Single Malt Report: Dailuaine 16 year old Flora and Fauna

Dailuaine is one of the older working distilleries in Scotland, having been built in 1852 by William Mackenzie.  It remained in the family for 63 years, by then picked up Talisker along the way, the company calling its Dailuaine-Talisker Company Ltd.  In 1916, it was bought by a trio of blenders: James Buchanan & Co., John Dewar & Sons, and Johnnie Walker & Sons (of whom you may have heard).  The next year a fire forced the distillery to close.  It reopened in 1920, and then was bought by DCL (proto-Diageo) in 1925.

Today, Dailuaine is one of Diageo's giant malt-for-blends (especially Johnnie Walker), with its only official releases coming via the Expensive Releases and the Flora and Fauna series.  It's a shame (as with most of Diageo's distilleries) that there isn't a regular release showcasing this distillery's good spirit.  Indie teenage Dailuaines haven't failed me yet, and there were some high quality ones released by Berry Bros. & Rudd in The States over the past few years.

Distillery: Dailuaine
Ownership: Diageo
Range: Flora and Fauna
Region: Speyside (Central)
Age: at least 16 years
Maturation: unknown, though there seems to be a sizable ex-sherry cask content
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? Probably
Caramel Colorant? Probably
Thanks to Tetris for donating his MoM sample to Diving for Pearls!

Its color is a very dark gold, like a bourbon.  Very fruity sherry leads off the nose with black grapes, raisins, and grape jam.  Some orange oil, pound cake, and a bit of malt roll in next. After 20+ minutes in the glass, it develops an American cheese note and a whiff of sulphur.  The palate starts of VERY herbal, like almost hot oregano / marijuana.  Bold notes of dark chocolate, anise, and petit sirah push through and take the lead a few minutes later.  After 20 minutes, its peppercorns, burlap, and tart fruit candy.  It has a decent texture to it, considering the DiageoTreatment™ it has received.  The finish picks up some more sweetness.  It remains herbal and grassy (as in lawn-y, not weed-y) with a good bitterness.  Hints of grapefruits, roses, and peppercorns here and there.

COMMENTARY:
Well, that was a nice surprise.  Usually the F&F series serves as only a bittersweet reminder of what could be, though doing so with whiskies that are only just above mediocre in quality.  But this Dailuaine is actually bitter and sweet and very good, which sort of makes its existence even more more bittersweet than usual.  Its sherry character brightens it up while still letting a slightly crazy spirit show through, ultimately landing a solid finish.  I believe that if they put this out as is (watered down, colored, and filtered of course), without a sexy perfume bottle, as another member of the Classic Malts, then this would be a big hit at $70 (the F&F's price w/o VAT).  But I'm assuming we'd get an NAS rejuvenated oak cask Dailuaine long before that.  Until then, sherried whisky fans have the Flora & Fauna 16yo.

Availability - Europe only
Pricing - $65-$80 (w/o VAT)
Rating - 86

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday! - Tom's Foolery Bonded Ohio Straight Bourbon

Every Friday will now be Bourbon and Rye Day Friday at Diving for Pearls.  U-S-A!  U-S-A!  We may be embarrassed by our current election, but we mustn't be ashamed about (some) of our liquor.  Since I've just moved to Ohio, I'm going to start with a bourbon distilled (really!) by an Ohioan.

Tom Herbruck and his distillery are located in Chagrin Falls, about a two hour drive north of here.  Tom and his foolery started out with apple brandy -- he still has a bonded applejack out here that I'd really like to try next -- but once he purchased (the original) Michter's pot still, he started distilling bourbon.  Recently the current iteration of Michter's paid him big bucks for that pot still, so he's now distilling from an alembic still.  My assumption is that means the resulting bourbon spirit will change.  In any case, today's bourbon was from that old pot still.

