Review #13: GlenDronach 19yr 1993/2012, 54.7%, OB for K&L, Oloroso Sherry Butt, Cask #490, 614 bottles

I used to smell this every day

When I first got the bottle I was doing something at night -- teaching a night class or coaching or volunteering for something -- for which drinking would have been socially not-so-acceptable, at the least. But I really wanted to drink this! So instead I'd open the bottle and sniff it a while ...

I like this profile. Some very-sherried whiskies are like malty christmas cake, with all those spices and fruit; some are like barrel char and sweet syrup; some are like old leather, tobacco boxes, marzipan, sour wood, cold espresso, and roasted nuts. This one is a sweet, viscous version of the last kind, and I am happy to have it. I like it better than the other 1990's single casks I've tried.

It does have a bit of sulphur -- bitter gunpowder on the finish. It balances out the oloroso sweetness, but it's a bit too much. It seems like it's gotten a bit more prominent with time, too. It really didn't make for a great summer dram, but now that it's getting chilly again ...

I could still smell this all day -- dark chocolate, roast pork, cranberries, balsamico ...

These give me some confidence that I'm getting decent stuff from K&L. The pre-release price ($100) was reasonable, then it went up to $140 which seems unreasonable, but is about the going GlenDronach single-barrel rate now. (Did the Cask Strength ever make it to the US?) Oh well. Still available.

score: 89

Review #12: Caol Ila 15yr 1996/2012, Hunter Hamilton/Sovereign, 56.5%, cask #HH8687. 240 bottles

getting ready for the new ones

The new batches of K&L exclusives are arriving soon, so it seems worthwhile to look at the ones from last year. This is something I worry about (b/c apparently I don't have enough problems): there aren't a lot of good casks to go around anymore, so getting the pick of them would have to require (a) controlling a huge batch of them, (b) overpaying for them, or (c) both. And it's such a pain to import into the U.S., I'm not sure how we end up with anything but everyone else's leftovers.

Anyway, I can taste this one for myself.

This one is bottled by "Sovereign" which is Hunter Hamilton which is Douglas Laing. This all seems unnecessarily complicated, but I'm sure it means something to someone. It has the geocities label of whisky labels. (I'm not fond of the metal ink or the curlicues, but I rather like the vintage date printed over the text.) It was $120, I think, as a pre-release, and then ended up down to $100. It's still available.

This one is nice.

Pale liquid but rich nose, with lemon, lots of ashy peat, coastal notes, and some surprising floral sweetness -- honeysuckle. Maltiness, too. Almonds, shortbread, and engine oil. Some camphor and bicycle tire if you wait for it. Nothing astonishing, but everything's here and it all works together. (and this is neat)

Palate is surprising sweet and very very peaty. It's a dark flavor that starts off as tar and then finishes off ashy a very long time later. It's nicely balanced by the sweetness, though: something somewhere between candied lemon, honey, and marzipan. Some brine and oil comes in late, but you can chew on that peat for a long time.

Caol Ila bottlings seem to be consistently very good. The dangers, I suppose, are that they are too ashy ("Coal Ila") or too bland; but this one is just right. The upside is limited, I guess, with these teenage CI's -- they're never transcendent, the best you can do is get everything in perfect balance. But that's pretty good. Other than the Whiskyman bottling, I can't think of a better teenage one.

score: 89

Review #11: Braeval 1991/2013, 53.1%, Brachadair, ex-bourbon, barrel #95120, 230 bottles

this is new to me

I had never heard of Braeval/Braes of Glenlivet until it started getting good reviews a few months ago. Now it seems everywhere. I saw an overpriced Douglas of Drumlamrig bottling at the corner store the other week. This one is from an indy Belgian bottler I had never heard of, however.

Nose is intense on orchard fruit (esp. pears), vanilla yogurt, and barrel spices -- nutmeg, ginger, coconut. And is that smoke? It's a little more aggressively grassy and beery than I would like, but the creamy pears and peaches more than stand up to it. Honey and white chocolate sweetness balanced by menthol/mint/licorice.

