The Summer Whiskies: Arran 10 year old (new label)

How about a review with a minimum of schpiel this time?  I'll keep it to the following paragraph:

Before finding a bottle of the new labelled version at price that was clearly a retailer's error, I had tried the old Arran 10yo on a few occasions and always liked it.  I continue prefer Arran in the 10-14yo range.  I've had a handful of Arrans older than that and, while none of there were bad, they all either felt muted or the cask tannins had taken over.  While I received confirmation that the recipe for the official 10 and 14 year olds had changed slightly, I don't know (or remember) how the 10 has changed.  Though I do see from my notes that some older casks were mixed in in order keep the whisky close to the old version.  All I can tell you with any confidence is that the new labelled version hit the shelves in 2014 and the whisky within the bottle comes from ex-bourbon and (mostly refill) ex-sherry casks.

I can't seem to find any of my bottle's photos, so here's
one of the glasses from the gift pack. It was utilized
for this review.

Distillery: Isle of Arran Distillery
Type: Single Malt
Ownership: Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd.
Region: Isle of Arran, Scotland
Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon and (mostly refill) ex-sherry casks
Bottling code: L11 10 14
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? No

NEAT

Official pic

The nose begins with a big note of hot cereal (think grits or cream of wheat), then that's met with lots of limes (juice and peels).  After a moment it's vanilla fudge, a note that stays for the duration.  Hints of grapefruit, metal, tar, and wet musty peat moss (if that's a thing) appear.  It's light on the oak and bigger on the spirit.  Not a showy bird, this one.  Quiet and confident, if you'll allow.  The palate is really malty, almost chocolate malty.  Then white chocolate, white peppercorns, toffee, and nutty sherry.  A sizable orange peel note appears after a few minutes, and it almost reminds me of Grand Marnier without the sweets.  Light on the vanilla and caramel.  After 30 minutes, there's a graceful balance of flower blossoms and bitterness.  There's a hint of the white chocolate note in the finish, as well as the orange peel.  A little bit of tobacco from the sherry.  A nice fizzy bitterness (Campari and soda?).

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose is very similar.  More lime, no peat.  Lots of cereal, little oak.  Vanilla fudge.  Maybe some ginger ale and rose blossoms.  The palate gets very zesty and peppery with some buttery toffee at the edges.  Lots of barley.  Still has that bright bitterness.  Hints of sherry in the creamy finish, along with a slight mineral note.  It still has that fizzy bitterness.

It's funny, I opened this whisky as my easy drinking summer malt, but I clearly forgot that it can be pretty complex.  It is a good sipper, but it's not a background drink you pour to ignore.  It has some angles to it and can be austere (yes, the 'A' word) at times.  I know that a lot of whisky geeks rave about Benromach as THE under-appreciated 10yo -- and that is a good whisky -- but Arran 10 should be kept in mind as well.  The price range listed below may look a bit high, but Arran 10 year old's average price in the US is equal to Macallan's, $2 lower than Laphroaig's, and $7 lower than Benromach's.  That's the going rate, folks.

Availability - Most liquor specialists
Pricing - $45-$55
Rating - 86

The Problem with Power's Gold Label Irish Whiskey

John Power & Sons and I

I've viewed Power's Gold Label through a pair of particularly rose-tinted spectacles for thirteen years.  Built into Power's are a lot of sentimental connections and sense memories as it has always reminded me of an intense part of my life and a number of lovely experiences surrounding that time.  Three and a half years ago (my god has it been that long?), I posted a review of the version of Power's I knew best.  It is the whisk(e)y I've purchased the most often in this life.

But as of mid-2013, the Gold Label I knew was no longer.  A new Gold Label with a new label, bottle shape, and higher ABV replaced it.  Usually irked by new versions of good things, I actually found myself looking forward to this change.  Then I saw its new price.  The alcohol content went up 3.2 points -- from 40% to 43.2% -- which is an increase of 8%.  The price (in California) had jumped from $17.99 to $29.99, an increase of 67%.

