Tag Archives: 2006

Glen Keith 38yo 1967/2006 (53%, Gordon & MacPhail, Reserve, for La Maison Du Whisky, Refill Sherry Butt #3876, 215 bottles)

And then there is Glen Keith. Glen Keith lies a stone’s throw away from Strathisla. The spirit from Strathisla was pumped to Glen Keith for filling into casks, but also the boiler at Glen Keith warms water for Glen Keith’s production. Glen Keith’s production started in 1958 with three stills (triple distillation). In 1970 the first two stills in Scotland that are heated by gas were installed. Soon after that, the distillery stopped the triple distillation. In 1983 a sixth still is installed. The distillery is mothballed since 1999, but plans are to restart the distillery next month (April 2013).

Chivas Brothers (owned by Pernod Ricard) already opened two of their mothballed distilleries. Allt a-Bhainne in May 2005 and Braeval (a.k.a. Braes of Glenlivet) in July 2008. If memory serves me well, Chivas Brothers also have Imperial. Alas, Imperial was considered not economically viable for reopening. (It was “old” and had the ‘wrong’ capacity, to small for a company like Chivas), so Chivas presented plans in 2012 for a new distillery to be built at the site of the old Imperial distillery. So the demolition of Imperial started around december 2012 and is now also gone for good.

Color: Copper, cloudy.

Nose: Musty Sherry with a lot of wood. Dried oranges, and sugared orange skin. Crushed dead insects, well they really don’t make them like this anymore! Cloves which fits the orange skin perfectly. Mocha with orange cordial. A forest in the rain. Oak planks. A Whisky with character.

Taste: Old bottle effect. Very spicy oak but not over oaked. It’s heavy on the wood but that not a bad thing here. A lot of wood and paper. Along comes wood spice and some bitterness. It is so clearly a Whisky from another time, that this one needs it. Luckily the rest of the body is quite ‘heavy’ too, but not in your face. It’s a rather quiet malt. Hot butter, sugared oranges and some coal. It actually is pretty sweet, but the sweetness is hidden well behind the wood and oranges. A bottled antiques shop with a long warming finish.

This is now my favorite Christmas malt. Just smell that dried Orange in combination with the cloves. It’s not a perfect old bottle though, but it’s so clearly a time capsule. It’s impossible to not love this. I was always a big fan of Strathisla of the sixties and seventies and this Glen Keith is therefore really no surprise at all. Merry Christmas everybody!

Points: 92

Glenfiddich 32yo 1974/2006 (47.3%, OB, Private Vintage, for La Maison Du Whisky, Cask #10260, 198 bottles)

Let’s continue with Glenfiddich. Known for their big out turn and fairly priced Whiskies. No cheap entry-level Glenfiddich this time, like the 12yo “Special Reserve” I reviewed earlier, but a super-duper premium Glenfiddich that costs a fortune these days. Cask number 10260 was bottled for the 50th anniversary of La Maison du Whisky. Who hasn’t visited one of their fabulous shops in Paris & Saint-Denis (France) or Singapore? There are a few pretty great 1974 Glenfiddich bottled, even one for Playboy (Cask #10245) and H.M. Queen Elizabeth II (of U.K. fame). So not a bad club to belong to. Here Majesty’s Cask was #2336 (not quite a sister cask of the Playboy one, I would say). Or maybe Glenfiddich filled a lot of casks in 1974. Who knows?

Color: Full and dull gold.

Nose: Old bottle. Oceanic and creamy. Wow. Musky and organic, with fatty old wood (not dry wood) mixed with newer plywood. Clay. Absolutely stunning wood smell. Smelling this you know you have something special on your hands. When smelling this for a prolonged time, you get in the territory of cardboard that has been added to the wood that is more upfront. Through the wood and the cardboard is also something clean, fresh and lively like lemongrass, cola, mint and old lemon skins, but also the more heavy shoe polish and clean wax. Great complexity and balance.

Taste: Again old bottle. Spicy toffee with clay. It’s sweet and has hardly any wood at first! Full mouth. Chewy and waxy. Fantastic. Slightly sour, somewhat thin and papery finish, and the wood came in late, but it is there. It’s more the spice from wood, than the wood itself. Clean and elegant.

Well, obviously you can’t really compare the über-standard 12yo to this, can you? Because all the time when I was trying this, you can clearly see where this is coming from, and it does have a big family resemblance. This definitely is the father of the 12yo.

Points: 91

Inverleven (Dumbarton) 18yo 1987/2006 (57.9%, Cadenhead, Closed Distilleries, Bourbon Hogshead, 276 bottles)

And here is another Cadenhead’s, from the same kind of cask, from the same year 1987, with three years more ageing. Cadenheads call this Distilled at Dumbarton, made with Inverleven stills. Everybody else calls this whisky just Inverleven. To clear things up. The Single malt whisky that was made this way, was called Inverleven. Inverleven was made untill 1991. This was made with the ‘normal’ type stills. In the same building was also a Lomond type still that was installed in 1959 at the Dumbarton distillery and ran untill 1985 (With the malt being called “Lomond”, not Loch Lomond). Loch Lomond lies close by to the north. Only a few kilometres away, still Loch Lomond is a Highland Whisky, and Inverleven a Lowlander.  To wrap things up. The Dumbarton Distillery was the spiritual home of the Ballantine’s Blend.

