All posts by Jewmalt

SuperJew, Husband, Father, Scotch aficionado, Musician, Whisky Society President

Mortlach, This one is a bit of hard work!

Exculsive Malts – Mortlach 17yo – 53.3% ABV

April 9, 2013 Jewmalt

Speyside region – 53.3%ABV – US only — Price: unknown at this point.

Day two of the Exclusive Malts reviews.

Interestingly enough, after having my little fun with the term “nut skin” yesterday, two people unsubscribed from my posts. As sad as this is, I gained three new subscribers and a few very nice emails.

Please know that on occasion, in addition to having fun reviewing whisky, I have fun using the humor of my inner nine year old boy. Sorry if this offends some but, hey ho, I’ll keep doing what I do and will be ever thankful for all of you out there enjoying my posts.

Speaking of “doing what I do,” I’ll move on with my review of this 17yo Mortlach:

On the nose – I’m struck first by the scents of bruised apples and apple cider vinegar. It’s quite present and tough to get past (thankfully, I’m enjoying those notes).

Freshly kneaded dough with a high yeast content and highly sugared cereals. Speaking of cereal, I’m reminded of a fine muesli and golden raisins, too.

Hot cinnamon and apple sauce (currently warming apple sauce). Grilled lemons.

With water it gets a bit more savory with touches of baked tomatoes.

On the mouth – Thinnish mouthfeel with a keen focus on the malt character of the whisky. Honied water and just a hint of smoke in the background.

Cracked white pepper or, is it just peppery? Hmmm…

Rubber party balloons (or balloon animals), lemon fizzy candies and well, that’s about it I’m afraid. So far, the nose wins out. Let me add some water to see if it opens this one up…

Water adds a great amount of texture to the mouthfeel of this whisky and begins to align the nose with the flavors. Adding water to this whisky was a good choice.

After about 20 minutes, it now, in an odd way, reminds me of Redbreast 12yo Cask Strength.

Finish – A surprisingly long finish filled with fruits and again that touch of smoke.

In sum – While not as approachable or easily dissected as the Clynelish I reviewed yesterday, a bit of patience and water pays off. This would be a good whisky to have as part of a tasting. Compare this to some other Mortlachs. It’s an odd duck out from others that I’ve had but for those up to a challenge, this can be a good dose of fun!

Breakfast Whisky, Clynelish, Springtime

Exclusive Malts – Clynelish 15yo – 53.5%ABV

April 8, 2013 Jewmalt

Highlands region – 53.5%ABV – US only — Price: unknown at this point.

Many of us here in the states have not heard of the Exclusive Malts or The Creative Whisky Company who are responsible for bottling this selection of single casks. The Exclusive Malts range is a new range to the US brought to this side of the pond by the fine folks at ImpEx Beverages.

So, what makes this line of whiskies so special? I’d say it comes down to David Stirk, owner of The Creative Whisky Company, and his ability to consistently choose and bottle fine and fun casks of whisky, both young and old. In the UK and EU, Mr. Stirk is known for bottling good hooch; I’m just glad that he and ImpEx are working together to bring some of these bottlings our way.

I was sent 5 samples in all from ImpEx (thanks again!) and we will launch the review of the Exclusive Malts range with this 15yo Clynelish. Bottled at cask strength and matured in what I assume is an ex-bourbon cask – the bottle simply says “aged in oak.”

On to the review; begin the begin:

On the nose – Quite a classic representation of Clynelish – waxy smelling, a touch of smoke, lemon bars and paraffin. Bright wood spice nose – a house in the framing stage of being built – fresh sawn wood.

A touch of mild mustard seed. Actually, if one could figure out a way to candy mustard seeds, I imagine it’d smell a bit like this.

Fresh tropical fruits and some crushed pecans (sans any bitter nut skin). Boy, nut skin just sounds wrong – forget I even mentioned nut skin. Seriously, stop with the nut skin!! *Why* are you obsessing…

MOVING ON!

Some warmed caramel or perhaps the caramel from a Milky Way bar.

