The USDC 30th Event! - 30 Year Old Malts... 5 of them... Seriously

       Well, not often will I publish a quick turn around review, but last night stuck me as something special.  If you happened to be watching my twitter feed, you will have noted a few very interesting and rather old bottles appear.  This is attributed to the 30th event for The United Scotch Drinkers of Canada.  It was decided that the group would celebrate in style, and source a list of 30 year old malts -  and what transpired was nothing less than a stellar night.

     First up, the USDC:  A group of like minded men and women who started a tasting group made up of friends who enjoy whisky.  What started with tasting of basic blended malts and learning the distiller's lingo has since been transformed into locating some of the most sought after bottlings possible.  This typically results in some collectors crying their eyes out as we wrench open the tops on whisky that is oft deemed too rare to drink.  On the other hand, as an malt enthusiast, this allows an opprtunity  to try whiskies that are far outside the acceptable price range or almost impossible to find.  Let's delve into our opening dram...

Weymss Inchgower 1982 (Pears and Almonds, 46% ABV, NCA/NCF):

• Colour:  Light amber, almost honey coloured.
• Body:  Thin, but leaning towards the oily side.  Drops form at a medium rate and fall at the same leisurely pace.
• Nose:  Soft perfume notes begetting white floral notes and soft roasted almond.  As it develops, almond becomes toasted and a little brash.  Soft malt and sweet marzipan round out into a creamy sort of nose.  The floral seems vaguely 80's Bowmore.
• Palate:  Milky soft and creamy, malt sweetness and more floaral notes.  There's n odd note in here though, maybe herbal almost sharp that I can't quite figure.  Mashed banana and sweet custard in the bottom, but the violet notes start to take over the mid-palate.  Towards the end there is a very interesting chalky note that smooths it all out, and hints at a bit of salty dust.
• Finish:  Sharp and prickly.  This is 30 years?  It's very lively as the wood spices come up and dominate the finish.  Creamy and chalky wood comes along and supports more custard notes but they take a back seat to some strong wood spices (coriander, cassia, mace and the like).
• Empty Glass:  The salty brine sort of comes up here but is subdued by huge butter toffee notes.  There is a rich and almost silky malt note in the dregs.

   Not quite my cup of tea, I found it very floral and quite a bit of roasted nuts.  The finish almost made it seem much younger than it actually was, almost half the age.  I can still see the appeal to this though as it is such a light and soft whisky.  What's next?

 Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask Glen Grant 1978 (REF 4714, 49.6% ABV, NCA/NCF):

• Colour:  Soft harvest gold
• Body:  Rather thin, almost a touch watery.  Drops form rather slowly and almost refuse to run back to the glass.  Seems to sheet back to the bottom.
• Nose:  Wow, Glen Grant straight out of the gates!  Intense old whisky!  Lots of prickly pear and almost some sweaty notes.  Great wood spices and hints of aftershave (not detracting from the malt), with a fantastic malt base.  As it develops, it becomes soft and perfumed, but never loses the quality.  There is a hint of citrus, or some sort of citrus baked good... like a lemon square but with 1/4 of the lemon.
• Palate:  A 180 from the nose, soft and subtle... somehow maintains intensity in softness.  The perfume is still here, but it plays hand in hand with malt, biscuits and baking spices.  As it develops the malt takes precedence and shows the almost perfect integration of pepper heat and sweet.  The balance is spot-on.
• Finish:  Herbal wood spice and pepper heat again, Twinges of wood smoke come through and soothe the malt.  Hints of bitter tannin and Crème Anglaise support the finish.  The balance shows no signs of stopping here as the finish carries on for quite some time.
• Empty Glass:  Rich aftershave notes of sandalwood and almost a hint of camphor.  Soft peaks of malty brine and vanilla support the finish in your mouth.  Le sigh....

      Okay, this is a pretty stellar malt, the balance of the flavours makes it supremely delicious and dangerously more-ish.  The aftershave notes in the finish support the rich malt underneath and the smattering of wood smoke peppers just enough to cut into the dram without disruption.  Holy crap, there's more?