What sets Tom apart from many craft distillers, aside from the pot still and bonded warehouse, is that he uses full-sized 53 gallon (200 liter) barrels for his bourbon.  So no tiny barrel f**kery with this one.  Because his unheated warehouse is in northern Ohio, its climate is different than that of Kentucky, thus it will mature differently than most Kentucky bourbons.  I have no idea what sort of results that creates.  Time to find out.

Distillery: Tom's Foolery
Type: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Region: Chagrin Falls, OH
Age: 4 years (2012-2016)
Batch: 2
Mash Bill: Seeing some conflicting info on this, but it is 12-13% rye.  I'll update when I know more.
Limited release: 5 barrels, 1200+ bottles
Alcohol by volume: 50%
Thank you to The Whiskey Jug for the sample!

TASTING NOTES:

The nose doesn't have much oak, but is instead loaded with spirit.  Cassia cinnamon and mint at first.  It calms down after 10-15 minutes.  Curiously, it smells more of wheat and barley than corn.  Frosted flakes (current version), then fennel seed.  A slight funky mushroom-meets-honey note.  The palate comes across more adventurous than the average crafty.  Lots of cinnamon and mint, of course, but also horseradish and soil.  It's a little drying and salty, but has a nice bright bitter note.  Hints of cherries and fenugreek.  The finish has that fun herbal bite, along with the cinnamon buzz.  It's not sweet, but is minty fresh and a little salty.  Hints of caramel and horseradish.

IMPRESSIONS:

This one was a puzzler.  Aside from the cinnamon and mint, it didn't come across as what one would expect from a bourbon.  It's a little herbal, earthy, and bitter.  And it kinda grew on me.  My first sniff announced, "Uh. Uh oh."  By the last sip, I was all, "Yeah, that actually works."  It's not going to please everyone, but if "a little herbal, earthy, and bitter" sounds like your thing, then it just might do it for you.  At the very least, it sets itself apart from much of the rest of the craft bourbon market.  At its best, I find it better than McKenzie, Smooth Ambler Contradiction, Garrison Cowboy, and everything coming from Hudson.

As Sku noticed, the bourbon needs a little air before it really wakes up.  Whisky Jug liked it better than I, but Scotch Noob less so.  It's still available at some shops in the Midwest, though K&L has sold through in California.  The price is a bit steep, but the whiskey does have some age to it and is of an actual limited quantity.  Also every purchase supports an Ohio small business that creates quality products.  Now I'm just going to cash this check from the Chagrin Chamber of Commerce...

Availability - The United States of the Midwest
Pricing - $50-$55
Rating - 80

Single Malt Report: Glen Keith 21 year old 1992 Archives, cask 120599

Ah what the heck, here's another Glen Keith, one that's still available at the moment I am typing these words.  It was bottled by the Whiskybase crew under their Archives label, as part of their The Fishes of Samoa series, and has a big orange fish on the label.

I think these two samples were included for free in two different orders I did with Whiskybase a couple years ago.  These bonuses were much appreciated since my experience with Archives' single casks has been very positive.  They were so appreciated that I never drank them, until now.

Distillery: Glen Keith
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Archives
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: 21 years old (October 1992 - March 2014)
Maturation: ex-bourbon barrel
Cask#: 120599
Alcohol by Volume: 51.5%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The nose is very malty with delicate fruit and flower notes, like roses and apples.  There's moderate rubber cement note (a good thing for my fellow huffers).  With time it picks up some big bourbon barrel notes; a combo of vanilla, caramel, toffee pudding, and furniture polish.  The crowdpleaser of a palate is mostly malt and peaches.  Maybe some Juicy Fruit gum and vanilla.  Mildly sweet, slightly floral.  It finishes with canned peaches in syrup and vanilla.  A little bit of heat.  Though simple in structure, it has good length.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose is nuttier and more floral now.  The rubber cement note has been tamed to a more moderate gluey one.  Oooh, tangerines.  Sometimes feels like a dusty ND-era bourbon with vanilla + butterscotch + furniture polish.  The palate is oddly hotter, sharper, narrower.  It closed rather than opened.  It's tart and a little bitter.  Some vague fruit notes and vanilla.  The finish is sweeter, candied.  Vanilla and flowers.

