Glen Breton Ice 10 year old 57.2% Aged in Icewine barrels

An unusual nose to say the least. Young, raw, grainy dried fruits mingle with a serious amount of oak. There is some honeyed sweetness and citrus aromas lurking in the background but the sawdusty-vanillins and sugared almond notes are the dominant aromas. It seems a lot younger than 10 years old.

The palate is slightly oily, with the oak hitting the palate full on with a hint of citrus freshness and some winey honey. After the piquant alcohol has passed some sticky sweet lime and butterscotch remains. I have to say that neat the flavours all come through on the finish, and it’s just a tad sticky for my liking.

With water it’s weird. It seems like the components have split apart and it’s oily and fresh at the same time. Very odd! The palate has become very watery and sweet, there are a lot of winey cask notes and then it fades pretty quickly. It seems to me that if you take away the cask it doesn’t have a great deal of character.

Aultmore 1995 (14 year old) 43% – Gordon & MacPhail Re-Fill Bourbon

A fresh, citrus nose with no shortage of bubblegum oak. Quite alcoholic with a touch of honey and a pleasantly floral nuance. The palate is much like the nose, light, grassy and citrusy, a bit woody on the middle and the alcohol is very intrusive even at 43%. Slightly gristy with hints of barley and a very hot finish.

I don’t normally put a drop of water with a 43%’er but I thought it might mitigate the intrusive alcohol, which it does but it becomes horribly sweet, sugary and sloppy!

Speyside 40 year old 40% – Master of Malts

A slightly astringent nose of dried fruit and green nuts. If I was to hazard a guess I would say it’s a refill-Oloroso Glen Grant. Deep and unctuous with plenty of mature honey and a touch of sawdust.

The palate is soft and succulent, a touch on the tannic side but lovely and gentle. There’s plenty of mature honey and a hard, peppery middle, which leads me to believe that it’s not Glen Grant. Slightly astringent on the finish with a hint of violets and still pretty peppery.

That peppery character is perplexing and making the guessing quiet difficult as I can’t say that I’ve every found that in an old Spey before. Talisker maybe but not a Spey. Of the Speyside malts that that a) age for that long and b) that are often sherry casked, I don’t think it is Macallan, Glen Grant Glenfarclas or Caperdonich….. So I’m going to plump for Strathisla, mainly because of the violety note which I have found in other bottlings from that distillery. I’m sure someone will tell me if I’m right or wrong!

Speyside 50 year old 40% – Master of Malts

Again a slightly astringent nose, but displaying a wonderful freshness, you would have though it wasn’t a day over 30! Buckets of mature honey and old, toffee’d, slightly sawdusty bourbon oak with a lovely citrus thread and a touch of smoke. Superb depth and complexity.

The gentle oak vanillins open the show followed by some wonderfully juicy barley and honey. Mellow and complex with a slight grassy character. Very honeyed with a soupcon of peat smoke on the middle. Luscious and smooth with peat smoke turning to coal dust and the honey becoming quiet buttery. The length is excellent, and to think that it has been in the cask this long and still retains a lovely freshness is a testament to the character and longevity of this whisky.

As for the distillery it’s always difficult to tell with old Bourbon Speys, but if pushed I would guess at Glen Grant.

Glenfarclas Family Cask 1953 (55 years old) 53.7% Sherry Butt 1678

The nose is as one expected. A big, nutty, coffee laced, mature sherry monster with a slight leafiness. Quite linear, but for a sherry cask this old it has a lovely freshness and an earthy complexity of toffee, walnuts and associated wood notes.

The palate is dry, woody and so tannic it’s unbelievable. The tannins are a bit on the green side and it feels like one has been licking the inside of the cask. Funnily enough there’s not much distillery character or even spirit character present.

With water it becomes slightly sugary, but that’s about it. Impressive if you like this sort of whisky and at around £750-£800, you’ve really got to like woody old sherried malts!

Bowmore 26 year old 53.6% – Master of Malts Single Bourbon Cask

An astringent and coarse nose blanketed in hessian with a touch of smoke, kippers and violets. A bit of a rough and ready brute, which I wouldn’t have thought was this old. I have to say the astringent freshness and hessian make odd bed fellows.

