Revisiting Macallan 17 year old Fine Oak almost a decade later

It doesn't matter what anyone writes about Macallan. That distillery could do a limited release of bottles filled with smegma, and there'd still be 400 of those things on Scotch Whisky Auctions within 24 hours of the drop date.

So let me not focus on the gleaming present, but instead on the blurry past. Once upon a time, I held the unpopular view that the Macallan Fine Oak series was indeed quite fine. And while I often tell people that Yamazaki 18yo was the first $100+ whisky I dared to buy more than once, that's damned lie. Macallan 17 year old Fine Oak was my baller bottle for a number of years, with its powdery lavender label and the relatively light-colored Mac inside the glass.

Though I enjoyed Macallan 18 year old (Sherry Oak, to the Europeans) at first, I found it less and less interesting with each subsequent try. Diminishing returns and escalating prices. (A familiar tune?) This issue started to invade my Fine Oak experience, as my final bottle of the 17yo FO had much more sherry character to it than I cared for. If there was any sort of Macallan distillery character that was spirit-related, the best official route to it was via the partial-bourbon-cask Fine Oaks. Adding more sherry casks may have appealed to some drinkers, but it silenced what made the 17 year old Fine Oak joyous to me.

It has been eight years since my last sip of Macallan 17 year old Fine Oak. I have kept samples of my beloved (94 point!) 2010 bottling and the moderately thrilling 2012 bottling. They have been saved for this very moment. Probably.

Macallan 17 year old Fine Oak, bottled in 2010, 43%abv

The nose has a dry, nutty (maybe even a little briny) sherry note, neither overbearing or overwhelming, but part of a larger picture that includes dried apricots, roses and watermelon Jolly Ranchers. There's a little bit of toasted oak, a little bit of malt, and good dose of baked apples and brown sugar after the whisky sits in the glass for more than 30 minutes.

The early palate holds a surprising amount of barley and ripe orchard fruit sweetness. It slowly picks up salt, lemons and just a hint of dried fruits. It gets sweeter with time, and is much much too drinkable.

Fresh and dried pineapple give the finish a nice twist. Small notes of salt, malt and flowers float in the background, while more oak and sugar develop with time.

This is still very good whisky all these years later, though not as mind blowing as I once judged it to be. The nose is its true highlight, bearing plenty of gentle, pretty characteristics that would offend no one. As noted above, the palate remains very comfy and well-constructed and ...... suddenly the glass is empty. It was nice while we had it.

RATING - 88

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Macallan 17 year old Fine Oak, bottled in 2012, 43%abv

Its nose is quiet at the start, requiring extra time to wake up. The sherry note appears first, reading meatier and prunier than the 2010 bottling. Golden raisins appear next, followed by tapioca pudding, peach hand lotion, grilled fish(!) and a hint of peppery sulfur. With time it tilts more towards dried fruits (raisins and berries) and dried flowers.

The palate is very spicy, a mix of cracked peppercorns and oak spices. Black raisins in molasses. Salty rocks and lemon candy. Plenty of tannins crowd the edges.

It's all black raisins, oak spice and tannins in the finish. It gets much sweeter with time, almost reading like a PX after 45 minutes.

Of the two, this one is more unique and more problematic. To dispute my impressions from 8+ years ago, the sherry isn't louder, it's just messier, which makes for a lot of fun in the nose. But then the oak comes crashing into the palate, which is a shame because it seemed as if there was something a little weirder and more adventurous in store. Not bad though. I'd drink it any time.

RATING - 86

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Final Thoughts

The quality gap between these two whiskies closed considerably. Maybe it's my palate, maybe it's the samples. They are different whiskies though. Despite Macallan's considerable efforts to keep their whiskies the same, year after year, things do change because whisky is a mischievous thing. Or perhaps the recipe for the 17 year old Fine Oak changed at the end of its existence, with the cleaner sherry casks going to the more famous 18 year old Sherry Oak.