The fall of Power's

That was enough of a hike to make even me, one of this whiskey's champions, take pause.  I didn't buy it for almost two years.  I didn't see any reason why I should pay $30 for my $18 whiskey.  Meanwhile on the business side, the $18 whisk(e)y market and the $30 whisk(e)y market are two different things, and I wasn't confident of the wisdom of Pernod's decision to move Power's to another market.  Nor did I see or hear any PR push to inspire people to pay 67% more for it nor to get the new demographic to buy it at all.  And it appears as if the market has spoken...

Volume sales dropped 5% in 2013 when the new version was introduced mid-year in the US.  Though that doesn't seem like much, consider that the other six leading Irish whiskey brands increased their volume sales 18% that year.  Then in 2014, the first full year this new edition was on the shelves, the volume sales of Power's dropped another 30%.  Adding it all up, since this new Power's was released the brand's volume sales have sunk 33% in the US, while the other six leading Irish whiskey brands' volume sales have risen by 28%.  That's probably not good.

I assume that Pernod Ricard was attempting to ride the coattails of the legitimate Irish whisky boom (volume sales up nearly 50% in 2014 compared to 2011), by releasing what they thought was a premium blend, something that was a step up from Jameson's.  Quality-wise, Power's has always been better than Jameson's, perhaps due to its focus on pot still whiskey versus Jameson's focus on grain whiskey.  In the end, it's the dollars that matter to Pernod, of course.  And though I don't have the official $ numbers, if I use winesearcher's average prices (rather than my anecdotal ones) with the Impact Databank table for 2012 through 2014, the value drop is 13%.  Yes, the price increase padded the blow, but didn't stop it.  Meanwhile, the rest of the brands have ascended.

But does it taste good?

So......about that whole quality thing.  How about a review?  It was one of my Summer Whiskies and all that.

Distillery: Midleton
Brand: Powers
Current Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Age: likely minimum 3 years
Bottle code: L42861517313:18
Alcohol by Volume: 43.2%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Probably

The color is the same well-engineered bright gold of its predecessor.  The nose begins with orange blossoms, vanilla bean, and paint.  Then honeydew, cantaloupe, and pears.  Aerosol can propellant and brown sugar.  The palate is loaded with milk caramels.  Then creamsicles and toffee pudding.  Flan.  More caramel than vanilla.  A small cracked pepper note here and there.  Despite all of those dessert notes, it's not as sweet as the Elmer T. Lee I reviewed yesterday.  Salted caramel gelato on the finish.  Vanilla pudding up front and a tart citrus note in the back.  A spicy tingle and a good length.

The good news.  It's still Power's!  They didn't ruin it.  Those were my first thoughts upon my first sip of my first glass from this bottle.  While the nose can be a bit rough at times (as it used to be), the palate is very good (as it used to be).  I think there may be a little more fruit in the nose and the finish might be a little longer than before.

The bad news.  It's still Power's.  It doesn't deliver anything new, despite the extra ABV points and the lack of chillfiltration, despite the new design, despite the much higher price.  And to be honest, that was disappointing.  (Yes, I would have been more disappointed if they'd turned out a completely different lesser product, burying the old Power's forever.)  And while I usually try to savor a whiskey for what it is despite the price, I think the disappointment snuck in and tainted my enjoyment of Power's a little bit.  I started wondering if I was smelling the chemical notes stronger in this version.  Were the caramel notes beginning to overwhelm the rest of the package?  Or have I changed as a whiskey fan over the past two years?

Ultimately, this remains the best non-ultra-premium blend coming from Midleton and probably the best non-ultra-premium Irish whiskey blend overall (though I haven't tried any of Teeling's new things).  So, yes, it probably should be more expensive than Jameson, Paddy's, Bushmills White, 2 Gingers, and Tullamore Dew.  And yes, it's much tastier neat than any bottom (and many middle) shelf Scotch blends.  The thing is though, at $18 Power's was an incredible deal, a bottle I'd always have on hand.  At $30, it's just one of many options.

Availability - Specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $27-$36 for the new label, the old one can sometimes be found at its old price
Rating - 83

The Summer Whiskies: Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Straight Bourbon (2015)

At some point in the Earth's history, September and October became LA's hottest months.  I really think this happened within the last five to ten years because I don't remember this being the case when I lived here from 1996-2003.  Or maybe I didn't notice it.  But now that I am older and crankier, and can sweat standing still in a snowstorm, not only do I notice this extended heat, but I find this whole situation bullshit.

