Tasting Notes: Clynelish 1990 (Dun Bheagan, 22 Years Old, Port Hogshead Finished, 46% ABV)

    Well dram-mates, It would seem it's time for an update on tasting notes.  I recently hit up a local LCBO to my neighbourhood and found a tasty treat that I've been hunting for a while.  A few weeks back the LCBO released a varied group of products, including a few new bottles of Scotch, one of which is a 22 year old Clynelish.  Hailing form the Highlands region, this distillery is a favourite of many whisky buffs, and its sister distillery, Brora, is one of the most highly collected, and overpriced, whiskies on the market at this time.  The distillery features a somewhat fruitier malt, with subtle (sometimes), hints of coastal  or waxy notes to it.  As such, it's usually on my list of distilleries for hunting out reasonably-priced bottles.

  This bottling is brought to us by Dun Bheagan (pronounced done vey-gan; like the name Megan).  It was distilled December 1990 and bottled in mid 2013.  It's comprised of 2 casks (#93781 & 93783), which are cobbled together to form Port hogsheads.  Served without the 'aid' of chill-filtration or the addition of artificial colour, this is right up a whisky buff's alley.  However intriguing, at $220.95 [SKU #371013], my whisky-spider sense was tingling and warning me Caveat Emptor.  I typically shy away from expensive bottles at the LCBO  for two reasons: one - they are are not worthy of the high price tag, and two - they typically have little to no information provided about them to make a good judgment call.  So instead of buying an expensive, but intriguing bottle, I waited until one came up for tasting.  Sure enough I found one; and below are my notes.

Dun Bheagan Clynelish 22 Years (Port Hogshead, NCA, NCF, 46% ABV):

Colour: Bright rose gold; no colour added.

Body: Medium but oily, no chill-filtration. Upon first roll of the glass, the drops almost don't seem to want to form.  They do eventually and the legs slowly run (looks like a whack of flavour).


Nose: First crack at the bat, heavy fruits!  Rich red fruits, like overripe strawberry and hints of overripe cherry, with a dash of plums thrown in for good measure.  This sort of dwindles out into some more stone fruits (apricot, peach and the like). That was a little weird; Clynelish isn't usually this type of fruity.  Rotten peaches and old oak, like sun baked picnic tables.  Hints of moss and black pepper wash into some farm-y notes (that's manure, straw and livestock... things that smell bad in your home actually taste quite good in whisky). As it settles out, the farminess becomes stronger, but not to the level of a typical Clynelish; it's still overshadowed by the macerated red fruits.

Palate: Wow! A wallop in the tongue of sharp oak!  Black pepper follows up with its crew of wood spices (cardamon, and cassia).  After the invasion of wood power, the malt slowly comes out from under the shadow.  Malty notes mingled with nectarines (not sweet, just the smell), and far off in the background is a hint of brine.  There is surprisingly little sweetness in this dram - given time it does come forth.  The complaint is that the tannin/wine in the finish wood are far overpowering the soft and delicate malt notes that you should expect in a 22 year old whisky.

Finish: The wood spice continues to stomp all over the finish.  Harsh oak tannin and sharp cassia (Cinnamon's hotter/rougher cousin - think Cinnabon cinnamon), some twinged notes of vanilla extract (the good 35% ABV stuff; which isn't that pleasant to drink but wonderful to nose), and some strawberry cream.  As it dissolves, the malty notes and more red fruit comes through but never enough to save the dram.

Empty Glass:  Lots of wood here (this is where you can usually get a sense of the casks used in the whisky).  There is a huge offering of wood spice (again), both old wood and new, much younger wood.  There is also a dry wine note; not even the red fruity note from before.  Once again, the tannins come through quite strongly.


   Adding water brings more stewed fruits to the nose, and nectarines (still not sweet nectarines though).  It takes even more settling out to get to the malt behind the finish.  When the coastal nature starts to come forth, it does so in spades.  More hints of brine and sweet malt appear, and the farmy notes seems to become more readily available.  The palate, however, suffers with the addition of water; becoming somewhat sweeter with the fruity malt playing lead.  That tannic note showed up again and lead to a bitter finish.
  
    All in all, it's not a bad dram, but there are a few caveats to this.  My suspicion is that it was over-wooded in the original casks, and this has been subdued with the Port finish.  Although this Port finish may have helped the original over-wooding, it overwhelms the old malt, taking over the soft and subtle notes with a brash red fruit wash.  It's sort of a shame; but not completely undrinkable.  Overall, I would have guessed this was a 12-15 year old port finish Clynelish, not a 22.  Seeing as it is overpriced to begin with as a 22 year old, it is even more-so when you're not experiencing the full age benefit. There is a wonderful Clynelish under there, its just buried.

