Caol Ila 16yo 1977/1993 (58.6%, Cadenhead)

Almost a month ago I reviewed one of those beautiful tall green glass Cadenheads bottles. A Dufftown to be precise. But there were more of those on these pages. I remember a Tormore and a Pulteney. In the dungeons I found another one of those! So today it is time to do another one from the same series. I guess I have a soft spot for them. This time a Caol Ila from 1977 that they already decided to bottle in 1993.

Color: Gold

Nose: Ahhhh, nice creamy peat. Very vegetal and coastal and slightly fishy. Salty fish. It is sea spray in heavy winds. Very clean and warming. Not very animalesk as they (and I) tend to say. It does have a lot of peat but still I wouldn’t say that it is in your face peat. Tar, not so much, but I do get some rubber. Some cold dry smoked tea leaves (Lapsang Souchong). Lots of smoke actually and extremely nice salty driftwood that finishes off in toned down Coleman’s mustard powder. Classic Islay.

Taste: Very smoky attack and half sweet (perfect sweetness). Meaty, roasted pork maybe. It comes across as powdery and slightly soapy. Fruity, hints of peach and banana. Here the sweetness seems to me to be a little wild, animalesk. The taste is very typical for a Caol Ila. This was recognizable blind. This has a nice full body with a perfect sweetness (slightly acidic) that matches the toned down peat a lot, combined with the smoke…a winner. Macaroons (made with almonds) and a slightly bitter finish (from the wood) and overall a tad too simple for a score into the 90’s.

Well if you like your Islay Whisky smoky, that this is for you. It may look like something different but actually this is very smoky, very very smoky. The smoke is able to push the peat to the background. Last piece of advice, give it some time to breathe…

Points: 88

Aberlour 1988 “Distillers Selection” (40%, OB, for Spain, Circa 2002)

A few days ago my whisky club had a tasting of Aberlours. Quite a unique one to boot since these were almost all exclusively official bottlings. We only had one independent Aberlour. It was from a Bourbon Cask and did show the distillery profile for a while, but that was quickly gone. We had a few out of the standard range and a few from the standard ranges from the past. A few bottles stood out. We liked one old 12yo double cask matured for its high dark Oloroso Sherry content (and costing next to nothing). An old 21yo from 2000 was very good and this odd one out. The 1988 Distillers Selection, that was released exclusively in Spain. After this one 1988 came only one other Distillers Selection, the 1989. Again for Spain only. For Aberlour this is quite special. It is said that instead of the usual Oloroso, for this bottling Fino and/or Manzanilla is used!

Color: Full Gold

Nose: Wood, caramel and spirity. Perfumed hay and a little bit of rot. Rotting leaves. It’s grassy and somewhat sherried. Malty with murky water. Very malty actually. Earwax and cream. Still the wood plays also a big part in the profile of the nose. Although the whole is pretty raw and dirty, there are some clean spots to it too. It’s a bit like the different markers come in and go out of the profile. Just like a blinking traffic light. Quite an experience. This definitely has to breathe for a while.

Taste: Thick and wood spice. Malty and sweet. Quite creamy at first, but it suffers a bit here of the low ABV of 40% (not much though). A whisky not to be taken moderately. Big sips are the way to go here. Some bread and mocha in the aftertaste, also a slightly bitter and sour woody note. The longer gone the more woody and bitter. When your palate is a bit tired (late in the day and evening), the wood isn’t such a big problem anymore, and the whole gets more toffee sweet.

As said above, we had this amongst a lot of other Aberlour official bottlings and it did stand out a bit. It’s not the usual Aberlour. It does seem to be more malty and does have some more wood. I’m very curious what’s the story behind this version. Still, I enjoyed it. And considering the Original price a very good bang for your buck, als with most official Aberlours actually.

The 10yo is an entry-level, hotel bar kind of Whisky. If you skip this and pick any other one from the range, like the 10yo Sherry version, you’ll have a good malt at almost no cost. Very interesting distillery with interesting bottles and marketing to match.

