Complimentary Tasting at LMDW - A big mixed bag

For the month of April, La Maison is hosting complimentary whisky tasting in the afternoons, from noon till 6pm, when the bar opens. If you're free, in the area, and wanna sip some good, cheap whiskies and have a lovely chat with the lovely Sarah, then do pop down. A word of warning, though: tasting good and cheap whiskies has a strange effect on you; it makes you a lot more willing to buy. After the complimentary tasting, I bought 2 bottles - the Redbreast 12 Cask Strength, and a Caol Ila from LDMW's The Ten series of whiskies for beginners.

Quick notes of the whiskies that were on offer:

Picture taken from LMDW's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/finespiritsLMDW/

I didn't try everything, and the Kilchoman Caroni Cask ran out.

Whisky de Table
Nose: Could be my eyes playing tricks on me with the colour and packaging of the bottle, but this smelt like white wine. Citrusy, tannic, sour and refreshing. A light malty notes comes out after some time in the glass.
Palate: Ok, yes, this is more like whisky. A lemon and lime edge, slightly smoky, with this whisky carrying a significant proportion of Clynelish. Texture is pretty smooth. Very easy, very quaffable. Sarah kept this bottle refrigerated, and I don't disagree with that.
Finish: Short, slightly sweet notes of honey. Vinous.

Redbreast Cask Strength
Nose: Intense, this one. Rich fruits. Apricots, figs, apples, pears, some hint of minerality...limestone and copper. A little vinous, but maybe more on dessert wine - more sweet, less sour. That's gotta be the sherry talking Rich, velvety vanilla and oak. There's so much going on here.
Palate: Ok, the alcohol packs a punch. After that subsides...rich and smooth. Mouth coating and full bodied. It's like ramping up the normal Redbreast 12 several notches - this one has more flavour coming in huge waves. Similar to the nose. Very consistent, with maybe a touch of floral about it. Maltier on the palate than on the nose.
Finish: Long, intense, clean. Fruity, spicy, oak.

Clynelish 8 years (2008/2015), Signatory 'Very Cloudy'
This one is very cloudy because it is un-chill filtered.

Nose: Mm. Smokier, maltier. Spicy, even on the nose. Compared to the Whisky de Table, of course.
Palate: Lemon, pear, malted barley. Clean, simple, very straightforward. I think I preferred the Compass Box blend...
Finish: Short, slightly spicy, a little woody. Good spirit, young age.

Glenrothes 8 years, G&M 'The Macphail's Collection'
Nose: This is rather meaty and chewy. I would say it smells more chewy than the Mortlach 21 I finished some time back. Chewy, malty too. It's sherried, but the sherry cask must have been a refill, I think. It's not very dominant on the nose, forming more of a backdrop. Like a fruitcake made with preserved fruits.
Palate: Spicy, slightly sherried. Fruits are dried - raisins, dried cranberries. Still chewy and slightly waxy texture.
Finish: Short, spicy and woody.

Cambus 24, Signatory
Nose: Intense. Bubblegum sweetness, corn syrup. Smells more like maize than rye. Mm. Spicy, on ginger and pepper. Big smells, really. Wood behind all the sweetness. Vanilla comes up too, if you get behind the corn syrup. Floral and perfumed.
Palate: Big hitting syrup, but not without complexity - honey, spicy. Ginger, cinnamon, saffron. Toffee, caramel. Solid oak backing too. Pretty good, these old grain whiskies
Finish: Long, spicy. A slight sour note here. Like wine tanginess, if there's such a word.

AnCnoc 12
Nose: Rather straightforward. Honeyed, with wood and light spiciness. Raisins and apple, cinnamon. Simple, good Speyside. But not very special.
Palate: same as above. The body runs out of ideas quite quickly. It starts out nice and supple, but turns flat fairly quickly. Easy, quick drinking. Not one to be mulled over.
Finish: short, sweet. Mm. Slight bitter note here. Artificial colouring, perhaps...?

Ben Nevis Mcdonald's Traditional 
Nose: Whoa. Really old school. The makers wanted to replicate an old style highland whisky, and I think they've succeeded. Big on rocks and charcoal. Sooty, even. A touch of engine oil. Smoky, but on the ashy side. Some lemons and pears too, under all that.
Palate: Slightly peaty - but it's closer to ash than iodine. Big on leather and rubber, but made less brutal by a touch of apples that lies under those big, old-style, industrial notes. Mm. Pomelo - Sour and slightly tannic. I really like this style, but maybe a little more fruit, or wood, or spice would have helped pick it up. I like this, but found it too brooding to buy a bottle.
Finish: Medium, on leather, tannins, and a slight spiciness. Mm. A slight bitter note too.

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And, that's a wrap. Didn't try the rest: Highland Park 8 from the Macphail's Collection, and a Caol Ila G&M Reserve. Whew. Couldn't taste anything for the rest of the day.

Many thanks to Sarah, who very graciously talked PY and I through all the whiskies, sharing thoughts, stories, tasting notes from Google, and for being very patient while we deliberated on what to buy. Benefits of going to LMDW on a rainy afternoon eh?

