Kilchoman US Tour Bottle - Cask Strength Machir Bay

November 4, 2016

Kilchoman US Tour Bottle - Cask Strength Machir Bay

Last week Joshua Hatton poured me one of the best tastings I've ever had. His Whisky Jewbilee festival bottlings are amazing.  Where else are you tasting 15-year Heaven Hill cask strength bourbon next to 28-year Bunnahabhain, next to a limited release bottle from Kilchoman? Life in the fast lane...

The lineup

The Kilchoman bottle in question was the US East Coast Tour bottling that they just released. In a nutshell, they put aside a small allotment of what would eventually become their flagship Machir Bay single malt and released it at full (116.8) proof.  Only around 200 bottles were released nationwide.

Tasting Notes

Nose:  Kilchoman has a very recognizable signature nose leading with white chocolate, olive oil, peat smoke, and pink peppercorns.  This has all those things wrapped up very nicely into a lively and integrated aroma.

Palate: Another Kilchoman trait is that a big smoky and full nose results in a very mellow and smooth taste. If you poured this for me blind and told me it was a <10 year 120 proof whisky I'd never believe you. The taste is very fresh with some grass and herbals going on, the peat carries through but is not overwhelming, and the sweets and chocolates finish on the back of the tongue.

Finish: The cask strength really flourishes on the finish with big full peat smoke flavor balancing out the intense strength of the spirit. This one lasts a while with little embers of roasted peated barley echoing through your sinuses for a few minutes.  Very lovely Kilchoman expression.  We tasted through the entire line as well as some single barrels and jumped at the chance to offer this selection to the group, probably the best Kilchoman I've tasted yet.

left to right: Ben (BMC co-founder), Me (Steve), Josh, Jim (Xavier Wines owner) hitting some very rare bottles...

You can listen to the whole live recording of the tasting and interview with Josh here.

At the time of writing this we have 5 bottles left of the Kilchoman East Coast Tour bottle...  (If you want a heads-up next time before they're all gone, sign up for free membership!)

Thanks for all the feedback on the Booker's Rye post!  By popular request, we're going to follow up with some recommendations for more affordable / attainable ryes that you can find on the shelves.  Stay tuned!

Cheers/SB

Malts of Scotland - Eilean a Chuirn Lighthouse

August 4, 2016

Malts of Scotland - Eilean a Chuirn Lighthouse

We keep finding ourselves buying more of these Malts of Scotland independent bottlings. What's not to like? They are all uncolored, unfiltered, cask strength monsters. They come in the coolest squat medicinal bottles.  And they seem to have limitless supplies of super peaty Islay malts. So far so good.

The "Images of Islay" line appears to be a range of single malts from distilleries that asked Malts of Scotland for non-disclosure as to the source of the whisky. This is pretty common for distilleries like Ardbeg and Lagavulin which will agree to sell barrels to various bottlers but would prefer it not made public. This is why you rarely see an independent bottling of Lagavulin, though there are a few out there labelled anonymously. Each Images of Islay features a different Islay landmark on the label like "Cattle at Islay Graveyard" "Round Church of Bowmore" "Port Ellen Lighthouse" "Soldier's Rock", or this one, "Eilean a Chuirn Lighthouse".

In this case, the stuff is almost certainly Ardbeg. It's got the flavor profile written all over it. Also the Eilean a Chuirn lighthouse is located on the southeastern tip of Islay, with the closest distillery being Ardbeg. Also the guy in the store told us it was Ardbeg.

We want to get in touch with Malts of Scotland! We dropped a note on their 'contact us' page, but didn't hear back. If anyone knows them, please introduce us!

Tasting Notes

Nose:  Brilliant phenolic explosion on this one. Limes and bandaids, tons of tropical fruit all wrapped up in the smoke like grilled pineapple, mango, coconut, maybe just the whole palm tree. Some little bursts of skunky cactus, aloe vera, or - agave? (have we been drinking too much mezcal?? No it's there!)

Palate: Lighly oily mouthfeel on this one. Some more traditional flavors come out in the mouth - white grapes, some light oak tannins, white chocolate.

Finish: Damn is this just incredibly smooth for a cask strength (106.4 proof) whisky! Not a big bruiser of a finish at all, this is all elegance. Everything comes together nicely with the smoke carrying a brush of sweetness. That strange fruity skunk aspect remains (not using "skunk" in a bad way here, it's quite nice).

Review

This is a great straight-ahead Islay malt. Strong, smooth, smoky, and sweet without too much cask influence. Guessing this is in the 8-9 year age range and just a lovely expression of what a simple well-treated Islay malt can do.