Balvenie 30 (DB, 47.3% circa mid 2000's):

• Colour:  I think it's the Ron Burgundy... rich mahogany, but likely coloured.
• Body:  Oily thin, huge fat drops form rather quickly and run slowly back to the bowl.  I dunno; it's heavily filtered but still relatively intact.
• Nose:  The Balvenie through and through.  Honey, treacle tart and soft Sherry run through the malt.  There is a fermented strawberry note in the centre that I'm not in love with, but it supports the sherry very well.  Soft torched toffee and wood spice with a hint at cocoa in the back end.
• Palate:  Rich Gypsy pie, very sweet on the front end, and dangerously smooth in the mid-palate.  Hints at leaves and wood spice, but honestly nothing is standing out.  It's a very manufactured palate, but it's much clingier that the newer 30 year old.
• Finish:  It's long, but it doesn't stick around enough.  The typical vanilla, caramel and softened baking spice in the finish.  Lots of sherry sweets and malt here too, the cling dissipates too quickly leaving you wanting another dram.
• Empty Glass:  I'm almost not too sure there was whisky in my glass.  The dregs almost evaporate and leave very little  Hints of bitter almond and sherry, some touches of wood of some sort... but not much else.

     This was bottled about a decade back, and features almost all of the stereo typical Balvenie notes of the modern whiskies.  The cling on this though is much more interesting, just a shame though that it doesn't stick around for long enough.  It's a dram I could drink all day, but then I would check the empty bottle at the end and be a little disappointed that there wasn't more there...

Adelphi Miltonduff 1981 (53.8% ABV, Ex-Bourbon Hogshead #5077, NCA/NCF):

• Colour:  14 karat gold
• Body:  Oily to medium thick.  Drops are fat, and run so slowly down.
• Nose:  Oily fruit salad!  Fatty and bitter lemons, rich fruits and sharp oak.  Spicy notes of chili and grapefruit.  The wood spice and malt sweetness are muted to begin.  Adding water drive the fruits to insane levels and mutes the thickness of the dram.
• Palate:  Meg Ryan shouting yes, yes!  Soft and sweet to start, then the tempo picks up!  Rich malt traverses into very fruity notes.  Soft oily thickness carries vanilla cream across and then shoves a bunch of spices into your face (cardamon, fenugreek, and Ceylon cinnamon). Towards the end there is a salty note and more rich waves of malt.
• Finish:  Intense, rich and almost drying.  Milk chocolate and sharp oak play together on an oily creamy bed.  Very rich malt with more surprising fruits dot the finish.
• Empty Glass:  Almost a hint of brine here now, cooked dough and hints of preserved lemons.  Fruity wood peeks through and supports a soft oak char note.

     In case you might have missed it, this was my stand out of the night.  The fruits, oiliness and malt cream were so good... I just wish I had more of this. The odd spice notes seem to support the fattiness of the dram and drive the finish of for quite a long time.  But wait, there's more!

Douglas Laing Director's Cut Caperdonich 1982 (50.9% ABV, Refill Butt DL 8778, NCA/NCF):

• Colour:  Almost red-y amber!
• Body:  Rich and oily, drops stay small and take forever to form.  The swirl seems to sheet back to the bottom, not so much as legs, but rather as a thick blanket.
• Nose:  This is what its all about... Tobacco and sherry sweetness dominate this dram.  Honey and coffee dregs, cocoa and twinges of cherry medicine in the background.  Match heads at the start quickly give way to the sweet sherry and almost cut the sweetness down a bit.  There is a hint of metallic, but it's not derivative of the malt.
• Palate:  Soft sweet and super smooth sherry malt lead the way.  Big cigar tobacco and 75% dark chocolate drive the bottom end.  The honey sweetness and hints of floral notes twist with rich Colombian dark roast coffee and touches of ginger spice.  The smoothness of this dram known no limits, water need not apply here.
• Finish:  The sweet tirade continues, but offers more of the malt and hints of wood char and sweet oak throughout.  There's a soft almost creamy note that supports through out finish.
• Empty Glass:  Tannin drives up here, cheap coffee dregs and twinges of metal (maybe aluminum).  The sweet sherry takes a back seat and more oak spices come up (mace and cassia), but the soft creamy note still lingers the strongest.

     Oh man, as good as the previous was at showing a quality Bourbon aged spirit, this shows off a proper Sherry aged spirit.  This was so sweet and so delicious, I just wanted to curl up in it.  The metallic notes were a little off putting, but not so much that it was a distraction.  The hints of match heads actually cut the richness in the nose to a manageable level too.

     So after a wonderful evening of barbecue, camaraderie, and incredible single malt whiskies, we readied ourselves to part ways into the ongoing rain storm.  Then, what should my eyes behold... a touch of peat to set us off on our way!

