Short Stories: Navaherreros Blanco De Bernabeleva 2008

Since it seems I’m starting to review almost everything I put in my mouth, why not one little piece about a wine I enjoyed yesterday.  This one accompanied a nice and light fish dinner and boy did this go well with that.

This white wine is made from Albillo grapes combined with some Malvisia and Garnacha Blanca and is married in oak barrels.

Nice color, if it were whisky I would say this has the color of well…white wine. Nice straw yellow, almost looks sparkly. I started to drink this a bit too cold, but even then it was very nice. You could almost drink this as lemonade when properly chilled (ABV is 14.5%). When it got to it’s proper temperature, wow. Not overly complex, but such great balance. Great summer wine which starts with yellow, light fruits with some flowery notes in there too. later on it deepens with some spicy and woody notes, which makes for a fine balance and a acidity I know from wines from Alsace. Recommended!

I have another bottle of this, so I’ll probably add something to the review of this “a bit, technical wine”. What I mean by this I will explain next time around.

Glen Ord 25yo (58.3%, OB, 2004)

Now a Special Release from Diageo. After the Rare Malts releases, came three annual releases. The first was a 28yo in 2003. The 25yo was the second in 2004, and was followed by a 30yo in 2005. As I’m writing this I don’t have a clue what to score this. The bottle is almost half empty (or half full?) and I have no clue yet. I remember the night vividly when I opened the bottle at a tasting of ‘The Genietschap‘ and we all didn’t like it that much. It was very closed and hard to score. After a while I tried it again and really loved it! It was full bodied and so very full of life. Never a dull moment with this one. It’s not that closed now, but still is hard to score (or is it?). I’ve never encountered a whisky that was so dependent on the mood of the taster. Well let’s see how I’m feeling today.

Color: Full Gold with a hint of copper.

Nose: Farmy ánd elegant, wow, how’s that possible? Sherried and dusty. Hey, again a hint of lemon grass, but this is no Balvenie! Now some clay and cream. The clay merges with some old furniture wood, let’s say mahogany. Well there you have it: Clay (farmy), and a mahogany cabinet (elegance). Well this nose is fabulous. I adore this. I can only hope this nose is in balance with an equally great taste.

Taste: Hot and spicy. Nutty. The wood comes through in a sour way (that’s “old” oak). This definitively needs water. Now it gives way to the sweetness, honey, not sugar. The nutty part reveals itself as being almond. Do I detect some paint? (don’t be alarmed). Wood is still here and gives just the right amount of bitterness. I don’t like bitter finishes, but this is something different. A 25yo whisky should have a woody part, for it’s balance and the balance is great here. Yes I feel good, better than James Brown! This shure is a great Ord. Nice half-sweet amber in combination with the wood makes for a great finish. This time it’s in top form. Gave this a lot of time to develop and you’ll be rewarded. It needs a lot of air and the whisky will benefit a lot from oxidation.

Can you imagine this was dumped on the market in 2010/2011 for almost half price? The package is great. Nice box with an even better decanter bottle. Feel’s nice in the hand.

To finish off, here is a link to Whiskybase, where you can find another take on this whisky by my “mate” alectron.

Points: 90

The Balvenie 15yo 1983/1999 ‘Single Barrel’ (50.4%, OB, Bourbon Barrel #1300, 311 bottles)

Time for some more whisky then…

Let’s have a look at this old Balvenie. I have to say I don’t usually like Balvenie that much. I think that for me it lacks character and body. It’s usually a light whisky that is bottled at a relatively low ABV compared to other whiskies. This older 15yo is bottled at 50.4%, but more recent versions are bottled at a mere 47.8%. That having said. This 15yo and the original 21yo Portwood can be respectable whiskies, depending on the version you find. Still, I encounter the 15yo a lot, so I have the opportunity to try them on a regular basis and to me they don’t seem to get better, so if you want one, my tip to you would be: try to find an older one.

The Balvenie 15yo "Single Barrel" but not #1300Color: Light Gold

Nose: Vegetal, comes across as a very light and clean whisky. It’s powdery and the malt shines through. Dry wood. The cask didn’t give the whisky a lot of color, but is evident on the nose. After a while I get some lemony notes or maybe some lemon grass in combination with hot coco. Again I would use words like clean or fresh for this one.