Cheers/SB

James MacArthur's Fine Malt Selection Caol Ila 14 Year

June 30, 2016

James MacArthur's Fine Malt Selection Caol Ila 14 Year

For a weekend in the country with friends and family we wanted a nice lightly peated malt for porch-top sipping at sunset. Digging through our bunker for something interesting, we found this independent bottling of Caol Ila from James MacArthur.

We couldn't find a lot of information about James MacArthur other than that they were founded in 1982 and produce uncolored and un-chill-filtered (yay!) limited release private case bottles.  This Caol Ila is from the lower proof line (43%) which seemed appropriate for our summer drinking plans, and comes from a sherry cask. Peated malt matured in sherry has always been a favorite. So far so good. 

Caol Ila is perhaps not as esteemed as some of their Islay neighbors like Laphoaig, Lagavulin, or Ardbeg, however they're one of our favorites. Perhaps it's this lack of acclaim that makes it a bit easier to track down interesting expressions and older releases. We picked this one up a few years ago for around $50. These independent bottlings of Caol Ila are pretty easy to come by if you keep an eye out and always fun to experiment with.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Simple and pleasant nose dominated by ocean scents. Sea air, mossy rocks, and light waves of peat. There's some sweet citrus - lemon meringue perhaps, and some vegetal notes like putty and hay. Very mellow nose with just the right amount of peat for sipping neat.

Palate: Very nice balance here with a mid-thick mouth-feel leaving a nice oil on the tongue. The peat fits in nicely with the sweetness and spirit warmth. More tropical fruits come out like a hint of mango and peach, and also some nice complexity of vanilla, white chocolate, and a little spice.

Finish: Mid-length finish, it's still a peater, but it's extremely smooth and leaves just a brush of smoke on the throat with honey and lemons lingering on the tongue.

Review

This was a totally pleasant if not altogether remarkable malt. We'd buy this bottle again. It's a great Islay for people who aren't committed peat junkies like us. You can pass this around to your relatives without worrying about scalding their palates with an assault of ashtray Islay goodness. It has enough age to show maturity, enough sherry to bring forward a good sweet balance to the smoke, and a very solid mouth-feel and finish to complete the package.  Should you go hunting after this bottle to the ends of the earth? No. Should you pick it up if you happen to see it around? Yes.

Happy Drinking!  Cheers/SB

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013

June 21, 2016

Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013

For the past two weeks we've been sipping some highly indulgent bottles, limited edition releases from Islay's annual spring festival Feis Ile. Caol Ila's 2015 Feis Ile bottle was a real treat, combining grace and fire with a powerful seventeen year cask strength offering. Lagavulin's 24-year Feis Ile release was simply mind-blowing, combining huge gentle peat smoke warmth with an incredibly sophisticated and elegant flavor profile.

This week, our friend Al Pop came to town to see the Belmont Stakes. I took him and his son Brock to Koreatown for some Bibimbap. And of course he had a whiskey surprise up his sleeve - Lagavulin Feis Ile 2013. Sweet! So why not continue our Feis Ile reviews and dive in. 

Tasting Notes

Nose: Distinctly sweeter than the 2015, it's starts with leather, smoke, and honey. Vegetal aromas follow like okra or fresh cut green beans. Then it tails off with pink peppercorns and rock salt. It's actually quite similar to the 2015 overall but with a more sweet fruit-forward character.

Palate: OMG Yum!  (ok perhaps that was less than professional, but damn this is good). It's got a huge mouth feel with some signature Lagavulin elements. The smoke and sea air are there. The little pops of citrus and melon. The old men's club stuff like creaky leather and tobacco are here big time. It's definitely got more punch than the 24 year, which is kind of awesome.

Finish: Extremely well balanced finish with lingering smoke, strawberry jam, and tobacco.

Head to Head with Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015

What a privilege to be able to taste these two beauties head to head. They're both just top top quality malts. The 2013 is sweeter, but also has more heat with a little spirit burn. The 2015 is pure elegance with perfect balance and no burn at all. But there's also something nice about the younger bottle, it's got more of the fire, a stronger finish, and definitely a more rounded taste with the additional sherry influence. We'd have to go with the 2015 as the winner, but these are both gems.

Cheers/SB

Continuing our vicarious trip to Islay - Caol Ila Feis Ile 2015!!!

June 3, 2016

Continuing our vicarious trip to Islay - Caol Ila Feis Ile 2015!!!

We've been sobbing ourselves to sleep thinking about how we're missing ANOTHER Feis Ile - the annual spring festival in Islay, Scotland where all our favorite distilleries celebrate another year with music, food, and malt malt malt.  One day we'll get there!!

