Tag Archives: Strawberry jam

Glen Elgin, Glen Elgin, Weymss Malts

Wemyss Malts – 20yo Glen Elgin Cask # 2594 “Winter Larder Green”

 

wemyss_winter_larder-1Speyside region – Single Sherry Oak Cask bottled at 46% ABV

A very short and sweet review for you today.  This is one of the more odd single casks of whisky I’ve had.  Even more odd than the Old Malt Cask Speyside I had the other day.

A big thanks to the folks at Wemyss for the sample.

I LOVED the Weymss Inchgower known as “The Dunes.”  Let’s see what this one brings us…

wemyss_winter_larder-2On the nose — Obvious sherry notes, cola syrup, burnt cherry jam, spiced autumn fruits and heated leather pants (like an 80’s glam rocker’s lower half during the encore at the show).

Ivy school closets and a good deal of wood spice.

On the mouth — A big, huge pungent blast of cola and turning/browning greens.  A solid mouthfeel.

A mass of strawberries and a bit of sulfur/spent match stick.

wemyss_winter_larder-3Lots of what I got on the nose but the pungency and strawberries seem to overtake the show.

Finish — Drying toward the end and a lot (again) of what I got on the nose.

In sum —  An odd, odd duck and a bit over the top with the pungent aspect.  This cask seems to follow suite with The Dunes Inchgower cask I had before in the sense that it’s odd, fun and seems to stand out; but I feel that this cask of whisky might have been better served by being married up with some whisky from an Ex-Bourbon cask to help smooth it all out.

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In other Wemyss news (truly fantastic news, if you ask me): The Wemyss folks will soon break ground on a new distillery in Fife Scotland.  Here’s the official press release:

wemyss_winter_larder-4“PRESS RELEASE
9th JANUARY 2013

Wemyss family to build new distillery in Fife

The Wemyss family is delighted to announce that it will shortly begin building a
new single malt whisky distillery and visitor centre by Kingsbarns, Fife, Scotland.

Approximately 6 miles from St. Andrews, The Kingsbarns Distillery will be built within
sight of the world-famous Kingsbarns championship golf course on land which
will be leased from Sir Peter Erskine of the Cambo Estate. The site of the distillery
will be the historic and charming East Newhall Farm steading.

The Wemyss family is being supported in this exciting new development with a
grant from the Scottish Government. It is expected that development of the
existing listed building will begin in early 2013, with a view to beginning distilling
and welcoming visitors a year later.

It is well known that Wemyss family has links with the whisky industry going back
to the turn of the 19th century when John Haig (founder of Haig’s) built his first
distillery on Wemyss land, and since 2005, with the independent bottler Wemyss
Malts. However, it is also the case that the Wemyss family has a historical link
with the site of the new Kingsbarns Distillery as the 7th Earl of Wemyss actually
owned part of the Cambo Estate between 1759 and 1783.

William Wemyss, commented on behalf of the family: “This rare opportunity to
distil our own single malt whisky and develop a new Scotch whisky brand to
support our existing business as an independent bottler will secure the family
interest in Scotch for the next generation. We are delighted to be working with
the Scottish Government, Sir Peter Erskine and Kingsbarns Distillery founder, Doug
Clement, to bring a new distillery and visitor centre to the East Fife area.”

———- END ———-“

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, Autumn, Glenglassaugh, Let's celebrate!

Glenglassaugh 40yr

Highland Region – 44.6%ABV – 750ml or 700ml outside of the US (with crystal decanter with 2 cut crystal glasses in a wooden gift box)– $2525.00 | £1400 | €1680

After having tasted the 26yr Glenglassaugh, I could not resist in tasting my sample of their 40yr cask strength whisky (a big, huge, ginormous thanks goes out to Alan for the sample!) – an IWSC trophy winning whisky!

This whisky will be available in the US through Purple Valley Imports (well, through stores who have access to the whiskies they import).  And actually, as I am told to understand, there will only be one bottle allocated to the US for the fair price of $2525.00 (suggested retail price).

You can also get this bottle through Master of Malt and other purveyors of fine spirits in the UK.

I’m not going to blather on any longer, I just need to taste this fancy juice:

On the nose – Youthful nose filled with cherry tarts and fresh citrus notes (think Mineola oranges).

Quince jam – maybe with a bit of strawberry mixed in??

