Laphroaig's Birthright

Fire Emblem is one of my all-time favourite games, whatever the platform. Last week, Fire Emblem: Fates came out on the 3DS. This comes 4 years after the previous installment, Fire Emblem: Awakening. Thus far, Fire Emblem: Fates has been amazing, and I'm only about 2/3 through with Birthright. Conquest is up next, then Revelations.

4 years was a pretty long wait for a game franchise, but the game play, complex story line, deeper characterization, and a much more balanced fighting mechanic makes it worth the wait.

Tonight, accompanying DW, me and our fight to save the earth is a whisky that has been many years in the making: the Laphroaig 32.

This Laphroaig was specially released to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the distillery, supposedly the most richly flavoured Scotch whisky, if you buy the marketing. I was skeptical about this claim when tasting the standard offerings from Laphroaig, but this particular bottling seems to live up to its lofty claim. Alas, good things are hard to come by, and there were a limited number of bottles of this 32 year old drink worldwide.

The scarcity of this whisky is largely due to it being cask strength. That's right, a 32 year old, cask strength whisky. Amazing. The alcohol level has dropped to 46.6% after the angels had their share over more than 3 decades, and what is left is the very best that Laphroaig has to offer. A worthy whisky to celebrate 200 years.



Laphroaig 32 (46.6% abv, cask strength, matured in an Oloroso hogshead)

Colour - Similar to the Balvenie 30, if not slightly lighter. That's surprising, because the Laphroaig spent its time in an Oloroso cask, which, from my experience, tends to give a deeper shade.

Nose - sherry, peat. Dark chocolate, and a little medicinal. A little salty, and the savouriness builds with time. After a while, it smells like a roasted meat, like the charred bits of a nice, roasted charsiew. A bit of ash. DW says that this smells like a rich cigar. Neither of us smoke. You are free to doubt our credibility. Some spices, and the bottle's tasting notes says nutmeg. Some vanilla lingers on the glass after the whisky is finished. Maybe it needed more time to come out against the other big-hitting flavours.

Palate - a little sour on entry, like wine. Peat is obviously there, but very restrained. Nuts, and lots of dark chocolate. It's amazing that the dark chocolate manages to stand out against Laphroaig's strong peat. It's a little leathery as well, which transits nicely between the dark chocolate and the ashy peat/smoke. Holding it on the tongue, I found a trace of the sweetness of Oloroso. Very smooth. This one is sweet, smoke, sherry, chocolate, peat, and a bit of pepper and other spices rolled into one. Delectably balanced.

Finish - Leaves behind a little bitterness, like dark chocolate. A little peppery on the insides of the mouth. I thought I caught a bit of lemon grass. Rich oak and wood spice, which balances out the bitter dark chocolate finish.

Overall - this was amazing. Thanks DW!

If I had tasted this last week, it would have been a worthy contender for the best whisky I had over CNY. As it turns out, DW and I had a comparison of the Balvenie 30 and the Laphroaig 32. They displayed such differing characteristics, and the comparison of the two is a great (and very very pricey) way to show the differences between the distilleries. If I had tasted this last week, the CNY whisky challenge would have ended with a great bang. Ah well. Better late than never!

Hands-down the best I've ever tasted, but the age, price and limited edition release means that this one is competing in a totally different category of drinks from the other whiskies that I've reviewed thus far. Stuff like this doesn't even get entered in competitions; it's far too good and precious.

Does this count? CNY challenge update and final evaluation

In the end, there was insufficient time and energy to find that one last whisky to bring the CNY 15 day - 15 new whiskies challenge to a successful end. We are stuck on 14, without a final, proper tasting note to round it off. Pity. Would have been perfect to end off the challenge on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, which also happens to be my birthday, according to the Lunar calendar.

But perhaps there is a mystery whisky to the rescue...

At WT's home last Thursday, there was a flask of mystery whisky. Something that WT's father had put into a stainless steel flask more than a decade ago. No one remembers what it is anymore...Dare I hazard a guess??

Colour - Light gold.

Nose - When the flask was first opened, there was a burst of something that smelt like sherry. That's 10 years of alcohol fumes bursting out at one go. Intense. Subsequently, the whisky could not be smelt anymore. After pouring it out, it surprised me. No sherry at all! Instead, honey and vanilla. This must be a blend, right?

Palate - Honey, vanilla. Not much wood, and just a little bit of alcohol. Fairly smooth, but taste-wise, a little flat and unexciting. Pleasant, for sure. Unfortunately, the number of years spent in the flask has imparted the whisky with a bit of a metallic edge.

Finish - Nothing much. A tiny bit of spice, a bit of vanilla, and it disappears.

My guess is that this is a Chivas. Perhaps a Chivas 12 from more than a decade ago. No one remembers, and we'll probably never find out...But the most important question is, does this count? Have we finished the CNY 15 days - 15 new whiskies challenge?!?

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Just to recap, the 14 (+1) that we've tasted this CNY are:

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (Not so good)
Johnnie Walker Blue King George V (Nice but not worth the price)
Taketsuru 21 years (Great, if obtainable at a reasonable price)
Auchentoshan Three Wood (Pretty decent and interesting!)
Balvenie 30 years (Wonderful)
Glenfiddich 18 (Smooth, but a little plain)
Hibiki 17 (Great, though prices are shooting up)
Macallan 18 (Good sherried whisky)
Macallan Estate Reserve (Good, but feels like the wood is a bit out of balance)
Santis Edition Santis (Good, easy drinking, but not easily available)
Ardbeg 10 (Good entry level Ardbeg)
Hibiki 12 (Smooth and nice. Prices are increasing too)
Penderyn Aur Cymru Madeira (Mm. Have lots of water at hand)
Yamazaki 12 (Good! But hard to find at a good price)
+
(Mystery Whisky)

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Best whisky: Balvenie 30
No surprises here, as the oldest, most expensive one also happens to be the best one. The Taketsuru 21 is a close second, at less than half the price.

