Malt Mission 2009 #334

The Balvenie Rose 16yo
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
53.4% abv
£100

I will follow on the Valentine's theme with a back-to-back post (a year after our friends at Whisky Grotto) partly to make up for the lack of activity on Dr. Whisky as of late, partly cuz the romantic back story suits the theme of the day, but also to get through the backlog of tasting notes I have from treats I have tasted.

The Balvenie Castle sits on a hill above the two distilleries William Grant built in the 19th century, Glenfiddich and The Balvenie. The Balvenie Rose takes its name from a 15th century story that surrounds one of the castle's most storied inhabitants, the Fair Maid of Galloway, Margaret Douglas.

Famously beautiful, Margaret married the Eighth Earl of Douglas, a man eventually thrown out a window to his death. She later wed his brother, the last of the Black Douglas line, who continued his family's rebellion against King James II and eventually found himself defeated, his title, estate, and hot wife taken from him. Margaret had no problem finding someone else to love her in the First Earl of Atholl (John Stewart). And so taken with her beauty was the King that he reinstated her in Balvenie Castle for the annual rent of one red rose.

The Balvenie Rose is much coveted by whisky lovers and was only available at the distillery in very limited amounts: it was selected from four casks from 1991 and finished in port pipes, giving it a rosey pink hue. The whisky has not been coloured, chill-filtered, and was released at cask strength.

For all Balvenie had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Strong and sweet, a touch of earth and a busy array of fruits and flowers. A touch of water complicates matters by adding sour notes, fruits like plums and cranberries, and unleashing a spice of caraway seeds and a dairy element like milk.

Berries and bubblegum, spice and oak, hot and excited at bottle strength. Water unravels the tight array of spice revealing grassy elements, corn syrup and winey oak. Patience (and water) allow this puppy to show what it's made of.

SUMMARY:

An unusual Balvenie that surprises most with whom I have shared it. But what it lacks in the characteristic Balvenie-honeyed flavours it makes up for with suprises of fruit and smoke and a kick-ass abv%. Beautiful packaging, in my mind, and a real treat for the scotch hunter, malt advocate, malt maniac, or for those of us on continuing malt missions. Another modest marvel from the modest marvel of the industry himself, The Balvenie Malt Master David Stewart.

Malt Mission #331
Malt Mission #332
Malt Mission #333
Malt Mission #335

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #333

Ballantine's 17yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
43% abv
£45
$100 (USD)

Happy Ballantine's Day!

Have received some very sweet emails of encouragement in Dr. Whisky's absence (hasn't been a post here since Jan 19!), so I thank you all. I promise to try some interesting drops in the coming days and share them with you and hope it makes up for my lack of consistent posting.

So I come back with a bottle poured at our wedding whisky bar, a blend from a company that has re-focused their approach to market in the wake of diminishing sales in recent years. I have posted in the past about how much I enjoy this family of blends and wish them the best of luck in the complicated blended whisky market that single malt nerdom and a splash of economic downturn has created. Since the late fifties when this whisky was #1 in the USA, Ballantine's has slipped position and focused more in Europe and the Far East. It has always been held in high regard by the Dr., especially at mature ages.

For all Ballantine's had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Fresh and appetising. Red plums and apples, vanilla and white wine. Chestnuts over a mineral note, salt and a touch of soot.

Starts with a gentle puff of smoke followed by a rich and creamy mid-palate with raspberries and vanilla yogurt. Spices emerge and each sip becomes a wondefully well-integrated mouthful of whisky happiness. Really hitting the spot for me today.

SUMMARY:

With a touch of alcohol prickle in the nose, time in the glass or a generous cut of water really opens this puppy up where a fresh fruitiness intermingles with earthy coastal elements. The palate only delivers more of the latter in the lead with a creamy baked fruit complexity making this blend so enjoyable. Cinnamon and burnt sugar add a dessert element that gives final evidence of the quality of blending at the world's #3 blending house.

Malt Mission #331
Malt Mission #332
Malt Mission #334
Malt Mission #335

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #332

Glenfiddich 40yo

Speyside Single Malt Whisky
45.4% abv
£1000

Yes, I have had three 40yo whiskies in a row on the Malt Mission, what of it? It's a hard life. The decadent dramming has been to celebrate our wedding this coming weekend. I welcome challengers for the best wedding whisky bar cuz I think we've nailed it. Naturally. Heheh...

