Ledaig 17 year old 1993 G&M Connoisseurs Choice (bought in Japan)

I had two whisky retailing surprises during my first trip to Japan. First, there was no age stated Japanese whisky to be found (and this was more than three years ago). Secondly, there was SO MUCH scotch whisky on the shelves, especially from independent bottlers. The former was a bummer, the latter floored me especially because the prices were often really good. Port Charlotte PC8 was $60. And today's 17yo G&M Ledaig was, I kid you not, $46.

I say this with some confidence: We will never see prices like that again. Ever. And that's probably why so much of that scotch and bourbon was cleared out when I returned to Japan two years later.

The intro is over. Long live the intro.

The G&M Connoisseurs Choice range has a several 43%abv Ledaigs from right around the mid '90s time period. This one was from refill sherry butts and may have just been a Japanese release. While Ledaigs from the mid-'00s are hot stuff right now, '80s and '90s are still not considered sexy. So I can't even make the hipster claim, "I loved this stuff before it was cool." It's still terribly uncool. That's why we're homies.

Distillery: Tobermory
Brand: Ledaig
Current Ownership: Distell International Ltd.
Ownership at time of distillation: either Burn Stewart Distillers or Tobermory Distillers Ltd.
Region: Isle of Mull

Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 17 years old (May 1993 - December 2010)

Maturation: refill sherry butts

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
(review sample taken from the bottom half of my bottle)

For its sparring partner, I poured a glass of my enjoyable 15yo OB 2001 bottling.

NOSE:
The refill-est of butts. Very spirity. Toast, wet sand, leaves, yeast and grist. Momentary whiffs of vanilla ice cream and raw cocoa. Totally lacking the fruity, medicine and peat of the 15yo. Okay, there's a little bit of fermenting apples. Molasses. Tofu. Heck, it's more savory than peaty. It fades out after 20 minutes, even when covered.

PALATE:
Butter and lemons take the place of the nose's yeast and apples. A big hit of horseradish. Some sugary bits, with a hint of dried berries. More marshmallow than vanilla. Burnt toast. Slight floral estery things. The butter note grows with time and the lemons get sweeter.

FINISH:
Toasted grains, horseradish and lemons. Kinda sweet. Kinda short. Something burnt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
This felt half its age, which could be a good thing. But wasn't. The '90s Ledaig Strange Degree (LSD) was low, which also a bummer. It's, essentially, a sleepy Tobermory. Just a little bit of fruit or moss or fish or gravel or gravy or something would have made a big difference.

Despite the preceding paragraph, this isn't terrible whisky. In fact, I almost gave it a low 80s grade for being as fine and friendly as this era of Ledaig can get. But it sorta bumped its ass on the landing — that's not a thing, but it's late here — and leaves behind a fading burnt shrug in the mouth.

But I must say, I'm happy with the price I paid.

Availability - Happy Hunting?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 78

Glenmorangie Astar, 2017 Release

For those of us who enjoyed the original Astar release, let us remember that it was a very oaky thing. And NAS. And thus it was proof that not all NAS oaky whiskies are crap. Its creamy richness highlighted good qualities of the oak and the spirit. Still it remains an exception to the rule for Glenmorangie's limited releases.

Astar's official site references my main issue with Glenmorangie's special edition when it notes that the Ozark oak casks are designed to "impart their maximum flavour to our delicate Highland spirit". Or......Lumsden and his team use sledgehammers to play a piano.

This new Astar supposedly uses the same type of casks, from "slow-growing" trees in the Ozarks that are air dried for years before they're coopered into Jack Daniel's casks for their first life. Next the delicate Highland spirit is applied for at least three years. And then marketing noises like "hewn", "harbour" and "bespoke" are applied liberally to lure the usual suspects into paying $100+ for the product.

Still, it could be good whisky.

Distillery: Glenmorangie
Ownership: Louis Vuitton Moet-Hennessy
Region: Highlands (Northern)
Age: minimum 3 years
Maturation: Missouri Ozark Oak (ex-Jack Daniel's)
Alcohol by Volume: 52.5%
Chill-filtered: ???
Colored: ???
(From a purchased sample)

Sadly, I had neither old Astar, nor Glenmoragie 10yo to compare with this whisky. Instead, I lined up the bottle-strength version with its 43%abv diluted form.

NOSE
43%abv - Bourbon. Barrel char and notebook paper. Burnt notes. Perfume, vanilla, lemon and ginger beer. A bit flat at times, like a blend.
Full Strength - Pine needles, sap and bark. Limes and cotton candy. Caramel sauce and vanilla bean. Toasted oak spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg. A hint of Old Spice cologne.

