Review #60: Château de Pellehaut 17yr Tenareze Armagnac, Folle Blanche, 1996, 50.4% abv (from K&L)

bottleneck bottle

So I hadn't bought any Armagnac for a couple years because I bought an especially bad bottle. I don't even know what it is -- the cork broke a long time ago, so I decanted it into an old Château de Montal bottle. Finally, through many heroic, nobles acts of consumption, I've finished the old one to make way for the new one. This was selected on account of Sku -- otherwise I probably would have gone for Baraillon or Ognoas. Also: readers please note by fine use of the circumflex. I just figured that out.


Very woody nose. Slightly grassy at first, and then the fruit powers in. It starts with very ripe pears and cherries, and then becomes more exotic. Well, somewhat more exotic: flambéed bananas. Dried apricots, parsley, lilacs, and custard (crème brûlée -- the diacritical marks might be affecting my palate). A young old spirit.

Palate is a little alcoholic and fairly grapey. Some old varnish and leather. Finish is long and fruity but somewhat drying.

The nose on this is stunning -- powerful and rich. The palate is more bracing than subtle. I'll take a point off for the finish, but it's hard to find fault. So thanks for the tip, Sku. (unless the other ones were even better!)

score: 90


+special bonus for comparison's sake: the last pour of the old bottle
generic Armagnac, unknown vintage, unknown abv.

nose is clean, as in scrubbed with soap. some juice box (apple, grape) flavors come through after a couple minutes. very light palate -- almost entirely raisins, with maybe a prune or two and some grape stems. Finish is pure raisins, and surprisingly long and sweet. This isn't bad stuff, but lacks very many or very intense flavors, so there never seemed to be much point in drinking it. You kind of have to focus to remember what kind of spirit it is. (And *not* in the ancient, this-is-so-complex-it-transcends-its-primary-flavors way.)
score: 68

Review #59: Linkwood 14yr, 1982/1997, 46%, Wilson and Morgan Barrel Selection

Only six more to go

I'm still catching up on the reviews I wrote by hand while my computer was sobering up, but I'm making progress. Now for a Linkwood. I don't know much about Linkwood. I think it closed down in the eighties, but apparently not before they made this one for me.*

nose: smells like generic Speyside whisky -- in a good way! very rich nose of honey, rose hips, grapefruit, some gooseberries, cut grass, and vanilla. a little oak spice. everything perfectly balanced.

palate is soft and yet a little too oaky. Not a whole lot going on.

Finish is nice -- mostly sweet and grassy, and very long. Some candied fruit (esp. orange) comes in at the end.

There's nothing extravagant or sensational about this, but it's very good. No gimmicks, it just holds together nicely. I'm not sure why I didn't have to pay much more for it.

score: 86


* research indicates: Linkwood shut down one of its still houses a couple years after this was distilled. It was fired back up for a while, but has gone quiet again. Weird. If I had a still house, I imagine I'd be using it.

Review #58: McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt, 3yrs, Clear Creek Distillery, Batch #W11-01, bottled 6/2011, 42.5% abv

I like the descriptive label

It tells you: the peated barley is from Scotland, the mash was fermented by Widmer Bros, he used a pot still, it's aged 3 years, it's NCF. The label also has a picture of Multnomah Falls for some reason. I'm still confused as to how a guy with a still that he uses to make framboise manages to make peated whisky, but whatever.

nose: two-stroke engine burning oil, country ham with extra salt, new Nikes, seasoned firewood.

palate is softer and greasier than I expected, but still phenolic. The new-sneaker-smell seems to have become almost plummy. (and yet for some reason I think it's the same flavor, just different.)

the finish is suitably long for the heavy peat, but maybe a little sour in the end.

The great thing about this is that the flavors are intense at 42.5%. There are peat-profiles I like better, but this holds its own, easily.

score: 83

Review #57: Clear Creek Grappa (Pinot Noir), Grappa (Pinot Grigio), Pear Brandy (Poire Williams/Bartlett)

Clear Creek catch up, part I

Another distillery bought out, so it's time to catch up with Clear Creek. Must be time to take the bar. Anyway, today is the clear stuff. Not sure when I bought all of these. I don't have scores for them, either because I can't read my handwriting or because I don't know what I'm doing.


