Tag Archives: Salty

St. Magdalene 1982/2009 Dun Bheagan 50% Cask #2219

Lowlands region – 50%ABV – 700ml Bottle – Dun Bheagan Cask #2219 – 390 bottles – £150

I received a sample of this great lowland whisky (Thanks to dramming.com!!) quite a few months ago and held off on tasting it as I wanted to wait for the right moment.  It’s limited, for sure, but also this is whisky from a distillery that stopped producing in 1983 (I was 10 years old) so I wanted to make sure I was in tip top shape and able to taste this with out any hinderance and/or obstruction (colds, spicy dinner, etc…).

Other things of note to happen in 1983 are:

  • High ranking Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia (and was convicted).
  • The Tokyo Disneyland opens.
  • The Nintendo Entertainment System goes on sale in Japan.
  • Kiss officially appeared in public without makeup for the first time on MTV.
  • U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Again, I turned 10 (man, look at that big Jew nose!).

Whisky notes are as follows:

On the nose A fruit basket nose that Edible Arrangements only wishes they could match.

Big lemony citrus notes (imagine Ardbeg lemons without big peat).  Chocolate notes, workman’s gloves.

Sugar and vanilla smooths it out but there’s a great spicy backbone to it.

On the mouth Strange entry.  Imagine all of the above mentioned flavors in a shoddy ziplock bag.

While I’m not referring to a plasticy note to the palate, I mean that the flavors seem somehow encapsulated within a baggie or bubble (which happens to be covered by a slight salty coating).

It get increasingly hot and a warm spiciness returns.

A touch of water brings out some very nice chewy toffee notes to it an pops that baggie or bubble and all of those flavors I got on the nose came pouring out.

Finish Long, citrus zing, spice, nice.

In sumThe spice in this whisky runs all the way through, so even keeled.

Wonderful as an every night summer dram… if you’re Daddy Warbucks.

Not sure what to think of the initial palate entry but I’ve got a lot of respect for this whisky.

Glad I had a chance to taste it and wish I had more.

Kilchoman 3yr 2009 Autumn Release

Islay region – 46%ABV – 700ml bottle – £45 | €52 (currently not available through US stores)

Kilchoman (which sounds more like a yiddish word than the name of a Scotch whisky…) is a newer distillery on the little island of Islay – it opened in 2005 (the first to open up on Islay in more than 120 years).  While I can go on-and-on about the distillery, other people have already done that and have done a much better job than I could ever do.  Rather, I will focus on the whisky itself – it’s aromas, taste, memories it brought to the forefront of my mind and what the best time/season/mood to drink it in will be.

A big thank you to G.G. for the sample!

On the noseBright and clean peat with strong notes of limes and ocean spray, bicycle tires, woody – like church pews.

You may be asking yourself how I, a shul-going Jew, would know what a church pew smells like.  There’s a great story that goes with that.  This is not something I am very proud of but hey, it’s a great story!

Back when I was 13, me and my buddies Rob and “Froggy” (ah, “Froggy”, you could have played “Froggy” in a broadway revival of The Little Rascals, your voice was that raspy) thought it would be good fun to start pulling fire alarms around our town causing our fire department to send out 2-3 fire trucks (toward different locations) for no good reason.  I would say that in the course of 4 months we pulled a total of 35 alarms.  We were assholes.

One day, a day I decided not to assist those guys in alarm pulling, a knock came to my door.  Mr. & Mr. Police Officer came to my door to “bring me in” (as they say “in the parlance of our times”).  Rob and Froggy were caught and ratted on me.  We were charged with “X” amount of counts; “X” for touching the alarms and “X” for pulling the alarms.  Our punishment?

Among many other things (and not including that ass-whooping I got from my parents), 40 hours of community service which included weekly cleaning of the pews at the local Catholic Church – St. Francis.  At age 15 those “counts” were struck from my record and I’ve not gotten in trouble since.

So yes, I know all too well what Church pews smell like. Back to the nosing…

I like this nose, a lot.

Oh, now I’m getting a scent here that reminds me of a swimming hole I used to frequent with my old buddy Al – so, what is it? Very clean & super-cold water (with a bit of fresh-water vegetal growth – how nice) .  This is when I was learning how to be an upright teenager – this nose is bringing back memories.  I miss Al.

On the mouth Quite viscous, children’s teething biscuits, canola oil, tannic notes, oily still but drying, some meaty/gamey notes (think lamb chops), figs – where’s that cleanliness I got from the nose?  Some slight lemons pop up.

FinishLong, honey taffy, peat bite (not warmth).