Taste: Sweet and estery. Again the wood is there. It’s there from the start and I guess it will play a role for some time to come. Even the taste is clean, so if you like clean whiskies, this one is for you. Wow this one is very fruity now and does have some body. Prickly wood (not overpowering though), yellow fruits like dried apricots and peaches. Some bitter wood in the finish.

I would say this is a nice place to start drinking good malts. It’s decent and very easy to “analyze”. It’s clean and elegant and has some nice woody notes to show you what a cask can do. If you’re a connoisseur, well maybe this one’s a tad to easy. A friend of mine would say: “drinks well playing cards” Again, try to find an older one (50.4%). By the way, this is not cask strength. It is reduced to 50.4% to get more bottles out of a cask, or maybe the Balvenie drinkers like their 15yo a little lower than 57%. I’m not judging.

Points: 86

Vegueros Seoane

Wow, after such a great Romeo y Julieta, I decided it was a nice enough day to ‘enjoy’ another one. This time a rather small one.

Not much to say about Vegueros really. The brand surfaced worldwide in 1997 and was made in the Pinar del Rio region since 1961 for local consumption. These cigars are linked with the cuban cigarette production, and I feel that in Cuba this is probably the lowest quality tobacco around, so I don’t have high hopes for this one. Also the fact that the whole brand was discontinued this year is rather foreboding.

Let’s talk about the Vegueros Seoane (33 x 126mm, Small Panatela, Box Code Unknown).

Color & Looks: Colorado, with veins and fray’s.

A cru: Old furniture, The inside of an old ply wood lined van, peppery, spicy, mild smell, vegetal. Overall nice smell.

Taste: Medium Draw. Deep start with cannabis! Creamy and flowery. Better after the first centimeter. Not a lot of smoke. It’s all still in woody territory. Not very complex. Draw is troublesome for a moment. This one doesn’t complement medium coffee, but better with water. Ash is grey and the cigar seems very tightly rolled. You have to suck hard on this one, which makes it hot, harsh and sour. At this point I wouldn’t even give this 70 points. After another centimeter, more smoke comes free. The wood becomes very spicy, almost sharp. Not a lot more happening though. Still harsh and now more chemicals. After this it gets only worse, very sharp and woody. This lacks quality. Nothing round, creamy or even likeable. Near the end a surprising toffee note emerges, finally something happened. Menthol just before putting it down. I would say this is the Jack Daniels of cigars.

58 points

Romeo y Julieta Romeo No.3 (Tubos)

Well, today was another great day to sit outside, so I decided to try another cigar. This time one of my first buys. A loooong time ago I bought a box of ten of these tubed Petit Corona’s (in the brushed aluminium tubes). I tried one (probably in its sick period, of which I knew nothing at that time). I found it very harsh then and very young, like green grass with ammonia. After this first try I felt a bit sick myself. Now let’s try this one after a prolonged time in one of my humidor’s and see if ageing made this cigar any better.

Well this is a Cuban Romeo y Julieta Romeo No. 3 (40 x 117mm, Petit Corona, Box Code ORE JUN 04).

The brand was established in 1875 and was named for Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Quite a surprise ‘eh? It was made BIG by Jose Rodriguez who acquired the brand in 1903. Just like Prez JFK springs to mind when thinking about H. Upmann, Romeo y Julieta also had a big Prez-like fan: Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. In his honor RyJ made a famous cigar named Churchill. As far as I know there’s never been a John F Cigar…

Color & Looks: Colorado, veiny and no powder nor frays. Good build, easy to cut.

A cru: Old books, ashy (and that’s before lighting it).

Taste: Easy combustion and excellent draw. Starts very nice, well matured. Leathery and I would say half-creamy.  This is really a lot better than all those years ago. It has a great startup, it’s good from the very beginning. Oriental spice and some cedar. It stays on the mild side. After just two centimeters development starts and moves more into more spices and ground black pepper. The whole is very nicely balanced, and I love balance! It’s very aromatic and gives lots of almonds now. I hope it’s not hydrocyanic acid gas ;-). The further down the cigar, the more cedar, but never overpowering the overall taste, just a little shift in the spectrum towards the wood. Some dry forest floor and a hint of cannabis and even a little hint of petrol, which is no problem but just adds to the balance. This little cigar evolves forever (well 30 to 40 minutes) and doesn’t stop with the aromatics. The end announces itself with some mint, and never becomes harsh.