Points: 84

Thanks to Jose Juan for finding me this bottle. Thanks also go out to Heinrich and Ralf for the info!

By the way, here is Heinrich’s very nice site about Aberlour.

Tomatin 34yo 1976/2011 (46%, Mo Òr, Sherry Butt #4, 954 bottles, 500 ml)

I had a craving for a nice fruit bomb, so I pulled this Tomatin by indie bottlers Mo Òr out of its hidingplace. As many of you might know. 1976 is a pretty famous year for Tomatin. Lots of (Independent) bottlings from this year are considered amongst the best around. Bottles from this year by The Whisky Agency or by Duncan Taylor fetch amazing prices when sold at auctions. Just not a lot of Tomatin 1976 around at shops anymore…

Color: Copper Gold.

Nose: Yeah! is the first word that comes to mind, nosing this. Waxy and fruity, but also a nice kind of old dustiness. Chocolate, mocha and old laid back Sherry, more of the Fino kind if you ask me. Very structured and refined. Probably a refill cask. A little bit creamy. Distinguished, but not the famous 70’s (exotic) fruits in this, like we know from the 30yo. Very elegant wood, combined with an acidic kind of smell. Mocha again and a little hint of vanilla.

Taste: Nice peppery and woody attack at first and then yes, a mouth coating layer of tropical fruit cocktail, that pushes everything aside for a while. The pepper stays, but the wood vanishes for a moment, but returns. Great effect! Papaya, pineapple and passionfruit. Maybe some mango (maybe not). What a nice cloying finish of fruits, wood, paper and chocolate. The pepper is gone by now, but an added note of Gewürztraminer finishes the whole off. Nice.

This is again a perfect example of how great Tomatin’s from 1976 are. It may not be the most over-complex distillate around, but the way the fruits shines through is truly amazing. This is sooo nice. I love this!

Points: 91

Thanks go out to Henk for the Sample.

Cragganmore 18yo 1993/2011 (55.3%, Duncan Taylor, Sherry Cask #1385, 494 bottles)

Cragganmore is next. This one was cracked open on the last day of 2012. First of all some funny business about this one. When we opened it late at night (with artificial light) it seemed red, just like a lemonade. Second it smelled like a lemonade too, very sour. It started out as a Bourbon smell. The taste was even worse, ultimate sourness. Erik, it’s owner was already on his way to pour this one into the sink. I didn’t like it either that evening. Luckily I was able to save it and take it home with me. Today I have the chance to give this another go. First of all, I can look at this by daylight and I can’t see the red lemonade anymore. It has this orange brown color most Bourbons have.

Color: Orange Brown.

Nose: Lots of wood and some acetone. Perfumy varnished wood and spicy. Seems dry. Dark chocolate and toffee. The whole should smell like a Sherry bomb, but actually this smells like a Rye Whiskey. As much as I didn’t like this last year, it’s great now. What have I done then to ruin my palate that much? After some airing, the sherry notes trickle through, as do the vanilla and fresh, somewhat soapy notes. It’s pretty good! Wow, what an experience.

Taste: Thick, sweet Sherry and wood. Dark oaky chocolate. Its great. It’s the wood without the bitterness and it’s not overly dry. Just right. Utter balance. What nice stuff. Old fatty smoke, coal fire. Near the end, and  into the slightly bitter and woody finish, some small hints of red and black fruits, accompany the coal and maybe a hint of a well-known brown soft-drink to make this a special dram.

Well, that’s why on the last day of the year I do not bring my little black note-book with me. Strange things can happen, and now I have the proof to show it. This Cragganmore is excellent Whisky, or Whiskey, or Rhum or Bourbon…no doubt about it? Thumbs up!

Points: 90

Thanx Erik for the sample!

Strathisla 30yo (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, Pinerolo Torino, 75 cl, Circa 1980)

Happy new year! I wish all my readers a great year full of fulfillment, health and great drams. please don’t settle for mediocrity. Try to broaden your horizons for true beauty that can be put in your mouth, but do it in moderation, we don’t want to create modern drunks.