IMPRESSIONS:
Definitely similar at heart to yesterday's Glen Keith, sweet and fruity.  This one's palate is a little more straightforward, while its nose is more active.  I recommend it neat because though the nose improves, the palate worsens.  When neat, this is an easy pleaser, probably what many folks think of as classically Speyside.

This the first Archives bottling I've sampled that did not inspire me to want to run out (to Rotterdam) and buy a bottle.  It's still a good whisky, but I wonder if there's a ceiling for mid-aged Glen Keith.  I've had four in total and they're all in the B-/B grade range.  That's not an insult, the consistency is admirable.

Availability - Whiskybase shop
Pricing - €76 w/o VAT
Rating - 85

Single Malt Report: Glen Keith 15 year old 1995 Signatory cask #171183

Glen Keith was 14 years dead until 2013.  Seagrams had shut down its production in 1999, then sold it to Pernod Ricard (via Chivas Regal) two years later.  During Seagrams ownership (1957-1999), the company tested out both triple distillation and peated whisky in attempts to create ingredients for its blends.  Upon its reopening under Pernod, the distillery is now loaded with new equipment which more than doubles its old capacity.  While I assume the vast majority will be headed to blends like Chivas and Ballantine's (thus with less experimentation in the works) I do hope they consider bringing an official aged single malt to the market in the next decade.  In the meantime, we must explore the independently bottled releases.

And this just happens to be another one of the Glens I haven't reviewed previously.  And another sample from Mr. Florin!

Distillery: Glen Keith
Ownership: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: 15 years
Distillation year: 1995
Maturation: Hogshead
Cask#: 171183
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The color is a reassuring light amber.  The fruit basked of a nose holds bananas, apricots, pears, peaches, and apple juice.  A lot of apple juice, actually.  There's also some vanilla pudding and a hint of yeast.  The palate is a sweetie with big notes of sweet tea, honey, rock candy, and cream soda.  There are also medium notes of malt and fresh ginger.  The finish is sweet, long, and pleasant.  It has a spicy zing, that may actually be the fresh ginger.  A little bit of fruit punch in there too.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose is subtler.  The apple juice remains, but there's also orange candy, anise, and hints of sage and thyme.  The palate remains sugary, malty.  Lots of honey, a few flowers.  Cream soda and molasses.  The sweet and spicy finish has noticeable notes of honey and apples.

COMMENTARY:
A very sweet single malt that treads the thin line of enough and too much, this Glen Keith is a knockout compared to yesterday's Glenturret, but is really just a solid low-oak sweet fruiter when compared to the rest of the single malt world.  There used to be a number of these Glen Keith Signatory single casks lingering on US retailers' shelves, but they've been mostly snapped up.  If you've opened your bottle, let me know in the comment section below what you think of it.

Availability - Maybe a handful of US retailers have one of these GK Signatory UCFs
Pricing - $70-$80
Rating - 84

Single Malt Report: Glenturret 10 year old (2014)

The Edrington Group has designated Glenturret distillery as the home of Famous Grouse blended whisky.  Thus one can go to Glenturret get The Famous Grouse Experience.  I reckon the cheaper path to The Famouse Grouse Experience is via a $20 liter bottle at Trader Joe's, but what do I know?  Glenturret distillery only produces 340K litres a year which is about 1/32nd that of Macallan, another ingredient in Famous Grouse.  I'm assuming they wanted to put The Macallan Experience at Macallan, thus had to stick the Famous Grouse Experience somewhere else and not disturb the exploited Nordic gods at Highland Park, so Glenturret it was.