Anyway, the "summer" I'm referring to in the reviews this week follows the whole solstice-to-equinox fascist measurement.  Lucky old sun my ass.

For casual drinking, I tend to drink more bourbon and beer during the summer than I do during the rest of the year.  They tend to wash over the palate, settle in the stomach, and work with my cracked-out thermoregulation system best during hot days.  Last year my go to bourbon was Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel.  This year my go to bourbon was......Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel.  The ETL was at some point in the recent past easier to come by and commonly priced at $30 or less.  Now its allocations (in America) are getting smaller and people are attempting to flip their bottles for twice or thrice its old price.  I have a little secret shop where I can readily find Elmer, though the bottle's price did go up 10% this year.

Named after the father of single barrel bourbons, Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Straight Bourbon is one of the higher-rye bourbons in Buffalo Trace's portfolio, part of the Age International family, along with Ancient Age and Blanton's.  Like Blanton's, Elmer T. Lee is bottled from individual barrels.  But unlike Blanton's (yet just like Eagle Rare) there is no notation of barrel number or any other helpful information.  Just the bottling code if you can find it.  Thus you can't track down another bottle from a barrel you like, so all preferences, recommendations, and reviews are that much more pointless.

So here's a review!

Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Brand: Elmer T. Lee
Region: Kentucky, USA
Type: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age: unknown
Mashbill: Buffalo Trace #2 (higher-rye; about 15%)
Bottle Code: B1505421:29K
Alcohol by volume: 45%

I didn't intend to do a whole "life of a whiskey bottle" post with this one but I had somewhat different experiences at the top and middle of the bottle.  So, I'll list the notes here, then summarize below.

TOP OF THE BOTTLE
Nose - It starts with sweet corn, caramel sauce, cotton, and paint. Slightly minty. It doesn't seem to have much stamina in the glass, getting more candied and woody but otherwise fades out at 30 minutes. But at 40 minutes it suddenly gets very pretty and floral, full of limes.
Palate - Peppery with a mild corn & cherry sweetness.  Some rye spices and hazelnut liqueur.  Vanilla simple syrup with mint.  The oak feels more toasted than charred.
Finish - Sweet with cherry soda syrup, vanilla, mint candy, and ripe banana.  Again the oak feels toasted rather than charred.

Then...

MIDDLE OF THE BOTTLE
Nose - Robotussin, black cherry syrup, and cinnamon sticks.  Juicy Fruit gum at first, bubblegum later.  Brown sugar, split lumber, and furniture polish.  After 15 minutes, vanilla shows up.
Palate - So many sweets: brandied cherries, brown sugar, and orange slice candies.  Then some rye-like spice shows up (nutmeg and pepper), and the orange candies become orange peels.  A hints of corn and bitterness.
Finish - Sweet but milder than palate. Long and sticky. Bubblegum, cherries, brown sugar, corn syrup, and orange peel. A spicy zing of cayenne pepper and ginger.

I found the bourbon to be a little quirky but also a little boring at the top of the bottle, nowhere nearly as interesting as my bottle from last year.  So it actually took three months to get to the middle of this bottle.  Now at this point it has brightened up considerably.  It's become much sweeter, but also has minimal vanilla, caramel, and corn.  It also works very well in cocktails and highballs.  Comparing it to its older sib, Blanton's, I'd say it's sweeter but less spicy.  Normally, I don't have a sweet tooth when it comes to whisk(e)y but this one works for me.

So, if you can find it for $40 or less, then I could theoretically recommend this sweet little number.  I've listed the bottle code in the information above, otherwise it's impossible to know what barrel you and I are buying.  Meanwhile, if you see it for $100+ please enjoy the laugh and don't mourn too much for what you've missed.  There are plenty of other bourbons in the sea.

Availability - Scarce
Pricing - all over the damned place, from $30 to $130
Rating - 85

Single Malt Report: GlenDronach 8 year old 'The Heilan'

Speaking of young whisky to be appreciated now, I just tried this one last night...

