Mathilda Malt: Millburn 27 year old 1976 Gordon & MacPhail Reserve

After I spent two weeks in Japan, three weeks of semi-normalcy passed before the girls' mother left for an Asian business trip for two weeks. Yes, two weeks of pure, unfiltered single father life. My daughters survived and I occasionally succeeded at parenting. Laundry and dishes were washed nonstop, down in the creek. LOLz. Friday the 12th was my first night back on my own, so I planned to celebrate. And I did celebrate......by sleeping for 10.5 hours. Then napped throughout the weekend.

Work arrived on Monday, but so did Mathilda's NINTH birthday. She happily devoured sushi like a champ for her birthday dinner. Yes, she's a 9 year old who enjoys sushi. I didn't like the stuff until I was 22, and still required sake to power it down at the time, so she's really two decades ahead of me.

And now it's Tuesday, and I should probably start posting this week's whisky things, specifically this year's Mathilda Malts, a trio of long gone single malts, including one mandatory Littlemill!

First up, a Millburn, one of the trio Inverness distilleries murdered by DCL in the '80s. Though today's sample was from a recent bottle split, I allegedly tried this whisky eight years ago but left no notes behind. (Here's The Whiskey Jug's review of the bottle from that event.) Here's the label from that bottle:

Some of you folks may remember the G&M Reserve series from ye olden days. For those who found whisky after this range perished, just know that if G&M were to restart it today, every bottle would cost at least four figures, like the Private Collection but with cheaper packaging. Do I need to say that the Reserve bottles were barely three figures? No, I don't need to say that.

Alas, a Millburn.

Distillery: Millburn

Cradle to Grave: 1807-1985
Executioner: Distillers Company Limited

Region: Highlands (Inverness)

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail

Series: Reserve





Age: 27 years (1976-2003)
Maturation: maybe a refill sherry butt?

Cask #: 1598

Outturn: 615 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Apple cider and pilsner arrive first in the nose, with honey right behind, followed by almond extract and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Hints of yeast, metal, and clove cigarettes drift across the background throughout. The palate comes in a bit hot, but time fixes that. Otherwise it's a harvest whisky, with apples, pears, nectarines, and cinnamon. Milder notes of coal, metal, and dunnage give it a slight devilish spark. A late hint of tart mango adds color. It finishes with pears. cinnamon, and a nice tartness. A little bit of coal and dunnage appear later.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A spring whisky? An autumn whisky? An anytime whisky! Blessed by a polite, but not absentee, vessel for its twenty-seven years, this Millburn delivered the old school fruity goods in much better fashion than I'd expected.

I'm grateful that G&M didn't over-hydrate it with a 40%abv Connoisseurs Choice edition. Its bottling strength was pretty good, though I kinda wonder what this was like at 50%abv. Was there more fruit, more angles, more power? That doesn't really matter anymore. At least this existed. I thank all the people who helped bring this whisky to my face twice.

Availability - Sold out looooooooooong ago
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89

Glen Garioch 19 year old 2003 SMWS 19.88

With two more sibling barrels appearing in 2023, any remaining maturing members of this parcel are now 20 years old. Whether that's good or bad depends on cask management and personal palate preferences. It would be interesting to see what a less-active cask would be like at 30 years; but oak is all the rage now, so perhaps I found the best stuff when it was 18 years of age. The 14yo-18yo range is often my favorite for single malts, though sometimes old magical casks produce beautiful things.

Anyway, this Glen Garioch 2003 is only 19 years old, so I'll just get to the drinkin'.

18yo SMWS for Highland Whisky Festival 2022: 90

18yo SMWS 19.59, "Dates and Staves": 88

18yo SMWS 19.71, "Mad Wax: Fruity Load!": 89

18yo SMWS 19.73,  "A silky-smooth melody": 87

19yo SMWS 19.76, "A utopia of bananas and muffins": 84

19yo SMWS 19.84, "Under an apple tree - that's where I want to be": 87

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Eastern Highlands

Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 19 years (17 February 2003 - 2022)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 19.88, "Chewing gum in a bakery"
Outturn: 169 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 53.3%
(from a paid event)

NEAT

The nose has character aplenty. A dessert layer sits on top, offering cinnamon, dates, orange peel, and caramel chews. Dusty stones and wet dog fur rest beneath. Then calvados and mint leaf materialize 30+ minutes later. Much simpler, the palate shows apples, pears, oranges, and cinnamon, with notes of herbal bitterness and salt in the background. It finishes with apples, toasted oak, and pickled ginger,

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

I'm getting a spiced calvados in the nose, with lots of cardamom pods, cinnamon, and honey. It's quite floral too. The sticky sweet palate has candied lemon peels and mint leaves floating in vanilla simple syrup. It finishes the same way with maybe a hint of grapefruit.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

The crazy sibling, perhaps? There always has to be one. Its outturn was a bit low too, so maybe there was something physically different with this barrel. Your guess is as good as (and likely better) than mine.