PALATE
43% abv - Actual wood. A bit grassy, with dandelions. Bitter, burnt and gingery. Vanilla and green peppercorns.
Full Strength - It has a dense fudge/citrus/grass combo that reminds me of Irish pot still. Slight burnt and bitter note. Lemons and oregano.

FINISH
43%abv - Green and pink peppercorns. Fresh ginger. Very bitter.
Full Strength - A better bitterness and very little sweetness. Thyme and oregano. Lemon and pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
This is a curious lively whisky at 52.5%abv. It is pretty bad at 43%.

It is indeed oak-driven with the citrus and herbal notes being the only spirit characteristics that escaped the Mozarks' clutches. The good news is that the oak notes are never boring and there's some depth to this fluid. But only at full strength. It falls apart so abruptly when diluted (even at about 48%abv), that the random-seeming bottling strength now seems less random.

It's a different animal than the original Astar, and with fewer thrills. But for a whisky that's 90% oak-driven, the 2017 Astar still impresses at times and makes for an entertaining addition to Glenmorangie's range. Pricing it higher than the far superior 18yo is also entertaining.

Availability - Many specialty whisky retailers
Pricing - $70-$100 (Europe, ex-VAT), $85-120 (US)
Rating - 83 (neat only, plummets 10-20 points once diluted)

The Rum Dummy drinks Hampden 18 year old 1998 Kill Devil

I like three things. Rum, not reading rum reviews and not writing rum reviews. But Mr. Diving for Pearls gave me free rum (which is better than rum) so I'll write this. But I won't read it.

I've been told to thank "MAO" for this rum because "MAO" finances this entire site. Thank you, "MAO"?

Hampden distillery makes good rums. Their old rum is usually not cheap. Their old rum is usually not in America. The old rum is in Europe because Europe is so much closer to Jamaica than America is.

You can keep shipping costs down by piggybacking off your sad friend who buys at least 14 whiskies a month from Europe and then brags about it. The more he buys, the less you pay. Everyone wins, except for him.

I had nothing to do with this picture.

A review:

Nose - Olives, black licorice, honey. Banana nut loaf. Hot tar, dead leaves. Lots of brine. Ping pong paddle.

Palate - Charred pizza crust, black olives, honey, leather, soil and black sesame seeds. Blackberry jam, with salt.

Finish - Charred pizza crust, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. WD-40. Banana pudding. Salt. Good.

Three interesting things about this rum. It has no grain, but there's bread to it. I can't stop drinking it. I can't stop drinking it.

I'm naming my next dog Hampden. Or Kill Devil.

NOT WHISKY RATING: A-

Edradour and Ballechin twins! Same bottler, same year, same cask type.

First, Hazelburn and Longrow. Now, Edradour and Ballechin. My original intro was five paragraphs long, let me just outlineify it here:

1. Edradour distillery produces unpeated single malt (Edradour) and heavily peated malt (Ballechin)
2. Edradour distillery is owned by the independent bottling company, Signatory.
3. van Wees, a Dutch indie bottler (allegedly) draws its single barrels from Signatory's warehouses.
4. van Wees releases a few Edradour and Ballechin single casks each year.
1. Usually ex-sherry casks for Edradours
2. Usually ex-bourbon casks for Ballechins

As soon as I spied a sherry cask Ballechin, I swooped in and got semi-matching samples: Ballechin and Edradour, both distilled in 2008, matured in sherry butts and released by van Wees in their The Ultimate series.

Check the photo for the stats. Note the very similar ABV. Also the butts had very similar outturns: 696 and 694.

To the tasting!

NEAT

--NOSES
Edradour (8yrs 1day) - It starts off with oranges, cinnamon and dried apricots. Then raspberry jam, fudge, cardamom, nutmeg and a whiff of butterscotch. And, yes, plenty of alcohol.
Ballechin (9yrs 178days) - Smoked fish, eucalyptus and clementines. Dried cranberries, ocean air, ham and charred peat. With time in the glass it picks up baked pears with cinnamon and sugar.

--PALATES
Edradour - Dried fruit, especially cherries and golden raisins. Very salty. Tart lemons and raspberry jam. Sweet and heat. Thick mouthfeel.
Ballechin - Massive mossy peat. Charred veg and not-charred dried fruit. Lightly sweet, lots o' heat. Cinnamon and Tabasco sauce. Develops some bitterness with time.

--FINISHES
Edradour - Sweet. Berries, fresh and dried. Tart lemons and a hint of woody bitterness. But its the ethyl heat that lingers longest.
Ballechin - More of that huge peat. Chili oil. Very little sweetness. Similar heat and bitterness to the Edradour.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or <2tsp water per 30mL whisky

--NOSES
Edradour - Fudge and flower blossoms. Lime peel, prunes and raisins. Very big even at this ABV.
Ballechin - Ledaig, is that you? Seaside, peaches, cinnamon, peat and citronella.

