for Part 1)

Benriach distillery opened in 1898, then was promptly mothballed in 1900.  Though the distillery did not reopen for 65 years, barley malting continued on site.  The malt was then transported to the neighboring Longmorn Distillery via a quarter-mile track.  After The Glenlivet Distillers reopened the stills in 1965, an interesting experiment began in 1972.  While the majority of Speyside distilleries were swapping their old peat smoke drying methods for coal smoke, in order to cater to export countries' palates, Benriach started peat smoke drying a small portion of their malt in 1972.  This peating (at a Laphroaig-like level of 35-38pm) continued until the maltings were closed in 1999.

After The BenRiach Distillery Company bought the distillery in 2004, they promptly started bottling some of the large quantities of stock within the same year.  Among the first releases was the 10 year old Curiositas, a peated single malt.  In 2005, they added the 21 year old Authenticus to the range.

Curiositas was bottled more regularly and in greater numbers due to the available mature whisky on hand.  Authenticus had a more limited release, 4800 bottles per year.  In 2012, the 21 year was replaced by a 25 year.

The 21yr Authenticus bottles are still available throughout the US, but I doubt they'll be around for much more than another year or two.  The 25yr doesn't appear to have reached our shores yet, but looks to be only $40 more.  And by "only", I mean this 25-year peated official bottling sells for about the same as Glenfiddich 21yr, Glenlivet 21yr, or Macallan 18yr.

BOOM! Bottle shot.

Financials aside, the old 21yr Authenticus was in my Classic and Peated BenRiach 4-pack, along with the Curiositas.  The actual maturation info for these two have been harder to come by than the unpeated BenRiachs, so I'm going to guess that part of their data below.

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Distillery: BenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company

Age: minimum 10 years
Bottled in: 2008

Maturation: possibly ex-bourbon casks (some first-fill)

Region: Speyside (Lossie)

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

NEAT:
The color is a light amber, thus light on fancy oak and light on caramel colorant.  The nose leads with considerable menthol, followed by light peat smoke.  A bit of hamminess too.  Mint.  Lots of vanilla.  Getting oakier with time.  Actually, it smells a lot like a bag of Halloween candy -- you know: corn syrup, milk chocolate, Red 5, plastic wrappers and all -- yet peated.  Wood smoke on the palate.  Sweets first, then peat, then heat.  Vanilla, cigar tobacco, cinnamon candy, honey, California Chardonnay.  Nice lengthy finish, mostly peat and that cigar tobacco note.  Some sweetness edges in along with a bit of cinnamon.

WATER ADDED:
On the nose, fresh baked bread, manure, and apple skins (what a combo!).  The palate and finish are earthy but also very sweet.  Lots of sugar, vanilla, and veggie peat.

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Distillery: BenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company

Age: minimum 21 years
Bottled in: 2008

Maturation: possibly ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks (likely some first-fill sherry)

Region: Speyside (Lossie)

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Okay, I'm going to spoil it here.  THIS was the highlight of the pack.  Not because it's the oldest.  Not because it's no longer in the regular rotation.  It's because.  Well, you'll see.

NEAT:
The color is much darker, like penny copper.  The nose carries that hint of menthol.  The peat is more mossy than smoky.  There's both a pool note and a ocean note.  It's a little spicy.  Some stone fruits (both fresh and dried).  And......is that weed?  Let's take a sip and test that palate......SO MUCH WEED! I almost choked on the first sip.  It's all TCP and THC.  Okay and probably some fruit juices, a little sherry, grass (as in lawn), and mint.  The finish: weed, peat, sugar.  Gets sweeter with time.

WATER ADDED:
The nose: a joint and a glass of sherry.  The palate is mostly gentle peat smoke, along with some highlights of hay, soil, bandages, and very sweet chocolate.  It finishes oceanic and much drier on the tongue.  Cotton-mouth, perhaps?

---

The Winner???
NOSE -- 21yr, by a nose
PALATE -- 21yr
FINISH -- 21yr, though it's close
OVERALL -- 21yr

The 10yr Curiositas is good alternative to Laphroaig 10.  The iodine and medicinal characteristics are dialed down, so the peat experience feels a little softer, but there's still a lot of body and oompf thanks to the higher ABV.  It won't beat every Islay out there but can play on the same field.  Tim at Scotch and Ice Cream had a lot of nice things to say about it a couple weeks ago.  Sku of Recent Eats is a fan of it as well.

The 21yr Authenticus wins the day, for me, because it is so, shall we say, unique?  It has garnered great reviews, though I appear to be alone in finding a dime bag in every sip.  Well, to each his own.  And to my own, this ain't schwag.  Though, I wouldn't know anything about that.