     In conclusion, this bottle doesn't make the grade and will not join my collection, but it was worth the taste.  Remember that whisky tasting is a subjective thing, and you may enjoy this heavily wooded dram more than I did.  Try it if you can, but skip the purchase until you have; there are many more worthy bottles out there to spend your hard earned money on.  Keep you stick on the ice, and the ice out of your glass.

                                                          Roscoe (ScotchGuyTO)

March LCBO Vintages Releases

 Well, another month and another list of bottles arrives on our shelves, but is anything worth your hard earned money?  Let's see what we've got this month, and should anything find its way into your basket while you're perusing the wares at your local LCBO.  This month is a bit slim on the bottles, but there is the usual St. Patrick's Day releases of some Irish gold.

March 02/2013:

So in the early month we've got a big name bottle!  Another Balvenie superstar, and another new bottle to our shelves.  This early release brings us the new model of Doublewood from Malt Master David Stewart.  The 17 year old Balvenie Doublewood is the older sibling of the standard Doublewood 12 year old bottling.  Finished primarily in Bourbon casks, this imparts the rich honey and floral notes that the Balvenie is known for.  The second finishing in "European Sherry Oak" (notice there is not specific Country or Sherry type associated to this), imparting the spice and depth to the whisky.  On the nose, there is no shortage of depth to this dram, loads of vanilla and rich red fruit honey (if you've ever had honey from a farmers field near a strawberry patch or a raspberry patch, this is what I'm thinking... there is a floral ester note of the fruit deep within the honey).  Next up to bat is the hard sherry nose (this part I'm not sold on), lots of sherry spice and oak come through with some very interesting fresh notes of tart apples and smooth cream.  The nose is quite elegant and composed, but a little overwhelmed with oak spice for my palate.  In the mouth we get a more robust burst of dry sherry influence and warm oak leading the way.  There are date squares, warm cinnamon apple cider and cardamom vanilla pudding.  A lot of spices as it seems that the oak takes the reins over the spirit, the background noise seems to settle down and come shyly forward after some time.  This isn't a shy whisky, but the finer Balvenie notes seem to take quite a while to develop and show themselves. Finally, after a long settling period, I'm seeing the more delicate floral notes and subtle honeycomb and stewed fruits, but they're really covered up by the sherry spice here.  There is still a lot of polished wood and vanilla cream, with some more wood spices (like cloves, cinnamon and mace), but there seems to be an overburden of oak here that I'm not crazy over.   The finish is all oak spice and vanilla/butterscotch cream, smooth and well composed.  Fans of the 12 year old will definitely like this; sadly though I'm not a fan of the Doublewood, and in this revision there is a bit too much oak in body and it sort of distracts from the subtle spirit. So we're looking at a pretty bottle of 17 year old whisky, served at 43% (little light in my books but I'll let it slide), and coming in at only $167.95..... wait, give me a second to check my notes... yeah, that's $170 for a bottle in the teens!  Okay, this one seems like something targeted towards their die hard Doublewood fans looking to indulge, and at these prices I don't feel it's worth it (so it doesn't get recommend).  Should you be a Doublewood fan looking for that next step up into the Balvenie range, this is your chance to check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

March 16/2013 Release - St. Patty's Day Pile-Up:

 Well another green day rolls around and another rush of Irish whiskies hit our shelves.  In this usual yearly review we see some Cooley bottles, a Jameson or two and the occasional oddity. This year we see a couple of Cooley bottles (one unlisted), and also the return of a grand Jameson bottling.

 First up is Inishowen peated Irish blend.  This Cooley blend is a delightfully peated blend.  Featuring a 30% peated malt, the nose comes across and sweet, fruity and smokey.  Lots of fruits show up on the nose like: peaches and apricots, also some sort of dried fruit blend (like a trail mix sort of thing).  The smoke wafts in and out of the nose, taking beautiful sweet cereals with it.  In the mouth this is a very soft and subtle dram.  Hold it in your mouth longer than you think you need to, and you'll be rewarded with a richer palate.  The fruits and grains are forefront in the blend and the soft peat smoke sort of builds the entire way through the dram, leading up to a smokey swallow. The finish is strong and short, lots of vanilla cream and peat smoke here, the fade is sadly all too quick on it.  The balance of this whiskey is excellent, and at only $35/bottle you're in for a real treat at this price.  I've reviewed this last year in the March 2012 release, and was still blown away by the quality for the price.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for you bottle.  I'd strongly suggest grabbing one before they disappear until next year.