SMWS 29.115 Candy Floss in a Fairground (55.8% ABV, NCA/NCF):

• Colour:  Light gold
• Body:  Thin to medium, rather light.  Drops almost refuse to form, but slim legs run very slowly back to the dram.
• Nose:  Gunpowder and treacle toffee.  Tonnes of peat (wow,  a lot for 22 years), and hints of sweet candies... like candy floss.  Sweet peat and touches of mechanical grit, rum soaked raisins and wine must show up.  Salted peanuts and somehow herbal notes too, maybe crushed burdock.
• Palate:  Gritty dirt notes, almost hot stone too.  Peat washes over everything, smoking peat fires and hints of sweetness abound.  There's a waffle note or something sweet and breaded in the background, with soft seaweed hanging about in the background.
• Finish:  Depths of peat smoke and wood spice! Incredible amounts of peat for 22 years, mud and soft sweet baking spices come along.  Tobacco ash, cumin and black tea notes.  Towards the end, play dough notes (cooked dough and briny salt).
• Empty Glass:  Peat smoke and hints of jasmine tea.  Bitter soy sauce and touches of vanilla.

     I'm not one for peated whisky, this was not quite in my directions.  There was a little too much peat for me, but upon adding water, the sweetness comes rushing in and brings so much more with it!

   So that about wraps up a wonderful evening!  Some incredible drams, some great friends and some heated conversations about everything from whisky to hockey.  The ages of the drams here were moot, the whisky spoke for itself above all else.  What more can I say... I'm still enamoured with the quality that comes from independent bottlers.  Keep your eyes peeled for anything form this tasting, all were very memorable, and all had their own quirks.  So until next time - Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass!

LCBO Vintages Release for Sept 14/2012

A second post this month!  Well I've left it a bit late, but I am compiling the rest of the tasting notes for September as I write this.  Currently my desk is covered in scribbled papers and there are a couple of empty Glencarins (you know they seem sad to be empty...), so a blogging I will go.

This second release brings us another pair of bottles; both of which are great offerings.  First up will be the first distillery bottling of Glen Grant that I've seen at the LCBO.  Owned by the Italian drinks giant Campari, this light and floral Speysider is typically sherried - sometimes to the point of breaking.  Some expressions are so sublime, they're to die for while others are so sherried they seem to deter from the original spirit (like drinking 40% ABV  Sherry).  This is a bourbon cask distillery bottling aged 16 years, not something that we see often enough at the LCBO (they seem to favour the heavy sherries, some indies and a bunch of Islays).  With this bottle, we get a real sense of the whisky behind the numbers; a real taste of Glen Grant as it were.  Bourbon casks (especially second fill), tend to really bring out the strong and weak points in your base spirit; all the cards get laid out on the table.  Musings aside, this is a gorgeous bottling.  At 16 years of age, this Grant gives us a really rich and floral nose with loads of peaches and apricots (stone fruits), roasted grains, dried hay and hints of coconut, all bundled with an incredible creamy smoothness like marshmallow creme.  Silky creme brulée and more stone fruits dominate the palate (this is very smooth whisky; very more-ish), with more notes of roasted nuts, barley sweetness and some dry notes of oak and hay again in the background.  The finish is medium-long and very dry, with more caramel creaminess and oak presenting itself here.  Baking spices and worked wood intersperse with a subtle mineral-y mossy note on the finish.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for for your bottle, I have a feeling that these will disappear quick even priced at $85/bottle.

Second up is an offering from the independently owned Glencadam distillery (Congrats on fighting the good fight against the big box distillers!).  Owned by Angus Dundee plc since 2003; the only public offering  was the 15 year old.  In late 2008, this all changed and the entire lineup of bottlings were reinvented by adding a 10 year old little brother.  By 2010 3 more bottles were added to fill out the line including the 12 year old Portwood finish and the 14 Oloroso Sherrywood finish.  The portwood has made the long journey overseas to our doorstep and beckons to be tasted with all its subtle ruby/amber goodness.  I'm not going to mince words or apologize, but those who know me know that I love good port and good wine finishes.  The following review might be biased... slightly.... but then again I might be biased... slightly (or warped depending on how much you know me).  I have yet to get my nose into the standard Glencadam bottlings, but if this is any indication, I can't wait.  Right away, there is a winey port waft, but hidden underneath and in between there are all sorts of good things like sweet roasted grains, dates, soft macerated red fruits (obviously), baking spices like nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, and caramel.  There is a great balance on the nose, the port notes play hand in hand with what seems to be a sweet bodied whisky.  In the mouth I'm hit with ginger spiciness, followed with more dark fruits (red and purples like plums and dark berries).  There are chili and chocolate notes and caramel sweetness ever-present.  The finish is excellent, with warm notes of candied ginger, cocoa powder bitterness, more baking spices, more caramel sweetness and subtle notes of oak and chili powder (the good kind you find in a Mexican grocery store, the one they make on site that they don't tell gringos about).  This is a heck of a dram, but the LCBO has seen fit to command a heck of a price for it.  $94 for a 46% un-chillfiltered and colour-free bottle is a bit much, but coming from an indie bottler/distiller I think once you try it you'll be sold on it.  It will make a hell of a dessert dram.  Check you local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

