Tag Archives: Waxy

Things that’ve impressed the hell out of me this year.

 

Fukano Japanese Whisky Cask 300Things that’ve impressed the hell out of me this year?

Almost nothing.

2016 has be a crap year with too many good people dying and various tragedies that there just doesn’t seem to be an end to (take your pick).

Thankfully, there is whisky.

This single cask of Fukano Japanese whisky (distilled from rice), however, impressed the hell out of me.

Region – Japan – ABV – 41.8% (natural cask strength)

On the nose — Say what?! Nose this blindly and I would have guessed/assumed this was a 20+ year old Willett Rye.

Wonderful oak framing with a spiciness that is so rye-like.

Fukano Japanese Whisky Cask 300Chocolate, Vanilla (with hints of raspberry) tarts and seasoned oak. Top note of acetone that plays well with warmed dill sauce.

Crisp starfruit that leads into notes of Mexican chocolate, deep vanilla and fresh coconut.

A better nose than most American rye whiskies I’ve had. Wonderful to find this profile in Japanese hooch. I could just smell this for 20min straight.

Fukano Japanese Whisky Cask 300In the mouth — Easy and oily entry with a growing waxy mouthfeel.  The palate is very similar to the nose but somehow, warmer.

Nutmeg and chocolate come to the fore but so does a great deal of vanilla bean.

Mild pickling spices, gentle yet rich red fruits, boozy butterscotch verging on Werther’s Original candies.

Fukano Japanese Whisky Cask 300Finish — Long and lovely (that’s what she said?) with lasting notes of a spiced vanilla latte.

In sum — I am massively impressed with this whisky. There have been some stand-offish nay-sayers when it comes to whisky distilled from rice.

I say – take the Pepsi challenge. Taste this blind and you will be more than pleasantly surprised.

At only $69/bottle, I suggest you grab one and drink the shit out of it.

Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar dram # 20 – Weymss Malts “Aromatic Orange Tobacco,” Glenrothes 25yo, Cask # 4250

 

Region – Speyside – ABV – 46%

Today we’re tasting the second Glenrothes single cask in the 2015 Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar bottled by Weymss Malts.  This one is a 25yo that was matured in a sherry butt.  The previous one, “Kumquat Cluster,” was a 22yo also matured in a sherry butt.

These guys seem to like big butts.

Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar 2015

No, not that kind of butt!  This kind (the one on the left, that is. The one on the right is a bourbon barrel):

Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar 2015

Being that the “Kumquat Cluster” was perhaps the first Glenrothes I’ve truly enjoyed, I wonder if this big butt whisky will procure a similar result. Let us see…

Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar 2015On the nose — Very fragrant, almost incense like.

Damp sandalwood, indiscernible cooking spices, walk-in humidor, loads and loads of CT Shade Grown cigar wrappers, whisky spilt on a leather bound book, used books, cedar oil. I could live in this glass right now.

Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar 2015In the mouth — Orange oil, new suede, tinned fruits, orange juice/soy sauce mix for basting, warm honey, hints of clove.

Lightly oily mouthfeel.

Finish — Slightly spicy and fairly long with lasting citrus and used books.

In sum — These guys are going to turn me into an old-Glenrothes junkie!  Drop dead gorgeous whisky.

1995 Imperial single cask # 50145, bottled by Signatory

 

Region – Speyside – 46% ABV – still available here and there for around $80-85

Imperial cask 50145 SignatoryImperial distillery – dismantled then destroyed, and now, in 2015, resurrected as the Dalmunach distillery.

Sadly, they’re not trying to replicate what Imperial produced at this new distillery.  Still, it’ll be exciting to see what Dalmunach produces.

While not my favorite whisky producer in the world, when I’m out and about looking for indy bottlings of whisky, Imperial is the number one distillery I seek out.  Like Springbank, Imperial has a style that is all its own, and completely unmistakable: Mineral-like, flinty, sometimes a bit chalky, and nearly always rich (be it ex-bourbon matured, ex-sherry matured or otherwise).

