More reviews and risky/whisky opinions to come in the new year – 5774 that is!
I hope my Jewish readers have a sweet new year. I wish (for all my readers) that you have a wonderful chilly fall season filled with lots of friends, family and drams. Rock on!
L’shanah Tovah!
Highland region – 51.3% ABV – 493 bottles – £1399 (or £85 for a dram at Master of Malt)
Forty years old. This whisky is forty years old.
It’s a strange thing to drink a whisky that is older than you. Perhaps what’s even more strange to me is that I will be turning forty this year. It’s actually really messing with me that I’ll be forty. Half way to 80 as it were. Ugh.
I don’t feel forty so, that’s good, right? They say you’re as old as you feel, right? Well, when I think about what happened ten years ago I think about the early 90’s. Not the early 00’s. That’s a bit disconcerting and makes me feel old and a bit disconnected from the new and hip things of the world.
All of my heroes are getting old too! (I.E. Ian Mackaye just turned 51, Jello Biafra is 54, Willie Nelson *just* turned 80.)
Hold on a sec, I seem to be typing myself into a bit of a depressing cul-de-sac here…
Mayhaps it’s best we talk about fun things? Let’s talk about a 40 year old that is way sexier than I’ll ever be. Yup, this Old Pulteney is one sexy beast.
On the nose – Wow. Just wow-wow-wow. Initial thought? Screw nosing and tasting notes, this smells as lovely as can be and all I want to do is stop thinking and enjoy this whisky. The age is there yet it’s lively and juicy and moreish smelling right from the go. Yum.
I suppose I should try to dissect it though – try and get the most out of this and give it the respect it deserves. Begin:
Orange essential oil and savory herbs meets paraffin and the tiniest hint of smoke and what is really tough to explain: the smell of time in a cask.
Let me try to pick it out the time in the cask (good time in a cask, not tiring/tired time)…
Cedar humidors meets old time men’s cologne meets an old study with fine polished wood and leather chairs. Now take those scents and remove the old and tired element from that scenario and there you have it!
Apple slices with cinnamon and orange with touches of clove, filberts and ground nutmeg on the side. Boy, this is really lovely and very hard not to taste!
On the mouth – Very drying upon first sip but the second sip corrects that misstep. Quite ooey with orange syrup, cinnamon and hints of molasses.
Salted black licorice and more of the spiced wood and wood polish element I touched upon with the nosing.
I can’t tell if it’s honied or it’s the mouthfeel that’s tricking me into thinking it’s honied. Nah, it *IS* honied and it’s delicious.
Rhubarb jam/pie filling, moist pie crust.
Finish – Toasted almond slivers and dark chocolates. It lasts and lasts.
In sum – This has to be up there in the category of best of 2013 (best whiskies I tasted in 2013, that is).
This is oh-so-good and obviously, at almost £1400 a bottle, one to break out at the most special of occasions.
Special thanks to LD of Alembic for the sample!!
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…
Japan — 57.7% ABV — 70cl — £8995 | $13929
I spent about a week in Mexico City. You know, work stuff as per usual.
Boy, was it hot down there! About 85 degrees; a nice dry heat. Quite a change from the mid 20 something degrees Fahrenheit and the 30+ inches of snow I had waiting for me at home.
While I was sad to say good-bye to Mexico, I was happy to come home again to the wife and chillins. Also waiting for me at home were three samples. One was a Bruichladdich from a Mr. LZ. 
Another sample was the new Balvenie 12yo Single Barrel from Mr. AW and, finally, a sample of this here Karuizawa from 1964 (cask 3603).
While I was excited to receive all three, ¡Holy frijoles, was I a happy boy to have received this historical Karuizawa sample! Very much an unexpected package!
At the time of bottling, this was the oldest Karuizawa to ever have been bottled and now I was going to get to taste and review it!
Before I go further, I must thank everyone from Master of Malt for thinking of me (again — remember the sample of 1953 Glenfarclas they sent to me? I do!). Also, a big thanks to Michal Kowalski of Wealth Solutions!
So last night I had made a Facebook status update telling people: “I’m going to have a 48 year old in my mouth tonight. Get your minds out of the gutter, I’m talking about whisky!”
The snark factor on Facebook seemed unusually high as an old school mate of mine (known as “the other Josh”) returned with this image:
After a few comments, David Hartogs (friend, member of Single Cask Nation and occasional guest poster. Note here and here) chimed in with: “What’s the verdict?”
