Category: Whisky

Old Pulteney 1995 Single Cask Selection 59.8%

Hand filled from a cask at the distillery by Snorre (by order of me). Distilled 21.11.1995, bottled 08.07.2010, matured in an ex bourbon cask, numbered 2851.

Nose: The ABV is noticable, otherwise it smells of vanilla, wood and dried cranberries. Water opens it a bit and adds dark chocolate, toasted almonds and barley.

Palate: good quality vanilla ice cream with brittle. Water brings out a woody note, but the vanilla and brittle stay. The finish is very long and tastes mostly of sweet but pure liquorice.

Comments: Definitely needs water. I seem to like it better now than when I first tasted it, so it is possible that a little air has helped it along. Not the best Pulteney I’ve had, but it would not deter me from filling a bottle myself if I ever get to visit the distillery.

Kininvie 17 years Batch 001 42.6%

kininvie

Nose: Toffee, rose water, dry birch wood. With water dried raspberries, green jelly babies, blackboard chack and a hint of aniseed.

Palate: Half-rotted wood, but also something fruity. Somewhat more bitter with water added, and the impression of decay is lessened.

Comments: My first reaction when taking a sip was “Ouch”. That’s not really a reaction you want, to put it that way. The nose is really very good, but the taste is just not working for me at all. With the reservation that it was tasted in the middle of the 7 Stills Tour of Dufftown, the only other single Kininvie I’ve had was much better.

Longrow 8 years 2010 Open Day 58.5%

Distilled 2001, matured in an ex-shiraz hogshead. Purchased at the Cadenhead’s shop in Campbeltown in 2010, I split a bottle with Leif Olav (after a week on Islay we both had enough bottles in our luggage so a shared bottle seemed like a good idea).

Nose: Pretty spirity, some smoke, the insides of a damp, wine-soaked cask (as if you stick your nose in the bung hole of a recently emptied cask and sniff it). More obvious smoke with water, since the intense spirit disappears. Dried apricots and grilled pineapple, green apples and lemon balm (the herb).

Palate: Immediately a little anonymous, a lot of alchohol and a touch of oak. With water it develops smoke on the palate as well, cold rock and some tropical fruits.

Comments: Definitely needs water to flourish, but is scarily easy to drink at full strength, though rather boring. Very fruity once water is added. The wine cask is not obvious at all, except for that initial “damp cask insides” on the nose.

Laphroaig 1989 23 years 48.9%

This is a special bottling Laphroaig did last year exclusively for the Scandinavian market.

Nose: Smoked and barbequed meat, bonfires and cheese. I get Applewood vibes and that is never a bad thing. With water there is less meat and more ashes, but also red berries and smoked seaweed.

Palate: Less interesting than the nose, but very nice. Fridge ice and ashes. Water sharpens the taste and brings out a slight bitterness and orange peel.

Comments: Perfectly drinkable at full strength, but water gives it another dimension. A great dram. The only negative thing I can think of is a somewhat short finish, the smoke lingers but nothing else.

Macallan 1996 13 years Adelphi 58.8%

the_whisky_bar-3Nose: Toffee with a hint of mint. Dry oak and vanilla. With water it develops raisins and baked apples, but the vanilla gets a somewhat rotten side note.

Palate: Too much oak? After only 13 years that’s actually kind of impressive. Oak, varnish, slightly rotten wood. With water it develops some bitterness, which for once is a good thing as it kills off the note of decay.

Comments: I’m ambivalent, but land on “No”. Too much cask and it’s also all over the place and tastes different for every sip.

Aberlour 2000 11 years Adelphi 55.8%

the_whisky_bar-4Nose: Toffee and fudge, vanilla, cream and burnt sugar. Some raisins. With water herbs, coriander maybe, appear.

Palate: Cheap milk chocolate with a proper caramel filling. Like a cross between Cadbury’s Caramel and a pound shop Christmas calendar chocolate. With water the caramel develops a burnt edge.

Comments: I’d have liked more, mostly because it was hard to get a grip on it and 2 cl didn’t seem like enough. Nice, though not overly complex.

Balmenach 1988 23 years Adelphi 54.2%

the_whisky_bar-2Nose: A little sickly and “chemical”, malt and yeasty dough. Water helps by bringing out citrus, mostly lemon, a light oaky perfume. Still a lot of malt and bun dough.

Palate: Malt, yellow apples and sweetish glue. With a drop of water it’s much better, as the glue disappears and it tastes of apple pie with custard. More water adds a vague taste of vomit.

Comments: A drop of water was good, more a bit of a disaster. Once the water was added it was almost undrinkable.

Dalmore 21 years 43%

This bottle has been languishing at the back of our cupboard for a while. Purchased at Kastrup for a ridiculously low sum some years back.

Dalmore_21Nose: Apple and pear compote, but not an overly sweet one. Light oak and vanilla. A hint of menthol. The menthol is emphasised with water and other herbs and juniper wood also appear.

Palate: Vanilla and dried apricots. Dry wood on the finish. With water menthol appears on the palate as well, green wood and conifer needles, possibly from juniper.

Comments: An attractive 21 year old. It’s rather surprising that the bottle has been left untouched this long, I think we may have to do something about it.

Mortlach 1992 21 years Director’s Cut 56.7%

From a sherry butt.

mortlach_dircut_1992-1Nose: A lot of oak, clear sherry note, but dry sherry and oak rather than dried fruits, very little sweetness. With water I get dried cranberries, candied orange peel and milk chocolate, but it’s still on the dry side.

Palate: Dried cranberries and raisins, but also a lot of oaky dryness. Vanilla. With water I get both oaky bitterness and sherry sweetness, vanilla and oak chips, floor varnish.

Comments: Even though there’s not even a whiff of burnt rubber, my main impression is “over oaked”. It tastes of oak chips. The nose is beautiful, but can’t make up for the taste. It’s not a bad dram, but it’s no where near worth the asking price (2495 NOK at Vinmonopolet, I paid 200-something NOK for 2 cl at The Whisky Bar in Oslo).

mortlach_dircut_glass-1