Malt Mission 2011 #396

Big Peat
Islay Blended Malt Whisky
46% abv
£34
$85 (USD)

Welcome to March! I haven't seen you since 2010. I have to get back on the horse and gallop towards the 400 landmark!

I am sure by now you have already met or read about Big Peat. Brought to you buy the good people at Douglas Laing & Co., he was released back in September 2009 and has since received word-of-mouth acclaim and awards from Whisky Magazine (World Whisky Awards) for Best Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, Best Peated Malt Whisky(Daily Dram) 2009 by the Malt Maniacs, and Jim Murray called it Best Vatted Malt in his 2011 Whisky Bible.

Apparently, Fred Douglas Laing senior loved Port Ellen and thus invested heavily in casks from the now shuttered distillery decades ago. This legacy has left an emotional attachment to this distillery for his offspring with every nose of a Port Ellen likely reminding them of their father's goodnight kisses.

The vatting includes several anonymous malts but Bowmore, Ardbeg, Caol Ila, and the increasingly rare Port Ellen are all named in the mix with the youngest whisky coming in at 5 years old, the oldest at least 26.

Thanks to Kirsty and Fred for the sample and I will see you for a dram this weekend at WhiskyLIVE London. For other Douglas Laing bottlings enjoyed on the Malt Mission dig deep into this whisky blog's past.

TASTING NOTES:

Tarry, with some toffee, candied lemon, raw salmon, and a generally sweet core.

Salty and sweet, even more tarry than the nose suggested, earthy, but with only gentle smokiness wrapped in toffee and orange.

SUMMARY:

Extremely enjoyable drop that is at once industrial and sooty but equally confectionary with sweetness, creating a very well balanced whisky in a very 21st century package.

For other opions, JSMWS tasted Big Peat HERE, Whisky For Everyone HERE, Whisky Boys HERE, and Dramming share some tasting notes. In the medium of moving pictures, Ralfy shares his thoughts HERE and Dickie P and Fred Laing share a few HERE.

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Malt Mission 2008 #260

Port Ellen 21yo 1982/2004
Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask (OMC)
for the Islay Whisky Shop
Sherry cask 477, 182 bottles
$£ Price unknown £$

After 260 Malt Missions, is my palate tired or my tastes more refined? How about after 100 whiskies in a single day (yes, spitting... for most of them)?

Yesterday was unlike any day I have ever experienced, and experience was something that the likes of Mario G and Sukhinder S continuously reminded me that I had in short supply. From a 17-flight judging panel of 54 whiskies in the afternoon to a seemingly never-ending night of everything from Compass Box's original Hedonism through Scott's Selection Longmorn-Glenlivet 1971 to Samaroli's Ardbeg 1973 (Fragments of Scotland) it was a long day that tried my nose and palate in ways I never thought possible. It would be unfair to call it hard work, to the reader it would no-doubt sound like a backhanded boast, but what I am acknowledging is my humility, ALL OF OUR necessary humility in the face of this ever-generous spirit. Additionally, I have yet more evidence that I have no justification to 'score' whiskies outside of blind tasting competitions where any score is only relative against its competitor. I have so much more to say about Thursday February 28, 2008, but I haven't the words... or more importantly, the time.

Port Ellen was founded in 1825, closed after 1929 only to be reopened in 1967 (after some modernisation and renovation), silenced in 1983, and fatally closed in 1987. Today the distillery provides malted barley to Caol Ila and Lagavulin (and others?). The world of whisky connoisseurs have mourned this lost distillery and still sing its praises with every sip supped from finite supplies.

Big thanks to TF for bringing over the bottle and thanks to DB and RA for inviting me for the day, SS, MG, JG, GG, and more for the unforgettable night. Cheers and happy leap year!

TASTING NOTES:

Salty, slightly rubbery, and spiced with sherry. Smoked mussels, salt and dried fruits. Damp, humid, dusty, like desperately mid-night drinking from that glass of water that has been sitting beside your bed since last week. Moldy tobacco, sherry, and fish. Funky and odd but incredibly inviting.

Waves of smoke throughout. Soft red delicious apples, bruised. Sherry, pepper. A new fire, paper and shreds of bark. Very burnt, charred, but coated in cake icing.

SUMMARY:

Totally fun and chewy and worthy of communal drinking with conversation, debate, and differing opinions. That is what whisky enjoyment should be all about, not solitary scientific organaleptic consumption and evaluation, as much fun as that sounds...

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Malt Mission 2008 #251

The King of Scots
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
***more info to come***

Yes, we have experienced 250 different drops on this Malt Mission, but the wonderful world of whisky remains a vast expanse awaiting further exploration and I am no less determined to stick my nose into whatever glass you hand me. "Thank you" to those companies that have supported this whisky blog by sending samples, info, and more. Thanks to retailers and others who have shared drops on various occasions. Thanks to friends for letting me steal minis of takeaway malt. Thank you Scotland. Thank you Aeneas Coffey. Thank you John Barleycorn. May it continue indefinitely.

A blend created in 1886 to start off this week, the regally named King of Scots. Not often seen on these shores, I picked this bottle up in Norway some months ago. It sits on Vinmonopolet shelves among other rarely seen blended treats like The Formidable Jock, Peter Dawson Special, Long John, Royal Castle, and Upper Ten.

Owned by family independent bottlers Douglas Laing and Co., the bottle reads: "Since 1886 the King of Scots Whisky has reigned supreme. Available until recently only in Limited Quantities, we are now proud to extend our guarded supplies through our numbered edition." This was no. 27421.

TASTING NOTES:

Big grainy sweetness, with fresh apples, some sea salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. A slight prickle in the nose.

Creamy taste off the top with a warming sherry impression. Some fudge and licorice add slight accents, but this is straightforward and pleasant stuff.