Their marketeers claim Glenturret is the oldest distillery (est. 1775) in Scotland.  If so then why haven't they yet figured out how to make a functional 10 year old single malt.  Oops, I've already started spoiling my review.  Let me back up.  Florin (a prince) gave me two separate samples of his bottle of Glenturret 10.  I opened one of the samples for casual drinking and found the contents so mediocre that it left me craving Famous Grouse.  The second sampled served for this review.

Distillery: Glenturret

Owner: The Edrington Group

Region: Southern Highlands
Maturation: ???

Age: 10 years

Release Year: 2014

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Probably
Caramel Colorant? Yup

NEAT
The color is orange gold, not exactly the most natural of hues.  The nose is bland young-blend-like spirity.  There are small notes of butter, flower blossoms, and tropical fruit flavored candy.  But the biggest notes are sulphur, burnt barley, and vanilla.  After 20+ minutes the sulphur recedes and paper pulp enters.  On the palate, there's a lot of ethyl heat covering up honey, white fruits, and vanilla.  Hints of cinnamon candy and notebook paper.  With time the honey note grows, crowding out the rest of the flavors.  The finish is also oddly hot, with hints of peach candy and vanilla.  It's quite sour and grows bitterer with time.

Maybe a little water?

WITH WATER (~35%abv)
Paper, yeast, and cinnamon on the nose.  Then honey, sulphur, and floral soap.  The palate has an awful entry, all bitter sour wort.  Then it suddenly gets aggressively sweet.  Plenty of vanilla.  The finish is bitter, short, and hot with a saccharine sweetness.

Maybe more?

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
The nose brightens up a little with roses, cherry lollipops, and simple syrup.  The palate is bitter and bland, mostly absent aside from some vanilla.  It finishes unpleasantly.

COMMENTARY:
This has me not only preferring Famous Grouse, but also Glenrothes(!).  That's how glum it is.  It's not a failed whisky, but there's nothing to recommend in it while neat.  Adding water is bad idea as well.  From the looks of most European online retail sites, this 10 year old has been phased out for a bunch of tarted up NAS releases.  Dare I say, that was a good idea.

Availability - Some European retailers. Probably not in the US (yay!)
Pricing - $30-$55
Rating - 68

Single Malt Report: Kilkerran 12 year old (2016)

I'll close out Campbeltown Week with this:

Aside from my gaggle of birthday whisky samples, the new Kilkerran 12 is the only single malt I've touched over the past three weeks.  I can't remember the last time I focused on one bottle for so long.  Moving to a new house and weathering months of humidity sort of brought this about, but also I can't think of another current whisky I'd rather dig into.

While I'm always rooting for Kilkerran's success, I found the flood of geek tweets raving in excitement for this whisky's impending arrival kinda silly.  Kilkerran had already released 10 different single malts over the past seven years, and the majority of them -- whether it was the six, nine, or eleven year old -- were excellent.  No magical change occurs in an aged spirit at the twelve year mark.  It's just a good comfortable number to many whisky fans, and the particular age the distillery had decided to utilize as some sort of humble coming out party.  Maybe I should have just called this post Kilkerran Work In Progress, 8th Release.

So, yes, whisky people, the 12 year old is here (or actually not here, but in Europe), go purchase a bottle if you're bursting with mania.  I was actually more excited about last year's cask strength release and would really love to see them do something similar with their 12 year old sherry casks.  But yeah, it was fun to open this bottle.  It's nice to feel positively about a new single malt release.  Heck, I even posted a pic on Twitter, which I will not link to because it's silly.  Man, I hope this post is less silly.

Distillery: Glengyle

Owner: Mitchell's Glengyle Limited

Brand: Kilkerran
Region: Campbeltown

Age: 12 years (2004 - 2016)

Maturation: 70% ex-bourbon casks, 30% ex-sherry casks

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Label color: White

For reasons you'll see below, I compared the neat version with a reduced 40%abv version, so my notes will look different here.