It gives a lot of smoke and white ash with many white dots. This is clearly a lunchtime cigar. Will do great after lunch, but also an hour before dinner. Then again, this one is also great with arabica coffee (not espresso nor robusta coffee). I can imagine this one will do great with white wine (take your pick I haven’t tried which yet) and probably not with strong alcohols. Wow, as bad as it was when it was new, so good it is now. If I were JFK, I would tell my assistant to run out a second time to buy 1200 of these too. Still, it’s a shame I needed some eight odd years to find out how great these really can be.

Smoke this slowly, take your time. Don’t ruin this cigar because you want to get back to work on time.

88 points

H. Upmann Magnum 48 Edición Limitada 2009

Considering all things nice and beautiful, there’s certainly more than whisky alone to enjoy, well, there’s a lot more actually, and why not try a cigar this time. Winter is over, sun starts to come out  more often, and it’s great to sit outside with a cigar again. But beware. I’ve never reviewed cigars before so let’s see how this goes.

First up a Cuban Edición Limitada 2009 version by H. Upmann (48 x 110mm, Corona Extra or Short Robusto, Box Code Unknown).

H, or Herman for friends, was a banker who was interested in cigars for personal use. After seeing the possibilities for a cigar business, Herman decided to start his own brand in 1844. Much, much later, Prez John F. Kennedy liked Herman’s Petit Corona’s so much, he had his assistant buy all of Herman’s Petit Corona’s they could find the day before announcing the embargo on Cuba.

Upmann used to be famous for their stellar Churchill. More recent is the popularity of their Magnum 46 (46 x 143mm, Corona Gorda). Two more Magnums saw the light of day. First the Magnum 50 Edición Limitada 2005 (50 x 162mm, Double Robusto) and of course our Magnum 48.

Color & Looks: Colorado, maybe Colorado Maduro. Small veins, nicely cut, without frays. Good build, was easy to cut.

A cru: powderish, hints of stable odor and fertilizer, dusty, green, now fat powder and finally; sour.

Taste: Combustion and draw were good. The burn was a bit uneven but it let itself be corrected easily with the laser flame lighter. No tunneling and keeps burning without any problems. It took the Magnum 48 about a centimeter to find its balance. It is spicy, full body and again a bit sour. After the first centimeter the taste became deeper and more refined (leather, slightly bitter), and stayed there. It turned out to be very linear and not very complex, again hinting at its youth (ammonia). It produces a medium amount of smoke, and nice and firm white ashes, which fell off halfway through.

There was still a third left, when the cigar announced, with lot’s of leather and harsh bitterness that it was time to leave… A bit of a shame though, since it’s a rather short cigar. Well this is a cigar that should be smoked slowly, to keep it balanced and if you want to control the amount of smoke. When it burns hot, a lot of smoke (and taste) will disappear. I tried this with double burnt, dark roasted coffee and water and both worked very well.

A good friend of mine suggested recently, that the Edición Limitada series could be made for instant gratification, so it has to be good immediately and may not win a lot of character spending some time in the humidor. After three years I found the Magnum 48 to be still young, and would certainly be patient with it. It may not win a lot over time, but why rush it.

80 points (of course not to be compared with an 80 point whisky)

Lagavulin 12yo ‘Special Release’ (56.4%, OB, 2007)

And now for something completely different: Lagavulin. Well, we all know Lagavulin is pretty great. It’s virtually impossible to find a bad expression. So big thumbs up to the people at Lagavulin! A long time ago there was a 12yo already. Cream label, pretty good. After that they made a pretty fantastic 16yo, which was great, had a little lapse some years ago (but still good). Luckily, more recent bottlings are doing well again. Still, in 2002 the people at Diageo thought is was time to revive the 12yo as a ‘Special Release’ at cask strength this time. A release that is up ’till now, annual. Let’s try one, shall we.

