Tag Archives: Orangey

All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Breakfast Whisky, Glenmorangie, Let's celebrate!

Glenmorangie Companta – Private Edition release #5 – 46% ABV

February 18, 2014 Jewmalt

If I had a million dollars for every time Glenmorangie came out with a Special Private Edition whisky, I’d be five million dollars richer! Also, I’d use a good chunk of that cash to purchase more of these Private Edition Glenmos (though they tend to be fairly priced between $79-$99 whenever they’re released so I’d still have a good chunk of change left over for, well, more whisky!).

This bottle will run you about $99, maybe a little more depending on who you buy from.

So yes, this is the 5th release of the Glenmorangie Special Private Edition whiskies and **spoiler alert** this one is my favorite from the bunch.

A little unnamable birdie told me that this whisky is made up of:

60% of the vatting = 1999 distillate aged in ex-bourbon casks until 2008 then finished 5 years in Clos de Tart casks. Total age = 14yrs

40% of vatting = 1995 distillate aged in ex-bourbon casks until 2005 then finished in fortified Rasteau casks for 8 years. Total age = 18yrs

So, while this is an NAS (no age statement) bottling, it’s not immature whisky by any stretch of the imagination!

Furthermore, this is bottled at a respectable 46% ABV and non-chill-filtered. Kudos to Glenmorangie for sticking to these quality requirements.

Let’s give is a taste now…

On the nose — So far it smells like my Tuesday morning: massive presence of red wine gums and hazelnut coffee grounds. (Please don’t tell my wife I sneak some wine gums for breakfast or my tea-snob friends that I indulge in the occasional flavored coffee.)

Burgundy soaked peach halves are an obvious and welcome note but I did not expect the presence of Spanish olives, pimento and all (am I sensing manchego cheese too or just getting hungry?).

Deep and dark chocolate with some fresh cut roses. Was Dr. Bill Lumsden thinking of a Valentine’s Day whisky when he created this one? Hollow out those dark chocolates and fill them with raspberry jam.

Not sure if you’re getting it yet but, boy, this is a decedent dram! At least on the nose it is. Time to put it in my mouth. (Hey Hatton, keep it clean! Pfft.)

Glenmorangie Companta

On the mouth — Mouth-filling-ly dense, rich and oily. Wow, this is a big whisky! The heart is pure Glenmorangie but it’s layered so elegantly with flavors of citrus and clove, sugar cooked pecans, a touch of dark caramel and a dash of toasted and spicy oak.

The scents and flavors are very well integrated.

Let’s sip again (no water needed here, folks!): That raspberry jam from the nose is still here and the oil on the tongue only helps. Add some cranberry to that raspberry mix and perhaps a little more spice.

Loads of stewed red fruits and warming potpourri.

Finish — My one complaint: the finish is a bit on the short side however the final flavor is that of red wine soaked blood oranges and, boy, that’s a nice way to end the experience. Well I suppose you can just take another sip, right? Right.

In sum – I know there were some people that went Ga-Ga over the last special release (Ealanta) but this is, in my honest opinion, a far superior whisky. This is a whisky that is very sure of what it is supposed to be.

The story stays true from beginning to end and the experience on the whole was a whole lot of enjoyment and fun. If you can get a bottle, get a bottle. You will not be disappointed. This is perfect as an evening or morning warmer-upper.

**Special thanks to DB for the sample and to Billy Lumsden for another fine creation. Well done, sir!

Bruichladdich, Takin' It Easy

Two whiskies from Bruichladdich that I’ve been meaning to review since… 2010!

July 11, 2013 Jewmalt

For the most part, I try not to be a slacker. In fact, I am a real go-get-em, gung-ho guy with a ton of sticktoitiveness. For the most part that is…

Somehow, someway, I’ve been sitting on a few samples from Bruichladdich (as well as samples from a few other distilleries) for quite a while now. And by “quite a while” I mean like 2 or 3 years. That’s a long time, right? Right. No better time than the present to review them though, right? Right.

So what do we have today? Firstly, we have “Redder Still;” part of the Blacker/Golder/Redder series from the lads and lasses at laddie. Second is a 1992 (distilled in 1992, that is) sherry release from them – the Fino Cask.

Redder Still is matured in Château Lafleur Pomerol wine casks and the Fino Cask is matured in, well, Fino casks. The former is bottled at 50.4% ABV (with 4000 bottles released) and the Fino was bottled at 46% ABV – 6000 bottles in that release.

Here are my thoughts on these two:

Bruichladdich Redder Still – 50.4% ABV

On the nose – My immediate impression is that of paraffin wax and red wine gums.

Incredibly soft on the nose. If I could apply an attribute to this nose that was not in the realm of scents, I would say this noses like a cotton ball.

Salted and ground mustard seed meet lager beer. Quite malty.

Am I detecting smoke here? I think so.

Not very winey at all considering this was matured in Château Lafleur (Pomerol, red wine cask – nothing to do with Fleur Delacour, mind you) casks. Really soft peat — looking for the wine notes but, none here really. Not yet.

Wait a sec, red currant jams and cracked black pepper. Moving on because this smells yummy and I want to taste now.

On the mouth – Quite sweet upfront. Sugary sweet, in fact. Oily moth feel with an effervescence toward the back and sides of the tongue.

Plums (prunes, too! Elderly plums, as it were) and smoke and more wine gums and peppery yet all of this is not forceful in anyway.

Much more winey after a few sips but is still very much whisky. Smoke is present in the mouth and it gets quite drying as we get to the finish.

Finish – Short… a bit abrupt.