APPEARANCE:
When neat, the whisky's color is a light gold.  When reduced to 40%abv, it immediately gets very cloudy.

NOSE:
When neat, the peat arrives first, reading more medicinal than other Kilkerrans.  Also an unmistakable smoked fish note.  But it's very malty throughout.  The sherry cask element feels louder than 30%, coming across more nutty and chocolatey than dried fruity.  Otherwise, layers of lime, honey, and pear form the foreground once the peat recedes.  A bright thick bourbon barrel note appears around the 30 minute mark.  It also develops a nice citron note if you accidentally warm the glass up too much.

When reduced to 40%abv, the peat clears out, leaving behind a synthetic oily component.  Some beach sand.  Peaches and cardboard.  A hint of leather peat meets hay and bleach.

PALATE:
More heat than expected when served neatly.  A significant marzipan / almond cookie note comes from the sherry casks.  Fresh apricots and a rye-like spiciness.  Feels a little like Springbank 10yo with a little more grunge.  A nice silky texture throughout.

When reduced to 40%abv, acidic fruit leads the way, along with fruitier sherry cask notes.  Sort of Bunnahabhain 12-ish.  There's some toffee and tongue drying tannins.  It's better than the nose, though it still has a flat weird oak note.

FINISH:
Hints of peat and earth, when neat.  There are those almond cookies.  Lots of baking spice, as well as hints of smoked fish and smoked almonds.

When reduced to 40%abv, it's acidic, peppery, and malty with a mild sweetntess.

COMMENTARY:
Though I get none of the forest floor characteristics I so love in Kilkerran, the 12 year old has a lot of really nice rich sherry cask notes.  Though the palate could stand lose some of that raw spirity heat (of which I find much less in the cask strength WIP #7), the mouthfeel is outstanding.  The nose is also very good as all of its seemingly dissimilar elements come together nicely.

I really really do not recommend adding more than a couple drops of water.  I've never had a Kilkerran fall apart so violently like this one did when reduced to 40%abv.

This is still a very good whisky thanks to some great sherry casks and the texture that comes from the lack of chillfiltration.  But unless the second half of this bottle drastically improves, I won't be buying a second one.  It's still better than most of the major single malts on the market, but I'd take a handful of the WIPs over this.

Availability - Europe, so far
Pricing - $35-$50 (minus VAT, w/o shipping), I hope the US price will be similar!
Rating - 86 (neat only)

The Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting

A man awaiting his drink.

My past four international trips have all concluded with a magnificent final act.  In 2010, our Italian honeymoon finished with a dazzling three days in Positano.  Our 2011 Ireland trip wrapped up with a real Irish wedding.  I walked into the bar of my dreams on the ultimate night of my Kyoto voyage last year.  And on our final full day in Scotland, Kristen and I went to Campbeltown.  We toured the Springbank and Glengyle distilleries, did a tasting in one of Cadenhead's warehouses, knocked over Cadenhead Whisky Shop, then walked to the Ardshiel Hotel bar to relieve them of their best Springbank-related single casks.

I didn't travel to Scotland to buy whisky bottles.  But because the whisky selection in that small nation embarrasses that of this large nation, and the Pound was its weakest since the early reign of The Baroness Thatcher, I was going to buy a lot of whisky.  My restraint was admirable -- I declare -- at the beginning of the trip as I departed shop after shop after shop empty handed.  I knew Cadenhead was coming.

Some of you seasoned whisky vets can tut-tut, but I actually didn't know that the whole purpose of the warehouse tasting was to buy bottles.  I just wanted to try casks alongside my beautiful wife.  I thought the whole point of this whisky thing was to appreciate the experience, rather than possessing glass bottles.  But just before I left for my trip I started hearing stories of people walking out of the warehouse with a case or more of single cask bottlings under their arms.  These claims may have just been masculine bluster, which seems to be in generous supply these days, but having seen the whisky buying addiction consume many intelligent healthy individuals firsthand, I knew there was some truth behind the tales.  I don't have that desire to own every last thing.  In the Cadenhead casino, I am not the whale.  I'm a hedonist guppy.