One final final thought. Don't keep samples sitting around for 8-10 years. Even these relatively recent whiskies started taking on a soapy note around the 45-minute mark. Dustier whiskies, especially bourbons, often do the same when their samples sit in a box for a long time. Drink your whisky!

Two Glenburgies distilled in June 1995

After last Friday's Glenburgie review, I decided to extract my two other Glenburgie samples from their deep storage for today's writeup. As it turns out, these two were distilled within eight days of each other, come hogsheads, and are only a year apart in age. Each is from a well-trusted bottler, Signatory and Archives, and (due to cask numbering) I have a sneaking suspicion they both matured in Signatory's warehouses. Both samples arrived via bottle splits.

Here they go:

Glenburgie 23 year old 1995 Signatory, hogsheads 6534 + 6536, 415 bottles, 55.2%abv

The nose feels a little tight on this one. Nothing takes the fore. Apricots, barley, lemon and thyme are in the midground. A slight leafiness, some toasted oak and a few white gummy worms are in the background. When reduced to 46%abv, the nose feels even shorter and hotter. It's woody, with small notes of lemon, brine, dried herbs, apricots and wildflowers. Diluting it down to 40%abv, wakes it up! Musty fruit and dunnage notes appear. The wood recedes, while the dried herbs move forward.

The neat palate is hot, but fruity. I'm thinking lemons and limes, mildly sweet but mostly tart. Some ground pepper around the edges. Sugary bourbon cask notes arrive after 30 minutes. It's sweet and simple at 46%abv with plenty of vanilla and oak spice, as well as lemon and black pepper. 40%abv suits it well here, too. There's more tart citrus, less vanilla and mellower sweetness. Easy drinking.

Pepper and lemons and heat in the finish. It's also a bit drying, though some sweetness appears later on. More tannins and vanilla appear at 46%abv, though the lemon remains. It holds a good sweetness at 40%abv, and ginger joins the lemon.

I was about to pass this one off as big "meh", but diluting it aggressively brought out its best sides. One may still rightfully expect more of a 23 year old Speyside, especially from a solid distillery like Glenburgie. Its role in longer-aged Ballatine's blends becomes obvious here.

Availability - May actually still be available in Europe, three years later
Pricing - $125-$150 or so
Rating - 84 (with lots of dilution)

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Glenburgie 24 year old 1995 Archives, hogshead 6315, 237 bottles, 55.6%abv

Oh my, what a different thing. The nose is positively packed with fruits: papaya, lemon, grapefruit and dates. There's also plenty of malt, toffee and nutmeg, with a hint of copper in the background. It combines a lovely fermented fruit note with a whiff of mizunara-like spice. The fermented note remains once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv. Oranges and fresh herbs appear, mixing with the other fruits and malt.

Those great fruits show up in the palate, too! Maybe some yuzu, floral white peaches, and ginger powder as well. An excellent overall mix of tart and sweet stuff. It also has a creamy dessert note in the background that feels more like malt than oak. At 46%abv, it has a big fruitier second gear. First it's, "Mmmmm." Then it's, "Wow!" That is all. Okay, also mango.

The nose's mizunara-esque spice note shows up in the looooong finish, as do the grapefruits, yuzus and white peaches. It has that subtle creaminess, and a drop of chili oil to give it extra zing. At 46%abv, it's a bunch of mangoes, lemons, and smiles.

These two whiskies highlight the difference a cask can make. The first one was alright. This one was Alright Alright Alright. With its fruit and richness, this 24yo is like a cousin of earlier Longmorn generations. The thought of diluting it pained me, but it flies high even with water. No wonder it has such a high score at Whiskybase. People aren't just kissing Menno's and CJ's asses (if they're still holding court). If you have a bottle of this Glenburgie, I hope you open, enjoy and share it!