Well what would be a better start, than with an old Strathisla! In the past I tried some nice old Gordon & MacPhail Strathisla’s from this series. The review for the 25yo can be found here, but together with this 25yo I tried the 21yo and that was similarly spectacular. Mind you these are the old 80’s bottlings for the italian market, and whiskies with these labels were issued for a couple of decades, so every batch will differ (massively). The 21yo and the 25yo were quite dark, and hopefully not colored, and being from the early eighties, the distillate is early sixties or maybe even late fifties.

On the menu this time is the 30yo, which is certainly a fifties distillate (glass code SC999). Gordon & MacPhail have some vintage fifties bottlings and they all are lighter in color than the bottlings with distillate from the sixties, as is this one. There is a later version with glass code 4699 (75cl), that probably contains distillate from the early sixties again, since that one is definitely darker than the version reviewed here.

Color: Golden Honey.

Nose: Steam and a hint of coal. Definitively old style whisky. Yes just nosing it briefly already gives me goose bumps. Shure, no thick cloying first fill Oloroso Sherry here, but something that is just as good, just more elegant and stylish. It’s like comparing James Bond to Usain Bolt. Honey sweet combined with steam. Old apple compote with grandma’s toffee. Together with the steam there is a hint of smoke and a little bit of lemon curd. Thick and fresh at the same time. Wow.

Taste: The taste isn’t as thick as the nose suggested, nor is it as sweet as I expected, and the first sip is quickly gone. A short attack of very elegant wood. It’s wood as wood is supposed to be. Old books. Hardly oaky and hardly bitter. Waxy and some old candied yellow fruits, apricots, but not as heavy and thick as Caperdonich 72’s. Short finish. The 21yo and the 25yo performed better in that respect. Treat this elderly Whisky with respect, but be bold and take bigger gulps. The whisky itself, maybe is a tad fragile and subdued, but hey, the stuff was made some 55 years ago and along the way was reduced to a mere 40%, so give it a break will you?

Having tasted the 21yo and the 25yo earlier, as several other sixties versions too, this one (being lighter, and less heavy sherried), was actually a little disappointing. The disappointment however, lasted for 20 minutes at the most. I learned to look at this Strathisla differently, being a lighter fifties version, and I have to say that the second glass already showed me some heaven again that is so abundant in the 21yo and the 25yo versions. Wow again, but definitely different from its brothers or sisters from this series.

Points: 91

Heim Riesling Grand Cru Praelatenberg 2006

Christmas time is here again, and I needed a decent bottle of wine for Christmas dinner as a companion to sauerkraut and fish. I do like Alsace, so this time I pulled out a Grand Cru Riesling from Praelatenberg. Praelatenberg is one of 51 Alsatian Grand Crus, that got this status in the big expansion of 17 December 1992. It is located between Kintzheim and Orschwiller, and is the most southerly of the Grand Cru sites of the Bas-Rhin.

PraelatenbergAbove Praeatenberg towers the Koenigsbourg castle, built in the 12th century. The altitude of Praelatenberg slopes ranges from 250 to 350 metres and has an east-south-east orientation with a size of 18.7 Ha. The granite bedrock that underlies all Alsace vineyards is very close to the surface. The soil is heavy, covered with loose schist, and is rich with silicium. Dotted with stones rich with iron, quartz and other minerals. This helps the warming of the ground and lets water through easily.

Heim is now owned by Bestheim, a cooperation that was founded in 2000 by the merger of two smaller cooperations from the villages of Bennwihr & Westhalten, together with the house of Heim.

Color: Straw Yellow.

Nose: Very clean and citrussy. Lemon. Through the freshness and the acidity there is another layer, that at first seems sweet, but also has a creamy peachy element to it. A sort of light non-fat whipped cream of lemon and peach. Very nice. Sweet as in coffee-caramel sweets we know over here as Haagsche Hopjes. Also a slightly meaty sensation.

Taste: It starts with a nice fresh and not overly acidic lemon and chalk. Do you know those little vitamin C pills by Roter? Well, that too. Again a tiny hint of peach. Really subdued and elegant. The finish comes quick and is soon gone, what really is a shame. Always there, is that little bit of acidity that makes your mouth water, and lest not forget that added creaminess. Not very complex.

