Cragganmore 2000 11 years Old Malt Cask 50%

Distilled June 2000, bottled December 2011, matured in a refill hogshead, released in the Advance Sample range, DL ref 7983.

Nose: Malt, lemon, well-worn socks. With water the socks turn to flat, tepid lager. After a while it mercifully disappears and the whisky starts smelling like green apples and fruit trees.

Palate: Malt and white pepper, but mostly, well, congeners and a sickly sweetness. More pepper on the finish. Water brings out the oak, there is still malt and a lot of pepper.

Comments: Definitely best with water added. The first impression was that this was well-nigh undrinkable, but with water and a little time in the glass it’s quite all right. The pepper adds interest, but otherwise this is too bland to win any prizes.

Thanks to Geir Tore for the sample.

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.

Springbank Vintage 2000 for Jon Bertelsen 58.5%

Bottled in 2008, cask number 401 gave 322 bottles.

Bottle kill. Much sadness.
Bottle kill. Much sadness.

Nose: Potato crisps with paprika. Malt and vanilla with a touch of smoke. With water I get balck pepper and a dose of barbequed chicken.

Palate: Smoke, ashes and malt. With water, much of the same. Not that this is a peat monster, the smoke is contained, but very clear. Salt bisquits and on the finish something vegetational.

Comments: Bottle-kill. The last few cl have been hanging around the bottle for a while, so that might have affected the taste. Takes a lot of water. This was the first Springbank I liked well enough to buy a bottle of, and it’s therefore a sort of milestone in my personal whisky history.