Oh well, we are consoling ourselves by popping open some gems that have been patiently waiting on the shelf at SmokyBeast headquarters.  Last week we corked the mighty Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015, a truly magnificent 24-year old beauty that set the bar just impossibly high for what a subtle old smoky beast can deliver.  Today we're sampling the sister bottle, Caol Ila's 2015 Feis Ile release.

Caol Ila's offering, hand picked by distillery manager David Wood, is younger than Lagavulin's release. It's a seventeen year expression distilled in 1998 and bottled in 2015. It's cask strength, bottled at a whopping 57.3 ABV. It's triple matured, barreled in American oak, Moscatel (Spanish sherry) casks, and finally in "old oak puncheons". We're not sure what that last one means except that they're old and a puncheon is a very large barrel. They're about 150 gallons or three times the size of a standard whisky barrel.  Are the "American Oak" ex-bourbon barrels? Is it possible that they took these bourbon casks and some sherry casks and dumped them together into the large puncheons for additional aging?  Unclear, but that would make sense... In any case, we love Caol Ila 18, with the only gripe being that it's proofed down to 43%. So if this is similar juice at cask strength then let's get this party started.

Tasting Notes

Nose:  Wow again this nose is extremely delicate. First we get salted cashew nuts. Then cologne. Then sea air. Meyer lemons start to emerge with some tangy citrus notes. Then it wraps up sweet like that gooey honeyed crust on a lemon cake. The smoke is like a dark canvas on which all these flavors sit, definitely not in your face, but ever present.

Palate: Very subtle palate.  Are you kidding me, this is 114.6 proof????  That has to be a typo. But no, the flavor is there. Still, damn, it's just so smooth. We've maybe never tasted an Islay malt this smooth at this high a proof. You'd be crazy to add water. The palate pulls you right in with some lovely wood and leather notes, more of that gooey lemon cake, and a delightful mouth feel that's just a perfect thickness.

Finish: It's not a barn-burner. The finish just has great balance with the smoke fading slowly into some honeyed cough drops, pears, and lemons. There's absolutely no bite, just none, even upon freshly opening the bottle, the first sip is incredibly smooth out of the gate.

Couldn't help going back for another splash on this one. The smoke and power actually come out as the bottle opens up. This is surprising, usually cask strength whiskies can be harsh at first and then open up smooth. This one almost reverses it with a very smooth entry and then more fire and smoke coming out while it opens up in the glass. This is not a bad thing. The power and flavor increase as well and the whole experience is very welcome. The finish particularly gets longer and more satisfying with a big wad of peat smoke rolling around your mouth many minutes after the last sip is gone.

Review

Caol Ila is quickly becoming one of our favorite malts. It's got all the beautiful beastly smoke of the big boys like Ardbeg and Laphroaig, but while those brands can sometimes be overly phenolic and have some of that "ashtray" quality, Caol Ila has kind of signature warmth and smoothness. It's probably the most like Lagavulin in that respect, which is still our all time favorite.

We were so ready to be let down by this bottle. Last week's review of the Lagavulin 24 year was absolutely mind blowing. This one is not nearly as old, coming in at a paltry seventeen years old. And, well, it's not Lagavulin. But it's really just damn good. It's got everything we look for in an Islay malt. Balance, warmth, smoothness, big smoke (after another dram it's definitely smokier than the Lag), a hefty sense of a seaside campfire with salty ocean spray mixing with rich smoke, and delicious sweetness mixing in. A superb treat. We've had thirty year old cask strength Caol Ila's before, and they're awesome, but this may well be the best expression we've tasted yet from this fantastic distillery.

Another dream dram here which makes us both happy and doubly sad we still haven't made the mecca to Islay.  Next year my friend, in the Hebrides!

The Long Awaited Pop of that Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015

May 20, 2016

The Long Awaited Pop of that Lagavulin Feis Ile 2015

Ever have a best friend that you've never met, never spoken to, never emailed or texted?  That's how we feel about Thomas and Ansgar Speller, fellow bloggers who write WhiskySpeller about their travels and tastings around the world. How did the Spellers capture such favor? Well they know the key to a beasts heart: vintage Lagavulin. Thomas and Ansgar went to last year's Feis Ile (Islay's annual spring festival) and sent us a bottle of Lagauvlin's limited release Feis Ile 2015.

Feis Ile happens the last week of May. All week long, one day is dedicated to a specific Islay distillery. They open their doors with tours, parties, music and tastings. Malt whisky fanatics from all over the world come to celebrate the beauty that is Islay. It's also become tradition for each distillery to offer a limited release festival bottling. These are small batch releases of casks hand-picked by the distillery managers. They're often served up uncolored, at cask strength, and have some special characteristics like age or maturation. If that doesn't make your eyes light up, then we're just not speaking the same language.