The taste maybe a bit too simple, in the nose maybe a little bit too. Still it’s a nice wine. It does have a nice balance, but overall it could have done with some added depth and complexity. Easy to drink, and should hold well when aged. ABV is 12%.

Points: 82

Picture is for the Riesling Reserve. Our Grand Cru looks similar (brown glass).

Säntis Malt Säntis Edition (40%, OB, Old Oak Beer Casks)

Well we all know the Scots have a lot of success with Whisky. Just like the Irish, the Americans, the Canadians and the Japanese. Today a lot more countries try to figure out how to make a good Single Malt. As far as I know, Switzerland already has 5 reasonable distilleries, or maybe even more. This Säntis Malt comes from the Locher Brewery from Appenzell. Locher has a long history in brewing beer and distilling spirits. It’s in the family already for five generations. Locher started with its malt in 1999, before that it was illegal to distill grain spirits in Switzerland.

Säntis Malt Edition SäntisQuite hard to figure out how to call this malt. On the label is stated: Säntis Malt, Swiss Highlander, Appenzeller Single Malt, Matured in Old Oak Beer Casks. On their website, this is called the Säntis Edition.

Color: Full Gold.

Nose: Malty and sweet. Very appetizing actually. Very fresh and clean. No off notes. A small hint of minty wood. A room that was painted a week before. Something fruity, maybe apples? Quite young. Hay and caramelized toast. It was aged in old beer barrels. In the nose there is hardly any wood, and certainly no beer, so I gather the casks don’t do a lot for the nose, so it’s all the aged spirit. Not bad!

Taste: Very mellow. Apple sauce. Syrupy sweet. Short attack from the wood, a sort of liquorice note, but vanishes very quickly. Very easy drinkable and again no off notes. Very short finish. The whole is too simple and too mild.

The nose was quite up to par, so I expected something with more oomph and complexity. Still I didn’t expect much from this, but it’s not all bad, not bad at all. It’s quite reasonable actually. A more aged spirit in a more active cask and at higher strength, has a potential to become a very good malt. Well worth to check out the rest of the range. Especially the distillery only Cask 1130 (Pinot Noir) at 64% ABV (less than 20 left).

Points: 70

Thanks go out to Erik for this sample.

Dufftown 17yo 1979/1997 (58%, Cadenhead, Sherrywood)

Belgium’s own, Bert B. came into the Cadenhead’s shop in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), with a tale of buying the ‘Winkeldochters’ in an old liquor store in a long forgotten town, near the coast. Howling wind and rolling bushes through the streets. Winkeldochters translates into shop’s daughters. It’s a great Flemish word for those items that are around for a long time in a shop which in fact never get sold.

Well one of these bottles he bought was this Dufftown from Cadenheads. He opened it in the shop and we tried this. He didn’t like it then and exchanged it with Andries (The Cadenhead’s Shop owner) for a wedge of cheese, a cup of coffee and a wooden clothes pin. Andries was kind enough to pour me a nice sample of this (100ml) to take home with me. Cleaning out the closet, I stumbled across this sample, so here it is…

Color: On the edge between copper gold and copper brown.

Nose: Very musty Sherry. Boiling vegetables with great spices like nutmeg immersed in the nicest oak. This is no plan oak you get on the nose, but this has the finest oak smell I’ve come across in a long time. Tarred toffee and a lot of dust. Dry with liquorice. Sawdust and gravy. The nose is actually pretty fabulous!

Taste: Thick musty Sherry. Tarry and again quite a bit of wood, but very nice. Lots of red and black berries followed by a nutty flavor. Very nice warming and very fruity finish with some stale toffee and quite a lit of tar, with a little complement of bitterness. Oxidation did wonders for this Whisky. Let it breathe. Wow.