10 YEAR CURIOSITAS
Availability - Many liquor specialists
Pricing - $50-$60 (US)
Rating - 82

21 YEAR AUTHENTICUS
Availability - Fewer and fewer liquor specialists
Pricing - $120-$150 (US)
Rating - 89

Single Malt Report: BenRiach Taste Off, Part 1 (Un-peated)

BenRiach's malting floors were closed in 1999 after 101 years of use.  The Chivas-run distillery then began buying their barley malt from large suppliers, the same way that over 90% of the other Scottish malt distilleries do.  Once the distillery was purchased by Billy Walker and The BenRiach Distillery Company, they set out to reopen their own malting floors.  Finally, within the next few months, BenRiach is going to become the seventh distillery to do its own malting.

This is just one example of the smart aggressive choices made by the folks in charge of BenRiach's whisky.  When Billy Walker and company bought the mothballed distillery from Chivas (via Pernod), they found whisky of varying quality in the warehouses.  They needed to get some product back on the shelves, and some of the malt clearly needed some sprucing up, thus the countless finished single malts they've released.

But they also found some experimental stuff, including heavily peated whisky as well as triple-distilled spirit.  Other than the "Heart of Speyside" bottling, all of the malt in the BenRiach releases was casked by the previous ownership.  And it's not half bad.

I'm not the biggest fan of finished whisky -- I went through a bottle of BenRiach's 16yr Sauternes Finish last year and though it didn't suit my palate I don't doubt it would make Sauternes fans happy -- so I decided to avoid any PX or rum or Rioja finished stuff and focus on the more basic BenRiach malt.

I bought BenRiach's "Classic and Peated" mini four-pack last year and I'm just tearing into it now.  It held the 12yr, 16yr, 10yr Curiositas (peated), and 21yr Authenticas (peated) single malts.  I've split them into two Taste Offs, peated and unpeated, so that I can focus on the malt itself.

A brief note of commentary:  A company that cranks out finished whisky after special release after finished whisky doesn't instill much confidence in their basic naked malt.  As stated above, I know the malt whisky they're working with wasn't distilled by the current ownership, but is BenRiach going to continue tarting up the spirit when it is created by their own hands?  I suppose if it sells, they will.  I can't begin to know what they found when they started going through the casks nine years ago nor what's hiding behind all of those colorful additional maturations.  But I must say that their basic malts shouldn't be ignored.

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Distillery: BenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company

Age: minimum 12 years
Bottled in: 2009

Maturation: 60% ex-bourbon (mostly second-fill) casks only + 40% ex-bourbon casks then transfered to ex-oloroso casks

Region: Speyside (Lossie)

Alcohol by Volume: 43% (some bottlings are 46%)

Yes, this is my second report on BenRiach 12.  The first one was completed almost exactly a year ago. It was sampled in a loud dark bar and I was mostly just enjoying rather than deconstructing.  Here at home, I now had a full 50mL to sample in a Glencairn glass.

NEAT:
The color is light gold.  If they're applying caramel coloring, there appears to be a minimum of it.  The nose leads with apple juice, then ripe bananas, blueberries, and vanilla follow.  A pleasant dose of flower blossoms appears at times.  But mostly an almost-effervescent burst of lemon-lime soda catches the most attention.  Overall, it's a very pretty nose.  The palate is much simpler.  Vanilla, sugary white fruits, and notebook paper are the most prevalent.  The highlights that peek out are cream puffs and pipe tobacco.  The medium-length finish is sweet, desserty, and malty.  Vanilla and shortbread cookies nestle within some light tartness.

WATER ADDED:
As I often find with younger ex-bourbon matured whiskys, adding water brings out a lot of oak vanillins in the nose while all of those great fruits recede.  The palate and finish become mildly cheerful like a decent 40% blend.  Aside from all the vanilla, there's some black pepper and notebook paper.

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Distillery: BenRiach
Ownership: The BenRiach Distillery Company

Age: minimum 16 years
Bottled in: 2008

Maturation: 60% ex-bourbon casks only + 40% ex-bourbon casks then finished 4-5 years in ex-oloroso casks

Region: Speyside (Lossie)

Alcohol by Volume: 43% (some bottlings are 46%)

NEAT:
The color is slightly darker than the 12yr, probably due to more time in the two oaks.  The nose has some dry sherry, but actually sniffs more like a late harvest sauvignon blanc.  It has the vanilla and apple juice notes of the 12yr, while there's some nice lemon peel adding to it.  The palate is much oakier (duh).  Toffee, caramel, and vanilla lead the way.  Here and there are notes of cayenne pepper and butter.  The silky finish is longer than than the 12's, full of vanilla, butter, and butterscotch.  It slowly progresses from sweet to peppery.

WATER ADDED:
Adding some water ironically dries it out in the mouth.  There are some pepper, malt, dark chocolate, and dry grass notes in the nose and palate, while the finish sweetens up some.

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First off, my apologies that I didn't get proper mini bottle pics.

Secondly, these minis were of the 43% ABV variety.  Would they have benefited from another 3 percentage points of alcohol?  Absolutely.  Somewhere out there (the US perhaps?) these guys are bottled at 46%.

Thirdly, rankings:
NOSE -- 12 year, by a considerable margin
PALATE -- A draw!
FINISH -- 16 year
OVERALL -- 12 year

I've been finding that I'm much more of nosing man.  Out of context, that could be interpreted many ways.  In context: I really enjoy just sitting around and smelling the hell out of my whisky.  Probably looks goofy, but that's what's most fun in my whisky experience.