Availability - All gone
Pricing - ???
Rating - 90

Glenburgie 23 year old 1989 Chester Whisky

I've found 15+ year old Glenburgie to be a very agreeable whisky, mostly because it has The Fruits. Wednesday's Irish whiskey was also fruity, but there was an oaky battle going on. Today's Glenburgie is of a similar age to that Knappogue Castle, just two years its elder. It's a single cask from the Chester Whisky & Liqueur Company, an independent bottling company that closed up shop seven years ago. As a result my first Chester whisky may also be my last, unless anyone wants to send me a free case of their '88 sherry cask Littlemill.

Distillery: Glenburgie
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Owners: Pernod Ricard
Independent Bottler: Chester Whisky & Liqueur Company
Age: 23 years (1989 - 2012)
Maturation: Bourbon barrel
Outturn: 212 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 54.8%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(thank you to My Annoying Opinions for the sample!)

NOTES

The nose begins curiously. It's like huffing a bag of Wonder bread in a freshly painted kitchen. Face out of the bag, one can now smell butter, orange oil and overripe bananas. After about 30 minutes, notes of nectarines and black Twizzlers develop in the background. Its style shifts a bit once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv. Dried coriander, lemon and malt arrive first, followed by yellow bell peppers and orange oil.

Bread and butter on the palate. Lots of vibrant lemon, some savory-peppery spice. Hints of nectarines and honey around the edges. At 46%abv, there's less bread and more fruit, specifically lemon zest. Chile oil, fresh herbs and a pinch of salt as well.

It finishes saltier and tangier than the palate, with hints of nectarine and honey in the back. At 46%abv, the whisky finishes with salt, lemon and malt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A bit of an odd duck, this whisky is difficult to score or even summarize. Unlike the younger and lighter KC21, the bourbon barrel here never intrudes. On the other hand, the bread notes were unexpected and considerable, and I struggled to see beyond them. I liked the lemon notes, and wished there were more fruits in play. Diluting the whisky solved most of those challenges.

Mr. M.A.O. had a somewhat different experience than I, preferring it neat and enjoying it more, though we did find some of the same characteristics. As usual, I'm more of an arse, which is easy because he's a sweetie pie.

Where was I? Oh yeah, more Glenburgies next week!

Availability - Gone
Pricing - I think this was about $100, eight years ago
Rating - 82

Knappogue Castle 21 year old Irish single malt

At 46%abv, triple-distilled Knappogue Castle is my preferred contemporary version of the Bushmills single malt; if it's still being sourced from Bushmills. My nose tells me that at least TPS's excellent 12yo single cask was from The Ulster, and it reports the same about today's limited edition 21 year old.

I got pretty excited about seeing this release, as well as Tullamore Dew's 18yo, just before Covid crashed, but I paused (as always) at the prices. The TD18 is around $120 but is watered down to 41.3%abv, while this 46%abv KC21 is $200. They both had limited outturns, though KC21 comes from only first-fill bourbon barrels, while the TD18 was fashioned from five cask types.

Though I haven't sourced a sample of Tullamore Dew 18, I did get in on a wee bottle split of the Knappogue Castle.

Brand: Knappogue County
Owner: Castle Brands, Inc.
Distillery: Old Bushmills Distillery (probably)
Location: County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Type: Single Malt
Distillations: Three
Age: minimum 21 years
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrels
Outturn: 1,200 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant added? Maybe?
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Well, hey, if you told me this was the 12yo single cask, I would have believed you. There's a fruit basket in the nose: apples, pears, honeydew and apricots. Confectioner's sugar, honey and vanilla bean in the midground. Brine and mint leaves in the background. At 40%abv dilution indeed dilutes. There are some flowers, peach skins, apricot skins and lots of vanilla.

The palate is where the 21 splits from the 12. There's a combination of tannin, vanilla and apricots that's reminiscent of an oaky American chardonnay. The rest of the fruits — like tart lemons, pears and nectarines — are in the background. With time the tannins recede, while vanilla, honey and a hint of malt take over. The palate does not fade away once the whiskey is reduced to 40%abv. Oak spice and vanilla are up front, while lemons, apricots and toasted cashews are in the back.

