Tag Archives: Peaches

A World of Discovery, Cold Winter, Karuizawa

Karuizawa Cask #3603 from 1964 – a massive 48yo bottled at 57.7% ABV

 

Karuizawa Cask 3603 1964Japan — 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.  Karuizawa cask 3603 1964Another 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:

frankwhiskey

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:

frankwhiskey_vedict

Ah, the Facebook…

Funny schtuff aside, let’s taste some history (not Frank, the Karuizawa):

Karuizawa-3603-1964-1On 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).

Karuizawa-3603-1964-2Apple 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.

Karuizawa-3603-1964-3On 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.

Karuizawa-3603-1964-4With 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.

Karuizawa-3603-1964-5In 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!

Cold Winter, Glen Moray, Need To Bundle Up

Glen Moray – 8yo Chenin Blanc, Distillery Only, Single Cask bottled at 60.7% ABV

Image shown is not of the actual bottle itself but shows you what the Glen Moray distillery bottlings look like.

Speyside region – 60.7%ABV – £60 (distillery only)

Many people in the states have not heard of Glen Moray or if they have, they only know of their 12yo whisky (a solid, solid whisky if you ask me).

Most people in the UK think of Glen Moray as the supermarket single malt.  A bargain malt, if you will.

My initial experience with Glen Moray was quite different…

It started with a chance purchase of a single cask expression.  While at the time I had not known much about the distillery, I was attracted to this single cask of Glen Moray as the whisky had spent its full 13 years of life in a new charred oak cask.  Sort of like a Scottish bourbon, I thought.

Yes, obviously, nothing like a bourbon being that the distillate is 100% malted barley but perhaps a bit like an American whiskey in that the maturation took place inside a new charred oak cask (a very un-Scotch whisky thing to do, mind you).  The cask choice intrigued me so I had to buy a bottle.

In four words: I fell in love.

After this my friend David B treated me to their standard 12yo and even at lower 40% ABV — I am usually an anti-40% ABV elitist-whisky-geek prick but often find myself enjoying the strength.  A difficult position to be in… perhaps I’m a mystery broken into a jigsaw puzzle, wrapped in a conundrum, hidden in a Chinese box, a riddle — I found it to be robust, well balanced and had an amazing mouthfeel.  Thanks again David, I am a convert.

Since then I have had my good share of Glen Moray whiskies.

During my last trip to Scotland I had the good chance to visit their amazing distillery which had, perhaps, one of the most beautiful distillery welcome centers (Iain, you’ve done a bang up job!) I had ever seen.

While at their distillery shop I had the chance to taste the following whisky: Glen Moray Chenin Blanc Distillery Only Single Cask bottled at 60.7% ABV.

At only 260 bottles and being a distillery only bottle… this stuff is like hens teeth!

On the nose — Earthy, pungent & sweet.  This is big and bold – a powerful smelling 8yo whisky.

Fresh cut (green) tubers come to mind as I sniff this whisky as do white cherries but, and perhaps more so, white raisins make quite an impression.

(I’m fairly positive that the preceding sentence was grammatically incorrect in some way.  Please forgive me.)

Golden birch, cinnamon sweetened fruit biscuits and the distinct smell of a burning cotton t-shirt.

On the mouth — Well, if I thought the nose was big and bold, it’s a veritable pussy cat compared to the attack of this whisky upon first sip.  Massive stuff!

It let’s you know that it’s 60.7% ABV.  It’s not hot, just *incredibly* forceful.

More (dark) birch beer, quite spicy and drying with touches of over cinnamoned french toast, maple sugar candies and honey reduction.

It’s almost like drinking hi-octane Chenin Blanc except that the malt content is quite obvious (yet so is the cask effect).

Finish — Very sweet and filled with boozy peaches.  Long too.  Let’s not forget that bit!

In sum —  Sweet and puckering stuff.  You might want to put on your big boy/girl boots before delving in!  A little bit goes a long way.  You’re going to want to spend time with this one.

Whether you choose to add water or not is up to you.  I decided not to but a little bit might help (as you’ll learn from the review over at guidscotchdrink.com and another great review from Matt and Karen at Whisky For Everyone.)

Special thanks goes out to IA for the sample – cheers!

Glenugie, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

Old Malt Cask – Glenugie 1982 – 26 years old

Highland Region – Sadly, I do not know the specific cask number on this one.  However, I can tell you that this is a from a refill ex-bourbon cask – 50%ABV – £175 for cask # 4703 from The Whisky Exchange.  Update — as of 2 hours after posting this review, this bottling (cask #4703 for £175) is now sold out from The Whisky Exchange!  Joyal’s in Rhode Island has some (cask not specified) for $154 – scroll toward the bottom of the page for the listing.

GlenWHOgie?  Glenugie, that’s WHO!

Glenugie is one of those lesser known distilleries.  It was closed in 1983 (like so many other distilleries) so finding Glenugie whisky is… hard.  Here’s a quick histories lesson on Glenugie from my friends at Master of Malt:

“The site of the Glenugie distillery is just south of Peterhead, not far from the River Ugie’s convergence with the sea at Scotland’s East Coast. The distillery was built in 1831 by Donald McLeod and Co on the site of a disused windmill. In 1837, a brewery was established at the site and in 1875 the distillery passed through the hands of Highland Distillers Co Ltd who renovated it and subsequently shut down the brewery. Glenugie opened and closed several times, remaining shut for the majority of the First World War. Glenugie was acquired and reopened by Seagar Evans and Co Ltd in 1937, prior to this time it had had a long stint of silence. In 1956, Schenley Industries acquired Seagar Evans and Co and the distillery went through renovations, including the installation of a further two stills and coal power was replaced by an oil burner. In 1971, Seagar Evans was renamed Long John International and four years later the company was sold to Whitbread and Co. The Scotch whisky industry was going through a relative downturn and Glenugie was, sadly, one of many injured parties, closing, as it did, in 1983. Today the site is used by Score Group Plc and engineering company. Official bottlings are, naturally, lacking, but there have been some independent releases of Glenugie single malt whisky.”

There.  Now you are smarter than you were a minute ago.  You can thank me later (you should thank Master of Malt too).

Onto the tasting…

On the nose –  Sweet ribbon candies, flinty and a touch of salt.

Garlic and spiced kumquat.

Say what?  Yup, that’s a crazy mix-em-up but, it works nicely!

Grassy notes with a side of peaches in soaked pinot grigio.

After smelling those wine/peach notes, it’s all I can concentrate on.

On the mouth – White wine all the way.

Think slightly effervescent riesling.

Fresh lemongrass and white grape juice.

A slight breadiness to it.

Mostly though, like a high octane fruity sweet white wine.

Finish – Like a mouth full of Pop Rocks – my mouth is fizzing and popping.  I better not drink any Coke here (another reason not to mix whisky with soda!!!)

In sum – Refreshing.  Pleasing.  Summery.  It’s that simple (if you’ve got a spare £175 lying around).

Special thanks goes out to Aron Silverman for the sample!