Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter #44 by Chris Goodrum Part Four – Scotch Whisky News
The palate opens with the sulphur note. Ignoring that there is a lovely depth of burnt toffee, walnuts, dates, prunes and cinnamon spices. The sherry sits in the background and is not as invasive as it is on the nose. The alcohol is piquant and in passing leaves hints of rich, plumy fruit followed by some marzipan and burnt butter. There is no ignoring the enormity and complexity, but still the sulphur lingers and grates at the senses – This could have been a stunning dram and worth of the World Whisky of the year tag. The finish is superb, meandering its way to a charred wood, dark chocolate-tannin finish.
With water the sherry aroma/ flavour is pushed back a bit and if anything emphasises the sulphur! Lighter and juicier now with more ‘spirit character’ than wood. A touch of salt/ chlorine freshness now appears as does a sugar coating to the fruit, and the cask dutiful adds a nutty nuance.
I can’t believe that this was just a rogue batch as Jim Murray mentions this sulphur note in two separate batches that he’s tasted. It would appear that he and the judges of the World Whisky panel are a lot more forgiving than I am – Sulphur is a fault, full stop and it really ruins my appreciation of an otherwise exceptional dram.
MALT OF THE MONTH
Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Second Release) 57.1%
Bourbon/ French Oak
A robust, butch and possibly more rounded nose than the first release. It’s also less fruity and I think it’s youthfulness has been tamed by a greater degree of oak influence. However there is still plenty of iodine, salt, parma violets, creosote, burnt toffee and not forgetting the full-on peat. Big and smoky with a bracing coastal astringency and given time the elusive citrus and orange fruit emerges.
The palate is full and quite oily with burnt wood ash, smoke and earthy-peat….. and more peat…. And more peat. In fact it has a monumental density of peat, veritable slabs of the stuff! However it’s definitely not a one trick pony, there is plenty of coastal citrus fruit, also the greater oak influence, like on the nose, rounds the palate and although it’s a bit of an alcoholic brute, the oak seems to round that off too, even to the point of being able to enjoy it neat. Extremely long with the peat taking on a definite sooty dénouement as it winds its way to the finish.
With water the youthful aromatic power through the oak and some gristy barley comes through. The peat is less intense now and some distinct ‘aged’ Ardbeg notes of treacle, menthol and fishermans friends become apparent. The palate is not quite so visceral now. Like on the nose, the gristy barley shines and both barley and malt has taken on a candied sheen. The spirit is dare I say it showing its gentle side. The oak hasn’t entire lost its influence and slightly bitters out the finale.
A fabulous malt and definitely deserving of World Whisky of the Year 2010.
NEW RELEASES FROM DEWAR RATTRAY
Aberlour 1996 (14 year old) 46% £38.95
Bourbon cask 90081. Sample received at 56.4%%
Quite a high toned nose, yet robust and expressive. Exceedingly fruity with plenty of tropical pineapple and banana along with lots of lovely creamy vanilla oak and hints of soft spices. The palate is a touch oily with the oak flavours opening the proceedings followed by the tropical fruit, which is hanging on by it’s finger tips against the onslaught of the vanillins! A brief piquant alcohol burst is followed by a honeyed, grassy finish.
With water (which is closer to what it will taste like at 46%) The nose is lighter and showing more grassy typicity. The oak has been restrained now and it allows the gorgeous honeyed fruit and spices to shine. The palate is softer, with a slightly milky/ creamy consistency. Still grassy and tropical, but now a delightful malty core has been revealed. Lovely balance and a long grassy finish.
Glen Keith 1992 (17 year old) 59.7% £55.95
First fill (?) Bourbon cask 120548
Superb depth and weight to the nose. Oodles of sawdusty honey, dried fruits, violets and a serious degree of mature caramel/vanilla oak. You could almost be forgiven for thinking it’s a Bourbon or old grain but the lack of a grainy/ rye nip discounts that assertion. I like this!
The palate is soft and oaked (surprise!) full of pure vanilla’d dried fruits. Luscious, rich and honeyed with the alcohol masking but adding an almost botanical freshness. Again the comparisons with an old grain would be very apt.
Water doesn’t make much of an impact on the oak, maybe moving it in a more toffee/ coffee direction, it also lessens the honey and emphasises the botanicals. Whilst on the palate the gristy barley and honey comes to the fore and my that is a big peppery middle! Lovely length and a seriously robust mouthful.
Now yes you could argue that I bang on about the balance of wood to spirit, and certainly with regard to Sherry casks, and yes you could argue that the balance of this is tilted more to the wood side of things, but I would say that the interest here is how much it resembles an old grain whisky……and…….well I like it!
