Small Sips After a Big Hiatus

Again, work gets in the way of enjoyment, and whisky tasting/drinking has been slow. Leisure is what a man would if he did not do it for the purpose of keeping himself alive. Play, as opposed to work. And it is, supposedly, in play and leisure that a person best finds and expresses himself. I think that's some kind of Aristotelian philosophy that I'm completely butchering, but the point is: work and no leisure makes a person less of himself. But what if you love your work? Or what if, you drink whisky and write tasting notes for a living? What is work? What is play? What is leisure? Who are you?

But I digress.

Finally found some time on Friday night to catch up with JP, collect 2 books that he helped me to buy, and try a few different drams. These three were tried at Auld Alliance, as usual.

Cadenhead Small Batch Craigellachie, 18 years 1994/2013 (54.4% abv)

Colour - dark gold, almost amber.

Nose - This one noses like what I've come to expect from Craigellachie. An old type of Speyside matured in dry but good sherry casks. Rubbery and leathery nose, with hints of dry sherry - not really sweet red fruit, but more like...the scent of a red wine stain on a shirt that hasn't been to the dry cleaners yet. I'm pretty sure that's not what "dry sherry" is supposed to mean. A hint of smoke under the leather, and I think suggestions of nuts. An oaky undertone stays throughout the nosing.

Palate - Tastes very much like it noses - rubbery and leathery in a good way. A little bit of sulphur, and something meaty - more like a seasoned jerky rather than barbecued meat. Sweeter than it noses - the sherry comes out more, and actually tastes fresher and brighter than the sherry you get on the nose. Pretty good! Not much nuts. Maybe I was wrong with the nose. Despite the high strength, this doesn't burn much, though there are some spices - cinnamon and nutmeg, I think. Oak remains on the palate, and maybe a hint of burnt sugar. Development on the palate isn't very long, and nothing very surprising, but overall, good sherried Speyside, and stays true to Craigellachie's character.

Finish - Not very long. And this is where I think this dram is most clearly inferior to the 31. Short-ish finish on some drying oak tannin infused with a bit of sherry. Remains a little meaty still.

Overall - Undoubtedly a good whisky, but doesn't quite make it into the hall of fame due to its predictability and short-ish finish. But that's probably because I've been spoilt by having the official 31 year as my first Craigellachie.

G&M Connoisseur's Choice Glenallachie 1992/2009 (43% abv)

This dram was tried unintentionally - JP and I ordered the Craigellachie, but was given the Glenallachie instead. Frankly, a mistake anyone could make. Auld Alliance were nice enough to give this to us free (they can't pour it back into the bottle anyway!), and served us the Craigellachie after that. Yay. Bonus whisky!

Colour - Light gold, almost white wine

Nose - Rather a lot of cut grass. Green and fresh, with a fair bit of vanilla and icing sugar. Mm. Doesn't smell very complex, this one.

Palate - Oh, this tastes younger than it actually is. Maybe the wood wasn't doing its job properly? Slight alcohol burn, and, again, rather green on the palate too. Grass and a soft vanilla/honey touch. A bit of oak and slightly bitter after a while.

Finish - Unremarkable. Slightly bitter, a bit of...star anise? Oak tannin, and no more.

Overall - Fairly easy and pleasant, but not memorable.

And I think I've got to get back to preparing stuff for work. Shall have to write about the other two whiskies another time! Longrow C.V. and Hakushu Sherry Cask 2013!

Weeping Gently into the Night

Writer's Tears is an Irish blend of single pot still and single malt whiskies. This was an impulse buy, as the name of the whisky just jumped out at me, probably because I was grading exam scripts over that fateful weekend. It seemed apt that I should drink Writer's Tears while grading Writers' Works, and imbibe all the anguish and pain that my students must have felt when writing those exam scripts. I believe no writers were actually harmed in the process of making this whisky, and I hope my students emerge from the exam stronger. Tears can be the nourishment of a renewed strength.

I wonder about the marketing though. Do writers cry a lot? Or do they turn to whisky when they cry...? I'm sure that's not a healthy coping mechanism...

And I hope the whisky doesn't make me cry. It was a blind impulse buy, after all. Less than $100 from Vom Fass, Ion Orchard, Singapore.

Writer's Tears (40% abv)

Colour - Gold.

Nose - Lots of apples on the nose, with nice notes of vanilla and oak. A rounded honey, caramel backbone runs through this nosing. This seems to be something Irish pot stills have in common. I liked this nosing profile in the Redbreast 12, and I like it here too.

Palate - Mm. Very pleasant and easy to drink. Some light cinnamon comes to mind. Ripe apples, that turns to pretty big banana notes. Ripe bananas. Honey, vanilla. Mangoes, maybe? This is very sweet, gentle and smooth. Some oak in the background, but the sweetness and smoothness is what takes centre stage.