We haven't been to Islay yet. It's in the cards, but with a 4.5 year old at home it's not so easy to hop over for a week of sipping malt, sleeping in a charming B&B, and watching the waves at Port Ellen. Just writing about it brings a tear to my eye. We'll get there. 

That's why when our bottle from last year's festival arrived, we were excited. Excited doesn't even really cover it. Ecstatic? Giddy? Something like that. As you know if you're a fan of SmokyBeast, Lagavulin is our first and still greatest love when it comes to whisky. And we'd never tasted one of their special limited release Feis Ile bottlings.

The 2015 Feis Ile bottle was a very special run, even by Feis Ile standards. Iain McArthur, Lag's legendary warehouse manager of 40 years, chose extra aged casks for a twenty-four year release that came in at a whopping 59.9% ABV. This will be the oldest, and the strongest Lag we've ever tasted.  in summary: Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!!

We were so excited that we let the bottle sit on our shelf and gazed longingly at it for almost a whole year. It was like an unspoken pact that we would save it for a special occasion. Well almost a year later, with Feis Ile 2016 coming up next week, this seemed like as good an occasion as any.  

Tasting Notes

Nose: The peat is so subtle in the nose here it's all rose petals and heath and lavender. There's a healthy punch of saddle leather and expensive men's cologne. It tails off with a little more smoke, and some melons - cantaloupes and honeydew.

Palate: It opens up and shows its Islay roots in the palate with a big thick mouthfeel of peat and honey. More melons, apricots.  It's so integrated, the peat and the spirit and the sweetness are all wrapped up into a perfect balance.

Finish: Compared to the cask strength 12-year this is a very subtle finish. It's not a fire-breather by any means. The tongue is coated in honey and the smoke rests at the top of the palate drifting up into the nostrils.

Conclusion

It's just superb. At almost 120 proof we expected this to be a ripper, but it's just the opposite. It's a super mellow well balanced whiskey that hits all the right notes. It pulls you in with sweetness and florals before rewarding you with the desired smoke. We felt this one was just perfect with about two eyedropper drops of water (room temperature spring water of course) per ounce. The tiny bit of water opens it up beautifully and it's just a killer dram. Real desert island stuff here, probably in the top ten malts we've reviewed on the site.  A big SmokyBeast "A"!

Four Strikes and We're Out! Longrow Peated, Benrinnes 23, Tamdhu 10, Ledaig 2005

May 3, 2016

Four Strikes and We're Out! Longrow Peated, Benrinnes 23, Tamdhu 10, Ledaig 2005

Ok, some folks have been accusing SmokyBeast of throwing softballs.  Only a month into baseball season, that hurts.

"You guys seem to like everything!?!"

Well the truth is, we try plenty of stuff that we don't like. But that doesn't make for a very interesting article. Why would we recommend something to you that we didn't like? There's so much great whiskey around, we tend to focus on that. Also we don't like being mean.

But, since you asked, here are four bottles we tried recently that we'd categorize as a miss...


Longrow Peated

Springbank makes some incredible whiskies. So we were excited to try their heavily peated variation, Longrow. We'd heard really good things about the older release from this line "Longrow Red" and this is the newer addition from that label.

Nose: Salty dry ocean brine, mild smoke, light wood, lemon zest, angostura.  Smells a bit like cigarettes when the pack has been open too long and they get brittle.

Body:  Burn and spice. A bit sweet around the edges, curry / exotic spice mixture, coconut, berries. Not a big body and not a smooth body, so kind of like "well he's not good-looking, but hey he's got a lousy personality."

Finish:  Ends sour. Not very balanced and the smoke ends too abruptly, leaving you tart. Can't imagine many people preferring this to a Lagavulin 16 or Ardbeg... Maybe if you just want a little peat - who just wants a little peat??!??

Review: It's like if someone asks you what punk music you like and you put on Green Day.  "C+"


Benrinnes 23 Year

Look at this bottle, it's gorgeous! Cask strength 58.8% at 23 years, this was part of Diageo's special release program for 2009. It's super hard to come by these days (sold out at TWE and MasterofMalt at over $200) so expectations were very high.

Nose:  Chocolate covered cashew nuts, heavy sherry, purple grapes, chocolate, wet grass, heavy tannin bitterness, heavy heavy oak adding to the bitterness.

Body:  Plummy fruitiness, Welches grape juice, Luden's honey cough drops, reduced red wine. More wood.

Finish:  Honestly it's harsh for it's age (and price!). This one went too far on the oak to the point where the fruity / sweet elements fight against the bitterness but ultimately lose. Smokybeast "C-".