First time around I scored this a measly 87 points, but that was from the freshly opened bottle. This time around, where the whisky was allowed to breathe, it definitely a lot better. I’ll have to revise my score…

Points: 92

Bert, aka Mr. BenRiach is also the man behind Asta Morris. Probably no coincidence Asta Morris never bottled a Dufftown. Bad call though, Bert, to leave this behind, but thanks a million bro! Thanks also to Andries for providing me with such a large sample. I will enjoy finishing this. Cheers!

Glen Moray 13yo 1996/2009 (43%, Ian MacLeod, Dun Bheagan, Sauternes Barrel Finish, Cask #91981/91984, 1419 bottles)

Second Dun Bhaegan on these pages, after the Brora 1981. But the first Glen Moray. For a while Glen Moray was owned by the people behind Glenmorangie, you know the distillery with the long-necked stills and the 16 men of Tain? In that period Glenmorangie saw the shortage is good casks and started to experiment a lot with wine-finishes. The ones they did not dare to use, they bestowed onto Glen Moray. So there are quite a lot of official Wine finishes by Glen Moray themselves. Now Ian MacLeod decided to add their wine finish of their own, or maybe bought it straight from the distillery.

Color: Light Gold.

Nose: Malty and sweet. Vanilla and quite spirity. A slightly winy smell comes in, along with some glue, cardboard and sawdust. Toffee adds to the vanilla. Gypsum. I cannot say this is very balanced. The longer you keep this the more is smells of a combination of solvents. Wait, now some plants come into the mix, just hard to say which ones. Given even some more time, the nose keeps developing. I like that in a malt, just the things you smell aren’t so special in this one. Clean wood and lavas now, and an overpowering kind of toffee.

Taste: Wood, paper, cardboard, but mostly wood. Spicy wood with some detached sweetness. (so not very balanced again). Quite hard and a bit bitter. Urine? After this straight into a finish of almost stale beer, cream and wood again. Sour.

Very simple, not a lot going on, and what is going on is not great for a whisky. It would have a lot of character if it were a Wodka. Still this very nice Wodka scores into the seventies. In a few words: Bitter-sweet wood toffee.

Points: 76

Fontanafredda Torremora Langhe Dolcetto 2006

Langhe is a hilly area to the south-east of the Tanaro river in the Cuneo province in Piedmont, northern Italy. The black grapes used for this wine is the Dolcetto grape that is widely used in this region, where wineries favour Nebbiolo or Barbera. These wines need a long time ripening. Dolcetto on the other hand is one that doesn’t require a long time ageing, two years will suffice.

Fontanafredda was founded in 1878. The total size of the domain 250 ha. which is spread over several areas located in the villages Serralunga d’Alba, Barolo and Diano d’Alba at a height of 200 to 400 metres. Not all wines are made with grapes from their own vineyards. Fontanafredda also buy grapes from other wine makers. For generations, it cooperates with some 500 smaller wine makers in Piedmont. The origin and the quality of these bought grapes is strictly monitored. The Torremora tasted here has an ABV of 13%.

Color: Dark ruby-red.

Nose: Meaty, mouldy, fresh plum and warm plum confiture. Boiling potatoes and wet earth. A hint of glue and something fishy. Bicycle inner tube tyre. This all may seem strange but I can assure you, it is very nice.

Taste: Fruity, but not super fruity and light in a sence that it doesn’t have a lot of tannins, enough for an easy wine. Cherries and prunes with a slight bitter edge. Just the right amount of acidity. It finishes a little bit bitter, nutty and dry. Almonds, or maybe better, the skins that you can find in walnuts.

Based on the nose and the color I expected a more heavy wine (in taste), but it’s not. It’s quite young too. I aged this a little longer than was advised (three years extra), but this didn’t do the wine no harm. On the other hand, it didn’t help the wine forward either. Still it has a great balance. The strange composition of the palate fortunately goes great together. Easy drinkable and very nice. It has a dry or woody edge to it and it has some tannins. Great with lots of typical (not to heavy) Italian foods. I wouldn’t match this up with meat though, for this it is too light. Obviously spaghetti and pizza will do quite nicely. Not overly complex and very agreeable. Nice.

Points: 84