Hot soy latte.

Licorice twists.

Brown sugar oatmeal & fresh oats.

Oaken church pews.

More coffee notes – like lightly roasted, fresh ground beans.

Finally some garlic.

On the mouth – Like liking the inside of a humidor thats got Acid “Liquid” or “Kuba Kuba” cigars (oh, to taste that smell!  Ab-Fab!).

That quince jam from the nose is back and along with it came some gorgeous honey and perhaps some fennel seed.

Cinnamon and indian spices (you name it, it’s in there – wow!).

Finish – The spice remains throughout and a nice fizziness lasts a good long while.

In sum – Ok, my birthday is coming up (sort of).  Remember this date: December 6th!  If you feel so inclined to buy me a bottle of this masterpiece, I thank you. 😉

Truly exquisite.  Layer upon layer of goodness.  Immensely complex and not what I’d expect from a whisky that is older than me (by four years) – youthful yet wise.

One to share with the closest of friends who happen to be whisky geeks/lovers.  One to impress the father-in-law with.

A World of Discovery, Ardbeg, Autumn, Cold Winter, Springtime

The Great Space [Ardbeg Roller] Coaster

Islay region – 57.3%ABV – 750ml bottle (70cl outside of the US) – £100 | $80-$115 | €120

G-d bless Federal Wine & Spirits out of Boston, MA!  If it were not for them, I’m not sure I would have had my bottle of Ardbeg’s Committee Release of their Rollercoaster.

Those poor folks.

They announced that they were going to be getting some bottles early and was taking some pre-orders for it but did not know how many people may be calling them.  Harassing them for a bottle of this fine whisky.  I, good readers, was one of these people but I did my very best to be as *unharassy* as possible.  They told me they had “X” amount of bottles and “XXX” amount of people looking for one.  To make matters worse, their number of bottles went from a couple of cases down to 18 so now they had the hard job of telling even more people that they could not help them.

Those poor folks.  I hate saying no to anybody.  I feel sorry for them having to say no, to, my guess, a couple hundred people.

Luckily for me I was one of the first 18 people to call so, I got a bottle.  It took them a while to get through it all (my guess, about 3-4 weeks) but they eventually did get their bottles out and made 18 people (including myself) extremely happy.

While I was waiting for my bottle I made an agreement with Gal of Whisky Israel that I would hold off on opening the bottle so’s we could do a live Twitter tasting.

Well, Gal had issues of his own that I’m sure he’ll post about but let’s just say that waiting another 3-4 weeks to open my bottle just sort of… happened.

People who know me know that I am a patient guy.  So, no worries here.  But shit, I wanted to taste this nectar more than the folks who waited in line to taste New Coke way back when.  Thankfully Ardbeg’s Rollerocaster is FAR better that that short-lived shite!

While I did get around to tasting seven Ardbeg whiskies back in May, I only recently had a chance to taste the stuff as a stand alone whisky.

Let’s ride the coaster, shall we?

On the nose – Part of me wishes that this is what oxygen smelled like all of the time.  However, if it did, then nosing this whisky would not be as special as it is.

A very, very sexy nose filled with mature-for-its-age-peat-smoke, a salt lick and olive oil.

Peel the smokiness away and I am now confronted with some strawberry jam and those delicious Ardbegian lemons – the salt carries through the entire nose-capade.

On the mouth – A great entry here filled with savory bacon bits, tarred ropes and chicory.

Oily, like real olive oil in my mouth here, salted pie crust, onslaught of smokey peat, strawberries return and the citrus fruits evolve into something a bit bigger – pomelo!

Charred wood, cherries and tobacco.

Finish – Medium long.  Lovely burny bubbles stay in my mouth for some time and then out of the blue some nice green tea notes.

In sum — Well worth the wait.

A fantastic dram that, although amazingly smokey, is so very fruity for me (Lemons, Pomelo, Strawberries, Cherries).

Also, the peat seemed less of a direct attack on my tongue that I could enjoy this one in the late spring (winter for sure) and the autumn time.

A cracker of a dram that I hope Ardbeg will bring in as a standard expression.

One of the things I love about whisky is that everyone can take something different from them.  Chicory to me may be chipotle to another.  This being said, check out Jason from Guid Scotch Drink’s notes on this beauty – a world a difference but I would still drink the stuff if I got what he wrote in his notes.