Grappa (Pinot Noir), 40% abv

smells like grappa -- musky, estery nettles and plums and marigolds and then a sweet, almost citric flower (lemon balm?). Palate is like sucking on grapeskins. Finish is a burst of grape jelly but then a little drying and vegetal.

palate cleanser=triscuits


Grappa (Pinot Grigio), 40%

Spicy and fruity. Fruits are, well, crushed green grapes, but also white fruits (lychees, underripe peaches). The spices are trickier to sort out. White peppercorns, caraway, tarragon, none of which are spices. Oh well. Even a little gardenia maybe. Peppery and fruity attack; smooth, grapey finish. Amazing that something this good could come from pinot grigio.


Pear Brandy (Poire Williams/Bartlett), 40%

Rich pear nose, a little spicy, a little sweet. Perfectly peary. Becomes a little green and spirity on the palate and then the pear resasserts itself. Just pear, don't know what else to say.

no scores, but this is all really good stuff.

Review #56: Bunnahabhain 12yr, OB +/- 2013, 46.3%

another Bunny

I haven't tried this in a while -- not since they upped the proof. I think there's more sherry casks in the mix now, too. And it's owned by a South African drink conglomerate, because whatever.

nose: sharp, grassy edge followed by distinct sherry notes: orange peels, walnuts, coffee, dried fruits, and fudge. A little bit of medicinal bitterness, but the overall effect is light and sweet.

palate: bitter attack that develops nicely, through marzipan sweetness into waves of apple peelings, walnut skins, salted caramels, and oak. There's some sulphur here, I think, but it works well to give some oomph to a light whisky.

finish: finish is pleasant but unremarkable. maybe a little saltier and greasier than the palate.

very well made -- everything in balance, so that modest flavors are tasty and interesting. Good basic malt.

score: 82

Review #55: Bunnahabhain Moine 5yr 2006/2012, C#800041, 61.1% abv, 261 bottles

resuming from technical difficulties

So, it turns out that Caol Ila is bad for laptops. (Fucking Diageo.) Obstacles have been surmounted, however, and now I'm back to posting here at the TastingDome. I have a bunch of things I managed to write on scraps of paper, so I'll just type all of them out, I guess, if I can read my own handwriting. First up is a very young Bunna.

nose: starts off dry and smoky, with hints of cardboard, but then switches to bacon. Rich, fatty bacon, and then coastal notes -- seaweed, sea salt. Maybe a little ashy, as if the bacon got overcooked. I'll give it a few minutes to see if anything else turns up ... Smoked pears, some vanilla and lanolin.

palate: like a lawn mower that caught on fire. creamy, too.

finish: oily and sweet.

This isn't what I expected. I expected mouth-burning phenols, weird beery notes, and angry pears. This is actually pretty pleasant, especially if you like bacon. I had heard this was newmake-y, and if that's so then I like newmake. It was aggressive on the palate, but the sweetness bails it out.

score: 83

Review #54: Clynelish 17yr 1995/2013, A. D. Rattray, 45.2%, sherry hogshead, cask #4630

very pale for a sherry cask

I had some big and bad reviewing plans, but right now a Clynelish seems comforting. Sherry must have had only a long-forgotten rendezvous with that hogshead, judging from the color

nose: waxy/fruity. That Clynelish nose presents itself right away. A big whiff of cardboard comes next, but it disappers pretty fast. Some smaller flavors take time to develop: honey, peaches and apples, yoghurt, marzipan, peonies, white chocolate, green grapes, and a wisp of smoke.

palate: oily and tangy. the fruit flavors become stronger and tarter, the white chocolate becomes creamier, and there's a little sour wood.

finish: nicely persistent with the smoke returning and a little chalkiness.

Clynelish is consistently pretty good, and this is typical Clynelish. I guess one could hope for a little more intensity and complexity, but I really like this profile.

score: 87