That same old school mate, the other Josh, came back with:
Ah, the Facebook…
Funny schtuff aside, let’s taste some history (not Frank, the Karuizawa):
On the nose — Initially hot to the nostrils but from the go (after the heat) is bitter Mexican chocolate and clementines.
Heated butter, not burnt but heated with bits of dill weed swirling in the near butter boil.
Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal and burnt sugar. Rotting stone fruits (peach juice turned bad… but in a good way).
Rubber soles on sneakers. Black Pu’er tea (like with the Glenmorangie Ealanta).
Apple sauce (slight note) and boiling berries. Noticeably fragrant mahogany furniture. Cherry cola.
With water the heat is nearly gone. Chocolate covered Werther’s and good, old-fashioned belt leather. Loose leaf paper (like a 5 subject notebook, not copy paper).
More mahogany and apple fritter grizzle. This has become a joy to nose.
On the mouth — Intensely hot on first sip. Almost absurdly hot; like a $2 pistol. Burning rubber, wooden window sills (with fresh, hot lacquer).
I better add a drop of water before my head catches fire.
With water she’s still hot, but fresh with mangoes and mango skin, tinned fruits, window sills (again) lacquer (again), lots of tropical fruits popping about — sort of crazy and not what I expected at all.
Sweet papaya (not the earthy/footy papaya), hints of guanabana and guava paste (??). Aerosol paint and paint caps. Beeswax across the front of the palate, too.
Not oily or viscous in any way.
Finish — Like the fast decay at the end of a song, bitter chocolates leave their echo upon the tongue. Slight touch of dill as well.
WW — Very waxy finish, flat cola, drying and lasting longer now with the water.
In sum — An intensely hot whisky that loves water more than I love whisky. Once given the water she desires, she simmers right down and opens up to tell you her life story.
A whisky experience unlike any other I’ve had to date. If you have the casheesh to buy a bottle, open said bottle and try it without the water. Then, add 3 drops or so to your dram.
The transformation from The Hulk into Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is astonishing.
You might also enjoy Oli’s review on dramming.com
Also, check out the review at guidscotchdrink.com
Serge’s reviews are always a joy to read, too!
Speyside region – 50% ABV – from a single Oloroso Sherry Butt, 150 bottles for the US. Not sure who got the rest of the bottles from this butt… Maybe a UK/EU Bottling at 700ml?
This whisky reminds me of the theme song to Spielberg’s old cartoon (that I LOVED as a kid/teenager), Tiny Toons.
Here we have single cask of whisky matured in an Oloroso Sherry butt. What would we usually expect from sherry wood?: Notes of dried fruits, leather, chocolate, brown spices, cherry stones, cola syrup, etc… Deep and dark, sometimes cloyingly sweet flavors.
But this cask is breaking all of the rules!
“So here’s Acme Acres,
It’s a whole wide world apart,
Our home sweet home,
It stands alone,
A cartoon work of art!
The scripts were rejected,
Expect the unexpected
On tiny toon adventures
It’s about to start!”
On the nose – A wonderfully peppery nose that has hints of coastal grasses, medicinal throat lozenges, model glue and diaper cream.
A hint of peat perhaps – not smoky at all but an interesting waft of peat and vegetality.
Onion crisps (Funyuns™) malt grist and vinegar. A touch of honey and citrus comes to the fore.
Not an every day sort of nose for me but I am really digging the components. Well put together so far and above all, interesting. Let us carry on, wayward son!
On the mouth – Much more restrained and fruity than expected.
That coastal element comes out again (again with the grasses and now salty beach stones) and reminds me a bit of what I love about the Laddie Ten.
Loads of white pepper and a gooseberry sourness to boot. More onion crisps and a hint of adobo spice.
Very malty, this one. Like a malt beverage cut with 2% white cranberry juice.
Mouth feel is like flat soda.
Finish – The flavors dissipate pretty quickly but some zing remains on the tongue.
In sum – A very interesting whisky that would likely do well in a tasting of many different whiskies. Not my favorite Speyside bottling but the nose get extra points for uniqueness.
It’s whiskies like this that get me excited when looking to explore deeper within a distillery to see what it can offer. This helps to show why single casks are so unique and sometimes quite special. Or, in this case, odd and a ton of fun.
Special thanks to the folks at ISW for the official sample!