Month: May 2013

Dufftown 1981 Old Malt Cask Advance Sample 50%

IMG_0576

20 years old, distilled October 1981, bottled January 2002, sherry butt, DL ref. 533.

Nose: Surprisingly fresh fruitiness, but also raisins, tobacco and oak.

Palate: Heavily sherried, dry oak. The more water I add, the more it tastes of dust (however contradictory that may seem). My thouhts go to old dunnage warehouses full of casks, to the corner where a small window lets in the sunlight, drying out the nearest cask and heating the dust up.

Comments: Somewhat too oaky, but otherwise one of the more interesting DUfftowns I’ve had (though that’s not necessarily saying much).

BenRiach Heavily Peated 1994 Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection 46%

IMG_20130522_21445610 år gammel, destillert 20.06.1994, tappet 11.10.2004, hogshead fat nummer 1643.

Nose: “Heavily peated” is no lie, the peat smoke hits you even as you’re pouring your dram. In addition I find oranges and grapefruit and something juniper bush’esque. With water the fruit turns to apricots or peaches, but the smoke stays. It smells like a kiln.

Palate: Peat smoke and juniper wood. With water a fruitcakey sweetness appears.

Comments: A perfectly drinkable peated dram, but no stunner. Better on the nose than on the palate.

Whiskyquote #1

Sometimes I read books. On the whole you’re better off checking out the bookblog if you want to know what I’m reading. But sometimes whisky is mentioned in the book I happen to be reading, even if it’s not a whisky book per se, and when that happens, I guess it belongs here. I hereby declare the series “Whiskyqotes” for opened:

“You know how we make a Scotch and water in this home?”
“No, sir,” Gus said.
“We pour Scotch into a glass and then call to mind thoughts of water, and then we mix the actual Scotch with the abstracted idea of water.”

From The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, page 184.

Mortlach 1992 13 years Dun Bheagan 43 %

Distilled November 1992, bottled 2006. Casks numbered 8572 and 8574. 750 bottles from two hogsheads. Sample from, well, I cannot remember.

Nose: Dry wood, coriander, pears, cucumber.

Palate: Malt, vannilin, bitter almonds.

Comments: Takes a lot of water considering it’s only 43%. It’s always interesting to taste Mortlach from something other than ex-sherry casks, but this is not the best example I’ve had. A bit middling, both in terms of complexity and in terms of how the flavours push my buttons subjectively.

Linkwood 1989-2002 Cadenhead 56.3%

From a sherry hogshead, one of 264 bottles. A dreg, and it has been open for a while, so there may have been loss of aroma and flavour.

Nose: Apricots, baked apple (but no cinnamon). With a little water it provides a hint of smoke and cloves or even aniseed.

Palate: Faint smoke, heather honey, heather, spice (allspice and cloves), and peaches.

Bowmore 100° Proof 57.1%

We visited my parents on Sunday and this was temptingly placed on the kitchen counter, so I grabbed the opportunity to write tasting notes for it. My mum was quite pleased with the purchase, complaining only that it seemed to disappear very quickly.

Bowmore 100° Proof
Bowmore 100° Proof

Nose: Orange peel, juniper berries, pine needles, surprisingly little smoke. Only with water does the smoke manifest, as well as green apples and (smoked) meat.

Palate: Warm peat smoke, salty sea, tar, orange, spice. With quite a bit of water I also get apples and spicy sponge cake.

Comments: I will definitely buy a bottle if I get the chance.