Finish - The finish doesn't leave much of an impression. Easy drinking. Smooth, some oak, a wee bit of wood tannin, but globally a sweet dram right to the end. Honey and ripe apples and bananas.



Overall - This is value for money! And a great name too! Smooth, easy drinking whisky for nights when you don't want something too complex. A good nightcap, I imagine, and a great introduction to Irish whisky. It's going to be hard to dislike this. Would I take this over the Redbreast 12? Hmm. Tough call. I think the Redbreast 12 just edges it slightly with its more complex spice notes. The bananas in Writer's Tears seem to border on being a little too ripe, and I know this is reason to knock off a few points in the books of some reviewers. How these great drinks are selling at $100 or less, I will never understand. Good stuff.

I think there's a cask strength version of this on the market. Time to look out for that.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban

It's been a quiet whisky week. Starting work led to fewer sleeping hours, and I didn't want to drink when the body was already not resting enough. So, no new entry for a long while. Ok, it's just been slightly over a week, but that's pretty long, no?

Now that I've a bit more time, and have gotten over the shame of thinking that Dalwhinnie is a lowland malt, here's a new entry, albeit of a whisky that's been out in the market for a long time: The Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

The Quinta Ruban is matured in port casks, and is aged for 12 years old. I think the standard Glenmorangie 10 was matured for an extra 2 years in port pipes. Perhaps due to the lightness of the Glenmorangie 10, the 2 years in port pipes dominates the whisky and gives this quite a winey profile.

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (abv 46%)

Colour: almost ruby. I'm not biased by the name of the whisky in my description of colour. Really!

Nose: Port wine - sweet, almost cloyingly so. Very ripe berries. There's some bit of oak, and it smells...alcohol-y. Behind the berries...a small bit of raisins, and a bit of...tannin? Promises of tannins?

Palate: This burns on first taste, though the alcohol dies pretty fast. The sweetness of the port takes over to smoothen out the palate, though it almost becomes too sweet. Port wine type of sweet - so, a bit more cloying on very ripe berries. There's a light touch of sour and oak, but the port influence is dominant. Water brings out a bit of vanilla and malt, but the port influence doesn't go down by much.

Finish: Even the finish is sweet, though the oak influence is a bit stronger here. Quite some spice - cinnamon, saffron, nutmeg, I think. But port and oak is the dominant taste here. The oak turns rather dry on wood tannins.

Overall: Hmm. Pretty decent, though, as noted before, I don't think I can finish 1 litre of this. It's nice and certainly has a very well-defined identity, and slots in well in Glenmorangie's range of finished whiskies. Pretty good if you want a port-finished whisky, but maybe not if you don't like whiskies sweet. It's got more character than the Glenmorangie Quarter Century, I feel. Not as polished, but I like my whiskies with more character.

Regions of Scotland Part 2 (and I have made a terrible mistake)

On to Islay and the Lowlands next!

Caol Ila 2006/2015 "Whisky of the Year" (abv. 52.9, for the Auld Alliance)

This one is a bit of a joke made by the guys at the Auld Alliance, targeted at how some whisky competitions award prizes to whiskies based on very narrow categories. In this case, the Auld Alliance awarded this "Whisky of the Year" in the category for Caol Ila 2006-2015, 52.9% for the Auld Alliance. Creative eh?

To side-track a little, this is what seems to be happening to how prizes are awarded. Create ever more specific categories, recognize whiskies for being the best in the world according to a very narrow definition, and let everyone raise their prices because they're "award-winning whiskies". It seems like prizes are given out to as many people as possible, instead of letting genuine, fair competition happen. Which, unfortunately, seems to be how some educators try to motivate their students. Unfortunately, when everyone is special in his own special way, the word "special" loses its meaning. But I digress.

Nose - This is very meaty, a real BBQ party. I think there's beef on the grill, as well as some smoked ham. The peat is very much in the forefront, though it's smoky as well. Definitely not a "light" Islay, this Caol Ila. The age and abv tells too, as the alcohol and brightness of the aromas testify. Behind the peat and smoke is a solid layer of citrus fruits - lemon, grapefruit. And then further behind that, a nice grassy profile to hold the nose together. Spicy too! Just a light touch of vanilla, but maybe I'm imagining things. This is well layered and complex, especially after accounting for its age.

Palate - peat and smoke is rather big on entry, but that is quickly taken over by big sour notes. Lemons, I think. Freshly cut and bursting with lemony flavours. Spicy in a up-your-nose way. So that'll make it wasabi? Freshly ground wasabi at that - green, grassy undertones behind the spicy kick. A little..."dusty", like an old book. After a while, this gets a little malty, but overall, fairly well-balanced.