SUMMARY:

A well rounded and expressive nose and a great, creamy grain mouthfeel. Pleasant, easy-drinking blended whisky without much more to be said.

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Malt Mission 2007 #65

Blair Atholl 12yo (1994-2006)
Single Malt Whisky
McGibbon’s Provenance
Sherry Butt 2864
46% abv
£35

Another week gone. I can't believe this Malt Mission is still going!!! Thanks for reading, commenting, linking, and sharing samples.

I tasted this beauty (again) at Ran's flat one morning in Edinburgh last weekend while he snored in bed wearing an eye-mask.

This is the bottling selected by the Edinburgh University Water of Life Society on 20th April 2006, back when we were President and First Lady. In 2005 and 2006, Susan from Douglas Laing came to offer us casks to taste and choose a bottle to put our names to, ie. "Selected by the Edin Uni WOLS under guidance of committee members, etc." It was sold exclusively through The Whisky Shop. These were always great tastings and Susan was a stellar host. The first year we chose a cracking Clynelish 15yo and last year selected this buttery gem from an underappreciated-as-a-single-malt distillery.

For more on Blair Athol distillery see Malt Mission #42

TASTING NOTES:

Assertive oak and sherry, a confident nose. Fudge and lime. Great mix. Dairy Milk Fruit&Nut. Some damp shower towel (or that could be the laundry in the corner of Ran's room)

Mmm, chewy. Buttery. Croissants, or the taste of the smell of croissants. Arrowroot cookies, toast with butter and orange marmalade. Short oaky finish that is drying to its close.

SUMMARY:

Very tasty stuff, rich with butter and freshness. Great consistency between nose and palate which is something I appreciate. Good sherry character without overpowering the baked-goods flavour of the malt. Finish is a little short, if I had to find one criticism. Great stuff, tho.

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Malt Mission 2007 #62

Edinburgh University Water of Life Society
Independent Bottlers Meeting
Teviot Dining Room, Bristo Square, Edinburgh
April 16, 2007

Ended our Edinburgh visit appropriately by attending a meeting of the whisky club Kristin and I used to be involved with(first as poet laureate, then president) when we lived in Edinburgh. In fact, it was the society that got us involved with eachother in the first place. Ah, whisky; bringing people together for over 200 years...

The theme of the meeting was Independent Bottlings and we had a few interesting ones to try. Here are impressions of three of them. Notes in quotes are not my own and, where possible, I have attributed them to their sources.

Littlemill 1990, 16yo
Signatory Vintage
Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£27.95

Littlemill was a lowland whisky, although it sourced its water in the highlands. The distillery closed in 1984, opened briefly 1989-1992, suffered a fire started by youngsters in 2004, and today all but two towers have been demolished. It was the oldest Scottish distillery in production having been founded by George Buchanan in the 1750s, but obviously lost that position when it closed in 1992. The 8yo bottling you can sometimes find is still bottled by Loch Lomond, but the contents are in fact 14-15 years old.

TASTING NOTES:

Soft. Light and sweet with old spice or someone's dad's deodorant. Chinese 5-spice.
"Wet cardboard" -Leo, "Tequila" -Dan, "Cinnamon" -Joe, "Butterscotch" -Nikki
"Old wood in an antique furniture shop" - Lorna

Watery, melony, then mildew flavours, dissonant notes that really sour towards the finish. Like decomposition in the mouth.
"Damp clothes that were mud-soaked and now have air-dried." -Ran
"Chemical used to treat cow hides" -Jamal
"Rotten pineapple" -Leo
"Honeydew" -Joe

SUMMARY:

"The nose is misleading and the aftertaste is awful." -Judith
"Walking into a house full of mold. Possibly the worst whisky I have ever had" -Kristin
To be fair, I must note here that we warmed up with the smooth Irish Kilbeggan whisky, after which many malts would suffer. This was interesting, but certainly not something I would reach for.

Tormore 1993, 13yo
Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask
Single Malt Whisky
50% abv
£30

After the Second World war, the whisky industry saw new growth for the first time in over 30 years; closed distilleries reopened and new ones were built. Three new distilleries were built after the war before Tormore in 1960, and only Tormore still survives intact and in full production. The distillery was built to supply malt for Long John blends. Today it is most commonly found in Ballantine's blends, and quite rare as a single malt.

TASTING NOTES:

Fresh, unripe tree fruit; pears or russet apples. Sweet coconut like Jon, Mark and Robbo's Smooth Sweeter One. Creme brullée.
"Linseed oil" -Dan, "Hot sick and flambéed cherries" -Joe

Firm mouthfeel that tastes bready and slightly seedy or oily, like sesame seed bagels. Mild pickle saltiness beneath.

SUMMARY:

Exciting sip after sip, new flavours abound, constantly developing but not ever blowing anyone away. Solid stuff.
"Weird bourbon cask. Too much woody... um... nutty rich... cinnamony" -Leo

Clynelish 1993, 13yo
Gordon and Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£30

One of my favourite distilleries, references to Clynelish can be found here and at Malt Mission 23

TASTING NOTES:

Blueberries and apricots, shortbread, salty, and a whiff of peat.
"Sausage" -Leo
"Coconut" -Simeon
"It's making me tipsy" -Lorna

Dark and gloomy. Meaty and clean. Halal butcher. Oranges.
"Pork fat", "tobacco", "dirty old dirty old old dirty."
"Virgin pine palate/skid on the palate" -Simeon

SUMMARY:

Friday night in watching horror movies. Dark and scary, exciting and tense, but no surprises. My favorite of the night, but the Kilbeggan warm-up dram was the overall winner with the group. I regret not taking notes on that one. Oh well. A good night was had. Thanks, guys.

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