During the early sips, the oak remains calm in the finish. Pears, nectarines and flowers make up most of the show. But after 20-30 minutes, bitter oak creeps in. Diluted to 40%abv, the whiskey's finish gets tarter and fills with vanilla.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

First-fill bourbon casks are at play here. Not virgin oak or teeny casks or refried barrels. First-fill berbin containers. Thus all the vanilla, moderate barrel char and honey notes. But I'm here for the fruits, and they're loudest and prettiest in the nose. They're available in the palate and finish but have to share the stage with the white oak. It's a nice experience overall, and I could sniff this stuff all day, but I liked that 12yo single cask slightly better. And that's if they were both $40...

Availability - USA and Europe
Pricing - $190-$250
Rating - 84

Three Port Charlotte casks from Malts of Scotland

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

Whew. I'm back. I don't recommend moving. I've done it twenty-two times, so just take my word for it.

I'm returning to the Port Charlotte cluster today, as I type up this recap of a tasting I did before the Rosebank tasting at the old house. We're now fully into indie territory with a trio of single casks issued by the German bottler, Malts of Scotland. MoS has released 20+ Port Charlotte casks from the 2001-2004 vintages, with most of them enjoying cask comfort for a decade or more before dumping. Here are three examples:

Port Charlotte 10 year old 2001 Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead #12039, 63.3%abv

The giant enormous thunderous big nose offers note after note after note. Plum skins, walnuts, very dark chocolate, dunnage, barley(!), Benedictine liqueur, milk chocolate, toffee and ocean water meet, merge, swirl, separate and then meet again. The whisky seems to find my attempt to reduce it to 50%abv comical, as it changes directions but doesn't calm down, spilling Underberg, orange peels, raspberry jam and butterscotch into a leaf fire. And still, the dunnage note persists.

The hot but navigable palate issues forth dark smoke, dunnage, industrial grease. The barn's on fire, again. This may be the tarriest whisky I've ever tasted. It's still a WOW at 50%abv, keeping most of the same notes, especially the dunnage, industry and tar. It's gained oranges and an herbal bitterness.

The extensive finish is herbal, earthy, tarry, farmy and bitter. After the whisky is diluted to 50%abv the finish doesn't change much, other than taking on more citrus and dunnage.

Bigger and better than any of the Octomores I've tried, this fabulous whisky has a power, complexity and unique style that triggers my old feelings about the early Corryvreckans. You may enjoy this whisky with water, without water, with me, without me. Whatever. Congrats to you lucky stinkers who got your hands on this lovely stinker eight years ago.

RATING - 91

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Port Charlotte 11 year old 2001 Malts of Scotland, sherry hogshead #13052, 58.2%abv

This is a much different creature than the 10yo 2001. The nose is calmer, focused more on nuts, iodine and smoked fish. Some earth and stones in there as well. Hints of tahini and copper. A peach skin note develops over time. Reducing the whisky to 50%abv brings out more toasted nuts (pecans and almonds), and a hint of cannabis. Less fish, more dried herbs. Hints of brine and barley.

Walnuts, raw pecans, chickpeas, gravel and hay on the palate. It gets nuttier with time, while also taking on bitter herbs, salt and kiln. Dropping the abv to 50% gives it a good balance of bitter, sweet and salt, with a mix of chiles, nuts and mellow smoke in the background.

Early sips result in a finish full of kiln, hay and menthol. Bitter herbs and salted almonds appear in later sips. It takes on more citrus, bitterness and smoke once the whisky is reduced to 50%abv.

Perhaps suffering in the matchup, this whisky is a wee kitten compared to the 10yo 2001. It does have a solid nutty sherry side to it, and a good balance. There's something very Islay about the nose, which is never a bad thing, and the palate has some fight to it. It's a very good early winter pour, though Serge thinks more highly of it than I do.

