Review #107: Images of Islay "McArthur's Head Lighthouse", NAS, 53.2% abv, Malts of Scotland, 236 bottles

let's call this Caol Ila

Caol Ila is on the Sound of Islay and so is McArthur's Head Lighthouse, albeit at the southern end. Still, CI is the closest distillery, and I imagine the view of Jura is pretty similar, so Caol Ila should be a pretty safe assumption.

Wow, this stuff is clear like water. Well, maybe it has a little color to it, but against my maple desk it looks like young tequila.

Nose: smells like Caol Ila. Lemon, sooty peat, some shellfish, and also some candied sweetness. It smells young without being spirity: there's some ricola herbs, the sootiness is a little aggressive, and maybe there's some burnt plastic that hasn't quite settled down yet.

Palate: soft and lemony for a moment, then like chewing on a peat brick that's still burning. There's a little bit of meatiness to it, but that might just be my mouth.

Finish: eventually -- eventually -- the smoke clears and some sweet oyster brine is left.


Good entertaining stuff, if you like young peat a lot. Keeps its distillery character, too.

score: 84

Review #106: Bowmore 12yr Islay Single Malt, 40% abv, OB

independence day blogging

Today's vote merits something more momentous, but I have a bottle of Bowmore and a plane to catch. So the solution is to finish it off.

nose: very pleasant -- opens with some plums and savory spices before fairly soft, woody peat takes over. faint winey notes. but really soft and balanced in general: coastal notes (salt, shellfish) + citrus (grapefruit) + vegetable oil (?).

palate: well, it's 40%. the peat tries to assert itself, but decides to sit back down. slightly phenolic and slightly sweet.

finish: longish but not boldish. peat and grapefruit with bunches of small elements, settling down to chewy malt with a touch of sherry fruit.


This is very well done. Tastes like a truly great whisky that's been watered down to 40%. A nice choice for a standard bottling. I think they still make it.

score:84

(bottling code:
08:35 067
112084)

Review #105: Amrut 2008, Blackadder, 62.7%, Cask #BA 1/2008, oak cask matured, 277 bottles

I have no idea when this was distilled.

It was bottled in June 2008 in Scotland. I wonder if it was aged in India, though -- that's a pretty high abv. Nice coppery color, anyway, despite its presumable youth.

Anyway, I was saying yesterday that I think Amrut can be overrated because it's unusual. I don't mean to say it isn't good, but I think it plays better to people who give ratings than it should. But I haven't tried any of these Blackadder casks yet.

nose: I kind of like this: it's a nice combination of sour and greasy before the phenols really kick in. If there are any fruit, they're pretty lean -- maybe some grapefruit rind and some plums that shouldn't have been picked yet. Then there's the part I don't like: a gristly, sour milk note, like youth that is where it doesn't belong. Some nice sweet apples and a little meatiness come through at the end -- maybe I just need more patience. Really starts opening up -- starts to become spicy and floral.

palate: not that big a monster -- more like two sharp blows: first peat smoke and then spicy, woody apples with vanilla. slightly numbing.

finish: the vanilla fades, the peat and alcohol are still numbing, and an odd (for me) gristly, sour, greasy note reasserts itself. not my favorite part.


This might be a little at odds with itself, but it turns out I was wrong about it being overrated. (Although I still don't like the Cask Strength.) There's a lot going on and it packs a punch.

score: 88

Review #104: Balcones "Brimstone" Texas Scrub Oak Smoked Corn Whisky, 53% abv, batch BRM 11-10

now seems like a good time

I've been meaning and not meaning to write notes on this, but in light of the recent and ongoing kerfluffle at Balcones, now seems like a good time. [editorial note: I am completely ignorant of the situation, and almost 100% certain that Chip Tate is right, whatever the dispute is about. Also, the link is from spiritsjournal.)

This is good stuff, but I also think it's benefitted -- with good reviews here and here and here, for example -- from a particular phenomenon. That phenomenon is: people who taste lots and lots of whisky (or any one thing) tend to overvalue the ones that stand out just because they stand out. Of course it's possible to stand out on the basis of quality, but it's possible to stand out just by being weird, too. And of course being weird can itself be a value, but it's more of a value to someone who drinks hundreds of whiskies in 3cl increments than it is to most people.
(I think Amrut benefits from this, too, sometimes.)
(I think Brimstone also benefits from the weird mitteleuropaische fascination with Texas and barbecue, too, but that's another story.)

So I really like this whisky, too, actually, but I never find myself drinking it. (My bottle is dated 9-9-11.) It never fits with anything I'm eating or drinking or doing. Maybe if I were a cowboy.

nose: mainly soggy campfire -- it's an intense smoke that less phenolic and more old leaves and soup stock and roasted meat. lots of wood, maybe some nettles, too. there used to be something fruity, like plum liquor, but I can't find it anymore.

palate: When first opened, it had the strongest taste of fresh-roasted corn, lots of sugar and campfire smoke. Now the corn isn't so strong, letting more chewy woody-meaty notes come through, plus vanilla

finish: When first opened, like having a bitter campfire made from soggy wood and wet leaves slowing burning down in my mouth for hours. It's mellowed now: the smokiness burns a little, but there's plenty of sweet oak, and spicy, warm corn -- like the child of a red-hot and a candy corn. Still a long finish, but not overpoweringly bitter and persistent.


hard to score something that I like but not enough to drink much. It is interesting, though!

score: 83

sadness

Review #103: Clynelish 16yr 1996/2012, 52.3%, Whiskyman and Lindores, refill bourbon hogshead, 239 bottles

looking for the wax

It seems like it's been a while since I've had any Clynelish; I'm not sure that's true. My current worry is that Clynelish will become a generic apple/hay/vanilla malt, and lose its distinctive character. But this one is from 1996, so it should be safe.

nose: some sour apples, some nice dark smoke, mown grass, a little linseed oil ... and then finally opens up to to some nice sweet beeswax. (it actually didn't take that long.) still quite smoky, and has some nice Loire-wine notes, too.

palate: beautifully waxy palate, grass and smoke are very sharp in contrast, with lots of malt sugars and honey, bitter herbs, a little lemon pepper.

finish: long, more of the same.


I could imagine someone not liking this -- maybe it's not fruit enough or smoky enough or needs more flavors. But I can't imagine me not liking it.

score: 88

Review #102: Vizcaya VXOP "Cuban Formula" Cask #21 Rum, Dominican Republic, 40% abv

last gasp of summer

There's a bunch of stuff I've been meaning to try, but right now it's hot. Still. So one last rum, until next summer.

I like the website on this one, mostly because it just asks if you were born >21yrs ago, not what day you were born on. It also suggests that this is an agricole and aged in oak (ex-bourbon). I saw somewhere else that it's at least 8yrs old, but that's not on the label or the website. Nice bottle. I don't know who makes it or who owns the brand.

nose: like the Zaya, curiously enough -- a lot of cream soda and sasparilla flavors. not quite as intense or sweet as the Zaya, and a little more interesting, too: there's some fruit (apricot), and a little sharp, almost smoky grassiness. but then buckets of vanilla overwhelm everything. I thought there was a (nice) violet in there for a second, but it's all molasses now.

palate: nice woody body for 40%. like a grassier, but just as sweet, version of the Zaya.

finish: vanilla, molasses, vanilla, vanilla, vanilla.


this is a pleasant, enjoyable dessert that I like slightly better than the Zaya.


score: 73