Strathmill 1991 (18 year old) 46%
Bourbon cask 4123 sample received at 55.9%
A very mature nose with a malty richness and a natural honey disposition along with hints of high toned/ floral citrus and botanicals. Over time it moves into hot weetabix territory. Not as overtly fruity as some Strathmills, but with a pleasant complexity. The palate is generous and malted, full of wheat biscuit flavours and a subservient orange note. The alcohol masks somewhat and finishes with plenty of botanicals.
With water (which is closer to what it will taste like at 46%) Now we get some semblance of the trademark juicy orange fruit, still very malted-wheat in character. However on the palate that malted-wheat character has developed a slight cardboardy edge to it and is nowhere near as interesting as the nose would suggest. The combination of wood and alcohol really dry out the finish. So for that reason I’ll have to pass on this.
Glen Garioch 1990 (20 year old) 56%
Bourbon cask 5878
A bit of a raw and untamed nose to be honest. Yes there is plenty of dense honey, assam tea, coffee and wood notes but the botanical spirit is a bit too intrusive. The palate is a touch vague and musty. Again there is a lot of oak and alcohol, which maybe subduing the honeyed flavours. For a malt of this age, mellow it certainly isn’t.
With water the nose has become somewhat gentler but it is now rather homogenous, the oak is muted now and its influence is reduced to a slight marzipan note. I’m afraid that the palate, in removing the alcohol and wood shows up a spirit that is a bit too old and watery with a smidge of cardboard too!
Longmorn 1990 (20 year old) 52.5% £56.95
Bourbon cask 30025
A beautiful nose of polished orange fruit. Surprisingly gristy with plenty of herbal malt and barley. Lovely succulent depth, slightly oily in character and delightfully impregnated with dusty spices. With time the charred vanilla oak adds to the complexity as does a floral top note.
Soft and juicy on the palate. Like the nose there is plenty of gristy barley and a soupcon of honey. It opens into a lovely softly spiced middle with a gentle alcohol nip and finished with a floral finale.
With water the nose is a shade oilier and the orange/ tangerine fruit takes on a lovely purity as does the honey, which now shows more maturity. The palate has become a lot sweeter. Less intense and slightly watery, but the gloriously soft fruit makes up for it. One can see that this was bottled in the nick of time as the botanical spirit rules at the death. My advice would be to take this neat.
Banff 1975 (34 year old) 44.1% £110.95
Sherry cask 3354
A lovely old sherried Spey. Yummy aromas of mature walnuts, floor polish, dried figs, raisins and prunes along with hints of violets. The aromas have a definite Cognac-esque rancio and with time some green nuts/ herbal notes, liquid liquorice, old coffee bean and walnut shell emerge.
The palate opens with tongue coating treacle toffee, liquorice, walnuts and spices. Wonderfully mature the flavours glide effortlessly with dried fruit and citrus rind, along with hints of menthol. Stunning mouth feel and presence. A truly glorious old sherry cask. There is still enough alcohol to stop it becoming too treacly and cloying and it ensures a tongue tingling finish. The finish lasts for ages with an after taste of old coffee, cigars and barky spice!
Caol Ila 1980 (30 year old) 58.8% £80.95
Bourbon cask 4679
A very herbal nose with hints of lettuce(?) and green garden vegetables all coated in a delightful slightly coastal honey. Gently phenolic with old rope, peat and fishy nuances. A lovely mature nose with honey to die for! Quite expansive for a Caol Ila. I could sniff this all day!
The palate opens with the herbal honey and a faint peat note, followed by the drying alcohol. I amazed that it’s this strength at 30, but seeing as this cask has only yielded 157 bottles it must have been stored in a fairly warm environment and with the resulting evaporation it has definitely concentrated the flavours. I seriously can’t believe that I’m going to have to add water to something this age. Lovely length with a coal dust and fishy finish.
Water ramps up the herbal aromas and the fruit is deep and sweet and gorgeous, however there is still a fresh edge to the fruit along with some manure and now detectable bourbon oak. I don’t think I have ever come across a Caol Ila that is so honeyed! The palate is sweeter and again extremely fruity with some gorgeous dusty spice, faint smoke and crystallised citrus fruit. Amazingly long with a long, crisp, grassy, spearmint fresh finish. This cask has aged majestically!
Laphroaig 1997 (13 year old) 58% £57.95
Bourbon cask 3329
A very beefy, almost Bovril-malty nose followed by lots of earthy, slightly medicinal peat, bog myrtle, seaweed and fish. Very rounded and full-on with slabs of phenolic coastal peat. However this is not one-dimensional, the oak adds to the feeling of fullness without adding any real noticeable vanillins.
Like the nose, the palate is full and rounded. Now there are plenty of wood notes and alcohol! Pure, phenolic and fishy with a lovely sooty-peated middle accented by an iodine twang. Lovely intensity and length with the quite a barley sweet peat finish and an almost honeyed after taste.
With water the aromas are more classically Laphroaig now. Very herbal and fishy with no shortage of peat. On the palate there is less oak and honey and like the nose more of the fishy, peaty spirit. Still very long with some tarry notes at the end.
