Black Bull 30 year old Blended Whisky (thank you, Jordan!)

In addition to being reviews of well-regarded whiskies, this week's posts are thank-yous to three fellows whose generosity have helped keep this blog going. Sadly, I have yet to figure out how to offer a proper thank you to Florin. Perhaps it would be a ten-part whisky tasting lasting until 4am, as how it usually goes when I visit him. (Damn, that gives me a stupid idea!)

There are many other people who have been very charitable during sample swaps or who have just handed me great stuff from the excellence of their hearts (and whisky bunkers). I can never thank you folks enough.

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First up, thank you to Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail for including Black Bull 30yo in a sample swap. Apparently, Oregon is its own planet when it comes to liquor retailing. Twice I saw Black Bull 30 selling for $160 in California, but the following year those same bottles were priced above $300. Meanwhile, Oregon had them for closeout under $100.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jordan is indeed a chemist and his long-form posts are a hell of a thing — and easily readable for those of us who are not scienticians. Whether he's writing about The Physics of Double Retort Pot Stills and Thumpers or questioning the "uncritical valorization of cask strength whiskies", Jordan challenges us to think about what we drink. Also his cocktail recipes are pretty sweet.

As for Black Bull 30yo......The blend of 50% malt and 50% grain was married at birth in the late '70s, then aged in sherry casks for three decades. I'd say that's a damned good approach to making whisky. Serge thought they whisky was "top notch" and "top shelf". Nearly the entire parliament of LAWSers went a step further, declaring it among the best blends in existence (in 2009).

Brand: Black Bull
Ownership: Duncan Taylor

Type: Scotch Blended Whisky
Parts: 50/50 malt/grain
Maturation: Sherry casks

Age: minimum 30 years

Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Bottled: 2009

NEAT
Mmmmm, dunnage nose. Nutty sherry, orange peel, watermelon rind, and grape jelly. Chocolate covered roasted almonds. Sticky candy meets salty sea air. Something about the palate reminds me of Springbank single sherry casks. Maybe it's just that these were good sherry casks. Anyway, there's citrus, musty oak and French oak baking spices. Limes, toffee, salt and pepper. Light bitterness and a gentle herbal note. It finishes with oranges, salt, grapey sherry, honey and toffee. There's also some bitterness to it, as well as a mineral edge.

DILUTED TO 46%abv, or 1/2tsp of water to 30mL whisky
Baskets full of dried fruit on the nose. Hershey's syrup, roasted nuts and bananas. Ah, but there's earth underfoot. Toasted nuts and toasted oak in the palate. Chocolate + coffee. Lightly sweet. Possibly denser and richer than when neat. The finish has coffee, salt, oranges and minerals.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I tried this up against Old Perth 21yo 1996 vatted malt, which it beat, though not by a lot. It comes pretty close to the 20yo 1994 Exclusive Blended Malt I so adore. All three are examples of very good sherry cask whisky. The Old Perth and Exclusive were all malt, while this was 50/50. As with the Old Perth, the sherry cask(s) dominate Black Bull 30's content. The Exclusive vatting wins out because it's a little dirtier, while also revealing a variety of fresh fruits.

That's mostly nitpicking. Blending a blend from the start is a smart approach. Using good casks is...well...kinda the point. The 50%abv works in Black Bull 30's favor because tinkering with dilution may in fact improve the experience. Overall, the whisky should appeal to any sherried-whisky lover and would taste quite fine on a cold winter night.

Availability - Sold out worldwide, probably
Pricing - it was anywhere from <$100 to >$400
Rating - 89

Glenlossie 22 year old 1992 van Wees The Ultimate, cask 3447

I paused a day between the two 1992 Glenlossies because I was concerned you were getting burned out on Glenlossie. Goodness knows, I was burned out after trying four in two days. Also, I only had four Glenlossie samples in total, so I had to skip a day. And I don't want to leave everyone without a whisky review on Friday.