Tamdhu 10 Year

Nose:  A vegetal nose with heart of palm, aloe, and jade bulbs backed by a little bit of sweet malt and green grapes.

Palate:  Very mild, if somewhat uneventful.  Creamy, oily, and sweet, sort of like those little milk chocolate baking chips you use for cookies.

Finish:  Smooth, but at $65 bucks, it's tough to give this one a good review. Honestly we'd probably prefer a good blend, which might not blow out minds but would be drinkable with no surprises. A SmokyBeast "C".


Ledaig 2005

Nose: Wow we got a weird one here.  It's definitely peated that's for sure.  Not a peat bomb like some of our favorites, but it's got some smoke.  But the smoke is wrapped in this very strange mix of vegetable oil and..  what is that.. like palm fronds.  Not even sure if a palm frond is a thing, and if it is we've certainly never smelled one. But there's no doubt that this is what they smell like.  Kind of like that coconut water smell that removes all the sweetness and just leaves the putrid hand lotion quality.

Palate: This is a very ACTIVE palate.  Haven't ever used that word before, but it's appropriate here. There's a LOT going on. The peat is strong, there's a ton of sweetness too, and a lot of spice, and then a very weird sort of rubbery taste.  Perhaps this is the young age of the malt showing (to the eye it's almost as pale as water), but it's banging around the sides of the mouth like many of the new craft whiskies do when they just haven't had enough years in the barrel.

Finish: Well ok on the one hand for eight years old and a whopping 113.4 proof it's mighty smooth, you have to give them that. But it's a weird sort of nasty smooth. Kind of like a lot of good components (peat fire, honeysuckle sweetness, and citrus tang) all banging against each other instead of integrating together. This one's just missing the wood, and so there isn't that base flavor anchoring all the other elements.  SmokyBeast "D+".

The Best Tasting Ever. Period. Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum.

March 29, 2016

The Best Tasting Ever. Period. Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum.

Sweet Tube 

When I was in high school, the words "sweet tube" would conjure up images of an expensive Graffix glass bong. Now that I've just hit 40 and spent far too much time talking about whiskey on Facebook, "sweet tube" has the infinitely less cool and exponentially more pathetic connotation of the packaging for expensive whiskey. Case-in-point: when I picked up my first Willett gift shop rye and saw the classy off-white cylinder, the words "dude, sweet tube" escaped my lips. I promptly looked over my left shoulder to try and spot the douche bag. It was me.

Let's be honest, there's just something special about whiskey in a nice box. Of course it shouldn't matter. The juice is the juice is the juice. You're just paying more for packaging. Yada yada yada. Yes that's all true. Yet no matter how many bottles I buy, collect, and drink, my eyes always light up when I see a beautiful box. Like this one:

Emperor's Clothes

Sure, there are examples of lackluster whiskies parading around in ludicrously over-the-top packaging to fetch a preposterous price tag:

The Arran Devil's Punchbowl

Highland Park Ice

Artful Presentation

But when there's a brand you already love and they take the time to release a really special bottle and take great care in the packaging, sometimes you just know you're in for a treat. Such is the case with Douglas Laing, my favorite independent bottler.  Douglas Laing always does a nice presentation:

Douglas Laing Director's Cut

Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask

But they really go above and beyond with their flagship product, the Old & Rare Platinum Editions.  (Note, due to some recent reorg, OAR is now exclusively under Hunter Laing.)  These velvet-lined, antique-fastened cabinets would make a luxurious coffin for any small family pet. The wood must be cedar because the smell inside is pure bliss, even before you open the bottle. And it simply reeks of class that they don't identify the bottle on the outside of the box. 

The Old & Rare Platinum selections are all single cask releases, aged over twenty years, and bottled at cask strength with no chill-filtering or artificial color. In other words, they're close to heaven for malt whisky fanatics. I've never seen OAR selections on the shelf in the states, though there are some popping up at KL (though they don't seem to come with the box??!???).  Also they're not cheap, with the entry-level bottles fetching around $300 and the more sought-after brands (Ardbeg and Macallan for example) in the $700 range. Then again if you have seven hundred bucks burning a whole in your pocket, there's worse things you could do with it.

Building Suspense

For my quarterly Beast Masters Club events, I always hide the identities of the whiskies to build suspense and then reveal the bottles one by one as we taste through them. And what better way to mask the goodies than to have four of these majestic Douglas Laing boxes on the table when everyone arrived? As we thumbed back the nautical looking hatches and opened each box, audible 'oooohs' and 'ahhhhhs' filled the room.  