Released about 9 months ago, this is the 5th edition of this ultra-premium release from family distillers, William Grant and Sons, and it is a commemorates the life and work of Michael Jackson who passed away back at Malt Mission #150. David Stewart selected 5 casks over 40 years old to vat with the remnants of past vattings of the 40yo creating a whisky that is incredibly deep and rich, but most importantly carries a consistency from year to year, batch to batch. Ludo from Glenfiddich explains HERE.

For more distillery info or to see all Glenfiddich posts on the Malt Mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet and rich with fistfuls of flavour punching out of the glass. Fudge, cinnamon and brown sugar with baked apples or pears, weighty sherried notes with oak and clotted cream. Brightness of lemon zest, sweet, layered honey and pastry (baklava?), and the slightest nose of leather, the only significant hint of the substantial age.

Caramel, rye, cranberry sweet/sourness, waffle cones and oak all lay their impressions upon my mouth simultaneously. Chocolate covered raisins and toffee. Increasingly toasty, even burnt, towards a woody and fruity finish. Dangerously drinkable with such well-rounded flavours.

SUMMARY:

Incredible, but I think we already knew that after all the awards this release has won. Jackson himself called Glenfiddich at mature ages "a raisiny, chocolatey after dinner malt" and this one fits his description perfectly. Elegant and world class. Not cheap, but casks of this quality (only 600 bottles, after all) are worth every penny.

Malt Mission #331
Malt Mission #333
Malt Mission #334
Malt Mission #335

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #331

Glenfarclas 105 40yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
60% abv
£500

In 1968 George S Grant, grandfather of the George Grant some of us might know from his whiskevangelism around the world on behalf of his family's distillery, created a Christmas gifts for family and friends. He selected a single cask that was 105° British Proof (60%abv). Glenfarclas 105 was born becoming the first commercially available, direct-from-distillery, cask strength whisky.

Now, 40 years later, John L.S. Grant (George S. Grant's son) has created this special bottling to commemorate this monumental creation. With only 893 bottles released, this is a very special offering.

For more distillery info and to see all Glenfarclas had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Rich and sherry sweet, raisins, nutmeg and brown sugar. Meaty, braised short ribs, honey, toffee... finger lickin' good.

Oh man... sherry, sappy or beeswaxy, and tasty treats fresh from the oven. Bakery for boozehounds: mincemeat pies, shortbread soaked in tea, baklava. Wild berries, vanilla cupcakes and a syrupy element that is hard to shake; not that you'd want to.

SUMMARY:

I do not know how they do it, but even at 60%, this whisky is wholly nose-able and although high impact on the palate, somehow smooth. Puzzling. And amazing. And worth celebrating. An excellent honour to one of my favourite go-to malts out there.

Malt Mission #330
Malt Mission #332
Malt Mission #333
Malt Mission #334
Malt Mission #335

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #330

Tomatin 1967 40yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky

42.9% abv

£430
$1000(USD)

In 1974, Tomatin was the largest single malt distillery in Scotland with 23 stills, but Tomatin sold off many of its stills and in the past 4 years it has gone from number 2 (after Glenfiddich) to number 12 in distillery capacity.

Oh yes, the times they are a-changing in the whisky world, but change is nothing new to this industry. Phylloxera vastetrix, prohibition, war (see this)... When this whisky was made 40 years ago all cask management, stock ledgers, and blending sheets were handwritten, single malts weren't really available outside of Scotland, and distilleries were producing all of their required malted barley on site. Some of these things seem impossible from today's persepctive, and in many cases they are simply because the scale has increased by leaps and bounds.

So raise a glass with me to get through this Wednesday in January and toast positive change in whisky, in government, and in our pockets.

Only 1,614 bottles of this stuff, created from 7 hogsheads of mature spirit at Tomatin. For more distillery info and to see all Tomatin had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Bittersweet with spicy oak. Caraway seeds and marzipan liqourice, freshly churned butter. Port wine. A handful of raisins and almonds.

Honey coated coconut. And chocolate. Lacy with surface impressions containing glimpses of what lies behind. Woven flavours are neither balanced nor conflicting. Exciting flavour ride. Late spice, again with the caraway seeds, juniper, and bitter chocolate.