...and decided to call my second audible (both Glendronachs, actually) in two weeks.  I had tried this whisky as part of an OC Scotch Club tasting that I led in July, but didn't really register it then since we were outdoors in 95 degree heat and there were cigars all around.  A lot of people, many of them new to whisky, liked this one the best -- even more than the 33yo Bunnahahbain.

'The Hielan' replaces the 8yo 'Octarine' in GlenDronach's range.  This new whisky is (I think) the first member of the regular range that is made entirely from spirit distilled by the current owners, the BenRiach Distillery Company.  Two elements about this whisky I liked from the start: 1.) Like the Octarine, it has ex-bourbon casks in the mix.  The rest of the official range is made up entirely of ex-sherry casks.  And since Glendronach indies are rare, it's difficult to chase down anything but very sherried 'Dronachs.  Yes, sherried 'Dronachs are often quite swell, but my two experiences with ex-bourbon cask 'Dronach indies were also very positive.  2.) The producers give this starter malt the same presentation as its older siblings: 46%abv, no chilfiltering, and no colorant.  So -- as I often like to say -- there's more whisky in my whisky.  In fact I'm making that my catchphrase.

Let's give this newbie a spin.

Distillery: GlenDronach
Ownership: BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd
Region: Eastern Highlands (on the edge of Speyside)
Age: minimum 8 years old
Maturation: ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltration? No
Added Colorant? No
(Thanks to OCSC for the sample!)

Its color is the lightest gold I've ever seen on a Glendronach official bottling.  The nose is freshly grainy and even a little yeasty, lots of malt.  A hint of savoury herbs.  White stone fruits and milk chocolate.  Small notes of pine sap and peat moss.  A slight ethyl prickle.  Hints of Cow Tails candy and hot carpet.  Cookies in the palate, though light on the vanilla.  Then a burst of pipe tobacco.  Milky hot cocoa, then very dark chocolate.  Some peppery heat on top and a zesty bitterness underneath.  Maybe a little bit of toffee and tart fruit.  In the finish there's a huge hot cocoa note.  S'mores.  Roasted things (malt and nuts).  A citrusy tang.  Thick creamy dessert things minus the sugar.  Not a complex finish but has some decent stamina, especially the hot cocoa part.

Though this isn't the deepest whisky, it's a good bold drink.  The milky hot cocoa thing was so loud (and enjoyable) that I had to see if anyone else experienced something like it.  Luckily most folks do reference milk chocolate and MALT.  So much malt.  Together the milky chocolate and malt shine much brighter than the vanilla note.

Almost as impressive as its quality is its price of €30-35 in Europe.  If 'The Hielan' does make it to The States and the distributor can find it in their cold hearts to price the whisky at $30-35, then we're looking at a significant development.  There are very few age-stated whiskies at that price range now, and even fewer that are of any sort of quality.  But knowing GlenDronach's US distributor's pricing history, they'll put it at $50 and they'll lose me.

But anyway, for other opinions check out Serge's review and also Ruben from whiskynotes.  Though Serge digs this stuff, Ruben finds it "much too malty" and is disappointed by its lack of sherry.  Those are the very reasons I like it.

Availability - Europe only, as of the date of this review

Pricing - €30-35

Rating - 85

The Life of a Whisky Bottle: Port Charlotte PC7 Sin An Doigh Ileach

Quick history
From approximately 1829 to 1929, the town of Port Charlotte (two miles south of Bruichladdich) was home to an active Lochindaal Distillery.  In honor of this late neighbor, Bruichladdich distillery named its new heavily peated (40ppm) malt whisky, Port Charlotte.  For eight years, 2006-2014, 'Laddie released large cask strength batches of Port Charlotte, naming them them 'PC'.  The number following the 'PC' was the age of the single malt.  Thus the series went from PC5 to PC12.  Around 2010, lower priced and lower ABV versions of Port Charlotte started to appear on the market with names like An Turas Mor and The Peat Project, along with an official 46%abv 10 year old.  Recently all of these have been replaced with the NAS Port Charlotte Scottish Barley bottling.