The palate is exceedingly rubbery and coastal, with oily viscous peat smoke landing like a slab on the tongue. This is followed by buckets of parma violets, brine and alcohol all coated in this wonderful rubbery/ oily coastalness. I love the visceral intensity of this dram. Did I say this was salty…. Hmm… yep, it’s salty alright with a distinct seaweedy finish.

Strathisla 1996 (11 year old) 46% – Douglas Laing Provenance Refill bourbon Hogshead 4701

A soft yet lemon fresh nose with honey and robust vanillins sitting in the background. Over time it develops some of tangerine, leather, grass and a slight hint of peat. The palate is crisp and granity with a citrus chenin blanc character. Balanced by a restrained sweetness and the subtle oak. Opens into a malty, damp earth and charred wood middle before the piquant-ish alcohol dries things out. Good length with hints of grass, gentle peat and light spice. Exits with a soft oak florish. A pleasant Spey.

Port Ellen 1983 (27 year old) 55.7% – Signatory Sherry Butt (?) 231

A phenolic and briny nose. It has a distinct Caol Ila like freshness and a hint of juicy orange fruit. It’s a bit on the simple side, and the alcohol is quiet intrusive. It certainly seems about half its age.

The palate it’s quite carbolic and alcoholic. The alcohol practically sears the tongue. Ok there are some oily, fishy notes along with some coastal peat smoke, but it’s surprisingly dirty and a bit feinty, and as for the finish…. Well, what finish!

A drop of water I’m afraid turns it into a bit of a soapy, watery, rubbery mess. It has to go down as one of the worst bottlings of Port Ellen I have ever tasted, and if I forked out around £160 for this I would be very disappointed.

According to the blurb, this was distilled on February 2nd 1983, just a few months before the distillery was closed (in May), and aged in a wine treated butt (whatever that means? – a tired old sherry butt perhaps? If you can detect any cask presence here then hats off to you!).

Now I hate to denigrate anyone’s work, but I can only assume with the threat of closure hanging in the air, that the aim was to distill as much spirit as was possible, hence the stills were probably filled to almost capacity and pushed like hell. I maybe completely wrong in this supposition, but either way it doesn’t make this an enjoyable Port Ellen.

Suntory Yamazaki 12 year old 43%

A sharp, slightly spirity nose. Quite grassy with hints of lemon/ lime and sawdusty oak. The palate is slightly oily, with an initial dishwater-like quality. Slightly spirity with citrus and subtle vanilla oak and a hint of spice on the finish. Straightfoward.

I will say that I tasted this in a bar in Chester and it was literally the dregs of the bottle, in fact it wasn’t even a full measure so I got it for free. I have no idea how long it had been open for and I would imagine that it had decayed somewhat, so this tasting note may not be a fair assessment of this malt.

Cardhu 12 year old 40% £40.95

Jim Murray says that this malt has “The cleanest, uncluttered nose that you will ever find” and I can’t argue with that. It’d pleasantly balanced with a slight oliness, hints of toffee and burnt caramel, offset by its sweetness and a slight grassy note.

The palate is quite full. A pleasant, uncomplicated marriage of soft, butter-toffee oak and citrus fruit. Quite oily with a not unpleasant alcohol nip and a slight peppery finish. Pleasant if a bit unexciting,. I imagine that this is the sort of spirit that blenders would die for.

And Finally………. Springbank

Ah those immortal words that have closed many a newsletter! Just to let you know that we have now stocks of the Springbank 12 year old ‘Claret Finish’ 54.4% £41.95, which I reviewed in the last newsletter (No42 May 2010). Also we have taken delivery of the Kilkerran ‘Work in Progress 2’ 46% £33.95, which hopefully I’ll review in my next newsletter. It is now 6 years old, lightly peated, double distilled and limited to 18,000 bottles world wide.

Right, that’s about it for now I hope you enjoyed the read

Regards

Chris Goodrum

www.gauntley-wine.co.uk