In sum – Compared to the *AMAZING* Blacker Still, this pales. Taken out of that family of Blacker/Golder/Redder, the Redder Still is a nice-nosed whisky! I quite enjoy it actually. The flavors work well together too however they’re a bit like a boy scared to ask a girl to hold his hand. I feel this whisky should man up a bit in the flavor impact department but it does not.

Thinking back to that nose though… yum, yum, yum!

Bruichladdich 1992 Fino Cask – 46% ABV

On the nose – Quite noticeably a Bruichladdich with a salty coastal element that’s reminiscent of their old 90’s 15yo.

Noses of yellow chilis and the sweetness of Scotch Bonnet peppers (before you bite into one and it burns your dad gum head off!).

A touch of sulfur and turmeric. I think this is the first time I smelled Deviled Eggs in a whisky! Guess what, it’s subtleness work here!

Some damp cardboard and sugared papaya (fresh, not dried). Soft black licorice.

On the mouth – Wow, the fino influence is right there and pretty dang lovely. Nutty, very nutty. Salted almond and pecan, fig paste and dried banana.

Anise seed, black licorice (again, though, salted this time), window putty.

At 46% it has enough attack to it as well as nice oils allowing for a good mouthfeel.

Sweet pecan pie and black strap molasses (treacle for the Brits out there). Quite a satisfying whisky so far!

Finish – Increasing sherried goodness, melted caramel and a touch of rum cake.

In sum – This is one fine Bruichladdich! the scent, flavors, mouthfeel, finish, etc… all works out. Very nicely balanced with the sweet, salty, slight pepper. Very much a dessert whisky. Worth you seeking out, in my opinion!

Keys to the Clan, Let's celebrate!

Keys to the Clan – 50ml mini bottles of Single Malt Scotch Whisky – and now, to taste the whisky!

May 23, 2013 Jewmalt

A couple of weeks back you might remember me waxing on about the Keys to the Clan minis program (programme, for my friends on the other side of the pond).

Here’s the link to the post, just in case you missed it.

In short, there have been 48 different Clan minis released into the US market and our friends over at ImpEx were kind enough to send me three minis. All from a different clan.

Thanks to ImpEx, SF and EK for the samples!

Being a New Englander and basically growing up knowing this and that person who knew or was related in some way to the Kennedy family (as in JFK, RFK and Teddy of the famous Chappaquiddick incident) and having a life-long crush on Jackie Kennedy Onnassis… I decided to open the Kennedy mini.

Note: all of the minis contain the same juice, I just wanted to drink a Kennedy under the table.

Here are my notes:

On the nose – Young yet pleasant. I know it says single malt but it almost has the vibrancy of a nicer high-malt-content blended Scotch whisky; orange creamsicle, pears, sherbet and the slightest hint of smoke. (The smoke could be my imagination playing tricks on me.)

A bit of pineapple cake in here as well and then some sugary angel food cake. This is quite the dessert-like dram so far.

All this fruit makes me think of Balblair a bit, to be honest.

On the mouth – As to be expected with 40% ABV, there’s very little attack upon entry which is just fine for the newbie whisky drinker as it’s quite fruity and very approachable (no burn).

That touch of smoke returns, yet the fruit doesn’t go away. But now there’s something sour in here that I can’t quite place my finger on. Not offensive, just sour-like.

Oat cakes lead us in to the finish…

Finish – Shortish finish with slight pepper and that sour element I caught on the palate.

In sum – While this is not really a “sit and ponder” sort of whisky, it holds it’s own well enough.

All I can picture is 200 Kennedys at a wedding or something like that and toasting to the husband and bride.

Mazel Tov, I mean, Kampai, I mean Slainte!!

A World of Discovery, Let's celebrate!, Old Pulteney

Old Pulteney 40yo bottled at 51.3% ABV – the oldest Pulteney bottled to date!

April 30, 2013 Jewmalt

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!!

Inchgower, Weymss Malts

Weymss Malt “The Dunes.” A 29yo single cask of Inchgower.

December 11, 2012 Jewmalt

Highlands region – 46% ABV

Weymss is sort of a new bottler for me. Sure, I’ve heard of them but I’ve only had one of their releases until now. That one, btw, was the Smooth ~~Criminal~~ Gentleman I reviewed with the one and only Malt Impostor(s).

The Weymss line of single casks all seem to be diluted down to 46% ABV rather than bottled at cask strength. While I tend to be a fan of cask strength whiskies (especially with single cask), I can understand some of the reasons to bottling at a lower ABV. Primarily, and from the customer perspective, a lower ABV can make whisky a little more approachable to the person just getting into whisky.

So, let’s see what this single cask has to offer.

On the nose — Brittle flat bread.

Sort of like poppadum.

Lots of bright notes but all seemingly restrained: lemon wedges, salted green apples, citrus infused honey.

Jaffa cake bread (less the chocolate).

On the mouth — Whoa, this is some exotic stuff!

Buttered naan.

Candied butter (if there were ever such a thing).

A host of light Indian spices, sweet verging on savory but not savory at all.

Imagine a bake shop (breads and sweets) and a Nepalese restaurant were combined. That’d be this.

Exotic and foodie and surprisingly different than most whiskies out there.

Finish — A touch of spice and lavender (?). Decent length.

In sum — It is whiskies such as this one that makes me LOVE the single cask. This whisky is like a spotlight on the odd, unique and lovely. A whisky well worth your time and consideration. This is a mid-summer whisky, one reserved for drinking in the heat with some ice water on the side.

Jewmalt Whisky Reviews