On the mouth – Oh, hell yes. Warming and oily mouth feel. Much of what we got on the nose with a touch of hayseed to boot.

Waxy, spicy (not overly so)… Actually, the spice is increasing here — if you’ve ever had Dailuaine, the level of spice is similar to Dailuaine. Very nice.

Plastic candy wrappers, wax wrappers for vanilla caramels.

Finish – From mouth coating and oily to a medium length, slightly drying finish (like biting into a red grape seed).

In sum – Here is where knowing how to bottle a good cask at the right time pays off. This is a great whisky that’s both easy going but also has wonderful levels of complexity to it. At 53.5% ABV, it’s not hot at all… very approachable and perfect for a weekend morning pick-me-up. Start your day with this one (so long as you’re not driving or operating heavy machinery… or have to vote).

nut skin.

A World of Discovery, Autumn, Kornog

Kornog Peated French Whisky bottled at 46%ABV – “Taouarc’h Pevared” Sauternes Cask

March 28, 2013 Jewmalt

Brittany region of France – 46% ABV – £62.50

Kornog whisky is French distillery Glann ar Mor’s peated offering. Glann ar Mor produces whisky much the same way the Scots do with copper pot stills and malted barley, water and yeast. They matured their whisky in either Ex-Bourbon barrels of Ex-Sauternes barriques (both first fill).

Sadly you can not find this whisky in America just yet.

I wish I had more time to discuss this distillery but I am currently short on time today so I need to go right to the tasting notes (please forgive my out-of-time-ness and laziness!!):

On the nose – Quite and odd and interesting start to this whisky. The peat components start off reminding me of Connemara-style peat (somewhat “artificial” in character with hints of soy sauce).

Coming back to this and the peat softens and becomes more wood-like: tree bark deep in the woods on a spring day with just a dash of cinnamon.

French onion soup – am I’m not saying this because this is a French whisky – the beef broth and onion notes are somewhat pronounced. Over cooked date compote.

6 months ago when I bought the bottle I didn’t dig this. Right now, I am enjoying it *greatly*. Let’s see how the flavors go.

On the mouth – Much sweeter than the nose led on. Barley syrup, malted barley and some buckwheat honey.

Somewhat thin mouthfeel but the flavors are there.

Carob beans and fresh spring earth. This is peaty but not smoky at all.

Oh! Little Debbie Nutty Bars! All of these flavors hit you somewhat quickly then the drying quality kicks in.

Finish – Quite dry with cinnamon and medium length.

In sum – A curious whisky that is worth your time and consideration. I have about ¾ of a bottle left to try and will continue to evaluate it. The good thing is that it is enjoyable and urges to you drink a bit more deeply. I’m a sucker for Sauternes cask maturation, hence my purchase of this whisky. I will explore the brand further to see what their whisky is like in ex-bourbon and, cask strength. Keep your eye on this distillery. I think they are starting to tell a very interesting story…

Field Trip!

20% off of WhiskyLive NYC tickets plus a free year’s subscription to Whisky Magazine can be yours – details below!

March 18, 2013 Jewmalt

Here’s a quick and easy, no-brainer thing for you to do:

Put April 3rd into your calendar. Block off that date because you need to hold that evening to go to WhiskyLive NYC.

Among countless other presenters, Single Cask Nation will be there pouring our Arran, Kilchoman and BenRiach single Cask bottlings. What’s more is we could very well be previewing some future bottlings as well! You could be among the first to taste some whisky from our next set of releases.

What’s more is, using the discount code below, I’m giving you 20% off the pricing of your ticket (be it for the VIP or standard ticket)!!

On top of that, if you use the below discount code in your check out, you’ll also get a full year subscription to Whisky Magazine — that’s a value of $70!!

Like I said, this is a no-brainer.

Click here and use the following discount code to get 20% off the cost of your ticket to WhiskyLive NYC AND get a one year subscription to Whisky Magazine (case sensitive): scn2013

Happy dramming!