The once and not really future Port Charlotte Distillery
Though there was official discussion and a lot of rumors regarding the Bruichladdich ownership building an actual Port Charlotte distillery, most of that talk went silent once Remy Cointreau bought the company.  They may actually own the land to build the distillery, but according to the official website, "no decisions on the future of the old site have yet been taken."  I don't think anyone should keep his hopes up for this distillery being built this decade, if at all, because two stills which had been intended for use at the distillery to be were sold to Bruichladdich's former owner's new distillery in Ireland.  But because I don't want to leave you saddened, just know that a new small independent Islay distillery, Gartbreck, started production this year.

And now, my bottle
It's Autumn and I'm finally getting around to reviewing one of my winter whiskies, the PC7.  My other big winter whisky, a Ledaig 15yo bottled in 2001, received its review in August.  I bought my PC7 back in 2013 when some of the PCs could still be had for just under $100.  Now they can't be.  It was nice knowin' ye, PC.  Anyway, I'd tried this whisky previously and liked it enough to dump that chunk of credit card into a 7 year old whisky.  When I opened the bottle eight months ago, I kinda hoped I still liked it.

This sticker was on the bottom of the tin. I noticed
it was covering something up...

Hiding under the label, this is what was actually printed
on the tin bottom.

A nice proletariat glamour photo on the side of
the tin. But is The Worker really going to
spend £100 on a bottle of whisky?

Like with the Ledaig, I took samples from the top third, mid-third, and bottom third of the bottle, in January, early March, and April.  Like with the Ledaig, I'm tasting various points of the bottle at the same time in order to compare and see how much it changed in the bottle.  And just to clarify, I tried the uncut versions against each other, and then later compared the reduced versions.

Distillery: Bruichladdich
Brand: Port Charlotte

Ownership: Remy Cointreau

Region: Islay

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Maturation: probably ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks (as per Serge)

Age: 7 years
Distilled: 2001
Bottled: October 25, 2008 
PPM: 40

Alcohol by Volume: 61.0%
Limited release: bottle 23442 of 24000

This bottle's usage:
40% - Swaps and shares
0% - Whisky experiments
20% - Graded tastings
40% - Casual drinking

---

FIRST THIRD OF BOTTLE, January 2015
NEAT:
Nose - First it's peat cinders, toasted sesame seeds, raspberries, and hot tar.  Then it gets a little bready.  A hint of cheese.  Dark cherries.  It gets farmier with lots of time in the glass
Palate - The leavings of a forest fire.  Peated raspberries.  Talisker's pepper, but squared or cubed, like red pepper flakes.  Anise and hay.  A very keen sweetness that never goes overboard.
Finish - Very big and very salty. Charred meat crumbs and mushrooms.  Hay and anise.

REDUCED TO ~50%abv:
Nose - Farmier and cheesier.  Salted smoked meat.  Caramel and greenish peat notes.  There are some stinky socks in there but also berry shisha and molasses candy.
Palate - Big on pepper.  Slightly sugary peat without the berries but with a little more anise.
Finish - But now it gets more berried(!), think cherry gelato.  And in comes a rush of cinnamon candy.

---

MIDDLE THIRD OF BOTTLE, early March 2015
NEAT:
Nose - Less tar and sesame, more fruit, more grassiness.  A bit of melon and a fruity tea.  Tires, orange peel, and caramel sauce.  I think the peat sniffs a little mossier.
Palate - A very rich syrup of peat + cinnamon + brown sugar + pepper + salt.  Smaller notes of orange and vanilla.  Less of the berries.
Finish - Pepper first.  Then salt, dusty peat, and anise.  Maybe some prunes.  This is the hottest it reads during the tasting.

REDUCED TO ~50%abv:
Nose - Again fruitier and grassier than the top third.  Prettier too, with strawberries, cherries, and honeydew.  Also hella peat.
Palate - Pretty much perfect.  Crossing off that shitty tasting note.  Okay, the syrup has softened, balanced out by a slight bitterness.  Fruit punch without the sugar.  And there's even a hint of barley peeking through the covers.
Finish - Gets sweeter now.  The sugars ride the peat into a pink sunset. <---???