Next up is an 8 year old pure pot still single malt, also from the Cooley distillery stables.  Locke's 8 year old is an excellent introduction to Irish single malts.  I also reviewed it last year in the same post (link <HERE>), but I feel like I failed to get across it's character.  The nose on this is malt-city if there ever was such a thing.  It's a super malt; loads of malted barley and bready notes.  There is also an oily component that is allover the front end that seems to go hand in hand with that pot sill character (something like machine oil).  Slightly subdued to the oily malt are rich fruits, golden fruits like nectarines, pears and the like dominate the nose.  In the mouth the smoothness is divine, with more malty syrup and fruits, that machine-y oil note hasn't disappeared, but is definitely subdued becoming more earthy/mineraly.  The finish still show cases that smoothness filled with vanilla and dried oaky fruits.  This is a heck of a dram to get you into the Irish mood, and should be tried if not grabbed at the first chance you see it.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your dram.  Unfortunately it's only 40% and looks to be coloured, but once you put it in your mouth I'm sure you'll forget all about that.

Last up in the releases book is Jameson Gold Reserve.  This is a sort of frankenwhiskey (I sort of consider all Jameson to be frankenwhiskey), as it has been blended and refined and blended again to create a smooth and luxurious mouth feel.  The Gold Reserve is a triple wood finished, with a high percentage of pot still whiskey in the mix.  So when I say mega blend let me break it down; Jameson is a mix of grains and malts, and a mix of pot distilled and column distilled, and a mixture of various cask finishes.  So this particular blend is a high percentage of pot still whiskey giving it a beautifully sweet rounded nose, it's also the only horse the Jameson stable to use virgin American oak (also Bourbon and Sherry finished casks).  This provides a unique variant in the mix of rich vanilla and honey into the final product.  On the nose there is a whack of wood notes, lots of fragrant wood with vanilla and caramel (kind of like caramel ripple ice cream good), loads sweet malt and subtle baking spices carry across the nose.  The palate is oily and rich, filled with yellow fruits, rich warm oak and sweet malty breads.  The finish on this is rich and inviting, but sadly short.  Big notes of caramel (salted), come off the palate and some pepper heat with a slight wood smoke note round out the finish.  This is a great dram, but sadly the price point is a bit exorbitant.  At only 40% ABV and $96/bottle you're looking at quite a pricey investment.  I happen to have the trio pack of the 12 Special Reserve, the Gold Reserve and the 18 Master Selection.  So I sort of lucked out at the tasting notes, and am quite excited now to delve into the 18 year old selection.  I've never been crazy of the regular Jameson blend, as it's about as interesting as the paint thinner it smells like.  So walking into this tasting expecting that, and coming away being more than pleasantly surprised, I'm more than pleased to recommend this to anyone.  The pricing is quite high for a blend, but you're going to get a great bottle out of it; I'd strongly suggest you try a dram from a friend or a quality whisky bar.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle.

The last release doesn't contain any whiskies sadly, but I've got a couple more recommendations that weren't published in the books.  These were the few bottles that were doled out to the shelves that no one noticed, expect the hardcore whiskiphiles (I think I'll coin that term).  There were a couple of Cooley bottles that caught my eye while I was wandering the shelves of my local liquor monopolies.

First up is Connemara Turf Mór, Gaelic for big peat, is the heaviest peated version of Connemara.  I wasn't sure how I felt about peating the sweet supple Irish whiskies, and my first introduction was a wallop!  Connemara cask strength set my palate in motion, with its rich sweetness and heavy peat smoke, it really caught me off guard.  I though the smooth Irish whiskies might not stand up to such a strong character but soon realized they themselves are quite a strong and robust character.  Two leading characters in the play tends to cause pandemonium or coherence, and in the case of Connemara, the coherence is sublime.  In the new addition to the small batch range; Turf Mór (big peat Irish style), is built of sweet and savoury notes and a finish that goes on and on like a rousing folk song, sung by the masses in a Dublin pub.  Served at a whopping 58.2% ABV and non chillfiltered with no colour added; well you can see where this is leading already. $86.70 will net you a ticket for this roller coaster ride of peat and I'd strongly suggest you check your local LCBO for this one <HERE>.  They also have the standard cask strength available for $96.70 <HERE> (same sort of stats: no chillfilteration, no colour, and 57.9%ABV).

Also of note from the Cooley stables is Tyrconnel Madeira finish.  Tyrconnel is a fantastically crafted single malt.  Their cask finishes have been real hits around here such as their port finish, the last one I recall a few years back, was excellent.  This one should bring more of the same; lots of rich fruits and sweet malt with a dangerously drinkable whiskey, makes for a bottle that tends to disappear all too soon from our shelves.  Check your local LCBO <HERE> for your bottle, priced at $79.95 and served at 46% ABV this is on the pricey side.  If I get my hands on one, I'll be letting you known about the tasting notes.  On the other hand, the same applies as the Jameson bottle above, once you have it in your glass you'll gladly forget about the overpriced bottle.