The selections were as follows:

Rosebank 21 Year 1992/2013 52.3%

Lowland malts are generally not my thing. There are some perfectly fine brands out there like Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie, but they're just not the big flavor bombs that we smoky beast aficionados are looking for. Lowland malts tend to be grassy and floral and they are traditionally triple distilled (similar to most Irish whiskies) giving them a mellower taste.

This Rosebank on the other hand was incredibly delicious. It was an ideal starting point for the night. Fruits and flowers dominate the nose with explosions of apples, pears, violets, and lilies, beautiful overtones of perfume and white chocolate. This was so surprising, even some of the most committed beast masters in the room had to pick this malt as their favorite for the evening! The palate is thick and dreamy with more fruit and flowers, and the finish is sweet but extremely balanced and nuanced. You'd never in a million years guess this was over one hundred proof based on the presence of alcohol, but the incredible flavor might clue you in. Sadly only one hundred and twenty-two bottles were released from this cask, so we're unlikely to taste it again. Really a dream and definitely a gem of a lowland whisky that came out of left field for the surprise of the night.


Highland Park 27 Year 1984 / 2012 51.6%

This is without question the best Highland Park I've ever tasted and a magnificent second bottle for the tasting. Moving up in the flavor / boldness category from the Rosebank, we're into some more lush tastes here in the caramel and stone fruit category. The nose shows a slight sherry influence with peach and apricot wrapped in some caramel and pound cake. There's some nice maritime elements giving it a little bit of salt and punch, and maybe just a hint of smoke. Highland Park has never been a standout distillery for me but it's very hard to find anything not to like here. A straight forward delicious malt, sitting perfectly with strong spirit flavor sweetness, smoothness, and balance.

Caol Ila 27 Year 1984 / 2011 51.9%

Now we're headed into serious beast territory. This twenty seven year single cask sherry matured Caol Ila is absolutely the stuff of legend. A huge rush of ocean campfire greets the nose with salty sea air carrying deep smoldering embers. Deep deep peat with that signature Caol Ila nuttiness, like candied pecans heated over charcoal. Then we get the big sherry influence with plums and raisins and strawberry jam. The sweet and the peat wrap up into the most awesome palate. Just flavor going on for hours here with the smoke, the sweet, and the big spirit integrating together for such an amazing refined taste. This can only happen when a great cask is aged perfectly, in this case for almost three decades, and bottled at precisely the right time.  (Which of course is the beauty of independent bottlers who are not beholden to releasing the same aged spirit every year!).  This is a real desert island dram right here, the kind of thing I could happily drink every night for the rest of my life.

Ardbeg 22 Year 1991 / 2013 55.8%

To finish the night we cracked this eye-opening twenty-two year Ardbeg. Moving way up in the peat direction, and topping out the ABV of the night at over one hundred and ten proof, this was another superb gem. Very much your typical Ardbeg, this was all peat and fire with little pops of citrus and pears. Wonderfully dry, with almost none of the sweetness of the Caol Ila, this was all smoke versus power. As great old Islay malts can do, the smoke balanced out the super high alcohol content for a real peat lovers dream. Another wonderful cask choice, this was a real killer to end the night.

In Conclusion

All-in-all, I think this was the best tasting I've ever put on. The sweet boxes lined up on the table had everyone's mind racing the minute they walked in. Moving from a marvelous lowland malt to a highland and then showcasing both sherry and bourbon-aged Islay malts really highlighted the wonderful diversity of single malts across the various regions. But above all, the cask selections from Douglas Laing were simply phenomenal. Discovering how amazing Rosebank can be, and tasting the best Highland Park ever, and then getting two of the finest bottles ever from two of my favorite distilleries was the kind of night whisky maniacs live for.

IT'S THE PEATIEST MALT EVER MADE!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA - Bruichladdich Octomore 6.3 Review

March 10, 2016

IT'S THE PEATIEST MALT EVER MADE!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA - Bruichladdich Octomore 6.3 Review

Leave it to our friends at Bruichladdich to pull an Emeril. Just when we thought they couldn't go any farther with the young fiery smoky beasts they've been breeding at their evil fortress in Islay, they turn it up a notch - BAM. We honestly thought it had to be a typo - 258 parts per million?? Impossible!

We thought peat levels over a hundred were insane when Ardbeg Supernova came out. But not to be outdone, Bruichladdich Octomore 5.1 set the bar at 169 ppm. This held the trophy for some years. But while we were safely in our beds under the covers, thinking that the peat armageddon had ended, they were hard at work cooking up even more insanity. And here we are with Octomore 6.3 at a nose hair singing, face melting, 258 parts per million. Strap in and get ready to rock.

