Tag Archives: Peppery

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!!

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!

Glenmorangie, Summertime

Glenmorangie’s Ealanta – a 19yo Scotch whisky matured in heavily charred Missouri oak

February 13, 2013 Jewmalt

Highlands region – 46% ABV – $109 – $129

Most of my whisky friends know all too well that I am a Glenmorangie junky. Some might suggest I have a bias toward their whiskies.

Replace “Halfling’s leaf” with Glenmorangie’s whiskies in the following audio clip and you’ll see what I’m getting at:

While I’ll admit that Glenmorangie whiskies are among my favorite (though I’ll bol, I would submit that I have no issue announcing when I do not like a whisky they release.

The Ealanta is the fourth is their Private Edition range as well as the oldest in the series (it’s also the priciest one on the series).

Glenmorangie has access to some of the most premium slow-growth oak trees in Missouri and they usually cut the wood, season it for two years, make up casks, send them to Jack Daniels and Heaven Hill so they could make their whiskey THEN those distilleries send the casks to Glenmorangie so they could mature their whisky.

What’s different here is that Glenmorangie sent themselves the new wood and did the full 19 year maturation of their malt whisky (after having charred the casks heavily).

Something tells me that this might be one for the folks who also enjoy good, high end bourbons. Let’s find out..

On the nose – New charred oak goodness!

Actually, what strikes me the most is that there is a zingy zestiness in here that is very rye-like.

Perhaps a little dill, rye seed and fresh cut grass.

That classic Glenmorangie ripe peach note is still present (you can’t beat great spirit). Pencil erasers.

Toasted tangerine skins (sort of like a tangerine black pu’er tea I have).

On the mouth – Insanely silky mouthfeel and, flavor wise is much like that tangerine black pu’er tea I noted above.

Vanilla (slight) and honey (heavy).

Sweetness is to this whisky as a wall of death is to a late 80’s/early 90’s mosh pit. Powerfully sweet, verging on cloying (but not quite there, thankfully).

A touch of salt and black pepper as I chew this one a little more. And now we have some extra dark chocolate as we reach the finish.

Finish – Drying, long and darkly sweet with a mix of tangerine and more dark chocolate.

In sum – While this has obvious characteristics of a whisky from new oak, it also has some other element in here that I just can’t explain. The label says heavily charred oak but the color seems light — maybe there’s a mixture of lightly toasted and heavily charred oak?

Either way, it’s another Glenmo that pushes the envelope again with its focus on different types of cask maturation. Well done.

This is a mid-summer dram for me.

Special thanks to Mr. David Blackmore for the sample!

You may also enjoy the following reviews on this whisky:

Guid Scotch Drink

Malt Impostor

Whisky For Everyone

Fettercairn, Royal Lochnagar, Springtime, Summertime

A pair of “off-the-beaten-path” Old Malt Cask whiskies today…

January 31, 2013 Jewmalt

Challenge

Pronunciation: /ˈtʃalɪn(d)ʒ/

Definition of challenge
noun

call to someone to participate in a competitive situation or fight to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength: he accepted the challenge
a task or situation that tests someone’s abilities.

Today I was challenged to taste and review whiskies from distilleries I’ve had little, if any, experience with: Fettercairn and Royal Lochnagar.

While I can say with 100% confidence that my physical strength has not been challenged in any way, my nose and palate surely were. Very few people can say they have had whiskies from these from these distilleries and I think I’ve had maybe one whisky from either of these producers.

Fettercairn only recently started releasing whiskies (Fior, a 24, 30 and 40yo) and Royal Lochnagar has a 12yo expression but is mostly used in blends such as Johnnie Walker Blue.

As with all Old Malt Cask bottlings we’re looking at the single cask (yet diluted to 50% ABV).

The provenance of the casks is a bit elusive. They are both ex-hogsheads but the first liquid held in them is unknown as both are 2nd or 3rd fill.

Both whiskies are very light in color.

Let’s dig in and see if I’m up to the challenge!

Old Malt Cask 16yo Fettercairn 50%ABV Single Cask

On the nose – A affront of dusty, sugary lemon flavored American Smarties.

Public pay phones (the smell of the receiver to be exact). Dungeons and Dragons dice. For those of you that don’t the smells of either of those previous examples, think of clean and hard plastics. Not rubbery and pungent but clean and plastic-y.

Green and unripened apples and maybe some watermelon pith. Quite unique.

On the mouth – This one actually tastes exactly like the smell so I’m going to focus on the texture:

Very oily, coating the center of the tongue and zapping the sides of the tongue and cheeks forcing my mouth to water profusely.

Finish – Drying and growing with white pepper-like spice then, drops suddenly.

In sum – This is very much an aperitif whisky, something to welcome friends with. It’s not overly complex but it is enjoyable.

Old Malt Cask 14yo Royal Lochnagar 50%ABV Single Cask

On the nose – Very much an elusive whisky.

You shy pup, come out and play! Ok, ok… I’ll be a bit patient here. (taps fingers, looks at the clock, checks email, posts something cheeky on Facebook…).

Alright. Are you ready for me now, little whisky?

Well, there’s some apple cider vinegar but it’s light in scent. Some malt grist but again, light.

Wait a mo, now you rear your head (did I mention I love that term?). Freshly skinned English cucumbers in Saran Wrap. Cucumber yogurt sauce (aka Raita).

On the mouth – Much like the Fettercairn, this is candied like American Smarties. More apple-like in flavor than lemon-like but there is some lemon in here now that I swish it about.

Tinned fruit cups with a focus on the tin.

Lightly oaked and just a touch of sandalwood. This is almost gin like (minus any juniper).

Finish – Very short finish but drying as well.

In sum – Much like the Fettercairn this whisky is one to start your evening with. It’s way too delicate to have after a meal or other drams.

Special thanks to all of the wonderful people at ISW for their help and samples!

A World of Discovery, Speyside Distillery

Old Malt Cask 20yo Speyside

January 10, 2013 Jewmalt

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!

Jewmalt Whisky Reviews