Benriach Flight

Suddenly, like SBS bus service number 55, pigeon poop landing on your shoes, and other general things in life, whisky happens. Several in quick succession after a long break. Maybe it's overcompensation. Maybe it's fate. Maybe it's how the Norse gods roll.

A flight of 4 Benriachs today, from the good people at Auld Alliance. Then, several whiskies for tasting at La Maison. That brings us up to 10 whiskies in a short span of time. Whew. Gotta let my liver regenerate for the next week or so.

Lots of things to write, too little time to jot them down, so pardon the shorter notes, and lack of pictures. More notes from the tasting at La Maison another day.

Benriach 12 (abv 43%)

Nose - standard sherry nose on first nosing, and then develops into something floral and perfumed. Ripe plums, some spice, a soft malty background.

Palate - Mm. Initial impressions are pretty good. Sweet, vanilla, sherry, grapes, raisins. Then slightly malty, but all of this happens in a short stretch - the body gets flat pretty quickly, leaving behind a generic maltiness.

Finish - short, oaky, slightly spicy. Mm. Nothing too great. Easily forgotten, though it is quite pleasant.

Benriach 12 peated, PX finish (abv 46%)

Nose - Ok, first sniff, and this peatiness reminds me of Lagavulin. Some sherry behind it, but it's not obvious - more like a thin layer of jam than actual fruit. Jam that's not very fruity, if there's such a thing. Grassy and hay-y

Palate - Ok, not Lagavulin, though the peat is fairly deep. This whisky is surprisingly meaty, with suggestions of leather, a little drying, some raisins, and a fair amount of oak. I was just quite taken aback with the amount of peat in this. Grassy still. Hay-y again. On top of the peat. Hmm.

Finish - Hmm. Hard to judge this. Dry, again, oaky, spicy finish. Not too long. But everything here feels a bit indeterminate, apart from the grassiness.

Benriach 15 Tawny Port Finish (abv 46%)

Nose - My favourite nose of the bunch, maybe because it was the most predictable. Fairly porty and winey, but I think it comes across in a good way. Maybe a little too much like port. A little oak. Spicy, sweet.

Palate - Ripe berries. Mm. Cherries and strawberries, I think. Sweet, and slightly spicy again. Fairly consistent.

Finish - Feels more like a wine finish, with big fruits like an Australian Shiraz. Slightly drying, but really, more port than whisky, this one.

Benriach 15 Solstice (abv 50%)

Nose - Mm. The weirdest of the bunch. Hmm. There's the fruitiness of wine again, but drier. More...raisin than grape, but...like, before the grape has completely become a raisin. This is peated, but the peat feels...a little less burnt. Smoking grass rather than peat peat.

Palate - Hmm. Again, something seems off. First, the alcohol burn is suddenly very apparent. Then, the peat sits uneasily on top of everything, in my opinion. It isn't very peaty, but slightly smokey and again, it feels like what's burning wasn't completely peat. Kinda odd. There's the dried fruits, and that's been tainted by the peat, but not really merging together.

Finish - I don't really like this. Medium length finish, but more of that odd peatiness that I didn't appreciate but H at the bar said he liked. Odd one. The finish, not the H, bless him.

Overall - No, I don't think I'm going to like Benriachs after this.

Another Revival!

It's again been a long time since I had the pleasure of trying something new. Been really busy with work. It's amazing how much work can sap you if you take it seriously. Maybe the trick is...

After slumbering for a long time, the best way to get back on track is to start a Revival! And, after trying Glendronach's one previously, I'm going for Teeling's Revival this time round.

Image from Master of Malt

Teeling 15 years Revival (abv 46%)

Nose - Ripe pears transiting to brown sugar, caramelized sugar - slight touches of something meaty. Ripe pears give way to greener fruits - figs and a touch of guava that's not fully ripened. Turns slightly metallic - copper? Maybe it's my foreknowledge of pot stills getting in the way of my nose. Suggestion of something meaty, like aged meat or something. Just a whiff though.

Palate - Mm. A slightly stronger alcohol attack than expected. After that fades, this whiskey is good. Pears, then apricots, then figs, ripe green apples. Slightly meaty again, but not in the range of Mortlach. A little metallic, mineral note to keep the palate fresh amidst all that's going on. The apricots become the most dominant fruit note. Honey, brown sugar. Vanilla drifts in occasionally. Malty background throughout. This is a full meal in a relatively harmonious, gentle package. Very mouth-coating

Finish - Mm. Not very long. Medium-short. Spicy on finish - cinnamon and cloves, a bit of nutmeg. Oak presence on the finish. A touch of apricot still. Nice.

Overall - This was tried at La Maison without knowing how much it'll cost me - they've done away with the menus. That's a pretty good move for a bar which changes the bottles available so quickly, but it makes ordering whiskies a real hit and miss. Turns out, one dram of the Teeling Revival 15 cost me almost $50. Oops. Should have asked before ordering... Or maybe I should have gotten something that I know was not as rare, and not presented with as much fanfare...

But, having said that, this is really good whiskey, and definitely one of the best Ireland has to offer. This whiskey was aged in rum casks, but the rum doesn't dominate the whiskey. It's a good maturation process, with the malt and the cask both giving their best.