I'll focus on the whisky when it's in full power mode because the less said about the diluted version the better. Calvados + dates + quirks = winning nose. It was a different whisky in the mouth, reading like an everyday drinker with a slight bite. Not bad, but a definite half-step down from the 19.84 with which it sparred. And no, I don't think another decade in oak would have improved this one.

Availability - UK only? Sold out, though
Pricing - it was £125
Rating - 84 (neat only)

Glen Garioch 19 year old 2003 SMWS 19.84

Two more sibling casks of Glen Garioch, distilled on 17th February 2003, aged in first-fill bourbon barrels, and bottled by SMWS. It has been a great group of whiskies, with only the last one showing some flaws:

18yo SMWS for Highland Whisky Festival 2022: 90

18yo SMWS 19.59, "Dates and Staves": 88

18yo SMWS 19.71, "Mad Wax: Fruity Load!": 89

18yo SMWS 19.73,  "A silky-smooth melody": 87

19yo SMWS 19.76, "A utopia of bananas and muffins": 84

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Eastern Highlands

Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 19 years (17 February 2003 - 2022)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 19.84, "Under an apple tree - that's where I want to be"
Outturn: 205 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 52.8%
(from a paid event)

NEAT

Another winning nose! Barley, dead leaves, and mushrooms right up front. Ocean air and cantaloupe in the midground. Toffee, green apple, and a hint of vanilla bean in the back. The softly sweet palate starts with apples, lemons, and malt. Hints of bitter orange peel and toasted oak spices appear after 30+ minutes. It finishes with some salt to go with the sweetness. Oranges, apple peels, and a little of caramel candy make up the details.

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

The nose picks up a variety of citrus fruits, some brown sugar, and a touch of malt, but the forest notes have vanished. Meanwhile, the palate gets burlier, tarter, bitterer, and more mineral. Truffle salt, black pepper, and zesty limes sing the loudest. Then the finish goes sweet, with oranges and vanilla.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I adore the neat nose; if the neat palate took on that style (with some of the diluted palate's edge), then we'd have the GG03 winner. But the neat palate is merely comfy — look at that complaint! — with the oak starting to soften things up. Dilution flips the nose and palate around. Likely bottled at the right time, the barrel was loudest in the finish, but decently integrated elsewhere. That neat nose, though!

Availability - European Union
Pricing - €142
Rating - 87

Glen Garioch 19 year old 2003 SMWS 19.76

Oooooh, now the barrels are 19 years old. Ancient. Anyhoo, I should start these remaining GG03 single cask posts with a score tracker...

SMWS for Highland Whisky Festival 2022: 90

SMWS 19.59, "Dates and Staves": 88

SMWS 19.71, "Mad Wax: Fruity Load!": 89

SMWS 19.73,  "A silky-smooth melody": 87

I don't normally throw around scores like that. These are, in fact, B+/A- whiskies, and the world is a bit short on B+/A- whiskies. Can these sibling casks keep up this quality? Today's GG03 has a great ABV, but an unpromising cask name...

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Eastern Highlands

Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 19 years (17 February 2003 - 2022)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 19.76, "A utopia of bananas and muffins"
Outturn: 191 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 52.7%
(from a paid event)

NEAT

Apple peels, roses, pecans, and star anise meet the nose first, followed by oyster crackers in vegetable broth. This group's first real sign of oak appears, but it's more of a toasty style than charred. The palate comes in peppery, sweet, tangy, and very acidic. Mostly limes and hot sauce with a hint of vanilla. Thankfully the acidity mellows in the finish, and the limes and lemons are tart and sweet.

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

While the nose simplifies to vanilla marshmallows and orange creamsicles, the palate takes on more complexity. Though there's sweetness and vanilla aplenty, guavas, limes, roasted almonds, and jute provide needed facets. It finishes sweetly as a sort of guava-lime-vanilla candy.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Well hello, American oak. Welcome to the Glen Garioch party. Now if you could just make yourself scarce after this, I'd be much obliged.

Thankfully the fruit, flowers, and the occasional unconventional note hold off the encroaching Quercus alba. But this one did start to tilt toward a more contemporary style than the previous four. Dilution made it more pleasant, but also a bit sugary. No bananas to be found, 💛.

Next week, two more 19-year-old barrels...

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 84

Glen Garioch 18 year old 2003 SMWS 19.73

The 17/2/2003 SMWS Glen Gariochs keep going and keep shining! Clearly the stills were rocking that day, but where were these first-fill barrels from? With Beam Suntory in charge of the distillery, the barrels could have previously held Knob Creek, Booker's, Baker's, Basil Hayden, Makers, or regular ol' Beam. No matter what, I'm already much more interested in teenage bourbon barrel Glen Gariochs than I was before.

Today's single barrel has a strength and outturn similar to Tuesday's, so I tried them side-by-side. How identical were the whisky results?

