Spirit of Freedom 30 year old blended whisky

Commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn (wherein Robert the Bruce kicked the English directly in the spotted dick), Spirit of Freedom 30 year old was one of Frank McHardy-sensei's final creations for Springbank Distillers. And I, for one, am terribly disappointed that he DIDN'T USE 700 YEAR OLD WHISKY. Whaaaaaaaat a cop out.

Spirit of Freedom arrived at UK retailers at a sensational price in 2014, and was probably the last 30 year old scotch in history to have an SRP of £75. Yes, I should have gotten a bottle while I could have, when seemingly every retailer on the planet shipped to the US, but I did not. And it took almost a decade to source a sample. Let's see how it holds up next to Wednesday's 5 year old.

(pic source)

Brand: Spirit of Freedom
Bottler: Springbank Distillers Ltd.

Type: blended whisky

Age: minimum 30 years

Contents: 75% malt / 25% grain
Maturation: bourbon and sherry casks

Bottled: 2014

Outturn: 2014 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose begins with a note of dough+apple+brine that's a direct line to the 5yo blended malt, then it improves from there. Dunnage, black walnuts, and date rolls. Burlap, oats, and honey.

Ooooooh, passionfruit and white nectarines start the palate, followed by dates, dunnage, and guava. It has a mild sweetness and good bitterness, but a watery mouthfeel.

It finishes with a flawless balance of tart and sweet. Grapefruits and dates. Some nice bitterness as well.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Sorry to disappoint everyone, but this is not 30 year old Springbank, instead its malt is from five distilleries "around Scotland". If there was Springbank present, it would have to be at least 35 years old due to the distillery's mothballed status between 1979 and 1987. And if you think there's 35+ year old Springbank in a $100 bottling, then you are PERFECT for the current whisky marketplace.

More to the point, this is delicious whisky. It's too fragile and thinly textured to be A-grade, for which the grain whisky and some underproof malt (35yo Springbank?!?!?) may be to blame. But it's still a casual delight. So fire up that time machine, folks, and pick up some bottles in 2014.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - £75 or €110 upon release
Rating - 88

Campbeltown Blended Malt 5 year old 2014 Thompson Brothers

When I review a blended malt, it's usually an old whisky. Today I'll review a wee one, all of 5 years old, from the Brothers Thompson. The label has a busy looking Japanese noodle dish (complete with Narutomaki!) and the magic word, "Campbeltown". I've never had ramen on Kintyre (or at Dornoch), but maybe someday...

This whisky toddler was fashioned from two refill hoggies, bearing single malt whiskies from at least one of the three Campbeltown distilleries, and was reduced to 50%abv, possibly for our safety.

(pic source)

Bottler: Thompson Brothers

Type: Blended (or Vatted) Malt

Distilleries: in Campbeltown

Age: 5 years (2014 - 2019)

Maturation: 2 refill hogsheads
Outturn: 816 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 50%
(thank you Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

Apple and pear juices comprise the nose's clean and bright base, with yeast, moss, and brine layered on top. Notes of anise, wood smoke, and sweaty socks develop with time.

The palate starts with lots of earth and malt, with gentler smoke and sweetness in the back. Salty and peppery Mexican chocolate and bitter orange peels complete the scene.

There's more earth and salt than smoke in the finish, with passing notes of chocolate malt, yuzu, and lemon offering softer character.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Nine times out of 10 I'll complain about whiskies bottled at 3-7 years old, but this blended malt is among the 10% exception. No one will tell you it's not "young", but its earth and fruits arrive and mingle well. The whisky is very drinkable when neat, and sold for a reasonable (in this market) sum upon its release. I do think this could have been fantastic at 2-3 times its age, but it also would have been 4-6 times the price. If you've made a highball out of this whisky, please let me know!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - €40-50?
Rating - 84

Bourbon and Rye Day Monday: Larceny Barrel Proof bourbon, batch B520

In an attempt to appear to be A Good American™, I am moving BARD Friday to BARD Monday in time for BizarroLand's birthday.

Wheated bourbon is not my thing. I've tried and tried and tried it, and all I know is that it works decently in cocktails due to all its sweetness, and that's it's main happy point for my palate. BUT, I've tried two batches of Larceny Barrel Proof, and found them to be very drinkable on their own, so I went in on a bottle split of batch B520 of Heaven Hill's Larceny Barrel Proof. Would it also be drinkable???

Brand: John E. Fitzgerald Larceny

Distillery: New Bernheim, Louisville, KY

Owner: Heaven Hill

Type: straight bourbon whiskey

Age: ???