Color: White Wine

Nose: At first, peat obviously, then a bit sour. Kippers, diesel and salty like the Pibroch at sea. Gravy combined with tar (from the ship’s hull), smoked fish (from the galley). This needs some air, and we’re not in a hurry. It’s rough but not unrefined, and doesn’t taste young. It smells like a whisky for an upper class fisherman.

Taste: It’s sweet, and has the obvious peat, but warm peat this time. It has a dirty edge to it, animalesque is the word that comes to mind, but does this word exist, or is it already the whisky talking? Now some ash and sweat, well it’s hard work on a boat like this. After some time it’s still sweet and some ‘black & white powder’. This is a taste that resembles liquorice (if you’re not from Holland or Finland)

Well isn’t this great stuff again! If you look at prices asked for this kind of whisky, well you’ll have trouble finding something better for your money. This should be a standard on your whisky lectern. Assuming you like whiskies from Islay that is.

Sells for 65 Euro’s

Points: 90

Macduff 37yo 1973/2010 (46%, Mo Òr, Bourbon Hogshead #20, 281 bottles, 500 ml)

Another bottle from the Mo Òr collection. This time a Macduff from a Bourbon Hoggie…

Color: Gold

Nose: Very elegant wood, and nutty, perfumy, nougat. Old saddle leather, distant dark chocolate and fresh mint (unbruised leaves). Old furniture, hints of wax-polish, waxed shiny chocolate.

Palate: Spicy (wood) and half sweet, the elegance stays. Great balance in this one. Minty and sweet. Absolutely not too woody, yet the wood plays a nice role in the balance of the whisky. This is an old cask, so the minty sensation is there, a bit of old bottle effect I guess. The great palate breaks down a little in the finish, like it’s trying to say that it`s time for bed. Now the oak plays a greater role in the finish, and turns slightly soapy, but never enough to let the experience down. I Like!

Sells for 175 Euro’s (500ml bottle)

Points: 88

Miltonduff 30yo 1980/2010 (46%, Mo Òr, Bourbon Hogshead #12431, 321 bottles, 500 ml)

So now the blog thing has even started for me, let’s do that starting with a bottle of Miltonduff, bottled by fellow Dutchman Michel Kappen of the Whisky Talker (among others). This is a new range of single cask whiskies aimed at high-end hotels, restaurants and golf resorts. The bottles (500 ml) ánd little tubes (25 ml) come in nicely painted matt black boxes. The bottles look like Tequila bottles to me, still all’s looking very nice…

Miltonduff 30yo 1980/2010 (46%, Mo Or, Bourbon Hogshead #12431, 321 bottles, 500ml)Color: Light Gold

Nose: Hazelnuts, milk chocolate, becomes fresher later on. Very mellow, laid back, dusty. Hints of lily, but not very floral overall. Not the clean nose you`ve come to expect of Miltonduff from bourbon hogsheads, or barrels for that matter. It`s more creamy, nuttier and warmer. No wood in the nose even after 30 years.

Taste: Some wood, walnut skin without the bitterness, dry. Easily drinkable. Creamy, sweeter later on, again nutty and warming. The nose fits the palate. Grassy and definitely more vegetal than floral. A winter aperitif. The whisky seems younger than it`s 30 years, so the cask wasn`t too active. Let`s have this @ the fireplace, but drinker beware, it drinks dangerously easy, your half liter will be gone quickly. Nice finish, toffee, slight bitterness from the wood.

Sells for 145 Euro’s (500 ml bottle)

Points: 84

Hello Whiskyworld!

Welcome to Master Quill’s Whisky Blog, well I believe it will be about whisky, but who knows what will turn up around these pages in two years’ time. Milk?

After ten odd years of taking notes of whisk(e)y, in dirty little note books, why not take it up a notch and start sharing some (new) notes with you.

As I’m usually not sponsored with samples (or bottles for that matter), this blog will not show you what’s the best whisky to buy, that was issued yesterday. Still, as I found out myself, it’s nice to find on the net a comment about a bottle you might have gotten hold of, that nobody else knows about.

So, lets start of with two bottles of Mo Òr, and get the thing rolling…