Category Archives: Single Malt Whisky

Mortlach 16yo “Flora & Fauna” (43%, OB, L19T00187153, Circa 2002)

This saturday Het Genietschap had another gathering. This time at Jos’. Jos usually has one and the same theme: “lets enjoy any whisky”. This time, like last year, he choose a single distillery theme. Last year he choose Strathisla, after we found some nice Strathisla’s at Max Righi’s shop.

One of the other gems he found there, was a very old 20yo Sestante Mortlach, so the theme for this year soon became Mortlach. I have to admit, I really love a tasting with a single distillery theme, especially when a lot of bottles are brought in. Strange enough that was not the case with Strathisla, but with Mortlach we had 14 of them, and an extensive aftertasting with some other gems. (Laphroaig 10yo unblended bottled in the mid 70’s!).

So I brought two Mortlachs, this one being one of them. This is a Flora and Fauna bottling from ten years ago, and as was proven to me, there can be quite a difference between bottlings in this series. So it would be great to compare this to the most recent version of this. Without further ado:

Color: Orange

Nose: The nose explodes in the glass, and can be smelled from afar. Nice rich sherry, very balanced and warming. There is some coal in there, as is some asphalt, tar and some smoke. A small hint of mint. Slightly perfumy and powdery. Some added lemon peel freshness with vanilla. Not overly complex, but an instant hit.

Taste: Chewy sherry, sweet and very likable. Very smooth. Perfect balance. Small amount of woody bitterness to counterpart the sweetness, but the latter wins. This is a grown (wo)man’s lemonade. Dangerously easy drinkable. Inside the sweetness also some licorice, tar and sugared almonds can be found. The finish is the same and slowly dies away. Late in the finish there is, and dare I say this: pineapple. Very balanced and well made.

This is just a perfect Flora & Fauna bottling. Maybe just a tad too sweet, but that depends on your mood. This bottle is very nice, but at the moment I can’t vouch for more recent bottlings. When I have a chance to taste a more modern one, I’ll write a comment, so watch out for that in the future.

Points: 88

Teaninich 1983/2003 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice)

Teaninich isn’t amongst those superstars of Single Malt Whiskies around, but it has a fanatical following with certain enthusiasts. Well I’m one of them. Almost every time I taste a Teaninich, blind or not, this always tickles my fancy. I connect with it. It suits my palate. Dare we say: “For reasons not even science can wholly explain…”

Teaninich was founded in 1817. In 1970, yes a small jump in time, a whole new six still ‘distillery’ was built alongside the current one, consisting of four stills. The new one was called the A-side (The old stuff was therefore called the B-Side). They worked together as one distillery. In 1984 the old distillery was mothballed, and 15 years later, demolished.

Not a lot of officials around. A 10yo Flora & Fauna bottling, three and a half Rare Malts editions, one 17yo Manager’s Dram, and one 1996 Manager’s Choice. That’s it. Luckily there are a lot more independents, which brings us to our whisky of the day: A Gordon & MacPhail Teaninich from 1983, which can be from The A or B-side.

Color: Copper Gold.

Nose: Fresh, citrussy, and toffee. Vegetal, woody spiciness. Perfumy and hints of smoke and licorice. Great balance. The nose has body. I’m bonding with my Teaninich again.

Taste: Sweet, fruity, cherries and apricots. Nice body, luckily not reduced to death. Fantastic, that in 2003 it’s already 46% ABV and not less. It has wood, but without the sourness. Lots of esters. Great!

A long time ago I gave this 88 points. Not being a fan of ‘modern’ Connoisseurs Choice bottlings, since they could be all the same, and having the same color, and so on, but this one is great and deserves at least 88 points.

Points: 88

P.S. the picture is for the 2004 version. I tasted the 2003 version, but both look the same.

Laphroaig 30yo (43%, OB, Circa 2006)

Time for a nice old Laphroaig. The last one being so young, let’s do an oldie (but goldie).