Nose: At 64%, 128 proof, this stuff should be absolute rocket fuel.  But I've got my nose buried in here and I'd never believe these numbers.  258 ppm x 64%? The nose has tons of hay and wet grass going on, some white chocolate, but overall it's super dry. Almost like a white wine sort of aroma. Then we get orange rind and mango appearing for little sweet tail ends on the nose. This is super intriguing and not at all what we were expecting.

Palate: The peat and heat definitely come through on the palate. It's like you can chew on that peat. And it's freakin AWESOME. It really doesn't have that ashtray quality that some Laphroaigs and Port Charlottes have going on. This is like a dry cracking peat. Huge and warm but still super clean and invigorating.

Finish: I don't think it ever will! :)  If it ever finishes we'll let you know. So far the dry "waves of grain" peated barley (it's like you can really taste the individual grains growing out of the ground) have nestled deep in my stomach and now are slowing creeping up my chest. It comes back across the back of the throat with a luscious campfire smoke and little pops of scotch bonnet peppers and rock salt. Opening the mouth the dry crisp flavors return for a sensational finish.

Review: This is such a unique malt it's hard to really review it. If you are peat-obsessed like us, you're going to adore it. But not in the slap-my-ass-and-call-me-Sally way you'd expect. It's like Mike Tyson meets Vivaldi. A whole lot of insane punch, but it's all very elegant and well crafted. Really one of a kind. I'd say you definitely have to be a peat maniac for this to be up your alley, but at the same time it's not a totally fiery raw burn. Not sure if that makes sense, but that's the impression.  Bravo to Bruichladdich for one of the best peat monsters we've ever tasted.

Cheers/SB

New Chief(s) in Town! Ian Macleod's Chieftain's Bottling Run #9

March 1, 2016

New Chief(s) in Town! Ian Macleod's Chieftain's Bottling Run #9

Ian Macleod's Chieftain's independent bottlings of rare whiskies have put out some serious malts over the years.  We're talking about a thirty year Port Ellen, a 1969 Springbank, stuff like that. They've certainly set the bar pretty high with the declaration, "The Chieftain's collection's hallmark is that each bottling must be fit for a King, a Leader or in the Celtic world, a Chieftain." Guess today that's us! 

The Chieftain's Run #9, 2016

Looking at the selections we were intrigued. Mortlach has recently come on to our radar and we've been pleasantly surprised. There is a 100% bourbon cask Glen Grant, which we've never tasted before (they're famous for their "sherry bomb" casks). Not to mention all these bottlings are 15+ years, unfiltered, and mostly served up at higher proofs. We invited our frequent guest reviewer @jakecahill to sit down and taste the whole line. Here's what we came up with.

Mortlach 18-Year PX Cask 46% 

Steve's Tasting Notes

Nose: Pineapple Jelly Beans, jammy fruity syrup, stone fruits (apricots).

Palate: Jake says “stewy” just as I take a sip and yes, it’s like chewing on a nice fruity stew of prunes and plums and raisins.

Finish: Smooth and short, with punchy berry fruitiness, a little white chocolate and a touch of tannin from the oak. Overall a very nice dram. This is not a flavor bomb, but very subtle and well crafted. A great pick for someone in the Macallan / Speyside fanfare category.

Jake's Tasting Notes

Nose: Beautiful golden color (bourbon cask before PX?) opens up with a dried pruney fruit. Dried pineapple and mango. Some slight vegetation that I cant quite pinpoint. Almost like compost while all the materials are still fresh. Slight hint of petroleum.

Palate: More of the dried fruit. leaning more toward the prune and date here. That soft vegetation comes back with a little earth and spice toward the back end. 

Finish: It sounds like an awful combination of ingredients (dried fruit, vegetation and petroleum??), but like a great chef can pull a dish together with complimentary flavors from opposing ingredients, this Mortlach comes together as a wonderful whisky with an inviting nose and interesting flavor wheel that delivers a new component every time you revisit it. 

Glen Grant 20-Year Bourbon Finish 55.1%

Steve's Tasting Notes

Nose: Heavy, big vanilla extract. Maybe this is from the bourbon cask? But it's way more vanilla than you'd typically get from barrel influence. More vanilla than in many bourbons! There has to be some very sweet vanilla influence coming through from the distillate, can't just be the barrel. There's a little light oak and some green grapes and figs.  It's a very mellow nose for over 110 proof.

Palate: Interesting palate. I was expecting mild flavor based on the smoothness of the nose, but it opens up with some pretty bold spirit warmth, fresh cream, an “almond milk smoothie” comes to mind, getting a lot more of the barley and wood on the tongue.

Finish: Being a fan of big flavors like Islay smoke and American whiskey, it’s usually tough to impress me with a Speyside bourbon cask, but this one at cask strength has some

power that separates it from the pack. Really sweet but in a nice flavorful way without being cloying. Surprisingly this was my favorite of the bunch, and definitely the one I found myself thinking about the next day.