In sumI think the age of this whisky is fairly apropos of the memories it’s pinging in my head – Youth and Young Manhood.  There’s some nice complexity here but the balance is a touch off.  I can see this Islay whisky evolving into an extraordinary dram.  I can wait for the 10yr expression!

La-la-la, The Magical Mystery Tour!

Did you know that all of us Jews know one another?  Oh sure, it’s mostly true!  And if we don’t know them, we came pick them out of a crowd – I call it “Jewdar”.  “Jewdar” is a radar for Jews just as Gaydar is a radar for Gay folk.

Ok, I’m really just kidding.  It is true, however, that Gal Granov from Whisky Israel and I do know each other.  He and I are good whisky buddies (even though we’re thousands of miles away from one another).  Gal and I started doing some whisk(e)y sample trading and on our last trade we thought it’d be a good idea if we each sent over a “Mystery Dram”.

A dram that A) didn’t cost a whole lot of money and B) is something that neither of us have had before.  The idea is to try and figure out, at the very least, who distilled the mystery dram in question.  No hints, no nothing.  We had to uncover the mystery using only two tools – our nose and tongue.

As you can see below, we tried to make this as mysterious as possible (you’ll note that the Glencairn shown below has a Glenmorangie logo on it.  This is not giving away and hints.  It’s not a Glenmo.  I just love Glenmorangie whiskies so much, I had to have my very own Glenmorangie Glencairn glass.  Seriously.):

So again, no hints, no nothing.  Let’s see how I did:

On the nose A very floral nose, house-planty if you will… Soapy scents and some orange, perhaps a little strawberry too.  There’s a nice little peat backbone here but it’s not overwhelming by any means…  Some curried tomatoes (man… now I want some Indian food!).

Well, I already have an inkling as to what it is but I may want a to chose a Life Line before I blurt out my answer, I better taste it…

On the mouth The peat is much larger here and it’s a bit dirty.  The mouth feel is quite nice.  Oily, just as I like it.  Sweet.  Simple syrup, salty, green tea… I’m not sure of the ABV but, the attack is not huge here so I’m guessing 43%.

Finish Sort of a short and thin finish with some orange soapiness coming back.

In sum Well, my guess on this (which is mostly based on the nose with some of the palate elements to help me fill in the some of the clues) is that this is a Bowmore.  It’s not the 12.  This I know.  But it’s got to be a Bowmore.

I liked it but didn’t love it.  This, to me, is the type of whisky that I’d keep on my shelf (and yes, I’d like to have a bottle of this on my shelf – at all times really) for those moments when you just didn’t know what to pour.  “It’s just a Thursday night so, I’m not going to pour my Glenmorangie Quarter Century” or, “It’s way too hot out, there’s no way I’m breaking out my Lagavulin 16yr DE”, etc…  This is that whisky that can always fill the void.  You don’t need to decide to grab it.  You just grab, open, pour, sniff, sip, swallow, repeat.

I did contact Gal to see if I was right about it being a Bowmore.  Lo and behold, I was right (Woo Hoo!!).  So, which one is it?

The Bowmore Legend.

You should check and see how Gal fared with the mystery dram I sent him – here’s the link.

Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX (finally available outside of a Duty-Free Shop!)

Highlands region – 46%ABV – 750ml bottle – $65 | £58 | €68

I have few gripes when it comes to the wide world of whiskies.  To name the top 3:

Gripe #1 Cost.  Yes, I understand that Whisk(e)y is a luxury item but still…

Gripe #2 The issue of, or inability to import 70cl bottles into the US.  Why oh why wont the US allow these slightly smaller bottles into the US – we’re missing out on easy access to some fine-ass malts!

Gripe #3 Duty-Free Shop exclusive whiskies.  Limited editions I can understand.  Limited editions that you can only get in a Duty-Free Shop I can not.  Sorry, from a consumer’s standpoint (a consumer that rarely travels outside of the US) it does not make sense — at least give me (and the thousands of others non-world traveling consumers) a chance to buy these limited edition whiskies.

Well, Glenmorangie did just that.

The Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX started off as Duty-Free 1 litter exclusive bottle.  Being the Glenmo devotee that I am, I was upset right away.  It’s like Dad brought home a new game for my Commodore 64 but only let my older sister play (wow, there’s some fun familial issues coming out – as made up as they are).

Thankfully, Glenmorangie (for one reason or another) changed this approach and released a 750ml bottle to the general public.