---

BOTTOM THIRD OF BOTTLE, late April 2015
NEAT:
Nose - Salty sea.  Toasty nuts/seeds/grains.  Sage smudge, leather coat, a frappuccino-ish thing, and a hint of yeast.  The mossy peat remains strong throughout.
Palate - Basically the same as the middle third.  Maybe some more cherries and a hint of bitterness.
Finish - Peat first, cinders and ash.  Then tangerines, nuts, some sweetness, and a bitter nip.

REDUCED TO ~50%abv:
Nose - Similar pretty honeydew note from the mid-third.  Peat smoked almonds.  More vanilla bean and a bit of farm.
Palate - Similar to the middle third.  Perhaps more fruit and peat.  Dark chocolate.
Finish - Tobacco and bitter coffee, but the sweet berries remain.

---

Observation #1: With the pepper and berries and anise, and its massive and (esoterically) dark style, PC7 is the Petite Sirah of whisky.

Observation #2: A not inconsiderable amount of PC7 was consumed for this review, but it was stretched out over two hours.

Observation #3: While I would love to drop some hate on an expensive young product, I just can't here.  This is excellent whisky.  Though my notes make each pour appear to be very different, most of the time the differences were subtle.  And, I'm happy to say that I liked each iteration.  Great with water, great without.  Great at the bottle top, great at the base.

Observation #4: Not too long ago, there were a number of young but very good whisky brands -- Kilkerran, Kilchoman, and Port Charlotte -- about which so many people ended their reviews with "I can't wait to see how great this is when it's 12 years old!"  I may have been part of that group a couple of times, but then I realized that these were great whiskies right now.  While WIP #2 is my favorite of the Kilkerrans, that brand remains consistently excellent.  I do yearn to try older Kilchoman but it's out of my fascination about what happens to this malt whisky, purposely designed to be good young, when it gets older.  What if it doesn't necessarily get be better at 8+ years old?  And then there's Port Charlotte.  The older it got, the more expensive it became, until they gutted the age statement and watered it down.  I've had The Peat Project, An Turas Mor, the 10yo, and Scottish Barley.  None of them are in the same league as the PC7 (or the PC6 or PC8).  Again, this isn't to say that whisky in general is getting worse (that's for another post), but perhaps we should appreciate what we've got now because we have no idea what happens next.

Availability - Used to be the easiest PC to obtain, but now it's been mostly obtained

Pricing - was $90-$100 as recently as two years ago, is now $150-$200 in the US and much more expensive in Europe

Rating - 91

A week of wut? Teemu's Mystery Spirit sample

Earlier this year I had the distinct pleasure of completing a sample swap with Finland's own Mr. Whisky Science himself: Teemu S.  If you haven't gone to Whisky Science yet, you should leave this post right now and go there.  You will learn something there.  Comparatively, this blog don't learn you nothing good.

Anyway, when I received my parcel I discovered what I thought was an error......there were too many bottles.  Oh shoot, had I accidentally requested a higher number than I had thought?  And the extra one had no label.  Turns out, the extra sample was purposeful.

MK's email: What is the 7th mystery dram???
Teemu's email: For me to know and for you to find out.. I'll tell after you have tasted it.

Of course, just then Southern California was hit with a 90-95ºF heat wave.  But I couldn't wait, a week later I tried it and send him my notes.

MK's email: The nose is full of bourbony goodness. Vanilla and butterscotch. Minty menthol, anise, and ripe banana. Hints of charred meat, butter, and buttermilk pancakes. My empty glass has a maple syrup thing going on. The palate is less sweet than the nose leads on. A little woody and salty, but still some corn syrup and creamed corn. A little bit of spice, menthol, and (maybe?) sweet basil. Pretty lengthy finish. Sea salt, caramel, and slightly dusty.  I'm going to go with my nose and say it's bourbon. The nose reminds me of my favorite old-style bourbon by the defunct National Distillers. If it's a current bourbon, I'd be pretty excited.