Color: Light gold. (Darker than the 15yo Cadenhead).

Nose: Grassy and clean. Balanced, fresh and citrussy. Not sharp fresh lemons, but more deepness to the citrus. It not quite grapefruit. Old very ripe lemons maybe? Toffee and syrup. Candied old lemons, that’s it! In the back some nice elegant wood. This nose is definitely nicer than the 15yo, it’s more mature and balanced. Still the nose of the G&M was even more elegant, and woody. If you look for it carefully, in the depths of this Whisky you can smell a little bit of ether and acetone.

Taste: Sweet and spicy. Ok, the wood plays a role, but in no way like that of the G&M. The sweetness is also a bit more laid back compared to the 15yo Cadenhead. Great balance, fantastic balance actually. There is this perfect balance between the sweetness, the caramel, (more caramel than toffee) and the spiciness of the wood. Also some austere waxiness. Having said this, it still seems to lack a bit of complexity. The G&M seems to have more of that, yet every time I return to this Whisky is get better and better. Allow this to breathe and you’ll be rewarded. It could have remain a bit thicker in the finish, but still this is a stunner.

This version is definitely better than the 15yo, so maybe the extra ageing did some wonders, but you’ll have to allow for cask variation. It’s also better than the Gordon & MacPhail version. But both definitively have earned their place on anybody’s shelf. All of these Inverleven’s are Whiskies like no other. Quite a unique nice Lowlander. Highly recommended.

Points: 88

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).

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

Japanese Whisky Week – Day 6: Miyagikyo 1989/2006 (58%, Nikka, C# 108645, Warehouse 24)

On the third day of the Japanese Whisky Week, I tried a fairly standard Miyagikyo 15yo at the reasonable strength of 45% ABV. That one turned out to be very good. Today we’ll have another look at this distillery, but this time a single cask at the more samurai strength of 58% ABV. As I said before, Miyagikyo is one of my favorites from Japan, ánd I’ve stated before that Japanese whiskies need to be cask strength to show their…ehhh strength. So here we go!

Color: Copper

Nose: Musty sherry. Malty, muddy and sweaty. Smells a bit like your local ditch on a good day. So it doesn’t stink, but smells… organic. Mushrooms. Dry. Sea spray freshness and something burnt. Probably from a Fino Sherry cask. The nose isn’t typical Miyagikyo.

Taste: Strong. Yellow jam with apricots. Chewy. Lots of wood spice. It’s a whisky that wants to be sweet, but isn’t. It’s half sweet, half dry. Sherried. Not completely a Miyagikyo profile but very nice! Clay. Slight imbalance in the finish, due to the sour wood. It’s not very woody, but still it dominates the finish.

Yes these bottles come in a blank and ugly box. Just think the box protects the bottle and the whisky from scratches and light. The good stuff is in the bottle and luckily is not in the packaging. Still I like the smoke glass bottle Nikka also uses for Ben Nevis Whiskies.

I have a feeling this one doesn’t like to breathe too much. Ok, bad example, or there goes a prejudice? It’s Miyagikyo and it’s cask strength, still it scores the same as reduced and standard or even pure malts… We’ll see what happens with the next one…

Points: 87 (yes again 87).

Kilchoman 3yo 2006/2010 “Summer 2010” (46%, OB, Fresh and Refill Bourbon Barrels, Circa 17.500 bottles)

Who said Islay Whiskies are only for the Winter? I tasted a lot of Islay whiskies at un winterly temperatures on nice summer evenings and it all tasted very well. Think out of the box. Although Kilchoman are hinting at the season in which the spirit was distilled, This one especially seems to tell us that Islay and summer goes together very well.

Kilchoman releases are abundant and which is what is quite clear. First there were the new make spirit bottles. Next in 2009 they released the Inaugural Release to be the first of the core range. Also from 2009 the second release became “Autumn 2009” next up was “Spring 2010” and after that the fourth release was this “Summer 2010”. Also in 2009 the first Single Cask releases were released at cask strength. From 2011 the Single Cask bottles were released with red labels. In 2012 a Sherry Cask release at 46% ABV was released with a black label. Also from 2012 a new addition to the core range was released called “Manchir Bay”. Last but not least there are a few releases of 100% Islay at 50% ABV, where all ingredients of the whisky were sourced form the island itself. Now it’s time for “Summer 2010” solely from Bourbon Barrels from Buffalo Trace.

Color: White Wine.