Time for full disclosure. I tried four ex-bourbon cask Glenlossies this past weekend because I've been considering buying something from this distillery. The result? I'm not going to buy something from this distillery right now. Though today's 'Lossie was my favorite of the bunch, none of these showed signs of a thrilling spirit / distillery character / whathaveyou. There's a lot of competition in the Speyside area, hell, even on the distillery grounds. Mannochmore has been more my speed thus far.

Anyway, on with the winner of the week.

Distillery: Glenlossie
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory

Age: 22 years (November 18, 1992 - August 20, 2015)

Maturation: hogshead
Cask number: 3447
Outturn: 348 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? No

NEAT
Like the other whiskies this week, today's Glenlossie's color is pale. Yet it also has a slight peach tint to it that sets it apart. The nose releases a burst of very ripe very musky melons. Then cherries, vanilla, toasted coconut and roasted marshmallows. Something between lemon custard and lemon-scented soap. And something between cotton and burlap. It has a zippy fruity palate. Peach and grapefruit. Amaretto and flowers. Saltines. A slight bitterness. Its simple finish holds peach pits, salt and flowers. Sweet and lightly tangy with a warming bitterness.

DILUTED TO 40%abv, or <1tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The fruits have abandoned the nose. Barley, honey mustard and toasted oak are what remains. The palate gets much simpler. Sweet, tangy and salty, with ginger and black pepper. The finish is very similar to the palate with, perhaps, some bran flakes and more oak.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
A perfectly acceptable aquaphobic whisky. Nothing is really wrong with it when neat. A good flourish in the nose. The palate proves friendly and shows little-to-no oak. It finishes moderately and agreeably. It fits perfectly in an amicable Speyside style (if that really exists). It would've been great if it could swim better, but it would be great if I could swim better too. It was nice to have two ounces of it and now I'm done. Thanks to MAO for the sample! He had a similar overall opinion of it. The whiskybase community is, as ever, more enthusiastic about it than we are.

Availability - Maybe on the European continent?
Pricing - €90ish
Rating - 85 (neat only)

Glenlossie 18 year old 1992 Signatory, cask 3329 for Binny's

Yeesh, that last 'Lossie was lame. Let us now turn to the often reliable Signatory for what should be something considerably better. Historically (read: in my experience), the Binny's crew makes good Scotchy picks too.

Of course, this Glenlossie is even less relevant than yesterday's, as it was bottled five months earlier than that one. And sold out sooner.

Distillery: Glenlossie
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 18 years (November 16, 1992 - June 5, 2011)
Maturation: hogshead
Cask#: 3329
Outturn: 280 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 58%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Exclusive to: Binny's
(Thanks to Florin for the sample from, like, years ago)

NEAT
The nose leads with melon, roses, lemons and grapefruit. Crayons and scented markers in the mid-ground. After a while, the fresh fruit smells drift toward artificial scratch-n-sniff fruit smells. Then in comes a hint of soap and bitter ash. The palate is extra limey. Then mild sweetness, ginger, crayon wax and the expected heat from its ABV. It finishes floral and gingery with very tart citrus.

DILUTED TO 46%abv, or 1.5tsp per 30mL whisky
The nose balances flowers, fruity candy and toasted coconut. But then, in rolls the cardboard. The palate has more vanilla and coconut to go along with the lime. It's sweeter and bitterer. Some paper and wax. The finish has become very sweet, along with a mix of tart citrus and cardboard. This results in a strange aftertaste.

That took a weird turn. How about some more water?

DILUTED TO 40%abv, or 2.75tsp per 30mL whisky
Lemon zest, notebook paper and ink on the nose. Vanilla, sugar, soap and vinegar sourness on the palate. Sweet and sour finish. Also soap.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I spent nearly two hours with this whisky (and Friday's whisky), which in hindsight was not the best idea because this Glenlossie seems averse to air and water. It was on its best behavior right up front. So I'd recommend appreciating it as a small pour in less than 20 minutes. After that, son, you're on your own.

Does anyone out there actually have an unopened bottle of this? Were US Americans madly hoarding more whisky than they could drink back in 2011? I have a feeling this review is for no one.