Here, with these two unpeated BenRiachs, the younger one had the most to say in its nose.  The spritely floral elements may have been the distillate still speaking through the years of oak.  The elder's nose was quieter, the spirit becalmed by the wood.  The palates were both mild, likable but not rave-able.  Perhaps the ownership saw this element as a canvas, an opportunity to paint brightly with all sorts of wine-d woods.

The 16 year old can be found for incredible prices overseas, similar to the 12 year's price in some California shops.  But if I -- putting my new purchasing policies into place -- was able to obtain the 12 and the 16 for similar prices, I would buy the 12.  Previously I would have gone straight for the 16 since it would be a great deal.  But it's the 12 that I actually like (in two reports so far!), so I would leave the bargain for someone else.

12 YEAR
Availability - Many liquor specialists
Pricing - $45-55 in the US, though better deals can sometimes be found; $50-55 for Americans having it shipped from overseas in a larger order
Rating - 85

16 YEAR
Availability - Some liquor specialists
Pricing - $68-80 in the US; $60-80 for Americans having it shipped from overseas in a larger order
Rating - 80

Single Malt Report: Laphroaig Cairdeas Origin (2012)

Càirdeas means friendship in Gaelic.  Folks can agree on that.  But I've haven't yet heard an agreement on the pronunciation.  Is it Keer-dass or Kar-chiss?  I vote for the former as it sounds nicer to hear and feels more pleasant to say.

Since 2008, Laphroaig has been releasing a limited edition bottling in honor of their Friends of Laphroaig group (543,000 and growing), thus the "friendship" Càirdeas name.  The release has coincided with the annual swingin' Feis Ile, the Islay whisky and jazz festival.  While most of the Islay distilleries squeeze out a special edition whisky in honor of the festival, very few make these whiskies available outside of the fest.  Many thank yous to Laphroaig (and Ardbeg) for allowing the rest of us to get our hands on these goodies this past year.

As can now be expected in this whisky market, all the Feis Ile whiskys instantly become collector's items.  Buyers become sellers, flipping their purchase on the secondary market for a considerable margin.  It leaves me wondering if anyone drinks that rare(-ish) booze.  The Ardbeg Day and Laphroaig Càirdeas Origin are at least more prevalent, maybe some of y'all are drinking yours?

I first tried the Càirdeas Origin at the epic Laphroaig vertical this past December.  It was certainly one of the better drams out of that grand lineup.  With the hands of a thief and the mind of a cheapskate I was able to steal away with a 0.7 fl oz sample of this whisky.  A couple months later, in the quiet of my home I gave the Càirdeas another try.

Distillery: Laphroaig
Product: Càirdeas Origin
Release Year: 2012

Owner: Beam, Inc.
Type: Single Malt Report
Region: Islay

Age / Maturation: (50/50) 7 year old in quarter casks, mixed with 13-21 year old from refill ex-bourbon barrels

Chill-filtration? No
Caramel colored? Possibly

Alcohol by Volume: 51.2%
Limited Release: 20,000 worldwide (3,000 U.S.)

Per the bottle: "This whisky celebrates 18 years of our Friends of Laphroaig programme. The 2012 bottling combines some of the original liquid used to first create Càirdeas, further matured and complimented with newer Laphroaig spirit that has been fully matured in quarter casks."

Its color is a take on the classic Laphroaig straw.  The nose starts with a vegetable peat, then some of that quarter cask oak follows.  White and balsamic vinegars take turns.  There's some candied orange peel, oatmeal, and cooked mushrooms.  The peat in the palate is drier, smokier.  There's a very pleasant savory note, along with hay, lemon juice, subtle vanilla, lightly sugared sweetness, and a little salt.  Much more spirit than oak.  More savoriness in the finish, like mushrooms but better!  A little confectioner's sugar is chased by a slight bitterness.  But it's the cinders (very Kilchoman-ish) that last the longest.

And per my post-Laphroaig-vertical haikus:

Laphroaig Cairdeas Origin
Keer-dass or Kar-chiss?
Either way, a lovely thing
Cairdeas means friendship

Vanilla choc'late
Salty nutty peaty moss
Handshake and a hug

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It's a little different than most of the official Laphroaigs.  Less underlying sweetness, fewer band-aids, more earthy and savory......which is where those mushroom notes come into play......which is weird because I normally don't like mushrooms.  But I do like this sharp, salty, and dry malt.  So, using the vertical tasting and this sample tasting as a guide, I bought a bottle of my own.

Sadly, this one is getting very difficult to find.  There are some on the East Coast, but not many are left here in California.  I don't think there are any whisky bars serving this up, so this may have to be a blind buy for some folks.  The question is, are you going to save it or drink it?  I'll be drinking mine next autumn, with friends.

Availability - Happy Hunting!

Pricing - original US price range $60-$75, currently $60-$150

Rating - 88