--PALATES
Edradour - Plum wine, tart berries, ginger ale and cream soda. It's very peppery and drags along some woody bitterness.

Ballechin - Somehow the peat feels even bigger and darker. Quite a tar note. Well beneath the peat is a balance of sweetness (brown sugar), salt, savory and moderate bitterness.

--FINISHES

Edradour - A mix of cayenne pepper, grape jam, bananas and bitterness.

Ballechin - Char, dark chocolate and salty ham.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or ~1Tbsp water per 30mL whisky

--NOSES

Edradour - Very manageable. Mint leaves, ginger, anise, blackberry jam and Macallan 12.

Ballechin - Just char, mint and brine.

--PALATES
Edradour - It has become creamier, with fresher fruits (think plums and pears). Ginger powder.

Ballechin - Still plenty of punch to it. Peat and pepper and salt. Tart citrus and oak spices.

--FINISHES

Edradour - Pepper, berries and bitterness.

Ballechin - Identical to the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

You may read quotes from "experts" that the cask is 2/3s or 3/4s or 70% responsible for a whisky's final character. Well, the Edradour is 100% cask. It is at times a very good cask. At other times it's too aggressive, held only in check by the high alcohol content. It seems to be doing its best Orphan Barrel Bourbon imitation with all that woody bitterness. But it gets better the more it's diluted.

The Ballechin is all Andrew WK. With peat levels that would embarrass southern Islay, heat levels that rival Stagg Jr and sherry levels comparable to, well, the Edradour, this 9 year old Ballechin is a whole lot of too much. Which works. If you're into that sort of thing. If it could shed the bitterness, I'd love to see it arm wrestle one the many murderous SMWS Port Charlottes.

At full strength, Ballechin's outrageousness wins. Yet as the whiskies are diluted, the Edradour reveals more stamina and complexity......even though it's all cask. But, in the end, it's all combustion.

EDRADOUR 8yo 2008 van Wees, cask 118
Availability - continental Europe
Pricing - €50-€60 w/o VAT
Rating - 85 (with water)

BALLECHIN 9yo 2008 van Wees, cask 189
Availability - continental Europe
Pricing - €50-€60 w/o VAT
Rating - 84 (neat)

Springbank 14 year old 2002 Bourbon Wood

A new-ish Springbank! Serge Valentin, whose soul patch maintains the whiskyfun Twitter account, reviewed it. MAO, whose handlebar mustache grades students' essays, reviewed it. Now it's time for me, whose Rabbi Haddock beard helpfully saves the contents of every meal, to review it.

Unlike so many of Springbank's brands' cask strength releases. this whisky is entirely from former bourbon casks. This sort of release is likely more difficult to produce than it sounds. Too much oak influence will cause a large portion of fans to complain about the smothered spirit. Too many limp casks could result in hot, sharp, immature whisky. And with Springbank's deservedly great reputation, expectations will be high for each thing they do.

I was very lucky to get a sample of this whisky twice(!), thanks to MAO and Matt W.

Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Springbank
Region: Campbeltown

Age: 14 years (November 2002 - August 2017)

Maturation: "Fresh and Refill Bourbon Barrels"

Alcohol by Volume: 55.8%
Limited Bottling: 9000

Because I had such a nice quantity of this Springbank, I tasted a full strength and diluted (46%abv) version side by side.

NOSE
46%abv - Gummi bears and peach candy. The moderate simple unobtrusive oak lets some wort and bright lemony notes shine through. There's also plastic toys, brine and some distant vanilla. Very little peat.
Full strength - Less fruit, weightier oak. Salty and a hint of something savory. Lime peel, caramel candy. A little bit papery. More heat, obviously, but also more peat.

PALATE
46%abv - A little of the nose's fruit, mostly tart stuff. A creamy, vanilla side with some brown sugar. Ginger and cinnamon candy. Some heat. Woody bitterness and a surprising amount of heat.
Full strength - The alcohol burn seems to be holding back some good stone fruit. Lots of salt. Metal. Limes and lemons. A bit peppery. Acid and bitterness levels build with time.

FINISH
46%abv - Tart citrus and pepper. Bitter. Some sweetness rolls in to balance things out. Medium length.
Full strength - Heat, salt, citrus and metal. A sweeter fruit element comes in late for an assist.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
My tasting notes sit somewhere between Serge's and MAO's, though I hold the whisky in slightly lower esteem. Dilution is key with this one, because (for me) the goal is to push back the heat and bitterness to find that fruit. It's that bitterness and acidity that give my palate trouble. I don't mind the vanilla or caramel here because they work well with the rest. Perhaps I hold Springbank to a high standard because recent batches of their standard 10yo have been spot on, or perhaps the spirit has gotten to the point that it performs best with a little bit of sherry cask influence, or perhaps I'm full of shit.