So that's the lot for the month of March, April showers bring whisky flowers (does that really work here.... sure it does)?  Sadly though, leafing through the early April vintages catalogue doesn't inspire much hope.  Maybe the coming month will bring about a bottle review or two instead... I'll figure something out soon, but until then; keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.

Tasting Notes: Bushmills 16 Year Old

First up, some information.  Bushmills is widely accepted as being the oldest licensed distillery in the known universe.  Sir Thomas Phillipps was granted license to distill in 1608 by King James I, albeit records show production to start around the 1784 era.  The distillery went through many owners, and the original buildings were destroyed by fire in 1885 and rebuilt 5 years later. In 1988 French giant Pernod Ricard took control of the distillery and continued production, until the 2005 Diageo buyout.  All that having been said, lets see what the northernmost Irish distillery has to offer in the line of single malts.

Well it has been a while since I've posted some tasting notes, so I'm gonna spill the beans on some random items found at the LCBO through this month or so and get some more information out there for you, the buyer.  This time around, a sweet and luxurious Irish single malt from the Diageo Irish repertoire.

The lineup features the two Irish default standards: the regular expression (the white bush), and the sherried expression (the black bush).  Then we step up to the premium range that features single malts in the 10, 16 and 21 year old range.  There are also still some antiquated bottlings of the Limited Edition 1608 and The Millennium (25 year old).  Having tasted the 10 (a double wood finish of Oloroso sherry and American bourbon casks), when the chance to sample the 16 arose I took my chances and grabbed a bottle.  I do enjoy the single malt Bushmills range as its such a light and delicate whiskey, it's very reminiscent of the Scottish Lowlands flavor profile.  I find a lot of gentle notes with a seemingly simple whisky that turns out to be deeper than initially expected.  The 16 is the oldest yet to arrive at the LCBO (since the Millennium which is out of stock), and comes in at a steep pricing of $80/bottle and only 40% ABV.  Finished in three woods (the aforementioned American bourbon oak and Spanish Oloroso Sherry), this dram is highlighted and steered by the Port pipes used to finish it.

Colour: Amber with hints of ruby and copper highlights.  ( i highly doubt there to be no colour added here, but the port does seem to show some ruby highlights through the electric marmalade background).

Body: Medium body, fat drops appear when the glass is rolled.  Legs run slowly back in.  Things are looking up in the flavor direction.

Nose: Ohh boy!  This is a big one, sweet tawny port, hints of plums and red & purple fruits (grapes, berries and the like), candied almonds and hints of Amaretto, heavy oak (like saturated oak [ie: oak that has held a lot of wine/spirit  in the past), vanilla and fudge, apricots.  The notes of interest I found here were slight hints of tobacco, worked leather and every now and again a slight note of tomato paste or fresh garden tomatoes.

Palate:  This is a very more-ish whiskey.  Almonds and sweet barley seem to be the first notes in my mouth right away.  Barley sugar and dry oak, hints at old wood or wood smoke, dried peaches and apricots.  Hints of raisins, cola, cocoa powder and coffee.  Way off in the background I get a slight hint of sulphur (like in pink erasers).

Finish: The finish is medium-long and seems to mirror the heavy nose.  Hints of old wood and herbal vanilla seem to be present here, rubber hoses and dark chocolate.  Oily mouth coverage fades and drying notes make your mouth water for more.

Empty Glass: The empty glass  almost seems to mirror the initial nose.  Honey and floral notes dominate, with hints of ruby port and wood smoke again.  Slight notes of sandalwood (as in cologne), herbs and ancient dry oak (like in an old trunk or cabinet).  There is a peppering of dry cocoa powder throughout the empty glass.

Well what we have here is a fantastic representation of what Irish whiskey can be with some careful management.  I will fault the mega-conglomerate of Diageo for my 2 usual marks: chill-filtration and colour added. But as I'm feeling generous (yeah, like I'm really in a position to criticize the world's largest distiller on their practices),  I'll let the 40% ABV slide this time.  All my whining aside, this is a deep and rich spirit.  Incredible depth and flavor can be found within this bottle.  I'm very partial to the 10 year old single malt, and I think that bias shows in the 16.  There is a lot to be had for $80, but a lot more could be had with higher proof and non-chillfilteration of the final spirit.  Final recommendation is to find and try this bottle, go to a pub or bar, or a friends house and sample it.  Or should you feel like putting $80 down on a great bottle of whiskey, check your local LCBO for Sku #260760.  Either way I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Until the next time; Keep your stick on the ice and the ice out of your glass.