Yes, sadly, I email my notes in a similar fashion to the way I post them on this site.  But how close was I?  This was good stuff, especially the nose!  Teemu responded quickly:

Teemu's email: Your notes are spot on, very much a "sugarfree heavyhitting spicy bourbon"
It is actually a great old rum.
Albion Velier 1994/2011 casks 7100-7103, distilled in a wooden coffey still in Demerara.
Very much a whisky drinker's rum.
This is "a light young version" of Albion ;)

Well, shoot.  When I drank the second half of the sample, four months later, I found a little more molasses in the nose and palate, but it was never a sugar bomb.  Judge me as you'd like, but I liked this Albion better than the majority of whiskies (and definitely better than any bourbon) I've tried this calendar year.

There's a good reason why a number of prominent whisky bloggers are now reviewing non-whisky aged spirits (or malternatives).  Okay, two good reasons.  Firstly, whisky prices have ascended quickly while the quality has at best remained the same.  Secondly, the universe of hedonistic pleasure gleaned from spirits doesn't end at whisk(e)y.  In fact, there's a lot of sensory overlap between aged rums, brandies, mezcals, and whiskies.  Many of us have been ruined by the goopy sweet bestseller rums, the Korbels and Martels of the brandy shelves, and J. Cuervo.  Had we written off whisky after only drinking Dewar's White and Johnnie Red, then we wouldn't currently be in the middle of our personal whisky voyages.

That's just something I'll ponder for now.  While I doubt there will be any non-whisky reviews this year, I cannot say I'll never go that route...

A week of wut? A GlenDronach single cask goes fakakta

Three months ago, I reviewed my bottle of GlenDronach 10yo 2002 Virgin Oak Hogshead #4530.  I gave it an 83 rating, declared it Scottish Bourbon, and noted that the cask influence was pleasant.

At that time (early June), the bottle which had been open for two months was at its halfway point.  But ever since I got to its bottom third (early August), it's become less and less enjoyable.  I'm reminded of a quote from a wise whisky friend from Irvine who once said of an open bottle that lingered and lingered in the cabinet, "It's just so much fucking work."  My bottle of GlenDronach has become just so much fucking work to drink.  So I thought it best to review it a second time.

The final four ounces of oak...

Distillery: GlenDronach
Ownership: BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd
Age: 10 years (June 2002- October 2012)
Maturation: Virgin Oak Hogshead
Region: Eastern Highlands (on the edge of Speyside)
Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%
Cask: 4530 (selected by The Nectar Belgium)
Limited bottling: 298

NEAT
Color -- Dark gold.  That hasn't changed.
Nose -- All bourbon. Or should I say, all oak.  More sawdust than vanilla.  Wood varnish.  Imitation mint extract.  A slight nuttiness, like hazelnuts or Nutella or praline.
Palate -- A slab of bitter oak is the first guest to the party and the last to leave.  Some aromatic wood notes as well.  Vanilla.  Lots of salt and sour lemon.
Finish -- Vanilla and caramel.  Sawdust and heat.  The sour lemon shifts to vinegar.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Nose -- This trims off the rougher oak parts, but is otherwise a load of vanilla, caramel, and barrel char.  Smaller notes of nuts and brine.
Palate -- Very bitter, salty, and oddly sweet.  It's like the many off-kilter craft bourbons that have been bottled too young after being aged in tiny barrels.  Like liking a stave.
Finish -- Sour, salty, and bitter.  Also vanilla.

And, may I add, it's even bitterer on the rocks.  As you can see from my notes, adding water isn't a good idea, so I still prefer it neat.  If "prefer" is the right word.  The nose is still somewhat recommendable for those who are bourbon fans.  Meanwhile, the difficult palate is all I can think of right now.

For my fellow completists, I'll also add that I never applied any Private Preserve, but I did decant the whisky into an 8 ounce bottle, and then later into a 4 ounce bottle, hoping the decanting would help it out.  It did not.  Perhaps oxidation is responsible for the degradation?  The bottle was opened five months ago and was best at the start and still good at the midpoint.  So, I suppose I'd recommend that the bottle be consumed within three months or less before things start to fall apart.  Or maybe there's something to these single Glendronach VO casks that doesn't work for me, since I also did not care for cask #4525.  In any case, I have no interest in trying any more of these VO single casks, ever.

And one final note for those who obtained a sample of this from me, please know that yours did not come from this last third of the bottle.

Availability - Auctions?

Pricing - I bought it for €59 (€49 w/o VAT)

Rating - 73