Our warehouse chaperon was Ronan, Mr. Business, rocking the suit.

A sterling guide, Ronan was relatively new to Cadenhead at the time, doing a lot of work as a sales rep to Western Europe.  And though Scotland is his home, he spent a few years in Georgia (USA), not too long ago, playing footie for a local university (Emory, I think?).  Here are the casks we generously tapped:

1.  Glenlivet (bottled at Glendronach!) 19 year old 1996, ex-bourbon cask, 51%abv
A super duper fruity summer malt with a serious bubblegum note. Perfectly drinkable at this strength, no water needed.

2.  Arran 19 year old 1996, ex-bourbon cask, 44.7%abv

Light as a feather (note the ABV), this could be consumed very quickly.  Fresh pears, vanilla, and cherries.  Kristen liked this one.

3.  Caperdonich 20 year old 1996, 17 years in ex-bourbon + 3 years in ex-sherry hogshead, 48.9%abv
Excellent.  My second favorite of the bunch.  Loaded with rich malt, with the sherry cask perfectly integrated, it felt as if it spent its whole life in a 2nd-fill sherry cask.

4.  Auchentoshan 17 year old 1999, 10 years in ex-bourbon + 7 years in ex-Chateau Lafite cask, 53.8%abv
Long time readers know I have issues with this sort of wine cask.  Yet I wanted to give it a go since, perhaps, my palate had changed.  But, nope nope nope.  Kristen liked it even less than I.  It's not the worst use of a Lafite cask (thanks Murray McDavid!), but due to the length of the secondary maturation the wine was very aggressive, stomping down the light spirit.

5.  Springbank 19 year old 1996, ex-sherry cask, 59%abv
WINNER!  Full power Springbank spirit meets full power sherry cask, it rips through senses and nerve endings.  Everyone wins.  Probably the best whisky I had during the entire trip.  Kristen liked it too.  I bought a bottle.  There's a video of me filling the bottle by hand, but I decided not to include it here since it's mostly two minutes of my rear end.  Also, the dunnage is too shadowy to get a real good look.  At the whisky, you dog you.

6.  Bowmore 15 year old 2000, ex-bourbon, 60%abv
Herbal, mineral, and with a lighter peat than most indie Bowmores, it couldn't compete for my attention after that Springbank.

7.  Guatemalan Rum 8 year old, 60+%abv
Salted caramel ice cream and a cigar.  Impressive and not grossly sweet.  But, again, Springbank.

8.  Mark Watt's secret aged gin in a kilderkin, approx. 80%abv
Gorgeous.  Maybe the most aromatic booze I've ever experienced.  Sadly not for sale.

So, yes, I bought a bottle of the Springbank for less than half the US price of the current 19 year old cask strength sherried OB Springbank releases, maybe even 1/3 the price if I get my full VAT refund back.  I do slightly regret not buying one of the Caperdonich, but I regret more the fact that I didn't buy 74 more bottles of the Springbank.  The Glenlivet and Arran are very nice too, though because they're only available through this warehouse tasting it's kind of silly for me to recommend them.  If they're still there when (not if) you go then you'll get the opportunity to judge them as per your own palate.

After the tasting we did indeed go to Cadenhead Whisky Shop where I bought a number of other bottles.  It's impossible to be fiscally responsible after consuming eight cask strength spirits, but don't worry, I left a few bottles on the shelves.

If you make it to Campbeltown, try to give yourself one full whisky day with no driving on either end.  Schedule the Springbank/Glengyle/Cadenhead tour combo a few months in advance.  Hydrate well on the day of, eat a full Scottish breakfast beforehand, and hide your good credit card.  You will have a quality experience.