SUMMARY:

Complex, and although not at all balanced, this is 100% positive. Caraway and marzipan make a Scandanavian Christmas whisky. Constantly redefines itself to the drinker, weaving new sides and new flavours never letting go of the former with the one that follows. Nose has elements of aquavit while the palate has elements of Macallan. Vibrant, exciting, if slightly hot; 40 years maturation and wise vatting creates a whisky as dynamic as 40 years of life should be. Alive, and life-affirming.

Malt Mission #326
Malt Mission #327
Malt Mission #328
Malt Mission #329

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #329

Tomatin 30yo 1976
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
49.3% abv
£167

There were many beautiful things made in 1976. Beautiful, handsome, smart, charming... and modest things. And while there is only one of me, there are 1500 bottles of this recent release from Tomatin.

Probably safe to say Tomatin is not the most beautiful distillery in Scotland, but inside its industrial complex over 30,000 visitors tread each year.

Most of Tomatin's production goes into blends, many in the far east leaving only about 2% for single malt releases. But the range has expanded since the 12yo was launched in 2004 with a 18 and 25yo, and now a 30yo and 40yo join the growing single malt line.

TASTING NOTES:

Vegetal with notes of juniper, cabbage, and cooked carrots start us off. A sherry-influenced sweetness follows with beer nuts, cashews, and fruit preserves. Pops and squeaks of lime, chocolate wafers, and nutmeg. Big oak, too, adding a solid spine to it all.

Immeasurable honey, toffee, and a sturdy green stalk bitterness that holds it together. Sweet buttered corn. Autumnal with leaves and oak. Ginger and lime. Exciting.

SUMMARY:

Alive and well after 30 years (like some of our best friends), this dram speaks volumes and has something new to show on each sip. Vivid. Engaging. Powerful. And the sherry finish does nothing to mute the notable distillery character. A brave success.

Malt Mission #326
Malt Mission #327
Malt Mission #328
Malt Mission #330

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #328

Talisker 25yo
Island Single Malt Whisky bot. 2004
57.8%
abv £110
£180 (USD)

Readers of this blog will know I am not a peat freak but I do find Talisker to have the most sublime balance of sweetness and peatiness, so much so that I picked the 10yo and the 18yo as two of the best whiskies I ever tried here on the mission (The Tops So Far II). Yes, some find it too sweet, but that is the is part of the fun! If we all agreed, tasting and sharing impressions would be a pretty boring exercise. Perhaps, for some, it remains so.

I had a great email from a guy some time ago asking "what does Talisker mean?" cuz it was one of his names. The name Talisker comes from "Thallas Geir", meaning "sloping rock/land of stones". It is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye and it receives over 40,000 visitors per year. One visitor was Robert Louis Stevenson, who refered to it in A Scotsman's Return from Abroad(1880), writing, "....the King o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Islay, or Glenlivet." Worth noting, of course, that at the time "Islay" and "Glenlivet" would have referred to areas of production (the isle of Islay and the region of Speyside) and thus Talisker is the sole named distillery dubbed "the King o' drinks."

Had a more recent bottling of this expression back HERE. For more distillery info and for all Taliskers had on the mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Initially bright, liquid sunshine, but dry. Then gets juicy with cream, cloves, and shortbread. Aromatic sweet and fruity smokiness like pipe smoke, some synthetic fruitiness like shampoo or green gummy bears. Smoke again and still.

Big and bourbony, but salty. Grows sweet and creamy with emerging spices (cloves again, white pepper?) and a lemony brininess. The smokiness is very earthy, like burnt celeriac or parsnips.

SUMMARY:

First impressions left me wanting more in the finish, a final denoument in the realm of sweet but all I get is oak and vegatal smokiness. So be it. A punchy and bright Talisker even at such a ripe old age. Currently 20% off at The Whisky Exchange.

Malt Mission #326
Malt Mission #327
Malt Mission #329
Malt Mission #330

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #327

Glenmorangie 18yo
'Extremely Rare'
Highland Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£73
$150 (USD)

It can be easily agreed that a new direction has been undertaken at Glenmorangie since the distillery left family hands (the Macdonalds) in 2004 and was sold to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (66%) and Diageo (34%). However, one cannot discredit the production team under the visionary guidance of Dr. Bill Lumsden (since 1995) that continues to produce one of the world's favourite whiskies while unveiling new unique creations like Glenmorangie Astar and Glenmorangie Signet, both to be tasted on future posts.