RATING - 88

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Port Charlotte 13 year old 2002 Malts of Scotland, bourbon barrel #15011, 55.4%abv

The nose begins with a mix of cold kiln and mossy smoke, then toasted barley and a hint of eau de vie. Mint leaves, cucumber skins and cotton candy fill out the background. After 20 minutes, the drinker is greeted by cow patties (freshly issued!). Once the whisky is diluted to 50%abv, the nose is all ocean and farm, with orange peel in the background.

The spirit-driven palate offers graceful peat, dried herbs, dried flowers and grapefruits. There's bitter chocolate, soot, metal and lemons in the midground, a subtle sweetness in the background. Reducing the abv to 50% brings out a lot more fresh stone and orchard fruits, keeping only bitter chocolate and peat moss in the midground.

It finishes with soot, kiln, serrano pepper, lemons and a creamy sweetness. At 50%abv, there's mossy, leafy smoke. Then limes and cannabis (hello again).

Though the oldest of the three, this whisky reads the youngest, perhaps due to a quieter cask. Though it's more complex when neat, I prefer its simplicity and focus at 50%abv. I like it quite a bit, but again it's in some tough company today. Ruben was more hot to trot for this one than I was.

RATING - 88

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It was fun, and a little exhausting, to try three different Port Charlotte styles from one bottler. The 10yo 2001 is right up with the PC7 as my favorite pours from this cluster so far. I'm going to review some softer whiskies (I can hear you booing from here) before returning to older Port Charlottes next week. Stay tuned!

Goodbye Rosebank

Two months after returning from our Scotland trip, Kristen and I named our new house, Rosebank (because Ladyburn sounded like a shaving mishap). Our eyes had gone wide upon learning we could pay less for triple the square footage in central Ohio compared to Long Beach, CA, so the house was always going to be too big. There were rooms for which we never found a consistent use over five years, and we quickly discovered that having more space and more things was more of a problem than a solution to anything.

The silence and darkness across large houses like Rosebank make them feel haunted at times. My parents had a cold, dark house for over decade, and while I'm sure one can conjure all sorts or figurative things out of that, there was something palpably heavy and unwelcoming about that space. Kristen and I never wanted our home to be like that.

Rosebank was full of character. My home office had great acoustics, but less-than-great airflow. The sunroom was the prettiest room in any home I've lived. Much of the last few years were spent at the kitchen's island, as it made for an office (despite the actual one nearby), living room (despite the actual one nearby), dining room (despite the actual one nearby) and playroom (despite the actual one nearby). Deer, groundhogs, skunks and more bird species than I've ever seen passed through our backyard. 

But it is time to depart Rosebank. The boxes that have surrounded me for two weeks have only underscored my discomfort with constant accumulation. So it can difficult to see the whisky bottles as anything but overwhelming right now. There will be more words on that issue in 2022, when I'll be much wiser about the universe and more confident about the future.

Moving on from the sort of content I'd just announced I was uncomfortable about, how about a whisky review? For my final tasting at Rosebank, I am going pour my final sample of Rosebank single malt. Thank you to St. Brett who shared a bit from his bottle of the 2011 Special Release, a 21 year old, distilled in 1990.

Distillery: Rosebank
Ownership: Diageo
Range: Special Releases
Region: Lowlands
Age: at least 21 years old (1990-2011)
Maturation: refill American and European Oak Casks
Outturn: 5,886 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 53.8%

NOTES

It has a springtime nose. Limes, honey, wildflowers, jasmine. Nectarine skins and cantaloupe juice. And, yes, roses. It also has a dash of an industrial oil, similar to Midleton's Powers pot still style. The nose gets more aggressive once the whisky is reduced to 46%abv. There's a mix of lemon and grass (but not lemongrass), then peaches and fresh thyme, on top. But there's a distinct artificial floral note, like that of dryer sheets, in the background.

Simpler than the nose, the palate is full of honey, orange candy and tart apples, with hints of malt, vanilla bean, jasmine and herbs in the back. Diluting it to 46%abv turns the palate very very tart and slightly tannic, with some moderate sweetness and vanilla in the mix.