Finish - Mmm. Long...lemon/orange zest, slight bitterness, but overall, the sours keeps the whole finish fresh. Which is quite an accomplishment, considering the strength of the smoke.

Overall - DW and JE preferred the Kilchoman Machir Bay, which they only ordered because I was hard-selling it, and joking that we should buy a stake in the distillery. The Machir Bay has a cleaner taste profile - less...chalky/grassy/dusty, not as big on sours, sweeter, and a more precise smoke that's not as peaty as the Caol Ila. I personally like this Caol Ila just fine. The Machir Bay's better for sipping, but this is good too.

Lastly, the Lowlander!

(Ok, major mistake. Dalwhinnie is, of course, not a lowlander, but a highlander. So, with Campbeltown, Speyside and Lowlands missing, these 2 most recent posts can't be called "Regions of Scotland" anymore, can it? Meh. Shall not edit this so that I will always have evidence of shoddy work to spur myself on. It even says "highland" on the label, for crying out loud. Bad. Really bad.)

Dalwhinnie Distiller's Edition 1995/2011 (abv 43%)

We ordered this last. Unfortunately, it was the least liked of the 5 we had on the night.

Nose - Floral and perfumed. Oaky and some liquorice notes. Hmm. It's inoffensive, I guess.

Palate - The additional maturation period imparted a bit of leather. Hmm. Maybe a very small raisin. Fairly...sweet...hmm. What kind of sweetness though? Not honey...Maybe a liquorice-based sweet, which I am not exactly fond of. Fairly perfumed and lightly floral, but I won't say its pleasant enough to be in the same class as, say, Hibiki 12. 

Finish - Mmm. Sweet-ish, closer to oak than sherry. Maybe a touch of heather, but the finish is predominantly oak. Light leather, so it's a bit drying. Slightly porridgy too. 

Overall - Maybe I was tired by the time I got to this, but I'm not sure I like this.

Ok, I'm demotivated by my big boo-boo. Goodnight! Shall have to make up for it with a real Lowlander, and a Campbeltown next time.

Regions of Scotland (without Speyside)

DW, JE, EP, and I popped up at the Auld Alliance last night without any particular drink in mind that we wanted to try. As luck would have it, we ended up doing a mini-tour of Scotland, with Speyside the only missing region. But I think we've had several Speysides recently, including the reviewed Speyside party, so I think we're well covered on that front.

The representatives are:
Highlands: Blair Athol 12, from the Flora and Fauna series
Lowlands: Dalwhinnie Distiller's Edition 1995
Islands: Isle of Jura 16
Islay: Caol Ila 2006/2015 ("World Whisky of the Year", independent bottling by Auld Alliance)

There was also a Kilchoman Machir Bay at the table, but I've already reviewed that here with not substantial changes, except perhaps I now think that the Kilchoman's style is like a cross between Bruichladdich and Caol Ila.

This post will only cover the Blair Athol and Isle of Jura. The Dalwhinnie and Caol Ila will be in the next post!

And with that, on to business.

Highlands: Blair Athol 12 (Flora and Fauna, abv. 43%)

Nose: This one noses like a sherried whisky. There's sherry, leather, and a big nuttiness - almonds and walnuts, I believe. It is slightly salted, and strong malty notes rise up after the first whiff. Pretty pleasant nose, especially with the abundance of nuts.

Palate: Light oranges. Dusty orange peels. Some leather, sherry, and a bit bitter. There's also a bit of early grey tea in this, I think. That'll make it a little floral, a little perfumed, and tea tannins. Texture wise, this is a fat, oily mouth feel. After holding it for a while, this turns a little metallic and the minerals show up a little.

Finish: Fairly long. Some light smoke, a bit of cinnamon spice, more tea, and more tea tannins, though this would be closer to black tea than earl grey. So, more bitter, less perfume/floral notes.

Overall: Pretty nice and layered, but this won't feel like a highland malt to people who're more used to Glenmorangie.



Islands: Isle of Jura 16 (abv 40%)

This is a standard bottling of the Isle of Jura, aged for 16 years.

Nose: Salty, almost like oysters. Smokey as well, and a touch of what feels like grain whisky - vanilla, and a sweetness that is almost like honey/overripe apples, or, heaven forbid, rye. But it's just a touch, mind. Not overpowering. Whew.

Palate: Salty and slightly peated. There's vanilla and coconut on the palate. This was aged in a bourbon cask, I assume? Mm. Smoked fish? Fairly oily. Not as much as the Blair Athol, but still fairly oily and coats the mouth properly. Oak grows as time goes by.

Finish: Short, salt, pepper, and a strong oak presence.

Overall: Short notes, and probably my second least favourite of the night.