So, what in the heck does “Sonnalta PX” mean?  Well, first off, the Sonnalta PX is a fine sherry cask finished whisky.  The “PX” stands for Pedro Ximinez.  If you do not know, Pedro Ximinez sherry is basically the chewiest, richest, most succulent sherry out there (imagine its influence on whisky!).  “Sonnalta”, in Gaelic, means “Liberal”.  In other words, there is a liberal, very generous amount of Pedro Ximinez sherry influence to the Glenmorangie.  Not sure about you but my mouth is watering just writing this review!

So, should we taste it?  Let’s go!

On the nose Wow, a sherry finish done oh so right!  Banana peels & cinnamon, Banana chips, candied oranges (strange, even orange Jujubees, sort of a soapy quality but good), The nose really reminds me of the palate on the Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey with all of the yummy banana-i-ness to it.  a very un-Glenmorangie nose.  Wait, I sniffed after typing that and I take it back, notes from The Original Ten Years are popping through honey, apples.  It’s all hiding there waiting to sneak up on you!

PalateFantastic mouth feel!  Oh, G-d, that’s just so chewy…  Like salted taffy or caramel.  Nuts and root veggies, a touch of chocolate here (sort of like chocolate shavings if you’ve ever had them, a very different taste than a chunk of chocolate), wine soaked raisins

FinishQuite long.  Chocolate covered leather (oh, so slight with the leather quality), raisins and fresh fruits.  Huh, slight nutty oak after about 45 seconds or so.

In sum These tasting notes are from the last 5cl or so of my bottle.  What’s strange is, when I first got the bottle my initial reactions to the whisky was that it was a **great** sherried Glenmorangie.  The good news is, that still rings true.  What’s different is that now, as I take my last sip, the spiciness is reminding of a grain whisky.  I know this is a true malt whisky but it’s as if there’s slight grain influence (rye perhaps?).  I’m sure it’s all in my head.  Perhaps it’s just that the warm spring has arrived, maybe my brain is looking for it.  Who knows.

I did love this malt, much more than the Glenmorangie Lasanta Sherry Cask (of course, I’ve liked most malts more than the Lasanta).  Not trying to rub salt in the wound I left from my review of the Lasanta.  Forget what I said about the Lasanta — these aren’t the droids you’re looking for…

Laphroaig 30yr – a goddess of a dram!

Islay region – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $220-750 (holy spread!!) and up | £350 | €459

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m Jewish.  I am a kosher keeping (mostly “kosher by nature” seeing as I’m a vegetarian), whisky drinking, rock-n-roll playing, cigar smoking Jew.  A proud one at that.  Additionally, I keep Kosher for Passover which means I do not eat leavened bread during this eight day holiday.  Nor do I drink beer, eat waffles, pancakes or, drink whisk(e)y.

As much as I’ll miss whisk(e)y (starting on Monday and ending the day before WhiskyLive in NYC), it makes me feel quite good to not drink the stuff and it gives me that chance to experience more Wines, Tequilas and maybe Mead (if I can find a “K” for “P” Mead).

This being said, over the next few days, until Passover, I will be reviewing some of the more top-shelf  drams I have (or have samples of).  During Passover (or Pesach, using the Hebrew word for the holiday), I will be tasting & reviewing some of the aforementioned non-whisk(e)y adult beverages.

So, here’s the the first in 3 top shelf whisky reviews.  The Laphroaig 30yr.  A special thank you goes out to the Scotch Hobbyist again for the sample trade!

On the nose Meaty & musty though quite fruity, Necco wafers, chalky & waxy, nutmeg, mustard seeds, sea salt, I am smelling antiquity and not sure I am mature enough for this stuff – I sort of feel like a 5th grader that has a crush on his English teacher (I had a big crush on my 5th grade English teacher.  We called her Mrs. Huge Tits because it rhymed with her real last name and she was well endowed toward her upper chest area… if you catch my drift), dried spices and bay leaf – there’s a ton here!  Wow, the bay leaf is quite prominent after the 3rd whiff

Palate Chocolatey and a good amount of pepper – very spicy (not black pepper spicy, more like hot pepper spice), soup, stewy and salty, slight smoldering, clementines, extremely mature and delicate peat, pungent, soy sauce & veggie dumplings – I am most happy right now.  This is my kind of peat!!  Mature & sexy.

Finish Medium long, salty and a bit spicy (think soy sauce and ginger on a nice sushi roll).

In sum I can see why this is a coveted dram.  The balance & profile is near perfect.  This is oh, so special.  I am no expert.  I’m only 3 years into this whisky tasting business and even I can see that there is something quite amazing here.  If I had a full bottle of this stuff and my house were burning down, I’d run back in to save my wife & kids, grab my cats and this bottle.  This is a desert island dram and I am very happy to be tasting this on a special night such as this — Shabbat!