Color: Copper

Nose: Sweet clay with seaweed. Old distinguished peat. Sourness from the oak. Gravy. Old wood. Bonfire and smoke. Grilled sausage. Cold bonfire remnants. (the day after). Distant freshness and sweetness.

Taste: Sweet, slightly warming. mouth-watering and chewy peat. Black and white powder, but not as salty. This has great balance. Late fruit (peach). Although there is peach on the palate it doesn’t have it on the nose. And last but not least, there is wood here, some added spice to complement the rest.

Laphroaig is just great. Just look at a part of their series and compare the 10yo at cask strength, the 15yo and the 30yo. Just beware the oxidation. Don’t keep this bottle open for too long. It will get weaker and ruin the balance, and that would be a shame…

Points: 90

Macduff 38yo 1967/2005 (50.8%, Jack Wiebers Whisky World, Old Train Line Collection, Sherry Cask #619, 204 bottles)

The Old Train Line series is probably the series with the most beautiful labels I know. The series is bottled by German bottler Jack Wieber based in Berlin.

Macduff itself is not thát old, just founded in 1962, with production starting just one year later. Macduff started out with only two stills. Sometimes a still was added, and today, Macduff has five. Since Martini was once an owner of Macduff, the malt is popular in Italy and the rest of southern Europe.

Color: Brown

Nose: Meaty and minty. Gravy with tar and old wood. Very perfumy too. It’s a meaty tea, that shifts a bit into coffee territory. Hard pressed powder candies. Very distinct, not to say unique. Also the wood plays a very unique role here. Mens cologne.

Taste: Minty wood. laurel licorice combined with the powder from the candies. Not sweet, but there is a lot of sourness from the oak. Mocha coffee with honeylike wood spice and black coal. Wow, this has a very heavy beerlike finish. After giving it some time, some black fruits emerge in the finish. Dry.

Try to imagine a Macduff with a lot of color from a sherry cask. Now try to imagine how it would smell and taste like. Do you have it? Well, this is nothing like that! This will surprise you. That’s nice. Still the balance isn’t quite there. And the finish is strange, soap, spice and a lot of beer, and rather short too. It’s definitively not a big sherry monster, but it does come across as a very old whisky. Dying to know what kind of Sherry this cask held before.

It does need a lot of time to open up, tastewise, for the nose the oxidations does nothing. Give it time and you’ll be rewarded.

Points: 88

Glenmorangie 30yo 1972/2004 (44.3%, OB, Oloroso Cask Finish, 4548 bottles)

Founded in 1843 by William Mathesen, but whisky was distilled on site as early as 1703 (or 1738). Glenmorangie is now known for their stills with very tall necks that ensure a very light and clean spirit that had to reach incredible heights. Glenmorangie are also known for their Dr. Bill Lumsden, a man who doesn’t fear innovation and experimentation with his grains and woods.

This particular bottling consists of whisky that aged from 1972 to 1989 in Bourbon Barrels and was finished from 1989 to 2004 in Oloroso Casks. We only don’t know what casks they were. Butts or Puncheons, American of European oak.

Color: Orange Gold.

Nose: Waxy and cherry liqueur and black fruits. Nice old whisky smell, old wood. The combination of casks worked quite well for the nose. Perfumy. Butter on toast. Bakery shop. Hints of mint. Fades into something plant like, sweet rhubarb with raisins. Great nose.

Taste: Wood and spice, with clay and chocolate. The taste of clean white sugar. Sourness from the oak. Tastes thin. cappuccino, mocha with cream. Toast from the cask in the finish, and again some light esters and sourness. Pastry, hint of tar and dry altogether. Red lemonade and almonds.

The whole is pretty balanced. It’s easy noticeable that this is from light spirit. The nose is great, and the taste is very nice. The only two things that let this down is its lightness. And a Glenmorangie should be light, that’s one of their pillars. Personally I like a bit of body to it, like yesterdays Glenkinchie which also has a higher proof. The second thing that lets this whisky down is it’s slightly unbalanced finish. It breaks down a bit.

Points: 86

P.S. This comes in a very nice wooden box.