And while the packaging has changed (to the annoyance of some stodgy old malt nerds who spend their days trawling whisky fora), it seems that all traditions of production remain in tact at the distillery while Dr. Bill stretches those boundaries for the advancement of the water of life in the 21st century. He was awarded Industry Leader of the Year at the Malt Advocate Awards 2008. The presentation of Signet is easily the best new packaging in 2008. For more Glenmorangie distillery info and to see all expressions had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.

Whatever your opinion might be about the new(-ish) design of the Glenmorangie line of whiskies, you have to agree that this new 18yo (above right) looks WAY better than the old 18yo (below right). But how does it taste?

TASTING NOTES:

Grapes, honey, and really quite nutty. Fresh, almost like fresh mint but weighted with creamy, vanilla-ed oak.

Grapefruit, butterscotch, vanilla and lime. Is that smoke? Something earthy. Then a brief surge of white chocolate, walnuts, and oak. Citrus comes back, with a bold, nearly bitter oak influence. A classy production. Fantastic nose with a drop of water, but the palate thins incredibly.

SUMMARY:

A sexy nose and a seductive ride on the palate. Delicate and estery but somehow distinctly highland. Pour deep and sip slowly.

Malt Mission #326
Malt Mission #328
Malt Mission #329
Malt Mission #330

Malt Mission HOME

Malt Mission 2009 #326

Michael Collins
Single Malt Irish Whiskey
40% abv
$40 (USD)

That's right, this whiskey sets out to embody the 'heroic spirit' of Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins. Known as "The Big Fellow" in his life, this whisky is sourced from the "wee county" on the east coast of Ireland and was launched in the USA in the spring of 2006. Like these whiskies had on the Malt Mission, this single malt is pot distilled twice at Cooley Distillery and was created by Sidney Frank, a modern master of marketing in the liquor business.

There was a time when Irish whiskey was booming and the nation's spirit was available across the world. In fact, it is said that near the end of the 19th century there were over 400 brands of Irish whiskey being sold in export markets, namely the USA. Prohibition in America killed demand in Ireland's largest export market. Partly due to the results of the actions of Michael Collins (and others), Irish whisky was suppressed as an export by the British government eventually leading to a collapse of the Irish whiskey industry. Now here is an Irish whisky named after him... hmm... Ironic?

There is no age statement but as Collins didn't live beyond 31 years of age, it is safe to assume this whisky has had a similarly short life in oak casks. I have read that it is 8 years old on the website and Kevin at The Scotch Blog says that they use smaller oak casks to accelerate the effects of oak influence.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet and malty, some dried fruits like raisins, and impressions of ice cream: pralines and cream, rum and raisin, and good old french vanilla, all with a faint peatiness that adds a degree of depth.

Slightly hot, with potato bread, vanilla, and hints of roasted sweet potato. Burnt rosemary and baked fruits. Some smoke, burnt sugar, and milk chocolate.

SUMMARY:

Impressive, well-rounded, and a good whaff of smoke for those into that sort of thing. Great mouthfeel as well. There is a slightly hard attack on the palate that makes it a dram that may be tough to sip at length. To be fair, I have nosed and tasted it neat. Ice subdues this spirity element and the cream and fruitiness of the whiskey shine through. Also unleashes even more of the smoke. Worth a try, for sure. Funky love it/hate it bottle, too.

Malt Mission #325
Malt Mission #327
Malt Mission #328
Malt Mission #329
Malt Mission #330

Malt Mission HOME

Happy New Year/Malt Mission Anniversary

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It was exactly 2 years ago that this MALT MISSION began.

Nuts.

Glad it's still going strong, if not as regular as it once was. This blog has introduced me to new folks, new malts, and a new job. I am still delighted and amazed to see 1000+ unique visitors use the site every day and I thank all of you for your continued support. THANK YOU!

Even since leaving the UK I continue to get samples from supportive distillers, hilarious searches directing folks to Dr. Whisky, and I still get several emails a week with questions and inquiries. Thank you all and I hope I have been of help on your own malt missions. THANK YOU!

This year will see Malt Mission #400 and I can't bloody wait to see what I am gonna throw down my gullet between now and then...

My new years resolution is to try more American whisky.

And now I raise a dram to another year of the Malt Mission on Dr. Whisky.

Cheers all,
Sam