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.