Availability - Some specialty whisky retailers
Pricing - $100-$125 (why) 
Rating - 84 (diluted only)

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley

For those keeping score, Bruichladdich's The Classic — their NAS offering — has undergone a few design changes. First it was just Classic, in the old livery. Then there was Laddie Classic Edition_01, complete with the underscore and charade that this was the first edition. A brief hot flirtation resulted in Sherry Classic. Next, a brand-wide movement towards showcasing barley terroir motivated the Scottish Barley The Classic Laddie, with Scottish Barley getting the BIG FONT. Finally (for now) came the switch to The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley, with the classic-ness receiving the visual emphasis. The whisky's Scottishness was deemed less important than branding and/or subjectivity getting the upper hand on objectivity.

Because I've had mixed feelings about Bruichladdich's recent unpeated output, I'd expected this triple-tasting to be utterly unfair and humiliating (if one can humiliate an inert liquid) to the most current of the "Classic Laddies". But *SPOILER ALERT* the results were not that imbalanced.

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Ownership: Remy Cointreau
Region: Western Islay
Age: ???
First Maturation: probably just American oak casks
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
Well, they're not kidding about the barley (on the nose at least), perhaps it should have gotten first billing?!.?!1.? A little bit of yeast and wort and flowers and cocoa powder. Anise and apple skins. Some barn and metal. Sugar and cinnamon. Maybe a peep of white tequila. The palate is full of clean crisp spirit. Very little heat, despite its age and alcohol content. Roasted nuts and mild sweetness. Hints of subtle smoke, like a polite mezcal. Tangy, tart fruit and brown sugar. The finish leads with roasted grains, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Mint leaves and a hint of yeast. Very tingly and green.

WITH WATER?
Oops.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I expected very little from this whisky, especially since I had so many issues with the 8 year old. And I paired it up with two near titans. And yet, it held its own.

As I referenced in the tasting notes, the crisp clean spirit shines without burning. It's not too sweet nor does it scrape the tongue like so many other very young whiskies. The barley is the whole show, not whatever "The Classic" is. It's an ultra-young malt that succeeds without heavy peating. These things do exist. I like it. Kristen liked it. I might even buy it if I can find it for less than $50.

Availability - Most specialty whisky retailers
Pricing - $45-$65 worldwide
Rating - 85

Mathilda Malt: Bruichladdich MCMLXXXV 27 year old 1985, aka DNA4

The fourth and final release in the much too brief DNA series, this whisky was distilled in MCMLXXXV like the DNA3 I reviewed yesterday. While its cask types are undisclosed, I'm going to guess they're all ex-bourbons, which made it a great contrast with its predecessor. Unlike DNA3, this edition has an actual distillation date listed on the back label (along with a random Orson Welles reference) which means these weren't just a bunch of random casks. You have octuplets! It rolls right off your tongue, and into your heart. Oc-tup-lets. Oops, we're not supposed to be talking about Apu right now. Also, they could be nontuplets or dodecuplets for all we don't know.

As mentioned yesterday, I tasted this whisky alongside DNA3 and the current Scottish Barley from Bruichladdich. Here's the review of DNA4, the 27 year old.

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Ownership at time of distillation: Invergordon Distillers
Region: Western Islay
Series/Gimmick: DNA
Age: 27 years (March 7, 1985 - August 22, 2011)
Maturation: ex-bourbon casks?
Outturn: 1698 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 49.3%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
It has a nice amber color to it. It noses of chalk and dirty rocks. Almond extract, yellow plums, white nectarines and pears. More time in the glass brings out more fruits, such as pineapple. A hint of barn. Mint and honey. It smells like sunshine. It also has that great oily mouthfeel. Lots of barley, tart apples and blackberries on the palate right up front. Then green peppercorns and a bitter bite. Hints of wood smoke, cocoa and grassy leafiness. Lemon juice. It finishes as earthy as the nose. Tart fruits, leaves, lemons and peppercorns. Chili oil and honey.

WITH WATER
Nah.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Another lovely thing. I'm impressed by the casks' restraint. (Or maybe I've gotten to used to contemporary whisky woodwork.) The palate is good, but the nose is sublime. I can gripe a little bit about the finish, but I'm going to focus on the positive. And I could wonder how many more of these well rested barrels were dumped and candied by those indie owners, but I'm going to focus on the positive. And I could also marvel about the tremendous and complex palate the 25yo had but this had not, but I'm going to focus on the positive. This is great ex-bourbon cask whisky.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - somewhere between £200 and £300
Rating - 89