What does this one taste like?  Funny you should ask…

Signatory Imperial Cask 50145On the nose — Marzipan soaking in salted water.  Lemongrass  infused honey. All these things are sitting in the center of a dry granite quarry with dust in the wind.

Pocket change, and somehow the smell of the taste of a copper penny in your mouth.

Sugar-free apple sauce.

On the mouth  Wait, I shall now begin calling this category “In the mouth” because A) you put whisky IN your mouth, not ON it, and B) those that dig innuendos can think of this line as a sophomoric dick joke.

In the mouth (teehee) —  Man, this does not disappoint.  It’s that rich, meets minerality, meets chalkiness I described above.

Elderflower liquor minus the added sweetness.

(“Minus the added.” I like that. Consider it ™’d.)

Signatory Imperial Cask 50145A rich, oily mouthfeel is complimented by notes of cream soda (a slight fizziness on the tongue helps support this note) and melting Bit-O-Honey™.

Signatory Imperial Cask 50145Finish — Medium-ish.  There’s a nice peppery-spice left on the back of the tongue and the granite dust slowly fades away, forcing you to take another sip.

In sum — This is a cracking little Imperial, to be sure.  Even at 46%, it’s got great life to it and is satisfying. I still think indy bottlers should bottle always bottle at full cask strength, giving the consumer the choice to dilute.

Signatory Imperial Cask 50145Still, one of the brands my company imports (Chieftain’s Range) releases some whisky at 46% so…throwing first stones and all… (was it Jesus or Billy Joel who said that)?

It’s a fine Imperial. I’d personally buy another bottle if I saw it on the shelf…

Exclusive Malts 28yo Longmorn, 1985, 51.6%

 

Region – Speyside – 51.6% ABV – $200-285 (if you’re lucky enough to find a bottle)

Exclusive Malts Longmorn 1985 28 year oldOk. Full disclosure. By day I work for the US importer of The Exclusive Malts line of independently bottled whisky, ImpEx Beverages.

Full disclosure pt.2. This whisky is no longer available, and was actually imported well before I started my position with ImpEx.

Being that I don’t actually score whisky but instead just present tasting notes and general impressions (and occasional dick jokes), I figured it’s kosher for me give you said tasting notes and general impressions on this release.

What is “Exclusive Malts?” It’s a line of single cask whiskies bottled by David Stirk of Creative Whisky Company.  The line is fairly new to the US market.

So, there you go.  Truthfulness. Information. And below? Tasting notes:

Longmorn Exclusive Malts 1985 28 years oldOn the nose — Honey, honey honey smoked honey! Caramels covered by orange oil rubbed cigar wrappers.

There’s a flinty minerality to this whisky that seems to enter my nose in the form of light peat (perhaps wood effect?).  Crushed chardonnay grapes sans the sweetness.

Aged (read: an oaky presence)  with a good bit of life to it (read: not a tired old 28yo but a whisky that has life, and vibrance).  There’s a waxy texture to the nose, and a hint of the powder you’d find on a bubblegum cigar.

On the mouth — Given the waxy mouth feel, some would confuse this with an old Clynelish or Brora. Given the fizzy quality that floats on the waxiness, some would doubt this was a 28yo whisky.  It’s a bit of a contradiction in the mouth, but a welcome one, to be sure!

Cacao nibs

There’s all sorts of soft spice and light tobacco notes mixed in with chili infused milk chocolate, cocoa nibs, and macca root.

 

 

Longmorn Exclusive Malts 1985 28 years oldThe pears, they are baked with whole anise star, and cinnamon’d walnut oil.

There’s an elegance to this whisky that is very much a Longmorn quality.

Finish – Beautifully floral yet grassy, mineral-y yet sweet, and quite looooooonnnnnggg…

In sum – This is a great example of Longmorn.  Perhaps the best Longmorn I’ve had to date. This is a treat to any whisky fan or whisky novice.  A celebratory whisky, if you will.

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

 

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:

OLD-PULTENEY-40-1Orange 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)…

OLD-PULTENEY-40-2Cedar 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.

OLD-PULTENEY-40-3Salted 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.

OLD-PULTENEY-40-4Rhubarb 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!!