Mashbill: 68% Corn, 20% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley (maybe)

Batch: B520

Bottled: May 2020

Alcohol by Volume: 61.1%
(from a bottle split)

I sipped it three ways:

On the rocks - It's simple, not too sweet, honeyed and floral. 👍

Diluted to 50%abv - The nose is......something else. At first one may find Manuka honey, cinnamon, flowers, and overripe bananas. But then it morphs into a very specific smell that sent me down 1990s memory lane: Potpourri bathroom spray unsuccessfully covering up a particularly dank dump. The palate is better. Cinnamon syrup and red hots candies meet flower blossoms and toasty oak spices, resulting a moderate sweet and floral mix. It finishes with bitterer oak, cinnamon, and pancake batter.

Full strength - Overripe cantaloupe leads the nose early on, with barrel char and honey in the background. Almond extract, banana pudding, and vanilla hit join after 20+ minutes. The hotter palate offers apples and pineapples in addition to all those red hots candies. Vanilla and tart cherries arrive later. The hot finish offers sour apple candy, black pepper, and tart cherries.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

It's drinkable indeed, but the nose's farty funk is not my preferred scent. There isn't a ton of vanilla, nor does barrel char dominate, which makes me think the whiskey's young, a good thing in this instance. I'm also impressed by the mellowness of its sweetness. Had I a bottle, I'd mostly use it for cocktails, with the occasional summertime on-the-rocks pour. That's probably not what it was intended for, but I'm not its intended audience.

Availability - More current batches can be found, if you can catch 'em
Pricing - All over the place, because bourbon
Rating - 80

Old Pulteney 14 year old 2004, cask 128 for TWE

After ex-bourbon casks on Monday and Wednesday, I bring ye a review of a first-fill sherry cask to wrap up this Old Pulteney week. Its color dark and ABV high, cask 128 is certainly a contemporary thing, with lots of—

Wait, how about I do the notes first before all the words words words?

Distillery: Pulteney

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands (Wick)

Age: 14 years (2004-2018)

Maturation: first-fill sherry butt

Cask #: 128

Outturn: 612 bottles

Exclusive to: The Whisky Exchange

Alcohol by Volume: 62.1%

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off with black raisins, milk chocolate, almond skins, and tar. With time, notes of butter, cinnamon raisin bread, and blueberry pie appear. It's quite the sweetie pie on the palate. Cinnamon raisin bread, brown sugar, dried blueberries, and mint leaves are all wrapped up in milk chocolate. It concludes with brown sugar syrup, sour citrus candy, and that cinnamon raisin bread.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

A different nose here: chili powder, cocoa powder, sultanas, and okonomiyaki sauce! The palate has shifted, as well, leaving behind much of the sweetness. Yes, there's plenty of milk chocolate, but there are more raw nuts, tart limes, toasty oak, and some savoriness. And the finish matches that palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though this beast is certainly a crowd pleaser at full power, I like it better once it's reduced. At cask strength, it is very sugary and completely anonymous. It's yet another sherry monster that could be from nearly any distillery in Scotland. All butt. But at 46%abv, it shifts into something much more interesting, becoming more of a thinker than a drinker.

There's a note in the nose that had me stuck for a long time......it was something I'd smelled quite a bit of recently......but not around here......then one of the few remaining functioning neurons in my skull said, "Dude, okonomiyaki." That neuron has since taken a nap and will only wake up when I return to Japan, again, someday.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85 (diluted only)

Old Pulteney 13 year old 2004, cask 244 for Warehouse Liquors

Despite the best efforts of The White Fedora, Old Pulteney never fully graduated into the big time. Yes, the 21 year old was popular for several years after its award, and the 17 year old was adored by some of us, but Young Pulteney's style isn't the sexiest thing, and the distillery hasn't issued very many dark sherried beasts, so it continues to keep its figurative head down, and not discard its long-time customer base, unlike many other distilleries and brands.

As mentioned in Monday's post, Old Pulteney released a number of single casks back in 2018-2020, most of which were from ex-bourbon vessels, and a few actually made it to The States, including today's Warehouse Liquors Chicago exclusive.

Distillery: Pulteney

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands (Wick)

Age: 13 years (2004-2018)

Maturation: ex-bourbon cask

Cask #: 244

Outturn: 246

Exclusive to: Warehouse Liquors Chicago

Alcohol by Volume: 55.2%
(Thank you to Doctors Springbank for the sample!)

NEAT

The nose reads a bit tight. Some brine here, apples there, a hint of chlorine. It does gain character with time, adding vanilla, brown sugar, and citronella candles after 30 minutes. The palate offers bright sweet notes, like orange candy and Werther's Originals. But it also has some distinctly non-food angles, like burlap, old fabric, and perfume. It finishes sweet and perfumy as well, with a cherry candy note that lingers a bit.