Nose: Fresh young peat, lots of peat, but it isn’t so in your face type of peat. Licorice and black and white powder. Citrus, lemon and whiffs of meat, less stak, more gravy. The whole is very nice. The smoke in this goes very well with the citrus part. Who said Islay Whiskies are not suitable for Summer?

Taste: Sweet. Licorice. A sour element which to me isn’t neccesarily citrussy or lemony. This has a little wood with a little bitter touch to it. Hints of paper. Very uncomplex and a beerlike, maybe hoppy finish.

The nose has more balance than the taste, still the potential is obvious. Again I can’t wait for older Kilchomans.

Points: 82

Thanks go out to Erik for sharing the Whisky.

Kilchoman 3yo 2006/2010 “Spring 2010” (46%, OB, Oloroso Butt Finish, Circa 8.500 bottles)

Kilchoman then. The newest addition to the immensely popular Islay Whisky family. This new small farm distillery was built in 2004 near Kilchoman in the west of Islay, and therefore named Kilchoman. Operations started in 2005 and their first disaster struck in 2005 also. No distillery can call themselves a real Scottish distillery without a big fire. Well history was in the making so let’s do the fire thing quickly, they might have thought. Not hinting at any foul play of course. In 2005 the kiln burned down. Rebuild in 2006 and operations recommenced. As of 2009 but foremost 2010, Whisky started to be released. In 2009 the first release in the new core range was the “Inaugural Release”. Next up was “Autumn 2009” Let’s try our “Spring 2010” that was the third release.

Color: Light Gold

Nose: Spicy butter and fatty. Peat and the smoke is distant. Soapy. Very nice wood. Meaty (steak) and full-bodied smell.

Taste: Licorice, black and white powder. Chewy, Sherried yet clean. Half sweet. Strange enough it also has something “thin”, maybe the ABV seems low (although it is 46% ABV). Again a little hint of soap, but nothing disturbing. Having tasted Bourbon only Kilchoman’s, the soapy element is probably from the Oloroso Butt.

Fair is fair. The Oloroso finish does add some character to the whole. I know the Barrels they source from Buffalo Trace are very good. I don’t know where Kilchoman sources the Sherry Butts and if they are American or European oak. Good spirit and good casks and look at this 3yo Whisky, reduced to 46% and already very nice. Can’t wait to see Kilchoman age!

Points: 84

The Benriach 29yo 1976/2006 (56%, OB, Batch 3, Hogshead #8084, 194 bottles)

And yes another Benriach and another one from Batch 3. After the 1968 Hoggie that scored 89 points and the 1984 peated Butt that scored 88 Points, let’s see if this 1976 peated Hoggie can finally break the barrier and score (well) into the 90’s.

Color: Full Gold

Nose: Fruity and half waxy (it’s not Caperdonich 1972). The fruits would be Apricots, some peach again and strawberry jam. Creamy and spicy oak, malt and sawdust. A rather calm powdery nose. You know those hard candies made of compressed powder? Cold wet tea leaves. Distant sweets and very fruity. Again the yellow fruits. Apricots and peach minus the perfumy side of peach. There could be peat in this, but left in very minute amounts. After some time, smoke and banana. Peat?

Taste: Thick, spicy and waxy. Distant smoke and hints of black fruits. Sweet, nice balance. Work for it and you’ll be rewarded. Again a great sweet fruity malt. Peat maybe, but not as we know it. It’s not from Islay and this is not heavily peated. Just the right amount of wood (the 1968 had more wood).

Of the three I tried from this third batch, I like this best. Some would say the 1968, but for me this has more of everything. Rounder and better balance. OK, maybe simpler, but much bolder. This time the seventies over the sixties. It all just fits snugly, and the peat is so great in this!

Points: 91

The Benriach 21yo 1984/2006 (55%, OB, Batch 3, Oloroso Butt #1438, 658 bottles)

Earlier I tried a 1968 Hogshead from the next door neighbour of Longmorn. Here is another Benriach from Batch 3. The hoggie scored 89 points, so let’s see if this peated and sherried Benriach can match that score. This one being a lot younger and probably completely different. That’s a plus for Benriach anyway. They always tried out a lot, so there is a lot of variation going on…

Color: Orange Gold.

Nose: Smoke and licorice. Nice wood in the fireplace. Clean sea air and peat. Also a slight hint of soap. Black and white powder. Musty Sherry and salty tar. Deep down syrupy apricots and even deeper down a floral note. Given some time, the very dominant heavy wood fire notes luckily die down a little to show more of what’s underneath.

Taste: Sweet and prickly cannabis. Don’t do drugs, do a Benriach! Peat and spicy wood. Musty moss. Red fruits, fresh and candied. Toffee and nougat. Very big body that’s chewy with a little bit of hidden (soapy) banana in here. Finishes a bit like a Kriek Lambic, slightly bitter.

Quite nice big bodied malt. The peat and smoke are great here and there is just enough sweetness here to balance that out. If the fruityness would be able to show its face some more this would have been excellent. Still very good nonetheless. And yes, another great Benriach in batch 3.

Points: 88