GENERAL ROUND UP
Glengyle ‘Kilkerran WIP 2’ 46% £33.95
Now 6 years old, and although still youthful it is displaying a more rounded character. The nose opens with crisp citrus and white fruits followed by gristy cereal and a slight earthy-peat note, which increases in intensity over time. It is elegant and there is a definite impression of nascent honey along with a slight coastal nuance.
The palate is quite velvety, smooth and rounded with oily coated cereal grains. A short burst of alcohol clears the way for the coastal/ grassy fresh infused, youthful, gentle apricot and tangerine fruit along with the placid earthy-peat and background oak, leading to a lovely coastal finish.
It is still quite linear at the moment, yet it is more rounded than the first bottling, and it is surprising how much it has evolved in just a year.
Scapa 1993 (15 year old) 50% – Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask
Re-Fill Bourbon Hogshead.
A big, rich, modern day Scapa nose of vanilla oak and overkill malt along with some sweet honey, burnt wood and heather. There is also quite a bit of medicinal peat which is unusual and only vaguely coastal, which is par for the course.
The palate is immense and robust, full of herbal honey, vanillins and heather. It opens into a lovely melange of mandarin and pineapple, before the malt kicks in and the honey returns ‘en vigueur’. It has a good length with an almost peppery/grainy spirit note at the end and a suggestion of salt.
Heaven Hill Distillery
Georgia Moon Unaged Corn Whiskey 40%
‘Less than 30 days old’
The nose obviously reeks of new make spirit – rose petal marc along with popcorn and peanut butter. The palate is clean and as expected pretty straightforward. Corn meal, burnt butter and rose petals. It’s soft and slightly oily with a developing peppery note. The rawness is balanced by only being bottled at 40% and a light syrupy sweetness.
An interesting insight into their new make, but it would have been better in my opinion to bottle it at cask or still strength, that way it would be the real deal.
Evan Williams 2000 (9 year old) 43.3%
Cask 377
Elegant and delicate (in relative terms) aromas opening with the fat corn, violets and earthy notes followed by the creamy/ vanilla oak. The rye notes nibble and hints of patchouli, orange marmalade, cedar and sandalwood can be detected. Lovely maturity to the aromas and over time the oak turns slightly sawdusty.
The palate is soft, delicate and violety. The deep corn leads off with the rye spices lurking in the background along with the oak. The oak builds toward the middle and then suddenly the spices surge, literally vaporising the oak! This leaves the palate inundated with hints of treacle, black liquorice, toffee and a touch of charred wood. In combination with the alcohol the finish is exceedingly dry, yet departs with a slight herbal/ menthol/ rose petal/ Turkish delight-ish finish. Stunning stuff.
Greenore 15 year old 43% £62.95
An interesting nose of light Bourbon oak and caramelised vanilla. It puts one in mind of a Canadian with its soft grainy aromas. Pure and subtle yet over time it develops a serious violet note. Moving into herbal territory before some pleasant marzipan and sweet spices arrive.
Soft and light on the palate with hints of tropical banana, violets and herbal nuances. The oak is well integrated, restrained and supporting. The middle opens to display a lovely delicate depth of soft spices, light golden syrup and sugar coated fruits. Lovely length with a distinct Turkish delight finish and the oak bittering out at the death. A lovely gentle journey.
The Greenore 15 year old was voted 2010 grain whisky of the year and well you can’t argue with that, it is a superb bottling!
Garnheath 1969 (40 year old) 47.9% – Douglas Laing The Clan Denny bottling
Refill Bourbon Hogshead HH5538
A lovely mature, resiny, sawdusty nose. The oak is quite nimble and shot through with plenty of mature honey. It puts me in mind of a lighter version of Invergordon. Over time some herbal coffee and oily marzipan aromas come to the fore. The oak itself doesn’t smell as mature as you would expect, one can detect some toasty/ charred notes at work, so I would assume that this has been re-racked at some time in its storage.
The palate opens with the light, resiny oak and marzipan. The grain sits beneath and gives the tongue a light tingling lashing! This is seriously complex, the flavours break like waves upon the tongue – dried spicy fruit, slightly caramelised banana and mature nuts. Finally it moves into Guyanan territory with a tart, tangy, vegetal/ agricole rum note. Stunning length with a touch of dark chocolate on the finish.
The Garnheath single grain was produced at the Moffat grain distillery complex, east of Glasgow in the Lowlands. Built in 1965 by Inver House Distillers. As well as distilling grain whisky it also housed two sets of stills, each producing their own type of malt whisky, those being Glen Flagler and Killyloch. The Killylock still ceased production in the 1970’s, followed by the other two in 1986 when it was closed.
Right, that’s about it for now I hope you enjoyed the read
Regards
Chris Goodrum
Visit Gauntleys at www.gauntley-wine.co.uk