Jake's Tasting Notes

Nose: Strong bourbon influence on the nose. Soft and light but an array of inviting aromas. You can really dig your nose into this one and get quite personal with it for a 110.2 proof. For me I got a lot of Vanilla malt shake, Dark Cherries, Dried Figs, Toasted oak and slight burnt out campfire. "Soda!" I said. "What kind of soda??"   "CREAM SODA," says Steve, "Dr. Brown's Cream Soda!" "YEEESSSSS! That's it exactly!"

Palate: Boom! Theres the Proof! It wasn't in the Pudding! It was in this Glen Grant. Creamy and spicy come crashing together here. Crème brûlée and apple cobbler. with 

Finish: A long nice finish with subtle malty and earthy elements dominating as the fruit and spice slowly taper off. This was my personal favorite.

Braeval 19-Year "The Red Beaune"

Steve's Tasting Notes

Nose: Not blowing me away on the nose. Kind of a jammy sickly sweetness bumping into the spirit in not such a good way.

Palate: Maybe like red licorice. Again this one’s not doing it for me. The wine finish feels a bit ham-fisted into what was not a very flavorful malt.

Finish: Honestly this was my least favorite of the bunch. Like I said I'm generally not a Speymalt guy, and I'm almost always underwhelmed by fancy wine finishes. Jake is much more knowledgeable about wine than I so I asked him what "Red Beaune" meant. "Probably Côte de Beaune" says Jake, which Google reveals is usually a combination of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes - neither of which being my favorite wine. So maybe this just isn't my cup of tea.

Jake's Tasting Notes

Nose: Kind of 'fumbly' and really out of whack. Overly fruity and medicinal in an unpleasant way.

Palate: I imagine the first experimental batches of Robitussin and Dimetapp tasted something like this. I just really don't have anything nice to say about this malt other than its... Interesting and unique I guess.

Finish: Thank goodness its finished. NEXT!

(Even though we were drinking together, Jake and I wrote our notes separately so I guess we were pretty much on the same page!)


Linkwood 17 Year Oloroso Finish 55%

Steve's Tasting Notes

Nose: Hard apple cider for me on the nose.

Palate: Still in super green apple territory here. Sort of over the top sweet green Granny Smith apples. Was hoping for a little smoke on this one but apart from maybe a little barrel char there’s hardly any smoke here.

Finish: Comes together nicely between the fruit, sweetness, and a good amount of wood. This one’s
nice, would be very good standing up next to a stinky cheese! Taleggio anyone? Mmmm talegio!

Jake's Tasting Notes

Nose: Very fresh and lively. A good hit of vanilla bean and apple skin. Honeycomb.

Palate: That honey comes back but my apple has now turned mealy/slightly oxidized. Nutty almost. A bit of damp earth. A little bit of red fruit here like strawberry or cherry too. 

Finish: This has a little bit of heat to it. Which is interesting seeing as its lower proof. It isn't enough to distract it from its character and flavors though. A really lovely and enjoyable whisky.

Fettercairn 19-Year Oloroso 57.4%

Steve's Tasting Notes

Nose: Immediately digging this one. Medicinal nose. Not peaty but very herbal. The sweetness from the sherry is coalescing nicely with all this crazy menthol stuff. tart cherries, lemon meringue.

Palate: Holy black pepper. This is a punchy ballsy malt. Still mixing together nicely between the dry herbal stuff and the sweet grapes. Definitely the most interesting of the bunch so far. Really didn’t know what to expect from this one but really like it.

Finish: Wow it’s really strong but super drinkable for 114.8 proof! Not reaching for water. Really lovely strong mix of bitter, sweet, and warm wood.

Jake's Tasting Notes

Nose: This one wins most interesting in my mind. Really fun and exciting. Pronounced herbal and medicinal nose with a wonderful background of dried fruits, rosemary, and cornbread.

Palate: Super spicy with a waft of cough syrup (the good tasting cherry kind). A fresh sprinkle of dried herbs de provance into the pot and just a tad grapey.

Finish: Great playfulness between sweetness and Earth. Really fun to keep going back to again and again. 

Overall

This was a really fun line. The Grant and the Fettercairn were truly surprising and memorable, vanilla-bomb and pepper-bomb respectively. The Grant is a little pricey, coming in around $140-$160, but I find myself definitely contemplating picking up a bottle. Same with the Fettercairn which is on the shelves around $120-$130. but would be such a strong conversation starter. Particularly for real malt whisky fans, either of these would be a total stumper tasted blind, and a really interesting addition to any tasting. 

Cheers/SB