It finishes with tart apples, honey and clementines. Moderately sweet, with a touch of American oak. Reducing the whisky to 46%abv, matches the finish to the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Very pretty when neat, edgier with water, the whisky is at its best on the nose. It's casual and friendly on the palate, but doesn't register the same glee as the nose. Though it would lose in a matchup with last week's Littlemill, this Rosebank would be another great May afternoon sipper. And that is all. The Rosebank experience doesn't end in a song.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - $260 was the 2011 SRP, it's quadrupled or quintupled in price in the decade since then
Rating - 86 (neat)

Two Port Charlotte private casks

(Port Charlotte cluster homepage)

Once upon a time, Bruichladdich distillery offered up private casks for all, right on their website. Those of you who went ahead and bought your own are some lucky sons of bi......rhting people (yeah, birthing people, that's the ticket). Those of you who bought your own casks of Port Charlotte, um, can we be friends?

I was very lucky to get in on bottle splits from two private Port Charlotte casks, both distilled in 2003, both from sherry hogsheads. It's the closest I'll ever get to the glory.

Port Charlotte 12 year old 2003, sherry hogshead #863, bottled by the distillery, 50%abv

The nose's two elements merge well. Peat, smoked fish, beach air and rotting kelp on one side. Plums, fruity cinnamon and cherry jam on the other. Hints of gunpowder and charred veg dot the background. Reducing it a little to 46%abv slightly calms the cask influence. More kiln and dried herb notes. Some mint and anise. Strawberry bubblegum!

The palate is SALTY, then smoky. Slightly meaty. Ah, cherry cola (complete with a fizziness). It gets much sweeter with time, developing notes of dried cherries and berries, as the cask moves to the front. It's much bitterer when diluted to 46%abv. It has a sharp raw bite and lots of soot, sort of Ardbeggish. Hints of almond extract and burnt raisins appear after a while.

It finishes sweet and smoky, and hotter than expected. Dried cranberries floating in Cherry Coke. Again, reducing it to 46%abv toughens it up. Burnt raisins, rooty bitterness and salty smoke remain.

I love how the cask and spirit play together in the nose, though it's more chaotic in the palate. In fact the palate's massive transition brought about with minimal dilution is a bit startling. The cask disappears and the whisky's age seems to get cut in half, if not a third. It's a bit wild overall, and one wonders if it was bottled at this age out of fear of a dropping abv, rather than the whisky being fully ready. It's still pretty good but it has a tough sparring partner.

RATING - 85 (neat only)

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Port Charlotte 14 year old 2003, refill sherry hogshead #857, bottled by the Whiskybroker, 60%abv

The nose has at least three different gears. First, there's heavy smoke, seaweed, spun sugar and cherry jam. Next, it shifts to dried cherries and dried blueberries, almond butter and dark chocolate. Then, 30+ minutes in, the smoke eases off leaving behind a kind of toffee brittle. Reducing the whisky to 50% brings focus. Less cask, more spirit. Diesel, seaweed, smoked almonds and iodine.

There's less smoke in the palate than the nose. Rather it's grounded in earth and minerals, with hints of ginger ale and lemon juice, all wrapped in a gentle orchard fruit sweetness. It's very approachable for 60%abv. Dropping the ABV to 50% brings out wood smoke, brine and a touch of herbal bitterness. The sweetness remains mild, and picks up a slight metallic side.

The finish is magically less hot than its 12yo 50%abv sibling. It has a great balance of earth, minerals, nuts, citrus and sweetness. Diluting the whisky to 50%abv results in a finish that matches the palate, with little more savoriness.

A great cask. Though the nose is more complex, the palate is probably flawless. I adore the way its elements work together, and how welcoming it is despite its high strength. I cannot imagine having an entire freaking cask of whisky like this. Kudos to all involved.

RATING - 90

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There must be some of you out there who've tried (or owned!) a Port Charlotte private cask. What was your experience? Has anyone tried the bloodtubs of ancient lore? Please comment below because I would like to live vicariously through you.