Echo.
Echo. 
Echo.
Echo.

Availability - Exclusive at Binny's during Obama's first term
Pricing - ???
Rating - 82 (but don't wait, don't dilute!)

Glenlossie Week: 11 year old 2000 Duncan Taylor Dimensions

Glenlossie Week continues with a release that's about as old as the first whisky review on this website. It's so old that the Dimensions series was still affordable when it was released. Actually the bottle is still for sale at some continental European stores, so that doesn't bode tremendously well.

Like this week's other three Glenlossies, it was aged in American oak. Due to its color, I'd bet it was a refill cask. That could be good. That could also be not good.

Distillery: Glenlossie
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Bottler: Duncan Taylor
Series: Dimensions
Age: 11 years old (2000 - 2011)
Maturation: a 🙁cask
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(Thank you to Tetris for donating this MoM sample to D4P Laboratories!)

NEAT
Its color is very pale. The nose starts off with an odd combo of white mezcal, raisins and yeast. After 10 minutes that mezcal note goes straight to Cuervo Gold. Then apples and Dove soap. The palate starts with sugar and raw heat. It has a cheap blend sourness and bite. Then comes the soap and perfume. It finishes with sugar, perfume, sourness and bitterness.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or <1tsp water per 30ml whisky
The nose ditches most of the Cuervo Gold. Picks up a little bit of stone fruit, moss and plastic. Maybe some barley. The palate gets buttery and biscuity, with some lemon. But then comes the agave/tequila thing, which expands and expands with time. The finish is the same as the palate, with extra bitter ash.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I've previously had issues with Dimension whiskies, in that they lack, well, dimensions. But this is pretty horrible when neat, like some prank combo of Johnnie Walker Red and Cuervo and dish soap. It's better with water, at first very much so. But then the cheap tequila thing barges in. And that's when I decide not to finish the sample.

Style-wise, it bears no relation to the other three Glenlossies this week. While there's a possibility that the sample could be tainted in some way, I think it's much more likely that the cask was dead dead dead. It has wrung awful compounds into the spirit, rather than filtering awful compounds out. So though it reads like 3 or 4 year old whisky, the problem isn't the youth. The problem is bad whisky.

Availability - It can be found in Europe if you are so inclined
Pricing - Too much if not free
Rating - 68 (with water only, 10 points worse when neat)

Glenlossie Week: 17 year old 1997 Hepburn's Choice for K&L Wine Merchants

Hooray, it's GLENLOSSIE WEEK! If I lost you with that statement, then, well, you wouldn't have clicked to read this post anyway. So. Welcome, friends!

You may (not) be asking, "Michael, it's your birthday month. Do you really want to review four Glenlossies in a row?" The answer is, "yes". I've planned a Glenlossie week five times in the past two years and it keeps getting pushed off for something flashier. Like Auchroisk.

I've referenced today's whisky once before. At a Malt Nuts event two years ago, I tried eight Mannochmores. And, as it turned out, the second best Mannochmore was a Glenlossie.

To wit: Glenlossie and Mannochmore exist on the same plot of land. They're owned by the same folks (Haig, then UDV, then Diageo). Glenlossie is 95 years older but has a much smaller capacity than its conjoined sibling. Neither were deemed worthy of the Classic Malts series, so Diageo's only official releases of these Lossie distilleries was the Flora & Fauna collection. We have to go the indie bottlers to explore Glenlossie, and that's what I'm doing this week.

Today's Glenlossie was from a single hoggie bottled under Hunter Laing's Hepburn Choice label for K&L Wine and Spirits back in 2015. It sat on the shelf for so long that they dropped the price to $69.99. At that point I scooped up a bottle for a private whisky event.