Best value-for-money: Santis Malt, Edition Santis
Good, pleasant drink at an affordable price (if you can find it)

And that's a wrap! Many thanks to the friends who shared their whiskies, and contributing to this little tasting challenge! A pity that we couldn't do the last one properly. Ah well. There's always next year!

CNY goodies part 4 - "World" whisky tasting

Our battle against time continues. 15 whiskies in 15 days. Can it be done?? Today is Day 13. No time to lose if the challenge is to succeed.

A bunch of stuff in today's bag of tasting notes - Hibiki 12, Ardbeg 10, Penderyn Aur Cymru Madeira, and Yamazaki 12. 

Hibiki 12 - This one has been discontinued, and prices have skyrocketed since the discontinuation was announced. Used to be one of the staples of the Suntory line of whiskies. A nice, amber colour.

Nose - Fruity. A little plum, somewhat like the Hibiki Harmony Master's Select. But this one is more complex. There's some sweet oak, and caramel. A little sherry? Some sweet red fruit in any case. Vanilla, and a little floral. Pleasant, well-balanced.

Palate - sweet. Suggestions of a little nut, like almonds. Oak. Sweet plum. Vanilla, and some spices. This one is really more complex and better than the Master's Select, in my opinion. Or maybe I just haven't given the Master's Select a fair hearing.

Finish - A little short. Some tannin, and thus, a little drying. Spices and wood.

A good, balanced dram. Japanese craft evidently on display.

Ardbeg 10 - Ardbeg is the quintessential peat monster. This tasting was contributed by PY, who is definitely a guy, despite having a name that often gets mistaken for being feminine.

Nose - ash and meat. Like a barbecue. Then some charcoal smoke. Exactly like a barbecue then...oddly, some vanilla as well. Or something sweet.

Palate - Immediately a bit drying. Herbal/medicinal, ashy, and more charcoal smoke. Sweet as well. Spicy on the way down. There's a little alcohol burn in this one. On second sipping, an odd taste. Reminded me of the brine in canned tuna. PY gives me an incredulous "huh? canned tuna??" Guess it's just me then.

Finish - spicy, and some drying tea tannins. Fiery, like swallowing warm coals. Leaves a little sweetness at the back of the throat.

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Second session consisted of the following 4 drinks. With me tonight was JP, who gave the taster bottle of Yamazaki 12. He got to try the Kavalan Solist Sherry and the Edition Santis. I won't be writing new notes on those, but just noting some of his remarks that differed from mine...

First up was the Penderyn Aur Cymru Madeira (46% abv). This one came courtesy of CP, who also helped me to get the Santis. Thank you!

Colour - straw

Nose - Leathery. Tanned leather. A little grain, and a little yeast, with that bit of sour scent that yeast has. Doesn't smell very promising, but we'll see.

Palate - a little sour. Then it becomes bitter. According to JP, this is the bitter that comes at the back of traditional Chinese medicine. Licorice, then rubber, tar. A little peppery. JP and I were making funny, grimacing faces at one another. Maybe some people like this profile of flavours, but we don't.

Finish - rubber and licorice. Burns a little.

Overall - mm. As the first Welsh whisky that I've ever come across, it was worth a try. Like an adventure in a YOLO sort of way. But I don't think I'll be rushing to get a full bottle anytime soon.

Yamazaki 12 - Less famous than it's 18 year old brother, but prices are also going up.

Nose - Sherry was the first to hit. A little bit of a citrus fruit. First word that came to JP was yuzu. Hmm. I thought it was something a little heavier than yuzu.  A bit of oak. Quite a lot of honey.

Palate - Sherry on entry. Rather sweet. A bit of spice and just a small whiff of smoke in the middlle. Vanilla backdrop. A lot of honey. This one is sweet.

Finish - a bit drying. Light smoke and spice. Like honeyed water with cinnamon.

On the whole, very nice. Not in the same class as the 18, but you can taste the progression. Some distilleries produce whiskies whereby the various ages are matured in very different ways, and thus taste very different. This one tastes just like a younger version of the 18. The 18 becomes richer, rounder, and more matured, but the basic is the same. Good quality and product control by the folks at Yamazaki.

JP's impression of the Santis and Kavalan: 

Santis - not really beer-like until the finish, as opposed to the beer I found upfront. He smelt more vanilla than I did, and some icing sugar. I can see why he found those notes, but perhaps that's not quite how I would describe them. On the whole, we agree that this is nice, pleasant, too dangerously easy to drink. JP says that he can almost taste the Alpine water that went into this whisky. JP also very versatile, being a good sipping dram as well as something to round off a more complex drinking session.

Kavalan - JP did not enjoy this much as I did, with the rubbery notes hitting him first. He found the rubber quite off-putting. Concluded that he wasn't much of a sherry bomb guy. Ah well.

So, 6 whiskies over 2 sessions that take us around the world. 1 Scotch, 2 Japanese, 1 Swiss, 1 Taiwanese, and 1 Welsh. That was fun!
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We are on 14 now...Getting really close...Will we succeed...? Or will I have to cheat...?!? Bring out an old tasting note? Write a new note on something that I already have a review for? Or what?

The clock is ticking.