I found the palate a little acrid -- burnt hay.  The orchard fruit stick around through the bitterness and then the finish brings back vanilla, white chocolate, and more red fruit than pears. Nice long finish.

I really liked the nose a lot, but the palate seemed harsh to me. I usually don't mind bitterness so much, but, today I do.

score: 83

Review #10: Benriach Heredotus Fumosis 12yr, 46%, OB 2009, Peated PX finish

time to catch up

after a mini heat wave and a project that needed to get (almost finished), I fell behind on my drinking, but now it's time to catch back up.

this is an older bottling of Heredotus Fumosis, but I think there are still some newer bottles in stores even though it's a 'limited edition'. I guess it's supposed to mean 'smoky sherry' but it is (a) a misnomer since it's whisky (b) I can't find "Heredotus" in any latin dictionary and it looks like Jerez was either "Ceret" or "Asta Regia", (c) why Latin? I do like Latin, however, and I'm glad for a moment that a silly and unpronounceable Gaelic name isn't being used for this one instance.

anyway ...

Nose is delightful -- the peat is intensely phenolic and biscuity, with some motor oil. A little (pleasant) boot rubber, too. The sherry comes through well -- it's sweet (caramel cubes) and winey with a lot of old cigar box and a little balsamico. Leather and malt. If you wait long enough, then some lesser flavors come through: yoghurt, sour apples, moss. The tannic notes become almost savory.

It's pretty light on the palate, with barbecue ashes as the main component, but it's balanced with some creamy vanilla sweetness. The ashes stick around for a long time.

So this worked pretty well, esp. for something with a low ABV, youngish, and cheap. It smells good and it's tasty and it's distinctive.

score: 84

Islay to get ninth distillery

"Gartbreck"

http://www.whiskyadvocateblog.com/2013/09/14/islay-to-get-ninth-distillery/

Macallan 'struggles' in travel retail after age removal

from Ralfy's Whisky Stuff:

“Consumers in travel retail tend to be looking for a little bit of luxury, something that they wouldn’t normally buy in their local shop.

“They tend to look for age statements above anything else as a mark of quality, and as such The Macallan is missing out massively, in my opinion.

duh, they should just look at the price tags.

Review #9: Lagavulin 16 yr, 43%, OB

it's probably just me.

My general impression is that Lagavulin has been on a steady downward trajectory for a couple decades now -- as long as I can remember. (I remember being amazed -- just amazed -- the first time I tried it. It seemed to me, after having managed to buy bottles of Laphroaig and Macallan, to be the whisky that had everything.)  Anyway, perceptions of decline might say more about me than about it (even though I know I'm right), and Lagavulin on a bad day isn't so bad.

Nose is still good: medicinal (mercurochrome) peat and wisps of ashy smoke, pain grille', salt spray -- fishy salt spray, orange zest, and something floral and sweet at the end. Is it marzipan or fringe tree? I don't think the glencairn is treating me right on this one -- I should have grabbed a different glass. There's something like barbecue smoke, but sour -- so sauerbraten, I guess -- if you sneak up on it. I don't remember that one from the past. My overall impression, compared to the imaginary Laga of my memory, is that this one is more austere and less intense.

Palate is nicely balanced between ashy, sweet, and oily, and it finishes nicely on more ashes -- charcoaol, cigarette, whatever -- and orange candy. It's pleasant, but it really doesn't leave a strong impression. Ashes and orange candy, with some phenolic prickle. It almost reminds me of Ardbeg and Caol Ila as much as it seems to be something itself. Maybe everything else has just caught up, but I wish it were a little more distinctive or aggressive or something.

So still very nice for a standard bottling, but I'd rather have the paradigmatic Laga of my memory, if only I could drink that.

score: 84