Distillery: Glenlossie
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Label: Hepburn's Choice
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Age: 17 years (1997 - 2015)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Bottles: 281
Alcohol by Volume: 55.4%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
Its color is light gold. The nose starts with honey, lemons, cinnamon, yeast and creamy ale. After 20+ mins in the glass, the whisky releases candy corn and circus peanut notes that nearly take over the whole thing. The palate has some heat, but it's more chili oil than ethanol. It's sweet and creamy. There are dates and lemon juice. Hints of vanilla and sandalwood. A soft malty undercurrent runs throughout. Chili oil heat spices up the long finish. Ah there's the nose's lemon and honey; the palate's sandalwood. A whipped cream and vanilla trifle.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1.25tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose's candy notes expand. Vanilla marshmallows and green apples jump in. The palate is quite similar to the nose now, with all that candy. A bit of a tart bite keeps things somewhat in control. With time, vanilla and bitter oak slip in. It finishes sweet and tart. The vanilla and bitter oak arrive late.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
This is a sweetie through and through. It's not the full on winner I thought it was two years ago, mostly because the oak gets more overactive than one would expect from a refill cask. Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail (whom I actually split part of the bottle with, totally forgot about that), found the oak pretty aggressive.

But maybe because I tried it next to a far inferior whisky (to be reviewed next), there was still some thrill to this Glenlossie; mostly in the nose. It worked best for me without dilution, as water brought out the oak. If you missed out on this bottling when its price dropped, I wouldn't worry too much. Yes, one can't find single cask 17yo whisky for $70 anymore, but a great deal doesn't equal great whisky.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - had its price dropped to $69.99
Rating - 84 (neat only)

Killing Whisky History, Episode 15 - Seagram's V.O. 6yo 1962, for Grandpa Milton

My father's father passed away before I was born. A blue-collar worker for more than 40 years, Milton preferred opera on the radio over going to the movies. He only turned on the TV to watch baseball. And he drank one thing, Seagram's V.O.

Oban Cask Strength, Distillery Only (2010 bottling)

Diageo's single malt-only approach with the distillery is nice touch, but at the same time it's very frustrating because every version of Oban that hits the market sits at 43%abv. And there are no indie bottlings. So Oban's potential remains unexplored.

A rare exception to this situation was the 2013 official release of a cask strength 21 year old. That the whisky was very good was unsurprising. That the whisky cost more than twice what'd I be willing to pay for it was also unsurprising. As I mentioned in the comments of my review, the 21yo made me wish that Diageo had released something bolder than Little Bay when it came time for an NAS.

The only other way to get full strength official Oban is through a Distillery Only bottling, though they appear to produce these infrequently. Here's one that was bottled back in 2010.

Distillery: Oban
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Western Highlands
Age: ???
Maturation: probably American oak
Release year: 2010
Outturn: 8999 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 55.2%
Chillfiltered? Probably not
Caramel Colorant? Yes
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
To keep with the distillery character, the whisky's color is DiageoGold™. The nose has duos of lemons + brine and nectarines + mint. Smaller notes of flowers and incense float about. The palate is hotter than the nose and needs a lot of air before distinct notes appear. It's big on minerals, milder on bitterness and sweets. Tart lemons and grapefruits. A bit grassy. Minerals and heat continue into the finish, joining hints of fruit and flowers.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1.25tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose now has a savory side; think mushrooms and dried cheese. Fresh whole wheat bread, roasted nuts, honey and shisha. Moments of lemon zest and vanilla bean as well. The palate becomes sweeter, creamier and more approachable as well. Notes of honey and whipped cream don't pull it too far in one direction because the minerals and grass are still there, as well as a better bitterness. Sweetness, as is its habit, fades before long, and is nearly absent in the finish. A subtle smoky note also carries a peppery zing. Some herbal bitterness lingers.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
The nose is a complete joy, a good riff on a rich style of Highland malt. Meanwhile the palate dishes out a more austere(!) version of Highlands whisky, lean and rocky. The nose wins with or without water, but the palate requires dilution to unearth an additional dimension. It's fun to try Oban in a different form and I wish there were more options. Currently there's a 2018 Oban Distillery Exclusive bottling that comes from "rejuvenated" casks. Someday perhaps Diageo will take this distillery more seriously.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 86