Okay so that's the middle of the month pairing, next up is the last 2 bottles to finish out September.  There's a few more interesting things coming down the pipe and also some changes coming to the blog in the future.  I'm at the debate point of changing the blog over to another site, and also adding some founding members of our whisky club as writers.  Feel free to inspect the preliminary work at http://cataclysmofscotch.blogspot.ca/  So until the next update: Keep your stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

Vintages Releases for Sept 2011

Alright, as promised a second update with the featured releases for September up to the  coming release date of September 17th/2011.

First off, what we missed at the start of this month:

Dougie MacLean's Caledonia (Edradour 12 Year old Select Bottling).  Dougie MacLean is the most successful singer/song-writers in Scotland.  His list of talents don't stop at composing, he is a multi-talented instrumentalist playing more instruments than a high school band.  This single malt scotch came about with passion to bring a part of the Highlands to the rest of the world.  Unchillfiltered, colour free and served at 46% ABV this is a fine-looking specimen from the smallest distillery in Scotland.  Run by 3 passionate men, and distilling in the methods of old, Edradour uses equipment you would find in a museum with a process that includes no automation.  This results in a time-honored flavor that is faithful to the way Scotch was distilled by our forefathers.  Simply stated: Edradour is a heck of a dram, and the Caledonia release is a special selection of those heck-of-a-dram casks.  Grab a bottle for that special something you have coming up.  At $90 for a limited bottling, I think you have a safe investment in good taste on your hands.  LCBO SKU#242578.

The second bottle is another independent bottler with the right notions in play.  Unchillfiltered, and no colour added are right up the enthusiasts list of wants.  Montgomerie's is a division of the Dundee distiller's PLC group.  They cater to the enthusiast with single cask malt whisky from all regions of Scotland.   This bottling comes from a Glen Grant 1990 cask, and aged 17 years.  The single cask bottling limits the amount of production to a very rare 3700 or so bottles, making it a collector's item.  At $135, this is definitely a collector's item!  I think the colour looks a little pale, making me believe that this is not a prized first fill cask (more of a second/third filling).  I'm on the fence about it, the tasting notes say things like brilliant gold colour, and notes of saltwater taffy with leather, tobacco and marmalade.  It doesn't inspire confidence in me, and a quick internet search pulls up very little information about Montgomerie's.  If you happen to have $135 burning a hole in your pocket, go for and let me know what you think!  LCBO SKU #247643; but sorry folk's I've got the last bottle in Ontario.

Last but not least is a prized bottling that is high on my list of purchases!  I can't stop singing the praises of Isle of Arran, and this month marks the release of The Amarone Cask Finish Single malt.  At a whopping 50% ABV with no chill-filtration and no colour added; yes please! Amarone is a desiccated Italian Red wine (made from partially dried grapes), that boasts a rich incredible flavor.  Granted a DOCG certification in 2009 (Controlled designation of origin), it is an Italian treat for those rich full-bodied reds.  What does this impose to the Scotch?  In a word flavorization-ness..... is that a word?  It may not be a word, but that's what I've got to say.  Rich copper/mahogany red hues lead the nose on a trip.  Turkish Delight, toasted almond, cranberry hints and rich malted chocolate give way to cherry, toffee, apricot and rich almond nuttiness.  This is a keeper!  In fact at $72, grab a second bottle for that rainy day a few years down the road when you need a burst of flavor to get yourself back into the game.  Jim Murray scored it a 96 and said "I'm astonished at its total brilliance..."  LBCO SKU #50070.

So that takes care of what's on the shelves now.  This weekend marks another release without any whisky.  For you Cognac fans there are a few new bottles arriving that have peaked my interest.  Check the Vintages booklet HERE, or better yet take a trip to your local LCBO and see what looks good to you.  SO I've told you what I think looks good, and in the words of Levar Burton '...but you don't have to take my word for it!'.  Take a trip to your local bar or an LCBO tasting room, or a good friends place with a good selection and get out there and try something new.