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Eastern Highlands

Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 18 years (17 February 2003 - 2021?)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 19.73, "A silky-smooth melody"
Outturn: 222 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 53.7%
(from a paid event)

NEAT

"Fermenty/Fruity" reads my first nose note. Pineapple, mango, orange juice, and cloves on top. Sugar cookies fill the middle (do they not?), and a yeasty, bready character arrives later in the background. The palate nearly matches the nose at first with yeast, citrus, and sugar cookies. It progresses towards tart and malt with time. It finishes sweet, tart, and malty, with a minty curlicue in the back.

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

It's as if the yeast has something else to say once the whisky is reduced. The nose is funkier now, with less fruit and more flowers, as well as industrial and aged cheese notes ascending from below. The palate reads more complex than the nose, with a balance of tart + sweet + bitter + salt, and plenty of citrus. Oranges, lemons, and a little bit of herbal bitterness finish it off.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though spirit-forward like the others, this cask went its own path. It's the least "silky-smooth" one so far, plenty fruity, slightly hot, and a bit weird at times. This '03 Glen Garioch is the least complete of the first four, seeming like it could have used another 5-10 years in the warehouse to finish its journey toward becoming something remarkable. But I still adore its style, and would be happy to own a bottle.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 87

Glen Garioch 18 year old 2003 SMWS 19.71

Back to the Glen Garioch run!

To recap: SMWS obtained a large parcel of (at least three dozen?) first-fill bourbon barrels filled with Glen Garioch spirit distilled on the 17th of February 2003. I got my meat hooks into seven of these whiskies and the first two were great!

This one, named "Mad Wax: Fruity Load!" (mmhmm) by SMWS, arrives with a lighter ABV and a higher outturn than 19.59, thus the angels sought inebriation over hydration. But how's the whisky?

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Owner: Beam Suntory
Region: Eastern Highlands

Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 18 years (17 February 2003 - 2021?)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 19.71, "Mad Wax: Fruity Load!" [Editor's note: 🙁]
Outturn: 230 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 54.4%
(from a paid event)

NEAT

More of the country style in the nose, huzzah! Hay, oats, apple peels, lemon peels, and a mineral Austrian Riesling (snob!). Hints of honey and brine, and okay maybe a little bit of hot wax. Oh, such barley on the palate. Some baked phyllo dough and witbier. Pickled ginger with sweet citrus. Limoncello and brown sugar. It finishes with a little combo of tingly citrus, pickled ginger, and witbier.

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

Pears, apples, orange blossoms, and malt on the nose. The palate's become simpler, but crisp. A bright herbal bitterness blends flawlessly with clementines and toasted barley. The finish matches the palate, especially with that bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Wow. I know this style isn't a cash magnet, but it works wonders for my face. The first-fill barrels are very understated, and the spirit gleams. The way the casks keep all the lovely rustic youth while silencing the rawness makes me want to try the Oldmeldrum distillery's new make. And there are still four more of these to go...

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye, 132 US Proof batch

(The Royal) We interrupt this Glen Garioch programming to bring you one hot BARD Friday.

Alberta Distillers Limited (ADL), is like the MGP of the North by Northwest, essentially one huge factory cranking out rye spirit that everyone wants to steal bottle. In 2019 they started releasing their own stash at frighteningly combustible strengths. And just in time to fight Covid-19, the rye reached the US border in 2020, in a batch flexing 66%abv. Yes, that's 2/3s poison.

I tried it in 2021, orally. I survived, but it did not keep the coronavirus from invading my borders twice. As far as flavors, it wasn't terrible. In fact it was worryingly drinkable. Now I'm sitting down in the safety of my home to consume two ounces.

source

Brand: Alberta Premium

Distillery: Alberta Distillers Limited

Location: Alberta, Canada

Type: Rye whisky

Mashbill: 100% Rye

Maturation: "charred oak"

Alcohol by Volume: 66%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The rye's nose (and my nose) goes through three phases. Phase One: Roasted corn, hazelnuts, and wet sand. Phase Two: Candy corn and spiced rum. Phase Three: Lemon peels, wet dog fur, and flower blossoms. The palate is indeed hot, but not numbing. It's candy sweet, with a sprinkle of salt, a bit of barrel char, and plenty of lemons. Lots of sweet oranges roll into the finish, with hints of mint and pine in the back.

It shines most in a Manhattan (2:1 Rye:Carpano) Cocktail, bringing a pepper sauce spiciness and lots of tart citrus, unique in my experience.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

With a kinda weird, kinda nifty nose, and an approachable palate, this big Canadian can be sipped neatly in a Glencairn glass. I can't say I'd want to drink it all the time, as it's neither particularly rich nor fulfilling, though it could serve to numb one's brain if desired. But its Manhattan was really fun, and I'd certainly buy a bottle of it for that purpose, but not at $80, LOL 🙁. If dropping four score for cocktail booze doesn't ruffle your feathers, go for it!

Availability - North America
Pricing - 70-90USD
Rating - 82 (but mostly for cocktails!)