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

Ah, a much better nose. Apricots and peaches meet brine and bark. But the palate......all I get is bitter citrus and Tide detergent. It finishes with Tide and lemon peel.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Actually, the whisky is fine when neat. It's not complex, and it's not too oaky. Not super, but certainly suitable for sipping. Yet some sort of saponification (Ed. note: Enough alliteration already!) takes place once the whisky is diluted. Doctors Springbank, did my sample go weird? Just to be safe, treat it like a Mogwai, and don't get it wet.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81 (neat only, dilution drops it ~10 points)

Old Pulteney 16 year old 2002, cask 722

Old Pulteney had released official single casks before, but from 2018 to 2020 they seemed to toss casks out of the warehouse at a crisp rate. This week I'll be reviewing three of the casks released in 2018. And since I've already consumed all three samples, I can tell you (SPOILER ALERT) that they were quite different from each other.

There have been two cask 722s. One was a 2006 distillery-only ex-bourbon cask that tipped the scales at 62.8%abv in 2020. The other, today's whisky, was also an ex-bourbon cask but with a little more age and a little less fire.

Distillery: Pulteney

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands (Wick)

Age: 16 years (2002-2018)

Maturation: ex-bourbon cask

Cask #: 722

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 54.2%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The fruity nose offers apple juice, peach juice, and a mineral white wine in its early sniffs, picking up quieter notes of malt and lemon vinaigrette later on. Sweet and salt are in near perfect balance in the palate: apples, mint candy, a few flowers, and a touch of salted caramel. It finishes with apples, lemons, limes, and flowers.

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

Leaner, the nose has become brinier and more mineral while also adding more barley. Oh, guava and peaches on the palate. Bits of herbal bitterness, barley, raw almonds, and strawberry candy too. It finishes with guava and barley.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Simple and solid when neat, but with a more delightful palate when diluted, this OB OP is exactly what I'd hope for when buying a bottle of single cask Pulteney. The cask was dumped before the oak took over, holding onto some great fruit notes, while shedding immature rawness. On Wednesday, I'll review another, contrasting, ex-bourbon cask bottled in 2018.

Availability - Probably sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Jews & Booze 4 year old MGP Rye, The Holiday Armadillo

Another BARD for a TIRD! (Translation: Bourbon and Rye Day for a Thing I Really Drink.) And it's another Jews & Booze single barrel of MGP whiskey. This time it's rye. And this time I have plenty of pics.

All American whiskies are legally required to list the state of their distillation somewhere on their labels. So all MGP-distilled whiskies must have something like this:

I am of the religious opinion that all MGP ryes should have the above spelled out in LED lights or at least rhinestones, but for some reason the TTB hasn't responded to any of my emails on the matter. Perhaps they are discussing it in a committee. I await their response with dizzying anticipation.

Though I know that numerous American whiskey producers are playing around with oak stave finishes, I've never actually tried any such creation. But since the 95/5 MGP mashbill is the real boss hoss, I figured it could stand up to the woodwork. So I bought a bottle.

More specifically, this whiskey, named The Holiday Armadillo after a Friends Hanukkah reference, had recharred oak staves added to its barrel for the final six months of aging. See pics below for the rest of the whiskey's data.

NOTES

As a 2:1 Manhattan cocktail: It smells and tastes like a hipster bar's oak-infused Manhattan, with all the flavors perched a thick slab of toasted (not recharred) oak. It's also curiously marshmallowy. The 122 proof is kept ar bay by the Carpano Antica.

On the rocks: A real sweetie pie. Smells like milk chocolate!

Neat: Heath Bar, whole wheat bread, and toasted oak make up most of the nose for the first 15 minutes. A perfumy note moves to the fore after that. Caramel, fennel seed, and peach juice linger in the background. Hints of halvah, dried oregano, and pencil shaving arrive later. The palate is hot, tangy, and slightly nutty. Sweet oranges, creamy vanilla, and plenty of florals comprise the core. It gets sweeter and more bourbon-like with time. It finishes with sweet and tangy citrus, a little bit of vanilla, and a lot of heat.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This recharred-oak-stave finish seems to neutralize the 95/5 mashbill style, turning it into something more like a lower-rye rye. It works best in a cocktail or on the rocks, for me. The 61.04 points of alcohol have also made neat drinking a bit of a chore for this palate, and I've hit a wall with this bottle at the bottom-third mark, eight months in. Some of you fire-drinking youngsters out there would like this whiskey more than I do. For me, just Holiday Armadillo cocktails going forward.

Availability - Maybe?
Pricing - $75
Rating - 82 (see above for caveats)