Glenkinchie 21yo 1987/2009 (56.6%, Signatory Vintage, Hogshead #2837, 147 bottles)

Glenkinchie, a rarely seen Lowland distillery within the ranges of independent bottlers. Founded in 1837, Glenkinchie is foremost known for the closure of Rosebank. When Diageo set up their range of classic malts they chose Glenkinchie over Rosebank. As you might know, Rosebank is known to have a huge following, so this decision wasn’t welcomed at all. Now Rosebank is no more, we’ll have to see if this Glenkinchie is worth your money. Instead of a regular Diageo bottling, let’s try an independent one.

Color: Gold

Nose: From a distance it already smells smoky. Close by, its not that smoky and the smoke dissipates very quickly. Syrupy, estery and announces a big bold body. Pineapple on syrup. Ever so slight hints of oak, toast, salty lemongrass and mocha. Very elegant and balanced. Nice.

Taste: Sweet and big bodied Lowlander. Again some smoke and a nice sourness from the wood that’s nicely counterparted by the initial sweetness. This also has some pepper and licorice. Yet it all balances out in a nice meaty, coffee like and dry finish. Also lightly roasted nuts and caramel in the finish.

To be frank, I’m a bit surprised by this Glenkinchie. I didn’t expect this to be so…ehhh good. I expected this much lighter, but its bold and the coffee and pepper are a great addition to what was already very nice. Yes there is some coffee in the middle part and in the finish and I read somewhere that the regular 12yo does well with coffee, worth to check this out. Brilliant Glenkinchie.

Points: 88

Springbank 10yo ‘100 Proof’ (57%, OB, Circa 2004)

Springbank, the strongest survivor of Campbeltown, and one of the few family owned distilleries. Once a great center for whisky, and once a region of its own, it still is, but barely. The people behind Springbank do their utmost best to let Campbeltown survive as a region. Glen Scotia is intermittently operated by the crew of Springbank, and of course Springbank themselves are responsible for Longrow, Hazelburn and Kilkerran (Glengyle Distillery). All names from a distant Campbeltown past. Founded in 1828 by the Reid family, who were married into the Mitchells. In 1837 the Mitchell’s bought the distillery. In 1897 J. & A. Mitchell Company Ltd. is founded, the company that is still on the label today. Since 1969 J. & A. Mitchell is also owner of Cadenhead’s. Between 1979 and 1987, Springbank was closed. And since 1989, production is again as it should be. Almost nobody malts themselves these days, but Springbank take the remarkable step to reopen the maltings in 1992. Springbank is a cult malt has a great following, and is by far the most popular malt on Wall Street.

Color: Gold.

Nose: Strong, buttery, oily. Sparkling lemon curd. Clean and a bit closed at first. Grassy and smells of wet plants and earth. Cow dung in wet grass, and some “young” peat. Coastal fresh, malty and spicy, but not from wood. It has hints of popcorn and milk chocolate. Very rural, gritty and bold.

Taste: Sweet like toffee. Creamy and spicy, this time definitively from wood, and seems a bit winey, although no wine casks, even sherry, were used. It is supposed to be all Bourbon. Mocha, chocolate and peanuts. Yes it’s “Snickers” in a bottle. Slightly unbalanced by the soury woody, and peaty, finish. The finish also leaves a minty sensation on the tongue. Sweet mint as in “After Eight”.

Long live Springbank, very nice and drinkable, with a fine full body. This version is quite peaty and oily, when you think of it. Now I’m curious how a more recent bottle would taste like…

Points: 86

Bowmore 37yo 1968/2006 (43.4%, OB, Bourbon, 708 bottles)

It’s Islay time! oops, maybe that was from Ardbeg. Well Bowmore is also from Islay and both are in the same time-zone. I see it’s the first Bowmore here, so I choose a potentially good one. Obviously not from a single cask, since no Bourbon Cask (Barrel or Hogshead) can yield 708 bottles.

 

Color: Full Gold.

Nose: Wow, wow, wait for it, gathering words for this…wow. Clay, noble peat. Thick, unbelievable great nose, but you’ve guessed that already. it’s from Bourbon casks, but this has so much great red fruit in it. Strawberries, blackberries, red currant hard candies. Butterscotch. Distant waves breaking on the beach in the night. Bonfire that has almost gone out. I can’t even remember a Whisky that smelled as good as this. (Well, that’s not completely true). I sincerely hope this will taste as good as this and I will even consider its price to be fair. This is a 100 points nose, this smells perfect!

Taste: Fruity, peat merged with sea clay and the body’s actually a bit thin. All those fruits from the nose are there again. Kippers and tar, remember this is not a big body, so this is all very elegantly proportioned. There is some wood in there, and that gives the body a slightly spicy toasty, Bourbony edge, but in no way does it play even a big role. It’s there to underline the rest, it stands in service. The finish is great though.

Still available for around £999.00

Points: 93

Thanks Serge for handing me this sample.

Clynelish 11yo 1994/2005 (58.9%, The Single Malts of Scotland, Sherry Butt #4011, 367 bottles)

Clynelish is a very popular dram. There are several reasons why. First of all it’s a sister of Brora, which maybe the best malt of all. Second. Clynelish has a unique waxy personality and it’s spirit is always of high quality. It’s very hard to find one that is not up to par.

Color: Full Gold, almost Orange.

Nose: Clean. Paper and wood. Spice and white pepper. Oranges with almonds and toffee. Leafy, waxy and coastal fresh with some added sherry mustiness. Later on some vanilla ice cream, cardboard and dust. It stays spicy throughout. Perfumy and a beautiful balance.

Taste: Spicy and definitively from a sherry cask. Wood, beer and spice again. Sweet and tarry. Shortbread and gingerlike. Turkish delight and has some traits of a Riesling wine. Full bodied. Slight sour wood and licorice on the finish.

I think it’s a bit of a shame this got bottled so soon. It’s good now, but what would this have been when it wood be several years older. Nothing here suggests its over the top or even near the full potential it could have reached. Nice Clynelish, always worth checking out.

Points: 86

Glengoyne 12yo ‘100 Proof’ (57.2%, OB, American Oak, Circa 2007)

There’s also ‘Cask Strength’ on the label, but wouldn’t that be really convenient that it’s precisely 100 Proof. What luck! And American Oak, what is it, a barrel, a hogshead, an American white oak butt or puncheon even? Just a little bit too much nonsense on the label.

Glengoyne then. Glengoyne got my interest because they were one of the first to specifically state, ‘unpeated malt’ on their labels. Also, I like the looks of the bottle ánd for still using Golden Promise amongst other barley’s of course. Golden Promise is somewhat of the holy grail of grains, because it is supposed to be very flavoursome. But the yield is not so good, compared to the favorites of today (which make all whiskies taste the same, to come out bluntly). So lets see if this one, and remember this is a fairly priced bottle, makes a golden promise.

Color: Very full gold, almost orange.

Nose: Malty and chocolaty, absolutely high-proof. Also quite a musty smell, heavy on yeast. Meaty even. The American Oak statement leads me to believe this is from Bourbon Casks, but the musty smell is very resemblant of Sherry and or First Fill Bourbon. Raisins. Very un-clean for a Glengoyne (which almost sounds like a complement doesn’t it?). Spicy and quite a good balance. This could well be a bang-for-your-buck type of malt.

Taste: Toasted wood, but still a lot of yeast. Can’t shake the Sherry here. High proof, so it makes an impression. Although this has bold flavours, the quality of the spirit shines through. Very Ahorn syrupy sweet, and corn sweetness, that’s totally different from the Ahorn. It almost tastes like a wheater! This could be a Weller, with some sherry musty and creamy yeastyness. It’s a picture with thick broad strokes. It is thick.

I know that Glengoyne is the perfect spirit to mature in refill casks. This is the way they make their casks “refill” for the next batch. But isn’t this first fill Glengoyne great? Simple, and with a style of its own. Very un-typical for Glengoyne, but still very nice. Maybe a bit too sweet? This I would drink playing cards. Lovely.

Points: 86